Glossary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Motivated Reasoning | A emotion-driven verification process where people pre-determine a conclusion and pick facts to support it. Antiscience |
| Moving the Goalposts | Changing the standard of proof after it has been met, so that no amount of evidence is ever enough. Antiscience |
| 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 |
| Mutagenesis | A process by which an organism is genetically changed, resulting in a mutation, which is a change in the DNA sequence of a gene. It may occur naturally, for example, due to natural exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light or chemicals; or it can happen deliberately for the purpose of increasing genetic variation of a species. Genetics |
| Naive Realism | The cognitive bias where an individual believes they perceive the world objectively, assuming those who disagree with scientific consensus are uneducated or biased. Science Education |
| Natural language processing (NLP) | NLP is the process through which AI is taught to understand the rules and syntax of language, programmed to develop complex algorithms to represent those rules, and then made to use those algorithms to carry out specific tasks, like language generation, translation, and summarization. Artificial Intelligence |
| Natural Selection | Natural selection is a fundamental mechanism of evolution where organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. Proposed by Charles Darwin, this process drives species change over time by passing on advantageous, heritable traits. Evolution |
| Naturopathy | A system of alternative medicine based on the belief that the body heals itself through 'natural' remedies. Many of its practices lack evidence, and some naturopaths discourage vaccination. Alternative Medicine |
| Net Zero | A state in which greenhouse gas emissions are balanced by removals from the atmosphere, so that human activity adds no further warming. Climate Change Denial |
| Neural network | A neural network is a kind of computer algorithm modeled off the human brain, and it's typically created using machine learning or deep learning. Neural networks can approximate complex functions without being programmed directly, and they're at the core of most modern AI models. Artificial Intelligence |