Scientists Say
A weekly word defined, in a sentence and in context. Click here to find the alphabetized list.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists Say: Melatonin
Levels of this hormone rise at night when we are asleep and drop during the day. This helps to control when we sleep and wake up.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Kakapo
This is a flightless parrot that lives in New Zealand. Unfortunately, there are only 154 of them left.
- Earth
Scientists Say: Stratigraphy
Stratigraphy is a branch of geology that looks at how rock layers are organized to understand how the world has changed over time.
- Tech
Scientists Say: Engineering
Want to build a bridge, clean dirty water, make a new drug or build a machine? You’re going to need an engineer — someone who uses science and math to solve practical problems.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists Say: Ultrasound
Ultrasound is a word used to describe any sounds higher than a person can hear. It’s also a technique used to see inside the body.
- Earth
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.
- Animals
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.
