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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - April 30, 2002: Digest
VOICE ONE:
This is Ray Freeman.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Bob Doughty with Science in the News, a VOA Special English program about recent developments
in science. Today, we tell about a new major group of insects. We tell about a space rock that came close to
Earth. And we tell about food for soldiers that can stay fresh for three years.
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VOICE ONE:
Scientists have discovered the first major new group, or order, of insects in almost ninety years. Danish and
German researchers reported three kinds of wingless insects unknown to science in the past. Evidence shows that
the insects have existed for at least forty-five -million years.
Science magazine reported the discovery this month. Insect expert Joachim Adis (JOE-kim AH-dis) helped write
the report. Mister Adis works at the Max Planck Institute for Limnology in Ploen, Germany. He says the new
order is the thirty-first order of insects to be identified.
Examples of the insects came from private collections and from museums in Britain and Germany. Some insects
were trapped inside an ancient material called amber. Others were found alive in southwest Africa. The insects
measure about two-and-one-half centimeters. They look similar to insects called walking sticks, preying mantises
and crickets.
VOICE TWO:
It is not unusual for scientists to discover and identify new kinds of insects. But an order is a large group of
creatures. For example, an order called Lepidoptera contains all known moths and butterflies. The last new order
of insects was discovered in Nineteen-Fifteen. Some scientists who heard about the discovery of the new order
did not believe it.
Most insects cannot be identified until they are adults. By that time, they usually have wings. The new order may
not have been recognized earlier because the insects lack wings.
VOICE ONE:
The discovery of the new order resulted from good luck as well as hard work. Biologist Oliver Zompro is a
student of Mister Adis at the Max Planck Institute. Mister Zompro was examining several insects sent to the
institute for identification. They came from museums and private collectors. The insects were in amber that was
at least forty -five -million years old. Mister Zompro found that the insects could not be identified as part of any
known order.
Officials at the British Museum of Natural History then showed Mister Zompro another insect.
This insect came from Tanzania in Nineteen-Fifty. It had been in the museum for sixteen years.
Its collectors had sent it there to be identified. However, the museum experts could not do so.
Mister Zompro recognized it as similar to the mysterious insects he had seen before.
He also examined another example of the order in the Berlin Museum of Natural History. It had
been found in Namibia at the beginning of the Twentieth Century.
VOICE TWO:
Mister Zompro believed the mysterious insects might still be alive on Earth. He and a research
team sent computer e-mail messages to museums around the world for help. They wanted to
know if anybody had seen similar creatures.
The only response came from Namibia. So, the researchers went to the southwest African nation
to look for the insects. Other experts from England, South Africa, the United States and Namibia
joined the team. They found the insects on Brandberg Mountain in western Namibia.
Collectors reportedly are already paying high prices for the rare insects. Officials in Namibia
have increased security to prevent people from seizing the insects and selling them. Scientists
(Photo -now are looking for more of the newly identified insects in Brazil.
Science)
((MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE ONE:
A huge space rock came near Earth last month. Scientists say it measured between forty and eighty meters wide.
Scientists think it was about the size of a large passenger plane. The space rock passed within about four-
hundred-eighty-thousand kilometers of our planet. It was only a little further away from us than the Moon.
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology discovered the asteroid four days after it
passed Earth and had moved off into space. They say it could have done severe damage if it had
hit a major city. They say few asteroids that large have ever been known to pass so close to Earth.
VOICE TWO:
Scientists said no one saw the space rock for two reasons. They said it came toward Earth from
the direction of the Sun. This made it extremely difficult to see because of the brightness of the Sun. And it was
not big enough to see.
Gareth Williams works with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He is also an assistant director of
the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center. Part of his job is finding space rocks that could be
a danger to Earth.
He says no amount of searching would have found the asteroid because of its size and where it came from. Mister
Williams says there have probably been many similar space rocks that have flown close to our planet and then
traveled back into deep space.
VOICE ONE:
Researchers say the asteroid’s orbit should not present a danger to Earth in the next century. However, they are
worried about similar space rocks that could be in orbits that bring them close to Earth.
A smaller space rock did hit an area of Siberia in Russia in Nineteen-Oh-Eight. It destroyed trees for hundreds of
square kilometers. A similar asteroid made of iron crashed into the ground in the area that is now the American
state of Arizona fifty-thousand years ago. It created a hole in the earth that was one -thousand-two-hundred meters
wide.
Benny Peiser is an expert on space rocks that have hit the Earth in the past. He works at the Liverpool John
Moores University in Britain. He says that satellites will soon be used to search space for asteroids that may
present a danger to Earth. He says scientists are studying space rocks in an effort to develop a plan for moving
the big ones away from Earth.
((MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE TWO:
The United States military has developed a new product to feed soldiers in battle. The food contains meat and
bread and is eaten like a sandwich. It can stay fresh for up to three years.
Scientists at the Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Massachusetts, developed the
sandwiches. They do not have to be kept cool while being stored. And they do not have to be
heated before eating.
For years, the United States military has wanted to add to its collection of food for soldiers.
Such food is commonly called “Meal, Ready-to-Eat,
”
or M-R-E. M-R-E foods are designed
for soldiers on the move.
Until now, soldiers had to make sandwiches from bread and other foods stored in separate containers.
VOICE ONE:
The new sandwiches are similar in size and appearance to some products already sold in American food stores.
Yet they can survive extreme temperatures and being dropped from an airplane. The sandwiches will stay fresh
for up to three years at twenty-six degrees Celsius. At thirty -eight degrees, they will keep up to six months.
Researchers developed the sandwiches using a method called intermediate moisture technology. This technology
protects foods by controlling water activity and levels of acid. Scientists use substances called humectants to
reduce the amount of water in the product. This limits the growth of bacteria. The scientists also add naturally
acidic substances to protect the product. The sandwiches are covered tightly in heavy plastic to protect them
against water and oxygen.
VOICE TWO:
Recently, the military approved two kinds of sandwiches for use in the M-R-E program. One contains barbecue
chicken. The other has pepperoni, a pork product often added to pizza.
Officials report that soldiers who tested the sandwiches said their taste was acceptable. The sandwiches also meet
safety requirements set by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
American military scientists are now planning to extend the list of M-R-E foods to include bagels, burritos and
even small pizzas. Battlefield meals may never be the same again.
((THEME))
VOICE ONE:
This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS program was written by Jerilyn Watson, Paul Thompson and George Grow. It
was produced by Cynthia Kirk. This is Ray Freeman.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Bob Doughty. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice
of America.
((THEME))
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