SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Polio Vaccine Ban in Parts of Nigeria

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Polio Vaccine¹ Ban in Parts of Nigeria / Safety Laws Urged for India / Two More Elements?
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Broadcast: Tuesday, March 02, 2004

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VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty².

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. On our program this week: Some local leaders in Nigeria continue to resist the fight against polio ...

VOICE ONE:

Indian lawmakers call for stronger safety rules for food and drink.

VOICE TWO:

And, chemistry students may get two more elements to learn.

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VOICE TWO:

 
A boy receives the polio vaccine.
Last week, the World Health Organization led a three-day campaign against the spread of polio in Africa. The goal was to vaccinate³ sixty-three-million children in ten countries in west and central Africa. The World Health Organization is trying to end the spread of polio anywhere in the world this year. Recently, however, there have been more cases in Nigeria and India.

In Nigeria, Islamic leaders in several northern states have banned the vaccine that prevents polio. Leaders in Kano and the other states say the vaccine is unsafe. They say the medicine contains chemicals that give people AIDS or prevent females from having babies. They say it is part of an American plot.

VOICE ONE:

The World Health Organization and the Nigerian government have done tests. Health officials say the vaccine is completely safe. They also asked Islamic leaders to help test the vaccine.

Recently the Nigerian government appointed a committee to gather the facts. Last week the chairman said the committee was still waiting for the results of a test performed in India. He said the committee does not expect to release its final report to the public until early March.

VOICE TWO:

The ten countries in the vaccination⁴ campaign last week included Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad and Cameroon. The others were Ghana, Ivory Coast, Niger, Togo and Nigeria.

Also last week, the W-H-O reported a case of polio in Ivory Coast. The agency said Ivory Coast could be the eighth polio-free country re-infected because of the spreading virus from northern Nigeria.

The disease causes paralysis⁵. Victims lose the use of their arms or legs. The "Kick Polio Out of Africa" campaign began in nineteen-ninety-six. The W-H-O says two-hundred-five children each day were becoming paralyzed. By last year, however, just three-hundred-eighty-eight cases of polio were reported in Africa. That was almost half of all the new cases of polio in the world.

The international goal is to defeat polio by the end of this year. Health officials say that may be impossible if the bans on the vaccine continue in northern Nigeria.

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VOICE ONE:

Indian lawmakers have confirmed that Coca-Cola and Pepsi drinks made in India contain pesticides⁷. These poisons are used to kill insects on farms and in homes, but they can enter water supplies. The investigation⁸ showed that the pesticides came from the groundwater used in the drinks. The lawmakers said the problem is that India's food safety rules do not prevent this kind of situation.

The committee reported tests on twelve kinds of soda⁹ drinks made by the Coca-Cola and Pepsi companies. The report said the tests found high levels of four pesticides.

The companies say the drinks they make in India are safe and follow internationally accepted methods of production. Coke and Pepsi products are reported to control about eighty percent of the Indian soda market. Coca-Cola says it had twenty-two percent growth in India last year.

VOICE TWO:

The lawmakers began to investigate after an Indian public interest group reported about the pesticides. The Center for Science and Environment carried out the first tests. Its researchers used three bottles of each of the twelve kinds of sodas¹⁰. They bought the drinks from different stores around New Delhi.

The group says its laboratory workers tested all the drinks for sixteen kinds of pesticides. The researchers said they found one pesticide⁶, lindane, in all the drinks tested. Lindane can be highly dangerous to humans.

VOICE ONE:

The researchers say most of the tested drinks also contained DDT. This pesticide is banned in the United States and some other countries. It can affect the central nervous system and cause problems during pregnancy¹¹. The United States Environmental Protection Agency says DDT is also believed to cause cancer. However, DDT remains¹² popular in India to kill mosquitoes.

The researchers said PepsiCo and Coca-Cola need better technology to remove poisons from the groundwater they use. However, the parliamentary investigators¹³ noted¹⁴ that neither company violated any Indian laws. The lawmakers say it is the laws that have to change.

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VOICE TWO:

All matter in the world is made of elements. Oxygen, for example, is the most common element on Earth. Elements are substances that cannot be separated into simpler substances by chemical methods. However, scientists can use nuclear reactions or radioactive decay to produce new elements. The goal is to find new materials and new ways to do chemistry.

Russian and American scientists recently announced the discovery of two new chemical elements. Their findings appear in the magazine Physical Review C.

VOICE ONE:

Each element has a different number of protons in its nucleus¹⁵. Protons are particles with a positive electrical charge. How many protons an element has establishes its place on the periodic table. This is the list of all the elements.

Hydrogen, for example, is element number one. It has only one proton. It is the lightest gas known. Uranium is the heaviest element in nature. It has ninety-two protons. Elements with more than ninety-two protons are called superheavy elements.

The two new elements are to appear as numbers one-hundred-thirteen and one-hundred-fifteen on the periodic table.

VOICE TWO:

The Russian scientists are from the Joint¹⁶ Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna. They worked with researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

The two teams shot electrically charged protons of calcium¹⁷ at a target. This target was enriched americium. Americium is a radioactive metal. Very small amounts are commonly used in smoke detector¹⁸ devices.

The scientists reported that a series of reactions created four atoms found in element one-hundred-fifteen. They say the atoms existed for ninety milliseconds. A millisecond is one-thousandth of a second. Then the atoms decayed into the other new element, with one-hundred-thirteen protons. The scientists say it remained this way for more than a second. Then it changed into known elements.

VOICE ONE:

The length of time that a nucleus can exist is very important. It is a measure of stability. Atoms that are forced together usually break apart quickly if the combined nucleus has more than ninety-two protons.

For years researchers have been looking for what they call an "island of stability" on the periodic table. They believe that a nucleus with about one-hundred-fourteen protons may be able to exist for a long time.

The two new elements have been named ununtrium and ununpentium. These are temporary names. The scientists will be able to choose others.

VOICE TWO:

But first the International Union of Pure and Applied¹⁹ Chemistry must confirm their discovery. Two years ago, a scientist in the United States provided false evidence about the discovery of element one-hundred-eighteen.

Other laboratories must be able to reproduce findings of new elements. There are also rules about names. An element can be named after a mythological²⁰ idea, a mineral, a place or country, a property, or a scientist.

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VOICE ONE:

It appears that insects existed on Earth twenty-million years earlier than thought. In fact, a new finding suggests that insects were among the first creatures on land.

Two scientists from the United States have reported the discovery of a four-hundred-million-year-old insect. It was found in Scotland almost eighty years ago. But there was little interest until the two scientists rediscovered the fossil in a London museum. Next week, we will have more details about their findings.

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VOICE TWO:

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Karen Leggett, Jill Moss²¹ and Caty Weaver²². Our producer was Cynthia Kirk. This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

And this is Bob Doughty. Listen next week for more news about science, in Special English, on the Voice of America.

1 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

2 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。

3 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

4 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

5 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。

6 pesticide   

n.杀虫剂，农药

参考例句：

• The pesticide was spread over the vegetable plot.菜田里撒上了农药。
• This pesticide is diluted with water and applied directly to the fields.这种杀虫剂用水稀释后直接施用在田里。

7 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

9 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

10 sodas   

n.苏打( soda的名词复数 )；碱；苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• There are plenty of sodas in the refrigerator. 冰箱里有很多碳酸饮料。 来自辞典例句
• Two whisky and sodas, please. 请来两杯威士忌苏打。 来自辞典例句

11 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

12 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。

13 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

15 nucleus   

n.核，核心，原子核

参考例句：

• These young people formed the nucleus of the club.这些年轻人成了俱乐部的核心。
• These councils would form the nucleus of a future regime.这些委员会将成为一个未来政权的核心。

16 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

17 calcium   

n.钙(化学符号Ca)

参考例句：

• We need calcium to make bones.我们需要钙来壮骨。
• Calcium is found most abundantly in milk.奶含钙最丰富。

18 detector   

n.发觉者，探测器

参考例句：

• The detector is housed in a streamlined cylindrical container.探测器安装在流线型圆柱形容器内。
• Please walk through the metal detector.请走过金属检测器。

19 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

20 mythological   

adj.神话的

参考例句：

• He is remembered for his historical and mythological works. 他以其带有历史感和神话色彩的作品而著称。
• But even so, the cumulative process had for most Americans a deep, almost mythological significance. 不过即使如此，移民渐增的过程，对于大部分美国人，还是意味深长的，几乎有不可思议的影响。

21 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

22 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。