Technology glossary

Thymulin

A thymus-derived hormone involved in immune regulation whose activity can decline with age.

Tidal Disruption Event

A flare produced when a star passes close enough to a black hole to be torn apart by tidal forces.

Tidal Stream

A long, thin trail of stars that forms when the gravity of a larger galaxy pulls stars away from an orbiting star cluster or dwarf galaxy, used to map how mass is distributed within the host galaxy.

Time Projection Chamber(TPC)

A particle detector that reconstructs the three-dimensional position and energy of an interaction by measuring prompt light or charge and the later arrival of drifting electrons. Liquid-xenon chambers use this information to separate possible nuclear recoils from common backgrounds.

Time to First Fix(TTFF)

Time to First Fix (TTFF) is the time a GNSS receiver needs after starting to obtain enough satellite information to calculate its first valid position. Assistance data can greatly reduce TTFF in phones and connected devices.

Time-Domain Thermoreflectance(TDTR)

An optical pump-and-probe method that estimates thermal properties by heating a surface with one laser pulse and measuring temperature-dependent changes in reflectivity with another. It is widely used for thin films and interfaces but can have difficulty separating signals from buried layers.

TNIK Inhibitor(TNIK)

A compound that reduces the activity of TRAF2- and NCK-interacting kinase, a signaling protein involved in pathways that regulate fibrosis, inflammation, and cell behavior. Blocking TNIK is being studied as a therapeutic strategy, but its clinical benefits and risks depend on the specific drug and disease.

Tonne-Year Exposure

A measure of a detector's accumulated observation that multiplies the target mass in tonnes by the operating time in years. It allows rare-event searches to compare datasets that use different detector masses or durations.

Topology Optimization

A computational method that decides how material should be distributed within a design space to meet goals such as stiffness, strength or low mass while respecting constraints.

Trade Secret

Business information that has economic value because it is not generally known and is protected through reasonable secrecy measures. Examples include source code, formulas, manufacturing processes and customer data; unlike a patent, a trade secret is not disclosed publicly in exchange for time-limited exclusivity.

Training Data

The collection of examples used to adjust a machine-learning model's parameters and behavior.

Training Data Memorization

A model behaviour in which specific patterns, passages or examples from training data are retained closely enough to be reproduced or inferred later. Memorization differs from learning broad statistical patterns and can create privacy, security or copyright risks.

Transmission Spectroscopy

A method that studies starlight filtered through a planet's atmosphere while the planet crosses in front of its star.

Transplant Bridge

A temporary treatment or transplanted organ used to keep a patient stable until a more durable donor organ or therapy becomes available.

TREM2(TREM2)

A cell-surface receptor expressed by several myeloid immune cells; in some tumours it is abundant on suppressive macrophages and can serve as a molecular target for directed drug delivery.

Triboelectric Nanogenerator(TENG)

A miniature energy harvester that produces electrical charge when materials with different electron affinities repeatedly touch and separate.

Trilateration

Trilateration determines a position from measured distances to known reference points. GPS receivers use signal travel times to estimate distances to satellites and solve for three-dimensional position and receiver clock error.

Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

A breast cancer subtype that lacks estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors, making it harder to treat with the targeted therapies used against other breast cancer types.

Tritium(³H)

A radioactive isotope of hydrogen containing one proton and two neutrons.

Tropical Cyclone Intensity

A measure of a tropical cyclone's strength, usually expressed through its maximum sustained surface wind and sometimes its minimum central pressure.

Tumor Innervation

The growth of nerve fibers into or near a tumor, a process linked in some cancers to faster tumor growth, treatment resistance, and spread.

Tumor Microenvironment

The immediate physical and biological neighborhood a tumor grows in, including immune cells, blood vessels, connective tissue, and surrounding nutrients, which can shape how the tumor behaves and responds to treatment.

Tumour-Associated Macrophage(TAM)

A macrophage located within or near a tumour that can either support or restrain cancer, but often adopts an immune-suppressing state that promotes tumour growth and limits T-cell activity.

Tunnel Field-Effect Transistor(TFET)

A transistor that switches current through band-to-band quantum tunnelling rather than relying mainly on charge carriers crossing a thermal barrier. Its steep switching can support lower operating voltage, although output current and manufacturing remain challenges.

Two-Dimensional Electron Gas(2DEG)

A thin layer in which mobile electrons are confined in one dimension but move freely in two, providing a high-density conduction channel in semiconductor heterostructures.

Two-Dimensional Material

A material whose functional layer is only one or a few atoms thick.

Two-Factor Authentication(2FA)

An account-security method that requires two different forms of verification, such as a password and a one-time code, before granting access.

Ultra-Diffuse Galaxy

An unusually faint class of galaxy that emits very little light for its size, often thought to contain an unusually high proportion of dark matter.

Ultrafast X-Ray Diffraction(UXRD)

A pump-and-probe measurement technique that uses very short X-ray pulses to follow rapid changes in a material's crystal structure. Researchers can infer strain, phase changes and heat movement by tracking how the material's diffraction pattern evolves after excitation.

Umbra

The fully dark, cone-shaped inner part of a shadow. When the Moon's umbra reaches Earth's surface, observers inside it see a total solar eclipse.