17-letter words containing l, a, c, t, m
- foucault pendulum — a pendulum that demonstrates the rotation of the earth by exhibiting an apparent change in its plane of oscillation.
- fractal dimension — (mathematics) A common type of fractal dimension is the Hausdorff-Besicovich Dimension, but there are several different ways of computing fractal dimension. Fractal dimension can be calculated by taking the limit of the quotient of the log change in object size and the log change in measurement scale, as the measurement scale approaches zero. The differences come in what is exactly meant by "object size" and what is meant by "measurement scale" and how to get an average number out of many different parts of a geometrical object. Fractal dimensions quantify the static *geometry* of an object. For example, consider a straight line. Now blow up the line by a factor of two. The line is now twice as long as before. Log 2 / Log 2 = 1, corresponding to dimension 1. Consider a square. Now blow up the square by a factor of two. The square is now 4 times as large as before (i.e. 4 original squares can be placed on the original square). Log 4 / log 2 = 2, corresponding to dimension 2 for the square. Consider a snowflake curve formed by repeatedly replacing ___ with _/\_, where each of the 4 new lines is 1/3 the length of the old line. Blowing up the snowflake curve by a factor of 3 results in a snowflake curve 4 times as large (one of the old snowflake curves can be placed on each of the 4 segments _/\_). Log 4 / log 3 = 1.261... Since the dimension 1.261 is larger than the dimension 1 of the lines making up the curve, the snowflake curve is a fractal. [sci.fractals FAQ].
- functional isomer — any of several structural isomers that have the same molecular formula but with the atoms connected in different ways and therefore falling into different functional groups.
- general semantics — a philosophical approach to language, developed by Alfred Korzybski, exploring the relationship between the form of language and its use and attempting to improve the capacity to express ideas.
- genetic algorithm — (GA) An evolutionary algorithm which generates each individual from some encoded form known as a "chromosome" or "genome". Chromosomes are combined or mutated to breed new individuals. "Crossover", the kind of recombination of chromosomes found in sexual reproduction in nature, is often also used in GAs. Here, an offspring's chromosome is created by joining segments choosen alternately from each of two parents' chromosomes which are of fixed length. GAs are useful for multidimensional optimisation problems in which the chromosome can encode the values for the different variables being optimised.
- glove compartment — a compartment in the dashboard of an automobile for storing small items.
- glymphatic system — Anatomy. the system or process by which cerebrospinal fluid moves through channels formed by glia, cleansing the mammalian brain of harmful waste.
- good-time charlie — an affable, sociable, pleasure-loving man.
- grand climacteric — Physiology. a period of decrease of reproductive capacity in men and women, culminating, in women, in the menopause.
- grandmother clock — a pendulum clock similar to a grandfather's clock but shorter.
- gunboat diplomacy — diplomatic relations involving the use or threat of military force, especially by a powerful nation against a weaker one.
- haematocrystallin — Alternative form of hematocrystallin.
- hamiltonian cycle — Hamiltonian problem
- harmonic interval — an intervening period of time: an interval of 50 years.
- heterochlamydeous — (of a plant) having a perianth consisting of distinct sepals and petals
- histamine blocker — any of various substances that act at a specific receptor site to block certain actions of histamine.
- historical method — the process of establishing general facts and principles through attention to chronology and to the evolution or historical course of what is being studied.
- ho chi minh trail — a network of jungle paths winding from North Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam, used as a military route by North Vietnam to supply the Vietcong during the Vietnam War.
- homeland security — national defence
- hypocholesteremia — an abnormally low amount of cholesterol in the blood.
- ideogrammatically — In terms of, or by means of, ideograms.
- imperialistically — In an imperialistic manner.
- impracticableness — The state of being impracticable; impracticability.
- incandescent lamp — a lamp that emits light due to the glowing of a heated material, especially the common device in which a tungsten filament enclosed within an evacuated glass bulb is rendered luminous by the passage of an electric current through it.
- income inequality — a situation in which there is great disparity in income within a society
- incommunicability — incapable of being communicated, imparted, shared, etc.
- incompatibilities — not compatible; unable to exist together in harmony: She asked for a divorce because they were utterly incompatible.
- incremental value — increased value measured on an index or scale
- intercolumniation — the space between two adjacent columns, usually the clear space between the lower parts of the shafts.
- internal medicine — the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and nonsurgical treatment of diseases, especially of internal organ systems.
- intersectionalism — The study of minorities within minorities, or intersections between minorities; specifically, the study of the interactions of multiple systems of oppression or discrimination.
- japanese clematis — a Japanese woody vine, Clematis paniculata, of the buttercup family, having dense clusters of fragrant, white flowers and plumed fruit.
- jerusalem cricket — a large, nocturnal, wingless, long-horned grasshopper, Stenopelmatus fuscus, occuring chiefly in loose soil and sand along the Pacific coast of the U.S.
- kvatro telecom as — (company) The company that maintains Mary. Address: Trondheim, Norway.
- laplace transform — a map of a function, as a signal, defined especially for positive real values, as time greater than zero, into another domain where the function is represented as a sum of exponentials.
- lautenclavicymbal — a harpsichord with strings of gut rather than metal.
- law of trichotomy — the property that for natural numbers a and b , either a is less than b , a equals b , or a is greater than b .
- level compensator — an automatic gain control device used in the receivers of telegraphic circuits.
- liberal democrats — (in Britain) a political party with centrist policies; established in 1988 as the Social and Liberal Democrats when the Liberal Party merged with the Social Democratic Party; renamed Liberal Democrats in 1989
- light machine gun — any air-cooled machine gun having a caliber not greater than 0.30 inches (7.6 mm).
- literacy campaign — a campaign designed to reduce illiteracy and promote literacy in a country, area, etc
- lithium carbonate — a colorless crystalline compound, Li 2 CO 3 , slightly soluble in water: used in ceramic and porcelain glazes, pharmaceuticals, and luminescent paints.
- load displacement — the weight, in long tons, of a cargo vessel loaded so that the summer load line touches the surface of the water.
- local examination — any of various examinations, such as the GCSE, set by university boards and conducted in local centres, schools, etc
- loco primo citato — loc. primo cit.
- luminous exitance — the ability of a surface to emit light expressed as the luminous flux per unit area at a specified point on the surface
- macfarlane burnet — Sir (Frank) Macfarlane [muh k-fahr-luh n] /məkˈfɑr lən/ (Show IPA), 1899–1985, Australian physician: Nobel Prize in Physiology 1960.
- macro-linguistics — a field of study concerned with language in its broadest sense and including cultural and behavioral features associated with language.
- macroevolutionary — Pertaining to, or as a result of macroevolution.
- magnetic monopole — a hypothetical very heavy particle with an isolated magnetic north pole or magnetic south pole.