Chelsea sack manager Frank Lampard after 18 months in charge at the west London club, with former Paris St-Germain and Borussia Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel expected to replace him.(2021/01/25 21:23)
Voice of America is an international news and broadcast organization serving Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Russia, the Middle East and Balkan countries
Learning English use a limited vocabulary and are read at a slower pace than VOA's other English broadcasts. Previously known as Special English.(2021/01/25 09:30)
After a series of successful space missions during the past year, 2021 promises some exciting new international exploration projects.
Three nations have launched spacecraft designed to begin exploring Mars in 2021.
The U.S. space agency, NASA, is expecting its explorer, called Perseverance, to land on the Red Planet on February 18. The explorer, or rover, is on a mission to “search for signs of life and collect rock and soil samples,” NASA says.
Perseverance is NASA’s fifth Mars explorer. It is carrying a small experimental helicopter, called Ingenuity. The device would be the first to test the abilities of such a craft on another planet. One important experiment will test a device designed to capture carbon dioxide from Mars’ atmosphere and turn it into oxygen.
China’s Tianwen-1 spacecraft launched last July on a mission to search Mars for signs of water. It is also expected to reach Mars in February. The spacecraft will attempt to land at Utopia Planitia, a large flat area in the northern half of the planet. Once there, Tianwen-1 will deploy a rover for exploration.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) launched its Hope Probe in July 2020. The explorer is also to reach the Red Planet next month. The country describes Hope as “the first probe to provide a complete picture of the Martian atmosphere and its layers.”
The mission will study climate and weather activity on the lower atmosphere of Mars. Hope will also observe and study hydrogen and oxygen in the Martian upper atmosphere, the UAE’s space agency said.
New space vehicles to be tested
Boeing is expected to carry out another unpiloted flight test of its Starliner spacecraft. The company was chosen by NASA – along with America’s SpaceX – for its Commercial Crew Program. The program uses private spacecraft to transport U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX has already completed two successful crewed missions to the ISS.
If Boeing’s unpiloted test goes well, the company is expected to move ahead with its first crewed test flight of Starliner.
NASA said it plans to complete final preparations for the first flight of its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft for a possible launch sometime in the autumn. The flight would be the first unpiloted test flight for SLS and Orion. The goal is to complete a month-long mission around the moon.
The test is part of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to land the first woman and next man on the moon by 2024. The program’s long-term goal is to establish a continued human presence on the moon.
NASA tests planetary defense
In late July, NASA says it will launch its first “test for planetary defense” against asteroids. The mission is called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). It will send a spacecraft to purposely crash into an asteroid at a high speed in an attempt to change the asteroid’s orbit in space. The target is a near-Earth asteroid called Didymos. The operation will only be a test of defensive capability, since Didymos represents no threat to Earth.
In October, NASA plans to launch its Lucy space mission. The operation aims to study a population of unusual objects orbiting Jupiter known as the Trojan asteroids. The space agency says the mission will involve a 12-year trip to eight different asteroids.
Also in October, NASA plans to launch its James Webb Space Telescope which has been delayed several times. It is NASA’s replacement for the Hubble Space Telescope, which has been in operation for 30 years.
The James Webb is a large infrared telescope that has a nearly seven-meter mirror for observing space. NASA says the mission is designed to look deeper into space and offer more answers about the past of the universe than any other spacecraft.
I’m Bryan Lynn.
Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from The Associated Press, Reuters and NASA. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.
We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.
mission – n. the flight of a spacecraft to perform a certain task or job
sample – n. a small amount of something that gives information about what it was taken from
probe – n. a vehicle used to examine or observe something closely
layer – n. a level of something spread over an area
asteroid – n. small planets or space rocks that orbit the sun
capability – n. the ability to do a certain job or task
mirror – n. a piece of glass that reflects light or images (2021/01/25 07:02)
In the United States, people often use large amounts of salt to remove dangerous ice from roads and walkways in the winter. But when the spring arrives, all that salt can really damage plants in the garden. Salt is the chemical sodium chloride.
Salt pulls water from living cells, like plant roots and the healthy ground soil around them. So, spring growth may show up lighter in color than normal, or, in the worst cases, plants may simply die.
Rain can wash away much of the salt, permitting some older plants to live. Salt can also be removed by pouring a large amount of water on the ground where plants are growing. But the best action is to simply use less salt.
Researchers have found that putting a small amount of salt on a road works better to melt ice than dropping a large amount of salt crystals.
Different salts
There are, of course, other things that can be used in place of sodium chloride. One is the chemical calcium chloride. It does less damage to plants and melts ice faster than salt. It also works when the temperature is below negative 17 degrees Celsius. Salt loses some of its effectiveness at temperatures below negative 12 degrees.
Still, calcium chloride does put chloride ion, which plants don’t like, into the soil. It is also more expensive and can do more damage to cars.
Man-made chemical fertilizers are all salts. So why not use them to remove ice from the roads?
Well, they are even more costly, and they only work at negative 6 degrees Celsius.
Calcium magnesium acetate, also called CMA, has become a popular alternative. It is made by combining limestone, a type of rock, and vinegar. It breaks down naturally so it does not damage plants or soil. It stays on roads and does not hurt cars.
CMA does have problems, however. It is most effective at around negative 9 Celsius, just like salt. And it is better at stopping ice from forming rather than removing it. So, it is best placed on a road before the temperature gets very cold.
Some materials other than salt - such as sand or very small pieces of wood - can also work against ice. But they can be very messy.
Use a holistic system
The best way to remove ice is through a holistic method. This involves using a combination of materials, such as salt and a bit of sand. If this mixture is used before ice forms, less is needed as the weather gets colder.
When placing plants in the ground near a road or where a car is parked, it is best to use common sense: choose a plant that is not badly affected by salt. Plants that are native to the seashore can usually stand up well to salt, like Rosa rugosa, a common beach rose.
Other examples of trees and plants that can resist the effects of salt include silver maple, honey and black locusts, poplar, junipers, lilac and Colorado blue spruce.
I’m Susan Shand.
The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor.
We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, and visit our Facebook page.
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Words in This Story
crystal – n. a small piece of a substance that has many sides and is formed when the substance turns into a solid
ion – n. an atom or group of atoms that has a positive or negative electric charge from losing or gaining one or more electrons
fertilizer – n. a substance or a special chemical that is added to soil to help the growth of plants
alternative – n. offering or expressing a choice
vinegar – n. a sour liquid that is used to flavor or preserve foods or to clean things
holistic – adj. relating to or concerned with complete systems rather than with individual parts
park – v. leaving a car at a specific place (2021/01/25 06:59)
Like all good parents, some beetles go to great lengths, or do a lot, for their offspring. To humans, though, some of this beetle behavior can be surprising or even gross.
To feed their future offspring, beetles look for dead animals, like mice or birds. But before burying the animals for safe keeping, the insects clean the skin and roll the body into a ball. Then they cover the body in a thick liquid sometimes called goop. (Technically it is called “gut secretions.”)
Scientists used to think this goop was only used to slow the decaying process. Now, however, they think it does more than that. It might also hide the smell of the decaying body and create another smell that tricks other competitors in search of food.
The leader of the research, Stephen Trumbo, said this goop “helps them to hide their resource from others. They try to keep everyone away.”
Trumbo studies animal behavior at the University of Connecticut. The findings were recently published in a study appearing in The American Naturalist.
Not surprisingly, these beetles are called burying beetles. And in nature, they are not the only the creatures who try to trick their competitors or animals they hunt. Take for example a flower called the Corpse flower. It produces rotting smells to appeal to insect pollinators. This makes sure the flower will continue to live on.
In nature, there is much competition for food. When an animal dies, other animals that feed on dead bodies, called scavengers, race to find the bodies. Scavengers -- such as burying beetles, vultures, opossums, maggots, and others -- use many different senses and body parts to do this. Burying beetles, for example, use special antennae to find the remains from far away.
Burying beetles are large, about two-and-half centimeters long. They are black with orange markings. Their gut secretion -- the goop they put on the dead bodies -- is antibacterial and slows down the decaying process.
Trumbo and his team carried out experiments to try to answer one main question: Can the goop also cover the decaying smell and prevent other animals from finding the food?
To do this, they looked at burying beetles found in the forests of North America. They collected the gases that come off dead hairless mice – a popular food source for the burying beetle.
The researchers then compared the gases coming off the bodies of the untouched mice (without goop) with the gases coming off the ones prepared by the burying beetles (with goop.)
The bodies with the beetle goop gave off much less of a strong-smelling compound that usually brings other burying beetles. The scientists also found an increase in another kind of gas found in decaying bodies. That gas is known to deter other insects that feed on dead animals.
Next, they dropped off the dead mice in a Connecticut forest. Results of the experiments showed that the beetle’s competitors were less likely to discover the mice that were covered in goop.
Daniel Rozen is a biologist at Leiden University in the Netherlands. He was not involved in the research. But he said of the findings: “If you can deter other scavengers, even for a little bit of time, it can buy you a lot.”
I’m Anna Matteo.
Marion Renault reported this story for The Associated Press. anna Matteo adapted it for VOA Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor.
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Words in This Story
offspring – n. the young of an animal or plant
gut – n. the internal organs of an animal
secretion – n. biology : a substance produced and given off by a plant or animal part
decay – v. to be slowly destroyed by natural processes : to be slowly broken down by the natural processes that destroy a dead plant or body
pollinator – n. an agent such as an insect that pollinates flowers
scavenger – n. an animal that feeds on dead or decaying material
antennae – n. a thin sensitive organ on the head of an insect, crab, etc., that is used mainly to feel and touch things
deter – v. to cause (someone) to decide not to do something : to prevent something from happening(2021/01/25 06:57)
France’s well-known fan-making museum could soon disappear. The Musee de l’Eventail may soon be the cultural world’s latest coronavirus victim.
The museum is in Paris. It has until January 23 to pay over $142,000. The organization could not make enough money while shut down because of coronavirus restrictions. It has been unable to pay the money necessary for the use of its building.
If the museum closes, the knowledge of its workshop will be lost. The workshop teaches people how to make and repair hand-held fans.
Anne Hoguet, age 74, is the museum’s director. She recently spoke to the Associated Press (AP), describing the news as a “tragedy.” A tragedy is a very bad event that causes great sadness.
Hoguet said, “I can’t believe Parisians will let a part of their heritage die. I have a problem, because I always believed there would be a miracle.”
Hoguet said she was “exhausted,” or very tired, by the fight for survival that has hit smaller museums.
“Like all small museums, we had troubles before…” she said, but the health crisis has been a disaster. Hoguet said her museum was forced to close for most of 2020 because of government restrictions.
On top of that, money coming from the workshop’s fan repairs also disappeared because of reduced spending during the pandemic. Even when the museum opened for a short time in September, Hoguet had trouble getting the same numbers of visitors as before.
“Because people were preoccupied with the virus, culture and heritage got forgotten — and dangerously,” she said.
Hoguet is the fourth generation in charge of what is the last original fan-making workshop in Paris. Hoguet’s father bought the museum’s collection of fans in 1960.
She has trained five young fan-makers, whom she hopes will continue the tradition. Fan making, traditionally with wooden sticks and painted paper, has been considered important in many cultures. But in France, its golden age was more than 200 years ago.
At the time, women used fans as a kind of communication. The pictures painted on the fans would often show the current events of the world. To this day, fans remain part of France’s clothing culture. Fans often appear in collections by design companies Chanel, Dior and Jean Paul Gaultier.
Hoguet works alone and does not have financing tools to raise money except for email. She said French officials have failed to help her and she now has trouble sleeping.
The French Culture Ministry and Paris City Hall are the agencies she has been in touch with, but those efforts, she said, made no difference. Paris City Hall did not immediately answer when contacted by the AP.
Hoguet suggested that the problem with very special knowledge “is that it can very quickly die,” meaning it can disappear forever.
I’m John Russell.
Thomas Adamson and Michel Euler reported this story for the Associated Press. John Reynolds adapted it for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. _____________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
museum – n. a building in which interesting and valuable things (such as paintings and sculptures or scientific or historical objects) are collected and shown to the public
heritage – n. the traditions, achievements, beliefs, etc., that are part of the history of a group or nation — usually singular
miracle – n. a very amazing or unusual event, thing, or achievement
preoccupy – v. to be thought about or worried about by (someone) very often or constantly
golden age – n. a time of great happiness, success; a time of highest success(2021/01/25 06:55)
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