51吃瓜 of the Day
voltaic
adjective
noting or pertaining to electricity or electric currents, especially when produced by chemical action, as in a cell; galvanic.
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Voltaic 鈥減ertaining to electric currents鈥� is the namesake of Alessandro Volta (1745鈥�1827), an Italian physicist who experimented with electricity and is credited with inventing the battery. The Italian surname Volta has multiple possible origins, though many of the most popular hypotheses all circle back to the noun volta 鈥渢urn; vault.鈥� The noun volta ultimately comes from the Latin verb volvere 鈥渢o roll, wrap,鈥� which is the source of the elements containing vol- in evolution, involve, revolt, and volume. Another option is that the surname Volta derives from volpe 鈥渇ox,鈥� from Latin 惫耻濒辫脓蝉. Voltaic was first recorded in English circa 1810.
how is voltaic used?
The gas battery鈥檚 real history begins in October 1842, when Grove, newly appointed professor of experimental philosophy at the London Institution, penned a brief note …. 鈥淚 have just completed a curious voltaic pile which I think you would like to see,鈥� he wrote …. Grove had invented a battery which turned hydrogen and oxygen into electricity and water.
What really powers a battery is the difference in electronegativity between the materials its electrodes are made of. Take the voltaic pile, for example, the first battery in history, invented around 1800 by Alessandro Volta. The pile鈥檚 negative electrode is made of zinc (30) and the positive electrode is made of copper (29). Copper is slightly more electronegative than zinc. Thus, if you put the two metals next to each other (or if you connect them by a wire), some electrons will move from the zinc to the copper.
monsoon
noun
the season during which the southwest wind blows, commonly marked by heavy rains; rainy season.
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Monsoon 鈥渞ainy season鈥� is a borrowing by way of obsolete Dutch monssoen from Portuguese 尘辞苍莽茫辞 (earlier 尘辞耻莽茫辞), and prior to Portuguese, the term arose as Arabic mawsim 鈥渟别补蝉辞苍.鈥� Mawsim is a noun formed from the verb wasama 鈥渢o mark,鈥� which comes from an ancient Semitic root meaning 鈥渢o become fitting.鈥� This root also appears in Sivan, a month of the Jewish calendar that tends to overlap with May and June. Sivan (Hebrew 蝉墨飞腻苍) is adapted from the Akkadian word for 鈥渟eason,鈥� so the similarity between Sivan and English season is merely a happy coincidence. Monsoon was first recorded in English circa 1580.
how is monsoon used?
If you鈥檝e never lived in or visited the U.S. Southwest, you might picture it as a desert that is always hot and dry. But this region experiences a monsoon in the late summer that produces thunderstorms and severe weather, much like India鈥檚 famous summer deluges …. This year鈥檚 monsoon is the third-wettest ever in Tucson, with 12.80 inches (325 millimeters) of rain.
The Indian monsoon, a seasonal event that brings key moisture to an agricultural region where about 20 percent of the world’s population resides, is getting more extreme, researchers report …. The frequency and intensity of extreme events within the monsoon are important, as periods of intense rainfall can lead to floods, while periods of extreme dryness can lead to crop failures, particularly at certain growth states when crops are particularly vulnerable.
mano a mano
noun
a direct confrontation or conflict; head-on competition; duel.
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Mano a mano 鈥渁 direct confrontation鈥� is a loanword from Spanish, in which it means 鈥渉and to hand鈥濃�攏ot 鈥渕an to man,鈥� per the common misconception. Spanish mano 鈥渉and鈥� comes from Latin manus 鈥渉and,鈥� which is also the source of a wide variety of English words, from manicure (鈥渉and care鈥�) and manuscript (鈥渉andwritten鈥�) to maintain (鈥渢o hold with the hand鈥�) and both maneuver and manure (鈥渢o work by hand鈥�). Latin manus and Spanish mano are grammatically feminine nouns with masculine endings. This means that a 鈥渂ad hand鈥� in Latin is a manus mala (Spanish mano mala), with feminine mala agreeing only in grammatical gender with manus. In contrast, to use the masculine Latin noun lupus 鈥渨olf,鈥� a 鈥渂ad wolf鈥� is a lupus malus (Spanish lobo malo), with masculine malus agreeing in gender and spelling with lupus. Mano a mano was first recorded in English in the early 1950s.
how is mano a mano used?
Let’s be clear, though: an air fryer would be flattened in a mano-a-mano with a real Fryalator and its big tub of hot oil. Few of us deep fry at home, though, as it involves that huge amount of hot oil which you have to deal with after dinner. So does air frying bring us close enough to the ideal to take the plunge?
This is a tale of two former bodybuilders, facing off in court鈥攐ver a patent. And not just any patent: Based on federally funded research, this one has a pedigree that links back to one of the most prestigious universities in the world. And this kind of legal mano a mano raises questions about the role of universities in the patent system.