2021 Top Ten of Polemic for Nature

Cathode ray: Cathode rays are streams of electrons observed in discharge tubes. If an evacuated glass tube is equipped with two electrodes and a voltage is applied, glass behind the positive electrode is observed to glow, due to electrons emitted from the cathode. They were first observed in 1869 by German physicist Julius Plücker and Johann Wilhelm Hittorf, and were named in 1876 by Eugen Goldstein Kathodenstrahlen, or cathode rays. In 1897, British physicist J. J. Thomson showed that cathode rays were composed of a
Creative Commons: Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright licenses, known as Creative Commons licenses, free of charge to the public. These licenses allow authors of creative works to communicate which rights they reserve and which rights they waive for the benefit of recipients or other creators. An
Blue whale penis: The blue whale has the largest penis in the animal kingdom. It is commonly cited as having an average penis length of 2.5 metres to 3 metres (9.8 ft) and a diameter of 30 centimetres (12 in) to 36 centimetres (14 in
Contact force: A contact force is any force that requires contact to occur. Contact forces are ubiquitous and are responsible for most visible interactions between macroscopic collections of matter. Pushing a car up a hill or kicking a ball across a room are some of the everyday examples where contact forces are at work. In the first case the force is continuously applied by the person on the car, while in the second case the force is delivered in a short impulse. Contact forces are often decomposed into orthogonal
The Five Ages of the Universe: The Five Ages of the Universe is a popular science book written by Professor Fred Adams and Professor Gregory P. Laughlin about the future of an expanding universe first published in 1999
Control variable: A control variable in scientific experimentation is an experimental element which is constant and unchanged throughout the course of the investigation. Control variables could strongly influence experimental results, were they not held constant during the experiment in order to test the relative relationship of the dependent and independent variables. The control variables themselves are not of primary interest to the experimenter
The Son of Man: The Son of Man is a 1964 painting by the Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte. It is perhaps his best-known artwork
Large White pig: The Large White is a British breed of domestic pig. It derives from the old Yorkshire breed from the county of Yorkshire, in northern England
Rutherford model: The Rutherford model was devised by the New Zealand-born physicist Ernest Rutherford to describe an atom. Rutherford directed the Geiger–Marsden experiment in 1909, which suggested, upon Rutherford's 1911 analysis, that J. J. Thomson's plum pudding model of the atom was incorrect. Rutherford's new model for the atom, based on the experimental results, contained new features of a relatively high central charge concentrated into a very small volume in comparison to the rest of the atom and with this
Methyl orange: Methyl orange is a pH indicator frequently used in titration because of its clear and distinct color variance at different pH values. Methyl orange shows red color in acidic medium and yellow color in basic medium. Because it changes color at the pKa of a mid strength acid, it is usually used in titration for acids. Unlike a universal indicator, methyl orange does not have a full spectrum of color change, but it has a sharp end point. In a solution becoming less acidic, methyl orange changes from red to