antibacterial: Having properties that tend to destroy or limit the growth or reproduction of bacteria.
antibiotic: A germ-killing substance, usually prescribed as a medicine (or sometimes as a feed additive to promote the growth of livestock). It does not work against viruses.
application: A particular use or function of something.
bacteria: (singular: bacterium) Single-celled organisms. These dwell nearly everywhere on Earth, from the bottom of the sea to inside other living organisms (such as plants and animals). Bacteria are one of the three domains of life on Earth.
biomedical: Having to do with medicine and how it interacts with cells or tissues.
cancer: Any of more than 100 different diseases, each characterized by the rapid, uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells. The development and growth of cancers, also known as malignancies, can lead to tumors, pain and death.
circuit: A network that transmits electrical signals. In the body, nerve cells create circuits that relay electrical signals to the brain. In electronics, wires typically route those signals to activate some mechanical, computational or other function.
coil: Concentric rings or spirals formed by winding wire or some other fiber around and around a core; or the shape that such a wire would make.
consumer: (n.) Term for someone who buys something or uses something. (adj.) A person who uses goods and services that must be paid for.
current: (in electricity) The flow of electricity or the amount of charge moving through some material over a particular period of time.
develop: To emerge or to make come into being, either naturally or through human intervention, such as by manufacturing.
diabetes: A disease where the body either makes too little of the hormone insulin (known as type 1 disease) or ignores the presence of too much insulin when it is present (known as type 2 diabetes).
electrical engineer: An engineer who designs, builds or analyzes electrical equipment.
electricity: A flow of charge, usually from the movement of negatively charged particles, called electrons.
electronics: Devices that are powered by electricity but whose properties are controlled by the semiconductors or other circuitry that channel or gate the movement of electric charges.
engineering: The field of research that uses math and science to solve practical problems. Someone who works in this field is known as an engineer.
fabric: Any flexible material that is woven, knitted or can be fused into a sheet by heat.
infection: A disease that can spread from one organism to another. It’s usually caused by some type of microbe.
LED: (short for light emitting diode) Electronic components that, as their name suggests, emit light when electricity flows through them. LEDs are very energy-efficient and often can be very bright. They have lately been replacing conventional lights for home and commercial lamps.
materials science: The study of how the atomic and molecular structure of a material is related to its overall properties. Materials scientists can design new materials or analyze existing ones. Their analyses of a material’s overall properties (such as density, strength and melting point) can help engineers and other researchers select materials that are best suited to a new application.
microbe: Short for microorganism. A living thing that is too small to see with the unaided eye, including bacteria, some fungi and many other organisms such as amoebas. Most consist of a single cell.
novel: Something that is clever or unusual and new, as in never seen before. (in literature) A work of fiction.
range: The full extent or distribution of something. For instance, a plant or animal’s range is the area over which it naturally exists.
resistance: (as in drug resistance) The reduction in the effectiveness of a drug to cure a disease, usually a microbial infection.
risk: The chance or mathematical likelihood that some bad thing might happen. For instance, exposure to radiation poses a risk of cancer. Or the hazard — or peril — itself. (For instance: Among cancer risks that the people faced were radiation and drinking water tainted with arsenic.)
sustainable: (n. sustainability) An adjective to describe the use of resources in a such a way that they will continue to be available long into the future.
system: A network of parts that together work to achieve some function. For instance, the blood, vessels and heart are primary components of the human body’s circulatory system. Similarly, trains, platforms, tracks, roadway signals and overpasses are among the potential components of a nation’s railway system. System can even be applied to the processes or ideas that are part of some method or ordered set of procedures for getting a task done.
technology: The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry — or the devices, processes and systems that result from those efforts.
transmit: (n. transmission) To send or pass along.
wireless: (in telecommunications) An adjective that describes the ability of certain devices to send and receive radio signals over the air. It often refers to Wi-Fi networks and the networks operated by cell-phone companies to transmit data called up by phone users.