Glossary
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| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| Nanotechnology | The science and engineering of materials and devices at the scale of atoms and molecules, roughly 1 to 100 nanometers. Science General |
| Narrow AI | AI designed for a specific task, such as playing chess or recognizing speech. All current AI systems are generally considered narrow, though some are broadly capable. Artificial Intelligence |
| National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act | A 1986 U.S. law that created the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, and required vaccine information statements. Vaccines |
| Nationally determined contribution (NDC) | The climate action plan each country submits under the Paris Agreement, setting out its targets for reducing emissions and adapting to climate impacts. NDCs are updated every five years. Climate Change |
| Natural climate solutions | Actions that protect, restore, or better manage forests, wetlands, grasslands, and farmland to store carbon and reduce emissions. Climate Change |
| Natural gas | A fossil fuel made mostly of methane. It produces less carbon dioxide than coal when burned, but methane leaks along its supply chain can erode that advantage. Climate Change |
| Natural immunity | Immunity gained from surviving an infection. It comes at the cost of the disease itself, which can cause serious illness, complications, or death. Vaccines |
| 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 phenomenon | An observable event or process that occurs in nature without human intervention, such as lightning, tides, or photosynthesis. Science General |