Vacuum

in theory, a space in which there is no matter. However, a perfect vacuum is unobtainable and the term describes a gas at a very low pressure.

Taken from Dictionary of Science

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In everyday usage, vacuum is a volume of space that is essentially empty of matter, such that its gaseous pressure is much less than atmospheric pressure. The word comes from the Latin term for "empty". Even putting aside the complexities of the quantum vacuum, the classical notion of a perfect vacuum with gaseous pressure of exactly zero is only a philosophical concept and never is observed in practice. Physicists often discuss ideal test results that would occur in a perfect vacuum, which they simply call "vacuum" or "free space", and use the term partial vacuum to refer to real vacuum. The Latin term in vacuo is also used to describe an object as being in what would otherwise be a vacuum.

The quality of a vacuum refers to how closely it approaches a perfect vacuum. Residual gas pressure is a primary indicator of quality, and is most commonly measured in units called torr, even in metric contexts. Lower pressures indicate higher quality, although other variables must also be taken into account. See ultra-high vacuum. Quantum theory sets limits for the best possible quality of vacuum, predicting that no volume of space can be perfectly empty. See QCD vacuum, for example. Outer space and interstellar space are naturally occurring high quality vacuums, mostly of much higher quality than can be created artificially with current technology. Low quality artificial vacuums have been used for suction for many years.

Vacuum has been a frequent topic of philosophical debate since Ancient Greek times, but was not studied empirically until the 17th century. Evangelista Torricelli produced the first laboratory vacuum in 1643, and other experimental techniques were developed as a result of his theories of atmospheric pressure. A torricellian vacuum is created by filling a tall glass container closed at one end with mercury and then inverting the container into a bowl to contain the mercury.

Vacuum became a valuable industrial tool in the 20th century with the introduction of incandescent light bulbs and vacuum tubes, and a wide array of vacuum technology has since become available. The recent development of human spaceflight has raised interest in the impact of vacuum on human health, and on life forms in general.

Taken from Wikipedia

Habit

the term for the characteristic external shapes of crystals due to the number, shape, size , and orientation of the crystal faces. The extent to which perfect habit may be approached depends upon conditions during formation, speed of growth, impurities etc. Individual crystals of particular minerals may show typical growths. Habits include tabular (flat blades), fibrous ( like thin fibres), prismatic (elongated) and acicular (needle-shaped).

Taken from Dictionary of Science

Are You Intelligent?: The meaning of true intelligence...

A student gets a perfect score in his test. His classmates then comment, "That guy is intelligent." Is he? We all know for a fact that we, students, are getting to be experts in the field of cheating among which includes the cheating arrangement. Along with it, we also have very trained eyes to see our seatmate's answers at a glimpse and very trained ears to hear our seatmate whispering the answer to us. So if a student gets a perfect score in his test, is doesn't necessarily mean he is intelligent.

When does one become intelligent? One becomes intelligent when he has a great "capacity to understand." The key word is understand -- NOT MEMORIZE. You may say it's better to memorize than to understand because in memorization, the information tends to "stick" to your brain. This is only partly true because in memorizing, you can only absorb part of the information. It is believed that if a person has a better capacity to understand and get new information into his mind, his memory isn't as good. But this has been proven otherwise. Researches of some neuroscientists show that these two -- memory and intelligence -- are two very different things and are probably controlled by two different parts of the brain.

Further research shows that our capacity to memorize or remember things must be related to our emotions regarding the subject. This would explain why some of us can memorize better when we are in desperation and not so much when we are in stress or tension. One of its disadvantages is the tendency of the information to "disappear" when we have relaxed. Another is having a hard time to remember what the information is under heavy stress. Some tests conducted by some neuroscientists showed that we can remember the information that we can't normally remember once a certain instance or object, similar to that in the information we want to remember, triggers a nerve in our brain that would suddenly flash the said information into the mind.

These are the reasons why it is better to understand whatever information we receive (be it a subject, topic, news or any discussion or symposium) because once we have set our mind to truly understand what we are about to encounter, the information will "carve" itself in our minds and we won't have a hard time remembering it. When it comes to reading information from newspapers or magazines, it is better to get the main idea of the topic and then analyze each of the data in connection with the main idea.

But with regard to solving puzzles and answering questions like those in the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), the capacity of the person to understand will enable him to analyze the data faster than usual. He will be able to find the connection between Object 1 and Object 2 and apply it to find the partner for Object 3.

True intelligence is therefore marked by the person's capacity to understand the information he encounters. It doesn't necessarily have to reflect on your test score (but you must have an above-average score). With this in mind...ARE YOU INTELLIGENT?

Rico Andrew Patron, HS450

Taken from The Bosconian Forum