Aoraki / Mount Cook Natinal Park

A mountainous park around New Zealand's highest mountains, including the Mount Cook, and the largest glaciers. It lies in the center of the south island and is most accessible from the east.


Recommended links: Department of Conservation, mtcooknz.com, newzealand.com, Wikipedia

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Arve

A river originating in France that joins the river Rhône in Geneva, Switzerland, after about 100 km.


Recommended links: Geneva info, Wikipedia (English), Wikipedia (French)

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Acadia National Park

Acadia National Park is located south of Ellsworth, on the coast of Maine, and features a wild coastline, barren granite mountains, forests, and lakes. The highest point is Cadillac Mountain on Mount Desert Island, which comprises the majority of the National Park's area.


Recommended links: Acadia National Park, acadiamagic, Cadillac Mountain, Mount Desert Island, National Geographic, Tripadvisor Wikipedia,

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Alpine ibex (Capra ibex)

A species of wild mountain goats that lives in the alps (France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Bulgaria). The Alpine ibex was extinct except for a population of about 100 animals in the italian Gran Paradiso park. All current populations originally originate from these animals.


Recommended links: Animal Diversity Web, IUCN Red List, Large Herbivore Network, Ultimate Ungulate Fact Sheet,  Wikipedia (english), Wikipedia (german)

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Acacia dealbata

A fast-growing, short-lived, evergreen tree that is native to southeastern Australia and has been introduced in many countries around the Mediterranean. The common name of this tree is silver wattle or blue wattle.


Recommended links: California Invasive Plant Council, florabank, Royal Horticultural Society, Wikipedia

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Areuse

A river in the french speaking part of Switzerland that flows into Lake Neuchâtel. In one section of the river between the villages of Noiraigue and Boudry there is an impressive and deep gorge that is well-known. 


Recommended links: balades-en-famille (french), gorgesdelareuse.ch (german), myswitzerland (english), neuchateltourism (english), wanderseite.ch (german), Wikipedia (german),

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APS-C sized sensor

A "crop" sensor size of digital photo cameras that is approx. 1.5x shorter and narrower than a traditional full frame sensor (24 x 36 mm). The APS-C sensor size has become a standard for DSLR cameras and is used by many different brands. 


Recommended links: Bob Atkins, Digital Photography School, Wikipedia

Blog posts: Macro tilt-shift & EF-S mount incompatibility

Alkaloid

Alkaloids are chemical compounds that usually contain a nitrogen atom in a hetercyclic ring and originate from amino acids. Most alkaloids are secondary metabolites and have strong effects, mostly toxic, on organisms. 

Important alkaloids with their wikipedia links: Atropine, cocaine, codeine, galantamine, lycorine, morphine, nicotine


Recommended links: Science Daily, Plant Science Blog, Wikipedia (alkaloid, english), Wikipedia (Alkaloid, german),

Blog posts: Flora: Narcissus pseudonarcissus - Wild Daffodil - Jonquille - Osterglocke

Albis

A mountain or hill that is close to Zurich and which can easily be reached from Albispass. There is also a wooden tower (Hochwachtturm) that provides panoramic views of the alps.


Recommended links: Google maps, Hochwachtturm, Wanderseite.ch,  weather station (www.albispass.ch), Wikipedia (englisch), Wikipedia (german)

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Axelrod, Robert

Robert Axelrod is a professor for the Study of Human Understanding at the University of Michigan, who is best known for his work on the evolution of cooperation.


Recommended links: Amazon.com, Robert Axelrod's homepage, Wikipedia (english), Wikipedia (german) 
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Acetylsalicylic acid

The chemical name of Aspirin, which is an anti-inflammatory, analgesic medicine and one of the most widely used drugs.


Recommended links: About.com, Examiner.com, Wikipedia, Wikipedia (history of aspirin), Wikipedia (salicylic acid)

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Austria

German speaking country in central Europe that has Vienna as its capital.


Recommended links: austria.gv.at, austria.org, Lonely planet, Wikipedia (english), Wikipedia (german), Wikitravel

Blog posts: Flora: Gentiana bavarica