All articles starting with S
44,216 articles
Self-driving car
A self-driving car, also called a driverless or autonomous car, is a road vehicle whose automated driving system performs the entire driving task without a human.
Self-driving laboratory
A self-driving laboratory, also called an autonomous laboratory, is a lab where robots run experiments and AI algorithms choose which experiment to test next, speeding up materials and molecule discovery.
Self-efficacy
Self-efficacy, introduced by Albert Bandura in 1977, is the belief in one's capability to execute behaviors that produce specific outcomes. It arises from four sources (mastery, vicarious experience, persuasion, emotional states), is domain-specific, and is distinct from outcome expectancy.
Self-efficacy scale
A self-efficacy scale is a psychometric questionnaire measuring a person's belief in their own capability to perform tasks, a construct Albert Bandura proposed in 1977.
Self-employment
Self-employment is work in a person's own trade or business rather than as an employee, spanning freelancers, own-account workers, and employers; it makes up a third of world employment.
Self-energy
Self-energy is the quantity in quantum field theory and many-body physics that collects a particle's interaction effects on its own propagation, entering the Dyson equation.
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is a person's overall positive or negative evaluation of themselves, also called self-worth. Measured mainly by the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale; studied through level, stability, and contingency, lifespan change, and links to achievement and social media use.
Self-Examination
Self-examination is inspection of one's own body for signs of disease, including breast, testicular, and skin self-exams; large trials show no breast cancer mortality benefit, and guidelines favor self-awareness.
Self-excited induction generator
A self-excited induction generator (SEIG) is an induction machine driven above synchronous speed that generates power using terminal capacitors and residual magnetism, without external excitation.
Self-excited vibration
Self-excited vibration, also called self-oscillation, is sustained periodic motion generated by a system's internal elements, where negative damping feeds energy into each cycle, including machining chatter and flutter.
Self-executing treaty
A self-executing treaty takes direct domestic legal effect upon ratification without implementing legislation, so courts may apply it as law of the land; non-self-executing treaties still bind internationally.
Self-flagellation
Self-flagellation, also known as autoflagellation, is the devotional practice of beating oneself with whips, chains, or blades as penance, practiced in Shia Muharram mourning and Christian penitential rites.
Self-focusing
Self-focusing is a nonlinear optical effect in which an intense light beam raises the medium's refractive index and acts as its own lens, shrinking as it travels.
Self-folding
Self-folding is a fabrication and actuation method in which a flat sheet transforms autonomously into a three-dimensional structure, using active hinges triggered by heat, light, chemicals, or magnetic fields.
Self-force
The gravitational self-force is the force a small mass exerts on itself through its own field in general relativity, driving slow inspiral and central to modeling EMRIs for LISA.
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Self-fulfilling prophecy: a prediction that brings about its own truth; coined by Robert K. Merton in 1948, also called the Pygmalion effect in education. Effects are real but typically small; automated prediction raises new concerns.
Self-government agreements in Canada
Self-government agreements in Canada are negotiated arrangements giving Indigenous governments authority to make laws and deliver programs, with 25 modern treaties and four stand-alone agreements in force.
Self-handicapping
Self-handicapping: defensive strategy, introduced by Jones and Berglas (1978), of creating or claiming obstacles before performance so failure is blamed on the handicap, not ability; behavioral versus claimed forms, self-esteem motives, academic costs.
Self-harm
Self-harm, also called self-injury or nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), is intentional self-poisoning or injury regardless of suicidal intent; it is common, often repeated, strongly linked to suicide, and treated mainly with psychosocial therapies such as CBT and DBT.
Self-hating Jew
Self-hating Jew: pejorative for Jews who criticize Israel or Judaism; also a psychological concept of internalized antisemitism coined by Anton Kuh, analyzed by Theodor Lessing (1930) and Kurt Lewin (1941).
Self-hatred
Self-hatred, or self-loathing, is persistent negative feeling toward oneself: inadequacy, guilt, low self-esteem. Studied as hated-self self-criticism; linked to depression; treated with compassion-focused and self-compassion interventions.
Self-healing and thermoreversible rubber from supramolecular assembly
Self-healing and thermoreversible rubber from supramolecular assembly is a 2008 Nature paper by Ludwik Leibler's CNRS-ESPCI group in Paris reporting a rubber-like material that repairs itself at room temperature.
Self-healing anti-corrosion coatings
Self-healing anti-corrosion coatings are protective coatings for metals that autonomously repair damage or restore protective function, using stored healing agents or reversible bonds, for aerospace and marine applications.
Self-healing artificial muscle
A self-healing artificial muscle is a soft actuator, typically a dielectric elastomer, that recovers from puncture, fatigue, or electrical breakdown through material self-healing or electrical self-clearing, imitating natural muscle.
Self-healing asphalt
Self-healing asphalt is pavement material engineered to repair its own microcracks through binder recovery or added technologies such as induction heating, microcapsules, and microbes, extending service life.
Self-healing battery binder
A self-healing battery binder is a polymeric adhesive in lithium-ion electrodes that repairs cycling damage, chiefly for silicon anodes, which swell about 300% in volume. The concept dates to 2013.
Self-healing battery electrode
A self-healing battery electrode is a battery electrode that repairs mechanical or electrochemical damage autonomously during operation, first demonstrated in 2013 at Stanford and SLAC.
Self-healing ceramic
A self-healing ceramic is a ceramic material or composite that fills its own cracks and recovers strength without external repair, typically through oxidation of embedded agents like silicon carbide.
Self-healing coating
A self-healing coating is a protective coating, usually polymeric, that repairs scratches, cracks, or other defects with minimal or no intervention, restoring corrosion protection to the metal beneath.
Self-healing concrete
Self-healing concrete (SHC) is concrete engineered to repair its own cracks without human intervention, through intrinsic chemistry or added bacteria, microcapsules, or vascular networks that release healing compounds.