Technology Glossary

Mutational Signature

A characteristic pattern of DNA mutations associated with a particular biological process or exposure.

Non-public information that a country’s law treats as capable of harming national security if disclosed. The definition is jurisdiction-specific and can include military material as well as qualifying economic, scientific or technological information, but commercial value alone does not automatically make information a national secret.

Navier-Stokes Equations

A set of differential equations that express conservation of momentum and mass in fluids. They connect velocity, pressure, density, viscosity and external forces to describe how liquids and gases move.

Navigation Message

A GNSS navigation message is data broadcast by a satellite alongside its ranging signal. It carries information such as satellite orbit, clock corrections, system status and time that receivers need to compute a position.

Navigation Satellite

A navigation satellite broadcasts precisely timed radio signals and orbital information that receivers use to calculate position, velocity and time. Global systems deploy many such satellites as coordinated constellations.

Neoantigen

A protein fragment produced by a tumor-specific mutation and displayed on a cancer cell's surface in a form the immune system may recognize as foreign. Neoantigens are potential targets for personalized vaccines and T-cell therapies, but not every predicted neoantigen triggers an effective response.

Nerve Fascicle

A bundle of nerve fibers grouped together inside a larger peripheral nerve and surrounded by connective tissue. Different fascicles can carry signals linked to different organs or functions, making their location important for selective stimulation.

Net-Negative Emissions

A condition in which human activities remove more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere than they release over a given period. Sustaining net-negative carbon dioxide emissions could gradually reduce CO2-driven warming after net zero.

Network Egress Control

Policies and technical filters that restrict which external destinations, protocols and data a system may send over a network.

Network Time Synchronization

Network time synchronization aligns clocks across communications and computing systems so events can be coordinated and timestamped consistently. Telecommunications networks often use GNSS-derived timing alongside network protocols and local clocks.

Neural Decoding

The use of mathematical or computational models to infer information, intentions, perceptions, or movements from patterns of nervous-system activity. Accuracy depends on the recording method, training data, task, and stability of neural signals over time.

Neuromodulation

The alteration of nerve activity through electrical, magnetic, chemical or other targeted stimulation.

News Bargaining Code

A legal framework intended to make large digital platforms negotiate commercial payments or other terms with eligible news publishers.

Nickel Isotope Signature

The measured pattern of relative abundances among nickel isotopes in a sample. Differences in this pattern can serve as a geochemical tracer of a material's source, formation history, chemical processing, or mixing with other materials.

NLR Receptor

A family of intracellular immune receptors that detect pathogen molecules and trigger defense responses.

Non-Consensual Intimate Deepfake(NCII deepfake)

Synthetic or manipulated intimate imagery that depicts an identifiable person without that person's consent. It may be produced with generative AI or editing tools and can cause severe privacy, safety, reputational, and psychological harm regardless of whether the depicted event occurred.

Non-Iridescent Structural Color

Structural colour designed to remain relatively stable as the viewing or illumination angle changes. It can arise from disordered structures or from resonances of individual particles, avoiding the strong angle-dependent colour shifts of periodic photonic structures.

Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep(NREM)

The part of sleep without the rapid eye movements characteristic of REM sleep. Its deeper stages feature slower, more synchronized cortical activity, reduced muscle activity and changes in breathing and responsiveness.

Nonsense Mutation

A genetic change that converts an amino-acid codon into a premature stop codon, causing protein production to end too early.

Nonvolatile Photonic Memory

An optical or optoelectronic memory that retains its stored state without continuous power and represents or accesses information using light. Implementations may use phase-change materials or other persistent optical states for computing and communications.

Nuclear Plant Lifetime Extension

A programme that allows a nuclear plant to operate beyond its originally planned life through renewed licensing, safety assessment, refurbishment and replacement of aging equipment. It preserves existing generation rather than constructing a new reactor.

Nuclear Plant Uprate

An engineered increase in the maximum electrical output of an existing nuclear power plant. Uprates may come from more efficient turbines, improved equipment or approved changes to reactor operation, and require technical and regulatory review.

Nuclear Recoil

The motion of an atomic nucleus after momentum is transferred to it by a collision. Dark-matter detectors look for the light, charge or heat produced when a possible dark-matter particle causes such a recoil.

Obfuscation Network

A relay infrastructure designed to conceal the true origin, route, or ownership of network activity by passing traffic through multiple devices, proxies, or services.

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea(OSA)

A sleep disorder in which the upper airway repeatedly narrows or closes, interrupting breathing and sleep. Common signs include loud snoring, witnessed breathing pauses and excessive daytime sleepiness, but diagnosis normally requires clinical assessment and often a sleep study.

Ocean Circulation Monitoring

The sustained measurement of ocean currents and the movement of heat, salt, carbon, and water through the seas. It uses instruments such as floats, moorings, ships, satellites, and autonomous vehicles to study climate, weather, ecosystems, and sea-level change.

Technology glossary