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absolute zero: The coldest possible temperature, also known as 0 kelvin. It is equal to minus 273.15 degrees Celsius (minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit).
atmosphere: The envelope of gases surrounding Earth, another planet or a moon.
atom: The basic unit of a chemical element. Atoms are made up of a dense nucleus that contains positively charged protons and uncharged neutrons. The nucleus is orbited by a cloud of negatively charged electrons.
Big Bang: The rapid expansion of dense matter and space-time that, according to current theory, marked the origin of the universe. It is supported by astronomers’ current understanding of the composition and structure of the universe.
bond: (in chemistry) A semi-permanent attachment between atoms — or groups of atoms — in a molecule. It’s formed by an attractive force between the participating atoms. Once bonded, the atoms will work as a unit. To separate the component atoms, energy must be supplied to the molecule as heat or some other type of radiation.
Bose-Einstein condensate: A state of matter seen when atoms (or subatomic particles) have been cooled almost to absolute zero and now behave as a community, becoming almost a “superatom,” with quantum behaviors. Predicted in the 1920s, the first Bose-Einstein condensate was not made until 1995.
cell: (in telecommunications) A technology that relies on a large number of base stations to relay signals. Each base station covers only a small area, which is known as a cell. Phones that rely on this system are typically referred to as cell phones.
chemical: A substance formed from two or more atoms that unite (bond) in a fixed proportion and structure. For example, water is a chemical made when two hydrogen atoms bond to one oxygen atom. Its chemical formula is H2O. Chemical also can be an adjective to describe properties of materials that are the result of various reactions between different compounds.
chemical bonds: Attractive forces between atoms that are strong enough to make the linked elements function as a single unit. Some of the attractive forces are weak, some are very strong. All bonds appear to link atoms through a sharing of — or an attempt to share — electrons.
condensation: The process of moisture in the air turning into a liquid as it comes into contact with a very cold surface. Or the term can refer to the liquid water that condenses out of the air.
condense: To become thicker and denser. This can occur, for instance, when moisture evaporates out of a liquid. Condense also can mean to change from a gas or a vapor into a liquid. This can occur when water molecules in the air join together to become droplets of water.
current: (in electricity) The flow of electricity or the amount of charge moving through some material over a particular period of time.
degenerate: A verb for the breakdown of a system, usually a living one.
develop: To emerge or to make come into being, either naturally or through human intervention, such as by manufacturing.
digital: (in computer science and engineering) An adjective indicating that something has been developed numerically on a computer or on some other electronic device, based on a binary system (where all numbers are displayed using a series of only zeros and ones).
electric charge: The physical property responsible for electric force; it can be negative or positive.
electric current: A flow of electric charge — electricity — usually from the movement of negatively charged particles, called electrons.
environment: The sum of all of the things that exist around some organism or the process and the condition those things create. Environment may refer to the weather and ecosystem in which some animal lives, or, perhaps, the temperature and humidity (or even the placement of things in the vicinity of an item of interest).
field: (in physics) A region in space where certain physical effects operate, such as magnetism (created by a magnetic field), gravity (by a gravitational field), mass (by a Higgs field) or electricity (by an electrical field).
gluon: A subatomic particle believed to bind other particles together.
helium: An inert gas that is the lightest member of the noble gas series. Helium can become a solid at -272 degrees Celsius (-458 degrees Fahrenheit).
ion: (adj. ionized) An atom or molecule with an electric charge due to the loss or gain of one or more electrons. An ionized gas, or plasma, is where all of the electrons have been separated from their parent atoms.
Jupiter: (in astronomy) The solar system’s largest planet, it has the shortest day length (9 hours, 55 minutes). A gas giant, its low density indicates that this planet is composed mostly of the light elements hydrogen and helium. This planet also releases more heat than it receives from the sun as gravity compresses its mass (and slowly shrinks the planet).
kelvin: A temperature scale that has units the size of those on the Celsius scale. The difference, 0 kelvin is absolute zero. So 0 kelvin is equal to -273.15 Celsius. That means 0 Celsius is equal to 273.15 kelvins. NOTE: Unlike with the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales, there is no use of the term “degrees” for numbers on the kelvin scale.
lightning: A flash of light triggered by the discharge of electricity that occurs between clouds or between a cloud and something on Earth’s surface. The electrical current can cause a flash heating of the air, which can create a sharp crack of thunder.
liquid: A material that flows freely but keeps a constant volume, like water or oil.
liquid crystal: A liquid made from an organic (carbon-based) material. Its physical structure consists of loosely ordered arrays of its molecular building blocks. Although a liquid, these arrays seem to resemble the ordered lattice seen in true, solid crystals. Also like true crystals, the liquid can refract light in ways that do not look the same from all directions.
magnetic field: An area of influence created by certain materials, called magnets, or by the movement of electric charges.
matter: Something that occupies space and has mass. Anything on Earth with matter will have a property described as “weight.”
molecule: An electrically neutral group of atoms that represents the smallest possible amount of a chemical compound. Molecules can be made of single types of atoms or of different types. For example, the oxygen in the air is made of two oxygen atoms (O2), but water is made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O).
natural gas: A mix of gases that developed underground over millions of years (often in association with crude oil). Most natural gas starts out as 50 to 90 percent methane, along with small amounts of heavier hydrocarbons, such as propane and butane.
neutron: A subatomic particle carrying no electric charge that is one of the basic pieces of matter. Neutrons belong to the family of particles known as hadrons.
neutron star: The very dense corpse of what had once been a massive star. As the star died in a supernova explosion, its outer layers shot out into space. Its core then collapsed under its intense gravity, causing protons and electrons in its atoms to fuse into neutrons (hence the star’s name). A single teaspoonful of a neutron star, on Earth, would weigh more than a billion tons.
particle: A minute amount of something.
philosopher: Researchers (often in university settings) who ponder fundamental truths about relationships between things, including people and the world. The term also is used to describe truth seekers in the ancient world, ones who sought to find meaning and logic out of observing the workings of society and of the natural world, including the universe.
plasma: (in chemistry and physics) A gaseous state of matter in which electrons separate from the atom. A plasma includes both positively and negatively charged particles. (in medicine) The colorless fluid part of blood.
pressure: Force applied uniformly over a surface, measured as force per unit of area.
proton: A subatomic particle that is one of the basic building blocks of the atoms that make up matter. Protons belong to the family of particles known as hadrons.
quarks: A family of subatomic particles that each carries a fractional electric charge. Quarks are building blocks of particles called hadrons. Quarks come in types, or “flavors,” known as: up, down, strange, charm, top and bottom.
range: The full extent or distribution of something. For instance, a plant or animal’s range is the area over which it naturally exists.
regime: A system of government or an established organization that tends to establish rules; or the normal or conventional way of looking at something or doing something. Or a pattern or aspect of some natural phenomenon.
resistance: (as in drug resistance) The reduction in the effectiveness of a drug to cure a disease, usually a microbial infection. (as in disease resistance) The ability of an organism to fight off disease. (as in exercise) A type of rather sedentary exercise that relies on the contraction of muscles to build strength in localized tissues. (in physics) Something that keeps a physical material (such as a block of wood, flow of water or air) from moving freely, usually because it provides friction to impede its motion.
Saturn: The sixth planet out from the sun in our solar system. One of the two gas giants, this planet takes 10.6 hours to rotate (completing a day) and 29.5 Earth years to complete one orbit of the sun. It has at least 82 moons. But what most distinguishes this planet is the broad and flat plane of bright rings that orbit it.
solid: Firm and stable in shape; not liquid or gaseous.
speed of light: A constant often used in physics, corresponding to 1.08 billion kilometers (671 million miles) per hour.
star: The basic building block from which galaxies are made. Stars develop when gravity compacts clouds of gas. When they become hot enough, stars will emit light and sometimes other forms of electromagnetic radiation. The sun is our closest star.
sublimate: (n. sublimation) To turn from a solid into a gas without first melting into a liquid. One example: When ice cubes shrink in their tray in the freezer, it’s because they sublimated.
sun: The star at the center of Earth’s solar system. It is about 27,000 light-years from the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Also a term for any sunlike star.
superatom: A clustered group of atoms that in some ways now collectively behave as if they were a single atom.
universe: The entire cosmos: All things that exist throughout space and time. It has been expanding since its formation during an event known as the Big Bang, some 13.8 billion years ago (give or take a few hundred million years).
voltage: A force associated with an electric current that is measured in units known as volts. Power companies use high-voltage to move electric power over long distances.
water vapor: Water in its gaseous state, capable of being suspended in the air.
white dwarf: A small, very dense remains of a star that is now the size of a planet. It is what is left when a star with a mass about the same as our sun has exhausted its nuclear fuel of hydrogen and cast off its outer layers.
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