A drifting ice station refers to a research facility located on sea ice, typically in polar regions, that is designed to study various aspects of the environment, including weather, oceanography, and climate change. These stations are strategically placed on floating ice sheets in areas like the Arctic or Antarctic, where they can drift with the movement of the ice.

Ice rafting refers to the process by which ice, often in the form of icebergs or sea ice, is transported over water by currents, winds, or tides. This phenomenon can also occur in the context of glacial ice that breaks off and floats away from glaciers, potentially carrying sediment and other materials with it.

Sea level rise in New Zealand, like in many parts of the world, is a significant concern driven primarily by climate change and the associated melting of ice sheets and glaciers, as well as thermal expansion of seawater as it warms. In New Zealand, projections indicate that sea levels could rise by approximately 0.3 to 1.0 meters by the end of the century, depending on the level of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Any-angle path planning refers to a class of algorithms and methods used in robotics and computer graphics to find the shortest or optimal path from a starting point to a destination point in an environment that may include obstacles, while allowing for movement in any direction rather than being restricted to predefined grid or discrete points. Traditional path planning methods often operate on a grid, meaning they can only consider movements along the grid lines.

East Island, also known as Mokupāpapa, is one of the islands in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, which is part of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. This remote island is largely uninhabited and is an important nesting site for seabirds and marine life. East Island is notable for its unique ecosystem and natural beauty, providing a habitat for various species.

Cuckoo hashing is a type of open-addressing hash table algorithm that resolves collisions by using multiple hash functions and a strategy resembling the behavior of a cuckoo bird, which lays its eggs in other birds' nests. The key idea behind cuckoo hashing is to allow a key to be stored in one of several possible locations in the hash table and to "evict" existing keys when a collision occurs.

Incremental heuristic search refers to a search methodology that updates an existing solution or path as new information becomes available, rather than starting the search process from scratch. This approach is particularly useful in dynamic environments where conditions can change over time, or when solving problems that require continuous updates because of new data or evolving objectives.

Index mapping refers to various concepts depending on the context in which it is used, but generally, it involves the assignment of values, properties, or characteristics from one set to another based on their indices. Here are a few common interpretations of index mapping in different fields: 1. **Mathematics and Statistics:** - In mathematics, index mapping can refer to how elements of a set or array are related to their positions.

A Finger Search Tree is a type of data structure that provides an efficient way to perform dynamic set operations, such as search, insertion, and deletion. It is a variation of binary search trees (BST) that allows for quick searching and manipulating of elements, especially the ones that are accessed frequently or recently. ### Key Features: 1. **Finger Pointer**: The main distinguishing feature of a Finger Search Tree is the concept of a "finger".

An inverted index is a data structure used primarily in information retrieval systems, such as search engines, to efficiently store and retrieve documents based on the terms they contain. It enables fast full-text searches by mapping content keywords (or terms) to their locations in a set of documents. **How it works:** 1. **Indexing Process:** - Each document in the collection is tokenized into individual words or terms.

Knuth's Algorithm X is a backtracking algorithm designed to solve the Exact Cover problem. The Exact Cover problem involves finding a subset of rows in a binary matrix such that each column contains exactly one "1" from the selected rows. This can be thought of as a way to cover each column with exactly one selected row. The algorithm was introduced by Donald Knuth in his book "Dancing Links" and is noted for its efficiency in solving combinatorial problems.

Dichotomic search, more commonly known as binary search, is an efficient algorithm for finding a target value within a sorted array or list. The main idea is to repeatedly divide the search interval in half, which significantly reduces the number of comparisons needed compared to linear search methods.

Exponential search is a searching algorithm that is used to find the position of a target value in a sorted array. It combines two techniques: binary search and an exponential range finding strategy. Exponential search is particularly useful for unbounded or infinite-sized search spaces, although it can also be applied to finite-sized arrays. ### Steps of Exponential Search: 1. **Check the First Element**: Start by comparing the target value with the first element of the array.

Fibonacci search is a comparison-based search algorithm that utilizes the properties of Fibonacci numbers to efficiently find an element in a sorted array. It is particularly useful for large arrays when compared to binary search, especially when the cost of accessing elements is non-uniform or expensive.

Hill climbing is an optimization algorithm that belongs to the family of local search methods. It is often used in artificial intelligence and computer science to find a solution to problems by iteratively making incremental changes to a solution and selecting the best one available. The process can be thought of as climbing a hill: the algorithm starts at a given point (a solution) and explores neighboring points (solutions) in the solution space.

KCNJ9 is a gene that encodes a protein belonging to the potassium ion channel family, specifically the inwardly rectifying potassium channels (KIR). These channels play a crucial role in maintaining the resting membrane potential of cells and regulating various physiological processes, including cardiac and neuronal excitability. The KCNJ9 protein is also known as the potassium channel, inwardly rectifying subfamily J member 9.

The number 128 is an integer that follows 127 and precedes 129. It has several interesting properties: 1. **Mathematical Properties**: - It is a power of two: \( 128 = 2^7 \). - It is an even number. - The divisors of 128 are 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128.

Lifelong Planning A* (LPA*) is an extension of the A* search algorithm that is designed to efficiently plan over an extended horizon, particularly in dynamic environments where changes can occur during the planning process. The key features of LPA* include: 1. **Incremental Replanning**: Unlike traditional A*, which recalculates paths from scratch, LPA* updates existing paths based on changes in the environment.

In the context of game theory, specifically when analyzing game trees, "variation" refers to the different possible sequences of moves or play that can occur in a game. Each variation represents a unique path through the game tree, which is a visual representation of the possible moves in a game from the initial state to all potential outcomes. ### Key Concepts: 1. **Game Tree**: A game tree is a branching diagram that illustrates the sequential moves in a game.

3D security, in the context of digital transactions, often refers to "3-D Secure," a security protocol designed to enhance the security of online credit and debit card transactions. The protocol aims to reduce fraud and provide a safer online shopping experience by adding an additional layer of authentication during the payment process.