The history of steam power goes all the way back to the 1700s. At the time, steam was used to power many different machines and helped fuel the Industrial Revolution.
Over the years, steam was replaced by other fuel systems to power everything from homes to cars to industrial equipment.
Now, some American scientists are developing steam power for one of today’s most highly technical activities, space exploration.
Research scientists from the University of Central Florida (UCF) and U.S.-based space company Honeybee Robotics are carrying out the project.
The scientists are developing and testing a space robot model named The World Is Not Enough, which they call WINE for short. The spacecraft is designed to travel repeatedly between space rocks called asteroids and planets throughout the solar system.
The spacecraft is designed to land on these space objects. It has tools to search for and collect water that might be below the surface. WINE can then heat the water to create steam to power the spacecraft to its next space stop. WINE is equipped to gather and use solar energy as well.
The company Honeybee Robotics built the model that the researchers recently tested. The UCF team provided a reproduction of asteroid material for the test, as well as computer modeling used to design WINE.
Phil Metzger is a planetary research scientist at UCF. Before joining the university, he spent nearly 30 years working at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He worked three years on the latest project, developing the technology necessary for creating a working model.
Metzger said in a statement the test was a successful demonstration of the spacecraft’s abilities. He reported it was able to dig into the simulated asteroid material and collect water. It then produced steam fuel that permitted the spacecraft to complete its own launch.
The scientists believe the technology could open up limitless space exploration. Currently, interplanetary space exploration trips must end when the spacecraft runs out of fuel.
“Each time we lose our tremendous investment in time and money that we spent building and sending the spacecraft to its target,” Metzger said. “WINE was designed to never run out of propellant so exploration will be less expensive. It also allows us to explore in a shorter amount of time, since we don’t have to wait for years as a new spacecraft travels from Earth each time.”
Metzger says WINE spacecraft could keep traveling to many different asteroids and planets. They could carry out experiments before refueling and launching to the next stop. He said such exploration activities could be carried out anywhere there is water and the right gravitational conditions.
Kris Zacny is the vice president of Honeybee Robotics. He also described the test as a great success, saying “WINE-like spacecraft have the potential to change how we explore the universe.”
WINE is linked to NASA’s Small Business Technology Transfer program that supports university and small business cooperation on space research projects.
I’m Bryan Lynn.
 
Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from the University of Central Florida and Honeybee Robotics. Caty Weaver was the editor.
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Words in This Story
 
tremendous – adj. extremely good
propellant – n. fuel that causes something to move
expensive – adj. costing a lot of money
allow – v. to permit
potential – n. an ability that has not yet been developed
 (2019/01/17 08:02)

 
It took Qiu Siyu just a few swings of a baseball bat to wreck what looked like an old car radio.
Then two friends destroyed telephones, loud speakers, rice cookers and even a life-like model from a clothing store.
The Reuters news agency says all three paid 158 yuan, or about $23, to spend half-an-hour in an “anger room” at a business called Smash in Beijing. It is a place where people can take out their anger on everyday objects while listening to music they choose.
Smash requires its customers to wear protective equipment when they enter the room, armed with a baseball bat or small hand tool. This is to keep them safe from flying wreckage.
Qiu, a 16-year-old high school student, said she went there to release her anger about school.
“It feels so good when I destroy those bottles and watch them explode,” she said, with a smile on her face.
Since Smash opened in September, customers have destroyed around 15,000 bottles every month, said 25-year-old Jin Meng. She started the business with her friends.
However, Smash is not meant to support acts of violence, she explained. Instead, it aims to help people deal with the pressures of living in big cities like Beijing.
Jin added its target customers are between 20 and 35 years old.
Another customer, 32-year-old Liu Chao, looked pleased and at ease after a recent visit to Smash.
“If you have money, you can smash anything - smash some TVs, computers, wine bottles, furniture, mannequins... But the only thing you can’t do is  smash someone,” said Liu. 
Similar businesses already exist in other countries, including the United States.
Jin said around 600 people visit Smash each month.
"A woman brought pictures from the day she was married, and she smashed them all. We welcome people to bring their own things," Jin said.
"Every time when we come across cases like this, they confirm our belief that we’ve provided a safe place to let out negative, bad energy. And we are happy for that," she added.
In Beijing, Jin said her next step is to open a new anger room in a shopping center where people can take a break from visiting stores to smash a bottle or two. 
I’m Dorothy Gundy.
 
The Reuters news agency reported this story. George Grow adapted the report for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter Jr. was the editor.
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Words in This Story
 
baseball bat – n. a wooden stick used in the sport of baseball to hit the ball
customer – n. a person or group that boys goods or services from a business
mannequin –n. a figure shaped like a human body that is used for making or showing clothes
negative –adj. harmful or bad
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 (2019/01/17 07:58)

 
No city experiences a government shutdown like Washington, DC.
In addition to the economic effect, a suspension of government operations affects Washington on a cultural and recreational level. It influences almost everyone, from trash collectors to young parents and even those hoping to get married.
The United States Congress and President Donald Trump have not been able to reach agreement on a spending plan. On December 22, about one-fourth of federal agencies had no money left and were forced to close.
Trump wants to Congress to approve $5 billion to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. He says this would help strengthen national security. Democratic Party leaders oppose his spending request and the idea of a border wall.
The local District of Columbia (DC) government has continued operations without a federal budget in place as Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser had promised.
The economic situation is not good. Some studies estimate that the federal government directly employs more than 364,000 people in and around Washington, DC. This includes northern Virginia and southern Maryland. The district alone contains more than 102,000 jobs in government agencies that have no money to finance operations.
Deputy City Administrator Kevin Donahue compared the shutdown to the main factory closing in a small industrial town. He noted that the closure has affected service industries like restaurants, food trucks and taxis.
“What keeps us up at night is not the work we know we have to do in weeks one and two,” Donahue said. It is the unpredictable effects of weeks four and five and onward, he said, with the possibility for mass restaurant closures or federal workers missing payments on housing or car loans.
Public health concerns
Most immediately, the shutdown created a public health problem. The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) oversees many parts of DC, from the world famous National Mall to green spaces like Dupont Circle and even neighborhood parks.
Washington waste collection crews now empty waste containers at the city’s more than 120 separate NPS sites -- three times a day in the case of the containers at the National Mall. That service costs at least $54,000 a week.
Donahue said there is an unofficial agreement dating back to earlier shutdowns that the local government will be repaid when the federal government reopens.
The park service recently announced it would use other money to restart its own trash collection at some of the Washington sites.
For years, Washington has had a tortured relationship with the federal government, which can change or block any local law. Now, city officials seemingly have the chance to note the irony of the shutdown. They often claim they are treated by Congress as if they are unable to govern the city; now they are taking over and covering for the central government.
“When the federal government shuts down, we step up,” Bowser said during a January 4 press conference.
Effect on parents and children
The shutdown also affects the 700,000 people who call Washington, DC home. The Smithsonian Institution’s many museums, including the National Zoo, closed their doors about a week into the shutdown. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has severely cut back its hours of operation.
On a recent rainy weekend, parents and children gathered outside the Bloombars cultural center in Washington’s Columbia Heights neighborhood. They formed a line, stretching halfway up the street, for the usual Saturday morning children’s drumming class. The crowd was three times larger than the normal size.
The reason: parents searching for something to occupy their children in a city where more than 10 free museums and the zoo have been closed.
“It happens every time,” laughed BloomBars founder John Chambers, who recalls a similar increase during the 2013 shutdown, which lasted 16 days.
The district is filled with shutdown specials -- offering federal employees everything from food and drinks to live theater and medical marijuana at low or no cost to them.
Another effect of the shutdown is the closure of the DC office that registers marriages. 
Bowser told The Associated Press that even she was surprised to learn that people could not get marriage licenses because Congress pays for the local court system.
Bowser quickly reached out to allies on the Council of the District of Columbia to pass emergency legislation called the Let Our Vows Endure (LOVE) act. The measure gives her administration the right to approve marriage licenses.
At a recent event to sign the act into law, Bowser said, “Just so my team knows, we’re probably going to want to keep that power.”
Nobody laughed and she did not seem to be joking.
I’m George Grow. And I'm Anna Mateo.
 
Ashraf Khalil wrote this story for the Associated Press. George Grow adapted his report for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. 
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Words in This Story
 
shutdown – n. a closure of a factory or system
irony – n. a situation that is strange or funny because things happen in a way that seems to be the opposite of what you expected
museum – n. a building where objects of artistic, historical or scientific interest are kept
zoo – n. an establishment with a collection of wild animals
We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.(2019/01/17 07:57)

 
Before the civil war in Somalia, the capital, Mogadishu, was known for its wide beaches, fresh sea air and pure blue ocean water.
Today, however, large amounts of trash are spreading everywhere.
Mogadishu is home to two million people. It produces about 2,500 tons of useless waste every day. But, until recently, it did not have an official place to put waste material or a trash recycling center.
Instead, people have been leaving trash on the streets, placing it along the coast or into the Indian Ocean.
VOA’s Somali Service recently reported on the problem. It found pictures of workers throwing trash into the water. Other pictures show huge amounts of cans, bottles, boxes, metal and other waste along the coastline.
Sometimes the trash burns, causing smoke and a bad smell to float into the city.
To deal with the problem, the Somali government officially announced the establishment of two waste landfills in December. One is in Mogadishu’s north. The other is in a community just south of the city.
But observers say more action is needed.
Hassan Nur teaches at Mogadishu’s Banadir University. He said there are no laws to prevent people from leaving trash all over the city.
“Waste management cannot work without legislation,” he said.
Trash harms the city’s health and environment
Parts of Mogadishu’s coastline remain free of trash. Somalis gather in these areas to enjoy the sea breeze and play in the warm water. The sights remind many people that, before years of civil war and terrorism, the city was once known as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean.
Mohamed Yahye is a Somali reporter. He told VOA he has seen all kinds of waste products left on Jazeera Beach. “I saw a tanker bring sewage waste and unload it onto the beach,” he said.
Nur said that the open dumping of waste can lead to increased risk of cancer and other diseases.
“It’s not just health problems. It also impacts on (the) environment – the air, the land,” he said.
Omar Abdullahi Hassan is commissioner of the Wadajir district, which includes Jazeera beach. He said it is now illegal to leave trash there.
Mohamud Yusuf Hassan is head of the Environmental Cleaning Company. It is one of three companies identified by police as unloading trash on beaches. Police have yet to arrest anyone for doing so, however.
Hassan said his company, which employs over 300 people, is now listening to police. “We don’t dump into the sea now,” he said.
But his company is having trouble finding places to leave waste materials or to recycle trash. “There is no place to manage it,” he said.
Hassan agreed that laws are needed to help control the problem.
The commissioner of Wadajir said his group has been working in recent weeks to get the large, new landfills into operation. He added that it is wrong to put trash on the beaches.
“Beaches are the most beautiful parts of this country,” he said.
I’m Mario Ritter Jr.
 
Harun Maruf reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
 
beach – n. an area on next to the sea or a lake that is covered with sand or small rocks
recycle – v. to make something new from something that has been used before
impact – n. a powerful effect
breeze– n.  a light, gentle wind​
tanker – n. an oil transport ship
pearl – n. something that is very special
management – n. the act of supervising or directing someone or something
We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.(2019/01/17 07:55)