This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty. And I'm Faith Lapidus. This week, we will tell about sharks a fish with a public relations problem. A picture in the newspaper shows a person standing next to a huge shark. The body of the shark is hanging with its head down. A scale is measuring its weight. The lines below the picture say the shark was a very big one. Or perhaps it was one of the biggest ever caught in the area. The person who brought in the fish looks extremely pleased. That person won a battle with what has been called one of nature's fiercest creatures. Some people, however, do not approve of catching sharks. They do not think all sharks are terrifying enemies. They know that studies show lightning and snakebites threaten people more than shark attacks. Activists for sharks note that the fish are valuable in the ocean. Sharks eat injured and diseased fish. Their hunting means that other fish do not become too great in number. This protects other creatures and plants in the ocean. Environmental activists worry that some kinds of fish are in danger of dying out. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated that fishing operations kill more than one hundred million sharks every year. Sharks are harvested for meat and cartilage, liver oil and, especially, for their fins. Many of the animals die when people harvesting other kinds of fish pull in sharks by accident. George Burgess leads the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History of the University of Florida. He says shark attacks increased during the past century for a good reason. Hundreds of millions of people now use the world's oceans, more than in the past. 1 Professor Burgess says the first ten years of the twenty-first century are expected to register the most attacks of any ten-year period. Yet the International Shark Attack File reports that the number of shark attacks has, in fact, decreased in recent years. During this period, there was an average of sixty-three attacks worldwide each year. That compares with a high of seventy-nine in two thousand. The file gives some likely reasons for the decrease. One reason is that overfishing of sharks and related fish has reduced the size of some shark populations. Another is that more people are careful to stay away from waters where sharks swim. And the file says workers responsible for boating and beach safety may be doing a better job of warning people when sharks are seen. The International Shark Attack File describes shark attacks as either provoked or unprovoked. An unprovoked attack means the person is alive when bitten. It also means the person must not have interfered with the shark. Some divers interfere with sharks on purpose. They want to get the attention of sharks, perhaps to take pictures of them. The diver may put food in the water to get the animal to come close. Sharks do not normally want to be with people. But their excellent sense of smell leads them to food. Some experienced divers say they may not face danger when near a shark. But they say the next person who comes near the shark may be in trouble. The animal's experience with being fed may make it connect food with people. (MUSIC) 2 Some divers, filmmakers and nature photographers enter a shark's territory while inside containers made of steel. Others wear heavy metal equipment for protection. And others get near sharks wearing only normal diving equipment. Close contact with sharks has its critics. Some people say it represents invasion of the animals' territory for no good reason. But exciting films may increase public interest and sympathy for the animals. Many people wanting to save sharks have formed activist groups. For example, a group called Shark Safe helped prevent the killing of sharks at a fishing competition in Florida earlier this month. Event organizers had said the goal would be to catch and release sharks. But the Shark Safe Project said the stated goal of "bringing in the big one" would lead to killing of the biggest sharks. The big ones are the most likely to reproduce. The Shark Safe Project planned a demonstration against the competition. The demonstration never took place, however. Instead, the event organizers changed their plans. Participants were to catch the sharks as expected. But all sharks were to be released. The Shark-Free Marinas Initiative is a campaign aimed at helping sharks worldwide. Under the Initiative, people could not bring a killed shark to a participating marina. People transporting captured sharks to the boat landing for weighing and killing would also be rejected. The initiative cooperates with several other programs, including the Cape Eleuthera Institute in the Bahamas islands. The Institute is an educational center that also operates a shark research program. (MUSIC) 3 In late two thousand seven, a United Nations conference reported that one kind of shark, the basking shark, is in danger of dying out. The numbers of basking sharks have been decreasing for the past half-century. The animals are the second largest shark, after whale sharks. They swim with their mouths open, cleaning the water as they move. They take up and eat objects like fish eggs and tiny sea organisms. Scientists want to know how and where basking sharks travel. Recently, experts on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean were interested in a huge basking shark discovered in eastern Canada. The remains of the eight-meter long animal were found on a rocky beach in Saint John, New Brunswick. Experts said the cause of death is unknown. Donald McAlpine heads the zoology collection at the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John. He said scientists removed the head and some backbones from the shark for examination. Mr. McAlpine said pictures of the animal were sent to scientists in Britain. The British scientists had requested the pictures to learn if the shark was the same fish they had observed on their side of the Atlantic. Sharks can be identified by their individual markings and sometimes by healed wounds. For years, the travels of basking sharks have been a mystery to scientists. Basking sharks from the northeastern United States are not seen in the winter. They seem to disappear from cool waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Yet studies published in the journal Current Biology are providing clues about the mystery. The studies found that the sharks went to warmer waters of the Atlantic during the winter. The animals did a good job of staying hidden from sight. They swam in waters from two hundred to one thousand meters deep. 4 Like Americans living in cold climates, some of the sharks traveled to Florida for the winter. Others went even further south. One spent a month in waters near Brazil. One of the investigators was Gregory Skomal of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. He says the fish probably get to eat more plankton in the warmer waters. (MUSIC) Today, a major threat to sharks comes from shark fin soup. The popularity of the soup has increased greatly over the years. Fisheries can earn a lot of money for even one kilogram of shark fins. Finning, as it is called, is big business. It means cutting the fins off a live shark. Fishermen cut off the shark's fins and throw the animal back into the water. The shark then bleeds to death on the bottom of the ocean. Many animal-protection groups and people worldwide have denounced finning as cruel. Some areas have banned this activity. But it is hard to enforce the ban in many places. Ann Luskey is an activist for the world's sea environment. She lives on a boat and often dives to watch underwater life. Her three children took part in an unusual recording project. The family hopes the music will attract attention to the need for taking good care of the earth and its seas. One of the recordings is a hip-hop song called "Shark Fin Soup." It urges people not to eat the soup because it threatens sharks. (MUSIC) This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jerilyn Watson. Brianna Blake was our producer. I'm Faith Lapidus. And I'm Bob Doughty. Listen again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America. 5 This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, a program in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty. And I'm Shirley Griffith. This week, we will tell about a study involving monkeys and a gene from jellyfish. We will tell about an agreement to ban nine dangerous chemicals. We will also report on problems linked to cigarette smoking and alcoholic drinks. (MUSIC) Scientists in Japan say they have produced monkeys with a gene that gives the skin of the animals an unusual look. The skin is said to look bright green under ultraviolet lighting. The scientists say the monkeys represent an important step in how researchers study human disease. These marmosets are the first fully transgenic primates. Primates are the biological group of animals that includes monkeys and apes. An animal that has received foreign genetic material is considered transgenic. For almost thirty years, researchers have used transgenic mice to carry out biomedical research. To produce these animals, researchers inject fertilized mice eggs with foreign genes, and then place them in the uterus of a female mouse. The specially chosen genes are then expressed in some of the mouse's babies. Transgenic mice help researchers study the appearance and treatment of human diseases. But mice are not as helpful as primates are for studying the behavior of human diseases. Scientists at Japan's Central Institute for Experimental Animals led the study that made the transgenic marmosets. The scientists say they injected a green glowing protein found in jellyfish into fertilized marmoset eggs. They chose this gene because it is easy to see with a fluorescent light. Four of the five marmosets born as part of the experiment carried the foreign gene in several kinds of tissue. The fifth only carried 6 the green protein in its placenta tissue at birth. Two of the animals later showed the foreign gene in their reproductive cells. This means they would pass on the gene for the green protein to their young. Later, a male transgenic marmoset reproduced and passed on the green gene to a baby. This is the first time scientists have successfully passed on a foreign gene to a future generation. And, it means that transgenic marmosets can be produced from breeding instead of by the lengthy process of injecting fertilized eggs. The scientists say the marmosets could one day be easily produced for medical research. They could be used to study conditions like Parkinson's disease and Lou Gehrig's disease. A report about the experiment was published last month in Nature magazine. (MUSIC) Officials from more than one hundred sixty governments have agreed to ban production of nine of the world's most dangerous chemicals. The agreement was announced last month at a United Nations conference in Switzerland. The chemicals are joining twelve other substances that are already banned under a treaty known as the Stockholm Convention. The treaty was signed in two thousand one. The Stockholm Convention governs some kinds of industrial chemicals and pesticides products meant to kill insects. These substances can damage the human nervous system and natural defenses against disease. They have also been linked to cancer, reproductive disorders and interfere with normal child development. The substances can also kill people. Donald Cooper is Executive Secretary of the Stockholm Convention. He says the substances are especially dangerous because they travel through the air and stay in the atmosphere, 7 soil and water. It takes many years for them to weaken. Mr. Cooper says the substances build up in the cells of plants, animals and human beings. One of the newly banned chemicals is perflurooctane sulfonic acid, or PFOS. It is found in electrical parts and fire-fighting products. Another banned chemical is the pesticide Lindane. It is used in some areas as a treatment for head lice. The governments at the U.N. conference also reached a decision on another pesticide, DDT. They said they want DDT banned, but recognize that some countries use it to protect people from diseases like malaria. The governments said they will consider a plan that supports safer, effective choices to DDT. And, they hope to ban its use by two thousand ten. (MUSIC) Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, also known as C.O.P.D., blocks airflow through the lungs. It makes breathing difficult. The leading cause is cigarette smoking. America's National Institutes of Health says the damage to the lungs cannot be repaired and there is no cure. Dawn DeMeo is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts. DAWN DeMEO: "By two thousand and twenty, C.O.P.D. will likely be the third leading cause of death across the world." C.O.P.D. is a new name for emphysema and chronic bronchitis. These are the two most common forms of the disease. Many people with C.O.P.D. have both of them. Doctor DeMeo wrote about a study by a team from Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital and the University of Bergen in Norway. The study adds to findings that women may be more at risk than men for the damaging effects of smoking. 8 The team examined results from a Norwegian study of more than nine hundred people with C.O.P.D. Inga-Cecilie Soerheim also wrote about the team's findings. She says they show that women suffered the same severity of C.O.P.D. as men. But, the female smokers were younger and had smoked a lot less. The team also looked at two groups among the people in the study. These were people under the age of sixty and those who had smoked for less than twenty years. In both cases, women had more severe C.O.P.D. and a greater loss of lung function than men. The study was presented last month to the American Thoracic Society. Doctor Soerheim says there are several possible explanations why women may be more at risk from the effects of cigarette smoke than men. Women have smaller airways, she says, so each cigarette may do more harm. Also, there are differences between males and females in the way the body processes cigarette smoke. And, she says, genes and hormones could also play an important part. (MUSIC) Finally, a listener in Taiwan wrote to ask why his face turns red when he drinks alcohol. This effect called facial flushing is a common reaction to alcohol among East Asians. It affects an estimated thirty-six percent of Japanese, Chinese and Koreans. For many people, even a little alcohol can cause unpleasant effects. Most commonly, their face, neck and sometimes their whole body turns red. People might also feel sick to their stomach and lightheaded. They might experience a burning sensation, increased heart rate, shortness of breath and headaches. The cause is a genetic difference that some people are born with. It prevents their bodies from processing alcohol the way other people do. But the effects might be more serious than just a red 9 face. Researchers have warned of a link between this condition and an increased risk of cancer of the esophagus from drinking alcohol. A report about facial flushing appeared recently in PLoS Medicine, a publication of the Public Library of Science. The report says the more alcohol that persons with this deficiency drink, the greater their risk. It estimates that at least five hundred forty million people have the deficiency. Esophageal cancer is one of the deadliest cancers. It can be treated when found early. But once it grows the chances of survival drop sharply. Philip Brooks is a researcher at America's National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Doctor Brooks says it is important to educate people about the link between the alcohol flushing effect and esophageal cancer. He says doctors should ask East Asian patients about their experiences with facial flushing after drinking alcohol. Those with a history of it should be advised to limit their alcohol use. They should also be warned that cigarette smoking works with the alcohol in a way that further increases the risk of esophageal cancer. This is the VOA Special English DEVELOPMENT REPORT. In far northern Mongolia, the survival of the smallest ethnic group in the country depends on reindeer. An American named Morgan Keay visited the Tsaatan community when she was studying in Mongolia in two thousand two. Leaders told her that the animals were not healthy and the number of reindeer was getting too small to support the community. When she left, the chief gave her his grandfather's smoking pipe. That way she would remember the Tsaatan and try to help them. The Tsaatan have about five hundred members. About half are reindeer herders up in the Taiga mountains. The other half live in a town. 10 [...]... Griffith And I'm Bob Doughty You can read and listen to our programs at voaspecialenglish.com Join us next week for more news about science in VOA Special English This is the VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT A burro is a small donkey Donkeys are related to horses; both are part of the equine family Another way people say it is BOOR-oh The name comes from Spanish and, before that, from a Latin term... written by the community The plan deals with education, health, the environment and economics And that's the VOA Special English DEVELOPMENT REPORT, written by Karen Leggett For pictures, transcripts and MP3 archives of our reports, go to voaspecialenglish.com This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English I'm Bob Doughty And I'm Shirley Griffith 11 This week, we tell about a discovery of gorillas in... Doughty Read and listen to our programs at voaspecialenglish.com Listen again next week for more news about science, in Special English, on the Voice of America This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English I'm Bob Doughty And I'm Barbara Klein This week, we will tell about a genetic map for an animal that disappeared long ago We will tell about an unusual-looking insect from South America And we... well-known walking ability Robin Rivello says a burro's feet should be cleaned and cared for every six to eight weeks But she warns owners not to raise the feet as high as with a horse A burro's legs differ from a horse's legs The pain could make the burro kick And that's the VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT, written by Jerilyn Watson Transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com... fourteen-day forecasts of atmospheric conditions The weather program will start in Ghana next year (MUSIC) This SCIENCE IN THE NEW was written by Lawan Davis, Jerilyn Watson and Brianna Blake, who was also our producer I'm Barbara Klein And I'm Bob Doughty Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. .. recordings is a hip-hop song called "Shark Fin Soup." It urges people not to eat the soup because it threatens sharks (MUSIC) This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jerilyn Watson Brianna Blake was our producer I'm Faith Lapidus And I'm Bob Doughty Listen again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English I’m Barbara... voaspecialenglish.com I'm Jim Tedder 17 This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English I'm Bob Doughty And I'm Barbara Klein This week, we will tell about mammal populations in danger of disappearing We will also tell about one kind of animal that disappeared long ago And, we will examine some traditional beliefs about the viruses that cause influenza and the common cold (MUSIC) A worldwide study has... Burgess says the first ten years of the twenty-first century are expected to register the most attacks of any ten-year period Yet the International Shark Attack File reports that the number of shark attacks has, in fact, decreased in recent years During this period, there was an average of sixty-three attacks worldwide each year That compares with a high of seventy-nine in two thousand The file gives some... seventy-six mammals have permanently disappeared since fifteen hundred The director general of the I.U.C.N., Julia Marton-Lefevre, says human activity could cause loss of hundreds of species She says that is a frightening sign of what is happening to habitats Still, the report said human efforts also could help save some species Ms Marton-Lefevre is calling for action to make that happen For study purposes,... populations of all kinds of tigers have decreased by ninety-five percent over the past one hundred years And three kinds of tigers have disappeared (MUSIC) Famous American heart surgeon Michael DeBakey died last month He was ninety-nine years old He performed more than sixty thousand operations during his long career As a medical student in nineteen thirty-one, he invented the roller pump Years later doctors . read and listen to our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us next week for more news about science in VOA Special English. This is the VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT. A burro is. the VOA Special English DEVELOPMENT REPORT, written by Karen Leggett. For pictures, transcripts and MP3 archives of our reports, go to voaspecialenglish.com. This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA. burro kick. And that's the VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT, written by Jerilyn Watson. Transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Jim Tedder. 17 This