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Second-Language Acquisition: The process of a language that’s not the speaker’s native language.
Bilingualism: The ability to speak and understand two languages.
Monitor Model: A group of hypotheses that propose that linguistic competence is only advanced when language is subconsciously acquired.
Sociolinguistics: The study of language in relation to all sorts of social factors.
Linguistic Investment: A motivation to learn a language based on the understanding that the speaker will acquire a wider range of symbolic and material resources, which will in turn increase the value of their cultural capital and social power.
Hyperpolyglot: A person who can speak and understand more than six languages.

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How The Modern World Tricks Our Bodies Into Hurting Themselves May 07, 2025

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Cyclooxygenase: An enzyme responsible for the production of thromboxane and prostaglandins.
Thromboxane: A lipid that acts as a platelet aggregator.
Platelets: Special non-nucleic blood cells that clump together to cause blood clots.
Prostaglandins: A lipid that causes vasodilation and inflammation.
Aspirin: A form of acetylsalicylic acid that acts as an NSAID.
NSAIDs: Non-steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs that inhibit COX, and thus inflammation and clotting.

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Why Exercise Is Hard May 06, 2025

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Physical activity - any bodily movement produced by the contraction of skeletal muscle that increases energy expenditure above a basal level
Exercise - a form of physical activity that is planned, structured, repetitive, and performed (primarily) with the goal of improving health or fitness
Recommended levels of physical activity (USA) - 150 minutes moderate-intensity or 75 minutes vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week, or an equivalent combination, and muscle-strengthening activities at least 2 days / week
Evolutionary medicine - a field that uses evolutionary theory & data to better understand (the origins of) health & disease
Mismatch conditions - health conditions that are more prevalent or severe today than in the past because the body is inadequately or insufficiently adapted to modern environmental conditions (likely including: cavities, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis)

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The Secret Global Sewer System May 05, 2025

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Waterlog - to saturate (a field) with water; a problem for most crops
Drainage - the removal of liquid (water) from an area
Ditch - a narrow channel dug in the ground, typically used for drainage alongside a road or the edge of a field
Drain tile - a pipe buried (beneath a field) for drainage. Originally made of ceramic tiles, now typically of corrugated plastic
Precision agriculture - putting corn seed + small dose of fertilizer/pesticides in hole in ground
Controlled drainage - the use of a water control structure to raise the depth of a drain tile outlet to hold water in the field when drainage isn't needed
Wood chip bioreactor - an underground trench filled with wood chips that provide carbon for bacteria that denitrify the water flowing through it
Saturated buffer - a strip on the edge of a field filled with plants & bacteria that can remove some nitrogen from the water flowing onto it from drain tiles
Denitrification - the removal of nitrogen from a substance (soil, air, or water) by chemical reduction, typically via bacteria
Wetland - an area of land where water covers the soil year-round or at certain times of year
Ecosystem services - the free benefits humans get from natural ecosystems

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Keeled dragons May 04, 2025

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Four-limbed dragons May 03, 2025

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How We Evolved To Browse The Web May 02, 2025

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Optimality models: tools used to evaluate the costs and benefits of different organismal features, traits, and characteristics, including behavior, in the natural world.
Optimal foraging theory: a behavioral ecology model that helps predict how an animal behaves when searching for food.
Marginal value theorem: an optimality model that describes the strategy that maximizes gain per unit time in systems where resources, and thus rate of returns, decrease with time.
Central place foraging: a model for analyzing how an organism traveling from a home base to a distant foraging location can maximize foraging rates.

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