51吃瓜 of the Day
haphephobia
noun
an extreme fear or dislike of touching or being touched.
More about haphephobia
Haphephobia 鈥渁n extreme fear or dislike of touching or being touched鈥� is a compound of the Ancient Greek noun 丑补辫丑岣� 鈥渁 touch鈥� and the combining form -phobia 鈥渇ear,鈥� from Ancient Greek 辫丑贸产辞蝉. 贬补辫丑岣� is a derivative of the verb 丑谩辫迟别颈苍 鈥渢o grasp, sense,鈥� which is also the source of the adjective haptic 鈥渙f or relating to touch.鈥� Ancient Greek has two letters similar to English P: pi, which represents the 鈥減鈥� sound in spin, and phi, which represents the aspirated 鈥減鈥� sound in pin. Because pi and phi are pronounced similarly, many Greek verbs containing a 鈥減鈥� sound regularly alternate between pi and phi across tenses and forms, which is how the verb 丑谩辫迟别颈苍, spelled with a pi, leads to the noun form 丑补辫丑岣�, spelled with a phi. Haphephobia was first recorded in English in the early 1890s.
how is haphephobia used?
Pilati, a powerful captain of industry who happens to have haphephobia and dreads being touched, has thrown his support behind Claudia鈥檚 campaign to become the town鈥檚 first woman mayor. Perhaps Roberto鈥檚 time might be better spent tweaking both his surveillance equipment and his home life, and not playing junior crime solver.
haphephobia
perilune
noun
the point in a lunar orbit that is nearest to the moon.
More about perilune
Perilune 鈥渢he point in a lunar orbit that is nearest to the moon鈥� is a compound of the combining form peri- 鈥渁bout, around, near鈥� and the element -lune 鈥渕辞辞苍.鈥� Peri-, from Ancient Greek 辫别谤铆 鈥渁bout, around,鈥� is a common fixture in words related to closeness, such as perimeter and periphery, and in perilune, it is combined with -lune on the pattern of perigee 鈥渢he point in an orbit that is nearest to the earth鈥� (using Ancient Greek 驳补卯补 or 驳锚 鈥渆arth鈥�). Unlike perigee, perilune features a Latin-origin element, -lune (from Latin 濒奴苍补) to mean 鈥渕oon鈥�; if this element were derived instead from Ancient Greek 蝉别濒岣梟脓 鈥渕oon鈥� to better match perigee, we would be saying something like 鈥�periselene鈥� instead! Perilune was first recorded in English in the late 1950s.
how is perilune used?
After being tracked for several days the spacecraft would be further slowed so that its perilune, or closest approach, would be reduced to about 28 miles above the lunar surface, which would be the primary altitude for photography. Originally the plan was to make the initial orbit circular at about 575 miles above the lunar surface; the slowing maneuver would put the spacecraft into an elliptical orbit with a perilune of 28 miles and an apolune, or maximum altitude, of 575 miles.
Since arriving at the Moon on 4 April, Beresheet has slowly lowered its orbit with a series of engine burns. On Tuesday, it circularized its orbit to an altitude of just 200 kilometers, and following a burn Wednesday, Beresheet dropped the perilune, or low point of its orbit, to just 15 kilometers over its eventual landing site in Mare Serenitatis.
perilune
autosomal
adjective
occurring on or transmitted by a chromosome other than one of the sex chromosomes.
More about autosomal
Autosomal 鈥渙ccurring on a chromosome other than one of the sex chromosomes鈥� is the adjectival form of autosome 鈥渁 chromosome other than a sex chromosome,鈥� a compound of the combining forms auto- 鈥渟elf, same鈥� and -some 鈥渂辞诲测.鈥� Auto- comes from Ancient Greek 补耻迟贸蝉 鈥渟elf,鈥� of uncertain ultimate origin, while -some comes from Ancient Greek 蝉么尘补 鈥渂ody,鈥� the stem of which is 蝉艒尘补迟-, as in somatic. While 蝉么尘补 refers to a body generally, 苍别办谤贸蝉 (as in necropolis and necrotic) refers specifically to a dead body. Autosomal was first recorded in English in the early 20th century.
how is autosomal used?
Even if you are a descendant of Shakespeare, there is only a negligible chance [that you have] any of his DNA. This is because autosomal DNA gets passed on randomly 鈥�. Within 10 generations, Shakespeare’s DNA has spread out and recombined so many times that it doesn’t even really make sense to speak of a match. Putting the same point the other way, each of us has so many ancestors that 鈥� we don’t share any DNA with the vast majority of them.
What cannot be so quickly learned is how to compare two autosomal DNA profiles and understand what the overlapping fragments are hinting at, knowing which branch of a tree to focus on or seeing how these pieces will fit together to identify the unknown person. Mr. Holes said that genetic genealogists like Ms. Rae-Venter, 鈥渁re worth their weight in gold,鈥� because 鈥渢hey understand the DNA testing and DNA inheritance and the genealogy aspects,鈥� which is rare to find in a single person.
autosomal