Cultural Literacy Notes 76-100 Flashcards
Nanosecond
A billionth of a second. This term is often used to refer to a very short time. “He missed having an accident by nanoseconds”
Nano
A prefix meaning one billionth
Nanotechnology
A branch of technology devoted to producing devices on a atomic scale. The working part of a typical nanotechnology device might be only a few thousand atoms in width
Neural Networks
A computer system that is designed to mimic the human brain or some other biological system in its function. They were developed to deal with problems, like pattern recognition, that the brain does well but that traditional computer systems cannot handle easily.
Offshore drilling
The operation of oil wells n the continental shelf sometimes in water hundreds of feet deep. *** Public debates about offshore drilling concentrate on the possibility that large oil spills will occur, with subsequent damage to the coastal environment
Perpetual-Motion Machine
A machine that could run forever a perpetual-motion machine would have too produce at least as much energy as needed for its operation. According to the second law of thermodynamics, such as machine is impossible and to date none has ever been successfully demonstrated
Radar
A method of finding the position and velocity of an object by bouncing a radio wave off it and analyzing the reflected wave. Radar is an acronym for radio detection and ranging. *** Police use this technique to determine the speed of auto mobiles.
Radioactive waste
Radioactive materials that may be left after a commercial or laboratory process has been carried out. Some “low-level” waste, such as objects that have touched the radioactive tracers used in certain medical tests. Other waste may be “high level,” such as the material left in a nuclear reactor after the fuel has been consumed. ***That has been considerable public debate over the safest means of storing the waste, which can remain dangerously radioactive for up to hundreds of thousands of years. Present practice calls for enclosing the waste in metal, concrete, and ceramic containers, and burying the containers deep underground acologically stable locations.
