carbon: (in climate studies) The term carbon sometimes will be used almost interchangeably with carbon dioxide to connote the potential impacts that some action, product, policy or process may have on long-term atmospheric warming.
cement: (in construction) A finely ground material used to bind sand or bits of ground rock together in concrete. Cement typically starts out as a powder. But once wet, it becomes a mudlike sludge that hardens as it dries.
colleague: Someone who works with another; a co-worker or team member.
composite: A material made using two or more different building blocks, which together produce something with new and better features. Carbon fiber reinforced polymers are one example. Embedded in these hard and strong plastics are tiny fibers made from carbon. Engineers use these plastics to build lightweight bodies for race cars and airplanes, among other things.
concrete: To be solid and real. (in construction) A simple, two-part building material. One part is made of sand or ground-up bits of rock. The other is made of cement, which hardens and helps bind the grains of material together.
engineer: A person who uses science and math to solve problems. As a verb, to engineer means to design a device, material or process that will solve some problem or unmet need.
fiber: Something whose shape resembles a thread or filament.
landfill: A site where trash is dumped and then covered with dirt to reduce smells. If they are not lined with impermeable materials, rains washing through these waste sites can leach out toxic materials and carry them downstream or into groundwater. Because trash in these facilities is covered by dirt, the wastes do not get ready access to sunlight and microbes to aid in their breakdown. As a result, even newspaper sent to a landfill may resist breakdown for many decades.
particle: A minute amount of something.
plastic: Any of a series of materials that are easily deformable; or synthetic materials that have been made from…
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