It’s not a fact about the world but a definition of a somewhat common word. One can say “30 microseconds (30 millionths of a second)” or “hippos are herbivorous (plant-eating)” without a citation because any dictionary will do. In fact, including the citation makes a science journalist seem incompetent as it suggests they needed to look up the term.
What’s wrong with citing Wikipedia for factual things like this?
It’s not a fact about the world but a definition of a somewhat common word. One can say “30 microseconds (30 millionths of a second)” or “hippos are herbivorous (plant-eating)” without a citation because any dictionary will do. In fact, including the citation makes a science journalist seem incompetent as it suggests they needed to look up the term.