"The Moral Arc" is a concept popularized by philosopher Michael Shermer in his 2015 book titled "The Moral Arc: How Science and Reason Lead Humanity Toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom." In the book, Shermer argues that moral progress is directed by the principles of science and reason, which he believes help humanity move towards greater notions of justice, equality, and human rights over time.
A scientific law is a statement that describes a consistently observed phenomenon in nature under specific conditions. It is based on empirical evidence gathered through repeated experimentation and observation, and it often can be expressed mathematically. Scientific laws summarize the results of many observations and generally apply universally, providing a concise description of how elements of the natural world behave. Unlike scientific theories, which explain why phenomena occur and can evolve over time with new evidence, scientific laws do not attempt to provide explanations; they simply describe what happens.
Universology is a term that is not widely recognized in mainstream academic or scientific discourse, and its meaning can vary depending on the context in which it is used. In some contexts, it may be used to refer to the study of the universe as a whole, encompassing various disciplines such as cosmology, astronomy, and philosophy.
Electrodeionization (EDI) is a water treatment technology that removes ions and impurities from water through the application of an electrical field. It is commonly used as a method for producing high-purity water, especially in industries such as pharmaceuticals, electronics, and power generation. The EDI process typically involves the following components: 1. **Ion Exchange Resins**: EDI units contain ion exchange resins that can attract and hold charged ions (cations and anions) from the water.
Membrane emulsification is a physical method used to produce emulsions by forcing a dispersed phase (such as oil) through a membrane to create droplets that are uniformly sized and distributed within a continuous phase (such as water). This technique leverages the controlled pore structure of a specialized membrane to achieve precise droplet formation. ### Key Aspects of Membrane Emulsification: 1. **Mechanism**: The process involves the use of a membrane with defined pore sizes.
The osmotic coefficient is a dimensionless number that quantifies the deviation of a solution's behavior from that of an ideal solution in the context of colligative properties—specifically, osmosis. In ideal solutions, the osmotic pressure can be predicted using the van't Hoff equation, which relates osmotic pressure to solute concentration. However, real solutions often show deviations from this ideal behavior, mostly due to interactions between solute particles and between solute and solvent.
The Black Sea undersea river is a unique underwater feature located in the Black Sea that is characterized by the presence of a submerged river system. It was first discovered in the late 1990s and is notable for its distinct characteristics, including a significant flow of freshwater and sediment being transported on the seabed, resembling a river. This underwater river is formed by dense, cold water that flows along the seafloor, creating a river-like channel as it moves.
ABISMO refers to the "Automated Biological Information Systems for Monitoring and Observation." It is a system developed to collect, analyze, and manage biological data, particularly in the context of environmental monitoring and biodiversity assessment. While specific details about ABISMO can vary based on its application and the organization utilizing it, the primary aim is to use automated systems to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of biological data collection and monitoring efforts.
Accretion in coastal management refers to the process of sediment accumulation along the coastline, which can lead to the gradual buildup of land. This natural phenomenon can occur through various mechanisms, such as the deposition of sediments transported by waves, currents, and tidal actions. In the context of coastal management, accretion is significant because it can help mitigate the effects of coastal erosion, support the development of land habitats, and contribute to the stability of coastlines.
An Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) is a scientific instrument used to measure the velocity of water currents in various aquatic environments, such as rivers, lakes, and oceans. It utilizes the Doppler effect, which describes the change in frequency of waves in relation to an observer moving relative to the source of the waves. ### How it Works: 1. **Acoustic Pulses**: The ADCP emits sound pulses (acoustic waves) into the water column.
Dispersion in the context of water waves refers to the phenomenon where waves of different wavelengths (or frequencies) travel at different speeds. This results in the separation or spreading out of wave components over time. Water waves can be classified into two main categories: deep water waves and shallow water waves, and dispersion behaves differently in each case. ### Deep Water Waves In deep water, waves are primarily influenced by gravity and surface tension.
Neo4j is a graph database management system designed to store, manage, and query data in the form of graphs. Unlike traditional relational databases that use tables to represent data, Neo4j organizes data as nodes (representing entities) and relationships (representing connections between entities) in a property graph model.
The Gulf Trough, also known as the Gulf of Mexico Trough or Gulf Trough system, is a geological feature in the Gulf of Mexico area. It represents a significant structural depression or an area of subsidence, primarily formed by tectonic processes, sediment deposition, and erosion over millions of years. The Gulf Trough is part of the larger Gulf of Mexico basin and plays a vital role in the region's geology, marine ecology, and hydrocarbon deposits.
The Indian Monsoon Current refers to the seasonal ocean currents that are influenced by the Indian monsoon, a significant weather phenomenon that affects the Indian subcontinent. The monsoon season, typically occurring from June to September, is characterized by heavy rainfall due to the southwest winds that carry moisture from the Indian Ocean. ### Key Features of the Indian Monsoon Current: 1. **Seasonal Variation**: The monsoon current is predominantly a summer phenomenon.
The Pacific-North American (PNA) teleconnection pattern is a climate pattern that influences weather and climate variability across the Pacific Ocean and North America. It is characterized by alternating patterns of high and low pressure systems that can extend from the western Pacific into the western and central parts of North America. The PNA is typically represented as a four-phase pattern of anomalies in atmospheric pressure and can influence several weather phenomena, such as temperature and precipitation patterns across North America.
The Parallel Ocean Program (POP) is a numerical ocean model primarily developed to facilitate large-scale oceanic simulations, primarily for climate research and oceanographic studies. It is part of the Community Earth System Model (CESM) and is designed to operate in parallel on supercomputing systems, enabling it to efficiently handle the complex calculations required for simulating the ocean's behavior over time.
Marigold is a warm, vibrant shade of yellow or orange that is often associated with the marigold flower, which features blooms in similar hues. The color can vary in tone from a bright, sunny yellow to a deeper, more burnt orange, and it is commonly used in design and fashion to evoke feelings of warmth, positivity, and cheerfulness.
An elastomer is a type of polymer that has elastic properties, meaning it can stretch and return to its original shape without permanent deformation. These materials are characterized by their ability to undergo significant elastic deformation when a force is applied and then recover quickly once the force is removed. This makes elastomers particularly useful in a wide range of applications where flexibility and resilience are important.
The South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) is a region of the South Pacific Ocean characterized by the convergence of trade winds from the southeast and northeast. This convergence zone is typically located roughly between 5° and 15° S latitude and extends from the western Pacific, near the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, to the eastern Pacific, near French Polynesia. Key features of the SPCZ include: 1. **Weather Patterns**: The SPCZ is associated with significant precipitation and thunderstorms.

Pinned article: Introduction to the OurBigBook Project

Welcome to the OurBigBook Project! Our goal is to create the perfect publishing platform for STEM subjects, and get university-level students to write the best free STEM tutorials ever.
Everyone is welcome to create an account and play with the site: ourbigbook.com/go/register. We belive that students themselves can write amazing tutorials, but teachers are welcome too. You can write about anything you want, it doesn't have to be STEM or even educational. Silly test content is very welcome and you won't be penalized in any way. Just keep it legal!
We have two killer features:
  1. topics: topics group articles by different users with the same title, e.g. here is the topic for the "Fundamental Theorem of Calculus" ourbigbook.com/go/topic/fundamental-theorem-of-calculus
    Articles of different users are sorted by upvote within each article page. This feature is a bit like:
    • a Wikipedia where each user can have their own version of each article
    • a Q&A website like Stack Overflow, where multiple people can give their views on a given topic, and the best ones are sorted by upvote. Except you don't need to wait for someone to ask first, and any topic goes, no matter how narrow or broad
    This feature makes it possible for readers to find better explanations of any topic created by other writers. And it allows writers to create an explanation in a place that readers might actually find it.
    Figure 1.
    Screenshot of the "Derivative" topic page
    . View it live at: ourbigbook.com/go/topic/derivative
  2. local editing: you can store all your personal knowledge base content locally in a plaintext markup format that can be edited locally and published either:
    This way you can be sure that even if OurBigBook.com were to go down one day (which we have no plans to do as it is quite cheap to host!), your content will still be perfectly readable as a static site.
    Figure 2.
    You can publish local OurBigBook lightweight markup files to either https://OurBigBook.com or as a static website
    .
    Figure 3.
    Visual Studio Code extension installation
    .
    Figure 4.
    Visual Studio Code extension tree navigation
    .
    Figure 5.
    Web editor
    . You can also edit articles on the Web editor without installing anything locally.
    Video 3.
    Edit locally and publish demo
    . Source. This shows editing OurBigBook Markup and publishing it using the Visual Studio Code extension.
    Video 4.
    OurBigBook Visual Studio Code extension editing and navigation demo
    . Source.
  3. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook-media/master/feature/x/hilbert-space-arrow.png
  4. Infinitely deep tables of contents:
    Figure 6.
    Dynamic article tree with infinitely deep table of contents
    .
    Descendant pages can also show up as toplevel e.g.: ourbigbook.com/cirosantilli/chordate-subclade
All our software is open source and hosted at: github.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook
Further documentation can be found at: docs.ourbigbook.com
Feel free to reach our to us for any help or suggestions: docs.ourbigbook.com/#contact