newsademic american english edition 203 -...

August 8, 2013American English edition

Issue Number 203

Newsademic.comThe informative easy to read introduction to world news

In this issue

“Comet of the Century” disappoints?Whistleblower trialMost expensive cities in the worldHamburger in vitroDivisions in TunisiaIvanpah solar plant“The day the world changed” anniversaryCambodia electionKorean War rememberedUruguay drug voteElephants and lunar cycleAustralia’s SeaSim opensOmnicom and PublicisInca child sacrifi ceSteamboat GeyserRoad closures in RomeMontana Dueling DinosaursJapan’s space robotShanghai’s new skyscraperGlossary Crossword and Wordsearch Puzzle

Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe, speaking just before the election

An election for the president and par-liament of Zimbabwe took place on July 31. Three days later the leader of the country’s electoral commission, the organization in charge of elections and vote counting, offi cially announced the results. He declared that, with 61% of the votes, Robert Mugabe had been reelected as Zimbabwe’s president.

The electoral commission leader also confirmed the parliamentary election re-sults. Mr. Mugabe’s ZANU-PF political party had gotten the most seats. Out of 210 seats in the country’s House of Assembly, or parliament, 158 had gone to ZANU-PF.

Mr. Mugabe is 89 years old. He has led Zimbabwe since it became an independent country in 1980. This was the seventh time he had taken part in an election and won.

Under Zimbabwe’s election rules, if no one gets over 50% in a presidential election there must be a second vote, or

run off. When this happens the two can-didates who received the highest number of votes take part. As Mr. Mugabe got 61% a run off was not necessary.

Morgan Tsvangirai (pronounced Chan-gi-rai) stood against Mr. Mugabe. This was the third time he had done so. When the results were announced Mr. Tsvangirai accused Mr. Mugabe and his supporters of “rigging” or “fixing” the voting. Mr. Tsvangirai is the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). This is the main opposition group in Zimbabwe.

The electoral commission said that Mr. Tsvangirai had only received 33% of the votes. In the election for the House of Assembly the MDC got 49 seats. This is about half the number it won at the last election, five years ago.

When a person or party easily wins an election by a large number of votes or seats it is often called a “landslide”. The election

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results in Zimbabwe surprised many people. Most predicted a close con-test. Yet no one expected Mr. Mugabe and his party to win by a landslide.

Zimbabwe used to be a colony of Britain. Then the country was called Rhodesia. In 1964, Ian Smith (1919 – 2007) became Rhodesia’s prime min-ister. White people were a minority in the country. Yet Smith believed that only white people had the ability, or the right, to govern Rhodesia.

Smith wanted Rhodesia to be-come an independent country. How-ever, Britain refused to agree because of Smith’s insistence of a whites-only government. In 1965, Smith sudden-ly announced that Rhodesia would govern itself independently. This was done without the agreement of Brit-ain. What Smith had done became known as UDI or a “unilateral decla-ration of independence”.

After UDI a war between black militant groups and whites broke out. Black fighters, some under the leadership of Mr. Mugabe, attacked white farmers in the countryside.

In 1979, Britain arranged peace talks. The following year an agree-ment was reached. Black people could be elected. The country would also officially become independent from Britain. After the first elections Mr. Mugabe became prime minister and later the president. The country’s name was changed to Zimbabwe.

Within a few years Mr. Mugabe began to run Zimbabwe as a dictator.

In 2000, most of the land owned by white farmers was confiscated. These farms were divided into small areas and handed over to local people.

Before it became an independent nation Zimbabwe was one of Afri-ca’s wealthiest countries. Its farms exported large amounts of food to other countries. However, this soon began to change.

By 2005 Zimbabwe’s economy was ruined. Its currency, the Zimba-bwe dollar, had become worthless. One American dollar was worth hundreds of thousands of Zimbabwe dollars. Over 80% of the people were without jobs. Many did not have enough to eat. Thousands left the country. Many went to South Africa.

In 2008, elections were held. Be-fore the vote there was a lot of vio-lence. Followers of ZANU-PF, in-cluding police officers and soldiers, attacked members of the MDC. Some were killed and others imprisoned.

The results of the parliamenta-ry elections took a long time to be declared. After weeks of waiting the electoral commission said that ZANU-PF and the MDC had won a similar number of seats.

The presidential election result was never properly announced. Most believed that Mr. Tsvangirai got many more votes than Mr. Mugabe. However, Mr. Mugabe claimed that he and Mr. Tsvangirai had gotten about the same number. Mr. Mugabe insisted on a run off election. Mr. Tsvangirai refused to take part.

To try to stop the violence and the collapse of the country, other African leaders arranged talks between ZA-NU-PF and the MDC. These were held in Harare, the capital city. Thabo Mbeki led the talks. Then, Mr. Mbeki was the president of South Africa.

Eventually, Mr. Mugabe signed an agreement saying that his party

and the MDC would jointly govern Zimbabwe. This type of arrangement is known as a unity government. Mr. Mugabe stayed on as president. Mr. Tsvangirai became prime minister.

For the last five years the two men have jointly run the country. There have been frequent disagree-ments. However, Zimbabwe’s econ-omy has improved. It now uses the US dollar and the South African rand as its currency. Yet there are still power cuts, fuel shortages and uncollected rubbish in the streets.

Unlike five years ago there was no violence before the recent elections. Yet many suspect that supporters of Mr. Mugabe managed to change the electoral records. These are the lists, or register, of all the people who are allowed to vote. There were reports that tens of thousands of false names were added. ZANU-PF supporters then used these to vote several times. The names of younger people in the towns and cities were removed from the register. This meant that they could not vote. These people were more likely to vote for the MDC.

The governments of several non-African countries such as the U.S., Britain and Australia said that the election should be reheld. The African Union (AU), which has 54 member countries, thought differently. It declared that the election had been fair. The South African president, Ja-cob Zuma, congratulated Mr. Mugabe. He said that everyone in Zimbabwe should accept the election result.

Some people blame Mr. Tsvan-girai and the leaders of the MDC for what happened. They said that forming a unity government with Mr. Mugabe and ZANU-PF five years ago had been wrong. Just after the election results were announced Mr. Tsvangirai said that “there was mourning in the country”.


DISAPPOINTING “COMET OF THE CENTURY”?

Last September two Russian astron-omers, or scientists that study the stars and planets, discovered a new comet. Soon afterwards it was pre-dicted that the comet would be easy to see in the night sky, as it moved closer towards the Sun.

The comet is called ISON (C/2012 S1). ISON stands for Internation-al Scientific Optical Network. The Russian scientists, who first saw the comet, work for this organization. Some scientists began to call ISON the “Comet of the Century”. This is because they expected it to be bright-er than the full moon around late October and early November. Some said that it would even be possible to see it during the day.

Picture of the comet ISON (C/2012 S1) taken by the Hubble Space Telescope (NASA)

An astronomer from Colombia has been studying ISON. He recent-ly announced that it appears to be dimming and not getting brighter. The astronomer even thinks there is a possibility that ISON will disin-tegrate before it becomes visible in the night sky.

Comets are often described as large “dirty snowballs”. They re-lease dust and gas. Each has a sol-id center, called the nucleus. The nucleus is made mainly from fro-zen water, but can contain other

chemicals such as ammonia, car-bon dioxide and methane. Around the nucleus is a cloudy atmosphere called the coma.

Most comets can only be seen from the Earth through a telescope. Yet it is possible to see some without a telescope if they pass close to the Sun. Comets seem to light up as the gases and dust that make up their co-mas absorb and release energy from the Sun. At this time a long “tail” can be seen trailing behind them.

Like the planets in our Solar Sys-tem, comets orbit the Sun. Those with an orbit of less than 200 years are called short-period comets. Those whose orbits take more than 200 years are known as long-period comets.

Short-period comets are thought to originate in a part of our Solar System called the Kuiper belt. This is beyond the orbit of the dwarf planet Pluto. Long-period comets are believed to come from a region about 1,000 times farther away from the Sun known as the Oort cloud. ISON, which is traveling at a speed of 16 miles (26 kilometers) a sec-ond, is an Oort cloud comet. The comet is estimated to be about three miles (five kilometers) across.

The Colombian astronomer says that ISON has not become any bright-er since the middle of January. This is a period of over 130 days. He says that this could be because the comet is running out of ice particles. If this is true it will not be so easy to see.

Something similar happened to another comet called C/2002 O4 Honig. This comet was discovered 11 years ago. For 52 days it too did not get any brighter. Soon afterwards the comet disappeared. It’s thought that it broke up into tiny pieces.

Currently ISON cannot be tracked. This is because of the Sun’s glare. Yet it should be possible to

see it again, with a telescope, around October 7. On November 28, ISON will reach its closest point to the Sun, a distance of about 724,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers). If it manages to go around the Sun with-out breaking up the comet will be-gin to travel back to outer space. As it is a long period comet ISON may not return to the inner Solar System for thousands, or possibly, millions of years.

BRADLEY MANNING TRIAL

On July 30, a military court in the U.S. declared that Bradley Manning had broken several laws. Bradley Manning is a 25 year old Private, or junior soldier, in the American army. The laws, the judge said he broke, are to do with espionage, or

NEWSCASTANTHEM COMPETITION — Offi cials in Switzerland have announced the start of an unusual competition. They want people to write new words for the country’s national anthem. A panel of judges will chose the winner who will receive a prize of Swiss francs 10,000 ($10,860). Many people complain that the words of the current an-them are out of date. Some joke it is a mixture of a prayer and a weather report. The words come from an old hymn. They include descriptions of clouds and sun-shine. One reason for the change is that Switzerland is now home to many people who do not believe in God. Those entering the com-petition can also compose new music. However, any new tune will have to be similar to the cur-rent anthem.


spying. However, the court decided that Private Manning was not guilty of the more serious crime of “aiding (or helping) the enemy”.

Bradley Manning

Three years ago an organization called WikiLeaks began to display confidential American government and military documents on its web-site. WikiLeaks had also passed these documents to five well-known newspapers in the U.S., Britain, Spain, France and Germany.

Those who set up WikiLeaks say that they did so for a special reason. People who have access to docu-ments that governments or large companies want to hide can post them on the internet. These documents could be secret or confidential. If a person thought that the government or company they worked for was doing something unlawful they may want to tell others. However, people can get into trouble for this. So the WikiLeaks website was meant to be a way that they could “leak” these documents without being found out.

When secret, or confidential, in-formation appears in newspapers or on a website, it is called a leak. Peo-ple who take the risk of making secret documents public are often described as “leakers” or “whistleblowers”.

Soon after the American docu-ments began to appear in newspa-pers and on the WikiLeaks website

Private Manning was arrested. This was after officials discovered that he was the person who had passed them to WikiLeaks. At the time Pri-vate Manning was working in Iraq. As part of his job he was able to ac-cess computers on which the docu-ments were stored. This meant that he was able to make copies of them.

One of the first things that Private Manning passed to Wikileaks was a copy of a video. This had been taken from an American military helicopter in Iraq, in 2007. It showed at least 12 people on the ground being shot and killed by guns on the helicopter. Lat-er, it was discovered that two of those killed were newspaper reporters.

Later, Private Manning sent WikiLeaks around 250,000 con-fidential messages, or cables, and 470,000 battlefield reports. The cables were messages between the government of the U.S. and its em-bassies all around the world. Amer-ican military commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan had sent the battle-field reports.

The cables contained conversa-tions held in places such as China, South Korea, Pakistan, Russia, the Middle East, South America, Eu-rope, and Africa. Even though most of the information in the leaked cables was not really secret, many were embarrassing for the U.S. This was because they often criticized these country’s leaders.

After Private Manning was ar-rested some said that he was right to leak all these documents. Others disagreed. Most do not criticize him for leaking the video of the airstrike in Iraq. This is because they be-lieve that it may record a war crime. What’s more it seems that the Amer-ican military wanted the film kept secret. However, they are puzzled why Private Manning leaked all the

other documents. He had no time to read all of them. He could therefore not have known if they showed that something unlawful was being done.

Private Manning’s military trial lasted for eight weeks. His punish-ment is yet to be decided. However, most expect him to be given a long prison sentence.

WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE CITIES

Every year Mercer, an international company, produces a survey to fi nd out which are the world’s most ex-pensive cities to live in. This year Angola’s capital, Luanda, came top. Another African city, N’Djamena, the capital of Chad, came fourth.

Luanda, capital of Angola

Mercer provides information to governments and large international companies. It also gives them advice. Its “cost of living” survey is mainly used by organizations that send their workers, or employees, to work in offices in other countries. Mercer says that its survey shows these orga-nizations what their employees can expect if they move to new cities. It also helps them to work out what these workers should be paid.

The cost of living survey covers 214 cities all around the world. It compares the cost of 200 items, or different things, in each of these cit-ies. They include the cost of renting a two bedroomed apartment near the city center, transport, entertainment,


food, clothing, household goods, and even the prices in coffee shops. Transport covers gasoline, taxi fares and bus and train tickets.

Rent is the most expensive item. For example, Moscow, the capital of Russia, is second on the list. It costs about $4,600 per month to rent an apartment in the Russian capital. This is 14 times more expensive than in Karachi, a city in Pakistan, which is near the bottom of the list. Moscow is expensive in other ways. For instance, the price of a cup of coffee is $8.29. In Managua, in Nic-aragua, it is $1.54.

In the survey the price compari-sons are all in US dollars. The cost of living in different cities can there-fore depend on the exchange rate be-tween the American dollar and other currencies. For example, recently, the Swiss franc has become very strong when compared to the dollar. This is one reason why three of the cities in the top ten, Geneva, Zurich and Bern, are all in Switzerland. In previous years Tokyo, the capital of Japan, was always at the top. Yet in the last 12 months the value of the Japanese yen, when compared to the dollar, has been falling. This is why Tokyo has moved down to number three.

1 Luanda, Angola2 Moscow, Russia3 Tokyo, Japan4 N’Djamena, Chad5 Singapore

6 Hong Kong, China7 Geneva, Switzerland8 Zurich, Switzerland9= Bern, Switzerland9= Sydney, Australia

(Source: Mercer)

Top ten most expensive cities

Oil explains why Luanda and N’Djamena are number one and number four in the list. Both Ango-la and Chad are now oil producers. More foreign oil workers are mov-ing to these places. Both countries are home to many poor people.

There are not many apartments in the two cities in which foreign workers would want to live. This is why they are expensive. What’s more many of the food items includ-ed in the survey have to be imported from other countries. This adds to their cost. The price of a green salad in a restaurant in Luanda is $52. The survey says that N’Djamena now has the world’s most expensive fast food meal. It costs $25.51.

IN VITRO HAMBURGER

A special news conference took place in London, the capital of Brit-ain, on August 5. During the con-ference the world’s fi rst laboratory made, or in vitro, hamburger was cooked. Two people, who are food writers and tasters, then ate it.

In vitro meat (in vitro is Latin that means “in glass”), or cultured meat, is a meat product that has nev-er been part of a living animal. Pro-fessor Mark Post, a scientist from the Netherlands, made the cultured hamburger. To do this he used stem cells that were taken from a cow.

Every living organism is made from tiny building blocks called cells. Some organisms are made from just one cell. Others, such as humans and cows, are made from many mil-lions of different types. Most cells are specialized. This means that they carry out specific jobs. However, ev-ery specialized cell comes originally from a type of stem cell, or master cell. Stem cells are important, as they can develop into any other type of cell in the body.

The cow’s stem cells were placed in glass dishes. Special chemicals were then added. These encouraged the cells to grow and divide. The cells were grown into 20,000 tiny

strips of muscle. These were then added together to create enough beef to make one hamburger. The process took about three months. The in vi-tro hamburger is said to have cost €250,000 ($334,000) to make.

Professor Post says that more work needs to be done to improve the taste of the meat. He believes that many people will be eating this type of cultured, or artificial, meat in the future. He predicts that within 20 years shoppers will have a choice of two different types of the same meat. One will come from a real animal and the other will have been made artificially.

Not everyone agrees with the professor. Yet those that do, say that raising livestock on farms for meat causes a number of problems. One cow needs a big area of land, a lot of feed and large amounts of water to create the meat for hamburgers. As the world’s population grows more people will want to eat meat. However, any extra farmland will be needed to grow crops.

Another problem is that some farm animals, such as cows and sheep, produce a large amount of methane gas. After eating grass their digestive system produces methane. This gas then comes out of their bodies by “burping” or flatulence. Together with carbon dioxide, meth-ane is one of two main greenhouse gases. Most scientists agree that an increase of these gases in the Earth’s atmosphere is likely to affect the world’s climate.


Some people therefore believe in vitro meat is a solution to both the land use and methane problems.

For the food tasting the meat was mixed with breadcrumbs, egg pow-der and salt. It was also colored with beetroot juice. The food writers de-clared that the taste of the hamburg-er was different, as it did not contain any fat.

TUNISIA DIVIDED?

On July 27, thousands of people at-tended a funeral in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. The funeral was for Mo-hamed Brahmi. He was the leader of one of the country’s smaller politi-cal parties. Two days before, while on his way to work in Tunis, Brahmi was shot and killed by two gunmen.

Brahmi is the second leader of a political party in Tunisia who has been killed in this way. Last Feb-ruary a similar thing happened to Chokri Belaid. He was also a leader of a small opposition party. Both men were buried in the same cemetery.

Large antigovernment protests were held after both funerals. Many of the demonstrators blamed the government, which is led by the En-nahda (Renaissance) Party, for the deaths of the two men.

After the demonstrations last February the country’s prime min-ister, Hamadi Jebali, decided to re-sign. However, Mr. Jebali insisted that his government had nothing to do with Belaid’s murder. Members of the Ennahda Party then chose Ali Laarayedh to be the new prime minister. After Brahmi’s death Mr. Laarayedh said that he would not stand down.

Two years ago a revolution took pace in Tunisia. The country’s pres-ident, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, was

forced to leave the country after there were huge street protests. Mr. Ben Ali had run Tunisia for over 20 years. The demonstrators were an-gry about government corruption, the power of the police and the lack of proper elections. They wanted to be able to elect their own leaders.

Antigovernment protest in Tunis, Tunisia

Similar protests then began in several other Arab countries such as Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Bahrain, and Syria. In these countries the demon-strators had similar complaints. All these protests are now often called the “Arab Spring”. Tunisia was where the Arab Spring first began.

Elections for a new Assembly, or parliament, were held in Tunisia in 2011. Ennahda got 89 out of the 217 seats. This was more than any other party. Ennahda then agreed to work with several other smaller parties to form a new government.

One of the new Assembly’s most important jobs is to write a new constitution for the country. These are the rules by which Tunisia will be governed in the future. Once the new constitution has been approved new elections will take place. Mr. Laarayedh has recently declared that these elections will be held on December 17.

Both Ennahda and some of the smaller parties, which agreed to work with it, are described as Isla-mist. Their supporters believe that certain religious laws should be in-cluded in the new constitution.

However, other political parties, such as the ones led by Belaid and Brahmi, disagree. They believe that Tunisia should be a secular state. This means that religion and the way in which a country is governed have to be kept separate.

Those who want Tunisia to be a secular nation blame a group called the Salafists for the murder of the two politicians. Members of this group believe that everyone should live according to very strict Islamic laws. Some complain that Ennahda government ministers are not doing enough to control the Salafists.

In recent days there have been large demonstrations by people who support the Ennahda government. Many now think that the country is becoming dangerously divided. On one side are those who support the Ennahda government. On the other are people who want Tunisia to be a secular country.

DESERT SOLAR ENERGY PLANT

Building work on the world’s largest solar thermal energy plant has just been completed in the U.S. It will be “switched on” within the next few months. The plant, which is in the state of California, will make, or generate, enough electricity for 140,000 homes.

The building of the solar thermal energy plant first began six years ago. It is in the Ivanpah Valley, which is part of the Mojave Desert. This desert is known for its yuc-ca trees. The Mojave is one of the few places in the world where these spiky trees grow in the wild. They are also known as Joshua trees.

The solar energy plant covers a large area. It has about 170,000 mir-rors. Each is roughly the size of a


garage door. The mirrors surround three tall towers, which are about 500 feet (150 meters) tall. Through-out the day the mirrors track the Sun, as it appears to move across the sky. They reflect the sunlight onto three giant tanks of water, or boilers, on top of the towers.

The heat from the Sun boils the water inside the tanks. The steam from this boiling water is used to power, or turn, several large tur-bines. It is the turning of these tur-bines that generates the electricity.

Ivanpah Valley solar thermal energy plant

An American company called BrightSource Energy designed the new solar plant. It will produce what many call “clean” energy. Unlike power stations that burn fossil fuels, oil natural gas and coal, the new so-lar plant creates no carbon dioxide. As the power the plant generates is produced by heat from the Sun its electricity is also sustainable.

Before work began on the plant some people were unhappy about the affect it would have on local wildlife. One of the creatures they were worried about was the desert tortoise. These tortoises are an en-dangered species. They are found only in the south western part of the U.S.

Adult desert tortoises grow to a length of about 12 inches (30 cen-timeters). The tortoises can survive in very hot places. They dig burrows in which they can get away from the heat. Many of them spend as much

as 95% of their lives underground. They eat desert plants and can live for 80 years.

Scientists were called in to find the desert tortoises that were living where the solar plant was being built. They expected there to be around 20 of them. To their surprise the scientists found about 150. All were taken to another part of the desert where they were released.

If the Ivanpah Valley project is a success it’s likely that other similar plants will be built in desert areas of the U.S.

“THE DAY THE WORLD CHANGED”

Tens of thousands of people gath-ered at the Peace Memorial Park, in the city of Hiroshima, in Japan, on August 6. There, they took part in a ceremony that is held on this day ev-ery year. It begins with the ringing of a bell. The bell marks the exact time at which an atomic bomb ex-ploded just above the city on August 6, 1945.

The dropping of two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hi-roshima and Nagasaki brought the Second World War (1939 – 1945) to an end. Earlier in 1945, Nazi Ger-many had surrendered to the Allies, the U.S., Britain and Russia, in Eu-rope. Yet the fighting between Japan and the U.S. and Britain continued in parts of Asia and the Pacific.

The Hiroshima bomb is thought to have killed about 140,000 people. Many others suffered from radia-tion poisoning and burns. Around 70,000 people are believed to have died when the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.

Many people think that the U.S. was wrong to use atomic bombs on Japan. They say that it should have

warned the Japanese government in 1945 that if it didn’t surrender, a terrible weapon would be used on several of its cities.

The atomic bomb was developed in secret. Others therefore argue that nobody, including the Japanese leaders, would have believed what damage it could cause unless it was actually used. They claim that warn-ing or threatening Japan would not have worked.

At the time the Japanese army was refusing to give up. To end the war in another way, military histo-rians say, the U.S. would probably have had to invade Japan. Many American troops, Japanese sol-diers and civilians would have been killed. Most historians agree that the use of the two atomic bombs meant the war ended much sooner. If an invasion had been ordered the war may have lasted for another two or three years.

A-Bomb Dome in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, in Japan

Some historians describe Au-gust 6, 1945 as “the day the world changed”. This is because it marked the beginning of the “age of nuclear weapons”.

Nowadays, atomic, or nuclear, power causes frequent arguments in Japan. The country has built many nuclear power stations. In the past these generated much of the elec-tricity Japan needs. Yet, in 2011, the northeast part of the country was struck by a powerful earthquake and


tsunami, or giant wave. These bad-ly damaged the Fukushima nuclear power station. Two years later of-ficials and nuclear workers are still trying to stop radiation leaking from the damaged power plant.

After the problems at Fukushima nearly all the other nuclear power stations were shut down for safety checks. Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, now wants to reopen them. Yet many people disagree. They be-lieve that all the nuclear power sta-tions should be shut down and differ-ent ways found to generate electricity.

The bomb dropped on Hiroshi-ma destroyed all the buildings in the city. Yet the walls of one gov-ernment building, in the center of the city, remained standing. Later, a decision was made to leave the ru-ins of this building as a reminder of what had happened.

Often called the A-Bomb Dome, the ruins of this building are in the center of the Hiroshima Peace Me-morial Park. The A-Bomb Dome has now become a symbol of the dangers of using nuclear weapons and the terrible destruction they can cause.

Mr. Abe attended the ceremo-ny in Hiroshima. During it he placed a wreath near the A-Bomb Dome.

ELECTION IN CAMBODIA

In Cambodia elections for the coun-try’s National Assembly, or par-liament, are held every fi ve years. The latest election took place on July 28.

Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy. This means that the king is the country’s head of state. Yet the monarch has few powers. An elected prime minister runs Cambodia. This person is the leader of the political party that has the most seats in the National Assembly, or parliament.

In the election the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) won 68 of the 123 seats in the assembly. The CCP’s leader is Hun Sen. The elec-tion result means that he will be the country’s prime minister for another five years. Hun Sen has run Cam-bodia since 1985. He is one of the longest serving prime ministers in the world.

Cambodia has had a troubled past. Between 1975 and 1979 the country was run by a communist organization called the Khmer Rouge. Its leader was Pol Pot. He and senior members of the Khmer Rouge believed that they needed to “restart” civilization. They forced many people who lived in cities and towns to move to the countryside. There, they were made to work on

farms and building projects run by the Khmer Rouge.

The Khmer Rouge was very bru-tal. Its officials killed people who refused to do what they were told. Hundreds of thousands died from overwork, disease and torture. It’s estimated that, during the four years the Khmer Rouge was in charge, around 1.7 million people either died or were killed. This was rough-ly 20% of Cambodia’s population.

Hun Sen, prime minister of Cambodia

Hun Sen was a junior command-er in the Khmer Rouge. However, he disagreed with his leaders and fled to Vietnam. The Khmer Rouge began losing power in Cambodia after Vietnam invaded the country in 1979. The Khmer Rouge’s lead-ers and supporters retreated to areas close to the border with Thailand. They were not finally defeated until 1998, when Pol Pot died.

Vietnam set up a government in Cambodia. In 1985, Hun Sen was appointed as its leader. Eventually, in 1993, the United Nations (U.N.) managed to persuade Hun Sen and other groups in Cambodia to agree to take part in an election. The result was a draw between Hun Sen’s par-ty and another that had been set up by the king’s son. For a time the two men jointly ran the country.

Today the main opposition party in Cambodia is the Cambodian Na-tional Rescue Party (CNRP). Sam Rainsy is the CNRP leader. In 2005, he went to live in France. He did this

NEWSCASTZEBRA CROSSING — Police offi cers in the city of Bitburg, in Germany received a message that a zebra had escaped from a local circus. Several people reported seeing the animal but then it seemed to dis-appear. The police drove around the city looking for the missing zebra. It was eventually found standing in the middle of a wide road, but it was diffi cult to see. This was because the zebra was standing on a part of the road on which black and white stripes had been painted. The animal waited in the same place until a circus worker came to collect it. The po-lice said that while the zebra was

“hiding” in the middle of the road it did not seem to be afraid of the cars driving past on either side.

“hiding


because he was worried about his safety or being arrested. Mr. Rainsy went back to Cambodia a few weeks before the election. This was after he received permission to return from the king. However, Mr. Rainsy was not allowed to take part in the elec-tion, as he was not registered to vote.

The CNRP won 55 of the Nation-al Assembly seats. At the last elec-tion, five years ago, it got 22. After the result was announced Mr. Rainsy said that his party should have gotten more seats. He claimed that many of the votes had been miscounted.

KOREAN WAR ANNIVERSARY

Fighting in the Korean War ended on July 27, 1953. Therefore, this year, July 27, marked the 60th an-niversary of this date. The fi ghting lasted for three years. It fi nally came to an end after both sides agreed to an armistice, or truce.

In the past what is now North Ko-rea and South Korea was one nation. The country was taken over by Japan in 1910. In 1945, the Second World War ended when Japan surrendered. Soon afterwards the U.S. occupied the southern part of Korea and the Russian-led Soviet Union took over the north. During the war in Europe the U.S. and Russia had fought on the same side against Germany.

The U.S. and Russia set up dif-ferent types of governments in the northern and southern parts of Ko-rea. The U.S. introduced democratic elections. Russia arranged for Kim Il-sung to become the communist leader of the north.

In 1950, Kim Il-sung decided to invade the southern part of Korea. Russia helped by supplying his army with military equipment. The United Nations (U.N.) then voted to send a

military force to help the south. The U.N. force was mostly made up of American troops. However, 15 oth-er U.N. member countries also sent troops to Korea. These included Britain, Australia. New Zealand, Canada, and the Philippines.

Military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea

At first, Kim Il-sung’s army did well. Yet later his forces were pushed back to the Yalu River. This river marks the border between Chi-na and North Korea. China’s leaders then decided to enter the war. They sent tens of thousands of Chinese troops across the Yalu River to help Kim Il-sung.

After three years of fighting both sides agreed to a truce. Today’s bor-der between North and South Ko-rea is where the opposing armies faced each other when the fighting stopped. This border region is now the world’s most heavily fortified place. It is called the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ). Thousands of North and South Korean soldiers still face each other over a narrow strip of land covered in mines and barbed wire.

For a short time after the fighting ended North Korea was the more successful country. Yet this soon be-gan to change.

South Korea now holds demo-cratic elections for its politicians and president. It has one of the world’s most successful economies. Several of its larger companies are world leaders in shipbuilding, computer

technology, and industrial design. It also has more internet connections than any other country.

North Korea is very different. It is still run as a communist state. Its leader, Kim Jong-un, is Kim Il-sung’s grandson. North Korea is a very secretive country and there are no democratic elections. Many think that North Koreans have been “brainwashed”, or persuaded to be-lieve that their leaders are god-like and never do anything wrong.

Nowadays, thousands of people in North Korea do not have enough to eat. There is limited electricity. Yet the country has one of the world’s biggest armies. Only those who hold senior positions in the government or army have enough food. If anyone in North Korea is caught criticizing their leaders they are sent to one of the country’s many prison camps.

Satellite view of North and South Korea at night, showing the difference in electric lights

In North Korea July 27, is known as “Victory Day”. Each year, on this day, there is a huge military parade in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital city. This year, because it was the 60th anniversary, the parade was even bigger. Tens of thousands of soldiers took part.

In South Korea a “day of remem-brance” marked the anniversary. Park


Geun-hye, the president of South Korea, made a speech. She thanked the 16 U.N. member nations that helped her country during the war. In countries such as the U.S. and Britain small ceremonies were held. Soldiers who fought in the war, and their fami-lies, gathered to remember those who were killed in the fighting.

No peace treaty has ever been signed by North and South Korea. This means that the two countries are, technically, still at war with each other.

DRUG VOTE IN URUGUAY

In the early hours of the morning on August 1, Uruguay’s lower cham-ber of Congress, or parliament, held a vote. It took place after a 14 hour-debate about marijuana. The politicians voted by 50 to 46 to make the production and sale of the drug in the country legal.

José Mujica, president of Uruguay

Marijuana is what is known as a “soft” drug. It is also called canna-bis, as this is the name of the plant from which the drug comes. In most countries buying, selling and smok-ing marijuana is unlawful. Howev-er, nowadays, police forces in many countries do not enforce these laws very strictly.

Some people argue that there is no reason why smoking marijuana should be a criminal act. They claim that the effect of smoking the drug is similar

to alcohol. In most countries drinking alcohol is not against the law.

However, others disagree. These people believe that smoking large amounts of marijuana can affect people’s brains. This, they say, is especially true of younger people. They also argue that people who smoke marijuana are more likely to start using more dangerous, or “harder”, drugs. Examples of these are cocaine and heroin. These types of drugs are very addictive. They can also have a bad effect on a per-son’s health.

Uruguay, like many other coun-tries in South America, has a prob-lem with criminal drug gangs. These gangs make a lot of money by buying and selling illegal drugs, including marijuana. Often, after becoming ad-dicted, drug users do not have enough money to buy more drugs from these gangs. Many start to steal and com-mit robberies. So where there is a lot of drug use the number of crimes of-ten increases. Drug gangs also fight against each other.

Arresting the leaders and mem-bers of drug gangs can be difficult. Some people argue that the best way to get rid of these gangs is to make the drugs they sell lawful. However, most agree that if this happens the buying and selling of drugs needs to be strictly controlled. Trying to stop large criminal drug gangs, many of which are in South Amer-ica, is sometimes called the “war on drugs”. Many people now believe that this “war” has failed. They say that something else needs to be done to stop drug gangs and the problems they cause.

José Mujica is the president of Uruguay. He is a former doctor who became the country’s president two years ago. The president is a member of a political group called

the Broad Front Party. He believes that using marijuana should not be unlawful. All the 50 members of the Broad Front in the lower chamber of Congress voted in favor of the drug becoming legal.

Members of the upper chamber will now discuss the ruling on mar-ijuana. They are expected to vote in favor. This is because the Broad Front Party has a majority in this part of Congress.

If the ruling on cannabis be-comes law, Uruguay will be the first country in the world to legalize the production, sale and use of marijua-na. Yet there will be strict rules and regulations. Cannabis plants will be grown on land that is used by the army. People who want to use mar-ijuana will have to register. Then, they will be able to buy 40 grams of the drug each month from chemist shops. Alternatively, registered us-ers will be allowed to grow six can-nabis plants at home.

Other countries will be interested to see what happens in Uruguay. If its new drug law is a success many expect several of them to do some-thing similar.

ELEPHANT RAID STUDY

A new scientifi c study seems to show that elephants are aware of the lunar cycle. It also suggests that the animals deliberately wait un-til nighttime before raiding nearby farms. The elephants do this to eat the crops grown by the farmers.

Elephants are the world’s largest land animals. They are often associ-ated with wisdom and intelligence. The saying “an elephant never for-gets” shows the popular belief that they have a long memory. Elephants have been observed doing things


that more intelligent types of ani-mal, such as certain primates (apes) and dolphins, are known to do. These include showing grief when a member of the herd dies, using tools, and helping to look after the babies of other elephants.

African elephants (Charles Sharp)

Elephant herds are made up al-most entirely of female elephants. The only males are youngsters. When male elephants grow into adults they live on their own. The lead elephant of the herd is known as the matriarch. The other females in the herd act on the “instructions” she gives, for ex-ample, moving to a new place to feed or find water. Adult elephants have no natural predators (apart from hu-man hunters).

Researchers from Britain carried out the study close to a national park in Tanzania. Many herds of wild el-ephants live in the park. First the re-searchers chose five villages near the national park. Then, with help from some of the villagers, they recorded all the times that elephants raided the crops grown by local farmers.

Elephants are cathemeral. This means that they will look for food both during the day and night. Adult African elephants can eat as much as 992 pounds (450 kilograms) of vegetation in one day. They will use their tusks to break branches and their trunks to pull the leaves from them. A herd of elephants feeding in this way can therefore cause a lot of damage.

The study showed that the ele-phants did not raid the crops during the day. Instead all their raids hap-pened at night. This suggests that the elephants know they have less chance of being seen, or detected, by humans when it is dark. What’s more the elephant’s nighttime raids changed during the lunar cycle.

The Moon goes through different phases as it orbits the Earth. This is known as the lunar cycle. When viewed from the Earth the amount of the Moon lit up by the Sun gradually changes. It goes from a full moon, to a crescent moon, to a quarter moon and eventually back to a full moon. Each lunar cycle lasts for 28 days. If there are no clouds around the time of the full moon it can be quite light during the nighttime.

The researchers discovered that there were far fewer elephant crop raids during the full moon. This, the researchers say, is probably because the elephants know that there is a greater risk of them being seen on these bright moonlit nights.

The researchers suspect that wild elephants in other parts of Africa act in the same way. Their study could be helpful to the farmers. This is because it could be used to predict when elephants are likely to raid the crops they grow.

SMART AQUARIUM OPENS

On August 1, a new sea research cen-ter or aquarium opened in Towns-ville, in Australia. It is called the Na-tional Sea Simulator (SeaSim).

The research center has been de-signed to copy, or replicate, different types of sea areas. For example, this could be the seawater around coral reefs, the open ocean or where large rivers flow into the sea. The center

has 33 large tanks. These are filled with around 792,500 gallons (three million liters) of seawater.

It will be possible to make ad-justments to each of SeaSim’s tanks. Therefore, conditions within them can be different. For instance, seawa-ter in separate tanks can be slightly warmer or cooler. In others the water may contain a large amount of sedi-ment, more carbon dioxide or even a greater or lesser amount of salt.

Sea creatures such as corals, sponges and other small marine organisms will be kept inside the tanks. It will therefore be possible to study how different sea condi-tions affect them. Corals are living organisms that produce hard out-er skeletons. Coral reefs are made up of millions of these skeletons joined together.

New SeaSim building (AIMS)

One of the first SeaSim experi-ments will be to study the crown-of-thorns starfish. These starfish seem to be destroying large areas of coral that make up Australia’s Great Bar-rier Reef. Another experiment will be to try to find out the causes of coral bleaching.

The Great Barrier Reef, off the northeast coast of Australia, is the largest coral reef in the world. It is over 1,250 miles (2,000 kilome-ters) long. The reef is an important ecological site. It is a specially pro-tected area and home to thousands of marine species. Many of these are endangered.


Adult crown-of-thorns starfish can grow up to 18 inches (46 centi-meters) in diameter. Their arms are covered in long sharp spines from which the starfish get their name. Adult starfish can eat around 65 square feet (six square meters) of living coral every year. The starfish have lived on the Great Barrier Reef for thousands of years. However, over the last 20 years their numbers have greatly increased.

Crown-of-thorns starfi sh

Female crown-of-thorns starfish release millions of eggs. These then became larvae. The starfish larvae feed on microscopic organisms called phytoplankton. Most phyto-plankton have only one cell. Some are bacteria but many, such as algae, are types of plants.

Normally, most starfish larvae would never become adults. They would die, because they could not find enough to eat, or be eaten by other marine creatures.

Some scientists suspect that cer-tain chemicals, used as fertilizers on the land, may explain the huge increase in starfish. Rain falling on the land washes the fertilizers into streams and rivers. These then flow out to sea. The scientists say that as phytoplankton algae feed on the

fertilizer chemicals their numbers have greatly increased. More phy-toplankton algae, around the Great Barrier Reef, means more food for starfish larvae. Therefore, many more survive to become adult starfish.

Corals get their bright colors from tiny algae that live inside them. These algae provide the food that corals need. Yet, it seems that corals expel these algae if the surrounding seawater changes. It’s not known what causes them to do this. One idea is that the seawater has become warmer or cooler. Another possibil-ity is a greater amount of carbon di-oxide in the seawater. This makes it more acidic. Corals turn white when they expel the algae. This is why it is called coral bleaching. If the algae do not return the corals will die.

Researchers working at SeaSim hope to work out if fertilizers are the reason for the increase in the numbers of crown-of-thorns star-fish. They also want to discover what causes coral to expel the algae. If they succeed SeaSim could then be used to test possible solutions to these problems.

ADVERTISING MERGER

On July 28, the bosses of two large advertising agencies, Omnicom and Publicis, announced a merger. This means that the two companies had agreed to join together to form one much bigger company. The merger will create the world’s biggest ad-vertising agency.

Both companies work in many different countries. Omnicom is based in New York City, in the U.S. Publicis’ headquarters is in Paris, the capital of France.

Advertising agencies do many different things for their clients.

These include creating their adverts that are broadcast on television and radio as well as those printed in magazines and newspapers. The agencies will recommend, design and operate marketing campaigns. They will also negotiate the price their clients pay to have their adverts displayed, with television and radio stations. Nowadays, planning dig-ital advertising on mobile devices and the internet is another job usual-ly done by advertising agencies.

Agencies that do all these things are known as “full service” agencies. Before the merger was announced there were four main international full service advertising agencies. WPP, which has its main office in London, the capital of Britain, was the biggest. Second and third were Omnicom and Publicis. The fourth, Interpublic Group (known as IPG), is another American com-pany with its headquarters in New York City.

These four full service agencies own many different advertising companies. These have expertise in different types of advertising. One might be known for its design and creative work and another for arrang-ing digital advertising. Saatchi & Saatchi and Leo Burnett Worldwide, which are both well-known advertis-ing agencies, are part of Publicis.

It is not unusual for one company to buy another. This is often called a takeover. A merger is different. When a merger happens it often means that the two companies are of equal size and importance.

The new company will be called Publicis Omnicom Group. The two


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

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bosses believe that by merging their companies they will be able to save a large amount of money. It will also mean that they have more pow-er when negotiating with television and radio stations about the price of showing adverts. At first, both men will run the new company jointly. However, after a few years, John Wren, the head of Omnicom, will become the new company’s boss.

The big international firms that use these large advertising agencies are often known as “Blue Chip” compa-nies. Sometimes these “Blue Chips” do not like to work with the same ad-vertising agency that their rivals use.

Some people suspect that a num-ber of Omnicom and Publicis’ larger Blue Chip clients will be unhappy about their merger. For example, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Apple, and BMW use one of the agencies while their rivals; Pepsi-Cola, Google,

Samsung and Mercedes work with the other. It’s therefore possible that some of Omnicom and Publicis’ bigger clients may now decide to change agencies and start to work with either WPP or IPG.

INCA MAIDEN STUDY

Scientists from Britain have recent-ly completed a study on the body of a preserved, or mummifi ed, young Inca girl. Her body was found in 1999 near the top of a volcano. Nearby were the bodies of two oth-er mummifi ed Inca children. The volcano, called Llullaillaco, is on the border between Argentina and Chile, in the Andes Mountains.

The Inca civilization was cen-tered around modern-day Peru. At its most powerful, the Inca Empire included parts of what we now call

Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina.

By the early 1500s European ex-plorers and soldiers had crossed the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in North and South America. Spanish sol-diers, called Conquistadors, heard rumors of Inca cities in the Andes Mountains built of gold. They want-ed to find the cities and take the gold back to Spain. Eventually they de-stroyed the Inca civilization.

The young girl is believed to have been between 13 and 15 years old. She is known as the “Llullaillaco Maiden”. The two other mummified children found near the top of the volcano were a boy, who was aged about seven, and a six-year-old girl. Of the three the boy was the only one to have been tied up. It’s believed that they were taken to the top of the volcano and left there about 500 years ago.


Llullaillaco is the seventh highest mountain in the Andes. The freezing cold dry air at the top of the volcano had preserved the children’s bodies and the clothes they were wearing.

Scientists study the “Llullaillaco Maiden”

Historians think that the Incas left young children at the top of moun-tains as a sacrifice. The Incas are thought to have done this to please their gods and control their empire. When the Spanish arrived they were shocked to discover that Inca cul-ture included child sacrifice. One Spanish priest described how par-ents were made to hand over their children for these sacrifices. The parents were supposed to be glad that their children had been selected to please the gods.

The team of scientists studied some of the girl’s hair. From this they were able to discover that, a few months before the girl died, she drank a lot of alcohol. The girl also seems to have been chewing the leaves from coca plants. The drug cocaine is made from this plant. Chewing its leaves creates a drug-like effect.

Research shows that the girl came from a poor family. This was known because she had been mainly eating potatoes and other vegetables. Yet about one year before she died her diet changed. She began eating meat

and maize, a type of corn. Then, these were foods that only important or wealthy Inca people ate.

It therefore seems that the girl was being specially “prepared” for the sacrifice for 12 months before she died. As the time got nearer, she was given more and more alcohol and coca leaves. The scientists suspect that she was probably unconscious when she was left on the mountain-top. They say that she would then have quickly died because of the cold and lack of oxygen.

The Llullaillaco Maiden and the bodies of the two other children can be seen at the High Moun-tain Archaeological Museum, in Argentina.

STEAMBOAT GEYSER ERUPTS

The Steamboat Geyser erupted on July 31. The last time this geyser, which is the tallest in the world, erupted was eight years ago. Its most recent eruption sent hot water and steam 300 feet (90 meters) into the air. It lasted for nine minutes.

Steamboat Geyser is one of many in the Yellowstone National Park, in the U.S. Yellowstone was set up in 1872. It is believed to be the world’s first national park. Yellowstone cov-ers a large area. Most of the park is in the state of Wyoming. It also extends into Idaho and Montana. There are large herds of bison and elk living in Yellowstone. It is also home to many grizzly bears and wolves.

Much of the park is on what scientists call the Yellowstone Pla-teau. This is believed to be above a geological “hotspot”. This means that the area often has volcanic or earthquake activity. Large areas of Yellowstone can even move up and down by several inches each year.

This movement depends on the pressure of the magma, or hot liquid rock, deep below.

Some people have named the Yel-lowstone hotspot a “supervolcano”. There are frequent small earthquakes, or tremors, in the park. In some plac-es hot water and steam are forced out of the ground. These eruptions are known as geysers. There are around 1,000 geysers in the world. About half of them are in Yellowstone.

Geysers occur in volcanic areas where magma is not far below the sur-face of the ground. Water that sinks to a depth of around 6,600 feet (2,000 meters) comes into contact with hot rocks. The water, which is under pres-sure, then boils. The hot water and steam is then forced out of a hole, or vent, that leads to the surface.

Steamboat Geyser eruption

Some geysers erupt at regular in-tervals. Perhaps the most famous is called Old Faithful. This one is also in the Yellowstone National Park. Old Faithful erupts almost every 91 min-utes. Each eruption reaches a height of about 130 feet (40 meters) and lasts for roughly one and a half minutes.

The Steamboat Geyser eruptions last for between three and 40 min-utes. This geyser’s first eruption was recorded in 1878. Normally power-ful eruptions or jets of steam follow the hot water. Unlike Old Faithful, Steamboat’s eruptions do not hap-pen at regular intervals. It had no eruptions between 1911 and 1961, a


period of 50 years. Yet in 1964 the geyser erupted a record 29 times.

Several visitors to Yellowstone, who happened to be close to the Steamboat Geyser, were lucky to see the latest eruption. They said that just before it began there was a loud noise, which came from deep under-ground. They described it as sound-ing like an approaching train.

ROADS CLOSED IN ROME

On August 3, several busy roads were closed in the center of Rome, the capital of Italy. From now on only buses, taxis and bicycles will be able to use these streets. The clo-sures are part of a plan that has been drawn up by Ignazio Marino, the city’s mayor. In the future the mayor wants these roads to be closed to all traffi c and only used by pedestrians.

Via dei Fori Imperiali, in Rome

The largest road that has been closed is the Via dei Fori Imperiali. It has four lanes and is about 0.7 miles (1.1 kilometers) long. This straight road runs from a square called the Piazza Venezia to the city’s famous Roman Colosseum.

The Colosseum is a large amphi-theater, or open-air arena. To many people it is the symbol of Ancient Rome and the Roman Empire. Em-peror Vespasian ordered building work to start on the amphitheater in CE 72, so it is almost 2,000 years old. The huge arena took about ten

years to complete. By then Vespa-sian had died and his son Titus had become emperor.

The Colosseum was an ellipti-cal, or oval-shaped, building with a large open space in the middle. Around this open space there were seats for as many as 50,000 people. The Colosseum is best known for the gladiator fights and violent bat-tles that once took place within it. These were part of large shows that were put on to entertain the citizens of Ancient Rome.

Rome’s Colosseum

The Via dei Fori Imperiali was built on the orders of the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini (1883 – 1945). To make way for the road many old churches and hundreds of other buildings were knocked down. It was completed in 1932. When the road was finished it meant that Mussolini was able to see the Col-osseum from his office in the Piazza Venezia. During this time the wide road was frequently used for large military parades.

On either side of the Via dei Fori Imperiali are the Forum and the Pal-atine Hill. The Forum was a meet-ing place in the center of the ancient city and the Palatine Hill was where some Roman Emperors lived.

The roads that surround the Col-osseum have also been closed to cars and trucks. The mayor said that it was strange that one of the world’s most famous buildings was in the

middle of a busy roundabout. Anoth-er problem was the tens of thousands of people who visit the Colosseum every year. There was not enough room for them on the sidewalks around the ancient amphitheater.

Mr. Marino wants to create an “archaeological park” in the center of the city. Under the Via dei Fori Imperiali are the remains of build-ings that were used by famous em-perors such as Julius Caesar and Augustus. The mayor plans to have part of this road dug up so visitors to the city can see these ancient ruins.

Not everyone is happy about the road closures. Local shopkeepers and people who live in the center of the city have complained. They claim that the mayor’s plan will cause large traffic jams on roads in other parts of the city.

DUELING DINOSAURS FOR SALE

The Bonhams Company has an-nounced that two unusual dinosaur fossils will be put up for sale in November. Bonhams is a well-known international auction house. It is based in London, the capital of Britain. The auction, or sale, of the large piece of rock that contains the fossils will take place in New York City, in the U.S.

The fossils were found at a place called Hells Creek, in the state of Montana, in the U.S., in 2006. This area is famous for its dinosaur fossils.

The rock includes the fossilized skeletons of two dinosaurs. They seemed to have both died when they were fighting each other. For this reason they have become known as the “Montana Dueling Dinosaurs”. Some call them the “Dueling Dinos”. The people on whose land they were found own the rock and the fossils.


The two dinosaurs are believed to be a Nanotyrannus lancensis and a type of Chasmosaurus ceratop-sian. The first is a carnivore, or meat eater, and the other is a plant eating dinosaur, or herbivore. Both dino-saurs would have been about eight feet (2.4 meters) tall and around 30 feet (9.1 meters) long.

Artist’s model of the Montana Dueling Dinosaurs based on the positions of the fossils (Bonhams)

Only two Nanotyrannus have ever been found. Of the two the one that is part of “Dueling Dinos” has the most complete skeleton. Some palaeontologists, or scientists who study fossils and prehistoric life, are not sure that Nanotyrannus was a separate species. Its name means “dwarf tyrant”. Although they are much smaller its bones look very similar to those of a Tyrannosaurus rex (T. rex). Some scientists there-fore think that Nanotyrannus is really a young, or juvenile, T. rex. Others believe that it is a different dinosaur but one that is closely re-lated to T. rex.

The Chasmosaurus is a type of Triceratops. These dinosaurs are best known for their horns and distinctive bony frill. The frill is a part of their skull, which protected their neck.

Scientists are sure that the two dinosaurs must have been fighting against each other. Some of the Nanotyrannus’ teeth are stuck in the skull of the Chasmosaurus. What’s more the Nanotyrannus’ skull and chest have been crushed. The

Chasmosaurus kicking its attacker is the likely cause of these injuries.

The skeletons are very well pre-served. This is probably because the bodies of the two dinosaurs were buried soon after their deadly fight. On both skeletons there is some pre-served skin. It is very rare to find this on fossils of creatures that died many millions of years ago.

Bonhams predict that the “Mon-tana Dueling Dinosaurs” may be sold for as much as $9 million. It is unlikely that a museum will be able to afford to pay this amount of mon-ey. Many therefore expect the fossil to be bought by a wealthy private collector.

ROBOT IN SPACE

The fi rst talking android, or robot, has been sent into space. It was on board a Japanese unmanned spacecraft that lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan on August 3. The spacecraft, or cargo ship, then traveled to the International Space Station (ISS).

The ISS is an international proj-ect. The U.S. and Russia and a num-ber of other countries built it. The first part of the space station was launched into space in 1998. Many other rocket launches were needed to complete it. The ISS has been manned since 2000.

The space station orbits, or trav-els around, the Earth at a height of roughly 248 miles (400 kilometers). Each day it completes 15.7 orbits of the planet.

Nowadays, astronauts spend around six months living in the space station before being replaced by others. So far astronauts from at least 15 countries have stayed on the

ISS. Yet most astronauts who travel to the space station are either from America or Russia.

Most of the astronauts who spend time on the ISS carry out experiments or maintain and repair parts of the space station. In No-vember Kochi Wakata, an astronaut from Japan, will arrive at the ISS. The talking robot, which is called Kirobo, is part of an experiment. It has been designed to talk to Mr. Wakata in Japanese and keep him company during his time on the space station.

The name Kirobo comes from two Japanese words that mean “hope” and “robot”. Kirobo is not the type of robot that does difficult physical tasks. All it does is communicate or talk. This means that it is very small. Kirobo weighs only about 2.2 pounds (one kilogram) and is just 13 inches (34 centimeters) tall.

Woman speaking with Kirobo

The robot has been designed to work in zero gravity. It has been programed to recognize Mr. Waka-ta’s face. Kirobo will record all their conversations. It will also pass mes-sages back from Mr. Wakata to the space control room in Japan. A sim-ilar, or twin android, called Mirata, will be in the control room.

Japan is more advanced in build-ing robots than any other country. The Japanese population is now ag-ing quickly. This means that in years to come there will a greater number of elderly people. Many may have


to live alone. Kirobo is part of an experiment to see how people react to talking robots when they are with them for a long time. It’s possible that similar robots will be used in Japan to keep older people company in the future.

The cargo spacecraft that took Kirobo to the ISS was made in Ja-pan. It also carried supplies of food and extra equipment for scientific experiments. These cargo ships are called “Kounotori”. This is the Jap-anese name for a white stork, which is a type of bird.

Once all the supplies have been unloaded at the ISS the astronauts fill the Kounotori with rubbish. The cargo ships are then sent back to-wards the Earth. As the spacecraft enter the Earth’s atmosphere both they and the rubbish inside them burn up.

The robot was asked a few ques-tions by news reporters before it was sent into space. Kirobo answered one by using similar words to those spoken by the American astronaut, Neil Armstrong (1930 – 2012). In 1969, when Armstrong stood on the Moon for the first time he said “that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. Kirobo said that its space trip would be “one small step for me, a giant leap for robots.”

TOPPING OUT CEREMONY

A special ceremony was held in the city of Shanghai, in China, on August 3. The last steel beam was fi tted to the top of a new skyscraper called the Shanghai Tower. When this happens those working on a tall building often celebrate by orga-nizing what’s known as a “topping out” ceremony.

Shanghai is one of the largest cities in China. Its new skyscraper has 121 storys. Work still needs to be done inside the building. When completed the tower will be 2,073 feet (632 me-ters) tall. This means that it will be the second highest building in the world. The tallest, at 2,722 feet (830 meters), is the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai.

Shanghai Tower

Building work on the new sky-scraper started in 2008. It is in an area of the city called Pudong. Two other very tall buildings have already been built in this part of Shanghai. Pudong is China’s main financial center. Many Chinese and international banks and finance companies have their offices in these new buildings.

An international architecture company called Gensler designed the Shanghai Tower. This company has its headquarters in San Francisco, in the U.S. The design includes a num-ber of special features. For example, the tower was built with about 25% less steel than other buildings of a similar height. Wind turbines, near the top, will make some of the elec-tricity used in the building. Special glass has been used to help keep the tower cool in the summer. Heat inside the building will come from geother-mal energy, or warmth, which comes from deep underground.

The “twisting” shape of the skyscraper is to help the building withstand powerful winds. At cer-tain times of the year this part of China can be struck by typhoons. These are huge powerful tropical storms that form in the southern Pa-cific Ocean. They bring high-speed winds and large amounts of rain. Typhoons can damage or destroy buildings and cause very serious flooding. However, once they move across land, they get weaker and gradually disappear.

The Shanghai Tower will con-tain offices, a luxury hotel, shops, cafes, and restaurants. The own-ers of the building expect it to be used by about 16,000 people every day. Visitors will be able to see the views from an observation deck at the top. Inside the building will be the world’s longest-traveling single elevator, or lift. It will go up about 1,900 feet (580 meters). This is a longer distance than any of the ele-vators in the Burj Khalifa.

Art Gensler, the boss of the Gensler Company spoke at the top-ping out ceremony. Several senior Chinese government ministers also attended the celebration.

Newsademic.comEditor: Rebecca Watson

American Editor: Chris Tarn

Acknowledgements:News story photographs by gettyimages

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ISSUE 203 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

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ACROSS 1 Noun (Plural) People traveling on foot 4 Verb To praise or advise what is best, or the best thing to do 8 Adjective Describes something that is easy to recognize

because it is different from other things 9 Noun The act of killing an animal or person as an offering

to a god or gods 12 Noun A person who rules in a cruel or unjust manner 14 Noun Particular style of building 17 Adjective Describes the relationships among the air, land,

water, and the living things that rely on them 18 Noun Equipment that reproduces real conditions 19 Adjective Describes private information meant to be

shared only with certain people 20 Adverb Describes something that is true or correct, but

people may not think of it in that way, or it may not be important

DOWN 2 Verb To discuss with others in order to reach an

agreement 3 Verb To have a discussion or argument about something 5 Adjective Describes something made by people, often as

a copy of something natural 6 Verb To break up into small parts 7 Noun Gas in the stomach and bowels 10 Noun The act of continuing to be fi rm about a demand

even after a refusal 11 Adjective Able to continue successfully over a long

period of time 13 Adjective Causing a person to become dependent on

something, often a chemical or drug 15 Noun (Plural) Machines with blades through which a

liquid, gas or wind fl ows to produce power 16 Noun An area of high ground with a fairly level surface


ISSUE 203GLOSSARY 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 fi nding the 19 words write down the 20th (or missing) word under the puzzle.

A R C H I T E C T U R E T A B E D L

A D G Z R E C O M M E N D N P Y H A

P B D C Q S E N I B R U T E P B U I

R K N I M L G K O U Y W D G N E A T

O Z J N C K I I L L S E W O Z M E N

T T R W Y T D K L S S X X T N X T E

A H Z Z L A I A I T O N R I F F A D

L S I G P D C V R N E L U A J L L I

U Y A F D I T I E V S B C T Y A P F

M C O C N Y A A I M W I E E C T U N

I W D H R N J T Z Z G N S I D U Y O

S Z C A S I C L F F R K G T L L M C

Q E N P A N F R F S O O B R E E U C

T T Q B I V E I H U L I T R B N I N

J D W T M Q S X C O E Q F I D C C W

C D S B Z R R H C E Q D I X R E N E

A I S Q R C A E L B A N I A T S U S

D I S I N T E G R A T E Z T H L J H

MISSING WORD ANSWER =

ISSUE 202 A

NSW

ERS

S I L H O U E T T E D L L X D M S C

R E C E V F P F X K S A C L D M B A

E Q T I P W D B I N G S U M L L J M

N B X T B R E A O L A Z Y E I T E O

I F U M L V O I L C Y R W K F F M U

A H F L Z E T P C E O X X J G V M F

T R T C L C M L E T P Z Q A N O U L

N M K M U E R E I R T W U M C J N A

O F I D P D T R N N T Y R Q Q J I G

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

B A V B I E O M N O S N E D F S I S

H S B O T G E F L H O I T S L M P L

L Y R W S C A O W D L E N N U F A I

T L L Q R H H T Z I S W H S J N L B

B U J O U T V L I Y C A M O L P I D

S M F K Y L M A L O B B Y W V E A Z

D N G M I L P R K I N G O T S E W M

E X P L O R A T I O N N D B G D R Z

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C1

C2

A3

A P4

T5

E R R I T O R Y

D6

I P L O M A C Y R N

L O H7

O V E8

R T

I U P X S9

A

B10

A F E P M11

I T I G A T I O N

F12

U N N E L M13

R L L N

L C A14

B D U C T I O N S H E

L E G N I R O R

E E I E A U S

T C S15

E T T L E M E N T S

I I I T

N P O L16

T I17

A E18

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A19

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