Scientific News

Articles across mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and astronomy.

• Science

  King Salman Award for Disability Research

  The King Salman Award for Disability Research is an internationally recognized prize that is awarded to notable individuals who contributed to knowledge and scientific research in the field of disability. The prize was established by King Salman Center for Disability Research.

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Knowledge Systems Laboratory

  Knowledge Systems Laboratory (KSL) was an artificial intelligence research laboratory within the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University until 2007, located in the Gates Computer Science Building, Stanford. Work focused on knowledge representation for shareable engineering knowledge bases and systems, computational environments for modelling physical devices, architectures for adapti

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Knowledge collection from volunteer contributors

  Knowledge collection from volunteer contributors (KCVC) is a subfield of knowledge acquisition within artificial intelligence which attempts to drive down the cost of acquiring the knowledge required to support automated reasoning by having the public enter knowledge in computer processable form over the internet. KCVC might be regarded as similar in spirit to Wikipedia, although the intended audi

  8/24/2026

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  Knowledge Interchange Format

  Knowledge Interchange Format (KIF) is a computer language designed to enable systems to share and re-use information from knowledge-based systems. KIF is similar to frame languages such as KL-One and LOOM but unlike such language its primary role is not intended as a framework for the expression or use of knowledge but rather for the interchange of knowledge between systems. The designers of KIF l

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Kitāb al-Hayawān

  The Kitāb al-Ḥayawān (Arabic: كتاب الحيوان, lit. 'The Book of Animals', Latin: De Animalibus) is an Arabic translation of treatises (Arabic: مقالات, maqālāt) of Aristotle's: Historia Animalium: treatises 1–10 De Partibus Animalium: treatises 11–14 De Generatione Animalium: treatises 15–19 Medieval Arabic tradition ascribes the translation to Yahya Ibn al-Batriq, but contemporary scholarship does

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Knowledge Acquisition and Documentation Structuring

  Knowledge Acquisition and Documentation Structuring (KADS) is a structured way of developing knowledge-based systems (expert systems). It was developed at the University of Amsterdam as an alternative to an evolutionary approach and is now accepted as the European standard for knowledge based systems. Its components are: A methodology for managing knowledge engineering projects. A knowledge engin

  8/24/2026

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  Science

  Kleemenko cycle

  The Kleemenko cycle or one-flow cascade cycle is a single-stream mixed-refrigerant technique used to cool or liquefy gases. The term "Kleemenko cycle" is used in refrigeration if multi-component refrigerants (MCR) are used in a cycle. The Russian scientist Aleksandr Petrovich Klimenko (Александр Петрович Клименко) described the one-flow cascade cycle in the Proceedings of XIII International Confer

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Kleene Award

  The Kleene Award is awarded at the annual IEEE Symposium on Logic in Computer Science (LICS) to the author(s) of the best student paper(s). A paper qualifies as a student paper if each author is a student at the date of the submission. Also eligible are authors who have graduated only recently, provided the submitted paper is based on work carried out when he or she still was a student. The award

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Kirk Bryan Award

  The Kirk Bryan Award is the annual award of the Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology Division of the Geological Society of America. It is named after Kirk Bryan, a pioneer in geomorphology of arid regions. The award was established in 1951 and is bestowed upon the author or authors of a published paper of distinction advancing the science of geomorphology or some related field.

  8/24/2026

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  Science

  Kite experiment

  The kite experiment is a scientific experiment in which a kite with a pointed conductive wire attached to its apex is flown near thunder clouds to collect static electricity from the air and conduct it down the wet kite string to the ground. The experiment was first proposed in 1752 by Benjamin Franklin, who reportedly conducted the experiment with the assistance of his son William. The experiment

  8/24/2026

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  Science

  Klepton

  In biology, a klepton (abbreviated kl.) and synklepton (abbreviated sk.) is a species that requires input from another biological taxon (normally from a species which is closely related to the kleptonic species) to complete its reproductive cycle. Specific types of kleptons are zygokleptons, which reproduce by zygogenesis; gynokleptons which reproduce by gynogenesis, and tychokleptons, which repro

  8/24/2026

• Science

  King Olav V's Prize for Cancer Research

  The King Olav V's Prize for Cancer Research is a research award given annually by the Norwegian Cancer Society to a researcher who has distinguished himself through his scientific contributions to Norwegian cancer research. It was established in 1992.

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Klopman–Salem equation

  In the theory of chemical reactivity, the Klopman–Salem equation describes the energetic change that occurs when two species approach each other in the course of a reaction and begin to interact, as their associated molecular orbitals begin to overlap with each other and atoms bearing partial charges begin to experience attractive or repulsive electrostatic forces. First described independently by

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Known-item search

  Known-item search is a specialization of information exploration which represents the activities carried out by searchers who have a particular item in mind. In the context of library catalogs, known‐item search means a search for an item for which the author or title is known. Although the concept of known-item search originated in library science, it is now applied in the context of web search

  8/24/2026

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  Science

  Kleptoprotein

  A kleptoprotein is a protein which is not encoded in the genome of the organism which uses it, but instead is obtained through diet from a prey organism. Importantly, a kleptoprotein must maintain its function and be mostly or entirely undigested, drawing a distinction from proteins that are digested for nutrition, which become destroyed and non-functional in the process. This phenomenon was first

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Kirkpatrick–Reisch sort

  Kirkpatrick–Reisch sorting is a fast sorting algorithm for items with limited-size integer keys. It is notable for having an asymptotic time complexity that is better than radix sort.

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Knowledge engine

  A knowledge engine is part of a decision-support system that combines data with data models and inference rules to provide an interface for people who want to make decisions or discover related data. It may involve automatically extracting and structuring knowledge from less-structured sources, using these models and rules.

  8/24/2026

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  Science

  Kleptotype

  In taxonomy, a kleptotype is an unofficial term referring to a stolen, unrightfully displaced type specimen or part of a type specimen.

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Kleinere Schriften (Alexander von Humboldt)

  Kleinere Schriften (Smaller Writings) of Alexander von Humboldt are an important 1853 collection of Humboldt's shorter scientific works, particularly dealing with natural science and geology, and especially concerning volcanology. It is considered one of Humboldt's major works.

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Kirkwood-Dirac quasiprobability

  The Kirkwood–Dirac quasiprobability distribution (often abbreviated KD distribution) is a complex-valued generalization of a classical joint probability distribution. It was first introduced independently by John G. Kirkwood and later by Paul Dirac as an attempt to describe quantum states in phase space using a joint distribution for noncommuting observables (like position and momentum). It can ta

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Ketoisocaproic acid

  Ketoisocaproic acid may refer to: α-Ketoisocaproic acid β-Ketoisocaproic acid The conjugate base and carboxylate form is ketoisocaproate.

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Kestrel Institute

  The Kestrel Institute is a nonprofit computer science research center located in Stanford Research Park in Palo Alto, California, United States. It was founded by Cordell Green in 1981, who served as its Director and Chief Scientist. Its mission is to make it easier to write good, high-quality software and employs computer scientists like Lambert Meertens. In the 1980s, Kestrel described its resea

  8/24/2026

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  Science

  Kaluza–Klein theory

  In physics, Kaluza–Klein theory (KK theory) is an attempt at creating a unified field theory of gravitation and electromagnetism based on the idea of a fifth dimension of space beyond the conventional four-dimensional spacetime of general relativity. According to this proposal, there are three dimensions of space and one of time but with an additional spatial dimension in the shape of a tiny circl

  8/24/2026

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  Science

  Kamal (navigation)

  A kamal, often called simply khashaba (wood in Arabic), is a celestial navigation device that determines latitude. The invention of the kamal allowed for the earliest known latitude sailing, and was thus the earliest step towards the use of quantitative methods in navigation. It originated with Arab navigators of the late 9th century, and was employed in the Indian Ocean from the 10th century. It

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Karp's 21 NP-complete problems

  In computational complexity theory, Karp's 21 NP-complete problems are a set of computational problems which are NP-complete. In his 1972 paper, "Reducibility Among Combinatorial Problems", Richard Karp used Stephen Cook's 1971 theorem that the Boolean satisfiability problem is NP-complete (also called the Cook–Levin theorem) to show that there is a polynomial time many-one reduction from the Bool

  8/24/2026

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  Science

  Karatmeter

  The Karatmeter is a scientific instrument which uses X-rays to give an exact reading of the purity of gold. The Karatmeter is also referred to as an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer. Due to its very high precision and fast result, X-ray analysis has been adopted by international agencies in India as part of the certification process used to hallmark gold. It is an accurate, non-destructive me

  8/24/2026

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  Science

  Kasha's rule

  Kasha's rule is a principle in the photochemistry of electronically excited molecules. The rule states that photon emission (fluorescence or phosphorescence) occurs in appreciable yield only from the lowest excited state of a given multiplicity. It is named after American spectroscopist Michael Kasha, who proposed it in 1950.

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Karl Küpfmüller

  Karl Küpfmüller (6 October 1897 – 26 December 1977) was a German electrical engineer, who was prolific in the areas of communications technology, measurement and control engineering, acoustics, communication theory, and theoretical electro-technology.

  8/24/2026

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  Science

  Karlsruhe Congress

  The Karlsruhe Congress was an international meeting of chemists organized by August Kekulé and held in Karlsruhe, Germany from 3 to 5 September 1860. It was the first international conference of chemistry, with 140 participants. The conference is known for the adoption of atomic weights in chemistry motivated by the participation of Stanislao Cannizzaro. During the congress he showed evidence usin

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Kapitsa–Dirac effect

  The Kapitza–Dirac effect is a quantum mechanical effect consisting of the diffraction of matter by a standing wave of light, in complete analogy to the diffraction of light by a periodic grating, but with the role of matter and light reversed. The effect was first predicted as the diffraction of electrons from a standing wave of light by Paul Dirac and Pyotr Kapitsa (or Peter Kapitza) in 1933. T

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Kappa organism

  In biology, Kappa organism or Kappa particle refers to inheritable cytoplasmic symbionts, occurring in some strains of the ciliate Paramecium. Paramecium strains possessing the particles are known as "killer paramecia". They liberate a substance also known as paramecin into the culture medium that is lethal to Paramecium that do not contain kappa particles. Kappa particles are found in genotypes o

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Karlqvist gap

  The Karlqvist gap or Karlqvist Field is an electromagnetic phenomenon discovered in 1953 by the Swedish engineer Olle Karlqvist (1922-1976), which is important in magnetic storage for computers. Karlqvist discovered the phenomenon while designing a ferromagnetic surface layer to the magnetic drum memory for the BESK computer. When designing a magnetic memory store, the ferromagnetic layer must be

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Karaviloside

  Karaviloside is any of several related cucurbitane triterpenoid glycosides found in bitter melon vine (Momordica charantia). They include: Karaviloside I Karaviloside II Karaviloside III Karaviloside V Karaviloside XI Karavilosides I, II, and III can be extracted from the M. charantia fruit with methanol. Karavilosides III, V, and XI can be extracted from the M. charantia roots by methanol.

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Karl Landsteiner Memorial Award

  The Karl Landsteiner Memorial Award is a scientific award given by the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) to scientists with "an international reputation in transfusion medicine or cellular therapies" "whose original research resulted in an important contribution to the body of scientific knowledge". Recipients give a lecture at the AABB Annual Meeting and receive a $7,500 honorarium. The

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Karen Spärck Jones Award

  To commemorate the achievements of Karen Spärck Jones, the Karen Spärck Jones Award was created in 2008 by the British Computer Society (BCS) and its Information Retrieval Specialist Group (BCS IRSG). Since 2024, the award has been sponsored by Bloomberg. Prior to 2024, it was sponsored by Microsoft Research. The winner of the award is invited to present a keynote talk the following year alternat

  8/24/2026

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  Science

  Kambo (drug)

  Kambo, also known as sapo (from Portuguese: sapo, lit. 'toad') or vacina-do-sapo, is substance derived from the natural secretions of an amphibian belonging to the Phyllomedusa family. Commonly the dried skin secretions of the giant leaf frog, known as the kambô in Portuguese, a species of frog, are used for ritualistic purposes with a strong religious and spiritual components. Less commonly it is

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Karolinska Institutet Prize for Research in Medical Education

  The Karolinska Institutet Prize for Research in Medical Education is an award bestowed biennially to "recognise and stimulate high-quality research in the field and to promote long-term improvements of educational practices in medical training”. This award has been presented by the Karolinska Institute since 2004 and entails a prize amount of 50,000 Euro.

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Kanakkusaram

  Kaṇakkusāraṃ is a comprehensive treatise in Manipravalam (a hybrid language which combines Sanskrit lexicon and Malayalam morpho-syntax), composed in the 16th-17th century CE, dealing with elementary arithmetic and methods for solving arithmetical problems arising in the everyday life of members of an agricultural community. The book was composed by one Nīlakṇṭha; but other than the name, nothing

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Ke Kā o Makaliʻi

  Ke Kā o Makaliʻi (lit. 'The Canoe-Bailer of Makali‘i') is a Hawaiian constellation consisting of five stars in a curving formation in the shape of a bailer surrounding the western constellation Orion, although not including any stars from it. The constellation is seen to rise in the east like a cup and set in the west pouring onto the western horizon. Ke Kā o Makali‘i comprises five stars: Capell

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Karaṇa (pañcāṅga)

  In Indian astronomy, a karaṇa is a half of a tithi. It is the duration of time in which the difference of the longitudes of the Sun and the Moon is increased by 6 degrees. A lunar month has 30 tithi-s and so the number of karaṇa-s in a lunar month is 60. These sixty karaṇa-s are not individually named. Instead, the originators of the concept have chosen 11 names to be associated with the karaṇa-s

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Kaluza–Klein–Christoffel symbol

  In Kaluza–Klein theory, a unification of general relativity and electromagnetism, the five-fimensional Kaluza–Klein–Christoffel symbol is the generalization of the four-dimensional Christoffel symbol. They directly appear in the geodesic equations of Kaluza–Klein theory and indirectly through the Kaluza–Klein–Riemann curvature tensor also appear in the Kaluza–Klein–Einstein field equations. The Ka

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Kaluza–Klein–Einstein field equations

  In Kaluza–Klein theory, a speculative unification of general relativity and electromagnetism, the five-dimensional Kaluza–Klein–Einstein field equations are created by adding a hypothetical dimension to the four-dimensional Einstein field equations. They use the Kaluza–Klein–Einstein tensor, a generalization of the Einstein tensor, and can be obtained from the Kaluza–Klein–Einstein–Hilbert action,

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Keepalive

  A keepalive (KA) is a message sent by one device to another to check that the link between the two is operating, or to prevent the link from being broken.

  8/24/2026

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  Science

  Kata

  Kata is a Japanese word (型 or 形) meaning 'form'. It refers to a detailed choreographed pattern of martial arts movements. It can also be reviewed within groups and in unison when training. It is practiced in Japanese martial arts as a way to memorize and perfect the movements being executed. Korean martial arts with Japanese influence (hapkido, Tang Soo Do) use the derived term hyeong (hanja: 形

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Kelly West Award

  The Kelly M. West Award for Outstanding Achievement in Epidemiology is an honor bestowed by the American Diabetes Association. It has been awarded annually to an individual since 1986. The award is named in honor of Kelly M. West.

  8/24/2026

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  Science

  Kelly criterion

  In finance, the Kelly criterion (or Kelly strategy or Kelly bet) is a formula for risk allocation with the sizing a sequence of bets by maximizing the long-term expected value of the logarithm of wealth, which is equivalent to maximizing the long-term expected geometric growth rate. John Larry Kelly Jr., a researcher at Bell Labs, described the criterion in 1956. The practical use of the formula

  8/24/2026

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  Science

  Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics

  The Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics was a school of mathematics and astronomy founded by Madhava of Sangamagrama in Tirur, Malappuram, Kerala, India, which included among its members: Parameshvara, Nilakantha Somayaji, Jyeshtadeva, Achyuta Pisharati, Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri, Achyuta Panikkar, Govinda Menon, Madhava Nair, Keshava Menon. The school flourished between the 14th and 1

  8/24/2026

• Science

  Kermes mineral

  Kermes mineral or Alkermes mineral was a compound of antimony oxides and sulfides, more specifically, antimony trioxide and trisulfide. It can be made or obtained in the laboratory by the actions of potassium carbonate (K2CO3) on antimony sulfide. The compound is reddish brown in color and described as a velvety powder which is insoluble in water. It was used extensively in the medical field u

  8/24/2026

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  Keith R. Porter Lecture

  This lecture, named in memory of Keith R. Porter, is presented to an eminent cell biologist each year at the ASCB Annual Meeting. The ASCB Program Committee and the ASCB President recommend the Porter Lecturer to the Porter Endowment each year.

  8/24/2026

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  Science

  Kepler–Bouwkamp constant

  In plane geometry, the Kepler–Bouwkamp constant (or polygon inscribing constant) is obtained as a limit of the following sequence. Take a circle of radius 1. Inscribe a regular triangle in this circle. Inscribe a circle in this triangle. Inscribe a square in it. Inscribe a circle, regular pentagon, circle, regular hexagon and so forth. The radius of the limiting circle is called the Kepler–Bouwka

  8/24/2026