Scientists Say

A weekly word defined, in a sentence and in context.

  1. Earth

    Scientists Say: Seismology

    Seismology is the branch of science focused on seismic waves — vibrations that run through or around Earth.

    By
  2. Materials Science

    Scientists Say: Hydrogel

    Tangled polymer chains help hydrogels hold their shape despite being full of water.

    By
  3. Animals

    Scientists Say: Metamorphosis

    Animals that go through metamorphosis look very different as adults than they did as kids.

    By
  4. Physics

    Scientists Say: Fusion

    Nuclear fusion is the physics that powers the sun and could someday provide abundant clean energy on Earth.

    By
  5. Physics

    Scientists Say: Fission

    Nuclear fission is the process of splitting atoms apart to release huge amounts of energy.

    By
  6. Computing

    Scientists Say: Artificial intelligence

    Artificial intelligence is technology smart enough to do tasks that would normally require human brainpower.

    By
  7. Health & Medicine

    Scientists Say: Infection

    Infections range from mild illnesses, such as the common cold, to deadly diseases, such as rabies.

    By
  8. Earth

    Scientists Say: Drought

    A drought is a shortage of rain or snow in a particular area.

    By
  9. Chemistry

    Scientists Say: Fluorescence

    This property causes materials — including some animals’ skin, fur or feathers — to glow under light.

    By
  10. Brain

    Scientists Say: Glymphatic System

    The glymphatic system bathes the brain in cleansing fluids during sleep and clears away harmful cellular waste.

    By
  11. Math

    Scientists Say: Mean, median and mode

    Mean, median and mode are all different ways to describe the middle value in a dataset.

    By
  12. Space

    Scientists Say: Astronaut

    Astronauts have been going to space for over 60 years.

    By