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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

A newly released proposal calls for almost everyone in the United States to have high-speed Internetservice at home within ten years. On Tuesday the Federal Communications Commission sent its National

Broadband Plan to Congress.

The F.C.C. wants one hundred million homes to have inexpensive Internet service at ten times current

speeds. Another goal for twenty twenty is to have the fastest and most extensive wireless network of any

nation.

The United States invented the Internet. Yet a recent study placed it sixteenth in broadband access. F.C.C.

Chairman Julius Genachowski says the service available is slow and costly compared with other developed

countries.

Currently, about two-thirds of Americans have broadband at home. But almost one hundred million do not.The government says fourteen million of them cannot get broadband even if they wanted it.

The United States built a national highway system to expand transportation. Now President Obama says a

similar effort is needed to expand broadband networks.

His administration says expanding access is an economic development issue. Fast connections, it says, are

important to business and job creation, and to other areas like education and health care. The government

proposes to spend up to sixteen billion dollars on a wireless network for public safety agencies.

Most Americans get broadband service through their cable television provider or telephone company.

There are rules for companies that supply utilities like electricity and water to let competitors use their

wires or pipes. But some experts point out the lack of such "open access" rules for telephone and cablecompanies. This is unlike some other countries with better broadband access.

Expanding service to some areas of the country will require wireless transmission. But there is a limited

amount of radio frequency spectrum available.

To help pay for the plan, the F.C.C. wants to sell five hundred megahertz of spectrum. But it says the planwill require ten times more unused spectrum than it can now offer. TV stations are worried that they will be

forced to give up some of their frequencies.

Some members of Congress have questioned the costs of the F.C.C. plan and how it may affect

competition. At the same time, a court case has raised questions about the agency's legal powers to regulatebroadband service.

And thats the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter.


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BOB DOUGHTY: This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. Im Bob Doughty.

BARBARA KLEIN: And Im Barbara Klein. Today, we will tell about two kinds of dinosaurs. Scientists

say one of the creatures was brightly colored. Evidence shows the other was able to fly. We will also tellabout a new drug treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. And we will tell about Washingtons famous cherry

trees.

Colorful Dinosaurs

BOB DOUGHTY: Many scientists have long thought that dinosaurs were brown or gray in color. But

scientists examining the remains of a dinosaur say they have found evidence it had brightl -colored

feathers. The findings were published in Science magazine.

American and Chinese researchers rebuilt the feathers of a flightless dinosaur called Anchiornis huxleyi.

The small, two-legged creature lived about one hundred-fifty million year ago. It would have weighed only

about one hundred ten grams.

BARBARA KLEIN: The researchers used an electron microscope and fossilized remains of thirty feathers

that once covered the animal. The remains were discovered in Liaoning Province in China.

Researchers studied melanosomes in the feathers. These small, color-producing structures formed as the

dinosaur was developing. The researchers compared the structures to the melanosomes that control thecolor of feathers on modern birds. They were then able to identify the colors of the dinosaur feathers.

The researchers say Anchiornis huxleyi appeared to have a dark gray or black body. They found that the

top of the ancient creature was light brown in color. And, it had bright white wings. Each of the feathers

had black on the end.

BOB DOUGHTY: Richard Prum is an evolutionary biologist at Yale University in Connecticut. He saysthe melanosomes were in very good condition. He says the dinosaur would be a beautiful creature if it werestill alive. It would be similar to a bird called a Spangled Hamburg Chicken.

The discovery is useful to scientists in another way. It helps them better understand not only how dinosaurs

looked but also how they behaved. Professor Prum says the colorful feathers were probably useful in

getting the attention of a mate.

BARBARA KLEIN: Researchers believe they were about ninety percent successful in recreating the

appearance of the dinosaur. They plan to use this method to identify the colors of other feathered dinosaurs.

But the professor says it is difficult to find enough feathers from a single dinosaur to recreate all its colors.

Another team of researchers recently reported on the existence of two colors from different dinosaurs. They

used the method developed by Professor Prum and his team.BOB DOUGHTY: Other scientists may have learned how a dinosaur with four wings was able to fly.

American and Chinese scientists say the Microraptor gui probably was not equipped to fly from the ground.

Instead, their work suggests that the cat-sized animal started flying from trees.

Researchers from the University of Kansas in the United States and Chinas Northeastern University

reported their findings earlier this year. A report about the study was published in the Proceedings of theNational Academy of Sciences.

BARBARA KLEIN: The researchers used the fossils of a dinosaur that lived one hundred twenty-five

million years ago. But its bones were in very good condition. The researchers made a hardenedreproduction of the bones, without changing their positions. Then they added clay to create a model of thedinosaur. Next, they added real feathers cut to the correct size. The result was a re-creation of an ancientMicroraptor.

Professor David Alexander launches the University of Kansas model of the microraptor


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The research team built a light-weight model of the animal. This model was designed to glide, or move, in

an almost effortless flight. The feathers on the flying model were made of plastic. The scientists carried out

a series of test-launches with the wings in different positions. They found that the best position for gliding

had the back two wings in a position similar to that of a flying squirrel. The body of that animal looksalmost flat as it glides from tree to tree.

BOB DOUGHTY: Other experts have said the Microraptor probably flew with its back wings a little underand in a direction like that of the front wings. But the published report says that would have forced it to fly

in a difficult position.

The disagreement about the wings adds attention to a larger dispute. That argument is whether or not birds

came from dinosaurs, as most experts agree. But others are like Larry Martin, a University of Kansas

member of the research team. He says dinosaurs probably could not get off the ground to fly.

He and other experts believe that birds developed from creatures that were not dinosaurs. They believe

ancestors of birds came from animals that lived in trees.


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3.New Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis

BARBARA KLEIN: People who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis experience such pain in their joints that

even a simple daily activity can be difficult. A new drug is showing signs of halting the disorder and evenun-doing its damaging effects.

One in every one hundred people suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. Women are three times more likely tobe affected than men. The exact cause of the disorder is unknown. But researchers are examining the

bodys autoimmune system. In patients, the bodys natural defenses against disease seem to attack the

person they are supposed to protect.

BOB DOUGHTY: Harris Perlman is an associate professor at the Feinberg School of Medicine at

Northwestern University in Illinois.

HARRIS PERLMAN: What happens is your immune response goes haywire and then your body starts to

attack itself, so theres a failure to shutdown. And how the cells shutdown is they actually die

BOB DOUGHTY: Harris Perlman says a protein in healthy immune cells causes them to die after theyattack an invading virus or bacteria. But in rheumatoid arthritis, that protein is missing in some immune

cells. Instead, the protein builds up in the joints and attack cartilage and bone.

The Northwestern University researcher took part in a study that found a way to turn off the immune

system in mice with arthritis. He developed what he calls a suicide molecule that acts like the protein which

tells cells to self-destruct.

BARBARA KLEIN: Harris Perlman says the suicide molecule halted and even reduced rheumatoid

arthritis in seventy-five percent of mice in the study. He believes the treatment could also be effective in

human beings. He says the next step is to develop microscopic nano-particles. He says these particleswould offer a more exact method of transporting the short-lived drug, called B-H-three mimetic.

Current treatments for rheumatoid arthritis can reduce pain, but they do not work for everyone. They must

be taken continuously and include side effects such as an increased risk of infection. Harris Perlman says

the best part of the new treatment is that there were no harmful or major side effects. A report about the

study appeared in the publication Arthritis and Rheumatism.

Washington's Cherry Trees

BOB DOUGHTY: Finally, Saturday officially marks the return of spring to northern parts of the world.

This winter has seemed more severe than normal in many areas, including Washington, D.C.

Snowfall records for Washington date back to eighteen eighty-four. By early February, this winter hadalready broken them with one hundred forty-two centimeters of snow measured. But the storms that buried

the American capital last month broke more than seasonal records. Heavy snow and high winds damaged

some of the city's cherry trees. As the snow melted, workers were busy picking up broken branches, some

as thick as fifteen centimeters.

BARBARA KLEIN: Crowds expect a beautiful show as the cherry trees blossom along the edge of theTidal Basin next to the Jefferson Memorial.

Peak blooming, when the trees are in full flower, may be delayed a little this spring. But the National Park

Service says people can expect the usual show of pink and white flowers. The National Cherry BlossomFestival is set for March twenty-seventh through April fourth.

Twelve kinds of cherry trees grow around the Tidal Basin. The first trees were a gift from Japan in nineteen

twelve. The Japanese later sent two more gifts of cherry trees.


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4. BOB DOUGHTY: This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Lawan Davis and Jerilyn Watson.

Brianna Blake was our producer. Im Bob Doughty.

BARBARA KLEIN: And Im Barbara Klein. Join us again next week for more news about Science inSpecial English on the Voice of America. BOB DOUGHTY: This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA

Special English. Im Bob Doughty.

FAITH LAPIDUS: And Im Faith Lapidus. This week, we will tell about the medical condition known as

atrial fibrillation. We also will tell about two studies of seabirds, and how a change of color could help fight

rising temperatures. And, we will tell what officials in California have done to protect historic objects on

the moon.

BOB DOUGHTY: Atrial fibrillation produces an abnormal heartbeat. People feel their heart race and they

lose their breath. The problem may last a few seconds, but it can get worse and worse with age, leading to a

heart attack or stroke.

Doctors generally treat atrial fibrillation with drugs. But a recent study shows that another treatment may

have better results for patients who were not helped by drugs. The treatment is called catheter ablation.Doctors place a long thin tube called a catheter into the heart. Then they use radio frequency energy to heat

the tissue around the catheter. The heat burns off a small amount of heart muscle. The goal is to block

abnormal electrical activity in the heart.

FAITH LAPIDUS: Researchers studied more than one hundred fifty patients whose condition had failed to

improve after taking at least one drug. In the study, about one hundred of the patients had catheter ablation.

The others were treated with more drugs. There was a nine-month follow-up period to compare the

effectiveness.

David Wilber of Loyola University Medical Center in Illinois was the lead writer of a report about thestudy. He says catheter ablation worked in sixty to seventy percent of the patients. By comparison,abnormal heartbeats returned in eighty to ninety percent of those treated with drugs.

Doctor Wilber says catheter ablation is not meant to be the first treatment choice for atrial fibrillation. He

suggests it only when drug therapy fails to work. The report appeared in the Journal of the American

Medical Association.

BOB DOUGHTY: A report in the journal Current Biology says fish and other food thrown from boats can

influence the movement of birds. A team of scientists used satellite information about a fishing area near

the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Satellite images followed the travels of two kinds of seabirds: the Corys

shearwaters and the Balearic shearwaters. The team learned that the birds traveled one way on days whenfishing was permitted, and another way when it was not.

The scientists kept detailed records of the birds travel over a number of flights. The trips lasted an average

of about two days. Some birds flew ten kilometers during that time. But others traveled up to one thousand

kilometers. The birds traveled longer distances when they did not see fishing boats. The birds spread out

from one another to do this, and they spread with increasing speed.

FAITH LAPIDUS: The lead scientist was Frederic Bartumeus of the Center for Advanced Studies ofBlanes in Spain. He calls the actions of the seabirds, a superdiffusive process. The process let them look

effectively for small hake and other fish that move often and unpredictably. But when the birds saw fishing

boats, they looked for food near the boats. That reduced their spreading action and slowed their speed.

Professor Bartemeus says the study shows how human activities in the natural environment can change thetravels of other organisms. The scientists say their findings may help the study of invasive species.

Brown pelican


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BOB DOUGHTY: In another study, some brown pelicans on the west coast of the United States have been

acting mysteriously. About twenty thousand brown pelicans fly south from the American state of Oregon

each winter. Experts say the birds usually have flown to southern California or Mexico by this time of year.

But, during the past three years, some have failed to fly south. Uncounted numbers of pelicans haveremained in Oregon.

Many are thought to have died of cold or hunger or in severe storms. Wildlife rescuers in Oregon say someof the birds have been seen around restaurants and cafes. Even when people are present, the birds

reportedly eat food that has been thrown away. And, people have been seen feeding them.

Experts say pelicans usually fear human beings. They urge people to leave the birds alone.

FAITH LAPIDUS: Large cities are known to have higher temperatures than rural areas in summer months.

This extra heat can raise temperatures in cities by about one to three degrees Celsius compared to rural

areas.

Scientists say there are many reasons for this. One reason is that heat from the sun can go through many of

the building materials commonly found in cities. One such material is asphalt, a substance often placed ontop of buildings and used to cover road surfaces.

BOB DOUGHTY: Recently, American researchers studied ways to reduce the heat in developed areas.Scientists with the National Center for Atmospheric Research led the study. They found that painting the

tops of buildings white could possibly help to cool cities and slow the effects of climate change.

The researchers used a computer model that predicted the effects of the suns heat. They compared the

effects of black surfaces on rooftops with white roofs. They found that a city with only white rooftops

could reduce the urban heat effect by thirty-three percent.

FAITH LAPIDUS: However, white roofs could have the opposite effect in winter. That is because theyhave a cooling effect within buildings. Cooler building temperatures in the winter could require moreenergy to heat the buildings.

The researchers found that some cities would be helped more than others from white roofs. This would

depend on the total surface area of roofs in a city. It would also depend on the building materials used sincesome materials are less resistant to heat than others. The researchers say white roofs would work best in

areas with warm climates and strong sunlight all year.

The teams findings were published in the Geophysical Research Letters. Americas National Science

Foundation paid for the study.

BOB DOUGHTY: Scientists say more information is needed before they can be sure that painting roofswhite would help battle rising temperatures. Keith Oleson was the lead writer of the report. He says the

study shows that, in theory, white roofs could be effective in reducing urban heat. However, he says, it

remains to be seen if it is possible for cities to paint their roofs white.

FAITH LAPIDUS: Finally, the state of California is far away from the moon. But California officials

recently registered objects left by the first men to land on the moons surface. The states historicalresources agency recognized the more than one hundred objects as historically protected.

California has a deep interest in the objects. Many state-based companies helped develop machines and

equipment that made the moon landing possible.

BOB DOUGHTY: Americans Neil Armstrong and Edwin Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon on Julytwentieth, nineteen-sixty-nine. The two astronauts explored an area that they called Tranquility Base.

Lack of space in their lunar spacecraft, the Eagle, forced them to leave equipment on the surface.


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The lower half of the spacecraft, or landing vehicle, still lies there today. So do empty food containers,

space boots, life support systems and an American flag. They were just a few of the things the astronauts

left behind. The total weight of equipment remaining on the lunar surface is about two thousand two

hundred sixty eight kilograms.

FAITH LAPIDUS: Some scientists support the idea of historical protection for the remaining objects. Theyhope that someday Tranquility Base will be named a United Nations World Heritage Site. But the currentCalifornia action registers only the objects, not Tranquility Base. International law bars any nation or state

from claiming lunar surfaces.

Beth OLeary is a professor at New Mexico State University. Miz OLeary is a supporter of honoring space

heritage. She expresses concern that people traveling in space might someday damage the spaceflight

objects.

At the moment, however, that threat does not seem immediate. A budget proposal by President Obama

cancels the American space agencys plans for manned spaceflights to a lunar station. At least for awhile,historic objects on the moon remain far away and safe from human hands.

5.BOB DOUGHTY: This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jerilyn Watson, Caty Weaver and

Brianna Blake, who was also our producer. Im Bob Doughty.

FAITH LAPIDUS: And Im Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special

English on the Voice of America. This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Last month, students from one hundred three universities in eighty-eight countries took part in an

international computer programming contest. The Battle of the Brains took place in Harbin, China. Three-

person teams from each school had five hours to solve eleven real world problems.

Jerry Cain coached the team from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. He says the problemsinvolved, among other things, paperweights, robots, castles and lakes.

JERRY CAIN: "One of the programming problems was try to figure out how to break an arbitrary

chocolate bar into a certain number of pieces of a certain number of sizes and to do it as quickly as

possible. And that's probably the simplest of all of them."

The students first listed the problems in order of difficulty. Then they figured out the requirements of each.

They designed ways to test their solutions. And they wrote the needed software systems. Even the winning

team from Shanghai Jiaotong University in China was not able to solve all the problems within the giventime limit. Stanford's team solved five problems and finished in fourteenth place. Stanford was one of

twenty-one American universities that took part in the contest this year.

The official name of the Battle of the Brains is the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest. It

began in nineteen seventy at Texas A and M University. The contest quickly became popular in the United

States and Canada. It developed and grew as more and more schools took part in local and area contests.

The first final competition was held in nineteen seventy-seven at the Association for Computer MachineryComputer Science Conference.

Today, a network of universities holds area competitions that send the winners to the world finals, now

organized by IBM.

Contest spokesman Doug Heintzman says the world champions receive prizes and scholarships. They arealso guaranteed an offer of employment or internship with IBM.


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DOUG HEINTZMAN: "We've had past world champions that IBM has gone and employed in our Zurich

research laboratory and are now working on some of the leading edge materials in science and physics. We

have a world finalist from China who's been working on the Watson Supercomputer that in the near future

will be playing Jeopardy against the best Jeopardy players in the world. So this competition is anopportunity to be recognized and to be recruited by some of the top technology and research firms around

the world."

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach, with reporting by Faiza

Elmasry. You can read all our reports and send comments to our newly re-designed Web site at

voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Barbara Klein.

6. F3

DOUG JOHNSON:

Im Doug Johnson.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

And Im Faith Lapidus with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we tell about an unusual

and mysterious experience that can affect people in extreme situations of danger. People who live through

life threatening situations sometimes describe a calming presence or guiding voice that helps them survive.

People have described this experience as sensed presence or as an imaginary shadow person. It is also

known as the Third Man syndrome. The Canadian-American writer John Geiger wrote about this in a

recent book called The Third Man Factor. The book will soon be published in several languages,

including Chinese, Korean and Japanese.

DOUG JOHNSON:

The Endurance trapped on Antarctic iceErnest Shackleton spent his career exploring the little known areas of the South Pole. One of his most

famous trips began in nineteen fourteen. The goal of the trip was to cross Antarctica on foot. But it did not

go as planned. His boat, the Endurance, became trapped and later crushed by ice.

After many months, Shackleton and a few of his men traveled through dangerous waters to the island of

South Georgia to get help and rescue the rest of their crew. They faced extreme hunger, thirst and cold. But

their rescue operation was successful, and all twenty-two crew members survived.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Later, Shackleton wrote about the impossible struggles he faced. He described feeling that there wasanother unseen person with him and his men during the last days of their trip.

He wrote this about his experience: I know that during that long and racking march of thirty-six hours

over the unnamed mountains and glaciers of South Georgia it seemed to me often that we were four, not

three.

DOUG JOHNSON:

The American poet T.S. Eliot was influenced by Shackletons description. Here, the poet includes

Shackletons vision in part of his famous poem The Waste Land.

John GeigerWriter and researcher John Geiger has twice experienced a similar reaction to extreme danger himself: once

as a child and once while suffering from extreme cold in Arctic Canada. He says his experiences made him

want to learn about Third Man examples among other explorers.


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JOHN GEIGER: In other words, my experience I think predisposed me to being interested in the kind of

phenomena that people in these extreme and unusual environments encounter.

DOUG JOHNSON:

With Shackletons experience in mind, John Geiger started to investigate whether other people facing deathor extreme fear had faced similar situations.

He discussed the subject with explorers and extreme sports athletes. He read historical documents written

by past explorers, prisoners of war, pilots, and ship wreck survivors. He found that many different people

in extreme situations have similar experiences.

JOHN GEIGER: So when I had a handful of these cases, it seemed to me then there was likely something

worth investigating. I began to look very seriously and very quickly found scores of examples of it.

7.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

In nineteen thirty-three, the British mountain climber Frank Smythe was attempting to climb Mount Everestin the Himalayan Mountains.

He was at the dangerous altitude of over eight thousand four hundred meters. Smythe was extremely tired

and suffering from the effects of low oxygen. He decided to stop, rest and eat. He pulled out a piece of

cake, divided it into two pieces, and offered it to another person he sensed nearby. But Frank Smythe was

alone. The sense of strength and safety that he felt from this invisible person helped him survive his climb.

DOUG JOHNSON:

John Geiger points out that these Third Man experiences are very common among mountain climbers. But

he shows in his book that they take place in other environments as well.

For example, one American astronaut on a four-month long mission on the Russian space station Mir saw avision of his dead father. His father spoke to him, praised his hard wor k and gave the astronaut a sense of

calm during a very stressful space operation.

In another example, pilot Edith Foltz Stearns was flying a plane to a military base in Scotland during World

War Two. Because of bad weather she could not see where to land the plane. A voice next to her in theplane called out to warn her about a dangerous hill nearby. She said her imaginary copilot guided her to

safety.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

John Geiger says that many people who experience the Third Man explain it as a religious experience. But

he is more interested in exploring the science behind the Third Man. He discusses how scientists over the

years have identified the experience and developed theories to explain it. The findings suggest that thehuman brain has developed this special ability as a survival method.

DOUG JOHNSON:

Geiger discusses several conditions that seem to produce Third Man experiences. One of these is beingalone, far from other people. Being alone can be stressful especially when experienced with monotony.This is when the mind tires from the sameness of a repeated experience. For example, an explorer can be

affected mentally after days of walking through the snowy environment of Antarctica. The terrible winds

and never-ending whiteness may lead many polar explorers to have visions of other people.


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FAITH LAPIDUS:

The psychologist Woodburn Heron wrote about this subject in his nineteen fifty-seven work ThePathology of Boredom. He said that the brain depends on having continuing information from the bodys

senses. The mind can have problems if it has nothing new to sense. Often, the brains response is to createits own input, in the form of a hallucination.

A hallucination is a sensory experience that does not exist outside the mind.

DOUG JOHNSON:

Other stressful conditions can lead to Third Man experiences. These include the stress of injury or of seeing

an expedition partner become injured or even die. Different scientists have studied the effects of extreme

conditions on the human mind and body.

One researcher found that extreme cold can have a damaging effect on the mind. The researcher said that

before the body begins to freeze, cold can cause changes in brain chemistry which lead to hallucinations.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Another doctor believes that Ernest Shackletons vision was caused by a drop in blood sugar. Explorers

working in extreme cold often burn more energy than they can eat. This doctor believes that low glucose

levels in the blood lead to hallucinations.

Another theory says that the stress of having to pay constant attention to survive leads to Third Man

hallucinations.

DOUG JOHNSON:

Researchers in Switzerland were able to recreate a Third Man experience in a laboratory setting. They sent

electric signals into the brain of a young patient who suffered from epilepsy. When the electric current was

on, the woman described seeing a presence or shadow nearby who did not speak or move. When the

scientists stopped the electricity, the woman said the presence disappeared.

John Geiger believes brain doctors and other scientists should study this interesting issue more fully.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

While writing the book, John Geiger believed that a test of its success would be whether people accepted itssubject matter.

JOHN GEIGER: Here I was writing a book about unseen beings helping people who are in life and deathstruggles. That seems to me to be a fairly out-there proposition. And yet, the evidence is so overwhelming,

that really nobody has surfaced to suggest that indeed this does not happen.

DOUG JOHNSON:

John Geiger says there is a wide acceptance of the Third Man experience among the scientific communityand the general public.

JOHN GEIGER: People understand that there is this phenomenon, the Third Man Factor. And, that it

applies universally, it doesnt matter what ones faith is, it doesnt matter whether its a man or a woman. Itdoesnt matter whether they are at great elevation or at sea level.

FAITH LAPIDUS:


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John Geiger suggests that the brains effort to create a Third Man is not an accident of human brain

structure, or a sign of injury in extreme conditions.

He says it may be an evolutionary characteristic developed to help us. In times of extreme hardship, thehuman brain may have developed a way to create a social link, the sense of a helpful and guiding partner.

So, even in a persons darkest hour, he or she can feel less alone.

DOUG JOHNSON:

This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. Im Doug Johnson.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

And Im Faith Lapidus. John Geiger has created a Web site where people who have had Third Man

experiences can publish their stories. You can find a link to it on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join

us again next week for Explorations in VOA Special English. This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOASpecial English. Im Faith Lapidus.

BOB DOUGHTY:

And Im Bob Doughty. This week, we tell about the disease multiple sclerosis.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Multiple sclerosis is not easy to say. Those who suffer from the disease may also have difficulty naming it.

One sign of multiple sclerosis is losing the ability to speak clearly. It is estimated that more than two

million five hundred thousand people worldwide suffer from multiple sclerosis, which also is called MS.

MS is a disease of the brain and spinal cord. The cause of the disease is not known. In patients with MS,the covering of the nerves is destroyed. This temporarily blocks signals that pass through the nerves to themuscles of the body and back to the brain.

The disease especially affects the ability to see, the sense of touch and the use of the arms and legs. Most

forms of MS are described as progressive. This means that the disease gets worse as time passes.

BOB DOUGHTY:

The central nervous system of the body includes the brain and the spinal cord. The system contains

millions of nerve cells joined together by long thin fibers, like wires. Electric signals start in nerve cellsand travel along these fibers to and from the brain. A fatty substance called myelin covers and protects the

fibers. Myelin works in the same way that protective coverings work on electric wires.

In patients with MS, the myelin becomes infected. It swells, or grows larger, and loses its connection with

the nerve fibers. As time passes, the unconnected myelin is destroyed. Hardened, scar tissue then forms

over the nerve fibers. The process of hardening is called sclerosis. The word is from Latin and means scar.

The many areas of hardened or scar tissue give the disease its name.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

In people with MS, when nerve signals reach a damaged area, some of the signals are blocked or delayed

from traveling to or from the brain. This results in problems in different parts of the body. These problemsmay appear and then disappear, sometimes resulting in long periods when there are no problems at all. Or,they may happen more and more often and become worse. Doctors do not know what causes this process.

Experts say the disease affects women at least two times as often as men. And, they say, the average age of

people found to have the disease is between twenty and fifty years old.


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BOB DOUGHTY:

For years, doctors believed that the cause of multiple sclerosis was environmental. They believed thisbecause most of those suffering from the disease lived in northern Europe and the northern half of the

United States.

In recent years, however, doctors have changed their beliefs about the causes of MS. Studies support the

theory that there are several causes, instead of a single environmental cause or genetic problem. The

studies appear to show that genetic problems are involved in making people likely to get the disease.

The studies also appear to show that environmental causes like viruses or bacteria may be involved.

However, researchers have not identified just what those causes might be. Another likely cause is a

problem within the bodys defenses against disease, when the defenses misunderstand signals and attack

the body.

Recently, an American study showed that women who get plenty of vitamin D during pregnancy may be

protecting their babies from developing MS later in life. Vitamin D is found in fortified milk and fatty fishlike salmon. Your body also produces the vitamin after contact between the skin and sunlight.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Multiple sclerosis is different from many other diseases. The signs or symptoms of MS are not always the

same. Sometimes, symptoms of the disease appear and then disappear for a long time. For example, one

symptom is a lack of feeling in one part of the body or another.

Two other symptoms are muscle weakness and low energy levels. However, these also could be caused by

other health problems that are not MS. Other symptoms include a loss of the ability to move normally or aloss of balance. A person suffering from MS also may have difficulty seeing well or speaking clearly.

BOB DOUGHTY:

Doctors who suspect a patient has MS must carry out tests and study the patients history of health

problems. MS symptoms can depend on where the nerve scars are in the central nervous system. Andsome of these signs are not always easy to see.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging is one way to tell if a patient has multiple sclerosis. The test, also known as

MRI, involves studying the magnetic signals from all the cells in the body. An MRI can show if there are

scars from MS along a patients nerves. A doctor can use this test to tell if a patient might have the disease,as well as by studying the patients medical history.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

There are four main kinds of multiple sclerosis. The first is called Relapsing-Remitting. About eighty-five

percent of MS patients begin with this form of the disease. More than half of the patients have this form at

any one time. These patients have one or two major MS-related problems every one to three years. Then

they have periods with no signs of the disease.

The symptoms appear suddenly and last a few weeks or months before slowly disappearing. However, the

symptoms may also become worse each time they appear.

BOB DOUGHTY:

The second kind of MS is called Primary Progressive. In this form, the signs of the disease appear and

begin to grow worse, with no periods of disappearance. About ten percent of patients begin their struggle

with the disease this way.


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The third kind of MS is called Secondary Progressive. This form of the disease affects about fifty percent

of those with the Relapsing-Remitting form of MS. It begins to affect them several years after they have

had Relapsing-Remitting MS. When the disease changes to Secondary Progressive, the disease begins togrow worse.

The fourth kind of MS is called Progressive Relapsing. It is the worst form of multiple sclerosis. Newsigns of MS appear while existing ones grow worse. This form of the disease is rare.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Scientists say multiple sclerosis does not appear to be passed from parents to children. Yet it does appear

to be found in families. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society says one in every seven hundred fifty

Americans is at risk of developing MS. But the risk rises to one in every forty people among those who

have a close family member with the disease.

It does not appear that one gene is responsible for MS. Instead, several genes may increase the possibility

that a person will develop MS. Common viruses or bacteria may also increase the chances that somepeople will develop the disease.

BOB DOUGHTY:

There is no cure for multiple sclerosis. MS does not always result in severe disability. Many patients are

able to live normal lives. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke says some patients

do well with no treatment at all. It notes that many medicines to treat the disease have serious side effects

while some carry risks.

Several kinds of medicine are used to treat the symptoms. Some drugs reduce the swelling in nerve tissue.Drugs known as beta interferons also are used to treat MS. Interferons are genetically engineered copies of

proteins found naturally in the body. These proteins help fight viral infections and help the bodys defensesagainst disease.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Americas Food and Drug Administration has approved three forms of beta interferon for treatment ofRelapsing-Remitting MS. The FDA also has approved a man-made form of myelin basic protein to treat

this kind of MS. And, a treatment to suppress the bodys defenses against disease was approved to treat

severe cases of MS.

Last month, the FDA approved sales of dalfampridine extended release tablets to improve walking in MSpatients. This is the first drug approved for this use.

Scientists are working to develop other treatments for MS. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society says

more than one hundred studies are continuing around the world. Doctors are hopeful that new treatments

will help patients with multiple sclerosis in the future.

BOB DOUGHTY:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS program was written by Oliver Chanler and Brianna Blake, who was also

our producer. Im Bob Doughty.

BOB DOUGHTY:

And Im Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on theVoice of America. STEVE EMBER:

This is the VOA Special English program SCIENCE IN THE NEWS. I'm Steve Ember.


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BARBARA KLEIN:

And I'm Barbara Klein. This week, we will tell how less salt can lead to better health. We will also tellabout the helpful effects of omega-three fatty acids. And, we will share details of recent studies about

antidepressant drugs and running shoes.

STEVE EMBER:

A small reduction in salt in your diet can be a big help to your heart. A new study used a computer model

to predict how just three grams less a day would affect heart disease in the United States. The result was

thirteen percent fewer heart attacks. It would lead to eight percent fewer strokes and four percent fewer

deaths. The study predicted eleven percent fewer new cases of heart disease. And, two hundred forty billion

dollars in health care savings.

The New England Journal of Medicine published a report about the study. The lead writer was KirstenBibbins-Domingo of the University of California at San Francisco. She says people would not even notice a

difference in taste with three grams less salt per day.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Each gram of salt contains four hundred milligrams of sodium. The federal government says the average

American man swallows ten grams of salt a day.

But the American Heart Association advises no more than three grams for healthy people. It says salt in the

American diet has increased fifty percent since the nineteen seventies, while blood pressures have also

risen. Less salt can mean a lower blood pressure.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is leading an effort called the National Salt ReductionInitiative. The idea is to put pressure on food companies and restaurants. Critics call it governmentinterference. Mayor Bloomberg has already succeeded in other areas, like requiring fast food businesses in

the city to list calorie information.

STEVE EMBER:

Scientists know that omega-three fatty acids in fish oil can help people with heart disease live longer. Cold

water fish like salmon and tuna contain omega-three fatty acids. These fatty acids are mainly found in fish

oil. They are also in some vegetable oils and foods like walnuts. Earlier studies showed that omega-three

fatty acids can decrease the risk of coronary artery disease. But until now, no one knew why they are sohelpful.

Coronary artery disease is a leading cause of death throughout the world. The disease results when plaque

builds up inside coronary arteries and blocks the flow of blood to the heart.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Ramin Farzaneh-Far is an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California in San Francisco.He led a study to see if there might be a link between omega-three acids and the aging of cells. To do, his

team examined telomeres -- the protective covers on the ends of chromosomes. Scientists believe that the

shortening of telomeres over time leads to cell death.

His research team measured the length of telomeres in blood cells from six hundred heart disease patients.The patients all had taken part in the Heart and Soul Study, which lasted from two thousand to twothousand two. Blood from the patients was tested for omega-three fatty acids.


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Doctor Farzaneh-Far says his team wanted to see if there was any link between the fatty acid levels and the

change in telomere length over time.

RAMIN FARZANEH-FAR: "Patients with the highest levels of omega-three fish oils were found todisplay the slowest decrease in telomere length, whereas those with the lowest levels of omega-three fish

oils in the blood had the fastest rate of telomere shortening, suggesting that these patients were aging fasterthan those with the higher fish oil levels in their blood."

STEVE EMBER:

The Journal of the American Medical Association published the results of the study. The team did not study

how much fish oil the patients were receiving, so the amount needed to have an effect is unclear.

Doctor Farzaneh-Far says the results confirm what the American Heart Association advises for patients

with coronary artery disease. That is to eat fish two times a week, or have at least one gram a day of

omega-three fish oil. Fish oil is not the only thing that can affect telomere length. But the researchers say itdoes have an influence. The researchers did not study the effect of omega-three fatty acids in people

without heart disease. But they note that telomere shortening happens in everyone.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Antidepressant drugs are often used to treat depression. They also are among the most commonly

prescribed medicines in the United States. One study found that at least twenty-seven million Americans

use antidepressants on doctors' orders. That number is two times what it was in the nineteen nineties.

Recently, researchers reported making discoveries that may change the way antidepressants are given to

patients. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania studied information from earlier studies about two

drugs: paroxentine and imipramine. Both are commonly used against depression.

STEVE EMBER:

The studies involved more than seven hundred patients with severe, moderate and mild forms of

depression. Some of the patients were given antidepressants. Others were given placebos -- harmless

substances used in place of medication. The Journal of the American Medical Association reported on theresults of the study. Jay Fournier was the lead writer.

JAY FOURNIER "What we found was that patients who are on the lower end of severity, the medications

were not doing much more than the placebo was. For patients at the higher end of severity, the medications

had a very potent effect."

Doctors have been divided about how to treat patients with less serious signs of depression. The study doesnot offer suggestions for treatment, but it may affect treatment methods. The results may influence patients

with milder signs of depression to seek other kinds of treatment. This is especially true since some

antidepressants can have undesirable side effects.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Antidepressant medicines can be extremely helpful for people with severe depression. This level of

depression can make it difficult to work, sleep and eat normally.

Stuart Sotsky is a psychiatrist with George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He completed oneof the studies used in the research. Doctor Sotsky says antidepressants can still help some moderatelydepressed patients. But his study showed that many others could do just as well with exercise, supportgroups and self-help methods.

8.


16/34

STEVE EMBER:

Finally, two studies are suggesting that modern running shoes could increase the risk of injuries to runners.

One study involved sixty-eight healthy young women and men who ran at least twenty-four kilometers aweek. The runners were observed on a treadmill. Sometimes they wore running shoes while using the

equipment. Other times the runners ran barefoot.

Researchers from the University of Colorado and the University of Virginia worked with a Virginia

company -- JKM Technologies.

The researchers found that running shoes create more stress that could damage knees, hips and ankle joints

than running barefoot. They observed that the effect was even greater than the effect reported earlier for

walking in high heels.

The study appeared in the official scientific publication of the American Academy of Physical Medicine.

BARBARA KLEIN:

The other study appeared in Nature magazine. It compared runners in the United States and Kenya. The

researchers were from Harvard University in Massachusetts, Moi University in Kenya and the University of

Glasgow in Scotland. They divided the runners into three groups. One group had always run shoeless.Another group had always run with shoes. The third group had changed to shoeless running.

Runners who wear shoes usually come down heel first. That puts great force on the back of the foot. But

the study found that barefoot runners generally land on the front or middle of their foot. That way they ease

into their landing and avoid striking their heel.

STEVE EMBER:

Harvard's Daniel Lieberman led the study. He says the way most running shoes are designed may explainwhy those who wear them land on their heels. The heel of the shoe is bigger and heavier than other parts of

the shoe, so it would seem more likely to come down first. Also, the heel generally has thick material under

it to soften landings.

But the researchers do not suggest that runners immediately start running barefoot. They say it takes some

training. And, there can be risks, like running when your feet are too cold to feel if you get injured.

BARBARA KLEIN:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Caty Weaver and Brianna Blake. Our producer was Lawan

Davis. I'm Barbara Klein.

STEVE EMBER:

And, I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the

Voice of America. SHIRLEY GRIFFITH:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Shirley Griffith.

BOB DOUGHTY:

And I'm Bob Doughty. Today we tell about two recent inventions that have helped to save lives. We willalso tell about the people who developed them.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH:


17/34

Most cars have seat belts as part of their equipment. Seat belts protect drivers and passengers in case of

accident. They also reduce the effect of a crash on the body. Safety experts estimate that the restraining

devices save more than four thousand lives a year in the United States alone. Worldwide, some experts, saythe devices have protected up to a million people.

Nils BohlinThe first seat belt was said to have been created in the eighteen hundreds by George Cayley of

England. He is remembered for many inventions, especially for early "flying machines."

The United States first recognized the invention of an automobile seat belt in eighteen forty-nine. The

government gave a patent to Edward J. Claghorn of New York City so that others would not copy his

invention. Claghorn called the device a Safety-Belt. It was said to include hooks and other attachments for

securing the person to a fixed object.

BOB DOUGHTY:

Other inventors followed with different versions of the seat belt. But more than one hundred years passedbefore the current, widely used seat belt was developed. It resulted from the work of a Swedish engineer,

Nils Bohlin. His three-point, lap and shoulder seat belt first appeared on cars in Europe fifty years ago.

Bohlin was born in Sweden in nineteen twenty. After completing college, he designed seats for the Swedish

aircraft industry. The seats were built for the pilot to escape from an airplane in case of disaster. Bohlin's

work with planes showed him what could happen in a crash at high speed. In nineteen fifty-eight, Bohlin

brought that knowledge to the Swedish car manufacturer Volvo. He was the company's first chief safety

engineer.

At the time, most safety belts in cars crossed the body over the abdomen. A buckle held the restraints inplace. But the position of the buckle often caused severe injuries in bad crashes.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH:

Nils Bohlin recognized that both the upper and lower body needed to be held securely in place. His

invention contained a cloth strap that was placed across the chest and another strap across the hips. Thedesign joined the straps next to the hip.

Volvo was the first automobile manufacturer to offer the modern seat belt as a permanent addition to its

cars. It also provided use of Nils Bohlin's design to other car-makers.

The Swedish engineer won many honors for his seat belt. He received a gold medal from the Royal

Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in nineteen ninety-five. He died in Sweden in two thousandtwo.

BOB DOUGHTY:

Kevlar is another invention that has saved many people from serious injury and death. Kevlar is a fibrous

material with qualities that make it able to reject bullets. Added to clothing, the material protects securityofficers and soldiers across the world.

The fibers form a protective barrier against gunfire. Bullets lose their shape when they strike Kevlar. Those

bullets look like mushrooms, and do not enter the body. Most threats to police and security officers comefrom handguns. They wear Kevlar vests to protect the upper body. Soldiers wear more extensive clothing

protected with Kevlar against heavier ammunition.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH:


18/34

Kevlar might not have been invented had Stephanie Kwolek been able to seek a career in medicine. From

childhood, she wanted to be a doctor. But she lacked the money for a medical education.

Today, thousands of people are glad that Stephanie Kwolek became a research chemist. In that job, shedeveloped the first liquid crystal polymer. The polymer was a chemical product that formed the basis for

Kevlar.

Stephanie KwolekBOB DOUGHTY:

Stephanie Kwolek was born in nineteen twenty-three in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. As a child,

Stephanie loved science. Later, she studied chemistry and other sciences at a Pennsylvania college now

known as Carnegie Mellon University.

She got a job with the DuPont chemical company in nineteen forty-six. It was the beginning of a career

with the company that lasted about forty years.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH:By the nineteen sixties, Dupont already had produced materials like nylon and Dacron. The company

wanted to develop a new fiber. Stephanie Kwolek was part of a DuPont research group that asked to work

on its development.

At the time, she was searching for a way to make a material strong enough to use on automobile tires. If

tires could be improved, automobiles would need less fuel. Miz Kwolek needed a new way to make stiff,

resistant fibers for the job.

BOB DOUGHTY:

Her experiments for the project were supposed to produce a clear substance similar to a thick syrup.Instead, what Stephanie Kwolek produced was unexpected. It was a liquid that looked cloudy or milky. Shesaid she might have thrown it out. But she decided to let it sit for awhile.

Recently, she told VOA that she was warned the liquid could never complete a required process. The

process calls for the chemical to be pushed through the small holes of a spinneret. She remembers that theman operating the device at first refused to accept her material. He probably suspected it had solid particles

that would block the holes. However, after awhile he said he would try it. She says she thinks he was tired

of being asked, or might have felt sorry for her.

9.SHIRLEY GRIFFITH:

That person must have been surprised when the substance passed the test. It returned from the laboratory

with more firmness than anything Stephanie Kwolek had made before.

Mizz Kwolek did not tell anyone that she had produced something new and strong. She said she was afraid

there might have been a mistake. Repeated testing, however, did not find anything wrong. She and her

group worked to improve the discovery. DuPont first manufactured large amounts of Kevlar in nineteenseventy-one. The material is found today in hundreds of products from sports equipment to window

coverings.

Over the years, Stephanie Kwolek has received many awards. Her honors include membership in theNational Inventors Hall of Fame. Today she says she loved her long career in chemistry. She says thatconsidering the times, she was lucky to get the job.

BOB DOUGHTY:


19/34

Getting Kevlar placed in protective clothing resulted mainly from the work of Lester Shubin and Nicholas

Montanarelli. Mister Shubin was educated in chemistry. He worked for the United States Army in the

nineteen seventies. At the time, Mister Montanarelli was an Army project director. He was trained in

engineering and psychology.

The two Americans were working at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. They were searching for away to protect people in public life from gunfire. Mister Montanarelli knew about DuPont's recentlydeveloped fiber, and the two men decided to test it.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH:

The men fired handguns at several materials protected by Kevlar. The material changed the shape of the

bullets. It seemed a good candidate to help defend police officers and soldiers.

Mister Shubin was able to gain financial help for a field experiment. Thousands of police officers in many

cities began to wear the vests. But Mister Montanarelli said it was difficult to get companies to make them.The companies feared legal action if the vests should fail.

BOB DOUGHTY:

Then came December, nineteen seventy-five. A gunman shot at a policeman in Seattle, Washington. Onebullet hit the officer's hand. But a bullet fired very close to the policeman struck his chest.

The officer survived. The bullet did not enter his body. He felt good enough to protest being kept in a

hospital that night to make sure all was well. The incident helped get manufacturers to stop worrying about

legal action. They began making the vests.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH:

Today, about three thousand people are members of the Kevlar Survivors' Club. DuPont and theInternational Association of Chiefs of Police organized the exclusive club. All the members have escaped

injury or death because long ago, a chemist named Stephanie Kwolek produced something unexpected.

BOB DOUGHTY:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jerilyn Watson. Our producer was Brianna Blake. I'm Bob

Doughty.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH:

And, I'm Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on theVoice of AmericaFRITZI BODENHEIMER:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Fritzi Bodenheimer.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Winter conditions are affecting many countries in Earth's northern hemisphere.

Winter brings cold weather and, with it, a danger as old as man's knowledge of fire. The danger is death orinjury by carbon monoxide poisoning. Today, we tell about this ancient and continuing danger.

FRITZI BODENHEIMER:

Several years ago, a family was enjoying a holiday in the American state of California, near the PacificOcean. The family included five children and their parents. The oldest child was twelve years old. Theyoungest was three.


20/34

The family was spending the weekend in a camper. A camper is a small shelter carried in the back of a

truck. People can sleep in it for a few days.

The weather turned cold the second night the family stayed along the Pacific coast. The camper did nothave any heating equipment to warm the space while family members slept.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

A house where a family of four died from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning this summer in Detroit,

MichiganSomeone decided to heat the area by placing a charcoal grill inside the camper. The device burned

a wood product, charcoal. The fire immediately warmed the family members. They all went to sleep.

The next day, other people found the family. The parents and their five children had died in their sleep.

They died because they did not know that burning wood products creates a deadly gas carbon monoxide.

Carbon monoxide poisoning is known as a silent killer. The California family went to sleep in their warmcamper and never woke up.

10.

FRITZI BODENHEIMER:

Carbon monoxide poisoning causes death and injuries around the world. The poison gas has been a

problem since people first began burning fuels to cook food or to create heat.

This gas is a problem in all parts of the world that experience cold weather. A few years ago, America's

Centers for Disease Control studied deaths linked to carbon monoxide poisoning. It found that the average

number of carbon monoxide deaths in the United States was greatest in the month of January.

The C.D.C. also found that carbon monoxide kills more than four hundred Americans each year. And, itsaid, more than twenty thousand people are taken to hospital emergency rooms for treatment of health

problems linked to the gas.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Carbon monoxide is called the silent killer because people do not know it is in the air. The gas has no color.

It has no taste. It has no smell. It does not cause burning eyes. And it does not cause people to cough.

Yet, carbon monoxide gas is very deadly. It steals the body's ability to use oxygen.

Carbon monoxide decreases the ability of the blood to carry oxygen to body tissues. It does this by linkingwith the blood. When the gas links with the blood, the blood is no longer able to carry oxygen to the tissues

that need it. Damage to the body can begin very quickly from large amounts of carbon monoxide.

How quickly this can happen depends on the length of time a person is breathing the gas and the amount of

the gas he or she breathes in.

FRITZI BODENHEIMER:

Carbon monoxide poisoning has warning signs. But people have to be awake to recognize them. Small

amounts of the gas will cause a person's head to hurt. He or she may begin to feel tired. The victim'sstomach may feel sick. The room may appear to be turning around. The person may have trouble thinkingclearly.

People develop severe head pain as the amount of gas continues to enter their blood. They will begin to feel

very tired and sleepy. They may have terrible stomach pains.


21/34

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Carbon monoxide is measured in parts per million in a normal atmosphere. Breathing in two hundred partsper million of carbon monoxide will cause the first signs of poisoning. It will result in head pain, stomach

problems and a feeling of tiredness after two to three hours.

A level of eight hundred parts per million will cause a person to lose consciousness. Victims will not know

what is taking place around them. This will happen within two hours of breathing in this amount of carbon

monoxide. Twelve thousand parts per million of the gas will cause death in one to three minutes.

FRITZI BODENHEIMER:

Medical experts say carbon monoxide affects people differently. For example, a small child will experience

health problems or die much quicker than an adult will. The general health of the person or his or her age

can also be important.

An older adult with health problems may suffer the effects of carbon monoxide more quickly than a

younger person with no health problems. People with heart disease may suffer chest pains. They may beginto have trouble breathing.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Carbon monoxide does not always cause death. But it can cause many medical problems. Breathing low

amounts of the gas for long periods of time can lead to permanent damage in the heart, lungs or brain.

Medical experts say small amounts of carbon monoxide over a long period of time can greatly harm an

unborn baby.

FRITZI BODENHEIMER:

What causes carbon monoxide gas? Any device that burns fuels such as coal, oil or wood can create the

gas.

Water heaters that burn natural gas create carbon monoxide. Fireplaces and stoves that burn wood createthe gas. Natural gas stoves and gas dryers or charcoal grills also create carbon monoxide. Automobiles

create it. Any device that burns fuels like coal, gasoline, kerosene, oil or wood will produce carbon

monoxide.

Experts agree that the leading cause of carbon monoxide poisoning is damaged equipment that burns thesefossil fuels. They say many people die or are injured by the gas because they do not use these devices

correctly.

Experts say any device used to heat a home should be inspected to make sure it is working correctly. And,

no cooking equipment like a charcoal grill should ever be used to heat an inside area.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Carbon monoxide gas is created by fuel burning devices because not all of the fuel is burned.

Most devices used for home heating have a way to expel the gas from the home. For example, a fireplacehas a chimney. Natural gas stoves or gas water heaters are usually connected to a device that safely expelsthe gas from the home. An automobile has a system for releasing unburned gasoline under and behind thevehicle.


22/34

Anyone who uses a device that burns fossil fuel must inspect the equipment carefully to reduce chances of

carbon monoxide escaping. Companies that produce the devices usually provide directions about using the

device correctly. These directions should be read and understood before using any equipment that burns

fuel inside a home.

FRITZI BODENHEIMER:

You can do a number of things to protect yourself from the effects of carbon monoxide. First, immediately

leave the area if you recognize the signs of carbon monoxide poisoning in yourself or others.

Seek emergency medical services after you leave the area where you suspect the gas might be. Usually the

treatment for carbon monoxide poisoning involves breathing in large amounts of oxygen. However, a

doctor will know the best method to treat the effects of such poisoning.

Carbon monoxide does not quickly leave the body, even after treatment has begun. It can take several hours

before the gas disappears.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Installing a CO detectorIf you suspect carbon monoxide is a problem in your home, you might call yourlocal fire department. Many firefighters have the necessary equipment to find or identify the gas.

In many countries, it is possible to buy and use a special device that will warn when harmful levels of

carbon monoxide are in the area. These devices can be linked to a home's electric system. Others are

battery-powered. Experts say these devices should be placed near sleeping areas in the home.

The most important weapon against carbon monoxide poisoning is the safe use of materials to heat anyenclosed area. Safety directions that come with heating equipment must be followed. Older equipment

powered by fossil fuels should be inspected every year to make sure it continues to be safe. Knowledgeabout the dangers of carbon monoxide could be the most important information you ever learn.

FRITZI BODENHEIMER:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Nancy Steinbach. Our producer was Brianna Blake. I'm

Fritzi Bodenheimer.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the

Voice of America.


23/34

11.FERA

VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Bob Doughty. This week, we look at the newest devices demonstrated at the recent International

Consumer Electronics Show. The show offered a look at what could be the most popular electronic

products this year.

VOICE ONE:

The Consumer Electronics Show is the world's biggest technology trade show. Industry representatives and

reporters gather at CES each January to see the next, must-have electronic devices for the coming year.

This year, the show took place between January seventh and tenth in Las Vegas, Nevada. A record three

hundred thirty businesses attended for the first time. These can be manufacturers or suppliers who sellproducts from other companies. In all, there were over twenty thousand new products from more than two

thousand five hundred businesses.

The Consumer Electronics Association produces CES. It is the largest trade show of any kind in North

America -- with over one hundred thirty thousand square meters of exhibition space.

VOICE TWO:

The electronics industry is hoping a new crop of products will help it recover from an eight percent

decrease in sales last year. The biggest attention-getters were the latest 3-Dimensional high definitiontelevisions.

Tara Dunion is a spokeswoman for the CES. She says 3-D televisions promise to bring the intense

experience from movie theaters to the home. The huge popularity of3-D films like "Avatar," "Up" and

"Monsters vs. Aliens" has many people willing to buy this costly, developing technology.

Dreamworks Animation made "Monsters vs. Aliens" and the popular Shrek series. The company

announced last year that it would only make 3-D films in the future. And, television networks ESPN and

Discovery Communications say they plan to operate television channels in 3-D. Big TV manufacturers like

LG Electronics, Panasonic, Sony and Samsung have all developed their own products.

VOICE ONE:

If you have seen a 3-D movie, you already know that you need special eyeglasses to watch. Some 3-D TVsdo not require special glasses. But experts say it will be years until such technology is ready for the general

market.

The latest 3-D TVs work by dividing picture images in two, one for each eye. When each eye sees very

similar, but different versions of an image, the brain thinks it is seeing depth, or three dimensions.

Dividing the image can be done in two ways -- both using special eyeglasses. One 3-D technology uses

low-cost polarized glasses. Each side of these devices blocks a set of images that appear in a different form

of polarized light. So each eye sees a slightly different image, producing the 3-D effect. But TV receivers

that use what is called a passive glasses system are costly.

VOICE TWO:


24/34

An active glasses system requires electronic glasses that are wirelessly connected to the television. A signal

from the TV tells each side of the glasses when to turn on and off, showing each eye slightly different

images that create the sense of depth. The switching happens so fast that the images appear continuous.

Active eyeglasses cost more -- about one hundred dollars each. But the technology for such receivers is not

too different from current flat screen TVs.

There were examples of both technologies at the twenty-ten International CES. There were even 3-D TVs

that require no glasses at all. But 3-D TVs are expected to cost a lot with one selling for several thousand

dollars. Still, the Consumer Electronics Association predicts that more than four million 3-D TV sets will

be sold this year.

VOICE ONE:

Digital tablets and eBook readers could also be popular this year. These easy-to-hold devices let you read

and watch media or search the Internet and order products. Dell and Hewlett-Packard exhibited new tabletdevices at CES.

Lenovo demonstrated a product that can be used as two computing devices. The IdeaPad U-One Hybrid is a

notebook computer, which has a removable screen that becomes a digital tablet. Amazon showed versions

of its popular Kindle eBook reader. Barnes & Noble, Samsung, Sony and other companies also showedmodels of eBook readers.

VOICE TWO:

But Apple made the biggest news when it announced that it would offer its own digital tablet this year.

Apple did not show the product at CES, but industry watchers are extremely interested. Media reports say

Apple plans to announce the tablet, possibly called the iSlate, later this month.

Like netbooks, tablets are less costly ways to use the World Wide Web and digital information. Someexperts think these easily carried devices could represent the future of computing. But their lower price

means smaller profits for manufacturers and sellers.

VOICE ONE:

Wireless telephones could be a big part of the electronics industry's return to growth. At the start of CES,

Consumer Electronics Association President Gary Shapiro made some predictions. He said fifty-two

million wireless phones will be sold in the United States this year.

Smartphones represent over thirty percent of the market. They are phones that search the Web, send

messages and carry out applications. Their share of all mobile phones is only expected to grow.

VOICE TWO:

Google launched its Nexus One smartphone, which the company calls a "superphone," at CES. This is

Google's first attempt to sell its own electronic device. Nexus One will directly compete with Apple's

popular iPhone. It uses Google's Android mobile operating system and is meant to work easily withGoogle's Web-based services.

Nexus One, though, is not the only new smartphone that uses Android. Several big phonemakers are

coming out with Android-based mobile phones.

And, there is another group of mobile devices to watch for: Smartbooks. These are smaller and cost lessthan netbooks, while still having a keyboard. They are meant for looking at Web pages and placing

information on Twitter. Manufacturers are still developing smartbooks. But they are products to watch in

the future.


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VOICE ONE:

Sustainable technologies have been a growing part of the International Consumer Electronics Show foryears. The CES has an area for companies to demonstrate products that save energy, reduce waste and

reuse materials.

Show spokeswoman Jennifer Bemisderfer says the Sustainable Planet Tech Zone is four times bigger than

last year. Among the products were TVs that use light emitting diodes, or LEDs, to save energy. Some

manufacturers are increasingly interested in what has been called cradle to cradle technology. Jennifer

Bemisderfer says this involves thinking about a product's whole lifetime:

JENNIFER BEMISDERFER: "When those products are at the end of their useful life, how are they going

to be broken down? How are we going to get some of the essential elements out of those products and have

them reused in the manufacturing process?"

VOICE TWO:

Many of the products shown at CES require wireless connections to the Internet. Julius Genachowski is thechairman of the Federal Communications Commission, which supervises broadcasting and

communications. Mister Genachowski spoke at the show about the technical problems that wireless devices

present.

He says they depend on a limited number of radio wavelengths. But he says the problem can be solved.

And, he hopes to increase wireless Internet access across the United States.

Mister Genachowski told CES that wireless technology, or broadband, can be an engine of economic

growth. And, he noted its importance to the country's social goals.

JULIUS GENACHOWSKI: "Promoting our common goals around education, health care, energy, publicsafety, and, I think in each of those areas, you actually see on the floor here new innovative ideas to takeadvantage of this general purposes technology that broadband is, and apply it to provide better services at

lower cost in each of these areas."

Mister Genachowski said government has a limited part in technology development. He said mostinvestment is private. But he said his agency hopes to support progress by getting investors interested in

new technologies.


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12.

VOICE ONE:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written and produced by Mario Ritter with reporting by Mike

O'Sullivan in Las Vegas. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And, I'm Bob Doughty. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the

Voice of America. VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

Protesters on the last day of the climate change conference last month in CopenhagenAnd I'm Faith

Lapidus. This week, we will tell about an agreement to limit temperatures in Earth's atmosphere. We will

tell about an incident that brought attention to climate change disputes. And we will report on a study ofChina's giant pandas.

VOICE ONE:

The World Meteorological Organization says two thousand nine was probably the fifth warmest year sinceeighteen fifty. It also says the past ten years may be the warmest ten-year period ever measured.

Controlling rising temperatures was the subject of an international conference last month in Copenhagen,

Denmark. The United Nations called the conference to replace a nineteen ninety-seven agreement, the

Kyoto Protocol. The protocol contains measures designed to fight climate change.

VOICE TWO:

Almost two hundred countries were represented at the conference. In the end, only five of them were able

to negotiate an agreement. They are Brazil, China, India, South Africa and the United States. The

agreement is known as the Copenhagen Accord. It asks major polluting countries to voluntarily reduce

gases linked to what scientists call the greenhouse effect.

Scientists say Earth's atmosphere acts like a greenhouse. Carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmospheretrap heat from the sun. They prevent the heat from escaping into outer space. This balanced system makes

it possible for plants, animals and people to survive on Earth. However, the balance is changing. Human


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activities are producing increased amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases. Burning fuels like oil and

coal is a major cause. Clearing forests for agriculture is another.

VOICE ONE:

The Copenhagen Accord sets a goal of one hundred billion dollars a year in aid to help poor nations withclimate control by twenty-twenty. The accord states that limiting temperature increases to no more than twodegrees Celsius is necessary to stop the worst effects of climate change.

Many small nations wanted a stronger agreement. One hundred nations supported a target of keeping

temperature increases below one point five degrees. The nations also say they regret that the Copenhagen

Accord has no force of law. Instead, it is voluntary.

VOICE TWO:

China vetoed proposals calling for fifty percent cuts in greenhouse gases. It also vetoed eighty-percent cutsby developed countries by the middle of the century. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao praised the accord. He

said that his government took an important and helpful part at the conference.

Environmental activists said the accord is a declaration that small and poor countries are not important. The

representative from the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu made an emotional appeal for a treaty with legalforce. Tuvalu is the world's second smallest country. Rising seas and warming conditions threaten its

existence.

Lumumba Di-Aping was the chief negotiator for G-77, a group of mostly poor countries. He said the

agreement is, in his words, a suicide pact.

VOICE ONE:

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown criticized the negotiation process at the conference. But both he andU.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the agreement provides a hopeful beginning.

The administration of President Obama says the Copenhagen Accord represents progress. Some reports say

the president was responsible for a compromise that made the accord possible. Without his efforts, thereports say, other countries would have gone home without any agreement.

The United States and China are the biggest producers of greenhouse gases. Some commentators say both

sides acted in recognition of political conditions in their countries. For example, President Obama wants

Congress to take steps against global warming. But the American economy is weak, and twenty-ten is an

election year. Political observers say the idea faces strong opposition.

VOICE TWO:

Last year, an incident in Britain brought attention to disagreements about climate change. Private e-mails

and other documents were hacked from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. The

stolen materials included more than one-thousand e-mails and two thousand documents. The informationwas placed on the Internet. Police are investigating the thefts. The university opened an investigation of the

Climatic Research Unit. The head of the C.R.U., Phil Jones, temporarily left his position.

VOICE ONE:

The stolen materials intensified questions about global warming. Are climate changes real? If so, werehuman activities mainly to blame? Most scientists involved in climate research answer "yes" to both

questions. Even opposing scientists say human-influenced global warming has become widely accepted by

the scientific community.


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Some scientists, however, do not believe the evidence for warming. Or, they say the Earth may be

warming, but human activity is not responsible.

Instead, these experts say, our planet is experiencing a normal series of temperature changes. They say such

changes are events that have always happened.

VOICE TWO:

American researcher Patrick Michaels questions the evidence supporting human-influenced global

warming. He said the stolen e-mails prove that the evidence is not correct.

Critics also noted an e-mail written more than ten years ago by Professor Jones of the C.R.U. In the e-mail,

he used the words "trick" and "hide the decline" when writing about a graph showing rising temperatures.

The image appeared in several scientific publications.

The critics say his wording showed purposeful misrepresentation. But other experts offered technical

explanations of how the wording was not meant to hide a drop in temperatures. They say the word "trick"can mean a shortened and effective way to express complex findings.

VOICE ONE:

A few of the stolen e-mails showed open dislike for scientists who oppose the idea of human-influenced

global warming. American scientist James Hansen suggested that some of the e-mails showed poor

judgment. But he said such comments should be separated from the scientific research.

VOICE TWO:

Finally, an international group of researchers has produced a map of the panda's genetic material. Scientistsfrom the Beijing Genomics Institute led the study. The genetic map, or genome, of the panda is the first fora member of the bear family. And, it is the second genome for a member of the Carnivora group, after

dogs. A report about the study was published last month in Nature magazine.

VOICE ONE:

Scientists have long known that giant pandas mainly eat just one kind of plant: bamboo. The animals are

also known for a low rate of reproduction.

Pandas are also threatened by a loss of land and illegal hunting. It is estimated that less than two thousandof the animals live in the wild. They are mostly found in southwestern China. Another one hundred twenty

pandas live in zoos and research centers, mainly in China.

VOICE TWO:

The researchers identified the genetic structure of a three-year old female panda named Jingjing. The study

showed that pandas have been in existence for up to three million years. Yet their genetics have caused

pandas to develop more slowly than human beings and other mammals.

Pandas are a subspecies of Ursidae, the bear family. But the study showed a high genetic similarity between

pandas and dogs. The panda genome is smaller than the human genome. The human one has about three

billion base pairs of deoxyribonucleic acid. The panda genome has about two billion five hundred millionbase pairs.

VOICE ONE:


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Another finding was that the panda's genetic material differed in many places. Researcher Jun Wang says

this tells scientists that the decrease in the panda population is not a result of inbreeding. Mating by

individuals with similar genes was thought to be a problem.

One unusual finding was the structure of the panda's taste gene. This, scientists say, can affect the ability to

taste meat and other foods high in protein. Because pandas likely have all the genes needed for breakingdown meat, scientists believe an inability to taste meat may have led to their all-bamboo diet.

VOICE TWO:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jerilyn Watson and Brianna Blake, who was also our

producer. I'm Faith Lapidus.

13.

VOICE ONE:

And, I'm Bob Doughty. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on theVoice of America. VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. Scientists who study the Earth tell us that the continents and ocean floors are always

moving. Sometimes, this movement is violent and might result in great destruction. Today, we examine the

process that causes earthquakes

An aerial image of the San Andreas fault from Carrizo Plain in central CaliforniaVOICE ONE:

The first pictures of Earth taken from space showed a solid ball covered by brown and green landmassesand blue-green oceans. It appeared as if the Earth had always looked that way -- and always would.

Scientists now know, however, that the surface of the Earth is not as permanent as had been thought.

Scientists explain that the surface of our planet is always in motion. Continents move about the Earth like

huge ships at sea. They float on pieces of the Earth's outer skin, or crust. New crust is created as meltedrock pushes up from inside the planet. Old crust is destroyed as it rolls down into the hot area and melts

again.

VOICE TWO:

Only since the nineteen-sixties have scientists begun to understand that the Ear

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