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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS

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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS
By

Broadcast: Tuesday, September 28, 2004

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty1.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Phoebe Zimmermann. This week: the busy hurricane season in the Atlantic ...

VOICE ONE:

A new publishing policy aims to make all drug studies known to the public ...

VOICE TWO:

And, calls for stronger warnings about the risk to children from drugs that treat depression.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

 
From left: Ivan, Jeanne and Karl.
Hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean extends, officially, from June first to November thirtieth. Weather scientists expected an active season of ocean storms this year. But a lot have expressed surprise at just how active this season has been already.

The agency known as NOAA [NO-uh] reported that the number of named tropical storms in the Atlantic set a record in August. NOAA is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric2 Administration in the United States. Eight storms were strong enough to earn a name in August. These started with Alex, the first major storm of the season. Four of the eight storms developed into hurricanes. This means they had winds of at least one hundred nineteen kilometers an hour.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, says the record before was seven. That was in nineteen thirty-three and nineteen ninety-five. The hurricane center says the normal number of storms in a season through the end of August is four.

VOICE TWO:

Major ocean storms in the northern part of the world usually develop in late summer or autumn over waters near the Equator3. Weather movements off the coast of North Africa help to produce the storms. Warm ocean waters feed the storms which gives them energy. The storms gather strength as they move west toward the Caribbean Sea and North America. The word hurricane comes from the native Caribbean language Taino.

Such storms are called hurricanes if they happen in the Atlantic or in parts of the Pacific Ocean east of the international dateline. They are called typhoons in parts of the Pacific west of the dateline. And they are called cyclones4 in the Southwest Pacific and in the Indian Ocean.

VOICE ONE:

The Saffir-Simpson scale measures hurricanes by their intensity5 based on wind speed. The scale is listed in categories. A category one storm has winds of up to about one hundred fifty kilometers an hour. Experts say this storm might damage trees and light structures like mobile homes.

Top winds of a category two hurricane can reach close to one hundred eighty kilometers an hour. These storms are often strong enough to break windows or take the top off a house.

Categories three and four represent winds between about one hundred eighty and two hundred fifty kilometers an hour. Hurricane Ivan was a category four storm. It killed at least one hundred ten people on Caribbean islands and in the United States. It caused thousands of millions of dollars in damage.

The highest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale is a category five storm. This is any storm with a wind speed greater than two hundred forty-nine kilometers an hour.

 
After Jeanne: Families in Gonaives, Haiti ...
However, a storm does not have to reach hurricane strength to cause loss of life. In fact the deadliest storm so far this year was Tropical Storm Jeanne. More than one thousand five hundred people were killed when it tore across Haiti last week. The storm caused severe floods and landslides6 in areas cleared of forests.

Tropical Storm Jeanne later strengthened into a hurricane. This past weekend it struck the Atlantic coast of Florida, killing7 several people. It caused more damage along an area hit by Hurricane Frances three weeks earlier.

 
... top floor of a damaged building on Singer Island, Florida.
Jeanne was the fourth hurricane to hit Florida in the past six weeks.

VOICE TWO:

Many people believe that all these storms must have something to do with human activities and climate change. But scientists have no simple answers. Some say warmer ocean temperatures could produce storms of greater intensity. But they say this would not necessarily mean a greater number of storms. Others say there is no proof of a connection between global warming and severe weather. Still others note that averages can hide the fact that some years just have more storms than others.

There are cycles of hurricane activity in the Atlantic that last at least twenty years. These are periods of generally above-normal or below-normal activity. NOAA says tropical storm activity in the Atlantic has been "considerably8 above normal" since nineteen ninety-five. The last above-normal years were in the nineteen fifties and sixties.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Drug companies are often accused of only publishing studies that make their medicines look good. That means the public may never know about tests that found a drug to be useless or perhaps even dangerous. This is known as selective reporting. Critics say this kind of reporting goes against the interests of public health.

As a result, a group of leading medical editors announced a new policy this month. They say researchers must publicly list all tests if they want any of them published. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors says all eleven of its member journals will follow this policy.

These include The New England Journal of Medicine, The Journal of the American Medical Association and The Lancet. Editors for the journals say that beginning next July, they will no longer publish results from tests that have not been registered in a public database9. They say that honest reporting begins with announcing the existence of all experiments.

The announcement came as the United States Congress began hearings on the issue. Lawmakers are considering measures that would require drug companies to publicly list their tests, called trials. Companies could also be required to publish their results on a government Web site.

VOICE TWO:

Such possible measures led the drug industry to develop a plan of its own. A trade group said it will create a database for its members to list their test results if they choose. Some drug makers10 say they oppose publishing details of their experiments because competitors could learn trade secrets.

In any case, the medical journal editors say the plan by the drug industry is not enough. They say doctors and patients need complete information to make informed decisions about the use of medicines.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Selective reporting of drug tests may also lead to a change by the United States Food and Drug Administration. An advisory11 committee says anti-depression medicines should come with the strongest possible warnings to doctors and patients. Experts say that in some cases, these anti-depressants may lead children and young adults to want to kill themselves. The F.D.A. is considering the recommendations12 from its Public Health Advisory Committee.

The committee held a series of public hearings in which past drug tests were discussed. Drug companies that supported the tests had hidden some of the results for years. Family members of children who killed themselves while on the medicines also spoke13 at the hearings.

VOICE TWO:

But critics say the proposals are too little and too late. The F.D.A. reported last October about the suicidal risks among some children taking antidepressant medicines. Six months later, the agency told drug companies to place warnings on ten drugs. Critics noted14 that British health officials had advised doctors late last year to avoid the use of most kinds of antidepressants in children.

A study by Medco Health Solutions, however, suggests that the concerns have had an effect in the United States. The study shows that number of children on antidepressants dropped eighteen percent during the first three months of this year.

VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Caty Weaver15 and Jill Moss16. Cynthia Kirk was our producer. To send us e-mail, write to [email protected]. This is Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Phoebe Zimmermann. Next week, learn about findings that air pollution can reduce lung development in children. A study in California found that children in areas with dirty air were more likely to grow up with weak lungs, a risk for early death. Also, we'll report on a legal settlement by the DuPont Company. The case involves the possible health risks from a chemical used to make Teflon products. Those stories, and more, next week on SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English..


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1 doughty Jk5zg     
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 atmospheric 6eayR     
adj.大气的,空气的;大气层的;大气所引起的
参考例句:
  • Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
  • Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。
3 equator piJzt     
n.赤道,(平分球形物体的面的)圆
参考例句:
  • Singapore is near the equator.新加坡位于赤道附近。
  • The United States is north of the equator.美国位于赤道以北。
4 cyclones 17cc49112c36617738bb1601499ae56d     
n.气旋( cyclone的名词复数 );旋风;飓风;暴风
参考例句:
  • The pricipal objective in designing cyclones is to create a vortex. 设计旋风除尘器的主要目的在于造成涡旋运动。 来自辞典例句
  • Middle-latitude cyclones originate at the popar front. 中纬度地区的气旋发源于极锋。 来自辞典例句
5 intensity 45Ixd     
n.强烈,剧烈;强度;烈度
参考例句:
  • I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
  • The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。
6 landslides 5a0c95bd1e490515d70aff3ba74490cb     
山崩( landslide的名词复数 ); (山坡、悬崖等的)崩塌; 滑坡; (竞选中)一方选票占压倒性多数
参考例句:
  • Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。
  • The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。
7 killing kpBziQ     
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
参考例句:
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
8 considerably 0YWyQ     
adv.极大地;相当大地;在很大程度上
参考例句:
  • The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
  • The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。
9 database mvWzUj     
n.数据库 (=databank)
参考例句:
  • I discovered some new information in the database.我在资料库里发现了一些新信息。
  • We planned to build an online database.我们计划建一个联机数据库。
10 makers 22a4efff03ac42c1785d09a48313d352     
n.制造者,制造商(maker的复数形式)
参考例句:
  • The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
  • The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 advisory lKvyj     
adj.劝告的,忠告的,顾问的,提供咨询
参考例句:
  • I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
  • He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。
12 recommendations 69c5c1b33d30582973551f5fb7b7b54c     
n.推荐( recommendation的名词复数 );推荐信;正式建议;提议
参考例句:
  • The board completely disregarded my recommendations. 董事会完全无视我的建议。
  • Recommendations from two previous clients helped to establish her credibility. 两位以前的客户的推荐有助于确立她的诚信度。 来自《简明英汉词典》
13 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
14 noted 5n4zXc     
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 weaver LgWwd     
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。
16 moss X6QzA     
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。

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