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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS

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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS
By

Broadcast: Tuesday, February 24, 2004

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

This is Science in the News, in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty1.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Sarah Long. This week -- a study of antibiotics3 and breast cancer ... plus, findings that a way to protect babies from AIDS may not be so good for their mothers.

VOICE ONE:

 
Graphic4 Image
Also ... an explosion laboratory with a burst of creativity ... and a possible sign of recovery for mountain gorillas7 in Africa.

(THEME)

VOICE TWO:

A study suggests a possible connection between use of antibiotic2 drugs and increased risk of breast cancer. However, the study does not answer the question if antibiotics are a cause of breast cancer. The study appeared last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Researchers in the American Northwest studied more than ten thousand women. The study involved members of Group Health Cooperative, a health plan based in Seattle, Washington.

Antibiotics are used to fight many different kinds of infections caused by bacteria. The study found that women who took more antibiotics compared to other women had higher rates of breast cancer. Some women had taken antibiotics for more than five-hundred days over an average period of seventeen years. These women had more than two times the risk of breast cancer as women who had not taken any antibiotics.

VOICE ONE:

The study found that women who took antibiotics for fewer days had less risk. Yet even these women had one-and-one-half times the risk of those who took none.

Doctor Stephen Taplin of the National Cancer Institute was among the leaders of the study. Doctor Taplin says the risk increased with all the kinds of antibiotics they studied.

Some cancer experts suggested that antibiotics could suppress "good" bacteria in the intestinal8 system. They say these bacteria help the body process foods that may help defend against disease. Or, they say, antibiotics might damage the immune system that protects the body against infection.

VOICE TWO:

But Doctor Taplin and others say women who need more antibiotics may already have weakened immune systems. Another possibility is that the infections being treated may increase the risk of breast cancer. So the experts say more studies are needed before any direct link is made between antibiotics and breast cancer.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

In many poor countries, pregnant women infected with the AIDS virus are given the drug nevirapine one time. This is during labor5. Their babies also receive nevirapine once, during the first three days after they are born. Such treatment can cut in half the risk that the AIDS virus will spread from mother to baby.

But two studies have found that a single use of nevirapine may cause pregnant women to develop a resistance to it later. Scientists presented the studies in San Francisco, California, during a conference on anti-AIDS drugs.

VOICE TWO:

In South Africa, scientists found that about forty percent of infected women who took the drug while giving birth later became resistant9 to it. Researchers in Thailand also found that mothers who received nevirapine were less likely to be helped by the drug if they developed AIDS. Researchers from France and the United States helped carry out the studies.

In richer countries, pregnant women with H-I-V receive a combination of anti-AIDS drugs throughout their pregnancies10. Health officials say this lowers the chance that the mother will develop a resistance.

In developing nations, however, this method may not be economically possible. Combinations of anti-retroviral drugs to suppress the infection cost a lot. So the World Health Organization suggests the use of nevirapine alone. It says the two studies will not change this advice, at least for now.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Engineers are building a laboratory at the University of California at San Diego to study the effects of explosions. There are other blast simulators in the world that study the effects of explosions on buildings and other structures. But the engineers say this will be the first where scientists do not have to create real explosions.

The Jacobs School of Engineering is building the new laboratory at a field station several kilometers from the university. The blast simulator is expected to be in operation by early next year.

It will use a computer to control devices called hydraulic11 actuators. These are a series of heavy metal tubes. Water flows through them under pressure. The tubes are designed to extend quickly and strike an object with great force. This will recreate the shock waves produced by a bomb explosion.

VOICE TWO:

The blast simulator will be connected to recording12 devices. The scientists will measure the effects of different size explosions on different kinds of structural13 materials. Bomb explosions move air with such force and speed that it pushes and pulls walls and other building supports.

The United States government is providing support for the project as part of anti-terrorism efforts. The structural engineers in San Diego have been researching ways to harden buildings against bomb attacks since nineteen-ninety-eight. That was the year bombs wrecked14 the American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.

VOICE ONE:

The Jacobs School of Engineering has done much work in the area of design to protect buildings against earthquakes. In fact, the blast simulator laboratory will be connected to another new laboratory.

The school has almost completed what it calls the world's first outdoor "shake table." Imagine a table that shakes -- and yet is big enough to hold a building several floors high. It will help scientists measure how buildings react to earthquakes.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

For years, experts have been concerned about the future of the mountain gorillas of Africa. Disease, hunting, development and civil conflict all greatly reduced the population of these great apes. But researchers say the number of mountain gorillas in three national parks have increased by about seventeen-percent in recent years.

Mountain gorillas are one of the most endangered species in the world.

VOICE ONE:

The International Gorilla6 Conservation Program led a study between September and October of last year. Teams of researchers studied mountain gorilla environments across the three national parks in the Virunga forests. The forests are on the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.

The researchers recorded information about gorilla sleeping places and the gorillas they saw. They used that information to estimate the current population in those parks at three-hundred-eighty gorillas. That is fifty-six gorillas more than scientists had recorded in the last count in nineteen-eighty-nine.

VOICE TWO:

War and hunting reduced the Virunga population to about two-hundred-sixty in the late nineteen-seventies. But national park officials and non-governmental organizations in the three countries have increased efforts in recent years to protect the great apes.

Researchers say three-hundred-twenty other mountain gorillas live in Uganda, in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. That is the only other place they are found. This means there at least seven-hundred mountain gorillas left in the wild.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Thirteen villages in northern Cambodia now have e-mail through a project that organizers hope other countries will copy. Energy from the sun powers computers in a group of schools and a medical center in Ratanakiri Province. Electronic mail is sent over the Internet, but with the help of what are called "motomen."

Each day, five people ride motorcycles into the villages to collect outgoing messages and bring incoming mail. The motorcycles are equipped with a computer to store the messages. The "motomen" return to the local capital where the information is sent by satellite to the Internet.

VOICE TWO:

Students write to other villages. Local citizens can communicate with government officials, and receive newspaper stories by e-mail. Local doctors can get medical advice from far away. Organizers hope the system will also help local farmers sell their products online to the world market.

The group American Assistance for Cambodia organized the project. The technology is from a company in Massachusetts called First Mile Solutions.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Caty Weaver15, Jill Moss16, Jerilyn Watson and Cynthia Kirk, who was also our producer. We had recording assistance from _________. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Sarah Long. Join us again next week for more news about science, in Special English, on the Voice of America.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 doughty Jk5zg     
adj.勇猛的,坚强的
参考例句:
  • Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质:脾气倔强,性格刚强。
  • The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。
2 antibiotic KNJzd     
adj.抗菌的;n.抗生素
参考例句:
  • The doctor said that I should take some antibiotic.医生说我应该服些用抗生素。
  • Antibiotic can be used against infection.抗菌素可以用来防止感染。
3 antibiotics LzgzQT     
n.(用作复数)抗生素;(用作单数)抗生物质的研究;抗生素,抗菌素( antibiotic的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
  • The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。
4 graphic Aedz7     
adj.生动的,形象的,绘画的,文字的,图表的
参考例句:
  • The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
  • Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。
5 labor P9Tzs     
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
6 gorilla 0yLyx     
n.大猩猩,暴徒,打手
参考例句:
  • I was awed by the huge gorilla.那只大猩猩使我惊惧。
  • A gorilla is just a speechless animal.猩猩只不过是一种不会说话的动物。
7 gorillas a04bd21e2b9b42b0d71bbb65c0c6d365     
n.大猩猩( gorilla的名词复数 );暴徒,打手
参考例句:
  • the similitude between humans and gorillas 人类和大猩猩的相像
  • Each family of gorillas is led by a great silverbacked patriarch. 每个大星星家族都由一个魁梧的、长着银色被毛的族长带领着。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 intestinal DbHzX     
adj.肠的;肠壁;肠道细菌
参考例句:
  • A few other conditions are in high intestinal obstruction. 其它少数情况是高位肠梗阻。 来自辞典例句
  • This complication has occasionally occurred following the use of intestinal antiseptics. 这种并发症偶而发生在使用肠道抗菌剂上。 来自辞典例句
9 resistant 7Wvxh     
adj.(to)抵抗的,有抵抗力的
参考例句:
  • Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
  • They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。
10 pregnancies 2fedeb45162c233ee9e28d81888a2d2c     
怀孕,妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象,战时人口正该补充。
  • She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。
11 hydraulic AcDzt     
adj.水力的;水压的,液压的;水力学的
参考例句:
  • The boat has no fewer than five hydraulic pumps.这艘船配有不少于5个液压泵。
  • A group of apprentics were operating the hydraulic press.一群学徒正在开动水压机。
12 recording UktzJj     
n.录音,记录
参考例句:
  • How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间?
  • I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
13 structural itXw5     
adj.构造的,组织的,建筑(用)的
参考例句:
  • The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
  • The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。
14 wrecked ze0zKI     
adj.失事的,遇难的
参考例句:
  • the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
  • the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞
15 weaver LgWwd     
n.织布工;编织者
参考例句:
  • She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快,而且布的质量很好。
  • The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。
16 moss X6QzA     
n.苔,藓,地衣
参考例句:
  • Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
  • He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

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