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Quantum fluctuation | a conjecture on how the cosmic egg originated |
Quantum tunneling | a physics explanation for how nothing can produce everything in a blip of time |
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Racism | practice of racial discrimination, segregation, persecution, or domination |
Radiocarbon dating (or Carbon dating) | technique used to obtain the "age" of a once-living thing, or artifacts containing carbon, using the proportion of radioactive carbon-14 to non-radioactive carbon-12. Because of the short half-life of radioactive carbon (5,730 years), the method only gives ages of thousands of years. |
Radioisotope dating (radiometric dating) | estimation of the "age" of a rock or mineral by measuring the proportions of the radioactive material (parent) and the stable decay product (daughter). The method makes four main assumptions. It assumes that the nuclear decay rate or half-life has always remained constant. It assumes that the initial proportions of parent to daughter are known. Thirdly, it assumes that the isotopic composition of rock samples has not been changed by fractionation over time. And lastly it assumes that rock samples have been a closed system over time with no migration of parent or daughter elements into or out of the rocks. |
Radioisotope decay | the spontaneous transformation of an unstable isotope to a different isotope or element with the release of rays or particles |
Radioisotopes | isotopes which are unstable and change form to more stable isotopes through a decay process |
Ramapithecus | Late Miocene and early Pliocene ape, known from fragmentary fossils from east Africa, southeast Europe, and North India and Pakistan; apparently identical or very similar to the East African Kenyapithecus. Ramapithecus is considered by some as a transitional form between the true Miocene apes and the later Hominidae. More recent evidence, however, suggests that Ramapithecus and the related or identical Sivapithecus are nearer to the orangutan |
Receptors | proteins that bind to a specific extracellular signaling molecule and initiate a response in the cell |
Recombinations (genetic) | process in which chromosomes or DNA molecules are broken and the fragments are rejoined in a new combination |
Recrystallization | the formation, essentially in the solid state, of new crystalline mineral grains in a rock |
Redshift | a shift to longer wavelengths of the light from remote galaxies; presumed to be produced by a Doppler shift |
Reducing | refers to the conditions in which hydrogen predominates over oxygen, so that most other elements form compounds with hydrogen. In very reducing conditions free hydrogen is present and free oxygen cannot exist |
Regimentation | making people think and act alike |
Regulatory gene | gene that codes for an RNA protein product whose function is to control the expression of other genes |
Resorption | the process of resorbing or the state of being resorbed; reabsorption |
Retrograde | an apparent westward motion of a planet on the celestial sphere or with respect to the stars; to go, or seem to go, backward |
Reversals | very severe departures from the steady decay of intensity |
Rhyolite | a kind of volcanic rock containing much silica and resembling granite in composition, but having a texture that shows flow |
Ribose | a pentose (5-carbon) sugar derived from some nucleic acids |
Ribosome | particle composed of ribosomal RNA and ribosomal proteins that associates with messenger RNA and catalyzes the synthesis of protein |
Ribozyme | an enzymatic RNA molecule; catalyzes reactions during RNA splicing |
Rickets | a disease of the skeletal system, chiefly of children, resulting from a deficiency of calcium salts or vitamin D in the diet, or from lack of sunlight, and characterized by a softening and, often, bending of the bones |
Riemannian space | a curved line through space |
RNA (Ribonucleic Acid) | polymer formed from covalently linked ribonucleotide monomers |
Robust | ruggedly built; especially the face and jaw; often used to catagorize the australopithecine species Australopithecus robustus and Australopithecus boisei |
Roche limit | the distance—approximately 2.5 planetary radii from the center—within which tides are stronger than the mutual gravitational attraction between two adjacent orbiting objects |
Rubidium-strontium dating | technique for obtaining an "age" for a rock using the proportions of radioactive rubidium-87 to the stable decay product strontium-87. The method makes four main assumptions. It assumes that the nuclear decay rate or half-life has always remained constant. It assumes that the initial proportions of parent to daughter are known. Thirdly, it assumes that the isotopic composition of rock samples has not been changed by fractionation over time. And lastly it assumes that rock samples have been a closed system over time with no migration of parent or daughter elements into or out of the rocks. |
Runaway greenhouse effect | a process whereby the heating of a planet leads to an increase in its atmospheric greenhouse effect and thus to further heating, thereby quickly altering the composition of its atmosphere and the temperature of its surface |
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Sadism | delight in cruelty |
Salinity | the quality, state, or degree of being salty |
Sauropod | herbivorous dinosaurs that had long necks and tails, five-toed limbs and a small head |
Schistose | having the structure of schist (a crystalline rock consisting of mineral ingredients so arranged as to impart a more or less laminar structure that may be split easily into layers |
Science Framework | a guideline written by the state of California's Department of Education to instruct teachers how to teach particular subject matter |
Scientific creation | each basic category of life appeared abruptly without descending from a common ancestor of a different sort. Much variation within a category is expected, but each possessed genetic limits to its variability and thus exhibited stasis |
Scientism | the belief that the scientific method is the only method for discovering truth; modern scientism was started by Auguste Comte (also known as positivism) |
Secondary atmosphere | the early faint sun paradox solution with an evolved oxidizing atmosphere |
Secular creationism | a slur invented to demean postmodernism by implying that their beliefs are fabricated for secular consumption like creation is for conservative Christians |
Secularization | the separation, as of civil and educational affairs from religious or ecclesiastical influence of control |
Sedimentary rocks | Rock formed by the accumulation of cementation of sediment. Usually these rocks form from transported mineral grains, but they can also form by chemical precipitation at the depositional site or by amassment of organic detritus. |
Seismic | caused or produced by earthquakes or earth movements |
Seismology | the study of earthquakes and the conditions that produce them and of the internal structure of the Earth as deduced from analysis of seismic waves |
Self-catalysis (or autocatalysis) | reaction that is catalyzed by one of its products, creating a positive feedback effect on the reaction rate |
Short-period comet | a comet that revolves around the sun in less than two hundred years |
Situational ethics | the position of Joseph Fletcher that any action may be good or bad depending on the situation. What is wrong in most situations may sometimes be right if the end it serves is sufficiently good. |
Skepticism | the philosophy that the truth of all knowledge must always be in question and that inquiry must be a process of doubting |
Social Darwinism | the implications of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection to the individual and society; all progress comes by competition, struggle, and the victory of the strong over the weak |
Societal Evolution | a subset of total evolution which deals with evolution that is supposedly occurring in cultures |
Solar system | the sun and all the heavenly bodies that revolve around it |
Soteriology | in theology, the doctrine of salvation through Jesus Christ |
Specialization | adaptive changes that allow organisms to become highly adjusted to their environment |
Speciation | the process of producing new species or kinds of organisms |
Species | a unit of classification below the genus. Animals and plants able to interbreed are usually considered in the same species, while those unable to interbreed are not. |
Speed of light | velocity of light travelling at 186,000 miles per second (or 6 trillion miles per year) |
Speleology | the science of exploring caves |
Speleothems | any secondary mineral deposit that is formed in a cave by the action of water |
Spina bifida | a deformity of the base of the spine resulting from a failure of junction of the parts, marked by a meningeal protrusion |
Splicing | describes the removal of introns and joining of exons in RNA; thus introns are spliced out, while exons are spliced together |
Spontaneous generation | supposed spontaneous development of life from a nonliving source |
Stalactites | a pendant cone or cylinder of carbonate of lime, attached, like an icicle, to the roof or side of a cavern and formed by the evaporation of dripping water from the rock above holding carbonate of lime inside |
Stalagmite | a cone shaped deposit of carbonate of lime extending vertically from the floor of a cave, often forming beneath and becoming continuous with a stalactite above |
Standardization | the act of standardizing, or making uniform without variations and irregularities |
Star | any self-luminous, gaseous, spherical heavenly body, as the sun, seen (except for the sun) as a fixed point of light |
Stasis | The stabilization of a population of organisms around a particular form or type, especially well illustrated by the long-term stability of organisms in the fossil record. |
Steady-state theory | a theory of cosmology, no longer favored, holding that new matter is continuously being created, thus keeping the density of the expanding universe constant |
Steam explosion pits | large holes in the pumice plain near a volcano caused by the escape of steam from ice and water buried by 300oC pumice; the pits are characterized by rills and gullies over 125 feet deep |
Stellar evolution | the imagined sequence of star transformation over time |
Sterilization | made incapable of producing others of its kind, as by removing the organs of reproduction or preventing them from functioning effectively |
Stratovolcano | a volcano that is contructed of alternating layers of lava and pyroclastic deposits, along with abundant dikes and sills. Viscous, acidic lava may flow from fissures radiating from a central vent, from which pyroclastics are ejected |
Stromatolites | an organo-sedimentary structure produced by sediment trapping, binding, and/or precipitation as a result of the growth and metabolic activity of microorganisms, principally blue-green algae |
Struggle for existence | more creatures are born than can survive |
Subsidence | the sudden sinking or gradual settling of the Earth's surface with little or no horizontal motion |
Substrate | molecule on which an enzyme acts; a part, substance, element, etc. which lies beneath and supports another; foundation |
Sumerian bicameral legislature | a legislative body consisting of two houses or chambers that was used by an ancient, non-Semitic people of South Mesopotamia |
Supercluster | a large region of space (50 to 100 million parsecs across) where matter is concentrated into galaxies, groups of galaxies, and clusters of galaxies |
Supernova | an explosion that marks the final stage of evolution of a star |
Supposition | the act of supposing; assumption; hypothesis |
Supraorbital | situated above the orbit of the eye |
Survival of the fittest | a phrase used to describe the process of natural selection—the perpetuation of the fit and the extinction of the less fit |
Sutures | the line of junction or an immovable joint between two bones, especially the skull |
Syndactyly | having two or more appendages united, as by webbing |
Systematic gaps | lack of transitional forms between different kinds of creatures |
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Taoist | a believer in the Chinese religion and philosophy based on the teachings of Lao-tse and advocating simplicity, selflessness, etc. |
Tap root | the main root of a plant, which grows directly downward with small branch roots spreading out from it |
Tartar | the Mongolian and Turkic peoples who invaded western Asia and eastern Europe in the Middle Ages |
Tautology | in logic, a statement that is true by definition and so is uninformative of the real world; for example: "girls are female" |
Taxon | a named group of organisms of any rank, such as a particular species, family, or class |
Tectonic | in geology, of or resulting from changes in the structure of the earth's crust |
Teleological argument | evidences of design in nature show creation with purpose |
Teleology | a belief that natural phenomena are determined not only by mechanical causes, but by an over-all design or purpose in nature; opposed to mechanism |
Teratology | that branch of biological science which deals with monsters or malformations |
Tetrapyrrole | four porphobilinogens combined together; usually in a ring structure (linear intermediate form); example—heme |
Theism | belief in the existence of God |
Theistic evolution | the theory that God used evolutionary processes to create the universe |
Theory of solution kinetics | concept that accounts for mathematical and chemical interpretation of the behavior of solutes in solution |
Thermal escape | the process whereby light gas molecules or atoms can escape from the gravitational attraction of a planet if they exceed the escape velocity |
Thermal radiation | the radiation emitted by any body or gas that is not at absolute zero |
Thermodynamics, | the total quantity of matter and energy in the universe is constant |
Thermodynamics, 2nd Law | matter and energy always tend to change from complex and ordered states to disordered states |
Theropod dinosaurs | extinct carnivorous dinosaurs in which the structure of the feet resembled those of quadrupeds rather than birds' feet. They were large and predatory. |
Thymine dimer | a chemically cross-linked pair of adjacent thymine residues in DNA, a result of damage induced by ultraviolet irradiation |
Till | in geology, stiff, stony, unstratified glacial drift forming poor subsoil impervious to water. It is found largely in all regions of extended glacial action, and has been traced over vast regions of the northern part of the U.S. and Canada |
Tranquil flood | the belief that the Biblical flood of Noah's time was global, but not catastrophic |
Transcription | the synthesis of RNA on a DNA template |
Transitional forms | (equals intermediate forms) life forms in transit between a simple and more complex stage |
Translation | the synthesis of protein from an mRNA template |
Transmute | to change from one nature, form, species, condition, or substance into another |
Triangulation | the process of determining the distance between points on the Earth's surface or in space by dividing up a large area into a series of connected triangles, measuring a base line to two points, and then locating a third point by computing both the size and the angles made by lines from this point to each end of the base line, and the lengths of these lines |
Trilobite | A fossil belonging to the arthropods which has an external, dorsal skeleton consisting of cephalon, thorax, and pygidium, being divided along its length into a central axis and two pleural regions. |
True vacuum | the original void from which the universe originated |
Tsunami | a very large ocean wave caused by an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption |
Turbidity currents | massive undersea mudslides, usually triggered by earthquakes and often covering hundreds, even thousands of square miles in area |
Typological | of the nature of, pertaining to, founded on, or treating of typology (the study of types, symbols, or symbolism) |
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