Science terms starting with S

1,372 terms

  1. Set Three of a kind when you have two of the rank in your hand, and there is one on the board.
  2. Set-up The process whereby strong winds blowing down the length of a lake cause water to "pile up" at the downwind end, raising water levels there and lowering…
  3. Setback Thermostat A thermostat that can be set to automatically lower temperatures in an unoccupied house and raise them again before the occupant returns.
  4. Settlement After negotiating, the amount you agree to accept from the insurance company as full payment for your loss.
  5. Setup This referes to various adjustments that are made to the race car's suspension for handling at a specific racetrack.
  6. severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) A disease affecting the immune system. SCID is fatal if affected individuals do not receive bone marrow transplants. See also antibody
  7. Severe Icing The rate of ice accumulation on an aircraft is such that de-icing/anti-icing equipment fails to reduce or control the hazard.
  8. Severe Local Storm A convective storm that usually covers a relatively small geographic area, or moves in a narrow path, and is sufficiently intense to threaten life and/or…
  9. Severe Local Storm Watch An alert issued by the National Weather Service for the contiguous U.S. and its adjacent waters of the potential for severe thunderstorms or tornadoes.
  10. Severe Thunderstorm A thunderstorm that produces a tornado, winds of at least 58 mph (50 knots), and/or hail at least ¾" in diameter.
  11. Severe Thunderstorm Warning This is issued when either a severe thunderstorm is indicated by the WSR-88D radar or a spotter reports a thunderstorm producing hail 3/4 inch or larger…
  12. Severe Thunderstorm Watch This is issued by the National Weather Service when conditions are favorable for the development of severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area.
  13. Severe Weather Analysis This WSR-88D radar product provides 3 base products (reflectivity (SWR), radial velocity (SWV), and spectrum width (SWW)) at the highest resolution…
  14. Severe Weather Potential Statement This statement is designed to alert the public and state/local agencies to the potential for severe weather up to 24 hours in advance.
  15. Severe Weather Probability This WSR-88D radar product algorithm displays numerical values proportional to the probability that a storm will produce severe weather within 30 minutes.
  16. Severe Weather Statement A National Weather Service product which provides follow up information on severe weather conditions (severe thunderstorm or tornadoes) which have…
  17. Sewage The waste water from domestic, commercial and industrial sources carried by sewers.
  18. sewage treatment A widespread biotechnological processes in developed economies. Methods vary widely, but all are designed for the biological break-down of human and…
  19. Sewage treatment (primary) Mechanical treatment of sewage in which large solids are filtered out by screens and suspended solids settle out as sludge in a sedimentation tank.
  20. SEWD Southeastward
  21. Sewer tile Glazed waterproof clay pipe with bell joints.
  22. sex chromosome Differentiated chromosome which is responsible for the determination of sex of the individual.
  23. sex determination Any method by which the distinction between males and females is established in a species, particularly at an early stage of foetal development.
  24. sex duction The incorporation of bacterial genes into F factors and their subsequent transfer, by conjugation, to a recipient cell.
  25. sex factor A bacterial episome (e.g. the F plasmid in E. coli ) that enables the cell to be a donor of genetic material.
  26. sex hormones Steroid hormones that control sexual development in animals.
  27. sex linkage Referring to genes present on one of the sex chromosomes, thus genetically linked to the sex of the individual.
  28. sex mosaic Synonym of gynandromorph.
  29. sex-influenced dominance The tendency for gene action to vary between the sexes within a species. For example, the presence of horns in some breeds of sheep appears to be dominant…
  30. sex-limited Expression of a trait in only one sex; e.g. milk production in mammals; egg production in chickens.
  31. Sex-linked Located on the X chromosome. Sex-linked (or x-linked) diseases are generally seen only in males. See also gene, mutation
  32. sexed embryos Embryos separated according to sex.
  33. Sexual reproduction The process where two cells (gametes) fuse to form one hybrid, fertilized cell. See Asexual reproduction, Gamete, Hybrid.
  34. SFC Surface
  35. Sferic In solar-terrestrial terms, a transient electric or magnetic field generated by any feature of lightning discharge (entire flash).
  36. SG Snow grains
  37. SGFNT Significant
  38. Shading Coefficient A measure of window glazing performance that is the ratio of the total solar heat gain through a specific window to the total solar heat gain through a…
  39. Shadow Person A commonly-reported inky black humanoid entity that moves fast, it is often spotted out of the corner of the eye and has been interpreted to be anything…
  40. Shadow zone The region where direct sound does not penetrate because of upward diffraction due to vertical temperature and/or wind gradients.
  41. Shaft The vertical segment of a column or pilaster between the base and the capital.
  42. Shaft horsepower A measure of the actual mechanical energy per unit time delivered to a turning shaft. 1 shaft horsepower = 1 electric horsepower = 550 ft-lb/second.
  43. Shaft house House at top of the access shaft to gate chamber, which secures access to the gates.
  44. Shaft or Morning Glory Spillway A vertical or inclined shaft into which flood water spills and then is conducted through, under, or around a dam by means of a conduit or tunnel.
  45. Shaft spillway A vertical or inclined shaft into which water spills and then is conveyed through, under, or around a dam by means of a conduit or tunnel.
  46. shake culture An agitated suspension in culture providing adequate aeration for cells in the liquid medium.
  47. shaker A platform, with set or variable speed control, used to agitate vessels containing liquid cell cultures. Also described as a platform shaker.
  48. Shale A rock formed of consolidated mud. Fine-grained sedimentary rock formed from hardened clay and silt that typically splits into thin layers.
  49. Shale (outcrop) A fine-grained sedimentary rock characterized by parallel layering.
  50. Shale oil Slow-flowing, dark brown, heavy oil obtained when kerogen in oil shale is vaporized at high temperatures and then condensed.
  51. Shallow Fog Fog in which the visibility at 6 feet above ground level is 5/8ths statute mile or more and the apparent visibility in the fog layer is less than 5/8ths…
  52. SHARS Subtle Heavy Rainfall Signature
  53. Shear Literally the sliding of one layer across another, with deformation and fracturing in the direction parallel to the movement.
  54. Shear strength Internal resistance to stress (or movement) that comes from friction and cohesion of the sediment.
  55. Shear wall A vertical lateral-force-resisting element in a structure assigned to resist wind or earthquake generated lateral forces.
  56. Shear zone An area where the rock mass has moved along the plane of contact which often becomes a channel for ground water.
  57. Sheathing A construction element used to cover the exterior of wall framing and roof trusses.
  58. Sheepsfoot roller A tamping roller having lugs with feet extending at their outer tips.
  59. Sheet Flow Flow that occurs overland in places where there are no defined channels, the flood water spreads out over a large area at a uniform depth.
  60. Sheet ice Ice formed by the freezing of liquid precipitation or the freezing of melted solid precipitation (see snow depth)
  61. Sheet piling Steel strips shaped to interlock with each other when driven into the ground.
  62. Sheet wash A flow of rainwater that covers the entire ground surface with a thin film and is not concentrated into streams.
  63. SHEFPARS A software decoder for SHEF Data.
  64. Shelf Cloud A low, horizontal wedge-shaped arcus cloud, associated with a thunderstorm gust front (or occasionally with a cold front, even in the absence of…
  65. shell See shoulder.
  66. Shelterbelt A natural or planned barrier of trees or shrubs to reduce erosion and provide shelter from winds or storms.
  67. Sheltering (in-place) A protective action that involves taking cover in upper levels of a building that is able to withstand high flood levels.
  68. Sherds Broken pieces of earthenware/pottery.
  69. SHFT Shift
  70. SHIELD Shield (screen) A screen to shield a rain-gauge from the influence of the wind, or to shield a thermometer against insolation.
  71. Shielding A protective barrier, usually a dense material, which reduces the passage of radiation from radioactive materials to the surroundings.
  72. Shine-Dalgarno sequence A conserved sequence of prokaryotic mRNAs that is complementary to a sequence near the 5' terminus of the 16S ribosomal RNA and is involved in the…
  73. SHLW Shallow
  74. shoot apex See: shoot tip.
  75. shoot differentiation The development of growing points, leaf primordia and finally shoots from a shoot tip, axial bud, or callus surface.
  76. shoot tip The terminal bud (0.1 - 1.0 mm) of a plant, which consists of the apical meristem (0.05 - 0.
  77. shoot-tip graft A shoot tip or meristem tip grafted onto a prepared seedling or micropropagated rootstock in culture.
  78. Shore ice An ice sheet in the form of a long border attached to the bank or shore; border ice.
  79. Shoring Temporary bracing to hold the sides of an excavation from caving.
  80. Short Circuit An electric current taking a shorter or different path than intended.
  81. Short Circuit Current The current flowing freely through an external circuit that has no load or resistance; the maximum current possible.
  82. short interspersed nuclear element (Abbreviation: SINE ). Families of short (150-300 bp), moderately repetitive DNA elements of eukaryotic genomes.
  83. Short position If you sell stock short and have not yet repurchased shares to replace the ones you borrowed, you are said to have a short position in that stock.
  84. Short rotation energy plantation Plantings established and managed under short-rotation intensive culture practices.
  85. Short rotation intensive culture Intensive management and harvesting at 2 to 10 year intervals of cycles of specially selected fast- growing hardwood species for the purpose of producing…
  86. Short Term Forecast A product used to convey information regarding weather or hydrologic events in the next few hours.
  87. Short Ton 2000 pounds. A ton, as commonly used in the U.S. and Canada.
  88. Short Wave Fade (SWF) In solar-terrestrial terms, a particular ionospheric solar flare effect under the broad category of sudden ionospheric disturbances (SIDs) whereby…
  89. short-day plant A plant which will not flower until triggered to do so by exposure to one or a number of dark periods equal to or longer than its critical period.
  90. Short-Fuse Warning A warning issued by the NWS for a local weather hazard of relatively short duration.
  91. Short-throated flumes Short-throated flumes are considered short because they control flow in a region that produces curvilinear flow.
  92. Shortwave Also known as Shortwave Trough; a disturbance in the mid or upper part of the atmosphere which induces upward motion ahead of it.
  93. shortwave irradiance The rate at which radiant energy, at wavelengths between 0.4 and 4 µm, is being transferred across an area of a surface (real or imaginary) in a…
  94. shortwave net radiation The difference between upwelling and downwelling broadband shortwave radiation.
  95. shortwave radiance A measure of the intrinsic radiant energy flux intensity, at wavelengths between 0.
  96. Shortwave Radiation In solar-terrestrial terms, shortwave radiation is a term used to describe the radiant energy emitted by the sun in the visible and near-ultraviolet…
  97. shortwave spectral irradiance The rate at which radiant energy, at specrally-resolved wavelengths between 0.4 and 4 µm, is being emitted upwards and downwards into a radiation field…
  98. Shortwave Trough Also called Shortwave; A disturbance in the mid or upper part of the atmosphere which induces upward motion ahead of it.
  99. shotgun genome sequencing A strategy for sequencing a whole genome, in which the genomic DNA is initially fragmented into pieces small enough to be sequenced.
  100. Shotgun method Sequencing method that involves randomly sequenced cloned pieces of the genome, with no foreknowledge of where the piece originally came from.