All articles starting with B
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Ballista
A ballista is a large torsion-powered missile weapon of classical antiquity, developed in 4th-century BC Greece, in which twisted sinew-rope springs drove bow arms to hurl bolts or stones.
Ballistic capture
Ballistic capture is a spacecraft arrival technique in which a craft enters orbit around a target like the Moon or Mars without firing a braking maneuver.
Ballistic coefficient
The ballistic coefficient measures how strongly a body moving through a gas resists deceleration by drag, with distinct conventions in spacecraft engineering and small-arms ballistics.
Ballistic conduction
Ballistic conduction, also called ballistic transport, is charge or heat transport in which carriers cross a conductor without scattering, so conductance is set by transmission at the contacts.
Ballistic electron emission microscopy
Ballistic electron emission microscopy (BEEM) is a scanning tunneling technique, invented in 1988 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, that probes buried metal–semiconductor interfaces with nanometer resolution.
Ballistic gelatin
Ballistic gelatin, also called ordnance gelatin, is a gelatin-water mixture that simulates soft tissue in terminal ballistics, used to test ammunition and reconstruct gunshot wounds.
Ballistic knife
A ballistic knife is a knife whose detachable blade is launched by a spring inside the handle, flying as a short-range projectile; the US banned it in 1986.
Ballistic missile
A ballistic missile is a rocket-propelled weapon-delivery vehicle defined by its gravity-driven trajectory, contrasting with cruise missiles; the German V-2 was the first operational system.
Ballistic Missile Early Warning System
The Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) was a network of three US radar stations built between 1958 and 1963 to warn of Soviet missile attack.
Ballistic missile program of Iran
The ballistic missile program of Iran is the development and operation of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles overseen by the IRGC, producing the Middle East's largest missile arsenal since the Iran–Iraq War.
Ballistic missile submarine
A ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) is a submarine designed to launch nuclear-armed ballistic missiles from undetected positions at sea; the first, USS George Washington, commissioned in 1959.
Ballistic Ventures
Ballistic Ventures is a San Mateo, California venture capital firm founded in 2021 by Ted Schlein and partners to invest exclusively in early-stage cybersecurity companies.
Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever
Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002), also released as Ecks vs. Sever, is a Warner Bros. action film directed by Wych Kaosayananda, starring Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu; it holds a 0% Rotten Tomatoes score and grossed $14.3 million against a $70 million budget.
Ballistics
Ballistics is the science of the propulsion, flight, and impact of projectiles, divided into interior, exterior, and terminal ballistics, with applications in weapons, forensics, and sports science.
Ballistite
Ballistite is a smokeless propellant invented by Alfred Nobel in the late 1880s, made by combining soluble nitrocellulose with nitroglycerin; it founded the double-base propellants still used in ammunition and rockets.
Ballistocardiography
Ballistocardiography (BCG) is a noninvasive technique that graphically records the body's recoil motions caused by each heartbeat, used for unobtrusive monitoring of cardiac function, respiratory rate, and sleep.
Ballkani
Ballkani, officially FC Ballkani, is a professional football club based in Suhareka, Kosovo, founded in 1947. It won its first Kosovo championship in 2022 and later became the first Kosovar club in a UEFA group stage.
Ballmer Group
Ballmer Group is the philanthropic organization of former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his wife Connie, founded in 2015 to improve economic mobility for children and families.
Ballon d'Or
The Ballon d'Or (Golden Ball) is football's annual individual award, created in 1956 by France Football, now co-organised with UEFA, voted by international journalists; a women's award was added in 2018.
Ballon d'Or Féminin
Ballon d'Or Féminin: annual award by France Football for the world's best female footballer, first given in 2018 to Ada Hegerberg. Voted by 50 journalists; Aitana Bonmatí won 2023-2025.
Balloon
A balloon is a flexible bag inflated with a gas lighter than air, or with air as a toy, first carrying people aloft in France in 1783.
Balloon (2017 film)
Balloon (பலூன்), 2017 Tamil horror comedy directed by Sinish Sreedharan, starring Jai, Anjali, Janani Iyer, and Yogi Babu, music by Yuvan Shankar Raja; released 29 December 2017, 146 minutes, U/A.
Balloon (aeronautics)
A balloon is a lighter-than-air, engineless aircraft that flies by gas buoyancy or an airborne heater, first flown in France in 1783 and still used for recreation, weather, and research.
Balloon ablation
Balloon ablation is a catheter-based cardiac ablation technique in which an inflatable balloon delivers cryothermal or radiofrequency energy to isolate the pulmonary veins for atrial fibrillation.
Balloon and lighter-than-air pilot certification
Balloon and lighter-than-air pilot certification is the set of licenses authorizing pilots of free balloons and airships, including the US lighter-than-air rating and the European Balloon Pilot Licence.
Balloon angioplasty
Balloon angioplasty, also called coronary balloon angioplasty, is a minimally invasive procedure that widens narrowed arteries by inflating a catheter-mounted balloon against plaque; first performed on a coronary artery by Andreas Grüntzig in 1977.
Balloon boy hoax
Balloon boy hoax (also Colorado balloon incident, Heene hoax): October 15, 2009 staged report that 6-year-old Falcon Heene floated away in a homemade helium balloon from Fort Collins, Colorado; guilty pleas, $62,000 search cost, 2020 pardon, 2025 Netflix documentary.
Balloon dilation
Balloon dilation is a medical procedure in which a catheter-mounted balloon is inflated inside a narrowed vessel, duct, or opening to widen it, used in arteries, the esophagus, and the urethra.
Balloon Embolectomy
Balloon embolectomy is a surgical procedure that removes a blood clot from an artery by withdrawing a catheter whose inflated balloon, passed beyond the clot, pushes the clot out.
Balloon endoscopy
Balloon endoscopy, also called balloon-assisted or device-assisted enteroscopy, uses inflatable balloons on an enteroscope and overtube to advance deep into the small intestine, supporting biopsies and hemostasis.