Sciency Words is a special series here on Planet Pailly where we take a look at new and interesting scientific terms to help us all expand our scientific vocabularies together. Today’s word is words are:

VENOMOUS AND POISONOUS

Since I was away on vacation last week and missed my regular Sciency Words post, today you get two words. I’m sure you already know the terms “venomous” and “poisonous,” but do you know the distinction between them?

Both terms involve toxic substances that could make you sick or potentially kill you. With both terms, these substances originate from animals. The distinction comes from how these animals deliver their venom/poison.

Venomous animals inject their venom by means of, for example, sharp, nasty fangs; whereas poisonous animals secrete their poison by other means, perhaps oozing it on their skin as a self defense mechanism. In short, if an animal bites you and you get sick, the animal was venomous. If you bite, touch, or lick an animal and get sick, the animal was poisonous.

During my vacation, as I trudged through the forests of Georgia, encountering many a spider and snake, I became quite concerned. Not because of the animals themselves but because I was worried about using the wrong words to describe them. Next time I stumble upon venomous and/or poisonous animals in the wilderness, I’ll feel much better prepared, now that I know which adjective is which.

Sciency Words is a special series here on Planet Pailly where we take a look at new and interesting scientific terms to help us all expand our scientific vocabularies together. Today’s word is:

GYNANDROMORPHY

The other night, I was doing some concept work on a new alien species, and I was considering alternatives to the simple gender dimorphism we humans are accustomed to. For example, what if children of these aliens were born without gender and only developed male or female traits (including reproductive organs) upon reaching puberty? What if, in some rare cases, a few individuals never developed gender at all?

I speculated briefly about another possibility: what if a small minority somehow developed both male and female parts, maybe split down the middle or mishmashed together somehow? Could such a thing happen? As much as I liked the idea, it seemed a little too bizarre to me. Then, Sci Show released this video on gynandromorphy.

Gynandromorphy comes from three Greek roots: “gyn” for female, “andro” for male, and “morphy” for shape. So the term literally means having the shape of both a male and a female.

One of the important functions of science fiction is to provide us with new perspectives on our current social issues. Sci-Fi writer Rosie Oliver has written several posts like this one asking what’s happened to what she calls progressive science fiction. Given the current crusade for L.G.B.T. rights and the growing importance of the L.G.B.T community, maybe a story from the perspective of a gynandromorphic alien is just what science fiction needs.

P.S.: When writing these Sciency Words posts, spell check usually goes bananas with it’s little, zigzagging red lines; but to my surprise, gynandromorphy was already in spell check’s dictionary. I guess the word is more common than I thought.

Today’s post is part of a special series here on Planet Pailly called Sciency Words. Every Friday, we take a look at a new and interesting scientific term to help us all expand our scientific vocabularies together. Today’s word is:

CHROMATOPHORE

Chromatophores are special cells in the skin of some animals, most notably the squid and the chameleon. These cells contain pigments. When stimulated by hormones, muscle contractions, or other mechanisms, chromatophores expand or contract, changing the animal’s skin color.

There are several different kinds of chromatophore, depending on their hue:

• Erythrophores contain red pigment.
• Xanthophores contain yellow.
• Cyanophores contain blue.

As I’m sure you can guess, different combinations of cells can produce almost any color of the rainbow. Other chromatophores contain shades of black or white or can make the color look shinier.

Most animals use chromatophores for camouflage, but some species of squid may actually use rapidly changing colors as a form of communication. I’d guess their language consists of little more than phrases like “Danger!” “Food this way!” and “Wanna hook up?” Which are, to be honest, the only things worth saying anyway.

What we learn about chromatophores could be useful for helping us understand extra terrestrial life. It could also help us Sci-Fi aficionados design our own alien species. It’s important to remember that verbal language isn’t the only possible form of communication—not even here on Earth.

P.S.: If you’ve got a good idea for a new and interesting alien species—perhaps a species with an unusual method of communication—click here to submit it to the Alien August competition at Sci Fi Ideas. It’s all aliens all month long, with some truly wild and wonderful creatures making their debut appearances on the Internet.

Today’s post is part of a special series here on Planet Pailly called Sciency Words. Every Friday, we take a look at a new and interesting scientific term to help us all expand our scientific vocabularies together. Today’s word is:

SCIENTISM

Words in the English language can mean different things to different people. Relying too much on dictionary definitions can lead you astray.

Consider the word dog. I had a dog when I was a kid: a yappy, little Pomeranian with black fur and a white belly. That’s my first mental image whenever I hear the word dog, and my brain extrapolates all other dogs from that starting point. For you, your prototypical dog probably looks different.

So with that in mind, let’s take a look at the word scientism and try to dissect all the subtle shades of meaning contained therein. On the surface, the term seems simple enough. Scientism is the belief in the profound importance of science. But after spending some time browsing the Internet, I’ve found it can also mean:

• Advocacy of science education or funding of scientific research.
• The belief that taking a scientific approach to other fields of study (history, politics, etc) can improve those fields.
• The belief that science is the best or only source of truth.
• The belief that the only true knowledge is quantified knowledge (i.e. things we can measure). This can be extended to mean that if we can’t measure something, it must not exist.
• The improper use of science, either by making broad claims based upon limited empirical evidence or by misapplying scientific knowledge to unrelated topics.

Whether you approve or disapprove of scientism depends entirely on how you define it. I think most of us would agree that science deserves a special place in our society, just so long as its importance is not overstated or misunderstood.

P.S.: A special thanks to Michelle Joelle for introducing me to this term. Please check out her blog, Stories & Soliloquies, by clicking here.

Today’s post is part of a special series here on Planet Pailly called Sciency Words. Every Friday, we take a look at a new and interesting scientific term to help us all expand our scientific vocabularies together. Today’s word is:

SCIENTIAL

We all know that language changes over time. New words are invented. Old ones die out. For example, a few hundred years ago the adjective form of science was not scientific… it was sciential.

Think of all the things that would be different if the language hadn’t changed.

• We’d have the sciential method instead of the scientific method.
• Experts would quarrel over sciential evidence.
• You could get a subscription to Sciential American

Why did the word change? Who knows? According to the Free Dictionary, the word scientific came into vogue during the 1580’s. The word sciential predated it by over a century.

Of course, if our adjective form of the word science already changed once, it could change again. I for one am looking forward to the “sciency method.”

Today’s post is part of a special series here on Planet Pailly called Sciency Words. Every Friday, we take a look at a new and interesting scientific term to help us all expand our scientific vocabularies together. Today’s word is:

THE SOLAR SYSTEM

I previously wrote a Sciency Words post about the Internet, not because that’s a new and interesting scientific term—everyone knows what the Internet is—but because I have a pet peeve about its spelling. Very few people seem to know that the Internet is a proper noun and therefore needs to be capitalized. Every time I see someone write “internet” instead of “Internet,” I die a little inside.

In a similar way, the Solar System is also a proper noun. This can get a little confusing since we do talk about other solar systems, and in that context the term is a common noun describing any star with planets orbiting it. So one possible conversation could go down as:

“Which solar system do you live in?”

“Oh, I don’t live in any old solar system. I live in the Solar System.”

This usage of “solar system” as a common noun bothers me, though. It feels a little like Columbus talking about discovering “another europe.” I’ve noticed more and more that we now use the term “star system” instead, which I think is much clearer.

Today’s post is part of a special series here on Planet Pailly called Sciency Words. Every Friday, we take a look at a new and interesting scientific term to help us all expand our scientific vocabularies together. Today’s word is:

AMERICIUM

Several elements on the periodic table are named after countries: germanium for Germany, polonium for Poland, francium for France. The chemical element Yttrium is named after Ytterby, Sweeden, and I’m sure you can figure out what Californium was named after. Today, in honor of the 4^th of July, let’s take a look at the chemical element named after America.

• Americium was “discovered” in 1944. I put the word discovered in quotes because it’s one of those elements that was first created in a lab, not found in nature.
• Americium is radioactive. The various isotopes of americium have half-lives between a hundred and several thousand years, so it’s stable enough that we can find practical uses for it.
• The most common use of americium is in the household smoke detector. The vast majority of smoke detectors use americium, so you probably own a tiny sample of this stuff and never even knew it.
• Americium has been proposed as a possible fuel for the next generation of nuclear powered spacecraft.

For our purposes on this blog, americium’s potential use in spacecraft deserves our special attention. Americium has some special properties that make it ideally suited for use in space travel. Some (overly optimistic) projections suggest an americium-powered spaceship could fly from Earth to Mars in as little as two weeks!

The European Space Agency is reportedly moving forward with the development of americium-powered spacecraft. Ironically, I can’t find any information about its use in the American space program. I don’t know if americium will be a critical component of our Sci-Fi future, but it very well might be, depending on its success with the Europeans.