All articles A–Z
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Sprat
Sprat (Sprattus sprattus, European sprat, brisling) is a small clupeid forage fish of the Northeast Atlantic, Baltic, Mediterranean, and Black Sea; a zooplankton predator, prey for fish, seabirds, and mammals, and a major fishmeal and canned-fish species.
Spratly Islands (南沙群岛)
Spratly Islands (南沙群岛, Nansha Qundao; Truong Sa): coral reef archipelago in the southern South China Sea claimed by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei; a 2016 UNCLOS tribunal ruled no feature generates an EEZ.
Spratly Islands dispute
Spratly Islands dispute: overlapping sovereignty claims by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei over South China Sea reefs; 2016 arbitral ruling rejected China's nine-dash line; marked by island-building and coastguard incidents.
Sprawl (robot)
Sprawl is a family of small, cockroach-inspired hexapedal running robots developed at Stanford University from 1999, achieving fast, stable locomotion over uneven terrain using open-loop control and passive leg compliance.
Sprawl trilogy
The Sprawl trilogy, also called the Neuromancer, Cyberspace, or Matrix trilogy, is William Gibson's first novel sequence: Neuromancer (1984), Count Zero (1986), and Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988), set in the Sprawl and foundational to cyberpunk.
Spray coating
Spray coating is a contact-free surface-treatment method in which an atomizer breaks liquid coating into droplets deposited onto substrates, used for automotive paint, solar cells, and more.
Spray deposition
Spray deposition is a thin-film coating method that atomizes a liquid precursor into droplets and deposits them as a solid film at atmospheric pressure, without vacuum.
Spray drying
Spray drying, patented by Samuel Percy in 1872, converts liquid feeds into dry powder by atomizing droplets into hot gas within seconds; dominant in food (dairy), pharmaceuticals (ASDs, inhalables), and chemicals.
Spray foam
Spray foam, more fully spray polyurethane foam, is a two-component polyurethane insulation applied in attics and wall cavities; closed-cell forms offer about R-6 per inch and act as vapor retarders.
Spray ionization
Spray ionization is a family of soft ionization methods in mass spectrometry that nebulize liquid samples into charged droplets, releasing ions from small molecules to intact viruses.
Spray nozzle
A spray nozzle, also called an atomizer nozzle, is a device that converts pressurized liquid into a controlled pattern of droplets, setting flow rate, spray angle, and droplet size.
Spray pyrolysis
Spray pyrolysis, also called the spray pyrolysis technique, is an inexpensive deposition method that converts sprayed precursor droplets into thin films and powders on heated substrates.
Sprayer
Sprayer: agricultural equipment that atomizes pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or fertilizers into droplets for controlled application. Types include knapsack, boom, airblast, and drone (UASS) sprayers; droplet size, calibration, and drift management govern performance.
Spread (film)
Spread is a 2009 American comedy-drama-romance directed by David Mackenzie, starring Ashton Kutcher as LA hustler Nikki, with Anne Heche and Margarita Levieva; it premiered at Sundance, grossed $12 million worldwide, and scored 22% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Spread betting
Spread betting: wagering on how far an outcome deviates from an operator-set spread, covering financial indices and sports margins of victory. UK: FCA-regulated, taxed at 3% (financial) or 10% (other) General Betting Duty; operators earn roughly 5% commission on winning bets.
Spread of Islam
The spread of Islam, from 7th-century Arabia across Afro-Eurasia, proceeded by rapid military conquest to the Indus and Iberia by 712, then slow conversion shaped by jizya tax incentives, trade networks, and Sufi missionaries, especially in Southeast Asia.
Spread of Islam in Indonesia
The spread of Islam in Indonesia was the gradual conversion of the archipelago between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries, carried out through trade, Sufi teachers, and rulers' conversion.
Spread of Islam in Ternate and Tidore
The spread of Islam in Ternate and Tidore was the conversion of the two rival clove-trading sultanates of North Maluku, Indonesia, whose rulers were all Muslim by 1500.
Spread spectrum
Spread spectrum, also called spread spectrum communication, is a family of telecommunications techniques that transmit a signal over bandwidth much wider than the information needs, mainly by direct sequence or frequency hopping.
Spreadeagle (position)
Spreadeagle position: a body posture with arms and legs stretched wide apart, named after the 1560s heraldic spread eagle; positional sense attested 1785; used in restraint, figure skating, and the cheerleading X jump.
Spreading the Disease
Spreading the Disease is Anthrax's second studio album, released October 30, 1985 on Megaforce/Island; first with Joey Belladonna and Frank Bello, produced with Carl Canedy, featuring Madhouse, Armed and Dangerous, and Gung-Ho.
Spreadsheet
A spreadsheet is a computer application that organizes data in a grid of cells holding numbers, text, or formulas; Microsoft Excel remains the market leader as of 2025.
Sprechgesang
Sprechgesang (Sprechstimme) is a vocal technique blending speaking and singing, where performers follow a notated rhythm while treating pitches as an outline to be inflected rather than held.
Sprechstück
Sprechstück is the term Peter Handke used for his early 1960s stage works, in which language itself rather than plot is the content of the theater.
Spree (film)
Spree is a 2020 American satirical thriller, also described as a horror comedy, directed by Eugene Kotlyarenko and co-written with Gene McHugh. Joe Keery plays rideshare driver Kurt Kunkle, who livestreams killing his passengers to go viral; premiered at Sundance 2020, released August 14, 2020 by RLJE Films.
Spree Forest
Spree Forest (Spreewald, Lower Sorbian Błota) is a 475 km² inland delta of the River Spree southeast of Berlin, a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 1991 with over 250 km of navigable channels, Sorbian heritage, and the famed Spreewald gherkin.
Spree killer
Spree killer: a multiple-homicide offender who kills several victims at two or more locations in a short, continuous episode without a cooling-off period; FBI dropped the category in 2005, but researchers such as Safarik and Ramsland still classify spree killers separately from serial and mass murderers.
Sprengel deformity
Sprengel deformity, also called congenital high scapula or congenital elevation of the scapula, is a rare birth defect in which the shoulder blade fails to descend, causing elevation, dysplasia, limited shoulder motion, and associations with Klippel-Feil syndrome and scoliosis.
Sprezzatura
Sprezzatura: Italian term coined by Baldassare Castiglione in The Book of the Courtier (1528) for studied nonchalance that conceals art, with roots in Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian; now a fashion and aesthetics concept.
Sprigatito, Floragato, and Meowscarada
Sprigatito, Floragato, Meowscarada: Paldea's Grass-type starter line from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, National Dex #0906-0908, evolving at levels 16 and 36; Meowscarada is Grass/Dark with Protean or Overgrow, Flower Trick, and Knock Off.