How can we improve everyone's ideas about the nature of science? I think there are three words that we shouldn't use. 1. “Hypothesis” In my opinion, this one is the worst. The worst science word ever!

Words. They are more than just letters placed on a page. They are more than just sounds emanating from our mouths. Words have meaning. They have significance. They allow us to communicate with one ...

Many phrases and words have different meanings in science than they do when spoken by the general public. Some scientists argue that the misunderstood terms should simply be replaced, but that just ...

Proper language is crucial to the scientific community. It helps answer questions and convey big ideas to the general public. Often, though, specialized scientific words have very specific meanings ...

Hypothesis. Theory. Law. These scientific words get bandied about regularly, yet the general public usually gets their meaning wrong. Now, one scientist is arguing that people should do away with ...

We all do our best to be accurate, responsible users of the English language, but despite our best intentions, we’ve all had the occasional slip up ("literally" or "ironic", anyone?) It's particularly ...

Why do some words give people the heebie-jeebies? A new study looks at words commonly perceived as disgusting, using the widely reviled "moist" as a test case. CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a ...

This line from “Unweaving Science,” the opening track of the spoken word album Experimental Words, illuminates the connections between science and art. The album, an eclectic collection of 10 poems ...

Move over, “selfie.” The Oxford English Dictionary may have let you into the official word club, but you’re still a lexical dilettante. The king of searched words this year, according to ...

We invite you to dive in and explore a database of words that appeared prominently in the print history of Scientific American. Below, each year of that historyis represented by a single word, which ...