Key terms & definitions

A man who is not married.

A soil bacterium from which genes coding for insecticidal proteins can be transferred into crop plants.

The bearing for travelling back along the same straight line in the opposite direction.

An MP who is neither a government minister nor an opposition frontbench spokesperson.

Unofficial or private communication between governments, used to negotiate away from public pressure.

A person who contributes money to support a crowdfunding project.

The count rate measured without the radioactive source being investigated; it is the detector's reading due to background radiation.

Another variable or condition that may influence both of the variables being compared.

Ionising radiation that is always present in the surroundings, originating from both natural and artificial sources.

Ionising radiation present around us in the environment, even when no deliberate radioactive source is nearby.

A musical whose story centres on performers and the process of putting on a show or making entertainment.

Private negotiations and political scheming among influential advisers and politicians; in late Weimar Germany, these centred on persuading President Hindenburg to appoint their preferred Chancellor.

Terraced houses joined to other houses at the sides and at the back, leaving few openings for ventilation.

A display with two sets of leaves on opposite sides of shared stems, used to compare two numerical data sets.

A spare copy of data kept so that it can be restored if the original is lost or damaged.

Vertical integration towards an earlier stage of the supply chain, such as a manufacturer taking over a supplier.

The movement of water back down a beach towards the sea under gravity.

A small, locally built furnace used during the Great Leap Forward to try to increase metal production using mass labour rather than specialist industrial facilities.

Small local furnaces used during the Great Leap Forward to try to produce metal, often operated by people without the expertise needed to make usable steel.

A group of microorganisms; particular types of bacteria cause particular diseases, including tuberculosis and cholera.

One of the three domains; it contains the organisms commonly called bacteria, whose cells are prokaryotic.

The presence of bacteria in food or on objects; harmful bacteria can make food unsafe to eat.

The transfer of harmful bacteria from a contaminated source to another food, directly or through something such as hands, utensils or dripping juices.

The use of bacteria to release metal compounds from ores or waste material, commonly producing a solution called a leachate.

A biological extraction method in which bacteria help produce a solution containing metal ions from an ore; also called bioleaching.

A layer of bacterial growth spread across the surface of a nutrient agar plate.

A population of bacteria with shared characteristics, such as resistance to a particular antibiotic.

The scientific study of bacteria.

A single-celled microorganism with cellular structures and processes that can be targeted by antibiotics.

A single-celled micro-organism. Selected bacteria are used to produce foods such as yoghurt and cheese.