Glossary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Pathogen Derived Resistance | A technique used to protect plants from viruses or infection. The process introduces a plant to a mild strain of a virus to protect the plant from a more severe strain of that same or very closely related pathogen. Eventually, the plant may build resistance to the virus. This technique is similar in nature to a human vaccination, which aims to build an individual's immunity to a virus or pathogen. GMOs |
| Pathogens | Organisms (such as bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi) that cause disease in human beings. Vaccines |
| Pattern Recognition Bias | The brain's tendency to perceive meaningful connections, trends, or rules within random data or unrelated events. While our ability to spot patterns is an essential evolutionary survival tool, this bias leads us to mistake coincidence for causality and form false beliefs. Antiscience |
| Peer Review | Peer review is a critical, independent evaluation process where experts in a specific scientific field evaluate a manuscript's quality, validity, and originality before publication in a journal. Science |
| Percentile | Given a set of numbers, the value below which a given percentage of observations fall. For example, if we had the following set of numbers {4, 7, 3, 9, 3}, the 60th percentile would be 4, because 3/5 x 100% = 60% of the set are equal to or less than 4. Science General |
| Petrostates | Nations whose economies depend on fossil fuels have long invested in campaigns to undermine climate science, obstruct international agreements, and frame environmental action as a threat to national sovereignty. Their influence extends into global energy markets, diplomacy, and media ecosystems, ensuring that scientific warnings about planetary risk are met with political inertia. Science General |
| Phenology | The timing of natural events, such as flower blooms and animal migration, which is influenced by changes in climate. Phenology is the study of such important seasonal events. Phenological events are influenced by a combination of climate factors, including light, temperature, rainfall, and humidity. Climate Change Denial |
| Photosynthesis | The process by which plants take CO2 from the air (or bicarbonate in water) to build carbohydrates, releasing O2 in the process. There are several pathways of photosynthesis with different responses to atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Climate Change Denial |
| Phrenology | Phrenology is a 19th-century pseudoscience, developed by Franz Joseph Gall in 1796, that claimed personality traits and intellectual abilities could be determined by measuring bumps and indentations on the skull. Alternative Medicine |
| Placebo | A fake treatment that should have no effect outside the power of suggestion. Example: In drug trials, test patients may be given a pill containing the drug or a placebo, which resembles the drug (pill, injection, liquid) but doesn't contain the active ingredient. Science |