Glossary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Manufactured Doubt | A strategy to make a consensus issue (like tobacco safety or climate change) appear heavily disputed, even when evidence is strong. Antiscience |
| Mean | In a set of numbers or data points, the mean is the average calculated by adding all the values and then dividing by the number of values. Science |
| Median | In a set of numbers or data points, the median is the number that falls exactly in the middle: half the numbers in a data set are higher and half are lower than the median. Science General |
| Methane (CH4) | A hydrocarbon that is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential most recently estimated at 25 times that of carbon dioxide (CO2). Methane is produced through anaerobic (without oxygen) decomposition of waste in landfills, animal digestion, decomposition of animal wastes, production and distribution of natural gas and petroleum, coal production, and incomplete fossil fuel combustion. Climate Change Denial |
| Methodology | A methodology is the overarching strategy, framework, or theoretical analysis that guides a research project or activity. It defines why you are using specific tools and procedures, distinguishing it from the methods themselves, which are the practical actions (like surveys or lab tests) taken to gather and analyze data. Science |
| Misinformation | False information shared without malicious intent. The person sharing it often believes it to be true. Antiscience |
| MMR | The MMR vaccine is a combination vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella (German measles). It contains the combined measles vaccine, mumps vaccine, and rubella vaccine into a single injection. Vaccines |
| Model | A model is a tool that helps researchers predict how a system is likely to behave. In scientific use, a model can be used to support a hypothesis if it generates the expected behavior. Science |
| Model Organism | A species that has been widely studied, usually because it is easy to maintain and breed in a laboratory. Scientific discoveries in model organisms can often tell us a lot about the workings of many other organisms, too. A few examples of common model organisms are fruit flies, mice, zebrafish, and the bacteria E. coli. Science General |
| MRNA | Messenger RNA (mRNA) is a type of single-stranded RNA molecule that plays a fundamental role in biology by carrying instructions from DNA to the ribosomes, where proteins are synthesized. Vaccines |