Scientists Say
A weekly word defined, in a sentence and in context.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists Say: Circadian
We often feel the pull of sleep when the sun goes down. Light and our own biology put us into a regular, 24-hour rhythm that has its own word.
- Brain
Scientists Say: Blood-brain barrier
Blood can contain nasty bacteria and other things you want to keep away from your delicate brain. The blood-brain barrier is up to the job.
- Psychology
Scientists Say: Pareidolia
We often see things that aren’t there, such as bunnies in clouds or faces in toast. They aren’t real, but they do have a special name
- Life
Scientists Say: Parthenogenesis
When a baby frog develops from an egg that’s never been fertilized, we call that parthenogenesis.
- Materials Science
Scientists Say: Colloid
When water hovers in the air as fog and when bits of fat disperse in water as milk, they form a type of substance called a colloid.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Plankter
Plankton is the word used to describe a collection of these tiny free-floating organisms. This is what you call just one.
- Fossils
Scientists Say: Coprolite
Every living thing and signs of its existence — right down to their wastes — can fossilize under the right conditions. When poop fossilizes, it gets a special name.
- Ecosystems
Scientists say: Biomagnify
Chemicals in the environment can build up in an animal’s tissues. Predators who feed on these animals can accumulate more and more of the pollutants, a process known as biomagnification.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists say: Inflammation
When cells are injured, they send out distress signals. The rescuing cells cause more blood to flow to the area, producing inflammation.
- Animals
Scientists say: Hibernaculum
This week’s word is hibernaculum, the word scientists use to describe the place where an animal goes to hibernate.
