TechnologyAugust 18, 2026

undercounting

UN-der-kown-ting

Definition

The act of failing to record, detect, or count the full or actual number of occurrences of a phenomenon.

Etymology

Derived from the prefix 'under-' meaning 'too little' or 'below,' and the verb 'count,' originating from the Latin 'computare' meaning 'to calculate' or 'to sum up.'

In the news

The article uses this term to explain that traditional microscopy methods were missing many neural calcium events because they lacked the adaptive optics clarity of MOSAIC, meaning researchers were inadvertently reporting lower activity levels than what was actually happening.

Building the Computational Mind for the “Swiss Army Knife” of Microscopes

Read the full article ↗

Berkeley Lab News Center (.gov)

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