Scientists Say
A weekly word defined, in a sentence and in context. Click here to find the alphabetized list.
- Environment
Scientists Say: Runoff
Water that flows through soil and into rivers, lakes and oceans becomes runoff. That runoff can carry part of the land — including its pollution — to the sea.
- Life
Scientists Say: Vacuole
Cells can’t always get rid of trash or digest food immediately. This week’s word describes where they store their stuff.
- Plants
Scientists Say: Invasive species
These are foreign species that are causing problems for native organisms and ecosystems.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists Say: Nocturnal and diurnal
Nocturnal animals are active at night. Diurnal animals live it up during the day.
- Life
Scientists Say: Kelp
Kelp is a kind of seaweed that forms huge forests under the ocean. But it isn’t a plant; it’s a type of algae.
- Math
Scientists Say: Uncertainty
In science, uncertainty is a term used to express how much data might vary around a measured point.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists Say: Lactose
You might not think of dairy products having sugar, but they do. Milk is rich in a sugar called lactose.
- Space
Scientists Say: Oort cloud
The very edge of our solar system is a crowded place. It’s full of ice and rocks in a bubble called the Oort cloud.
- Brain
Scientists Say: Receptor
This molecule is a chemical messenger’s docking station. A receptor serves as a lock for cell activity.
- Earth
Scientists Say: Inclusion
As rocks form slowly, they can trap things in their timeless clutches. A material trapped inside a mineral is called an inclusion.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists Say: Ectoparasite
Many people think of parasites as organisms that live inside their hosts. But some of them can be found on the outside instead.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists Say: CT scan
Short for computerized tomography, this technique lets scientists and doctors see insides in detail.
