The American Dialect Society

The American Dialect Society, or ADS,  founded in 1889, has an annual WOTY (word of the year) nomination. Its annual meeting is in early January. Its quarterly publication is American Speech.

What is ricotta cheese?

Ricotta is an Italian whey cheese. Whey is a "by-product" of cheesemaking containing roughly 50% of the remaining milk solids. Rather than waste it you can actually other cheeses.  Norwegian brunost, or brown cheese, is an example of this.

What is "al dente"?

"Al dente" means "to the tooth". It is used to describe pasta cooked so it is "firm to bite". This is in contrast to overcooked pasta which has no resistance to biting at all.

What is an "op-ed"?

 "Op-ed" stands for "opposite the editorial page".

Where did Darwin, Australia, get its name from?

Darwin is the capital of Australia's Northern Territory, in the sparsely populated central northern region of Australia, covering 1.3m square kilometres.

What is the "Justice Department"?

The "Justice Department" in an American context refers to the US Department of Justice, also known as the "DOJ". It was formed in 1870 during the administration of Ulysses S. Grant.

Didcot - The Railway Town with a Scientific String to its Bow

The town of Didcot, known for its railway heritage (the railway station opened as part of the Great Western Main Line in 1844), and 15 miles south of Oxford, is home to several scientific hubs for the UK.  

These include the Harwell Campus.  

The CCFE (Culham Centre for Fusion Energy) is also in the vicinity where the Joint European Torus (JET) is located. Culham's aim is to bring fusion energy to the grid. Fusion consists of fusing light nuclei to form heavier nuclei, at the same time releasing energy. The Culham approach is to heat a combination of hydrogen gases (deuterium and tritium) to very high temperatures (over 100 million degrees Celcius) to turn the gas into plasma. Nuclei combine to form a helium nucleus and a neutron, a small fraction of the mass is converted to energy. A ring-shaped magnetic chamber called a 'tokamak' is used to control the plasma. 

More details on science facility development in the UK can be found on the UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) dedicated site.