A laboratory (/ləˈbɒrətəri/ or /ˈlæbərətri/; informally, lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories. These notably include:
- film laboratory or darkroom
- clandestine lab for the production of illegal drugs
- computer lab
- crime lab used to process crime scene evidence
- media lab
- medical lab (involves handling of chemical compounds)
- public health lab
In recent years government and private centers for innovation in learning, leadership and organization have adopted "lab" in their name to emphasize the experimental and research-oriented nature of their work.
Scientific laboratories can be found in schools and universities, in industry, in government or military facilities, and even aboard ships and spacecraft. A laboratory might offer work space for just one to more than thirty researchers depending on its size and purpose.
Read more about Laboratory: Characteristics of Scientific Laboratories, Lab Safety
Other articles related to "laboratory":
... Lincoln Laboratory supports its research and development work with a strong infrastructure of services from six departments Contracting Services, Facility Services, Financial Services ... or as technical specialists support the research and development mission of the Laboratory ... Lincoln Laboratory demonstrates a firm commitment to community outreach ...
... Since MIT Lincoln Laboratory’s establishment, the scope of the problems has broadened from the initial emphasis on air defense to include programs in space surveillance, missile defense, surface ... The core competencies of the Laboratory are in sensors, information extraction (signal processing and embedded computing), communications, integrated sensing, and decision support, all ... Lincoln Laboratory conducts research and development pertinent to national security on behalf of the military services, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and other government agencies ...
... The Media Networks Laboratory is a part of the “Digital Communications” research programme of the Institute of Informatics and Telecommunications, NCSR “Demokritos” ... The laboratory has been active for more than a decade in a number of national and European research projects, following the reputation of the Institute of ... The research achievements of the laboratory are reflected in a considerable number of publications in journals and conferences ...
... The Radiological and Environmental Sciences Laboratory (RESL) is a federally owned and operated laboratory by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) located in the Central Facilities Area ... The laboratory's focus is primarily in analytical chemistry, radiation protection, and as a reference laboratory for numerous Performance Evaluation Programs ...
... Laboratory hazards are as varied as the subjects of study in laboratories, and might include poisons infectious agents flammable, explosive, or radioactive materials moving machinery extreme temperatures lasers ... Health Administration (OSHA) in the United States, recognizing the unique characteristics of the laboratory workplace, has tailored a standard for occupational exposure to ... This standard is often referred to as the "Laboratory Standard" ...
Famous quotes containing the word laboratory:
“We are able to find everything in our memory, which is like a dispensary or chemical laboratory in which chance steers our hand sometimes to a soothing drug and sometimes to a dangerous poison.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)
“For a novelist, a given historic situation is an anthropologic laboratory in which he explores his basic question: What is human existence?”
—Milan Kundera (b. 1929)
“Today, each artist must undertake to invent himself, a lifelong act of creation that constitutes the essential content of the artist’s work. The meaning of art in our time flows from this function of self-creation. Art is the laboratory for making new men.”
—Harold Rosenberg (1906–1978)