SCIENCE IN THE NEWS

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS
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Broadcast: Tuesday, February 03, 2004

03 Feb 2004, 14:16 UTC

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VOICE ONE:

This is Science in the News, in VOA Special English. I'm Sarah Long.

VOICE TWO:

And, I'm Bob Doughty¹. This week ... a study examines health risks from salmon² raised in farms. Workers count India's big cats very carefully. And scientists discover the bones of an ancient lion in Egypt.

VOICE ONE:

Coming up -- lions and tigers and ... fish!

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VOICE ONE:

 
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A study has found that salmon raised in sea farms contain higher levels of pollutants⁴ than wild salmon. But the levels are still well within legal limits.

The magazine Science published the findings. A group of scientists from the United States and Canada tested salmon for chemicals linked to cancer. They studied seven-hundred-fifty salmon bought in North America, South America and Europe. They used guidelines⁵ established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

The study took two years. It found higher levels of P-C-B's, dioxin and other chemicals in farm-raised salmon. The levels were an average of ten times higher than in salmon caught in the open sea.

The study found that salmon from European markets generally had the highest levels of pollutants. The study included the cities of Edinburgh, Frankfurt, London, Oslo and Paris. The researchers found the lowest levels in salmon bought in the American cities of New Orleans and Denver.

VOICE TWO:

The researchers say people can safely eat four to eight servings of wild salmon a month. A serving is about two-hundred-thirty grams. But they say eating more than one serving of farmed salmon a month in most cases creates what they call an "unacceptable cancer risk."

The United States Food and Drug Administration, however, disagrees with this advice. Agency officials say they find no health concern. Their advice to people is not to change their eating of farmed or wild salmon.

Federal and industry officials say the level of dangerous chemicals in salmon has decreased by ninety-percent since the nineteen-seventies. They say any threat is small compared to the good that eating salmon can do.

Salmon is high in omega-three fatty acids. These can help prevent heart disease. Salmon is also among fish that are lower in levels of mercury⁶ pollution. Mercury is especially bad for the nervous systems of young children and the babies of pregnant⁸ women and nursing mothers.

VOICE ONE:

The study tested uncooked salmon with the skin left on. Health officials say most pollutants are in the skin and the fat just below. They say removing the skin and cooking away fat removes many of the pollutants.

The study says the chemicals apparently¹⁰ entered the farm-raised salmon through the fish products they were fed. Salmon in the wild eat small fish and sea organisms that contain fewer P-C-B's and other chemicals.

The salmon industry notes that meat and milk products can also contain P-C-B's. But it says salmon farmers are reducing the levels in their food by using, for example, soybean oil in place of fish oil.

P-C-B's were used to make products like plastics and paint. The United States banned this group of chemicals in the nineteen-seventies. But they remain in the environment.

Another chemical, dioxin, is released when plastics and some other materials are burned. Dioxin has been linked to reproductive and developmental problems in addition to cancer.

VOICE TWO:

Raising salmon in floating cages has become a major industry. In the United States, ninety percent of the fresh salmon that people buy is farm-raised. More than half comes from Chile. The study says chemical levels in farmed salmon from Chile are lower than in most other areas. But it says the levels are still higher than in wild salmon.

People do not always know if the salmon they eat was farmed or wild or where it came from. The study calls for stores and eating places to provide more information.

VOICE ONE:

In December, the Food and Drug Administration advised people not to eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel or tilefish. These contain high levels of mercury.

The agency says people can generally eat other fish and shellfish two to three times a week. But it says fish caught in local waterways may not be as safe. The F-D-A also says people should not eat the same kind of fish or shellfish more than once a week.

In the United States, tuna is one of the most popular kinds of fish. The Food and Drug Administration says tuna is safe for pregnant women. But it says tuna steaks and canned albacore tuna generally contain higher levels of mercury than canned light tuna.

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VOICE TWO:

 
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Scientists from France have found the remains¹¹ of a lion in an ancient burial place in Egypt. The researchers say it appears that the body had been specially⁷ treated after death to protect the remains of the big cat. Egyptians did this to the bodies of important people and animals.

Lions are described in the art and writings of ancient Egypt. But the researchers say no physical evidence had been found until now.

They reported that they found the lion south of Cairo in the burial place of Maia. She served as a caretaker for King Tutankhamen. The boy king died more than three-thousand years ago.

The scientists say the discovery confirms that Egyptians considered lions a sacred animal. They reported that the lion had been placed on a rock in a large room in the burial place.

VOICE ONE:

Alain Zivie led the team. He says it was immediately apparent⁹ that the animal was a lion. He says the skeleton¹² of the male lion was in almost perfect condition.

The report appears in the magazine Nature. The researchers say the lion apparently lived to an old age and had been cared for by humans.

Mister Zivie says the animal could have represented a god. But some other scientists question this theory. They point out that the researchers did not find evidence of the cloth used to wrap important people and animals after death. One scientist suggests that the lion might have been important as a family pet.

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VOICE TWO:

 
Graphic Image
Early results from a count of tigers in eastern India are providing hope for efforts to save that animal. A team of Indian environmental workers recently counted the tigers in the Sunderbans forest. This area is a little more than nine-thousand square meters. It lies along the border between India and Bangladesh. It is the largest forest of mangrove¹³ trees in the world.

The Sunderbans forest is one of twenty-seven protected areas for India's tigers. Pradeep Vyas is the field director. He led the teams that did the count. The workers searched the ground and collected hundreds of footprints. Each tiger has a paw print that can be used for identification¹⁴, just like a human fingerprint¹⁵. The workers used plaster¹⁶ material to make copies.

Mister Vyas says gathering¹⁷ prints is dangerous. The collector could come across the owner of the prints at any time.

VOICE ONE:

Mister Vyas says collectors gathered twenty percent more prints this year than in the last count two years ago. He says this is a good sign. But more prints do not necessarily mean more tigers. Myster Vyas, however, say he feels sure that the number of young tigers has increased. He says this is a sign of a healthy environment.

Estimates place the Sunderbans tiger population at about two-hundred-seventy on the Indian side and four-hundred in Bangladesh.

The Indian government started Project Tiger in nineteen-seventy-three in an effort to save the cats. But since the nineteen-seventies, the number of Indian tigers has dropped from about five thousand to an estimated three-thousand-five-hundred. One problem is illegal hunting. Tiger parts are highly valued in East Asia for use in traditional medicines.

VOICE TWO:

Another problem is development. Dipankar Ghosh works for the Wildlife Trust of India. He says people and tigers compete for food and space. Tigers kill an estimated fifty villagers a year in the Sunderbans forest. Forest officials are trying to improve economic conditions for villagers. And they urge people not to kill tigers that enter villages. The tigers are part of the environmental system that the villagers depend on.

(THEME)

VOICE TWO:

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Caty Weaver¹⁸ and Cynthia Kirk, who was also our producer. This is Bob Doughty.

VOICE ONE:

And this is Sarah Long. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

1 doughty   

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 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

3 graphic   

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。

4 pollutants   

污染物质（尤指工业废物）( pollutant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pollutants are constantly being released into the atmosphere. 污染物质正在不断地被排放到大气中去。
• The 1987 Amendments limit 301(g) discharges to a few well-studied nonconventional pollutants. 1987年的修正案把第301条（g）的普通排放限制施加在一些认真研究过的几种非常规污染物上。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 guidelines   

n.指导方针，准则

参考例句：

• The government has drawn up guidelines on the treatment of the mentally ill. 政府制订了对待精神病人的指导方针。
• Planners seem a little uncomfortable with the current government guidelines. 规划师似乎不太接受现行的政府指道方针。

6 mercury   

n.汞，水银，水银柱

参考例句：

• The liquid we can see in thermometers is mercury.我们看到的温度计里的液体是水银。
• Mercury has a much greater density than water.水银的密度比水大得多。

7 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

8 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

9 apparent   

adj.表面上的，貌似真实的，显然的，明明白白的

参考例句：

• The apparent truth was really a lie.表面上看似实话，实际上是个谎言。
• His guilt is apparent to all.他的罪恶尽人皆知。

10 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 skeleton   

n.骨骼，框架，骨干，梗概，提要

参考例句：

• A long illness made a skeleton out of him.长期的卧病使他骨瘦如柴。
• Her notes gave us just the bare skeleton of her theory.她的笔记只给我们提供了她的理论的梗概。

13 mangrove   

n.(植物)红树，红树林

参考例句：

• It is the world's largest tidal mangrove forest.它是世界上最大的红树林沼泽地。
• Many consider this the most beautiful mangrove forest in all Thailand.许多人认为这里是全泰国最美丽的红树林了。

14 identification   

n.视为同一，证明同一，确认

参考例句：

• He's made a formal identification of the body.他正式确认了死者身份。
• We should have identification card on the person when we go out.我们外出时应随身携带身份证。

15 fingerprint   

n.指纹；vt.取...的指纹

参考例句：

• The fingerprint expert was asked to testify at the trial.指纹专家应邀出庭作证。
• The court heard evidence from a fingerprint expert.法院听取了指纹专家的证词。

16 plaster   

n.石膏，灰泥，膏药；v.涂以灰泥，敷以膏药，使...平

参考例句：

• He mixed up some plaster to repair the wall.他和了一些灰泥去补墙。
• She applied the plaster on his shoulder.她将膏药贴在他的膀子上。

17 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

18 weaver   

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。