newsademic 5 september 2014

September 4, 2014American English edition

Issue Number 231

In this issue

Healthy city spidersNeanderthal extinction dateNew memorial in BerlinHuman rights team to IraqHong Kong electionDiscovery of Phoenician shipCoin hoard recoveryFrance’s cabinet reshuffleFood fingerprinting planWhite dwarf supernovaBy-the-wind sailorsLesotho coupRediscovered Maya cityFish evolving experimentFamous footprint photographs for saleWhite House burning anniversarySliding stones mystery solvedNew EU appointmentsBaltic Way anniversaryGlossary Crossword and Wordsearch Puzzle

Soldiers from the Ukrainian army in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine

Barack Obama, the president of the U.S., visited Estonia on September 3. He made a speech in Tallinn, Estonia’s capital city. Mr. Obama accused Russia of “making an assault on Ukraine”. He repeated that the U.S. would support Ukraine. He also promised that NATO would protect its member countries in Eastern Europe in-cluding Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Just before Mr. Obama spoke, the office of the Ukrainian president, Pet-ro Poroshenko, released a statement. It said that after recent talks with Rus-sian officials, there was a possibility of a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. There, separatist, or rebel, groups from two re-gions, called Donetsk and Luhansk, are fighting against the Ukrainian army. The conflict in eastern Ukraine began five months ago. So far about 2,600 people have died. The rebel groups are backed, or supported, by Russia.

On the same day Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, arrived in Mongolia for an official visit. On his way to Ulaan-baatar, Mongolia’s capital city, Mr. Putin said that he had come up with a possible plan for ending the fighting in Ukraine. It includes a withdrawal by Ukrainian sol-diers, a ceasefire and prisoner exchange.

One of Mr. Putin’s assistants said that Russia could not arrange the cease-fire. This, he explained, was because it was not involved in the fighting. How-ever, the rebels seem to be using Rus-sian-made weapons. The leaders of the U.S., the European Union (EU), and Ukraine, all claim that Russia is helping the rebels. They say that Russian troops have crossed into eastern Ukraine and are now fighting alongside the separat-ists. Mr. Putin insists that this is not true.

The day before Mr. Obama arrived in Estonia, the Ukrainian army had

R U S S I A , U K R A I N E A N D NATO

Learning English as a

foreign language?

Newsademic.com

Recommended reading

for EFL and ESL

Newsademic.comThe informative easy to read introduction to world news

™

NID: 1000124-110-Newsademic Issue 231 A. Prepared for: [Your Name or School Name Here]

September 4, 2014 Newsademic.com™ – American English edition page 2

withdrawn from several towns in eastern Ukraine. This was a surprise: for the last few weeks the Ukrainian army seemed to be winning the con-flict. A Ukrainian official insisted that the rebel forces had been strength-ened by large numbers of Russian troops. He said that Russia was send-ing more soldiers to Ukraine and that this was the start of “a great war”.

Kiev

UKRAINE

RUSSIABELARUS

ROMANIA

MOLDOVA

POLA

ND

Black Sea

Luhansk

Donetsk

On the same day, NATO an-nounced its plans to set up a new force of several thousand soldiers. This force, it declared, would be used to protect Eastern Europe-an NATO members from Russian threats or aggression. In response a senior Russian official said that his country would now change its mil-itary doctrine. This, he explained, was because NATO forces were moving closer to Russia’s borders.

Many now fear that the conflict in eastern Ukraine could lead to a return to the Cold War. This was not a real war. The name is often used to describe the period between 1947 and 1991. Then, the Russian-led Soviet Union and the U.S. (together with its allies in Western Europe) were enemies. Many feared a nucle-ar war could break out between the Soviet Union and the U.S. During the Cold War, Europe was divided. Most European countries were ei-ther NATO members or part of the Soviet Union.

NATO (or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is a military

alliance. It was set up by America soon after the Cold War started. At first it had seven member nations. Now 28 countries are members of NATO. Albania and Croatia were the latest to join. They became mem-bers in 2009. NATO countries agree to send military forces to help if oth-er NATO members are attacked, or threatened with attack.

The Soviet Union began to break up in 1991. Nearly all the countries within it became independent na-tions. Many of the former Soviet Union countries in Eastern Europe have now joined NATO. These in-clude: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, and Poland. So, as Russia lost its military allies, NATO continued to expand.

Mr. Putin first became Russia’s president 14 years ago. In Russia he is a very popular leader. The country had many problems after the Soviet Union broke up. Most Russians believe that Mr. Putin has made their country strong and powerful again. Even though few people live in its north and east, Russia is the biggest country in the world. It has huge supplies of oil, natural gas, and other valuable natural resources. As president, Mr. Putin reorganized the Russian oil and gas companies. The country now makes large amounts of mon-ey from selling these resources to other countries.

Ukraine used to be part of the So-viet Union. Like most other former Soviet Union members, it became an independent nation in 1991. However, many ethnic Russians live in the east of the country. Most of these people use Russian as their first language.

At the end of last year large demonstrations took place in the center of Kiev, Ukraine’s capital

city. The demonstrators demanded that the country’s president, Viktor Yanukovych, step down. They ac-cused him and his government of being corrupt and dishonest. Those who demonstrated want Ukraine to work more closely with the EU. Mr. Yanukovych, who is from eastern Ukraine, did not want to do this.

Most demonstrators were from the west of Ukraine. Traditionally, unlike those in the east, these people distrust Russia. When the demon-strations grew Mr. Yanukovych fled from the country. The protesters then set up a new government. The EU and the U.S. immediately offered their support. Some people say that this was wrong. Mr. Yanukovych, they argue, may have been a bad president, but he was an elected lead-er. Russia insisted that Ukraine’s new government was unlawful. So the EU and the U.S. giving their support to it was likely to cause problems.

Most Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine dislike the new govern-ment. They also think that it is ille-gal. Many have joined the separatist groups. Soon after the new gov-ernment took over, Mr. Putin made an announcement. He said that he had a right to intervene if ethnic Russians living in other countries are threatened, or attacked. There are many Russian-speaking people in some Eastern European coun-tries. These include Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Ukraine is not a NATO member. NATO is therefore unlikely to send troops or military equipment to the country. Yet Russia will probably make sure that the rebel groups in east Ukraine are not defeated. Many people therefore think that the only way to end the conflict is for Donetsk and Luhansk to become self-governing regions.



BIGGER URBAN SPIDERS

Researchers in Australia have been studying a type of spider. They de-cided to compare golden orb weaver spiders found in cities, or built up areas, with those that live in parks and open spaces. Many people were surprised by their study’s results.

Spiders are arachnids. This name comes from the Ancient Greek word for “spider”. People who are scared of spiders have arachnophobia. This word is a combination of the Greek for “spider” and “fear”.

Golden orb weaver spider

There are thought to be around 43,600 different types of spider. They can be found everywhere in the world except Antarctica. All spi-ders have eight legs, yet they differ in size. The smallest have a body length of only 0.015 inches (0.37 millimeters). The largest, called the Goliath birdeater, has a leg span of 9.8 inches (25 centimeters). All spi-ders are able to produce silk. It is from this that they make their webs.

Golden orb web spiders are common in Australia and tropical countries. Their name comes from the spiders’ large round webs. These look yellowish, or golden, in the sunlight. Golden orb web spiders’ webs are up to 3.3 feet (one me-ter) across. They trap the insects on which the spiders feed.

Golden orb web spiders rarely move to different places. They usual-ly keep the same web. If the web gets

damaged, the female spiders careful-ly repair it. Female golden orb web spiders are much bigger than males. As many as four or five males can often be found around the edge of a female’s web. There, they wait for a chance to mate with the female.

The researchers caught 222 fe-male spiders in Sydney. This is the largest city in Australia. The spiders were collected from two separate areas. About half were picked up in parks. Here, there are many trees and bushes. The others were found in urban areas. In these places there is a lot of concrete and few plants and trees.

The researchers measured each spider’s size. To work out the spi-der’s health and fitness the research-ers cut them open. The length of parts of the spiders’ legs was then measured against their body weight. The researchers also recorded how much fat each spider had as well as the size of its ovary.

Measurements of the “park” spi-ders were then compared with those of the “urban” spiders. The results showed that the urban spiders were both bigger and healthier. Urban spiders also seem to be multiplying faster, or having more babies.

The study was not set up to work out why the urban spiders were big-ger. However, the researchers have several ideas. One possibility is because concrete areas are warmer. Another is city lights. The lights attract insects, so more of them are caught in the spiders’ webs.

In the countryside different spe-cies of spider steal food from gold-en orb web spiders. Where there is no vegetation there are far fewer “thieving” spiders. So “city” golden orb web spiders may have anoth-er advantage: less of their food is stolen.

HOMO NEANDERTHALENSIS

Researchers from a university in Britain have completed a new Nean-derthal study. The purpose of their study was to work out a precise, or more accurate, date when Neander-thals died out in Europe.

Homo neanderthalensis (usually called Neanderthals) were an early type of human. From the discov-ery of ancient bones and teeth, it’s known that Neanderthals were liv-ing in Europe 400,000 years ago. Their name comes from a place in Germany. This was where the first Neanderthal bones were found 150 years ago.

Neanderthals were what’s known as hunter-gatherers. They moved from place to place, hunting wild animals and collecting fruit, nuts and berries. Most Neanderthal bones have been found in caves. For many years, they were thought to have been a primitive race. Yet more re-cent studies suggest that this is not true. Neanderthals seemed to have some form of society or culture. For example, it’s now known that they decorated their bodies, looked after the sick and buried the dead. What’s more Neanderthals cooked plants for food and used some as medicines.

Artist’s impression of a group of Neanderthals

The ancestors of modern-day hu-mans (Homo sapiens) are believed to have originated in Africa. Be-tween 60,000 and 70,000 years ago these ancient humans began to move



to other parts of the world. Homo sapiens first arrived in Europe about 44,000 years ago.

For many years scientists won-dered if Neanderthals and ancient hu-mans mated, or bred, with each other. Neanderthals were slightly shorter than ancient humans, but their bodies were stronger, or more powerful. The brains of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens were similar in size. Yet the shape of their skulls was different. Recent genetic studies show that between one and four percent of the DNA of today’s Europeans is Nean-derthal. This means that there must have been some interbreeding.

The university researchers tested nearly 200 items, or artifacts. These were previously discovered at 40 separate Neanderthal sites. The arti-facts included pieces of bone, char-coal and shells. The sites range from Spain to Russia. The researchers used new technology to accurately date all the artifacts.

After studying all the informa-tion, the scientists believe that Ne-anderthals disappeared in Europe about 39,000 years ago. This means, in Europe, Neanderthals and Homo sapiens lived close to each other for roughly 5,000 years. During this time Neanderthal numbers probably declined while the population of an-cient humans increased.

It was thought that ancient humans attacked the Neanderthals or forced them to move to the farthest parts of Europe. The researchers are now sure that this did not happen. Howev-er, the reason why the Neanderthals died out is unknown. Some scientists think that they were probably unable to compete with ancient humans.

Another possibility is that there was a sudden change in the climate. If the Neanderthals did disappear around 39,000 years ago then cli-

mate change might be the reason. Around this time there was what’s known as a “Heinrich event”.

Between 12,000 and 65,000 years ago there were six Heinrich events. For much of this period huge ice sheets covered northern parts of the world. A Heinrich event hap-pened when large areas of ice melt-ed quickly. The melting ice added enormous amounts of fresh water to the salty seas and oceans. This caused some ocean currents to stop or change direction. Ocean currents affect the world’s climate. Therefore the extra fresh water led to sudden temperature changes in many plac-es.

In Europe the climate quickly be-came much colder and drier. Within ten years the temperature dropped by about 18ºF (10ºC). This colder period probably lasted for several hundred years. Many animals and plants would not have been able to survive. This change of climate might explain why Neanderthals disappeared in Europe. The much colder temperatures would have also affected the ancient humans. Yet, somehow, they must have survived.

BERLIN T4 MEMORIAL

On September 2, Klaus Wowere-it officially opened, or unveiled, a new memorial. Mr. Wowereit is the mayor of Berlin, the German capi-tal city. The memorial is dedicated to the thousands of handicapped, or disabled, people who were de-liberately killed during the Second World War (1939 – 1945).

During the war the Nazis mur-dered millions of people. At least six million Jews and two million Sinti and Roma (also known as gypsies)

were killed. Thousands of homosex-uals and people who had disabilities were also murdered.

The Nazis set up a special or-ganization to kill disabled people. They called it a euthanasia program. It was code-named T4. This name came from Tiergartenstrasse 4, an address of a mansion house, or building, in Berlin. The people who ran T4 worked in the large house.

T4 memorial in Berlin, in Germany

Under T4 disabled people who were not thought to be “useful” were murdered. They included people with physical handicaps and mental illnesses. Disabled people were tak-en to several hospitals in Germany. There they were gassed or given a fatal injection.

The program was supposed to last from 1939 to 1941. During this period about 70,000 disabled people were murdered. However, after 1941, the T4 program con-tinued unofficially until the end of the war. It’s thought that in these four years another 200,000 people were killed.

After the war many of those who ran the T4 program were arrested. Like other Nazi leaders, they were put on trial. The people who set up the program were found guilty. They were sentenced to many years in prison or death by hanging.

The memorial is Berlin’s fourth monument to the victims of the Na-zis. The first was unveiled in 2005 and is dedicated to the millions of



Jews who were killed during the war. Another smaller memorial was opened in 2008. It is dedicated to the homosexuals who were persecuted by the Nazi regime. A monument to the Sinti and Roma was officially opened in 2012.

The new memorial is 80 feet (24 meters) long. It is close to Berlin’s Philharmonie building. This is a world famous concert hall. The memorial is made of a large plain blue sheet of glass. There is a long, low wall nearby. Information about the murder of the disabled people and the T4 program is displayed on this wall.

Several people spoke during the unveiling ceremony. They included relatives of those who were killed under the T4 program. The T4 man-sion house no longer exists. It was destroyed at the end of the war. However, the memorial was delib-erately erected next to where the building used to be.

HUMAN RIGHTS TEAM TO IRAQ

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) held an emer-gency meeting on September 1. Its members decided that a special human rights team would be sent to Iraq. This team will investigate atrocities, or war crimes, carried out by the Islamic State (IS).

The UNHRC was set up in 2006. Its job is to make quick decisions about humanitarian problems. The Council has 47 seats. Yet there are 192 United Nations (U.N.) mem-bers. They therefore take turns to have one of the UNHRC’s seats. Each U.N. member country gets a seat on the Council for three years. It is then replaced by another nation. No country is allowed to keep its

Council seat for two successive three-year periods.

The UNHRC is based at the Palais des Nations (the Palace of Nations), in Geneva. This is one of the largest diplomatic conference centers in the world. It is also the U.N.’s headquarters in Switzerland. UNHRC meetings take place in the Palace’s Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room.

TURKEY

JORDAN

SYRIA

IRAQ

IRAN

SAUDIARABIA

Baghdad

Mosul

IraqiKurdistan

O Area controlled by the Islamic State (IS)

The IS is an Islamic militant or-ganization. (It is also known as ISIS and ISIL.) The IS was set up about three years ago in northern Syria. More recently its numbers of follow-ers, or fighters, has greatly increased. These men dress in black. The IS has also acquired large amounts of mon-ey and weapons. People who follow the Islamic faith are either Sunni or Shia Muslims. Most IS fighters are Sunni Muslims. The organization’s leader and his followers believe that everyone should follow very strict Islamic laws.

The IS occupies a large part of northern Syria. Last January, IS fighters took control of western Iraq. Then, in June, they suddenly seized Mosul and a large area in the country’s northwest. Mosul is Iraq’s second biggest city.

The IS treats Shia Muslims and ethnic minorities very harshly. Ethnic minorities are small groups within a country who have a dif-ferent culture. Ethnic minorities in

northern Iraq include: Christians, Yazidis, Turkmen, and Kurds. The ancestors of the Iraqi Turkmen came from what is now modern-day Tur-key. The Yazidis are an ancient peo-ple. The religion they follow is more than 4,000 years old.

Since it took control of northwest Iraq, the IS has carried out frequent executions. Many reports say that younger women are being taken away. Hundreds of Iraqi soldiers captured by the IS have been shot. Its followers have destroyed many Shia mosques and shrines and other religious buildings. IS fighters have recorded some executions and post-ed the videos on the internet.

The U.N. believes that over one million people in Iraq have been forced to flee from the IS since the be-ginning of the year. Most of these peo-ple are now living in refugee camps.

Many Kurds live in northeast Iraq. Today this area is known as Iraqi Kurdistan. It is part of Iraq, but the Kurds can make many of their own decisions. Iraqi Kurdistan also has its own military force or army. Called the Peshmerga, it has been fighting against the IS.

The Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room in the Palais des Nations, in Geneva

Many countries have now decid-ed to help the Iraqi government and the Peshmerga in the fight against the IS. American warplanes have attacked IS fighters and military ve-hicles. Soldiers from Iran are help-ing the Iraqi army. Other countries,



such as Germany, are sending bet-ter and more powerful weapons to the Peshmerga.

The UNHRC team in Iraq will record and collect details of IS atrocities. This information can then be used in possible future war crime investigations and trials.

HONG KONG ANNOUNCEMENT

Senior officials in China made an im-portant decision about Hong Kong on August 31. In 2017 there will be an election in the city. It will be held to choose Hong Kong’s new leader, or chief executive. The Chinese officials declared that only approved candi-dates would be able to take part. Their decision angered people in Hong Kong who want more democracy.

Hong Kong became a colony of Britain in 1843. In 1898, China agreed to lease some extra land to the British for 99 years. Under UK rule, Hong Kong became a crowded, but very successful, city. Hong Kong has a very large natural harbor. For many years most of the world’s car-go ships, which took goods to China, passed through the city.

The lease arrangement ended on June 30, 1997. Before this date, Britain and China held many dis-cussions. Britain agreed to return all of Hong Kong to China when the lease ended. Many of the dis-cussions were therefore about how Hong Kong would be run after Chi-na took over. China’s leaders sug-gested what became known as “one country, two systems”. Therefore, even though it would be a part of China, Hong Kong’s laws and how it was governed would not alter for 50 years. The change from UK rule to Chinese rule in Hong Kong is usually called the “hand over”.

“One country, two systems” means that people in Hong Kong have more political freedoms than those in other areas of China. One difference is the right to hold peace-ful demonstrations. Another is that people are allowed to follow their own religious beliefs. News report-ers and journalists are also supposed to be able to report the news in an unbiased way.

Hong Kong and its harbour

Britain wanted local leaders to be elected by everyone who lived in Hong Kong. China was not in favor of this. Eventually China agreed to some elections. However, most of those who run the city are chosen by China. These people appoint the chief executive, or the person in charge of Hong Kong. The chief ex-ecutive serves for five years. How-ever, China did agree that everyone in Hong Kong could vote for the chief executive 20 years after the hand over, or in 2017.

The current chief executive is Leung Chun-ying. He was selected to be Hong Kong’s leader in 2012. So his five-year term will end in 2017.

In recent years there have been several “democracy” protests in Hong Kong. Those who take part want Hong Kong’s leaders to be democrat-ically elected. These people hoped that this would happen in 2017. They say that anyone who wants to stand as a candidate for chief executive in 2017 should be allowed to do so.

The recent announcement by China’s leaders confirms that ev-eryone will be able to vote for the chief executive in 2017. However, only two or three candidates will be allowed to stand. What’s more China’s leaders will select the can-didates. The democracy protesters claim that this makes the forthcom-ing election meaningless.

Not everyone in Hong Kong agrees with the democracy protest-ers. Several opposing groups have held their own demonstrations. They say that the protesters are damaging the city’s reputation. Many of Hong Kong’s business leaders have also criticized the democracy protests.

PHOENICIAN SHIP DISCOVERY

On August 25, the government of Malta announced a new discovery. It said that a group of undersea sci-entists, or archaeologists, had found an ancient shipwreck. The wooden boat is believed to have sunk around 3,700 years ago. If so, it is one of the oldest shipwrecks ever discovered in the western part of the Mediter-ranean Sea.

Amphorae on the seabed at wreck site

Malta is an archipelago of sev-en islands. The wreck of the ship is about one mile (1.6 kilometers) off the coast of Gozo. This is Malta’s second largest island. For 150 years Malta was part of the British Empire.



It became an independent country in 1964. The island nation is now one of the 28 member countries of the Euro-pean Union (EU). It joined in 2004.

Phoenicia was an ancient civili-zation. It prospered between 1550 BCE and 300 CE. The Phoenicians lived along the coast of modern-day Lebanon and parts of Syria. Their three main coastal cities were Byblos, Sidon and Tyre. They were expert ship builders and seafarers. The Phoe-nician civilization ended after their cities were attacked and taken over by the Persians and Ancient Greeks.

Demonstration of how amphorae were probably transported on Phoenician ships

The Phoenicians were well-known for their purple dye, glass-ware and wine. Shells from a type of sea snail were crushed to make the dye. The Phoenicians’ wooden sailing ships traded goods all along the south coast of the Mediterranean Sea and southern Spain.

The shipwreck was discovered several months ago. It is about 395 feet (120 meters) below the surface of the sea. The wreck’s location is being kept a secret. The scientists, who are from Malta, France and the U.S., have recently completed a five-day study of the sunken ship. During this time they used a mini submarine, or remotely-operated vehicle (ROV), to take 8,000 photo-graphs. These pictures will be used

to make a three-dimensional (3D) model of the ancient ship.

At the wreck site many amphorae can be seen lying on the seabed. The scientists have also counted at least 20 circular millstones, or grinding stones. They are made from lava, or volcanic rock. These millstones were used to grind wheat or corn to make bread.

Amphorae are large jars, or jugs, made out of clay. (The singular is amphora.) The Phoenicians, Ancient Greeks and Romans all made these storage jars. They were used to trans-port things such as olive oil, wine, grain, and fish. Amphorae usually had double handles, a long neck and a pointed base. Their design meant that they could be set upright in soft soil or sand. They could also be placed inside a ship’s hull and secured with ropes tied through their handles.

The scientists say that the wooden ship was about 50 feet (15 meters) long. It was carrying at least seven different types of amphorae. This suggests that the ship had called, or stopped, at several ports. It was probably sailing from Sicily to Malta when it sank. (Today Sicily is part of Italy.) The scientists now plan to ex-cavate the shipwreck and recover all the items it was carrying.

GROUVILLE HOARD

Researchers in Jersey have start-ed work on a solid mass of ancient coins. The coins, which were found in 2012, were buried about 2,000 years ago. As they were underground for so long, the coins are stuck to-gether in one large mass, or “lump”.

Many ancient valuable items have been found buried under-ground in Europe. These were prob-ably hidden for safekeeping in times

of war or fighting. The owners may have been killed or unable to return and dig them up. When these “trea-sures” are found today they are usu-ally called a “hoard”.

Jersey is one of the Channel Is-lands. These are close to the coast of France. Yet the islands are self-gov-erning territories, which are loyal to Britain’s king or queen. The coins were discovered in an area called Grouville. They are therefore known as the Grouville Hoard.

In the early 1980s two men who live on Jersey heard a story about an-cient coins being found. A farmer had pulled a tree out of a hedge. Under it was an old clay pot. Several silver coins were inside. The men wanted to check the area with metal detec-tors to see if there were more buried coins. However, no one knew exactly where the clay pot was found.

Part of the Grouville Hoard

In recent years the farm changed ownership. The two men asked the new farmer if they could check the field with metal detectors. He agreed. Yet they could only do it at a certain time of year. This was between the harvesting of one crop and sowing seeds for the next. This meant that the men had only about 15 hours a year to work in the field.

Each year the men returned with their metal detectors. After 30 years without success they found 60 Iron Age silver coins and one made from gold. Soon afterwards they



discovered the huge mass of coins. The men immediately told local of-ficials. A team of archaeologists was then sent to investigate.

The number of coins surprised everyone. It is one of the world’s largest coin hoards. The mass of coins weighs 1,650 pounds (750 kilograms). Experts believe that it contains around 70,000 Iron Age and Roman coins. Several pieces of gold jewelry can be seen stick-ing out from the mass. The hoard is estimated to be worth about $20 million.

The coins were probably buried around 50 BCE. Then, Julius Cae-sar, the famous Roman general, was attacking Celtic tribes that lived in what is now northern France. Histo-rians think that a tribe trying to es-cape from Caesar’s armies took the coins to Jersey.

The mass of coins is in Jersey’s museum. Researchers have start-ed to remove and clean the coins one-by-one. About 500 coins are separated every week. The project is therefore expected to take three years. One wall of the researchers’ laboratory has been replaced with glass. So visitors to the museum can now watch as each coin is separated and cleaned.

CABINET RESHUFFLE IN FRANCE

On August 25, Manuel Valls, France’s prime minister, announced that all the members of the cabinet, or government, had resigned. He made the announcement after three cabinet members criticized François Hollande, the country’s president.

In many countries the cabinet is a group of senior government minis-ters who make important decisions. In France the president runs the

country. The president also has to choose a prime minster. Then, they select the members of the cabinet. The prime minister is the cabinet’s leader. Cabinet members are usual-ly from the same political party as the president and prime minister. However, they may be members of a coalition party. Coalitions are made up of two or more political parties, which agree to work together.

France’s president, François Hollande

People in the cabinet have spe-cial jobs. For instance, they could be in charge of education, justice, fi-nance, foreign affairs, defense, and the economy. A reshuffle is when several members of the cabinet are changed at the same time. The prime minister may decide to sack, or fire, one or two cabinet members. Others are then promoted to these positions. In France, the prime minister would not reshuffle his cabinet without the agreement of the president.

Mr. Hollande was elected as France’s president in 2012. In re-cent years the country has had many economic problems. France’s econ-omy has not been growing and the number of people without jobs is now nearly 3.5 million. Many peo-ple think that France’s government is spending too much money. As the economy has not been doing well, much of the money the government spends has to be borrowed.

Reducing, or cutting, the amount of money a government spends is

often called austerity. Government spending cuts are usually unpopu-lar. Government workers might be paid less. Some may lose their jobs. In times of austerity the amount of money spent on schools, hospitals, the police, military forces, welfare, transport, and law courts may be cut. At the same time the amount of tax people have to pay is often increased.

Before Mr. Hollande was elected, he promised to reduce government spending cuts and austerity. He also said that tax laws would be changed. Wealthier people would have to pay much more and poorer people less.

Like 17 other members of the European Union (EU), France uses the euro as its currency. These coun-tries are often called the eurozone. In recent years, economic growth in many eurozone countries has been shrinking. The eurozone’s strongest economy is Germany. Its leader, Chancellor Angela Merkel, insists that all eurozone countries must cut government spending.

Manuel Valls, prime minister of France

Mr. Hollande and Mr. Valls now say that they want to increase the number of businesses, or companies, in France. This, most experts say, is the best way to reduce unemploy-ment, or the number of people with-out jobs. Mr. Hollande has announced that the government will spend more money on businesses. This is



supposed to encourage companies to expand and employ more people. However, to do this, Mr. Hollande has decided to increase austerity and not reduce taxes. This has angered some members of his political party and many people who voted for him.

On August 24, Arnaud Monte-bourg, the minister for the economy, spoke to one of the largest French newspapers. He said what Mr. Hol-lande was doing was wrong. He also blamed Mrs. Merkel for forcing more austerity on other eurozone countries. Two other cabinet ministers said that Mr. Montebourg was correct.

Cabinet members criticizing the president is unusual. Mr. Valls spoke with Mr. Hollande. They agreed that Mr. Valls would announce the resig-nation of the government, or every-one in the cabinet. Soon afterwards, Mr. Hollande told the prime minister to form a new cabinet. Mr. Monte-bourg and the two ministers who agreed with him were replaced. Mr. Valls only selected people who sup-port the president’s economic plans to be members of the new cabinet.

FINGERPRINTING FOR FOOD

Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela, recently announced a controversial plan. From November 30, grocery stores and supermarkets will have to use special devices. These will scan people’s fingerprints when they buy certain foods.

Venezuela is an oil-rich country. It has the largest proven, or known, oil supplies in the world. The coun-try is very dependent on this indus-try. Around 95% of the money Ven-ezuela makes comes from oil.

In recent years the government has been printing extra banknotes. This is because it has been spending

more money than it earns. Printing extra money usually causes infla-tion. This is when a currency loses value and the cost of things increase. The more banknotes there are in a country the less they are worth. At around 60%, Venezuela now has one of the highest inflation rates in the world.

Empty shelves in a store in Venezuela

Many of the things people in Ven-ezuela need are imported from other countries. Examples are: shampoo, cooking oil, powdered milk, wash-ing powder, toilet paper, and nap-pies, or diapers. Government owned companies control the import and price of certain foodstuffs such as flour, milk, butter, and sugar.

The Venezuelan government runs a “price control” system. This means that it sets prices for certain goods. Stores are not allowed to increase them. High inflation means that it is expensive for store owners to buy goods, or items, from other countries. Even if they did, they would have to sell them at the lower government “controlled” price. Most store own-ers have therefore stopped importing goods. This is why many stores in Venezuela now have empty shelves.

The foodstuffs that government owned companies control are subsi-dized. A subsidy is a payment made by the government to keep the price of something lower than its real cost. When subsidized foodstuffs are de-livered to stores in Venezuela, peo-ple quickly buy them. Some make

money by illegally taking large amounts of these goods across the border into Colombia. This is called smuggling. In Colombia the smug-glers sell the goods for a far higher price. Yet the prices Colombians pay are still less than what the goods cost in Colombian stores. Large amounts of gasoline are smuggled across the border for the same reason.

The government’s price controls and subsidies have led to a big in-crease in smuggling. Last month the Venezuelan government announced that its border with Colombia would be closed at night. Around 17,000 soldiers have been sent to the border area. Many help to search cars for smuggled goods. The government of Colombia agreed to the border closure. It also wants to stop the Venezuelan smugglers.

Many people have complained about the fingerprinting plan. How-ever, Mr. Maduro insists that it will stop smuggling. Anyone who buys certain goods will have their fin-gerprints scanned. It will therefore be difficult to buy large amounts of these items without being detected. If the smuggling is stopped, officials say, the food shortages will end. Not everyone agrees. Food shortages and empty shelves, these people ar-gue, are the result of high inflation and government subsidies.

DEAD STAR EXPLOSION

Astronomers, or scientists who study the planets and stars, have made a new discovery about dead stars. They have proven that dead stars, or white dwarfs, can reignite and explode.

All stars have a life cycle that can last for billions of years. Some are many times hotter and brighter than



others. The coolest stars are a red-dish color and the hottest ones are blue-white.

Stars’ life cycles depend on their mass, or the amount of matter they contain. A star is born when a cloud of gas and dust in a nebula is pulled together by gravity. It begins to spin faster and faster and heats up to form a protostar.

A process called nuclear fusion then begins. This turns hydrogen atoms into helium atoms and pro-duces light and heat. The protostar starts to glow brightly. At this stage it is called a main sequence star. The star will stay like this for millions or billions of years. Our Sun is current-ly a main sequence star.

Type Ia supernova in the M82 galaxy (ESA)

Eventually, the hydrogen supply in a star’s core runs out. It can no longer produce heat and light. The core shrinks, or contracts. Yet the star’s outer part expands, cools and glows red. At this stage stars are called “red giants”. All stars will become red giants one day but then, depending on their mass, they de-velop in one of two ways.

Low-mass stars (like our Sun) will lose their outer shell. The core collapses to become a “white dwarf”, a small but very hot star. Over several billion years, white dwarfs cool and fade and turn into what are known as “black dwarfs”.

High-mass stars are different. Their core gets hotter and hotter. Eventually, the core becomes so hot

that it explodes. This huge explo-sion is called a supernova. After a supernova explosion a neutron star or black hole is formed. Both have extremely strong forces of gravity. In a black hole, gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape.

For some time scientists have sus-pected that white dwarfs could also explode or become supernova. Yet they were not sure how or why this happened. Exploding white dwarfs were thought to have another nearby, or companion, star. This is known as a binary system, or two stars orbiting, or going around, each other. If a white dwarf in a binary system explodes it is called a Type Ia supernova.

Supernovas are the most pow-erful explosions that occur in the Universe. They create huge bursts of gamma rays. Gamma rays are invisible to the human eye. They have a very short wavelength and are very energetic. (If you were exposed to a large dose of gamma radiation on the Earth it would be very dangerous.)

The scientists were using a Eu-ropean Space Agency (ESA) space telescope, or observatory. Called INTEGRAL, it was launched 12 years ago. The telescope was de-signed to study gamma rays. The scientists detected a supernova at the end of January. Later, this super-nova was given the name SN2014J. The explosion was in a galaxy called M82. This galaxy is about 11.5 million light years from the Earth. SN2014J was the nearest Type Ia supernova ever recorded.

The scientists have spent sev-eral months studying SN2014J’s gamma rays. They can now con-firm that an exploding white dwarf created them. The white dwarf, the scientists explain, was taking in or pulling matter from its companion

star. The ever increasing weight of this matter compressed the carbon within the dead star’s core. Even-tually, this caused a huge nuclear explosion, which tore, or ripped, the white dwarf apart.

BY-THE-WIND SAILORS

Millions of small jellyfish-like or-ganisms have been appearing on beaches along the West Coast of the U.S. Called velella, they are nor-mally found floating far out at sea. When many marine creatures are washed up on coasts, it is called a mass stranding.

Velella are also known by several other names. These include “sea raft” and “by-the-wind sailor”. They are a deep blue color and less than four inches (ten centimeters) long. On their upper part is a stiff transparent, or see-through, fin. It looks and acts like a sail. (The name velella comes from “velum”, or the Latin word for “sail”.)

By-the-wind sailor (Jacopo Werther)

The floating velella are unable to swim. Instead they are blown along by the wind. If the currents and winds change, thousands of them can be washed up on coastlines.

Velella are hydroids. This means that they are “colonial organisms”. Therefore, unlike jellyfish, each by-the-wind sailor is not a single crea-ture. Instead it is made up of many smaller organisms that live togeth-



er. These individual organisms are called polyps. A polyp is similar to a small sea anemone. It has its own jel-ly-like body and a mouth surrounded by tentacles. So velella are not single creatures but colonies of polyps. Cor-als are another type of hydroid. They too are made up of many polyps.

By-the-wind sailor mass stranding (NOAA)

Velella feed on tiny marine crea-tures called zooplankton and fish eggs. The velella’s tentacles hang down from their underside. They sting or stun their prey. Velella stings have little effect on humans.

Not much is known about velel-la. They seem to have an unusual life cycle. In the middle of the ocean small parts of them, called medusae, drop off. These then sink into the sea. Around 7,000 feet (2,130 me-ters) below the surface, the medusae produce either sperm or eggs. Fertil-ization then occurs at these depths. The young velella, or larva, develop a small gas filled float or sack. They then slowly float up to the surface of the sea.

By-the-wind sailors only have a few predators. One is a type of sea slug. If they get washed up on a beach, velella do not live for very long. After drying up, they look like small pieces of plastic.

Some people think that mass strandings only happen after velella population explosions, or dramatic increases in their numbers. Ocean temperatures becoming warmer

than usual might cause this. In the Pacific Ocean there is a warm water event, which, on average, happens every five years. These events are called El Niños. During an El Niño the seawater in the eastern Pacific Ocean becomes much warmer.

COUP IN LESOTHO

Tom Thabane is the prime minister of Lesotho. On August 30, he sud-denly left Maseru, the country’s capital city. After arriving in South Africa, Mr. Thabane claimed that the army had taken over Lesotho and his life was in danger. When a military force takes control in this way it is known as a coup d’état, or coup (pronounced coo).

About two million people live in Lesotho. The country is an enclave. This means that it is a territory, or area of land, that is enclosed within anoth-er. Lesotho is surrounded by South Africa. The country is about the same size as Belgium or the American state of Maryland. Lesotho used to be a colony of Britain. It became an inde-pendent country in 1966.

Maseru

Pretoria

SOUTHAFRICA

BOTSWANA

MOZAMBI

QUE

LESOTHO

ZIMBABWE

Lesotho is a mountain kingdom. It is sometimes called the “Kingdom in the Sky”. This is because the whole country is more than 3,280 feet (1,000 meters) above sea level. Tha-bana Ntlenyana, one of the highest mountains in Africa, is in Lesotho.

Lesotho is a constitutional monar-chy. This means that a king or queen

is the head of the country, yet he or she does not govern it. The country’s elected prime minister and his or her government make all the important decisions. Letsie the Third is Leso-tho’s king. Britain, Japan, Spain, and the Netherlands are examples of oth-er constitutional monarchies.

There are three main political par-ties in Lesotho. Mr. Thabane, who has been the country’s prime minister since 2012, leads one. However, last June he temporarily closed, or sus-pended, Lesotho’s parliament. This was because of arguments between the three political leaders.

The Southern African Develop-ment Community (SADC) is a group of 15 African countries. All are in the southern part of Africa. The organi-zation’s members agree to work or cooperate with each other. Lesotho is one of the SADC’s members.

Soon after Mr. Thabane arrived in South Africa he met with Jacob Zuma, the country’s president. Mr. Zuma then arranged a meeting of officials from other SADC coun-tries. This took place in Pretoria, one of South Africa’s largest cities, on September 1. The leaders of Le-sotho’s other two political parties also attended.

Reports say that there has been fighting between the police and the army in Lesotho. Many of the police are said to have left the country. Mr. Thabane is believed to have the sup-port of the police. Yet senior army commanders back one of the prime minister’s rivals. In the past the army has taken control of Lesotho several times. The country’s parliament was reopened, or restored, in 1993. This was after the army ran the country for seven years.

Mr. Thabane asked the SADC to send a group of peacekeeping sol-diers to his country. However, the



organization did not agree to this. Instead it announced a plan to send an observer team to Lesotho.

MAYA CITY REDISCOVERED

A team led by an archaeologist from Slovenia has rediscovered a “lost” Maya city called Lagunita. It was found in thick forest in Mexi-co’s Yucatan peninsula. The ruined city is close to the country’s border with Guatemala.

Historians think that the Maya civilization first began around 4,000 years ago. The Maya people lived in Central America in what is now Guatemala, the southern part of Mexico, Belize, and parts of Hon-duras, and El Salvador. The Maya were at their most powerful between 250 CE and 1000 CE. During this period they built many stone build-ings, temples and pyramids.

Maya ruins in Lagunita (Ivan Sprajc)

Spanish invaders arrived in this part of Central America in the early 1500s. By this time the Maya civili-zation had declined. Many of its cit-ies had already become “lost”. Their buildings were overgrown by trees and plants. Nobody knows what caused the Maya’s decline. It may have been wars, disease, a very long drought, or even a combination of all three.

The Maya had an impressive knowledge of the planets, the stars and how the Sun appears to move

across the sky. They used a com-plicated calendar. It marked time in cycles, called baktuns. Each baktun was roughly 394 years long. The Mayan system of writing used sym-bols. These are called glyphs. Yet the knowledge of their writing died out soon after the Spanish arrived.

The Maya never completely dis-appeared. Today, many of the people living in this part of Central America are descendants of the Maya. Around five million people still speak Mayan languages. Today, many of the an-cient glyphs have been deciphered, or decoded. Experts are therefore able to understand what most of the symbols mean.

In the 1970s, Eric Von Euw, an American archaeologist, explored some forests in the Yucatan. He claimed to have discovered a lost Maya city. Von Euw called the city Lagunita. He made drawings of some of its ruined buildings. One had an unusual door, or entrance. The sides of the door looked like the open jaws of a monster. However, Von Euw nev-er published his drawings. Nor did he record exactly where the city was. So Lagunita became lost once more.

The team’s leader says that they rediscovered Lagunita after looking at aerial photographs. In one of the pictures they noticed something in the trees that could be stone build-ings. The team then set off to search for the ruins. After finding the site the team’s members realized it was Lagunita. This was because many of the ruined buildings matched Von Euw’s drawings.

The team spent two months in the forest. They also found the ruins of another city. It is about 3.7 miles (six kilometers) from Lagunita. Both cities have plazas, or what used to be wide-open spaces, pyramids, and palace-like buildings. Some stone

pyramids are 66 feet (20 meters) high. In the second city there are at least 30 deep underground chambers. These were used to collect rainwater.

The team made maps of the cen-tral areas of the two cities. Its leader believes that the cities were inhab-ited between 600 and 1000 CE. He believes that there are many other lost Maya cities in this part of Mex-ico and Guatemala.

EVOLVING FISH?

Researchers in Canada have com-pleted an experiment with some unusual freshwater fish. Called polypterus, these fish live in African rivers. The experiment shows how some types of fish may have evolved into land-dwelling creatures many millions of years ago.

Polypterus

There are around 18 species of polypterus (pronounced polly-ter-us). These fish are also called birchirs. Most polypterus are about 16 inches (41 centimeters) long. The name polypterus comes from two Greek words, which mean “many” and “wings”. These words describe the fishes’ long dorsal fin, or the one on their backs. The dorsal fin is re-ally made up of many smaller fins. It looks like the teeth of a saw, or its cutting edge. Polypterus are carni-vores, or meat-eaters. They feed on insects and smaller fish.



This map shows countries to which news stories refer in this issue. Visit www.newsademic.com for more detailed world maps.

VENEZUELA

USA

UK

UKRAINE

SWITZERLAND

SOUTH AFRICA

RUSSIA

MONGOLIA

MEXICO

MALTA

LITHUANIA

LESOTHO

LATVIA

IRAQ

GERMANY

FRANCE

ESTONIA

COLOMBIA

CHINA

Hong Kong

CANADA

Bermuda

AUSTRALIA

The first creatures to crawl on the land evolved from ones that lived in the sea. Scientists know this from the study of ancient fossils. The “move” from sea to land happened around 400 million years ago. Be-fore this there were only plants and insects on the land. Then, over a long time, these “new” fish-like creatures slowly changed. They be-came tetrapods, or the world’s first vertebrates. A vertebrate is an ani-mal with four limbs and a backbone. Over many more millions of years, tetrapods evolved into amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

Some species of polypterus can live in very shallow water. Unlike most fish, they have a lung-like breathing organ. Polypterus there-fore get the oxygen they need from the air. Most fish use gills to extract oxygen from the water. Air-breath-ing polypterus are able to move over

land from one pool of water to an-other. The fish have a large fin on either side of their bodies, just be-hind the head. Polypterus use these fins to move over land. As the fish wriggle from side to side, the two fins pull their bodies along.

The Canadian researchers used 150 very young polypterus for their experiment. Two large, specially designed glass tanks, or aquariums, were set up. Fifty of the fish were put in one tank, which was filled with water. Only the bottom of the other tank was wet. However, the air in this tank contained a lot of mois-ture. The researchers used “mis-ters” to do this. These can be found in some fresh food store displays. They keep the enclosed air moist, or humid. The fish in both tanks were fed in the normal way. The ones in the “dry” tank did not seem unhap-py, or in any discomfort.

After eight months, the research-ers compared the fish in the two tanks. When put in water, the “dry” tank fish could swim just as well as the “wet” tank ones. However, the “dry” tank fish were much better at moving over land than the others. They kept their front fins closer to their bodies, did not wriggle so much, and took quicker “steps”. The “dry” tank polypterus were also able to lift their heads off the ground.

The researchers also checked the fishes’ anatomy. The skeletons of the “dry” and “wet” tank polypterus were slightly different. Those that grew up on land had stronger chests and shoulders. They were also a little lon-ger. This extra length was just behind the fishes’ heads. The researchers believe that this might be the “begin-nings of a neck”. The “dry” tank fish were able to move their heads from side to side and up and down easily.



The results of the experiment sur-prised the researchers. The changes in the polypterus seem to match some ancient fossils. Therefore, the researchers’ experiment may have recreated what gradually happened, over a far longer time, many mil-lions of years ago.

FAMOUS FOOTPRINT PHOTOGRAPHS

Christie’s has announced that some old photographs are to be sold. Christie’s is a well-known interna-tional auction house company. The photographs were taken 65 years ago. Soon afterwards, they became world famous. This was because many believed that the pictures con-firmed that yetis exist.

Shipton’s picture of an ice axe with footprint

Eric Shipton (1907 – 1977) took the photographs. He was a British mountain climber. In 1951, Shipton led an expedition to the Himalayan Mountains in Tibet, in China. His team was trying to find the best way, or route, to climb Mount Ev-erest. Two years later another ex-pedition followed Shipton’s route. Two members of this team, Edmund Hillary (1919 – 2008) and Tenzing Norgay (1914 – 1986), were the first people to get to the top of Mount Ev-erest. Hillary was a New Zealander. Tenzing (also known as Sherpa Ten-zing) came from Nepal.

During his 1951 expedition, Shipton took some photographs of

strange animal tracks in the snow. Two pictures show another climb-er’s ice axe and boot beside a sin-gle footprint. This was to show how big it was. Later, this climber wrote about the footprints. He said that they were high in the mountains, or at around 16,500 feet (5,000 me-ters). The climber described how he and Shipton followed several sets of tracks for about one mile (1.6 kilometers). Wherever the tracks crossed small, deep cracks, or cre-vasses, claw marks could be seen in the snow. These marks were at the end of each toe imprint.

Many people who live in the Hi-malayas insist that yetis exist. The creatures are said to be tall, hairy, ape-like animals that walk on two legs. Some claim to have seen them. Sightings of yetis in this part of the world go back thousands of years. However, none of the creatures have ever been found or killed.

Several mountain climbers from other countries say that they have seen a yeti. Photographs have been taken, but none are clear. Most sci-entists insist that the yeti is a myth. They argue that it would be difficult for a large animal to live in the moun-tains where there is not much food.

Last year a professor completed some DNA tests on hairs found in two separate places in the Himala-yas. The professor, who works at Oxford University in Britain, claims that the hairs belong to a type of bear. This, he says, is a “new” bear, or one that has never been recorded before. The DNA results suggest the unknown animal might be “part” brown bear and “part” polar bear.

Some people think that Shipton faked the photographs. He was a “joker” and often played tricks on fel-low climbers. These people suspect that Shipton was surprised when his

pictures became so famous. After this, he was too embarrassed to ad-mit that they weren’t real.

Shipton’s picture of a boot with footprint

When he was older, Shipton wrote two books about climbing in the Himalayas. Neither book men-tions the yeti footprints or pictures. Shipton died aged 70. He never said that the footprint photographs were faked. Christie’s expects Shipton’s pictures to sell for about $6,600.

BURNING OF THE WHITE HOUSE

On August 24, 1814, a group of British soldiers captured Washing-ton, the capital city of the U.S. The soldiers were then ordered to set fire to many of the city’s buildings. One was the American president’s home. Therefore, August 24, 2014 was the 200th anniversary of what is often called “the Burning of the White House”.

Beginning in the early 1600s, Britain set up settlements and col-onies on the eastern coast of what is now the U.S. By the 1770s there were 13 separate colonies. All were controlled by Britain. Yet, at that time, many people in the 13 colonies were unhappy about being governed by Britain and its king. They wanted to elect their own leaders. The rulers of Britain disagreed.



In 1775 a war broke out. It ended in 1783. This war is known as the American War of Independence, or the American Revolutionary War. George Washington (1732 – 1799) commanded the army that fought against the British. Washington’s soldiers eventually defeated the British forces. One year after the war began the leaders of the 13 col-onies had made an announcement. Each colony, they declared, was an independent state. Together, these states were part of a new country called the United States of America.

Painting of the White House after the burning

Six years after the end of the war, George Washington was elected as the U.S.’s first president. Wash-ington DC, the country’s capital city, was named after him. Work on building a mansion, or large house, for the president began in 1792. It was finally completed eight years later.

John Adams (1735 – 1826), America’s second president, was the first person to live in the large mansion. Then, it was known as the “President’s House” or “President’s Palace”. It was not called the White House until sometime later.

Even though the U.S. became a separate country, Canada remained part of the British Empire. In 1812, American soldiers crossed the bor-der and tried to annex, or take over, some parts of Canada. This led to another war. Called the War of 1812, it lasted for three years. One year after the war began, a group of

American soldiers captured York. (This city is now called Toronto. It is the largest city in Canada.) The soldiers then set fire to the Canadian parliament buildings. Nearby hous-es were broken into.

In 1814, General Ross (1766 – 1814) was ordered to attack Wash-ington. He commanded a force of 2,500 British soldiers. The attack, he was told, would be in retaliation for what had happened in York. General Ross set out from the island of Ber-muda in several ships. After landing on the coast, his soldiers advanced towards Washington. They easily defeated a weak American force, which was supposed to protect the capital city.

After occupying Washington, the British soldiers set fire to the Presi-dent’s House and many other gov-ernment buildings. They left the city two days later. General Ross then tried to capture the city of Balti-more. This attack failed and he was killed in the fighting.

The White House

After the fire, only the outside, or exterior, walls of the President’s House remained. Rebuilding work started the following year. It had been completed by 1817. The first president to live in the reconstructed building was James Monroe (1758 – 1831). He was the U.S.’s fifth pres-ident.

About 30 years ago some reno-vation work was carried out in the White House. Scorch marks, made

by the flames, were uncovered. A decision was made not to paint over all the black marks. Some were left to remind people of what happened in 1814.

SLIDING STONES EXPLAINED

Two American researchers have fi-nally solved a longstanding geolog-ical enigma. For many years people have wondered how large rocks seem to mysteriously move across a desert lakebed in California, in the U.S. The researchers managed to film the rocks moving. Their expla-nation has recently been posted to a special scientific website.

The dried up lakebed is not far from Death Valley. Known as the Racetrack Playa or the Racetrack, it is about 2.8 miles (4.5 kilometers) long and 1.3 miles (2.1 kilometers) wide. It is very flat. As there is lit-tle rain in this part of California, no plants grow on the dry lakebed. The Racetrack is 3,700 feet (1,130 meters) above sea level. The tem-peratures are very hot during the day. Yet, at night, in winter, they can drop below freezing.

Just over 100 years ago miners working near Death Valley noticed something strange on the Racetrack. Large rocks, or boulders, on the dried up lakebed must have moved. The miners did not see the rocks moving. Yet there were long trails, or paths, in the mud behind them. Some larger “moving” stones weighed over 500 pounds (227 kilograms).

The paths in the mud are flat. This means that the stones must slide and not roll. Most trails go in roughly the same direction. Some are straight, but others bend, or meander. Zigzag courses have also been recorded.



The Racetrack is in a very remote area. Few people go there. From the nearest town it is a three-hour drive. Over the last 60 years several geolo-gists, or scientists who study rocks, have visited the Racetrack. Each has tried to work out what makes the rocks move.

Sliding stone on Racetrack Playa

Many people thought that the rocks must be blown along by strong winds. As an experiment, a person landed a propeller-driven aircraft on the Racetrack in 1953. He then tried to use the wash, or wind, from the plane’s propellers to move the rocks. Some rolled, but none slid.

The two researchers had an idea. They drilled holes in some rocks and put GPS trackers inside them. The researchers then took the rocks to the Racetrack and left them there. They also set up some time-lapse cameras. These cameras can be set to take photographs at intervals. For example, pictures can be taken ev-ery hour, day or month. The track-ers were set to start recording their speed and position when the rocks started to move.

Last December, the two research-ers returned to the Racetrack. They wanted to change the GPS track-ers’ batteries. They camped for the night. Heavy rain had fallen the day before, so part of the lakebed was covered in a few centimeters of wa-ter. During the hours of darkness, the temperature dropped below freezing. The surface of the water

froze. Soon after sunrise, the ice started to crack and melt.

Large but very thin sheets of ice were blown by the wind. They float-ed on the thin layer of water under-neath them. Some ice sheets were about 50 feet (15 meters) across. As they covered a large area, the mov-ing ice sheets created enough force to push the rocks. By the afternoon all the water had dried up. The re-searchers could then see the mud paths trailing behind the stones. Some rocks had moved over 330 feet (100 meters).

The researchers think that the conditions must be exactly right for the rocks to move. There must be rain, and then freezing tempera-tures followed by warm sunshine. The lakebed’s mud also has to be slippery enough. These conditions probably don’t happen very often. The researchers were therefore lucky to have been at the Racetrack on one of the few days that the rocks moved.

NEW EU APPOINTMENTS

The leaders of the 28 member coun-tries of the European Union (EU) attended a special meeting on Au-gust 30. The meeting was held at the EU’s headquarters in Brussels, the capital of Belgium.

At the meeting the leaders agreed on who would be given two import-ant positions, or jobs. These posi-tions are the president of the Eu-ropean Council (also known as the president of the European Union) and the high representative (HR). Most countries have a foreign min-ister. His or her job is to deal with other countries. The role of the EU’s HR is similar. He or she is responsi-ble for the EU’s foreign policy.

The EU has several leaders. The most important people are the president, or head, of the European Commission, the president of the European Council, the HR, and the European Parliament’s president.

The European Commission is also known as the “Commission” or the executive of the EU. It proposes and writes all new EU laws. Rep-resentatives of member countries’ governments discuss them. Then the laws are passed to the European Parliament. The parliament can ei-ther change or approve them.

The European Parliament has 751 elected members. People living in EU member countries elect these MEPs (members of the European Parliament). The parliament meets in two buildings. These are in Stras-bourg, a town in France, close to the country’s border with Germany, and in Brussels.

Mr. Tusk (l), Mr. Rompuy (c), Mrs. Mogherini (r)

José Manuel Barroso has been the Commission’s president for the last ten years. The former prime minis-ter of Portugal is about to complete his second five-year term. The lead-ers of the EU’s 28 member countries chose Mr. Barroso’s successor sev-eral weeks ago. He is Jean-Claude Juncker. Mr. Juncker, who used to be prime minister of Luxembourg, will officially take over from Mr. Barroso on November 1.

The European Council is made up of 30 people. They are the elect-ed leaders of the 28 EU member



countries, plus the presidents of the European Council and Commission. The current Council president is Herman Van Rompuy. He is a for-mer prime minister of Belgium. Mr. Van Rompuy will also stand down on November 1. Donald Tusk, Po-land’s prime minister, has been se-lected to succeed him.

The new HR is Federica Mogher-ini. She is an Italian politician. Many people were surprised at her selection. Mrs. Mogherini, who speaks French and English, is 41 years old. She only became Italy’s foreign minister seven months ago. Mrs. Mogherini will replace Cath-erine Ashton, a UK politician (who is also a Baroness) on November 1. Baroness Ashton has been the EU’s HR for the last five years.

Currently the EU is supporting the government of Ukraine in its dispute with Russia. For several months there has been fighting be-tween government forces and sep-aratist, or rebel, groups in eastern Ukraine. The rebel groups want to form a self-governing area. Russia supports them. As the EU’s new HR, Mrs. Mogherini will need to work with Ukraine and Russia to find a way to stop the fighting.

BALTIC WAY ANNIVERSARY

The 25th anniversary of the Baltic Way was on August 23. The Baltic Way, which took place in 1989, sur-prised people in many parts of the world. As a protest, people from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania stood in a 373 mile (600-kilometer) line. They then held hands for 15 minutes to form a long human chain.

Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania are three small European countries. Together they are often called the

Baltic States. Each became an inde-pendent nation after the end of the First World War (1914 – 1918).

Before the Second World War (1939 – 1945) began, the leaders of Germany and the Russian-led Soviet Union made a secret pact, or agreement. Then, Adolf Hitler was Germany’s leader and Joseph Stalin was in charge of the Soviet Union. This agreement is known as the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. It was signed on August 23, 1939. The pact was named after the Russian and German foreign ministers who signed it.

Riga

Tallinn

Vilnius

POLAND BELARUS

LITHUANIA

LATVIA

ESTONIA

RUSSIA

Baltic Sea

The secret pact meant that when German soldiers invaded Poland from the west, Russian troops would attack the country from the east. It was also agreed that Russia would take over the Baltic States. About ten months after the invasion of Poland, the Russian army occupied Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.

In 1941, Hitler ordered an inva-sion of Russia. The German army quickly advanced towards Moscow, the Russian capital city. During its advance, the German army moved into Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. At first many people welcomed the German soldiers. They thought that they would now be free. Howev-er, the German leaders soon set up their own occupation with similar harsh rules.

By 1944 Germany was losing the war. Russian forces recaptured the Baltic States. They defeated the Ger-man army in many Eastern European countries. When the war ended these countries, including Latvia, Esto-nia and Lithuania, became part of a much bigger Soviet Union.

In 1989 some people in the Bal-tic States decided to organize a large demonstration. They wanted to end the Soviet occupation of their coun-tries. Their unusual protest became known as the Baltic Way. It was held on the 50th anniversary of the sign-ing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.

Around two million people took part. The human chain stretched from Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, in the north, to Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital city, in the south. The line of people passed through Riga, the Latvian capital.

The Baltic Way was a peaceful protest. It showed how three small countries could overcome what a much larger, more powerful nation had imposed on them. By the end of 1989, the Soviet Union was be-ginning to break up. Mikhail Gor-bachev, the Soviet leader at that time, decided not to stop Eastern European countries declaring independence. Within two years of the Baltic Way each of the Baltic States had become a self-governing nation.

Newsademic.comEditor: Rebecca Watson

American Editor: Chris Tarn

Acknowledgements:News story photographs by gettyimages

For further details about Newsademic

and subscription prices visit

www.newsademic.com

© Newsademic 2014



ISSUE 231 GLOSSARY PUZZLE

INSTRUCTIONS: Complete the crossword. The answers are highlighted in orange in the news stories. There are 25 words highlighted and you need 20 of them to complete the crossword. Once you have solved the crossword go to the word search on the next page

1 2

3

4 5 6

7 8 9 10

11 12 13

14

15 16

17

18

19

20

ACROSS

1 Verb To flare up or catch fire again 5 Noun Political or religious belief or set of beliefs 9 Noun Something that is puzzling or cannot be explained 11 Noun A female reproductive organ in which ova or eggs

are produced 14 Adjective Describes something basic or very simple, or

something from the time of very early civilisation 15 Noun An idea or plan of a political party or organisation 16 Noun The science of the structure of living things’

bodies 18 Adjective Likely to cause arguments 19 Noun The painless killing of someone in a permanent

coma or suffering from an incurable and painful illness (illegal in most countries)

20 Verb Discovered, found or proved the existence of something

DOWN

2 Verb To intentionally become involved in a difficult situation to stop it from getting worse

3 Noun Describes actions taken to save money, especially living more simply and strictly controlling spending

4 Verb Forced to accept 6 Noun Two or more things joining or mixing together, or

happening at the same time 7 Verb Gained wealth and success 8 Noun (Plural) Animals able to live both in water and on land 10 Verb Discovered the meaning of something, especially a

code 12 Noun The state of having been restored to a previous or

better condition 13 Noun An action taken in revenge or payback for something 17 Verb To be brought into contact with something, often

something harmful



ISSUE 231GLOSSARY PUZZLE CONTINUED

INSTRUCTIONS: Find 19 of the 20 crossword answers in the word search. Words can go vertically, horizontally, diagonally and back to front. After finding the 19 words write down the 20th (or missing) word under the puzzle.

C S E Y V N E A U F D M G D U F Q S

O O S Y V F N Y S L O F J E G Y A N

N V M Q Z A Z C Y B Q P D R T C C A

T A K B T I M P O S E D D E U I R I

R O M O I G N G E X A E H P E L E B

O V M G J N D T O I R K H S X O I I

V Y F O I O A X E E Y C E O P P G H

E O R Z X N I T H R U K E R O X N P

R F U X Z J E P I N V O H P S A I M

S L A U R G I H O O B E U D E I T A

I S W R D C X I D U N T N T D S E K

A D E T E C T E D I L W H E V A R O

L O E D M A K S R X M C O N F N Z W

L S N I V T P T O H B V T K L A L Z

Z L J O Y G C Y F K A T O G K H A A

P S N B N O A P R R Q M F R U T V N

M E M F D C A Y Y T I R E T S U A S

R E T A L I A T I O N I S K K E J O

MISSING WORD ANSWER =

ISSUE 230 A

NSW

ERS

E H P O R T S A T A C M G L U F Q H

L D S Y V F K Y S L O F J Z G S A I

B E E Q Z V Z D O M E S T I C A C B

A V K F G K D C O L E V V T U N A E

T L B L E G D G N X A S H T I I O R

C O G W D C D K O O O E H F U T N N

I S E O B E T X X J I I E B L A X A

D S N Z X V I O R J U T E X U T F T

E I O S Z J J F R D S I A X P I J I

R D C U R G J H I S B L U T A O N O

P S I R P E X M D S Y I K T U N D N

M A D F U A E V A G S C H A M P R O

L O E Q M N R T F X M A R R A Y E W

L S A I S T P A N H B F L K R R L R

Z L J I Y G W Y L U C T O C T R A A

P S O B N C A P R L L M F R Y A V N

M N M F J C A Y Y I E O J Q R U V S

S E I R A T U B I R T L V K S Q J O

If you wish to earn additional Demics log in to www.newsademic.com, go to the Prize Competitions area and submit the missing word. Puzzle entries must be submitted by 10 pm on September 17, 2014 (GMT/UTC).*

R E S I L I E N T

* Only applies to those who have purchased a Newsademic Individual or Family Subscription

Demics are tokens that Individual and Family Subscribers can earn. They are awarded for answering this Glossary Puzzle and/or the Daily News question – accessible by logged in users – correctly. Demics earned can be used by Family and Individual Subscribers in the Newsademic online store.

GET EXTRA DEMICS*

P1

A R A L L E L D2

D3

R I

V4

O L U N T E E R S S

M D S

E I G5

O

S F6

A C I L I T I E S L

T T N V R7

I C8

A T A S T9

R O P H E E

C B R C D S10

P

D11

C12

L A S S I F I E D A U

P13

L A Q U E E B D N T

F U E I A

Q14

R15

E S I L I E N T A16

T T

U C A R A I

A T R R T O

R O H17

I B E R N A T I O N

M18

A R T Y R S E Y O

Y S D19

I M E N S I O N S N


newsademic 5 september 2014

Education