All articles starting with M
36,687 articles
Mechanical pencil
A mechanical pencil, also called a propelling pencil or clutch pencil, is a pencil whose mechanism extends a graphite lead so the writing point never needs sharpening.
Mechanical Phenomena
Mechanical Phenomena: MeSH descriptor D055595, tree G01.374, defined as the properties and processes of materials that affect behavior under force; spans elasticity, strength, friction, vibration, and biomechanics.
Mechanical qubit
A mechanical qubit is a quantum bit whose two states are the lowest energy levels of a vibrating mechanical resonator, first demonstrated at ETH Zurich in 2024.
Mechanical resonance
Mechanical resonance is the large-amplitude response of a mechanical system driven by a periodic force at or near one of its natural frequencies, building until damped and supplied power balance.
Mechanical spectroscopy
Mechanical spectroscopy is a family of characterization techniques that applies oscillatory stress or strain to a material and measures the phase-shifted response, yielding storage and loss moduli.
Mechanical splice
A mechanical splice is a permanent or semi-permanent joint between two optical fibers, held in an alignment fixture with index-matching gel or adhesive instead of being fused.
Mechanical strabismus
Mechanical (restrictive) strabismus: eye misalignment from physical limitation of extraocular muscle movement, not nerve palsy. Causes include thyroid eye disease, orbital fractures, scarring, and congenital fibrosis; diagnosed with forced duction testing.
Mechanical television
Mechanical television is a television system using a rotating disk with a spiral of holes to scan images, producing the first working TV in the mid-1920s.
Mechanical thrombectomy for stroke
Mechanical thrombectomy for stroke is a catheter-based endovascular procedure that removes a clot from a large cerebral artery, the standard of care for large-vessel occlusion stroke.
Mechanical Thrombolysis
Mechanical thrombolysis, also called mechanical thrombectomy, removes blood clots physically via catheter devices rather than drugs. Key devices: Merci Retriever, Penumbra System, stent retrievers, aspiration catheters; standard of care for large vessel occlusion stroke.
Mechanical Turk
The Mechanical Turk, also known as the Automaton Chess Player, was a chess-playing automaton built in 1770 by Wolfgang von Kempelen, secretly operated by a hidden human chess master.
Mechanical unfeelability cloak
A mechanical unfeelability cloak is a metamaterial coating that makes an embedded object elastically undetectable by touch, first demonstrated at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in 2014.
Mechanical vapor recompression
Mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) is an energy-saving technique in which a compressor raises the pressure of secondary vapor so it can be reused as the heat source for evaporation.
Mechanical ventilation
Mechanical ventilation, also called artificial respiration or ventilator support, is life support that breathes for a patient via invasive tubes or masks. Defined by positive- and negative-pressure machines, the iron lung era, the 1952 Copenhagen polio epidemic, and lung-protective ARDS ventilation.
Mechanical watch
A mechanical watch, also known as a mechanical wristwatch, is a watch driven by a wound mainspring and regulated by a balance wheel, with no battery.
Mechanical wave
A mechanical wave is a disturbance that travels through a medium such as air, water, or rock, carrying energy; sound, water, and seismic waves are examples.
Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing
Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) is the construction-industry term for the engineering systems that make a building usable: air conditioning, power and lighting, and water supply and drainage.
Mechanically axially chiral rotaxanes
Mechanically axially chiral rotaxanes are mechanically interlocked molecules in which the bond between a macrocycle and a stoppered axle is the sole stereogenic element, identified by Goldup in 2022.
Mechanically interlocked crystals
Mechanically interlocked crystals are crystalline materials whose integrity comes from mechanical bonds, topological entanglements that cannot be separated without breaking a covalent bond, including 2025's 2D interlocked polymers.
Mechanically interlocked molecular architectures
Mechanically interlocked molecular architectures are chemical structures whose components are threaded or linked through one another, unable to separate without breaking a covalent or coordinate bond.
Mechanically planar chirality
Mechanically planar chirality is a form of molecular chirality in which the mechanical bond of an interlocked molecule, typically a rotaxane, is the stereogenic element rather than any covalent feature.
Mechanically separated meat
Mechanically separated meat, also called mechanically recovered meat, is a paste-like meat product made by forcing bones with edible meat through a sieve under high pressure.
Mechanically stabilized earth
Mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) is a geotechnical construction method that reinforces compacted soil with steel strips or geosynthetics to build retaining walls and bridge abutments.
Mechanically triggered drug delivery
Mechanically triggered drug delivery is controlled-release technology in which drug carriers release their payload in response to bodily forces, ultrasound, or magnetic fields, with shear-activated clot-dissolving tPA nanoparticles the best-studied application.
Mechanics
Mechanics, also known as theoretical mechanics, is the branch of physics that studies the motion of objects and the forces causing it, divided into kinematics and dynamics.
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
Mechanicsburg borough, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, between Harrisburg and Carlisle; incorporated 1828 from wagon-repair settlement Drystown; Cumberland Valley Railroad town, home of Jubilee Day street fair; 2020 population 9,311.
Mechanism (engineering)
In mechanical engineering, a mechanism is an assembly of rigid links connected by joints that transmits motion and force; a mechanism put to work is called a machine.
Mechanism (philosophy)
Mechanism (philosophy): also the mechanical philosophy, mechanicism. Doctrine that nature is explained by inert matter and particle impact, not final causes or vital forces; central to Descartes, Hobbes, Boyle, the vitalism dispute, and the new mechanism in philosophy of science.
Mechanism design
Mechanism design, also known as reverse game theory, is the branch of microeconomics that designs rules for games played by strategically self-interested participants; it has been called the engineering branch of game theory.
Mechanism of action
Mechanism of action (MOA) is the specific biochemical interaction by which a drug produces its effect, typically via receptors or enzymes; grounded in receptor theory and central to drug development.