Scientists Say
A weekly word defined, in a sentence and in context. Click here to find the alphabetized list.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Gradient
This is a word used to describe the rate that something changes over a distance or time. Examples include the strength of a smell or the steepness of a mountain.
- Brain
Scientists Say: Glia
Scientists used to think glial cells did nothing more than glue the brain together. Now we know they do much, much more.
- Computing
Scientists Say: Radar
This is a system used to detect objects large and small. It works by sending out radio waves and waiting for them to bounce back.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Dung
This word is used to refer to animal poop. You know, manure. Crap. Feces.
- Physics
Scientists Say: Refraction
Light or sound may bend as it travels from one medium, such as air, to another, such as water. This bending is called refraction.
- Climate
Scientists Say: Weather bomb
Weather doesn’t just affect the air. Huge storms can send waves of pressure through the Earth as well.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Capsaicin
This chemical is produced by pepper plants and gives them their hot flavor.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Graphene
This is a single layer of carbon atoms, linked to each other in a flat sheet. It’s super strong, super flexible and conducts current, too.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Dire wolf
Dire wolves are an extinct species of wolf that roamed North America from about 300,000 to 12,000 years ago.
- Space
Scientists Say: Transit
When an object in space passes in front of a star and looks big enough to block out all the light, it’s an eclipse. When it’s smaller, it’s called a transit.
- Life
Scientists Say: Histology
When scientists study the parts of an animal or plant, they are studying anatomy. When they need a microscope to see the details of that anatomy, they are studying histology.
- Climate
Scientists Say: Ozone
Ozone is a molecule made of three oxygen atoms. In a layer above the Earth, it protects us from harmful radiation, but too close to home, it can harm our health.
