Scientific News

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

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  Science

  Radian

  The radian, denoted by the symbol rad, is the unit of angle in the International System of Units (SI) and is the standard unit of angular measure used in many areas of mathematics. It is defined such that one radian is the angle subtended at the center of a plane circle by an arc that is equal in length to the radius. The unit is defined in the SI as the coherent unit for plane angle, as well as f

  8/25/2026

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  Uniqueness quantification

  In mathematics and logic, the term "uniqueness" refers to the property of being the one and only object satisfying a certain condition. This sort of quantification is known as uniqueness quantification or unique existential quantification, and is often denoted with the symbols "∃!" or "∃=1". It is defined to mean there exists an object with the given property, and all objects with this property ar

  8/25/2026

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  United States Commission on Ocean Policy

  The United States Commission on Ocean Policy (sometimes known as the Watkins Commission, after the chairman of the commission during its first gathering, James Watkins) was created by an act of the 106th United States Congress known as the Oceans Act of 2000. The commission's mandate was to establish findings and develop recommendations for a new and comprehensive national ocean policy. The fin

  8/25/2026

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  United States Exploring Expedition

  The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby Jones. Funding for the original expedition was requested by President John Quincy Adams in 1828; however, Congress would not implement funding until eight ye

  8/25/2026

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  Univariate

  In mathematics, a univariate object is an expression, equation, function or polynomial involving only one variable. Objects involving more than one variable are multivariate. In some cases the distinction between the univariate and multivariate cases is fundamental; for example, the fundamental theorem of algebra and Euclid's algorithm for polynomials are fundamental properties of univariate polyn

  8/25/2026

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  Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens

  Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens (German: Allgemeine Naturgeschichte und Theorie des Himmels), subtitled or an Attempt to Account for the Constitutional and Mechanical Origin of the Universe upon Newtonian Principles, is a work written and published anonymously by Immanuel Kant in 1755. According to Kant, the Solar System is merely a smaller version of the fixed star systems, su

  8/25/2026

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  Universal extra dimensions

  In particle physics, models with universal extra dimensions include one or more spatial dimensions beyond the three spatial and one temporal dimensions that are observed.

  8/25/2026

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  United States Navy use of Hydrometer in the 1800s

  Certain ships of the United States Navy adopted the use of the hydrometer in the 1850s. Readings taken of the density of seawater contributed to research into the dynamics of ocean currents.

  8/25/2026

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  Unit process

  A unit process is one or more grouped unit operations in a manufacturing system that can be defined and separated from others. In life-cycle assessment (LCA) and ISO 14040, a unit process is defined as "smallest element considered in the life cycle inventory analysis for which input and output data are quantified".

  8/25/2026

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  Unitarity

  In quantum physics, unitarity (process) is the condition that the time evolution of a quantum state according to the Schrödinger equation is mathematically represented by a unitary operator. This is typically taken as an axiom or basic postulate of quantum mechanics, while generalizations of or departures from unitarity are part of speculations about theories that may go beyond quantum mechanics.

  8/25/2026

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  Universal conductance fluctuations

  Universal conductance fluctuations (UCF) in mesoscopic physics is a phenomenon encountered in electrical transport experiments in mesoscopic species. The measured electrical conductance will vary from sample to sample, mainly due to inhomogeneous scattering sites. Fluctuations originate from coherence effects for electronic wavefunctions and thus the phase-coherence length

  8/25/2026

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  Universal parabolic constant

  The universal parabolic constant is a mathematical constant. It is defined as the ratio, for any parabola, of the arc length of the parabolic segment formed by the latus rectum to the focal parameter. The focal parameter is twice the focal length. The ratio is denoted P. In the diagram, the latus rectum is pictured in blue, the parabolic segment that it forms in red and the focal parameter in gree

  8/25/2026

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  Uniparental inheritance

  Uniparental inheritance is a non-Mendelian form of inheritance that consists of the transmission of genotypes from one parental type to all progeny. That is, all the genes in offspring will originate from only the mother or only the father. This phenomenon is most commonly observed in eukaryotic organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts. This is because such organelles contain their own DN

  8/25/2026

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  Universal gateway

  A universal gateway is a device that transacts data between two or more data sources using communication protocols specific to each. Sometimes called a universal protocol gateway, this class of product is designed as a computer appliance, and is used to connect data from one automation system to another. An early (or perhaps the earliest) invention of a device which specifically facilitates "uni

  8/25/2026

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  Uniqueness theorem

  In mathematics, a uniqueness theorem, also called a unicity theorem, is a theorem asserting the uniqueness of an object satisfying certain conditions, or the equivalence of all objects satisfying the said conditions. Examples of uniqueness theorems include: Cauchy's rigidity theorem and Alexandrov's uniqueness theorem for three-dimensional polyhedra. Black hole uniqueness theorem Cauchy–Kowalevsk

  8/25/2026

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  Univariate (statistics)

  Univariate is a term commonly used in statistics to describe a type of data which consists of observations on only a single characteristic or attribute. A simple example of univariate data would be the salaries of workers in industry. Similar to other data, univariate data can be visualized using graphs, images, or other analysis tools after the data is observed/collected, analyzed and reported wi

  8/25/2026

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  Unitary transformation (quantum mechanics)

  In quantum mechanics, the Schrödinger equation describes how a system changes with time. It does this by relating changes in the state of the system to the energy in the system (given by an operator called the Hamiltonian). Therefore, once the Hamiltonian is known, the time dynamics are in principle known. All that remains is to plug the Hamiltonian into the Schrödinger equation and solve for the

  8/25/2026

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  United Nations Ocean Conference

  The United Nations Ocean Conference (officially the United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14, abbreviated UNOC) is a triannual conference held by the United Nations to support the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14. The conference was inaugurated in 2017 in New York City, and since 2022, has been held once every three years. Each con

  8/25/2026

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  Unimatic

  Unimatic is a computer system installed by Tata Infotech for United Airlines in 1997 to track and disburse vital flight data such as scheduling, aircraft weight, and aircraft balance. A massive failure of the system early on 8 August 2025 led to 35% of all United flights being delayed and 7% cancelled throughout the United States, with concomitant effects internationally. Furthermore, the FAA issu

  8/25/2026

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  Universal hypothesis testing

  In statistics, universal hypothesis testing is a special case of binary simple hypothesis testing. The universal problem is to distinguish between a simple null hypothesis H 0 : Q = P {\displaystyle H_{0}:Q=P} , and the most general composite alternative

  8/25/2026

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  UNI/O

  The UNI/O bus is an asynchronous serial bus created by Microchip Technology for low speed communication in embedded systems. The bus uses a master/slave configuration, requiring one signal to pass data between devices. The first devices supporting the UNI/O bus were released in May 2008.

  8/25/2026

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  Uncertainty coefficient

  In statistics, the uncertainty coefficient, also called proficiency, entropy coefficient or Theil's U, is a measure of nominal association. It was first introduced by Henri Theil and is based on the concept of information entropy.

  8/25/2026

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  Typical set

  In information theory, the typical set is a set of sequences whose probability is approximately 2 − n H ( X ) {\displaystyle 2^{-nH(X)}} , where H ( X ) {\displaystyle H(X)} i

  8/25/2026

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  UC Berkeley College of Chemistry

  The UC Berkeley College of Chemistry is one of the fifteen schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley. It houses the department of chemistry and the department of chemical and biomolecular engineering. The College offers bachelor of science degrees in chemistry, chemical engineering, and chemical biology. Chemistry undergraduates have the option to earn a bachelor of arts deg

  8/25/2026

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  Type (biology)

  In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the defining features of that particular taxon. In older usage (pre-1900 in botany), a type was a taxon rather than a specimen. A taxon is a scientifically n

  8/25/2026

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  UCPH Department of Chemistry

  The Department of Chemistry (Danish: Kemisk Institut) is a department under the Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen. It is the largest basic research institute in chemistry in Denmark, and is responsible for the teaching of chemistry at all levels at the University of Copenhagen's Faculty of Science: from undergraduate courses in chemistry to Ph.D.-level courses. Its office is located at

  8/25/2026

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  UFluids@Home

  μFluids@Home is a computer simulation of two-phase flow behavior in microgravity and microfluidics problems at Purdue University, using the Surface Evolver program.

  8/25/2026

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  Tyrocinium Chymicum

  Tyrocinium Chymicum was a published set of chemistry lecture notes started by Jean Beguin in 1610 in Paris, France. It has been cited as the first chemistry textbook (as opposed to that for alchemy). Many of the preparations were pharmaceutical in nature. The work was initially written to teach chemistry to apothecaries and medical practictioners, written by Beguin to avoid having to dictate text

  8/25/2026

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  U.S. National Vegetation Classification

  The U.S. National Vegetation Classification (NVC or USNVC) is a scheme for classifying the natural and cultural vegetation communities of the United States. The purpose of this standardized vegetation classification system is to facilitate communication between land managers, scientists, and the public when managing, researching, and protecting plant communities. The non-profit group NatureServe m

  8/25/2026

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  Typed assembly language

  In computer science, a typed assembly language (TAL) is an assembly language that is extended to include a method of annotating the datatype of each value that is manipulated by the code. These annotations can then be used by a program (type checker) that processes the assembly language code in order to analyse how it will behave when it is executed. Specifically, such a type checker can be used

  8/25/2026

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  Type erasure

  In programming languages, type erasure is the process of translating a program from a representation containing type information to one in which some or all of that information is omitted. Operational semantics not requiring programs to be accompanied by types are named type-erasure semantics, in contrast with type-passing semantics. Type-erasure semantics is an abstraction principle, ensuring tha

  8/25/2026

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  UDPCast

  UDPcast is a file transfer tool that can send data simultaneously to many destinations on a LAN. This can for instance be used to install entire classrooms of PCs at once. The advantage of UDPcast over using other methods (e.g. NFS, FTP) is that UDPcast uses the User Datagram Protocol's multicast abilities so it won't take longer to install 15 machines than it would to install just 2. By default,

  8/25/2026

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  UIP (software)

  The uIP is an open-source implementation of the TCP/IP network protocol stack intended for use with tiny 8- and 16-bit microcontrollers. It was initially developed by Adam Dunkels of the Networked Embedded Systems group at the Swedish Institute of Computer Science, licensed under a BSD style license, and further developed by a wide group of developers. uIP can be very useful in embedded systems be

  8/25/2026

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  Tyson Medal

  The Tyson Medal is a prize awarded for the best performance in subjects relating to astronomy at the University of Cambridge, England. It is awarded annually for achievement in the examinations for Part III of the Mathematical Tripos when there is a candidate deserving of the prize. In his will, Henry Tyson made the following bequest: That the sum of three hundred pounds be paid to the Cambridge

  8/25/2026

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  Tyche (hypothetical planet)

  Tyche () was a hypothetical gas giant located in the Solar System's Oort cloud, first proposed in 1999 by astrophysicists John Matese, Patrick Whitman and Daniel Whitmire of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. They argued that evidence of Tyche's existence could be seen in a supposed bias in the points of origin for long-period comets. More recently, Matese and Whitmire re-evaluated the com

  8/25/2026

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  UCL Prize Lecture in Life and Medical Sciences

  The UCL Prize Lecture in Life and Medical Sciences (previously UCL Prize Lecture in Clinical Science) is a prize awarded annually by University College London since 1997. The prize lecture has become the pre-eminent series on contemporary science in Europe and the annual lecture provides an opportunity to debate and celebrate important scientific advancements.

  8/25/2026

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  U-bit

  In quantum mechanics, the u-bit or ubit is a proposed theoretical entity which arises in attempts to reformulate wave functions using only real numbers instead of the complex numbers conventionally used.

  8/25/2026

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  UNECE Environmental Performance Reviews

  The UNECE Environmental Performance Review (EPR) (French: Examen des performances environnementales – EPE) is an assessment process to evaluate the progress made by individual countries in improving their environmental policies. The EPRs are carried out under the auspices of the Committee on Environmental Policy of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

  8/25/2026

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  UK Molecular R-matrix Codes

  The UK Molecular R-Matrix codes are a set of software routines used to calculate the effects of collision of electrons with atoms and molecules. The R-matrix method is used in computational quantum mechanics to study scattering of positrons and electrons by atomic and molecular targets. The fundamental idea was originally introduced by Eugene Wigner and Leonard Eisenbud in the 1940s. The method us

  8/25/2026

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  Tyndall's bar breaker

  Tyndall's bar breaker is a physical demonstration experiment to demonstrate the forces created by thermal expansion and shrinkage. It was demonstrated 1867 by the Irish scientist John Tyndall in his Christmas lectures for a "juvenile auditory".

  8/25/2026

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  Uncertainty principle

  The uncertainty principle, also known as Heisenberg's indeterminacy principle, is a fundamental concept in quantum mechanics. It states that there is a limit to the precision with which certain pairs of physical properties, such as position and momentum, can be simultaneously known. In other words, the more accurately one property is measured, the less accurately the other property can be known. M

  8/25/2026

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  Ultrafinitism

  In the philosophy of mathematics, ultrafinitism, ultraintuitionism, strict formalism, strict finitism, actualism, predicativism, and strong finitism are various philosophies of mathematics with aspects of finitism and intuitionism. Common to these philosophies is their objection to the totality of number theoretic functions like exponentiation over natural numbers.

  8/25/2026

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  Ultraviolet astronomy

  Ultraviolet astronomy is the observation of electromagnetic radiation at ultraviolet wavelengths between approximately 10 and 320 nanometres; shorter wavelengths—higher energy photons—are studied by X-ray astronomy and gamma-ray astronomy. Ultraviolet light is not visible to the human eye. Most of the light at these wavelengths is absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere, so observations at these wavele

  8/25/2026

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  Ultraviolet catastrophe

  The ultraviolet catastrophe, also called the Rayleigh–Jeans catastrophe, was the prediction of late 19th century and early 20th century classical physics that an ideal black body at thermal equilibrium would emit an unbounded quantity of energy as wavelength decreased into the ultraviolet range. The term "ultraviolet catastrophe" was first used in 1911 by the Austrian physicist Paul Ehrenfest, but

  8/25/2026

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  Ultra-high-energy cosmic ray

  In astroparticle physics, an ultra-high-energy cosmic ray (UHECR) is a cosmic ray with an energy greater than 1 EeV (1018 electronvolts, approximately 0.16 joules), far beyond both the rest mass and energies typical of other cosmic ray particles. The origin of these highest energy cosmic rays is not known. These particles are rare; between 2004 and 2007, the initial runs of the Pierre Auger Observ

  8/25/2026

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  Unasyn

  Unasyn is the trade name for two related antibiotic drugs: Ampicillin/sulbactam, a fixed-dose combination medication of the penicillin antibiotic combination ampicillin/sulbactam Sultamicillin, an oral form of the penicillin antibiotic combination ampicillin/sulbactam

  8/25/2026

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  Umpolung

  In organic chemistry, umpolung (German: [ˈʔʊmˌpoːlʊŋ]) or polarity inversion is the chemical modification of a functional group with the aim of the reversal of polarity of that group. This modification allows secondary reactions of this functional group that would otherwise not be possible. The concept was introduced by German chemist Dieter Seebach (hence the German language derived name umpolun

  8/25/2026

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  Umbilic torus

  The umbilic torus or umbilic bracelet is a single-edged 3-dimensional shape. The lone edge goes three times around the ring before returning to the starting point. The shape also has a single external face. A cross section of the surface forms a deltoid. The umbilic torus occurs in the mathematical subject of singularity theory, in particular in the classification of umbilical points which are det

  8/25/2026

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  Ultracold atom

  In condensed matter physics, ultracold atoms are atomic gases with a temperature near absolute zero. At such temperatures, the atoms quantum-mechanical properties become important, especially through what is known as superfluidity, a phenomenon also displayed by Superfluid Helium 4. To reach such low temperatures, a combination of several techniques typically has to be used. First, atoms are trapp

  8/25/2026

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  Ultra-large-scale systems

  Ultra-large-scale system (ULSS) is a term used in fields including computer science, software engineering and systems engineering to refer to software intensive systems with unprecedented amounts of hardware, lines of source code, numbers of users, and volumes of data. The scale of these systems gives rise to many problems: they will be developed and used by many stakeholders across multiple organ

  8/25/2026