You searched for: “nature
nature (s) (noun), natures (pl)
1. The natural world as it exists without human beings or civilization: The story that Harry was reading was about what nature was like before people decided to change and modify it to a large extent.
2. The elements of the natural world: Jill and her family went on camping vacations to see and enjoy the great variety and beauties of nature, such as the mountains, trees, animals, and rivers.
3. The basic character of something: The police didn't make any comments on the nature of the accident being investigated.
4. The processes that create and control the phenomena of the material world: Alfred learned in his biology class at school how the balance of nature functioned.
This entry is located in the following units: nasc-, nat- (page 4) Quotes: Nature, Biology (page 1) -ure (page 1)
Quotes: Nature, Biology
The science of the living world: nature quotes.
This entry is located in the following units: nasc-, nat- (page 6) Quotes: Quotations Units (page 5)
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Units related to: “nature
(Greek: nature, natural, inborn [to make grow, to produce])
(the science of the living world; including the good and the bad)
(Greek > Latin: suffix; from French -aque, or directly from Latin -acus, from Greek -akos forming adjectives. This suffix was used to form names of arts and sciences in Greek and it is now generally used to form new names of sciences in English; meanings, "related to, of the nature of, pertaining to, referring to")
(Latin: a suffix; having the quality of, of the nature of, characterized by, belonging to, resembling)
(Latin: a suffix; pertaining to, of the nature of, like; denoting an agent)
(Greek > Latin: a suffix; pertaining to; of the nature of)
(Utilizing nature in the present and in the future with engineering designs)
(Latin: God, god, godly; deity, divine nature)
(Latin: a suffix; composed of, of the nature of, like)
(Greek: -etikos, an adjective suffix meaning "pertaining to, of the nature of" for nouns ending in -esis)
(Named after the Italian physician and physicist who investigated the nature and effects of what he conceived to be electricity in animal tissue; who in 1762 discovered and first described voltaic electricity; electric currents; and primarily, direct electrical current.)
(Greek: a suffix; pertaining to; of the nature of, like; in chemistry, it denotes a higher valence of the element than is expressed by -ous)
(Latin: from -icalis, a suffix that forms adjectives from nouns; of or having to do with; having the nature of; constituting or being; containing or made up of; made by or caused by; like, characteristic of; art or system of thought; chemical terms)
(Greek > Latin: a suffix that is used to form hundreds of words that mean: similar to, resembling, like, characterized by, or of the nature of)
(if patients are fortunate, this is the art of keeping them involved while nature cures their diseases)
(a process by which nature prevents everything from happening all at once)
(Latin: of, relating to, or resembling; compound of the suffixes -ule, "little, small" and -ar, "pertaining to, of the nature of, like"; and so, -ular is a combining form meaning: referring to something "specified": appendicular, molecular, pedicular; as well as, a combining form meaning "resembling" something specified: circular, globular, tubular)
Word Entries containing the term: “nature
Biomimetics: Designs by Nature, Imitated and Developed by and for Mankind

Utilizing nature in the present and in the future with engineering designs with biomimetics or biomimesis; that is, mimicking nature with technology.

Don't confuse this field of science with a similar term known as biometrics.

meniscus in nature (s) (noun), menisci in nature (pl)
For a tiny insect, a pond's still surface can present a challenging waterscape.
  • To move from water to land, a water-walking creature may have to scale a steep, slippery slope—the curved edge where water meets leaf, rock, or floating object.
  • The curvature of a liquid's surface at a boundary is a consequence of the liquid's surface tension.
  • The sloped surface marking the border between wet and dry is called the meniscus.
  • Very small insects typically can't climb these frictionless mountains using their normal rowing motions or running gaits.
  • If they try to walk up, they slide back down.
  • Instead, these insects have to rely on a novel form of propulsion that doesn't require moving their legs back and forth.
  • As this water treader approaches a meniscus, its front and rear legs deform the water's surface to help it move up the slope.
  • Two species of water strider, for example, have retractable claws on their front and hind legs that allow them to pull up on the water to create tiny peaks.
  • At the same time, the central pair of legs presses down on the water to form dimples in the surface.
  • Because the insects are small, these peaks and dimples create sufficient force to pull the insects up the slope.
  • In effect, the insect creates tiny menisci with its front and rear legs.
  • Because menisci are attracted to other menisci, the net effect is to pull the insect up the slope at the water's edge.
  • These creatures can reach speeds as high as thirty body lengths per second.
  • In technical terms, the insects take advantage of lateral capillary forces that exist between small floating objects.
  • The force of attraction between body and meniscus "wall" depends on the body's buoyancy and on its distance from the wall.
  • Because the insect's front legs are closer to the wall than its rear legs are, the net effect is to propel the insect forward and upward.
  • The larva of the waterlily leaf beetle uses an alternative strategy to scale a slippery meniscus.
  • A poor swimmer, this creature simply arches its back, creating a meniscus at each end. The insect then gets pulled up the slope to a leaf.
  • In meniscus climbing, the researchers note, instead of moving its legs back and forth, an insect deforms the liquid's surface, converting muscular strain to the surface energy that powers its ascent.
  • In the realm of fluid dynamics, few researchers have previously tackled situations that involve surface tension as an important component.
  • The new results and related research may have important applications not only for understanding biolocomotion but also potentially in nanotechnology.
—Compiled from the article, "Climbing a Watery Slope" by Ivars Peterson,
in Science News Online, Week of November 5, 2005; Vol. 168, No. 19.
This entry is located in the following unit: menisc-, menisco- (page 1)
Pleasure, Charm, and Beauty in Human Life and in Nature: Graces
Greek: Graces (goddesses); Aglaia (brilliance); Euphrosyne (joy); Thalia (bloom)
Latin: (no equivalent goddess)
This entry is located in the following units: gods and goddesses from Greek and Latin Myths (page 2) nasc-, nat- (page 5)
Readers Digest Joy of Nature

How to Observe and Appreciate the Great Outdoors; The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.; Pleasantville, New York / Montreal, Canada; 1977.

This entry is located in the following unit: Bibliography of Sources Regarding Habitat and Dwelling Environments (page 1)