Scientists Say
A weekly word defined, in a sentence and in context. Click here to find the alphabetized list.
- Space
Scientists Say: Spaghettification
Black holes cram a lot of mass into a small area. When another object gets close, the black hole’s gravity can stretch it into a noodle-like strand.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists Say: Protein
Proteins are molecules made up of building blocks called amino acids. They play many key roles in the body’s cells and are essential for life.
- Physics
Scientists Say: Momentum
This word describes a property of a moving object based on its mass and the direction and speed of its motion.
- Space
Scientists Say: Quasar
This word describes the bright-shining core of a galaxy in which a supermassive black hole sucks in matter and releases a huge amount of energy.
- Microbes
Scientists Say: Amoeba
Amoebas are single-celled microbes that move and eat with shape-shifting bulges that extend from their cells. Some are blobs. Others build a shell.
- Earth
Scientists Say: Jurassic
During this time from about 200 million to 145 million years ago, dinosaurs reigned and many animals evolved, including birds and some early mammals.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Echolocation
This word describes a method that some animals use to sense their environments by making sounds and listening for their echoes.
- Earth
Scientists Say: Ring of Fire
This horseshoe-shaped path on the fringes of the Pacific Ocean holds most of the world’s active volcanos and earthquake sites.
- Physics
Scientists Say: Photon
This word describes light as a particle. A photon is the tiniest possible bit of electromagnetic radiation.
- Life
Scientists Say: Enzyme
This word describes a molecule that speeds up chemical reactions in living things. Enzymes work by lowering the energy needed for a reaction to occur.
- Brain
Scientists Say: Brainwaves
These patterns of electrical activity in the brain look like spikes or waves.
- Earth
Scientists Say: Meteorology
This word describes the study of processes in the Earth’s atmosphere, including the weather.
