align: (noun: alignment) To place or organize things in a patterned order, following an apparent line.
antioxidant: Any of many chemicals that can shut down oxidation — a biologically damaging reaction. They do this by donating an electron to a free radical (a reactive molecular fragment) without becoming unstable. Many plant-based foods are good sources of natural antioxidants, including vitamins C and E.
cancer: Any of more than 100 different diseases, each characterized by the rapid, uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells. The development and growth of cancers, also known as malignancies, can lead to tumors, pain and death.
cataract: A vision impairment caused by a cloudiness in a membrane that covers the lens of the eye. Uncorrected, it can lead to blindness.
chronic: A condition, such as an illness (or its symptoms, including pain), that lasts for a long time.
consumer: (n.) Term for someone who buys something or uses something. (adj.) A person who uses goods and services that must be paid for.
cornea: The transparent front section of the eye. The shape of the cornea allows our eyes to bring objects at many distances into focus.
development: (in biology) The growth of an organism from conception through adulthood, often undergoing changes in chemistry, size and sometimes even shape. (in engineering) The growth or change of something from an idea to a prototype.
engineer: A person who uses science and math to solve problems. As a verb, to engineer means to design a device, material or process that will solve some problem or unmet need.
enzymes: Molecules made by living things to speed up chemical reactions.
filter: (n.) Something that allows some materials to pass through but not others, based on their size or some other feature. (v.) The process of screening some things out on the basis of traits such as size, density, electric charge. (in physics) A screen, plate or layer of a substance that absorbs light or other radiation or selectively prevents the transmission of some of its components.
glare: Bright light reflected off of a surface, such as water or pavement. (also direct glare) The light that travels directly from a light source and into someone’s eyes, making it difficult to discern details.
horizontal: A line or plane that runs left to right, much as the horizon appears to do when gazing into the distance.
hydrogel: A “smart” polymer-based material that can change its structure in response to its environment, such as the local temperature, pH, salt or water concentration. The polymers that make up a hydrogel have water-attracting ends sticking out. Those ends help hydrogels latch onto molecules of water. Some hydrogels are used in baby diapers to hold urine. Others are added to potting soils to hold water near to plants until they need it. Still others may be part of wound dressings to prevent a sore from drying out.
lens: (in optics) A curved piece of transparent material (such as glass) that bends incoming light in such a way as to focus it at a particular point in space. Or something, such as gravity, that can mimic some of the light bending attributes of a physical lens.
molecule: An electrically neutral group of atoms that represents the smallest possible amount of a chemical compound. Molecules can be made of single types of atoms or of different types. For example, the oxygen in the air is made of two oxygen atoms (O2), but water is made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O).
nanometer: A billionth of a meter. It’s such a small unit that researchers use it as a yardstick for measuring wavelengths of light or distances within molecules. For perspective, an average human hair is about 60,000 nanometers wide.
optical: An adjective that refers to light or vision.
oxidant: A chemical that can oxidize — steal an electron — from another molecule as part of certain chemical reactions.
physicist: A scientist who studies the nature and properties of matter and energy.
polarization: (in physics) The condition — or creation of a condition — in which rays of wavelengths of light exhibit different properties when viewed from different directions.
radiation: (in physics) One of the three major ways that energy is transferred. (The other two are conduction and convection.) In radiation, electromagnetic waves carry energy from one place to another. Unlike conduction and convection, which need material to help transfer the energy, radiation can transfer energy across empty space.
reactive: (in chemistry) The tendency of a substance to take part in a chemical process, known as a reaction, that leads to new chemicals or changes in existing chemicals.
reflective: Adjective that refers to the ability of something to reflect light strongly. Such objects can produce a strong bright glare when sunlight bounces off of them. Examples of reflective objects include a mirror, a smooth metal can, a car window, a glass bottle, ice, snow or the watery surface of a lake.
standards: (in research) The values or materials used as benchmarks against which other things can be compared. For instance, clocks attempt to match the official standard benchmark of time — the second, as calculated by the official atomic clock. Similarly, scientists look to identify a chemical by matching its properties against a known standard for a particular chemical. (in regulations) A limit above which something may not be used, sold or considered safe.
technology: The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry — or the devices, processes and systems that result from those efforts.
ultraviolet: A portion of the light spectrum that is close to violet but invisible to the human eye.
vertical: A term for the direction of a line or plane that runs up and down, as the vertical post for a streetlight does. It’s the opposite of horizontal, which would run parallel to the ground.
vibrate: To rhythmically shake or to move continuously and rapidly back and forth.
wave: A disturbance or variation that travels through space and matter in a regular, oscillating fashion.
wavelength: The distance between one peak and the next in a series of waves, or the distance between one trough and the next. It’s also one of the “yardsticks” used to measure radiation. Visible light — which, like all electromagnetic radiation, travels in waves — includes wavelengths between about 380 nanometers (violet) and about 740 nanometers (red). Radiation with wavelengths shorter than visible light includes gamma rays, X-rays and ultraviolet light. Longer-wavelength radiation includes infrared light, microwaves and radio waves.