Precise Result A result that is really close to the mean.

Model A simplified picture of what's physically going on.

Prediction/Hypothesis A specific testable statement, based on a theory, about what will happen in a test situation.

Peer Review Where a scientific report is sent out to peers (other scientists) who examine the data and results, and if they think that the conclusion is reasonable it's published.

Variable A quantity that has the potential to change, e.g. weight, temperature, concentration.

Prediction/Hypothesis A specific testable statement, based on a theory, about what will happen in a test situation

Random Error A difference in measurement caused by an unpredictable factor, e.g. human error.

Repeatable Result A Result that can be repeated by the same person using the same method and equipment.

Reproducible Result A result that can be consistently reproduced in an independent experiment.

Valid Conclusion A conclusion that answers the original question.

Accurate Result A result that is really close to the true answer.

Variable A quantity that has the potential to change, e.g. weight, temperature, concentration.

Independent Variable The variable you change in an experiment.

Dependent Variable The variable you measure in an experiment.

Control Group A group in a study that is treated in exactly the same way as the experimental group, apart from the factor you're investigating.

Placebo A dummy pill or injection that looks exactly like the real drug, but doesn't contain the drug.

Sample size The number of samples in the investigation, e.g. the number of people in a drug trial

Skip the religion and politics, head straight to the compassion. Everything else is a distraction.

I always do the contrary of what my coaches tell me.

I saw part of The Singing Detective on TV in New York. I said, Something is going on here.

I think it's fun to look at people with big diamonds. I see them in my audience all the time, with the fur coat, a woman whose hand is always out front, or the two fingers are on the cheek to show her diamond. I don't have anything against that.

The first sport I played was baseball. I remember being on the Little League team and someone pitching the ball to me for the first time. I was ready to no longer hit the ball off the tee, and an adult pitched it to me underhand.

Thoughts not only manifest into reality, they define it.

To wear dreams on one's feet is to begin to give a reality to one's dreams.

To keep creating something with this type of music, you have to take it out of the box.

You know, when I did 'American Idol' the three times, I tried to tell these kids you have to tell the story of the lyric.

I think it's probably much easier to do political comedy from a two-party point of view, in that the majority have some sense of what it means to be one or the other.

To some people critical thinking means you mustnt be critical of them only others

It's amazing when you're playing to a crowd who barely understands English but they're singing parts of your song back to you.

I'm a writer who simply can't know what I'm writing about until the writing lets me discover it. In a sense, my writing process embraces the gapped nature of my memory process, leaping across spaces that represent all I've lost and establishing fresh patterns within all that remains.

I love the idea of sharing some of what we find in the research phase with a select community of people early on as a perk for their donating, and then gauging their feedback.

There's something about doing stand-up that's cathartic.

Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.

I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow.

Fighting is a very emotionally draining sport. I don't want to waste time on drama beforehand.

In theory, parents are supposed to empathize with one other - find common cause in the fervent desire to preserve and protect the world for the next generation, and connect on some deep, almost mystical level that those poor souls who have not experienced this kind of all-consuming love cannot possibly comprehend.

I don't know if younger poets read a lot of, you know, the poets - the established poets. There was a lot of pretty boring stuff to sort of put up with and to add to, to make something vital from.

They were all interested in what I was going to do, because I'd never worked in televsion before.

I'm not advocating we should all be back in the kitchen and cooking all the time, because life's too short and we've got more interesting things to do. But to rediscover the intense pleasure of making a cake and putting it down on the table is ridiculously satisfying, out of all proportion to the work.

I've been attracted to imagery and occasionally I've drawn from it, but I never thought I'd be painting these paintings. I didn't have any desire to. I didn't think there was any reason to.

I used to work the graveyard shift.