Glossary
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| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) | Scenarios used in the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report that describe different possible futures for population, economy, and policy, combined with emissions levels (for example SSP1-1.9 or SSP5-8.5). Climate Change |
| Sharpening | One of three cognitive and media biases (leveling, pseudosymmetry, sharpening) evaluated together in psychology and science literacy. Sharpening is the cognitive tendency to exaggerate, emphasize, or intensely retain specific details of an event, story, or data point. Science Misinformation |
| Shingles vaccine | A vaccine that protects older adults against shingles, a painful rash caused by reactivation of the chickenpox virus. The recombinant vaccine Shingrix is more than 90 percent effective. Vaccines |
| Significant figures | The digits in a measurement that are known reliably, which indicate its precision. Science General |
| Simpson's paradox | A statistical effect in which a trend that appears in separate groups reverses or disappears when the groups are combined. Science Literacy |
| Simulation | A computer model that imitates a real process or system over time to study how it behaves. Science General |
| Single-Blind | When either the experimenter or subject is unaware whether the subject is getting the treatment or a placebo. Blinding the researcher helps prevent bias when the results are analyzed. Blinding the subject prevents the participant from having a biased reaction. Science General |
| Single-study syndrome | Placing too much weight on one study, especially an outlier, rather than considering the full body of evidence. Science Literacy |
| Sink | Any process, activity or mechanism which removes a greenhouse gas, an aerosol or a precursor of a greenhouse gas or aerosol from the atmosphere. Climate Change |
| Skepticism | In science, the practice of questioning claims and requiring evidence before accepting them, while remaining open to being persuaded by good evidence. Science General |