Scientists Say

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

  1. Scientists Say: Latitude and Longitude

    Latitude is a measure of how far a location is north or south of the equator. Longitude is a measure of how far east or west a location is from the Prime Meridian.

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  2. Climate

    Scientists Say: Waterspout

    A whirlwind over land is just a whirlwind. But over water, a whirlwind becomes a waterspout.

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  3. Scientists Say: Gyroscope

    Gyroscopes are devices that measure the three-dimensional orientation of an object. They can be found in objects as varied as smartphones and space telescopes.

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  4. Scientists Say: Petrichor

    There is no smell quite like that of fresh soil after a rainstorm. That smell has a name — petrichor — and scientists even know how it’s made.

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  5. Ecosystems

    Scientists Say: Niche

    An organism’s niche is the role it fills in the community it lives in.

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  6. Materials Science

    Scientists Say: Zirconium

    Zirconium is a metal that knows the meaning of tough. It’s so heat resistant that it’s used for molds to shape melted metals, and so radiation resistant that it coats nuclear reactors.

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  7. Life

    Scientists Say: Metabolism

    Metabolism is all the chemical activities that support life in a cell, an organ and a whole organism’s body.

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  8. Animals

    Scientists Say: Jellies

    Jellies have roamed the seas for 500 million years. Some have stinging tentacles and bell-shaped bodies and are called jellyfish. Others are very different.

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  9. Planets

    Scientists Say: Exomoon

    A moon that orbits a planet in our solar system in a moon. But a moon that orbits a planet outside our solar system? That’s an exomoon.

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  10. Brain

    Scientists Say: Opioid

    Opioid drugs work in the brain to stop pain. But the drugs also produce pleasure, which can make people want to take them over and over again.

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  11. Climate

    Scientists Say: Rime ice

    Rime ice is ice that forms when water freezes in a snap onto a surface.

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  12. Ecosystems

    Scientists Say: Symbiosis

    Two species can live together and support each other in a relationship called symbiosis.

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