glossary
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Laws of physics: A physical law is a statement inferred from facts applicable to a defined group and expressible by that statement that a particular statement always occurs if certain conditions are present. For example, the most famous laws of physics are probably Newton’s laws of motion:
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Possible significances of the fish names:
- Timpani: a type of drum comprised of a piece of skin, or head, stretched over a large copper bowl. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drumstick known as a timpani mallet.
- Beaugregory Damselfish: a species of damselfish found near the sea bed I shallow waters of the western Atlantic Ocean
- Stegastes leucostictus: scientific name for the beaugregory damselfish. Stegastes is the genus of marine, coastal, ray-finned fish and leucostictus is the specific species.
- Golden Girls: An American sitcom which originally aired from 1985-1991 about four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida. One of the lead characters was Dorothy Spornack, played by Bea Arthur, pictured middle standing.
- Dorothy: “My parents were into obviously relevant names” refers to Dorothy, the Kansas-native protagonist of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel The Wizard of Oz and the incredibly popular 1939 film adaptation starring Judy Garland.
- Jules Verne: Jules Verne (dʒuːlz vɜːrn) was a French poet, novelist, and playwright, best known for his adventure and science fiction novels, such as Journey to the Center of the Earth, Around the World in Eighty Days, and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
- Un-reinforced masonry: a type of building where load bearing walls, non-load bearing walls or other structures such as chimneys are made of brick, cinderblock, tiles, adobe or other masonry material, that is not braced by reinforcing material, such as rebar in concrete or cinderblock.
- Malaria: a disease caused by a plasmodium parasite, transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitoes. Symptoms include chills, fever, sweating, muscle pain, gastrointestinal issues, accelerated heart rate, headaches, or mental confusion, such as hallucinations. Malaria can be treated by anti-malarial drugs or antibiotics prescribed by a medical professional.
- Hyena: A cat-like, carnivore species who catch their prey with their sharp teeth rather than their claws.
- Worcester (/ˈwʊstər/ wuuss-tər, locally /ˈwɪstə/ wiss-tə): the second most populous city in New England, after Boston, located in Central Massachusetts and nicknamed the “Heart of the Commonwealth.”
- Spanakopita (/ˌspænəˈkɒpɪtə/): a Greek savory pastry filled with spinach, feta cheese, onions, eggs, and seasonings.
- Born again: A new birth in Christ or spiritual renewal of a Christian: placing special emphasis on this experience as a basis for all one's actions. Since the 1960s the term has become widely associated with the evangelical movement and the Christian counterculture, especially referring to individuals who’ve accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior in order to be saved from Hell. Additionally, born again individuals express remorse for their sins before finding their faith, including premarital sex or homosexuality.
- Marine biologist: a scientist who studies organisms in the ocean or other bodies of water
- First Amendment: Constitutional amendment protecting freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.
- Deep Throat: a pseudonym given to the informant who provided information to the journalists at The Washington Post about President Richard Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate Scandal.
Laws of physics: A physical law is a statement inferred from facts applicable to a defined group and expressible by that statement that a particular statement always occurs if certain conditions are present. For example, the most famous laws of physics are probably Newton’s laws of motion:
- An object at rest or in motion will remain at rest or in motion unless acted upon by a net force.
- The force of an object is equal to the mass of an object multiplied by the acceleration.
- When one body exerts force on a second body, the second body exerts force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to that of the first body.
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- Magazine writing class: The following is an excerpt from a syllabus of a magazine writing course at the Annenberg School of Journalism at the University of Southern California:
- Course Description: This course will immerse students in the world of magazine writing—both long form and the kinds of shorter pieces increasingly sought out by magazine editors. We’ll look at everything from traditional outlets (The New Yorker, The LA Times Sunday Magazine, The Atlantic) to specialty magazines (Wired, National Geographic, Columbia Journalism Review) to magazines which are often surprising venues for high level writing (Esquire, Marie Claire, Vanity Fair—even Good Housekeeping!) We will also look at more recent experiments and forms, including McSweeney’s and Believer. Students will learn how to find, report, and write great stories (and rewrite them) in a great variety of styles and formats, including investigative pieces, profiles, and personal essays. They will read abundantly.
- Course Goals: Students are expected to become familiar with the vast and growing field of magazine writing as well as ways of getting into it. Magazine writing requires a broad range of skills usually honed over a long period of time. In this course, by necessity, we’ll be sampling, but students are expected to be comfortable writing investigative pieces, personal narrative, reviews and humor. They’ll learn to use structure, language, narrative and voice to tell compelling stories. They’ll hone reporting, investigative and interviewing skills, and learn how to find ideas and turn them into articles. They’ll practice pitching these stories to editors, and learn the fine art of never giving up.
- “Even The New York Times:” Jules is referring to a 2003 scandal in which New York Times writer Jayson Thomas Blair was accused and found guilty of fabrication and plagiarism of his stories. At least five of his major pieces were found to be plagiarized or fabricated and in response The New York Times wrote a 7000+ word front-page story detailing his deception. This was referred to as the lowest-point in The New York Times’ over 150-year history.
- Corrugated tin: Corrugated tin is a material used in roofing known for strong ridges and stability, however it does not mask the noise of rain on the roof.
- The Shining: 1980 psychological horror film directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on Stephen King’s novel. The film takes place in an isolated hotel, over 25 miles from the nearest town.
- Diurnal: diurnal species are active during the day, as opposed to nocturnal species that are active at night. Some diurnal fish are active during both the day and night depending on the time of year, which can change their mating habits or the availability of food.
- Barracuda: a ray-finned fish known for its large size, fearsome appearance, and ferocious behavior. They are carnivorous predators and will consume pretty much any smaller fish that is in front of them.
Possible significances of the fish names:
- Melanie: Melanie Hamilton (Scarlett O’Hara’s sister-in-law and later best friend in Gone with the Wind) who dies in childbirth at the end of the novel
- Alexis: Alexis was the given name of many members of the Romanov dynasty, most famously Alexis Nikolaevich, who was born hemophilic and relied on Rasputin for a cure, but ultimately was murdered along with the rest of his family by the Bolsheviks,
- JonJohn: In the absence of famous tragic figures named JonJohn, this my be an allusion to the Jonestown mass suicide, which occurred in 1978 when, under the leadership of Jim Jones, 918 of his followers killed themselves.
- Comet eclipse: When a comet passes through Earth’s atmosphere during a solar eclipse it is often invisible to the naked eye. It is incredibly rare to be able to see a comet during a solar eclipse and it is relatively difficult to predict their occurrences because comet activity is known to change, including their paths and brightness. In 1997, Comet Hale Bopp was visible from certain parts of Earth during a total solar eclipse, creating the image shown above.
- Quasi-triangulation: A triangulation is the process of determining the location of a point by forming triangles to it from known points. The prefix “quasi” means seemingly or apparently, and a quasi-triangulation is a type of triangulation where a geometric object is subdivided not using points, but rather with arbitrary sloped line segments.
- Archipelago: a group or chain of islands
- fresh rock: Fresh rock is a geological term for rock that has not been weathered.
- Amino acids: amino acids are organic biological compounds that perform critical roles on the formation of proteins and in the processes neurotransmitter transports and biosynthesis, which are both necessary in the function of living organisms.
- Protein: a protein is a large biomolecule comprised of a large chain of amino acids. Proteins perform many vital functions in living organisms, including catalyzing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, and responding to stimuli.
- co-author: On scientific papers or reports, there can be a “lead author” and a “co-author” The lead author usually takes overall responsibility for the manuscript, is the primary correspondent (meaning they are the point of communication between the other authors and the journal or publication), and has made the most significant contribution to research. A co-author could be anyone who contributed significantly to the concept, design, execution, and/or the analysis of the data or participates in drafting or revising the manuscript for publication. They also agree to be held accountable for the published results.
- crash cart: a wheeled container carrying medication and equipment for use in emergency situations
- Permo/Triassic: The Permian-Triassic extinction event, also known as the Great Dying, occurred about 252 million year ago and was the Earth’s most severe extinction event, killing 96% of species. The comet that hit the earth to cause this extinction was approximately 10km, or about 6 miles, across.
- Arthropods: an arthropod is an invertebrate (no spine) animal with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and joint appendages.
- Halliburton: An American multinational corporation, operating in over 80 countries, and one of the world’s largest oil field services companies. Halliburton owns hundreds of subsidiaries and employs over 70,000 people
- Shale: a fine-grained, sedimentary rock comprised of mud, clay, and other tiny mineral fragments. Fossils, animal tracks, and even raindrop craters are often preserved on the surfaces of shale.
- Denial. Anger: Reference to the Kübler-Ross model, or the five stages of grief, experienced by terminally ill individuals or people who have lost a loved one. The stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
- Cormac McCarthy: American playwright, novelist, and screenplay writer best known for his work in the western and post-apocalyptic genres.
- Road Warrior: 1981 sequel to Mad Max, about a community of settlers defending themselves against a roving band of marauders, following a traditional western/post-apocalyptic narrative
- Survivor: an international reality television franchise where a group of strangers are marooned in an isolated location and responsible for finding their own food, water, and shelter, as well as competing in a series of challenges hoping to gain certain rewards, such as immunity from elimination. The prize for the winning contestant is $1,000,000.
- Geological scale: The geological time scale is a system of dating that relates geological events to time and is used by geologists, paleontologists, to describe the timing and relationships of events that have occurred through out Earth’s history.
- Thomas Pynchon (/ˈpɪnˌtʃɒn/, commonly /ˈpɪntʃən/): an American novelist and MacArthur fellow known for his dense and complex novels
- Cyanide: Cyanide is a chemical compound that contains carbon and nitrogen (formula: CN-). Cyanide is found in nature in the seeds of apples and cherries and is also created synthetically and used in fumigation, case hardening of iron and steel, and the production of synthetic rubber and plastics. Most cyanides are highly toxic and can be consumed by humans in pill form or in their food. Symptoms of cyanide poisoning include headaches, dizziness, nausea, followed by seizures, a slowed heart rate, a loss of consciousness, or cardiac arrest. At high doses, death only takes a few minutes.
- French hell: This is a reference to the play No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre. In the play, three characters find themselves stuck in a room together and unable to leave, and ultimately realize they are in hell. The play’s most famous line is, “Hell is other people!”
- Chinese cymbal: Chinese cymbals are a type of crash cymbal designed to produce a bright, crisp, and explosive tone. The name is derived from their similarity in sound and shape to Chinese gongs.
- Ridley Scott: English film director and producer best known for Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma and Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Hannibal and many more critically acclaimed films.
- “a couple of frogs…”: When Jules talks about becoming frogs who jump onto a chunk of land, he’s referencing Charles Darwin’s observations in the Galapagos that lead to his theory of natural selection. He observed various species of finches that lived on different islands within the same area and all seemed to descend from a common ancestor but had unique traits that suited their respective environments.
- Shrews: A shrew is a small, mole-like animal with sharp, spike-like teeth. They are distributed across the world and live on all the major landmasses except for Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea.
- Peat: a brown, soil-like material characteristic of boggy, acid ground, consisting of partly decomposed vegetable matter.
- The Wizard of Oz: In the end of the book and film of the same name (see page 4), it is revealed that the great and all-powerful Wizard of Oz is merely a man behind a curtain.
- Baster: a tube with a rubber bulb on one end, traditionally used to release melted fat or gravy onto meat
- Jake Gyllenhaal: American actor and member of the prominent Gyllenhaal family, some of his best known roles were in the films Brokeback Mountain, Nightcrawler, Love and Other Drugs, Donnie Darko, The Day After Tomorrow, etc.
- Blood pressure: Blood pressure is the measure of force of blood pushing against blood vessels. Having a high blood pressure means your heart is having to work too hard to pump your blood through out your veins and could be an early indicator of heart disease or stroke. Blood pressure is measured with a small gauge attached to a cuff that fits around your upper arm.
- We’ve been out of food twelve days: A human can survive for about three weeks without food, but this can be greatly influenced by the person’s age and weight, general health, and whether or not they are able to stay hydrated. During periods of starvation the body will adapt by moderating its metabolism to conserve energy. In the first 72 hours your body will have run out of glucose and will start breaking down fat for energy, but this is not sustainable as fats are too large to pass the blood-brain barrier. The brain switches to using ketones, a type of fatty acid, which can only supply about 75% of the energy needed for peak brain function. Your cognitive functioning becomes impaired. Beyond 72 hours the body starts to break down proteins in your muscles. This results in muscle deterioration, lower bone density, and females will stop menstruating. The immune system will be weakened without any vitamins or minerals, making it very easy to get sick. After three weeks, cardiac arrest and organ failure becomes a possibility.
- Entropy: gradual decline into disorder, chaos. Entropy is significant because measuring a system’s chaos or randomness can help us understand the system itself. Entropy is applied to all fields of science.
- Sonogram machine: a sonogram is an image produced during an ultrasound, a medical imaging technique that allows a medical professional to see internal body structures.
- Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny: 19th century German biologist Ernst Haeckel’s recapitulation theory is a now largely discredited biological hypothesis that in developing from an embryo to an adult animals go through stages resembling or representing the successive stages of evolution of their remote ancestors
- Ontogeny: the development of an organism (i.e. from embryo to adult)
- Recapitulation: summarizing the main points
- Phylogeny: evolutionary relationships
- Dance it out: “Dance it out” is a running line, accompanied by impromptu dance parties, shared between best friends Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Cristina (Sandra Oh) on Shonda Rhimes’ TV series Grey’s Anatomy
- Formaldehyde (/fɔrˈmældəˌhaɪd/): formaldehyde is a naturally occurring chemical compound (formula: CH2O) which results from the oxygenation of methane, which occurs in forest fires, tobacco smoke, and automobile exhaust. Formaldehyde is highly toxic and ingesting 1 oz. could kill an adult human. It can cause severe injuries to the upper gastrointestinal tract and leads to respiratory failure.
- “The Human Canary:” domestic canaries have been used to detect gas in coal mines because canaries are more sensitive than humans and would get sick from carbon monoxide quickly, allowing the miners time to escape.
- Feedback loop: a feedback loop is a common tool used when designing a system. It’s a system that takes into account an output, which then allows the system to adjust and create a more-desired output.
- Red Cross mannequin: a Red Cross mannequin is specifically designed for training individuals in CPR and other first aid situations
- crunking: a style of dancing that involves a kind of air humping accompanied by rapid arm movements and jumping
- fish mating behavior: a video of damselfish mating
- Eat the algae when it grows: Algae grows very quickly, especially when exposed to excess light, and when it gets too large will start to take up the other nutrients present in the fish tank. The fish would need to eat the algae in order to survive.