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air-pressure effects

the adverse mental or physical effects of a significant variation in atmospheric pressure. The effects experienced at high pressures—for example, in diving more than 10 m (33 ft) beneath the surface of the sea—may include difficulty breathing, nitrogen poisoning marked by light-headedness and mental instability, and oxygen poisoning caused by breathing oxygen under extreme pressure. Exposure to low pressures, as in mountain climbing or air travel without oxygen or air-pressure modification, characteristically causes oxygen starvation, with impaired performance and eventual loss of consciousness and death. See also acute mountain sickness; altitude sickness; decompression sickness; grayout.

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Psychology term of the day

March 16th 2025

phantom

phantom

n.

1. an illusion without material substance.

2. the feeling that an amputated body part (e.g., a limb or breast) is still present. See breast-phantom phenomenon; phantom limb; pseudoesthesia.