scientist in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who has recently been

involved in a fascinating research into an unusual 'meteor', that's a piece of

rock or other matter from space.

Firestone - taster 0'12"

We think that this impact was the air burst, or an explosion in the air, of a meteor, so anything

underneath this impact was likely to be injured or killed …

Dima: Richard Firestone explaining the theory behind a unique discovery: ancient

animal bodies pierced with small pieces of matter which scientists believe

came from outer space some 35,000 years ago. As you can imagine, with a

topic like this we're certain to hear a number of words and expressions that can

be used when talking about science, and in particular, about natural history.

Words like 'impact', meaning the force of one object hitting another; 'burst' and

'explosion', both meaning a blast, or sudden expanding after a release of energy;

'meteor' - a piece of rock or other matter from space that produces a bright light

as it travels through the Earth's atmosphere; and 'shrapnel' - small pieces of

matter that cover an area in a blast, usually causing damage or death. Let's now

listen to Richard Firestone as he describes what his team thinks happened to

the meteor, but before we listen, here's a quick reminder of the words to look

out for: 'impact', 'burst', 'explosion', 'meteor' and 'shrapnel'.

Firestone 0'18"

We think that this impact was the air burst, or an explosion in the air, of a meteor. Probably an

iron meteor, right, that came in over Siberia and Alaska and exploded maybe several miles up

in the air sending shrapnel, essentially, in all directions.

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Dima: So to sum up, when the meteor entered the atmosphere, there was an impact

that caused a burst, or an explosion in the air, and as a result of the explosion

many small pieces, or shrapnel, covered a large area. Listen again and as you're

listening, try to find answers to these questions: first, which two regions of the

Earth did the meteor fly over? And second, how high above the ground did the

explosion happen?

Firestone 0'18"

We think that this impact was the air burst, or an explosion in the air, of a meteor. Probably an

iron meteor, right, that came in over Siberia and Alaska and exploded maybe several miles up

in the air sending shrapnel, essentially, in all directions.

Dima: So which two regions of the planet did the meteor travel over? Richard

Firestone mentions Siberia and Alaska. And how high above the Earth's

surface did the blast happen? The answer is - 'several miles up in the air'.

Sting

Dima: Today we're talking about a unique discovery - ancient animal bodies severely

damaged by particles, that is small pieces of matter, from a burst meteor. But

why are scientists so excited by this find? Surely our planet has been hit by

meteors and comets uncounted number of times! Well, as Richard Firestone

will explain, it's true that meteors are known to have killed off whole species of

animals, but not directly: usually this happened because of resulting climate

changes. In this case, the shrapnel affected animals in a direct way, damaging

their body parts or even killing them. Although Richard Firestone doesn't

mention them, he means 'mammoths' - large hairy elephant type animals which

no longer exist. And how do we know this? Well, because, as you're about to

hear, he does mention particular body parts which mammoths had. See if you

can spot the word for these body parts. Here's a clue: this word appears right at

the end of the clip and means pointed teeth which stick out from some animals'

mouths: 

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Firestone 0'12"

And these animals were lying under it, so anything underneath this impact was likely to be

injured or killed by these things. Because there was one every few centimetres, hitting these

tusks.

Dima: Did you manage to spot the word for large pointed teeth? It was 'tusks'. And if

you're still not sure what tusks are, take a look at the picture on the web page

where you can see an artist's impression of a mammoth - just visit

bbclearningenglish.com and follow the link to People and places. In a moment

we'll hear from Richard Firestone again, but just before that, here again is

today's vocabulary:

'meteor'

'impact'

'a burst'

'an explosion'

'shrapnel'

'a mammoth' and

'a tusk'.

 

Firestone 0'30"

We think that this impact was the airburst, or an explosion in the air, of a meteor. Probably an

iron meteor, right, that came in over Siberia and Alaska and exploded maybe several miles up

in the air sending shrapnel, essentially, in all directions. And these animals were lying under it,

so anything underneath this impact was likely to be injured or killed by these things. Because

there was one every few centimetres, hitting these tusks.