Scientists Say
A weekly word defined, in a sentence and in context.
- Earth
Scientists Say: Hoodoo
When softer rocks are covered with a harder rock layer, weathering can wear away the softer stone. This will leave behind tall thin towers — hoodoos.
- Genetics
Scientists Say: DNA sequencing
All of us have our own individual DNA. Now, scientists can determine what each individual strand is made of — a process called DNA sequencing.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Crepuscular
Day creatures are diurnal. Night creatures are nocturnal. Animals active at twilight get a special name.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Venomous
A poison-arrow frog is poisonous, but a rattlesnake is not. What’s the difference? It’s how their poisons are delivered.
- Environment
Scientists Say: Poisonous
A poison-arrow frog is poisonous, but a rattlesnake is not. What’s the difference? It’s how the poison is delivered.
- Environment
Scientists Say: Plastisphere
As plastic floats in the ocean, it can acquire its own colony of microbes and algae. We call this ecosystem the plastisphere.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Toxin
It is safe to refer to any poison as toxic. But while all toxins are poisonous, most poisons are not toxins.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Cyanide
Cyanides are poisonous. But they are more than that. This group of compounds is used in everything from mining to capturing fish.
- Space
Scientists Say: Wormhole
Scientists have predicted the presence of tunnels in space that connect two points in space and time. They are named for the shape they resemble.
- Life
Scientists Say: Exocytosis
For a cell to remove something large from inside itself, it turns to a process called exocytosis.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Acidification
When a solution becomes more acidic, it’s acidifying. And that’s not always a good thing.
- Life
Scientists Say: Endocytosis
Small molecules can go into a cell through receptors or even just dissolve into it. But something big? That requires endocytosis.
