The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) is typically thought of as a long-lived El Niño-like pattern of Pacific climate variability. Areas of the Pacific Ocean go through alternating patterns of warming and cooling every 10 to 30 years. 

For more information and to see a time series of PDO variability, visit: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/teleconnections/pdo/

The repetitive variation of a measurement over time, such as how temperature varies around a central value over time. 

Occurring roughly every two decades.

A relationship between two variables such that their values increase or decrease together. As time increases, the heat content of these basins also increases, suggesting these variables are positively correlated.

The measure of the statistical accuracy of an estimate. One of the most common measures is standard deviation, which can be presented as error bars (showing a margin of error) on a graph.

Oceanographers typically measure distinct depth levels in the ocean, with more measurements taken in the surface ocean than in the deep ocean.

For the upper 100m, measurements are taken every 5m in depth (i.e., 0m, 5m, 10m, 15m, 20m, etc.). Between 100m and 500m, measurements are taken every 25m (100m, 125m, 150m, 175m, etc.). From 500m to 2000m those measurements are every 50m (500m, 550m, 600m, 650m, etc.). For depths greater than 2000m, then data is collected in increments of 100m (2000m, 2100m, 2200m, 2300m, etc.).

An anomaly is something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected. Here, the authors examine how temperature varies from expected values.

Radiative balance is when solar energy coming to the Earth is balanced by an equal flow of heat from the Earth into space. If the Earth is in radiative balance, then global temperatures will remain relatively stable.

Refers to energy balance, in which an organism's energy intake (food) and outflow (energy expenditure) is coordinated to achieve no overall energy surplus or deficit.

A technique in which a neuron population of interest is killed. It allows the researchers to understand the function of a cell population.

Relates to both sympathetic nervous system and the adrenal medulla.

Ability to change.

Newborn or shortly after birth.

Relates to both cardiac (heart) and respiration (lungs) functions. Helps in the maintenance of oxygen and breathing.

Something that is in the initial, or beginning, stages.

Breeding between members of two different species.

A learning process that young animals go through soon after birth. The nearby adults serve as models for their identification of members of their own species.

Living within the same geographical area.

Because of their unique beak shape, the Big Birds can occupy an ecological niche that is not already occupied by any of the species already living on the island.

The separation of two alleles during meiosis when sex cells (sperm and eggs) are formed.

Plural of locus. A locus is a particular location in the genome where a certain gene is found. All alleles for one gene are found at the same locus. Each gene has its own, unchanging locus.

Different versions of a particular gene. When we refer to homozygous, we are describing alleles for a particular gene that are the same as each other.

Describes a situation where two different genes interact to affect a single phenotype. It often refers to a case where one set of genes might be modified or suppressed by a different set of genes.

The physical appearance and traits of an organism.

Allometries are relationships between measurable traits, such as bill length and body size.

Static allometries are measured in several individuals within one population who are all at the same developmental stage.

Occurs when one trait (such as height in humans) is influenced by many genes.

A diagram that represents the evolutionary relationships between organisms. Each group is descended from a common ancestor and so are related genetically. Phylogenetic trees can be based on morphology and on genetic information.

When families or closely related groups breed together to produce offspring.

The study of the form of an organism: Its size, shape, structure, and the relationships between those parts.

Means breeding that is confined to a specific group; in this case, the newly established species.

Meaning maintaining the same chromosome number: For example, staying diploid (two copies of each chromosome) rather than going from diploid to tetraploid (four copies of each chromosome).

Allometry is the study of how body structures or processes scale compared to body size. In this case, the authors are comparing bill size to body size. An allometric shift means that the bill size compared to body size has a different numerical value in the hybrid species than in either of the parental species.

This measure of genetic diversity is based on DNA sequence. It tells us the average proportion of nucleotides that are different between any two randomly selected sequences in an organism's DNA. Lower values indicate lower diversity.

Improved.

Nerve fibers arriving in the STN. In the peripheral nervous system, afferent fibers are those that carry signals from the target back to the spinal cord.

Nerve fibers exiting the STN. Directionality in the central nervous system is dependent upon the brain region in question. In the peripheral nervous system, efferents are in relation to the spinal cord—neurons that carry signals out of the spinal cord and to a target.

Referring to the substantia nigra, a part of the brain rich in dopamine neurons.

Real or true.

Here, referring to tissues made up of many different cell types with specific functions.

The study of the atmosphere and weather patterns. Meteorological data is often used to predict the weather.

Because chartered research vessels are expensive and time-consuming to organize, ship-of-opportunity programs use a combination of volunteer commercial and research vessels to collect oceanographic measurements. For example, a shipping vessel can be equipped with sampling instruments that will acquire data while it moves along a normal shipping route.  

The surface ocean is generally thought of as the top 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) of the ocean, which includes the region of rapidly changing temperatures called the 'thermocline'.

As you can see in this NOAA figure, everything below the thermocline is the deep ocean.

Specific heat is the amount of heat per unit mass required to raise the temperature by one degree Celsius.

Thus, specific heat is a thermodynamic property of seawater expressing how heat content changes with temperature. A substance's specific heat also depends on temperature, pressure, and salinity.

CLIVAR stands for "Climate and Ocean: Variability, Predictability and Change." The goal of CLIVAR is to further our understanding of the oceans and climate.

For more information visit: http://www.clivar.org/about

Monotonic means to neither increase nor decrease.

As the warming is not monotonic, this means there are periods where temperature has increased and other periods where temperatures have decreased.

Scientists use the "~" symbol to mean "approximately." This means the world ocean's heat content increased by approximately 2x10²³ joules.

2x10²³ joules is the same as 200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 joules, or a 2 with 23 zeros following it.

The average.

,

Neurotransmitters that have increased effects on the neuron.

Peptides that bind to opioid receptors in the brain.

Refers to any branches/projections from the cell body of a neuron.

During the beginning and development of an organism.

Meaning "from the new;" in this case, the first appearance of the enzyme.

Observation and examination of one's own thoughts.

In this context, meaning huge.

A mid-brain region, involved with the physiological responses to stress. The locus ceruleus is now believed to be the primary site of norepinephrine production.

Neurons that perceive stimulation or sensation.

When depolarization occurs, there is an inward flow of sodium ions through the ion channels into the cell. Ion channels are present across the membrane.

Generally considered or reputed to be.

Occurs within a neuron.

Constantly changing.

Usually means 25 degrees Celsius, or 77 degrees Fahrenheit (think room temperature).

In the case of MOF, recycling describes the ability to release the water from the pores multiple times.

The capacity of the MOF to go through multiple cycles of adsorption-desorption of water without losing water uptake capacity.

Describes the frequency of false positives, which can be reduced by more robust experimental design, higher quality samples, or improved analytical techniques.

Parameters that vary with the variation in what is being studied; here, the microbiome covariates are variables taken from clinical and questionnaire data that are strongly correlated with the abundance and diversity of various genera.

A statistical method used to quantify the compositional difference in species populations between samples. The value is always a number between 0 and 1, where 0 indicates that the samples share all the same species and 1 indicates that the samples don't have any species in common.

Parameters that blur results by having an effect on what is studied. These factors may mask or falsely show associations between the independent and dependent variables, resulting in biased conclusions.

An anisotropic crystal is one which has different properties in different orientations.

Serve an opposite function to.

In the living animal.

The amount of food eaten when the mice are allowed to eat as much or as often as they like.

A procedure in which electrodes are implanted into specific parts of the brain, allowing electrical stimulation of a target region.

It is most commonly used as a treatment for Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders as well as obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression.

Promotes appetite and food intake.

Indicates the part of the brain that underlies a specific behavior or cognitive or physiological process.

The drivers (either human or algorithm) sacrifice themselves to save one or 10 pedestrians.

The researchers only considered cars with at least one passenger.

In the case of immunizations, sometimes parents choose not to immunize their children because they (falsely) perceive a high risk to their own child, even though this choice may make it more likely that other children will be harmed.

There are many examples in society in which governments and people must make a decision based on how much harm will be done to one person/group versus another.

A scenario in which people will get larger benefits if they act in their own interest rather than the group's interest, even though the entire group will benefit the most if everyone cooperates.

An algorithm is a set of rules, like a procedure or a formula, that is followed to achieve a goal.

For example, if you are baking bread, you might follow a recipe. In the same way, a computer can follow a series of steps to solve a problem. Just as there are different recipes for making bread, there are many different algorithms to achieve a single goal.

The value you expect for a given scenario.

For example, if you joined the lottery, how much should you expect to win given the amount of money you put into it? Combined with the expected risk, this tells you if something is worthwhile.

The probability that the value you get for a given scenario is very different from the one you expect.

For example, if you joined the lottery and expected to win $5, what is the probability that you wouldn't actually get $5?

Outcome on the whole community, not just individuals.

Get a benefit at the expense of someone else.

Sacrificing yourself for the greater good.

Strong and reliable.

When something is very noticeable.

Self-driving cars should ideally make the same types of decisions consistently.

If the only way for a self-driving car to avoid hitting a pedestrian is to hit a group of pedestrians, the car has to decide who to harm.

Thus, there should be moral principles coded into self-driving cars, to help them make decisions when they cannot avoid colliding with something. These moral decisions are difficult to turn into algorithms.

A marketable good that is bought and sold. If AVs become popular and spread globally, having effective decision rules will be even more important.

Decision rules are algorithms that tell the autonomous vehicle how to decide on what to do in a given scenario.

Even thought these events are unlikely, if there are many AVs on the road then some will inevitably crash.

If a crash is unavoidable, AVs are sometimes faced with choices where someone will be hurt no matter what. In these cases, the AV must make a decision about who will be hurt.

Making it so that traffic moves more smoothly.

Benchmark tests are standards or points of reference that are used to evaluate something's performance. Once a benchmark is established, later performance (under experimental conditions) can be compared to the benchmark.

In a utilitarian viewpoint, the most moral action is the one that has the best overall consequences for everyone, even if the choices are difficult.

For example, if you are driving a car and have to choose between killing several people and saving yourself, or sacrificing yourself to save that group of several people, the utilitarian choice would be you sacrificing yourself (because fewer people will die, even if it means that you will die).

All cells in an organism other than the reproductive cells.

The smallest building block of a crystal is called unit cell. The repetition of these identical structural units in space constitute the crystal lattice.

A vacancy defect wherein two of the atoms are missing from the lattice structure is termed as double vacancy. Sometimes, dangling bonds arising from the missing of atoms in the hexagonal structure of graphene leads to its straining and formation of pentagons and heptagons. These types of defects are called Stone-Wales defects.

In a crystal, the atoms are arranged in a regular order and this property of the crystal is called its periodicity.

Diamond particles in the nanoscale dimensions are called nanodiamonds.

The growing season is the time of year when crops are grown because the temperature and rainfall during that time are most ideal for plant growth. The growing season will vary depending on where you are in the world.

metabolic rate is the amount of energy an organism uses up in a span of time. An organism with a higher metabolic rate will use up more energy than an organism with a low metabolic rate. Metabolic rate may change over time as well. This paper discusses how insects have greater metabolic needs in warmer temperatures and so they need to eat more to sustain their greater energy needs.

test

AAAS Annual meeting

SitC

The study of how electromagnetic radiation (such as light) interacts with matter.

A unit of rapid oscillations of electron density.

The smallest unit of matter. Everything is made of atoms.

A physical constant that characterizes the strength of interaction between elementary charged particles (protons and electrons).

Another word for progeny is offspring.

An organism that is homozygous for a particular allele has two identical alleles at that locus. High homozygosity means the organism is homozygous for many genes. It is likely to be found in inbred organisms.

An interfering RNA, also known as RNAi, is a molecule that can be tailored to specifically block the expression of a gene. Here, the authors used an NPFR-specific RNAi to prevent the cells from making NPF receptors.Without the receptors, NPF has no effect on the fly's brain.

All neuropeptides in the brain work by attaching to specific receptors found on the surface of cells. Think of the cell surface as a wall, the receptor as an electrical outlet, and the neuropeptide as a plug. In order for the neuropeptide (plug) to have any effect, it has to successfully attach to the correct receptor (socket). Furthermore, a particular neuropeptide (say, a three-pronged plug) cannot attach to just any receptor (for example, a two-pronged socket). The receptor and the neuropeptide have to match in order for the system to have any effect.

Something that can have an altering effect on a particular phenomenon or behavior. For example, sleep might be considered a mediator of attentiveness in class, because the more soundly you sleep, the more likely you are to stay alert in school (and vice versa). Here, the researchers discuss the fact that the concentration of neuropeptide F in the brain has been known to change how organisms respond to sex.

Not enjoyable to eat, most often due to a bitter taste.

Fruit flies have taste receptors just like humans, but they aren't just limited to the tongue! Taste receptors in fruit flies are mounted all over the body, including leg bristles and wings.

Read more from University of California, Berkeley: https://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/06/25_flies.shtml

Neuropeptide F (NPF) is a specific type of neuropeptide found in flies. Human beings produce a similar type of neuropeptide called neuropeptide Y. NPF is believed to play an important role in regulating reward-seeking behaviors.

Neurons in the brain can communicate with one another in one of two ways—electrically or chemically. Neuropeptides are proteinlike chemical substances that a neuron is capable of secreting in order to initiate a somewhat long-lasting chemical communication with its neighboring neurons.

In all neurons.

AVPR2 is a gene that codes for a protein called vasopressin V2 receptor. AVPR2 binds the hormone vasopressin and contributes to the regulation of water in the body.

Off-target effects occur when the nuclease introduces changes to irrelevant sequences because of their similarity to the target sequence. High frequency of off-target effects are undesirable because it corresponds to low specificity, making it hard to control the nuclease activity.

The authors used "depletion scores" to compare nucleases. A depletion score quantifies how much expression was reduced by a specific nuclease. The higher the score, the more expression was "depleted."

KRAS is a protein which participates in intracellular signal transduction. Importantly, it controls cell proliferation. When mutated, it becomes constitutively active (always turned on) and contributes to the development of several cancers.

A type of vector that can use the cell's protein synthesis machinery to express the genes that it carries.

Localization signals make sure proteins go to the right place in a cell. These signals are in the form of sequences that are recognized by different parts of the cell.

Creating genetic mutations.

Typically, a single amino acid is coded by many different codons. Different species sometimes use different codons for the same amino acid, or produce different numbers of amino acids from the same codon.

As a result, when a researcher introduces a gene for a protein from one species into another, the amount of protein made is usually small. To increase the amount of protein produced, it is important to use codons for that particular species. This is done by introducing synonymous mutations in the gene. Synonymous mutations change a DNA sequence but result in the same amino acid.

Testing a material to figure out its composition and quality.

An enzyme responsible for the conversion of norepinephrine to epinephrine.

Class of opiate neurotransmitter.

Restoration of the nerves in the area either surgically or spontaneously.

Splits into two or more branches.

Across the membrane.

Occurs across the nerve cells.

A region from where an organ can develop.

The cells present in the medulla of the adrenal gland.

Small pockets that store neurotransmitter in a cell.

After birth.

Claude Pouillet (1790-1868) was a French scientist who did research in a variety of areas, including meteorology. Pouillet expanded on Fourier's ideas about Earth's surface temperature and developed an equation for the thermal equilibrium between the atmosphere and the surface.

Because Earth is much colder than the sun, it emits radiation of longer wavelengths, mainly infrared. These are the "dark rays". Gases in the atmosphere can absorb some of these waves and "retain" their energy by re-emitting them back toward the ground.

Solar radiation includes ultraviolet (UV), visible, and infrared waves, with peak intensity in the visible range. The atmosphere absorbs little of the UV and visible waves, allowing them to pass through to reach the surface. These are the "light rays" Arrhenius refers to. Some of the incoming infrared waves are absorbed by the atmosphere.

John Tyndall (1820-1893) was an Irish scientist and professor of physics at the Royal Institution of Great Britain. Tyndall measured the ability of different atmospheric gases, including CO2 and water, to absorb and emit infrared radiation.

An event that drastically reduces the size of the population. Loss of genetic variation is a knock-on effect. Causes can be disease, intense animal hunting, and mass migration.

New populations that arise when two genetically distinct breeds begin interbreeding. One reason for this is the coming together of breeds that were previously geographically separated.

These indicate the reliability of the data for a specific branch of the tree. Out of 100, this number estimates how closely a subset of the samples match the original result. One-hundred out of 100 suggests a high degree of certainty, whereas a value of 40 suggests uncertainty—it could be wrong. Bootstrap values are written on the nodes of the tree.

The term bootstrapping is associated with the expression, "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps." In statistics, one often does not have access to replicates for an experiment. Bootstrapping means randomly re-sampling your data as a mean to create replicates. Hence the analogy with bootstrapping, a self-sustaining process that allows for evaluating confidence without obtaining new data.

A type of graph used to map ancestry that is known as a phylogenetic tree. A neighbor-joining tree uses either the DNA or protein sequence of organisms to find differences between them. The two nearest nodes are defined as neighbors, based on how similar their DNA sequences are. This is done until all of the nodes have been paired together. The tree is directional, with older ancestors on the left and newer members on the right.

Refers to the earliest stage of the time period known as the Stone Age. The Paleolithic period ran from approximately 2.6 million years ago all the way up to about 10,000 B.C.E.

Single-base variations that exist at specific positions in the genome. For example, dog 1 has a T nucleotide at a specific position, whereas dog 2 has a C at the same position in the genome; that means that there's an SNP at this position.

Current estimates put the last maximum glaciation at 26,500 years ago.

The end of the most recent glaciation is now estimated to have occurred 11,700 years ago.

James Croll was a Scottish scientist who developed a theory linking the ice ages, including glacial and interglacial periods, to variations in Earth's position and orientation relative to the Sun.

To learn more about Croll and his work, see the following article published in the journal History of Meteorology: http://www.meteohistory.org/2006historyofmeteorology3/3fleming_croll.pdf

A geological period of reduced temperatures characterized by the presence of glaciers and polar ice sheets.

Earth is currently in the Quaternary Ice Age which marked the beginning of the Quaternary Period, 2.6 million years ago.

To learn more about ice ages, glacials and interglacials, see the following Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age

eliminated

the area between 40 and 50 degrees of latitude

In the Northern Hemisphere this includes northern China and Japan, Mongolia, southern parts of the former USSR, Italy, the Balkan States, France, northern Spain, the northern United States and southern Canada.

In the Southern Hemisphere this is mainly open ocean. It includes New Zealand, the islands of Tasmania, and the southern part of South America.

An interglacial is a time during an ice age in which temperatures are somewhat warmer, when ice sheets and glaciers may retreat. Interglacials occur between glaciations, which are times when ice sheets and glaciers reach their maximum extent.

Earth is currently in an interglacial, the Holocene Epoch, which began 11,700 years ago.

The cold, dry period of an ice age in which ice sheets and glaciers reach their maximum extent.

Arrhenius uses this term interchangeably with "glacial period" and "glaciation".

pleasant, warm, mild climate

The Tertiary Period is the geological period prior to the current Quaternary Period (Quaternary Ice Age).

cloudiness

carbon dioxide (CO2) gas

Throughout the paper, Arrhenius refers to gaseous carbon dioxide as "carbonic acid", the common name used at that time. Today we distinguish between these two different, though related, chemical species. Carbonic acid (H2CO3) is produced when carbon dioxide (CO2) dissolves in and reacts with water, forming an equilibrium.

Founded in the early 1890's in Stockholm, Sweden, the society was a group of scientists who met regularly to discuss the current questions and latest findings in the physical sciences. Arrhenius was one of the founders and among those who were interested in "cosmic physics", which was similar to what we call "Earth science" today.

The brain is a highly interconnected network of neurons that project to distant regions. It is in this network that neurons can connect in very specific patterns to form a "circuit," or a specific path that has been mapped to a specific function.

A long, threadlike projection from a neuron's cell body that conducts impulses from one cell to the next.

GAD67 is an enzyme that catalyzes a reaction converting glutamate to GABA. GABA is one of the major inhibitory neurotransmitters in the nervous system.

Has evolved in some way.

Reactive oxygen species inhabit the cell and can result in harm and lead to irregular protein and RNA transcription. By being unable to remove and detoxify the reactive oxygen species, then an imbalance between the cell and body is created as a source of stress which can lead to further detrimental effects.

The fixed position of a chromosomal unit which can carry a specific gene or origin of a phenotype trait.The position is usually used in order to determine what other factors attribute to a characteristic change.

Associated.

An analytical technique to precisely measure and observe the certain behaviors of an factor or subject. The results is typically an intensive property of the target of the assay in numerical terms.

The end of an amino acid chain signified by a carboxylic group.They are usually the end of protein synthesis , and has signals in the shape of sequences to retain and sort certain protein.

A method to detect and analyze specific amino acids sequences in certain proteins. The proteins are extracted which is then used with this analytical tool to determine the antibodies they bind to.The sample is then put under electrophoresis and transferred onto a membrane.

The state of being repelled from water due to the lack of attraction. This is normally caused by shifting polarities of cells and molecules.

Large scale death.

Sentinel organisms are defined as organisms used to detect risks for humans through advanced warnings. In this case, for the Eastern Oysters. Ex: Canaries in coal mines.

The worst of a specifed thing (HABs).

Suspended in air.

Another way of saying a model or figure.

a substance produced by an organism. An example is when there is an accumulation in shellfish. If the shellfish is ingested by a human it can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) which can cause damage to the nervous system and can paralyze muscles.

When aquatic animals and plants are raised and grown for food.

When a phosphate group is added to a compound. Many times the addition of a phosphate results in a conformational change which can activate or deactivate the compound.

Proteins found in chromatin.

The physical outward expression of a gene due to an organism's genotype.

Genotype is based off of the coded alleles of an organism.

DNA is not changed. Instead its the genes that are expressed or inactivated change in an organism.

Brevetoxins are neurotoxins produced by Karenia brevis.

These neurotoxins accumulate in shellfish and is the cause of neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP).

NSP will cause disruption of neurological processes in humans.

Proliferation is the rapid increase in cell growth or organism reproduction.

Algal proliferation, in this paper, is the rapid growth of a the dinoflagellate Karenia brevis.

In DNA Methylation, a methyl group is added to the DNA in order to change the activity of the DNA segment. (For example: turning an "off" gene "on").

Using three or more dimensional spaces in imaging techniques.

Imaging used to collect and process information across different wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum. The goal of hyperspectral imaging is to locate objects, identify materials, or detect processes. For example, this type of imaging has been used to detect early warning signs of disease in agricultural settings. This aids phenology in how individual species are identified and analyzed.

In plants, the layer of actively dividing cells that is responsible for secondary growth of stems and roots.

A keystone species is one that plays a particularly important role in an ecosystem; a species in which other species in a shared ecosystem depend on for survival.

The ability of an organism to withstand extreme weather conditions (such as drought).

The inability of an organism to withstand extreme weather conditions (such as drought).

Conspecific: individuals belonging to the same species.

Coexisting conspecifics: two species living together in the same habitat.

Extreme changes in climate decreases organisms' (of the same species) abilities to live together in the same habitat. This could be due to competition for resources.

Barriers that prevent different species from interbreeding. These could include isolation between habitats (physical barriers), behavioral isolation (differences in mating rituals), or mechanical isolation (incompatible reproductive structures).

Variation within a species group or between individuals of the same species.