Scientists Say
A weekly word defined, in a sentence and in context. Click here to find the alphabetized list.
- Life
Scientists Say: Zooxanthellae
Algae called zooxanthellae live in the tissue of coral and provide the coral with food and its color.
- Space
Scientists Say: Galaxy
A galaxy is a group of millions to billions of stars, plus a lot of dust and gas.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Extinction
When the last member of a species dies, it’s gone forever. That species is extinct.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: pH
pH is a scale used to measure the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. The scale ranges from zero to 14, with seven as the perfect neutral middle.
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Scientists Say: Mineral
Minerals are chemical elements or compounds that form repeating crystal structures. Quartz is a mineral. Table salt is, too.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists Say: Olfactory
Smell something? Thank your olfactory sense. Olfactory refers to anything having to do with smell.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Hertz
Frequency is how often something repeats over a period of time. Frequency is often measured in hertz, the number of times a cycle repeats each second.
- Physics
Scientists Say: Big Bang
The Big Bang is the current theory about how our universe came to be. It began with a vast explosion of matter — a very Big Bang.
- Life
Scientists Say: Mitosis
Mitosis is a type of cell division where one cell divides into two identical copies, called daughter cells.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Hagfish
Hagfish are eel-shaped fish with many traits that make them similar to long-vanished fossils. When threatened, they can pump out piles of slime.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists Say: Obesogens
The chemicals can change how the body stores fat or how often someone feels hungry — increasing the risk for obesity.
- Climate
Scientists Say: Eyewall
The calm center of a hurricane or other tropical cyclone is called the eye. But the worst winds and rain are around it, in the eyewall.
