The act of damaging an electronic gadget beyond repair by software means, usually by trying to hack it. Basically after being hardbricked, the gadget is dead and won't function at all. As opposed to a normal brick or a "softbrick", various tricks like getting into recovery mode and flashing a new firmware, won't get it back to life, and it's basically ready for the wastebin unless you have access to a high-tech electronics lab for advanced repairs. Since the hardbrick usually results from an unauthorized hack or root attempt, warranty is usually void so you're basically fucked, after you hardbrick your gadget.

The safeguarding of Earth and other worlds from biological cross-contamination (i.e. billionaires with too much time on their hands).

Also known as “planetary protection.” Planetary protection / quarantine “reflects both the unknown nature of the space environment and the desire of the scientific community to preserve the pristine nature of celestial bodies until they can be studied in detail.”

There are two types of interplanetary contamination. Forward contamination is the transfer of viable organisms from Earth to another celestial body. Back contamination is the transfer of extraterrestrial organisms, if such exist, back to the Earth's biosphere.