Newsademic Issue 241 A

January 22, 2015American English edition

Issue Number 241

In this issue

Clever pitcher plantBoko Haram in CameroonMacedonian tomb announcementWorld Religion DayEuropean Union GM voteSea level calculationsEaster Island studyChinese peacekeepersDawn Wall climbCambodia’s new caecilianPope Francis in the PhilippinesPluto encounter beginsHigh altitude geeseSri Lanka’s new presidentProtecting the Taj MahalCurrency cap endsDetroit’s International autoshowLake Michigan shipwreckZebras and their stripesGlossary Crossword and Wordsearch Puzzle

“I am Charlie” slogan used by many people to show their support for freedom of speech

A huge anti-terrorism march, or demon-stration, was held in Paris, the capital of France, on January 11. It was a show of unity. Over 40 world leaders took part. At the beginning they all linked arms. The French president, François Hollande, was in the center of the line. Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel was to his left. Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Mali’s leader, held the president’s right arm.

Nearly two million people took to the streets in Paris. Hundreds of thousands marched in other French cities such as Toulouse, Nice, Lyon, Marseille, and Rennes. Many of those taking part held pens and pencils. Others waved “Le Tri-colore”, or French flags. Many sang “La Marseillaise”, the country’s national an-them. Smaller anti-terrorism gatherings took place, on the same day, in cities all around the world.

The people and politicians marched to remember 17 people who lost their lives in two terrorist shootings in Paris. They also marched to support “free speech”. Thousands held pieces of black paper with the words “Je suis Charlie” (I am Charlie) printed on them. The Charlie comes from a French satirical magazine called Charlie Hebdo (Charlie Weekly). The magazine’s workers were the targets of the first terror attack.

The message “Je suis Charlie” quickly became a popular slogan. People who are “Charlie” believe in free speech. They will never give in to those who want to take away their rights and freedoms. Three peo-ple at the Paris demonstration held a huge pencil above their heads. Written on it, in big letters, were the words “not afraid”.

The marches were held four days af-ter two Islamist gunmen entered Charlie Hebdo’s offices. At the time, workers and

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bosses were attending a meeting. The gunmen fired their automatic weapons.

Charlie Hebdo has included car-toons of the Prophet Muhammad in the past. The magazine frequently makes fun of all religions, especially Christianity and Judaism. Cartoons are also drawn of French politicians and many world leaders. Some think that Charlie Hebdo’s cartoons are funny. Others disagree. They say that many of the magazine’s drawings are offensive. However, the magazine has not broken any French laws. If it had, the authorities would have forced it to close.

The two gunmen shot and killed 12 people. Amongst the dead were Charlie Hebdo’s boss and several people who drew the best known cartoons. Eleven others were bad-ly wounded. The gunmen escaped and drove away. The two men had planned the attack. They said that they attacked Charlie Hebdo be-cause it made fun of Islamic leaders. People in France, and many other countries, were shocked when they heard what had happened.

The following day a different gunman shot and killed a police-woman on a Paris street. Two days after the attack on Charlie Hebdo, the police tracked the two gunmen to a factory building. It was not far from Paris’ main international airport. The factory was quickly surrounded by specially trained police officers.

As it was about to get dark, the police set off several explosions. They broke into the building. The two gunmen were shot dead. They were brothers. Both were born in France. Their parents moved to the country from Algeria. Between five and six million Muslims live in France. This is about nine percent of the country’s population. The

ancestors of many French Muslim families came from Algeria and oth-er North African countries.

Before the police raided the factory building, another incident began in Paris. The gunman who killed the policewoman the previous day entered a Jewish supermarket. He was carrying several weapons. The man shot and killed four people and took several hostages. He then used a telephone to give a warning. The gunman said that he would kill his hostages if the two brothers were hurt.

Street in Paris during the anti-terrorism march

Police teams entered the super-market just after the factory building was broken into. The gunman in the supermarket was overpowered and killed. All the hostages were freed. Unlike the Charlie Hebdo murders, this was an anti-Jewish, or anti-Se-mitic, attack. Later, the police said that the two brothers and the super-market gunman knew each other.

About 500,000 Jewish people live in France. The country has the largest Jewish population in Europe. In recent years, many French Jews have complained of being beaten or insulted by French Muslims. Hun-dreds say that they are now thinking of leaving France. Last year 7,000 Jewish people in France moved to Israel. Israeli leaders said that the four people killed in the supermarket could be buried in the country. Their families agreed. The funerals took place in Jerusalem on January 13.

Thousands of people attended. Some held up signs that read “Je suis juif” (I am Jewish) or “Je suis Israelien” (I am an Israeli).

The attack on Charlie Hebdo led to discussions about its cartoons and free speech. Many people say that both popular and unpopular speech needs to be protected. Everyone, they argue, should be able to say what they like. They have a right to offend others, and a right to be offended. Allowing Charlie Hebdo to produce its cartoons is an example of free speech. Not everyone agrees. Many Muslim leaders and others say that it is wrong to mock their, or other, reli-gions. They feel that Charlie Hebdo used the free speech argument to de-liberately offend others.

Charlie Hebdo is a weekly mag-azine. The day after the attack, the remaining workers said that the magazine would continue. The next edition was published on Jan-uary 14. A cartoon of Prophet Mu-hammad was on the front cover. He is shown crying and holding a message. It says “Je suis Charlie”. Above his head is the wording “Tout est pardonné” (“All is forgiven”).

Normally, about 60,000 copies of Charlie Hebdo are printed. Many people wanted to buy the next issue. The number of copies was increased to seven million. Unusually, the magazine was translated into sev-eral languages. Copies were sold in at least 20 countries. Most people who bought the magazine would not normally read it. Yet they believed that buying this edition supported free speech. The front cover angered many Muslims. There were large demonstrations in several Muslim countries such as Yemen, Pakistan, Algeria, and Mali. In Niger pro-testers set fire to several Christian churches.

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SMART PITCHER PLANT

Researchers from several universi-ties in Britain have studied a pitcher plant. Called Nepenthes rafflesiana, it feeds on insects. There are many types of pitcher plant. Yet, the re-searchers suspect that this one is “smarter” than others. The way the plant has evolved means that it catches several ants at a time, rather than just one.

Pitcher plants are carnivores, or meat eaters. Most are climbers. Like vines, they use trees as a support. Many species of pitcher plant grow on the islands of Borneo and Suma-tra, in Indonesia.

Nepenthes rafflesiana, pitcher plant

In English, a pitcher is a jug-like container. Used for storing and pouring liquids, it has a handle and a spout. Pitcher plants have a bowl and open lid. They attract insects with either bright colors or sweet, sugary nectar. Their bowl’s inner sides are smooth and waxy. Therefore, in-sects falling into them are unable to climb out. A pitcher plant’s nectar is often found under its lid.

The liquid inside a pitcher plant’s bowl contains digestive acids.

These break down, or dissolve, an insect’s body. After this, the liquid contains nutrients, such as nitro-gen. The plant then absorbs the nutrients from the liquid. Pitcher plants usually grow in soils that are acidic or have little nitrogen. Most plants get nutrients through their roots. Pitcher plants are different. The nutrients they need come from the creatures they catch.

Some types of pitcher plant are very big. Most trap insects. Yet a few of the larger ones can catch small lizards or mice. Another type, called Nepenthes rajah, pro-duces nectar that tree shrews eat. However, this pitcher plant does not feed on the shrews. Instead, the plant’s bowl catches any drop-pings the shrews produce while they feed on its nectar. The plant gets its nitrogen by breaking down the droppings.

N. rafflesiana grows on the is-land of Borneo. The researchers noticed that single ants often visited these pitcher plants. They took some nectar and then left. The ants did not fall into the bowl. The researchers wondered why. They then noticed that the lip, or rim, of the bowl was dry. As it was not slippery, the ant was unlikely to fall in. However, lat-er in the day, if weather conditions were right, the bowl’s lip became wet and slippery. The researchers believe that this change is deliber-ate. It’s a tactic to trap more ants.

Single, or individual ants are like scouts. They go looking for food. After finding some, the ants re-turn to their nests, or colonies. The scouts then lead other ants to where the food is. Therefore, by keeping its rim dry, the pitcher plant allows a scout ant to feed and escape. Yet, later in the day, if the scout returns with several other ants the plant’s

rim will be very slippery. So, by allowing a single one to feed, this pitcher plant has a greater chance of trapping a larger number of ants.

BOKO HARAM IN CAMEROON

The government of Chad has de-cided to send hundreds of soldiers to Cameroon. There, they will sup-port the Cameroon army in the fight against Boko Haram. This is a mil-itant Islamic group based in north-east Nigeria. Chad’s government made its decision after Boko Haram launched its first attack in Camer-oon, on January 13.

Nigeria has a large population. Of its 170 million people about half are Christians and half are Muslims. Most people who live in the north are Muslims. Christians live mainly in the south.

Boko Haram was set up just over ten years ago. Its leaders say that they want to create an Islamic state, or caliphate, in northern Nigeria. In this state everyone would have to follow strict Islamic rules and laws. Boko Haram is now thought to have at least 7,000 fighters.

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In recent years Boko Haram has carried out many attacks in Nigeria. Government buildings, churches, police stations, and schools have been bombed and set on fire. Thou-sands of people have been killed. Most Boko Haram attacks have

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been in the northeast of the country. Yet there have also been bombings and shootings in many other towns and cities. These include Abuja, Ni-geria’s capital.

In 2013, Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s president, declared a state of emergency in three states: Bor-no, Yobe and Adamawa. All are in northeast Nigeria. Thousands of Nigerian soldiers have been sent to the area. Yet army commanders have not been able to defeat or cap-ture Boko Haram’s leaders or stop their attacks.

Last April a group of armed men from Boko Haram entered a school in Borno. Many teenage girls were staying at the school. The men took over 250 girls back to their secret camps in the forest. The girls are still missing. At the beginning of January, Boko Haram fighters at-tacked Baga. This is a Nigerian town on the shores of Lake Chad, in Borno. Hundreds of people were killed. Many crossed the lake into Chad to get away from the fighting.

Boko Haram’s fighters attacked an army base in Cameroon. This base is close to the Nigerian-Cam-eroonian border. At the same time, Boko Haram followers abducted 60 people in Cameroon. Most were women and children. They were then taken back across the border into Nigeria.

The government of Chad is now worried about Boko Haram. It fears that the militant group will soon start to attack towns and vil-lages in Chad. N’Djamena, Chad’s capital city, is not far from north east Nigeria

François Hollande, the president of France, has tried to get the lead-ers of Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad, to work together to defeat Boko Haram. So far, this

has not happened. Nearly all coun-tries in Africa are members of the African Union (AU). AU leaders are now expected to meet to decide what should be done to stop Boko Haram attacks.

MACEDONIAN TOMB

Archaeologists in Greece made an unexpected announcement on Janu-ary 19. For the last six months they have been excavating a large tomb, or burial place. It was built around 2,300 years ago. The archaeologists said that they had found the remains of five people inside the tomb.

The tomb was discovered in 2012. It is in an area of northern Greece called Amphipolis. Thou-sands of years ago this was part of the Macedonian kingdom. Philip the Second (382 – 336 BCE) and his son, Alexander the Great (356 – 323 BCE), were Macedonian kings.

One of the caryatids inside the tomb (ΥΠΠΟ)

The announcement about the tomb surprised many people. Most expected it to be the burial place of one important Macedonian figure. It could be one of Alexander’s gener-als or his mother. Some suggested that it might even be the final resting place of Alexander himself.

Alexander was one of the world’s greatest military commanders. It’s said that he never lost a battle. In 334 BCE, Alexander led a large army into what is now modern-day

Turkey. His army was made up of soldiers from Macedonia and sever-al other Greek states.

Alexander’s army conquered Egypt. There, the Macedonian lead-er founded the city of Alexandria. Alexander then traveled eastwards, across the Middle East. He defeated Persia’s much larger armies. Alex-ander took control of Babylon, the Persian capital city. At that time, this city was one of the world’s largest.

Entrance of the Amphipolis tomb, guarded by two (now headless) sphinxes (ΥΠΠΟ)

Alexander and his soldiers even-tually reached the Himalayan Moun-tains. Seven years after they left Macedonia, many of Alexander’s sol-diers wanted to return. By this time, Alexander had created a huge empire. It stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to where Pakistan is today.

In 323 BCE Alexander arrived back in Babylon. Today, the ruins of Babylon are about 53 miles (85 ki-lometers) from Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. After a feast, or large party, Alexander suddenly became very ill. Ancient records say that he was unable to walk or speak. His heart-beat slowed. Twelve days later Al-exander died. He was 32 years old.

After Alexander’s death his em-pire was divided between his gener-als. It’s said that Alexander’s body was placed in a gold human-shaped coffin, or sarcophagus. It was filled with honey. Arrangements were made to take his body back to Macedonia.

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Ptolemy was one of Alexander’s generals. He became the Egyptian ruler. Ptolemy decided to take Alex-ander’s body to Egypt. There, it was finally placed in a large tomb, in Al-exandria. The tomb was still in the city 500 years later. It’s not known what happened to Alexander’s tomb after this.

Philip the Second’s tomb was found in Macedonia many years ago. The recently discovered one is far bigger than Philip’s. A pair of sphinxes (now headless) guard the tomb’s entrance. There are several chambers inside. Two caryatids are in front of one chamber. These are larger than life statues of women, which act as pillars. A large mosaic covers one of the floors.

The archaeologists say that the bones from the tomb belong to a wom-an in her 60s, a newborn child, and two men. The men were aged between 35 and 45. One had been stabbed with a dagger. There was a fourth adult in the tomb. Yet, unlike the others, this person’s body had been cremated, or burned. The archaeologists hope to be able to do DNA tests on the bones. It will then be possible to find out if these people were related.

After Alexander’s death his moth-er, wife, son, and half-brother were all murdered. These murders are be-lieved to have happened near Amphi-polis. It’s possible that the tomb was built for Alexander. Yet, as his body was taken to Egypt, the burial place was used for his family.

WORLD RELIGION DAY

Each year, in January, many peo-ple mark, or celebrate, World Re-ligion Day. It takes place on the third Sunday of the month. This year’s World Religion Day was on

January 18. The purpose of the day is “unity”, or to bring people from all religions together.

World Religion Day began in 1950. People who follow the Bahá’í faith, in the U.S., started it. At first the event was celebrated only in America. Yet, within a few years, people in many other countries joined in. World Religion Day is supposed to be a celebration of all the world’s religions. The aim is to unite everyone, whatever their be-liefs. It is meant to show that all re-ligions are similar. Followers of the Bahá’í faith want everyone to work together to help humankind and pro-mote peace.

Of all the world’s main religions, the Bahá’í faith is the youngest. It is a monotheistic religion. This means that its followers believe in one God. A man called Bahá’u’lláh (1817 – 1892) founded the religion in 1863. He lived in Persia, most of which is now modern-day Iran. The authori-ties arrested Bahá’u’lláh for his be-liefs. He was kept in a cell for over 20 years. Bahá’u’lláh died in a prison in Acre. Today, this city is in Israel.

People who follow the Bahá’í faith are called Bahá’ís. They be-lieve that God’s messengers, or prophets, have the best knowledge of God. They call these people man-ifestations. To Bahá’ís, Bahá’u’lláh was God’s most recent messenger, or prophet. Previous manifesta-tions, they say, are important figures from all the world’s main religions. They include: Abraham and Moses

(Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Krishna (Hinduism), Zoroaster (Zo-roastrianism), Buddha (Buddhism), Jesus Christ (Christianity), and Mu-hammad (Islam).

Bahá’ís believe that all people, from every race and every reli-gion, are equal. Bahá’u’lláh taught his followers that God looks after mankind. At certain times in human history, God sends one of his man-ifestations. God does this to show, or reveal, more of himself through these messengers and prophets.

There are about six million Bahá’ís in the world. They live in almost every country. Followers of the faith have built seven large tem-ples. They call them Houses of Wor-ship. There is one House of Worship on each continent. The Bahá’í tem-ple in Delhi, in India, was complet-ed in 1986. The large building is shaped like a lotus flower. People from all faiths are welcome to visit these Houses of Worship. Bahá’ís have no formal religious services. Instead, they gather for prayer and private meditation.

Bahá’í House of Worship in Delhi, in India

Nowadays, many towns and cities organize special events on World Re-ligion Day. People from all religions are invited. Atheists (those who do not believe that God exists) and ag-nostics (people who do not believe or disbelieve in God) are welcomed. Often a representative from each faith group will give a short talk about their own religion.

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GM CROPS AND THE EU

The European Parliament passed a new law on January 13. A ma-jority voted to allow each of the 28 European Union (EU) coun-tries to make their own decisions about genetically modified (GM) crops. The European Parliament building is in Brussels, Belgium’s capital city.

MON810 corn or maize

Nowadays, scientists are able to modify, or change, the genes of some plants. This means that GM plants, or crops, can be made to pro-duce more food or grow with less water. It is also possible to increase their resistance to certain diseases and insects. GM food crops have been grown in North America and parts of Asia for many years.

However, not everyone agrees that GM crops are a good idea. Some dis-trust them. These people claim that not enough has been done to make sure that GM crops have no effect on other plants. They also believe that more research is needed to find out if GM crops harm the people who eat them. Others worry that GM crops could damage wildlife. Yet support-ers of GM plants insist that there is nothing wrong with them. They argue that many millions of people already eat food made from GM crops.

The EU banned the planting and import of GM crops a long time ago. However, countries were given permission to grow one type of GM

maize, or corn. It’s called MON810. MON stands for Monsanto. This is a big American agriculture company. Monsanto is one of the world’s larg-est genetically engineered (GE) seed companies. MON810 corn plants produce their own insecticide. This protects them from certain insects. One is a type of moth called the European corn borer. These insects can do a lot of damage to corn crops. MON810 has been genetically engi-neered to “resist” these insects. So far, Spain is the only EU country that grows large amounts of MON810.

Many people think that GM and GE are the same thing. GE is using high tech methods to take genes from one organism and put them into another. GM includes GE. Yet GM also covers more traditional plant breeding methods. For exam-ple, plant breeders have cross bred food plants for hundreds of years. By crossing one type of plant with another, they try to increase the number of seeds or fruit it produces. This can take many years. It is often done by trial and error. However, plants grown in this way have been genetically modified.

Members from nearly all EU countries voted for the new law. Both pro and anti GM countries thought it was a good idea. Anti countries such as Austria and Greece can continue to ban GM crops, whereas countries like Spain that want to use more of them can do so.

African nations have been affect-ed by the GM ban in EU countries. Some argue that countries in Africa have most to gain from GM crops. This is because insects and a lack of water are bigger problems in this part of the world. However, if Afri-can farmers grew GM crops, they could not sell them to EU countries. This may now change.

Some environmental organiza-tions are unhappy about the EU vote. They claim that GM crops in the U.S. are now helping to create more ag-gressive weeds and insects.

SEA LEVEL RISE

Researchers from Harvard Universi-ty, in the U.S., have checked previous sea level records. They used a com-plex mathematical method, or system. Their results suggest that the rise in sea level between 1901 and 1990 was lower than previously thought. If these results are correct, sea levels are now rising faster than predicted.

Nowadays, satellites can accu-rately measure sea levels. These measurements began in 1992. Be-fore satellites, scientists used tide gauge readings, or recordings. These gauges are usually set up around coasts. They measure the level, or height, of the sea. When these measurements are compared with previous ones, a rise or fall in the sea level can be worked out.

Malé, the capital of the Maldives

Calculating worldwide sea level rises from many years ago is dif-ficult. Before 1950 nearly all tide gauges were along the coasts of Europe and North America. In 1901 there were only three tide gauges in the southern hemisphere: two in Australia and one in New Zealand. There were no gauges around Africa or South America.

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Wind systems may affect tide gauges. Strong winds can “push” large areas of sea up against the coast. If this happens, gauges may give incorrect readings. Another problem is that tide gauges are on land. It’s not unusual for a landmass to sink or rise. This usually happens over a very long period. Yet where earthquakes occur in coastal ar-eas, this movement can be sudden. Wherever a landmass has moved, or is moving, tide gauge recordings are likely to be inaccurate.

Sea levels can rise for several reasons. More water flowing into the sea is one. Hotter temperatures can cause seawater to expand slight-ly. This expansion can create a sea level rise. Most scientists think that sea levels are now rising because of warmer temperatures. They believe that these temperatures are melting many of the world’s ice sheets and mountain glaciers.

The university researchers used a mathematical method called Kal-man filtering. It is a way of analyz-ing incomplete, or not very accurate, records. Before, sea levels were thought to have risen by between 1.5 millimeters and 1.8 millimeters each year from 1901 to 1990. The researchers’ calculations say that this figure was nearer 1.2 millime-ters. From 1990 to 2010 sea levels are believed to have risen by rough-ly three millimeters each year. The researchers agree with this figure.

An increase from 1.2 to three millimeters is greater than an in-crease from either 1.5 or 1.8. The 1.5 and 1.8 figures have been used to predict future sea level rises. So these forecasts are probably incor-rect. The predicted figures are likely to be too low, or understated.

Knowing how fast sea levels will rise is important. Many parts of the

world are only a few meters above the sea. Some examples are: Kiri-bati and Tuvalu (both Pacific Ocean island nations), the coastal area of Bangladesh and the Maldives, in the Indian Ocean. Within the next 50 to 100 years these places could become uninhabitable.

EASTER ISLAND

What happened to Easter Island’s native people is a mystery. Many think that some type of man-made disaster greatly reduced their popu-lation. Scientists from New Zealand have been working on Easter Is-land. They suspect that the island’s shrinking population was a result of natural, or environmental, changes.

Moai on Rapa Nui/Easter Island

Easter Island is in the southern Pacific Ocean. Local people call it Rapa Nui. It is one of the remotest inhabited islands in the world. Now-adays, Easter Island is part of Chile. Yet the Chilean coast is about 2,175 miles (3,500 kilometers) away. The island is shaped like a triangle. It covers an area of around 63 square miles (164 square kilometers).

Dutch sailors were the first Eu-ropeans to see Rapa Nui. Their ship arrived at the island on Easter Day in 1722. The ship’s captain named the island after the Christian festi-val. Easter island is famous for its giant stone statues. Called moai, they are human-like kneeling fig-ures with large heads and long bodies. There are over 850 moai. Many were never completed. The Rapa Nui people used stone tools to carve the statues from the island’s volcanic rock.

Satellite picture of Rapa Nui/Easter Island

People from other Pacific Is-lands, to the west, first came to Rapa Nui over 1,000 years ago. The first moai seemed to have been carved in the 1100s. The last ones were made about 500 years later. It is not known what the statues were used for, or why so many were made. The largest is about 33 feet (ten meters) tall. It weighs 74 tons.

Nobody knows how the Rapa Nui people moved the moai. Many think that they were pushed or pulled on “wooden rollers”. These might have been made from the trunks of palm trees. When Europe-ans first arrived, they found about 2,000 people on the island. There were only a few trees. About 100 years before the Europeans’ arriv-al, Rapa Nui was probably home to 15,000 people. European sailors brought illnesses such as small-pox, tuberculosis (TB), measles,

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and influenza (flu). The Rapa Nui people had little immunity to these diseases. Many died after catching them. By the 1870s the island’s pop-ulation had fallen to less than 120.

What caused the population de-cline before Europeans arrived is unknown. There are several theories, or ideas. A deadly disease or fight-ing are possibilities. Some think that there was a lack of resources. This was made worse by the Rapa Nui cutting down all the trees. When people first came to Easter Island they brought a type of rat with them. One idea is that these rats quickly multiplied. By eating or chewing on their roots, the rats killed the palm trees. Because there were no trees, other forest plants and many of the island’s birds disappeared.

The scientists looked at several sites on the island, which used to be inhabited. At each one they col-lected flakes, or pieces, of obsidian. This is a hard, glass-like volcanic rock. The native people used obsidi-an to create tools. So the rock flakes came from tool making. When ex-posed to the air, obsidian absorbs water. By measuring the amount of water, the scientists could date the pieces of rock. The number of flakes was used to work out how many people lived at a site at any one time.

Hundreds of years ago the population increased at all the sites. Then, except for one, the numbers declined. Yet this did not happen at the same time at all the sites. The scientists suspect that lo-cal climate conditions, altered, or changed. There were warmer tem-peratures and droughts in certain parts of the island. These natural changes, the scientists say, could ex-plain why the Rapa Nui population declined.

PEACEKEEPERS IN SOUTH SUDAN

On January 15, United Nations (U.N.) peacekeepers, in South Su-dan, said that 700 Chinese infantry, or combat, soldiers would be join-ing them. The soldiers are expected to arrive within the next few weeks. Chinese combat soldiers have not been part of a U.N. peacekeeping force before. These soldiers are well armed and trained to fight.

Sudan and South Sudan used to be one country. It was a former colony of Britain. Sudan became an independent nation in 1956. Soon afterwards, fighting broke out between the north and south. In the northern part of Sudan, most people are Muslims and speak Arabic. Black Africans are the majority in the south. They follow the Christian faith, or traditional African religions.

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The United Nations (U.N.) helped to arrange a peace treaty in 2005. This ended the war. As part of the treaty, it was agreed that people in the south could decide if southern Sudan should be a separate nation. In 2011 they voted in a referendum.

This is a vote in which all adults can take part. Nearly 99% of the peo-ple voted “yes” for independence. Then, six months later, South Su-dan officially became “the world’s newest country”.

Chinese U.N. peacekeepers (Albany Associates)

Sudan used to make a lot of mon-ey from selling oil to other countries. Roughly 70% of the oil now comes from oilfields in South Sudan. How-ever, the pipelines, which transport oil from these places to the Red Sea, are in Sudan. The pipelines go to a place called Port Sudan. Here the oil is loaded into ships. After South Su-dan became an independent nation, there were many arguments about oil. Eventually, South Sudan and Sudan made an agreement. South Sudan would pay Sudan for the use of its pipelines. Much of the oil from both countries is sold to China.

Salva Kiir is the president of South Sudan. Riek Machar used to be the vice president. In 2013 the two men had a disagreement. Mr. Kiir dismissed Mr. Machar. The two largest tribal, or ethnic groups, in South Sudan are the Dinka and the Nuer. Mr. Machar is from the Nuer tribe and Mr. Kiir is a Dinka. At the end of 2013 fighting broke out be-tween the two groups.

The U.N. began a peacekeeping operation in what’s now South Sudan a long time ago. It’s called UNMISS (United Nations Mission in South Sudan). After the fighting between Nuer and Dinka tribes began, the

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number of peacekeepers was in-creased to 10,000. U.N. peacekeep-ers can include soldiers, police offi-cers, health workers, and civilians.

The UNMISS peacekeepers come from many countries. India, with around 2,200, has the most soldiers in South Sudan. To make them easily recognizable, U.N. peacekeepers wear light blue berets or helmets. They are often called “blue berets”. Normally, the blue berets are told not to get involved in any fighting. Their main job is to protect civilians.

Currently, there are more than 2,000 Chinese soldiers acting as peacekeepers in different parts of the world. None are combat troops. Most are trained medics, engineers, drivers, and guards. The Chinese infantry soldiers will be based in Juba, South Sudan’s capital city. They are equipped with armored vehicles, anti-tank rockets, mortars, and machine guns. The troops also use drones, or small, unmanned spy planes. Chinese officials say that the soldiers would only use their weap-ons in self-defense.

EL CAPITAN CLIMB

Kevin Jorgeson and Tommy Cald-well are American rock climbers. On January 15, they reached the top of El Capitan’s Dawn Wall. They were the first people to successful-ly free-climb this part of the huge granite monolith. It took the climb-ers 19 days to get from the bottom to the top.

El Capitan is a rock formation in the Yosemite National Park, in Cali-fornia, in the U.S. Its name is Span-ish for “the captain” or “the chief”. Nowadays, many people (especially rock climbers) call it “El Cap”. It’s

possible to walk, or hike, to the top of El Cap. Yet one side is a 3,000 foot (900-meter) vertical rock face. It is higher than the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai. At 2,722 feet (829 meters), this building is the world’s tallest.

El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California

El Capitan was first climbed in 1958. However, these climbers used bolts, pitons and ropes. Pitons are metal pegs or spikes. Climbers ham-mer them into the rock. They can then be used to stand on or support a rope. Using this type of equipment is known as aid climbing.

Climbers divide El Capitan’s rock face into several parts. The Dawn Wall is one. The name comes from the early morning Sun. It shines on this part of the rock face. Several years ago Mr. Jorgeson and Mr. Caldwell began planning to free-climb the Dawn Wall. Most other rock climbers thought it was impossible.

Free climbers use only their hands and feet. They are attached to a rope. Yet this is not used for climbing. The rope is for safety. If free climbers lose their grip, the rope catches them, or breaks their fall. Routes up El Capitan are divid-ed into sections. These are known as pitches. The Dawn Wall has 31 pitches.

A back-up team helped the two climbers. They and the team set up a camp about half way up. Two tent-like platforms were suspended

from the rock face. This was where the two climbers ate and slept. The supporting team supplied them with food and water. Once the climbers had successfully completed one or more pitches they used ropes to re-turn to the platforms.

Some pitches were easier than others. It took Kevin Jorgeson 11 attempts, over seven days, to com-plete one pitch. He had to start at the beginning of the pitch each time he fell off. The men decided to do the climb in winter. This was because colder temperatures can affect their rubber shoes. They climbed some of the pitches wearing head torches at night. During the colder nights, the climbers’ hands sweated less and their shoes had more grip.

Kevin Jorgeson on the Dawn Wall

The men’s fingers were the big-gest problem. Many of the small bits of rock that they had to hold on to were very sharp. So their fingertips soon became cut and cracked. When resting, the two climbers covered their fingers in a special healing cream. To protect the skin, they also used tape and superglue.

Soon after reaching the top, the two men received a message of con-gratulations from Barack Obama, the president of the U.S. He said that the climbers had shown that “any-thing is possible”.

January 22, 2015 Newsademic.com™ – American English edition page 10

NEW LIMBLESS AMPHIBIAN

Herpetologists in Cambodia have made an important discovery. It has been confirmed that a limbless amphibian they recently found is a new species. Herpetologists are sci-entists who study frogs, other types of amphibians and reptiles

The new creature is a type of caecilian (pronounced seh-sill-yun). Caecilians are often described as worm or snake-like amphibians. They have no arms or legs. Unlike worms, caecilians have bones and a skull. Their skin is not the same as snakeskin.

Ichthyophis cardamomensis (Neang Thy/FFI)

Amphibians can live on the land and in the water. Other amphibian species include: frogs, toads, newts, and salamanders. Most amphibians start life as larvae. They have gills for breathing under water. As they grow, amphibians develop lungs and breathe air. Even though they have lungs, many caecilians can ab-sorb oxygen through their skin.

The new caecilian was discov-ered in the Cardamom Mountains. These mountains are in the remote southwest part of Cambodia. The creature has been given the Latin name, Ichthyophis cardamomensis. It is about 12 inches (30 centime-ters) long and gray-brown in color. The creature is only the second cae-cilian to be found in Cambodia. The other is called the striped Koa Tao Island caecilian. This one also lives

in Laos, Myanmar (also known as Burma), Thailand, and Vietnam. All are nearby countries.

There are many types of caeci-lian. Most live in tropical swampy areas in South and Central America, and Southeast Asia. The majority are between five and 14 inches (13 and 35.5 centimeters) long. The largest can grow to a length of five feet (1.5 meters). Caecilians are rarely seen. They spend most of the time under the ground, or beneath fallen leaves and dead vegetation. One South American species lives in water. This type burrows under gravel or mud at the bottom of streams or riv-ers. It comes to the surface several times a day to breathe.

The name caecilian comes from a Latin word: “caecus”. It means blind. Some caecilian species do not have eyes. Others have small eyes hidden under flaps, or folds, of skin. The creatures have two small tenta-cles on their heads. These are used to “sense” or find their prey. Caeci-lians have jaws and teeth. They feed on insects, worms and termites. The bigger species will eat small snakes, frogs and lizards.

Some caecilians are egg-layers. Yet most give birth to live young. The eggs of a few species hatch inside the female. The young then grow within the mother until they mature.

The scientists who discovered the new caecilian say that they are worried about the Cardamom Moun-tain region. Loggers are destroying some of the habitat. These people cut down trees and sell the timber. Other areas of forest are being cleared for farming. The mountain region is one of the last remaining areas for many threatened species in Cambodia. These include the Asian elephant and the gaur, a type of wild ox.

POPE IN THE PHILIPPINES

Pope Francis is the leader, or head, of the Roman Catholic Church. On January 15, he began a five-day visit to the Philippines. This is the only Asian country where most people follow the Roman Catholic faith. A national holiday was declared for the pope’s visit.

Pope Francis and Benigno Aquino, president of the Philippines, at the Malacañang Palace (MPB)

The Philippines is an archipelago, or group, of around 7,000 islands. Lu-zon, in the north, and Mindanao, in the south, are the biggest islands. Just over 100 million people live in the Philippines. About 83 million are Ro-man Catholics. The Philippines is the world’s third largest Catholic country. (Brazil has 143 million Roman Cath-olics and Mexico 123 million.)

For over 300 years the Philip-pines was a colony of Spain. The country is named after a Spanish king, Philip the Second (1556 – 1598). The Spanish brought the Ro-man Catholic religion to the country. Ferdinand Magellan (1480 – 1521) was a famous explorer. He arrived in the Philippines, after crossing the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, in 1521. Magellan then claimed all the islands for the Spanish crown.

Magellan had left Spain in 1519 with five ships and 270 men. A group of natives killed the Spanish explorer, soon after he arrived in the Philippines. In 1522, after sailing across the Indian Ocean and around

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Africa, one of the five ships returned to Spain. There were 19 men on board. Called the Victoria, this ship was the first to sail all the way around, or circumnavigate, the world.

In 1898 a war broke out between the U.S. and Spain. It lasted for three months. As part of the treaty that ended the conflict, the U.S. took control of the Philippines. During the Second World War (1939 – 1945), the islands were invaded by Japan. America recaptured the country in 1945. The following year the Philip-pines became an independent nation.

The president of the Philippines, Benigno Aquino, met Pope Francis when he arrived at a military air-base. Soon after his plane landed, all the country’s churches rang their bells for 15 minutes. The pope was introduced to political and religious leaders. The next day he visited the Malacañang Palace, in Manila, the country’s capital city. This is the home and offices of the Philippines’ president. The pope made a speech. He talked about the problems of cor-ruption, or officials being dishonest, and the need to help poorer people in the Philippines.

The following day the Pope flew to Tacloban. This city is about 360 miles (580 kilometers) from Ma-nila. Just over one year ago, Ta-cloban was hit by a huge typhoon. Typhoons are very powerful tropical storms. They bring strong winds and large amounts of rain. At least 7,000 people died in the typhoon. Over four million lost their homes.

The pope held a large outdoor re-ligious service, or Mass, at Tacloban airport. He then visited the city. It was raining heavily, as a tropical storm was about to arrive. The Pope returned to Manila early. Officials worried that his plane might not be able to take off, if the storm’s winds strengthened.

Wherever the pope went many thousands of people lined the roads. On January 18, a huge open air Mass was held in a central park, in Manila. Six million people attended the event. It was the largest papal gathering in history. The last papal visit to the Phil-ippines was in 1995, or 20 years ago. Then, a Mass held in the same place attracted a crowd of five million.

NEW HORIZONS SWITCH ON

On January 15, several instruments on an unmanned spacecraft, or space probe, were turned on. The probe is called New Horizons. The “switch on” date marked the official start of the spacecraft’s meeting, or encoun-ter, with Pluto and Charon.

Pluto was first seen or discovered in 1930. For many years it was list-ed as the Solar System’s ninth plan-et. It was also the smallest and the farthest one from the Sun. It’s now known that Pluto has five moons, or satellites. As well as being Plu-to’s nearest moon, Charon is also its largest. Charon was first spotted in 1978. Pluto’s other moons were all discovered within the last few years. They have been named Nix, Hydra, Kerberos, and Styx.

Artist’s impression of the New Horizons during its encounter with Pluto and its moon, Charon

Pluto was the Ancient Greeks’ god of the underworld, or Hades. Ha-des was where people were believed

to go when they died. The names of Pluto’s moons follow the underworld theme. Charon is the person who took the dead to the underworld on a boat. This boat crossed a river called the Styx. Nix is Charon’s mother. Hydra is a monster, which was supposedly born in the Styx. Kerberos (which is the Greek for Cerberus) was a large three-headed dog. It guarded the en-trance to Hades.

Pluto, from the Hubble Space Telescope (NASA)

In 2006, the International As-tronomical Union (IAU) officially decided Pluto would no longer be a planet. It would be called a “dwarf” planet instead. Pluto’s diameter is about 1,485 miles (2,390 kilome-ters). It is therefore 0.006 (or three five-hundredths of) the size of the Earth. Charon is roughly half the size of Pluto. The moon is very close. On average, our Moon is about 239,000 miles (385,000 kilometers) away from the Earth. The distance between Charon and Pluto is only 11,200 miles (18,000 kilometers).

New Horizons is a NASA (Nation-al Aeronautics and Space Administra-tion) space mission. The spacecraft was launched in 2006. The following year it flew past Jupiter. Since then New Horizons has spent most of its time in hibernation, or in shutdown mode. This increases the life of the probe’s control systems and saves

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energy. New Horizons finally “woke up” about six weeks ago.

The spacecraft is now about three billion miles (five billion kilometers) from the Earth. It is roughly 134 mil-lion miles (216 million kilometers) from Pluto. As the probe approaches the dwarf planet, it will start sending pictures back to NASA scientists. On July 14, New Horizons will fly past Pluto and Charon. Then, it will be only 6,000 miles (9,660 kilometers) above the dwarf planet’s surface.

Not much is known about Pluto. Pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope are not clear. They just show a round shape. It’s thought that Pluto is made of rock and ice. The dwarf planet’s surface tem-perature is around -382ºF (-230ºC). However, some scientists think that there may be a liquid ocean under the ice. Photographs sent back by New Horizons will show if Pluto has mountains and cliffs or a flatter surface. Some expect to see geysers. These are powerful jets of liquid or gas that come out of the ground.

New Horizons will not be able to circle, or orbit, Pluto. The spacecraft is going too fast and the dwarf plan-et’s gravity is too weak. After passing Pluto, New Horizons will fly on. The spacecraft will then enter the Kuiper belt. This is a huge spread-out ring of icy and rocky space objects.

HIGH FLYING GEESE

A team of researchers from Britain has completed a study of bar-headed geese. Of all the world’s birds, it’s known that these geese are probably the highest flyers. The researchers wanted to find out how high, and for how long, the birds fly.

Bar-headed geese are gray and white. Their name comes from two

horseshoe-shaped black lines, or bars, on the backs of their heads. The geese are about 30 inches (75 centi-meters) long. They spend the sum-mer around lakes in Tibet (a region of China), Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and parts of southern Russia. Each year the birds migrate. For winter months, they fly to northern India and northern Myanmar (also known as Burma). Their migration route crosses the Himalayan Mountains.

Bar-headed geese in flight, in India (J. M. Garg)

From west to east the Himalayan Mountain Range is about 1,500 miles (2,410 kilometers) long. It includes more than 100 mountains over 23,600 feet (7,200 meters) high. This is why the Himalayas are often called the “rooftop of the world”. One of the mountains is Ev-erest. At 29,029 feet (8,848 meters), this mountain is the world’s highest. Mount Everest is on the border be-tween Nepal and Tibet.

High in the Himalayas the air is very thin. It contains far less oxygen than at lower levels. Bar-headed geese have a special type of hemo-globin in their blood. Hemoglobin carries oxygen from an animal’s lungs to the rest of its body. The geese’s hemoglobin absorbs, or takes in, oxygen quicker than oth-er birds. Bar-headed geese are also able to get, or extract, more oxygen from each breath.

In the summer the researchers traveled to a lake in Mongolia. They

planned their trip to arrive when the geese molt. At this time, the birds are easier to catch. This is because they cannot fly. The researchers put small tracking devices inside 30 geese. These record where the birds are, their body movement, heartbeat, and height. The following year the researchers managed to recapture 17 of the 30 birds. After recovering the tracking devices, they studied the recorded information.

What the birds do surprised the researchers. Bar-headed geese do not fly up high and then remain at the same height. They go up and down. The researchers describe the birds’ flight path as a “rollercoaster”. The geese seem to stay about 660 feet (200 meters) above the ground, or terrain. Therefore, after flying over a high mountaintop or mountain ridge, they come back down again. The birds’ heartbeats show that flying at high altitude is harder. The geese have to use much more energy.

Bar-headed goose head (Richard Bartz)

Bar-headed geese prefer to fly at night. At this time, the air is colder and denser. This makes it easier for them to gain height. The geese do not glide. When in the air, they flap their wings all the time. This move-ment creates body heat. It therefore

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

USA

UK

UGANDATUVALU

SWITZERLAND

SOUTH SUDAN

SUDAN

SRI LANKA

SPAIN

PHILIPPINESNIGERIA

MONGOLIA

MALDIVESKIRIBATI

KENYA

INDONESIA

INDIA

GREECE

FRANCE

Easter Island

CHINA

CHILE

CHAD

CAMBODIA

BELGIUM

BANGLADESH

stops ice forming on their wings. Some of the geese the researchers tracked flew non-stop for 17 hours. The birds covered a distance of nearly 932 miles (1,500 kilometers).

It was thought that bar-headed geese flew over the top of Mount Everest. Over 60 years ago, a climb-er on the mountain claimed to have seen birds flying overhead. Yet, since then, there have not been any similar reports. For a short time, one bar-headed goose was tracked flying at nearly 24,000 feet (7,315 meters). This is very high, but not as high as Mount Everest.

NEW PRESIDENT IN SRI LANKA

A presidential election was held in Sri Lanka on January 8. Early the following day, the country’s presi-dent, Mahinda Rajapaksa, made an

announcement. He admitted that he had lost. The election result sur-prised many people. They expected Mr. Rajapaksa to win.

After all the votes had been counted, Maithripala Sirisena was declared the winner. Mr. Sirisena got 51.2% of the votes and Mr. Ra-japaksa 47.5%. Mr. Rajapaksa had been Sri Lanka’s president since 2005. He was often described as a “strongman”. This is a political leader who may use threats or force to stay in power.

About 20 million people live in Sri Lanka. The country was run by Britain for over 200 years. Independence was granted in 1948. Sri Lanka was formerly called Cey-lon. The name changed in 1972. Then, the country became a republic with an elected president.

Most people who live in Sri Lan-ka are Buddhists. These people are

known as Sinhalese. About 20% of the population are Tamils. The Tamils, whose ancestors originally came from India, are Hindus. They live mostly in the northern part of Sri Lanka. Around 9% of the pop-ulation follow the Islamic faith. The Sinhalese and Tamils speak a differ-ent language. Both Mr. Sirisena and Mr. Rajapaksa are Sinhalese.

For over 25 years there was a civ-il war in Sri Lanka. It finally ended in 2009. The war was between gov-ernment forces, or the army, navy and air force, and an organization called the Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). This group was known as the Tamil Tigers. The LTTE claimed to be fighting for an independent country or homeland in the northern part of Sri Lanka.

During the war both sides are be-lieved to have committed atrocities. When it ended the Tamil Tigers’

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leader was killed. Some say that 40,000 Tamil civilians died in the last few weeks and days of the war. Some accuse the Sri Lankan army of deliberately killing these people. However, Mr. Rajapaksa has always insisted that this is untrue. Since the conflict ended many world leaders have said that a war crimes inves-tigation must be held. Investigators, they say, should be allowed to find out what really happened. Anyone guilty of war crimes would then be punished.

Maithripala Sirisena, Sri Lanka’s new president

Presidential elections in Sri Lan-ka normally take place every six years. However, after four years, presidents can hold an early election if they wish to. The last vote was in 2010. Mr. Rajapaksa decided to hold that election one year early. This meant that it took place just after the war ended. Mr. Rajapaksa won easily.

At the end of last year Mr. Ra-japaksa announced that he had de-cided to hold an early election again. Everyone expected him to win. Mr. Sirisena was a senior minister in Mr. Rajapaksa’s government for many years. Yet, soon after Mr. Rajapaksa announced the early election, Mr. Sirisena defected. After he changed sides, the opposition parties de-clared that Mr. Sirisena would be their presidential candidate.

Among Sinhalese people, Mr. Rajapaksa was a popular leader. While he was in charge the war

ended. The country’s economy has been successful. However, some people accuse him of nepotism, cronyizm and corruption, or dis-honesty. Nepotism and cronyizm is giving important jobs to relatives or friends. Mr. Rajapaksa’s family and friends hold over 40 top government positions. One brother is in charge of the army. Another is the par-liament’s speaker. The boss of Sri Lankan Airlines is Mr. Rajapaksa’s brother-in-law.

It’s thought that most Tamils and Muslims (as well as the Sinhalese people who dislike Mr. Rajapaksa) voted for Mr. Sirisena. The new president said that he planned to make many changes. One of his first important jobs was to welcome Pope Francis. On January 13, the lead-er of the Roman Catholic Church arrived in Sri Lanka for a two-day visit.

TAJ MAHAL AND COW DUNG

Officials have banned the burning of cow dung in the city of Agra, in India. They hope that the ban will help to protect a very famous old building: the Taj Mahal. Agra is 131 miles (210 kilometers) from New Delhi, India’s capital city.

The Taj Mahal is a large tomb, or mausoleum. Many people describe it as “the world’s most beautiful building”. Others call it a “monu-ment of love”. Over three million people, from India and other coun-tries, travel to Agra each year to vis-it the Taj Mahal.

The huge mausoleum is made from marble. This is a type of hard, white colored stone. The Taj Mahal has minaret-like towers and domes. It looks like a palace. The mausole-um’s name comes from a mixture of

Arabic and the Persian language. It means “crown of palaces”.

Shah Jahan (1592 – 1666) built the Taj Mahal. He was a Mughal emperor. The Mughal Empire in-cluded most of modern day India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and the eastern part of Iran. The empire lasted until 1858. This was when the British took control of most of India.

The Taj Mahal was originally built for a Persian princess called Mumtaz Mahal. She was Shah Ja-han’s third wife. The princess died in 1631 while giving birth to her 14th child. After Shah Jahan died, his body was placed next to his wife’s inside the mausoleum. The Taj Mahal took 22 years to build. It was finally completed in 1648. Over 20,000 workers and special-ly trained craftsmen worked on the elaborate building.

One of the most noticeable parts of the Taj Mahal is its largest dome. The dome is 115 feet (35 meters) high. It forms the roof of the cen-tral building, which is on a raised plinth. At each corner of the plinth there is a 131 foot (40-meter) tall tower. Passages from the Koran, the holy book of the Islamic faith, are written on the walls throughout the building.

Taj Mahal (Yann)

Nowadays, air pollution in many Indian cities is very bad. It comes from cars, trucks, buses, and fac-tories. There is an oil refinery near

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Agra. It is not far from the Taj Ma-hal. Refineries are where oil, often known as crude, is processed to make other things. Over the last 30 years, air pollution in the city has affected the Taj Mahal’s mar-ble. The white stone is turning a yellowish color.

About 20 years ago larger fac-tories around Agra were banned from burning coal. More recently an air quality monitoring system was set up in the city. Experts from universities in India and the U.S. have been working at the Taj Mahal. They believe that brown and black carbon deposits, or soot, are the main cause of the yellowing. These deposits are not easily washed away by rain.

Cow dung cakes

Many poorer people in India burn cow dung. So-called cow dung cakes are an inexpensive fuel. After the dung has been collected, wom-en turn it into large balls. These are then flattened against a wall. There, the dung cakes are left to dry out. This type of fuel is often used for heating and cooking. The govern-ment will now provide supplies of LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas). This is to be used instead of cow dung.

Later this year, other air quality bans are expected in Agra. Truck owners will have to switch from diesel to CNG (Compressed Natural Gas). Some homeowners and small businesses in the city still burn coal. This is also likely to be stopped. In

recent years a special type of mud has been used to clean the Taj Ma-hal. It seems to work. Yet applying the mud takes a long time. What’s more it does not prevent further yellowing, after the stonework is cleaned.

SWISS FRANC CAP ENDS

The boss of the Swiss National Bank surprised many people on January 15. He decided to end or scrap the bank’s currency “cap”, against the euro. On the same day, the Swiss franc (when compared to other countries’ currencies) sud-denly strengthened, or increased, in value, by 15%.

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is Switzerland’s central bank. Most independent countries have a cen-tral bank. The U.S.’s central bank is known as the Federal Reserve (or the Fed). One of the central bank’s jobs is to set interest rates. This is the minimum amount of interest companies or people have to pay when borrowing money from banks.

Nineteen European Union (EU) member countries now use the euro as their currency. The euro is also called the single currency. The countries that use the single currency are known as the euro-zone. When the single currency started, a new central bank for the eurozone was set up. Called the European Central Bank (ECB), it is based in Frankfurt, a large city in Germany.

Central banks can intervene in the currency markets. They do this to try to control the exchange rate with other currencies. Exchange rates are important. They can have a good or bad effect on a country’s

economy. When compared to other countries, a nation’s currency can be “weak” or “strong”. When it is weak, things brought into the coun-try (imports) are more expensive. Yet, items made in the country and sold to other parts of the world (ex-ports) are less expensive. As they are cheaper, exports increase. When a currency is strong the opposite happens. As it can increase ex-ports, a weaker currency may help to improve a country’s economy. For this reason most governments do not want their currencies to get too “strong”.

Many banks and financial busi-nesses deal in foreign currencies. This means that they trade, or buy and sell, different currencies all the time. This activity is known as the foreign exchange market. It is this market that sets exchange rates be-tween different currencies.

Swiss Franc banknotes

There are two types of exchange rates: fixed and floating. There are advantages and disadvantages of both. Some governments may de-cide to “fix” or “peg” their curren-cy’s exchange rate to that of anoth-er country. For example, for many years, China’s renminbi was fixed at 8.28 to one US dollar. So for a time, the renminbi was “pegged” to the US dollar. Currencies of countries with a floating exchange rate go up and down all the time.

The Swiss franc has been popular with wealthy companies and people

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for many years. They buy Swiss francs because they are “safe”, or unlikely to decrease in value. Yet, if more and more people and compa-nies buy Swiss francs, the currency gets stronger.

Most of Switzerland’s exports go to eurozone countries. Three years ago the SNB became worried. The Swiss franc was getting too strong when compared to the euro. The bank introduced a currency cap. This was to make sure that €1 was equal to at least SwFr1.20. So, if the euro got weaker, the SNB had to keep buying euros in the foreign exchange market. This kept the ex-change rate at SwFr1.20 to €1.

However, keeping the cap has been very expensive. The SNB now owns many millions of euros. To-day, these are worth much less than what the bank paid for them. The SNB bosses believe that the euro is about to get even weaker. As keep-ing the cap would cost too much, the bank bosses decided to end it.

Removing the cap has made the Swiss franc far stronger. Imports in Switzerland are now much cheaper. Yet, larger Swiss companies might have difficulties. They are likely to sell far fewer items in other coun-tries. This is because, outside Swit-zerland, the items they make will cost a lot more.

MOTOR SHOW IN DETROIT

The North American International Auto Show began on January 17. This nine-day event usually takes place at the beginning of every year. Held in the city of Detroit, in the U.S., it is one of the largest auto shows in the world.

Detroit has a long association with companies that make cars, or

automobiles. In 1910 Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Com-pany, opened a factory in Detroit. It was the first factory in the world that mass-produced cars. Over the years other large car-making companies opened similar factories in the city. This explains why Detroit is called “Motor City”.

Mirai, Toyota’s hydrogen-powered car

Today, there are three main American carmakers: Ford, General Motors (GM) and Chrysler. These companies are often known as the “Big Three”. Last year, the Fiat Company merged, or joined, with Chrysler. The new organization’s official name is Fiat Chrysler Au-tomobiles (FCA). Fiat is an Italian automaker. GM’s headquarters is in Detroit. The head offices of Ford and Fiat Chrysler are not far from the city.

The auto show was first held in Detroit over 100 years ago. The annual event became known as the Detroit Motor (or Auto) Show. (Many people still use this name.) About 25 years ago, the show’s organizers wanted the event to be more international. Carmakers from Europe and Japan were asked to at-tend. In 1989 the name was changed to the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). Nowadays, more than 200 companies take part in the show. Car companies from all around the world use the NAIAS to introduce their new car designs and technologies.

All car manufacturers are work-ing to lower the amount of fuel cars use and lessen the pollution they create. Many companies displayed their new hybrids or electric cars at this year’s show. Hybrids are cars that run on gasoline and electricity. Honda and Toyota (both Japanese companies) displayed cars that run on hydrogen. Honda claims that its car will travel 300 miles (483 kilo-meters) on one tank of compressed hydrogen. Refueling should take only three minutes. Toyota’s hy-drogen-powered car is called the Mirai. It goes on sale this fall, in the U.S. In Japanese Mirai means “the future”.

Most of the cars at the show have touch screen controls. Some include software that parks the car automat-ically. Sensors on the front and back make sure that the car does not hit anything while the parking software is in control. Many driverless cars were also displayed. In the future, it’s likely that humans will do far less driving, as computers and soft-ware take over.

Strati, Local Motors’ 3-D printed car

Many visitors to the event were surprised by Ford’s new GT sports car. This was because the company had managed to keep its production a secret. Local Motors, an Ameri-can company, 3-D printed a car at the event. It took 44 hours, or near-ly two days, to print the car’s body. The 3-D (three-dimensional) printer used to make the car is the size of

January 22, 2015 Newsademic.com™ – American English edition page 17

a small room. The “printed car” is called the Strati. The bosses of Lo-cal Motors plan to start selling their new cars, in the U.S., within the next 12 months.

LAKE MICHIGAN SHIPWRECK

Lake Michigan is in the northern part of the U.S. A local legend says that a ferry, carrying a large amount of gold, crossed the lake about 150 years ago. During the crossing, gold worth about $2 million fell off the ferry. It sank to the bottom of the lake and was never recovered.

A few years ago two American treasure hunters decided to look for the gold. So far, they have been unsuccessful. Yet, recently, they claimed to have discovered the remains of an old wooden ship on the bottom of the lake. The two men believe that it is the wreck of Le Griffon (the Griffin). If true, the treasure hunters have found one of the most important shipwrecks in American history.

1697 Woodcut print of Le Griffon

Lake Michigan is one of the Great Lakes. These are five large in-terconnected freshwater lakes. Four are on the American-Canadian bor-der. The lakes are called Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. The whole of Lake Michigan is in the U.S. The five lakes are the larg-

est surface body of fresh water in the world. The polar ice caps are the only places that contain more fresh water. The Great Lakes are connect-ed to the Atlantic Ocean by the Saint Lawrence River.

Shipwreck on the bottom of Lake Michigan, claimed to be Le Griffon (Kevin Dykstra)

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (1643 – 1687) built Le Grif-fon. He was one of the first people from Europe to explore the Great Lakes. La Salle came from France. Later, he claimed a huge land area, on either side of the Mississippi River, for his country. La Salle ar-rived in this part of North America in 1666. He learned the languages of the native people. They told him about a great river to the west. La Salle thought that this river might flow into the Pacific Ocean. If so, it could be a route across North Amer-ica to China and Japan.

La Salle began to trade animal furs with the native people. He also started to explore the Great Lakes. La Salle planned to search for the great river that he had been told about. He decided to build a large wooden ship. This would be used to carry supplies and transport furs on the Great Lakes. Ships could travel up the Saint Lawrence River to Lake Ontario. Yet they could not sail any farther. This was because a huge waterfall, between Lake On-tario and Lake Erie (Niagara Falls), blocks the route.

Le Griffon was built on the banks of a river about three miles (five kilometers) above Niagara Falls. Therefore, instead of being made in a shipyard, Le Griffon was built in the wilderness. The ship had three masts. It carried two cannons and several other guns. At the front was a big carving of a griffin. This is a legendary creature. It has the head and wings of an eagle and a lion’s body, back legs and tail. Le Grif-fon was probably the first Europe-an-type large wooden ship to sail on the Great Lakes.

The ship’s first voyage began in 1679. A few weeks later, it arrived at a part of Lake Michigan, called Green Bay. La Salle then decid-ed to send the ship back with six men on board. It was loaded with furs. The ship would then return with supplies and items needed to build a wooden fort. As a farewell, the ship fired one of its cannons when it left. Le Griffon was never seen again.

What happened to Le Griffon is a mystery. It may have sunk in a storm. Native Indians could have captured the crew and set it on fire. La Salle suspected that the crew stole the furs and then deliberately sank the ship.

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If the wreck is Le Griffon, the discovery would be of great inter-est to historians and archaeologists. The treasure hunters have decided to keep its location a secret. There

January 22, 2015 Newsademic.com™ – American English edition page 18

are over one thousand wrecks on the bottom of Lake Michigan. So this one may not be Le Griffon. If the men want to prove that they have found La Salle’s ship, official ar-chaeologists will have to investigate the wreck.

ZEBRA THEORIES

For many years scientists have wondered why zebra’s have black and white stripes. There are several ideas, or theories. Researchers from an American university have recent-ly completed a new zebra study. It suggests that the stripes help to keep zebras cool.

Plains zebras in Namibia (Hans Hillewaert)

Zebras are equids, or members of the “horse family”. There are several species of zebra. The most common is called the plains zebra. These zebras have distinctive black and white stripes over most of their bodies. No two plains zebras look exactly the same. Young ones, or foals, are brown and white. As they get older, the brown hair becomes black. Most zebras live in large herds. However, some stay in small-er groups known as harems.

Some people think that zebras’ stripes are a type of camouflage. At dusk, or in the evening light, the stripes help to disguise the outline, or shape, of zebras. Another idea is something called “motion dazzle”.

Lions prey on, or hunt, zebras. To a lion, a group of zebras moving closely together may look like a large area of flickering and flashing stripes. This might make it harder for the lion to catch one.

Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882), the British naturalist, found zebras puzzling. His famous theory of evolution is often described as the “survival of the fittest”. Here the word “fittest” does not mean stron-gest, or one that has most energy. It describes the animal or plant best suited to competing with others, or best adapted to the place where it lives. Darwin’s theory says that the “fittest” animal or plant has the best chance of surviving.

Darwin was unsure why zebras had stripes. He thought that the stripes probably helped zebras work out which was the best female or male to mate with. Like Darwin, Al-fred Russel Wallace (1823 – 1913) was a British naturalist. Wallace came up with a similar theory of evolution around the same time as, if not before, Darwin. Wallace be-lieved that a zebra’s stripes were for camouflage.

Plains zebras in Uganda

There are several other theories about zebra stripes. One is that it’s how they recognize one another. Another is that they reduce bites from blood-sucking flies. Ex-periments have been done where black, brown, and black and white, horse-like models have been set up.

Blood-sucking flies seemed to pre-fer the black and the brown models.

Other equids or zebra species have fewer stripes than plains ze-bras. For example, one, called the African wild ass, only has stripes on its legs. Its body is a gray color. These animals are found in north-east Africa. Some scientists think that zebras have more stripes where there are more blood-sucking flies.

The university researchers sus-pect that the zebras’ stripes help to keep the animals cool. They studied photographs of plains zebras tak-en in 16 different places in Africa. In Kenya and Uganda, it is hot all year. The researchers say that zebras in these hotter places have much blacker and bolder stripes, whereas those found in cooler places, like South Africa or Namibia, have less bold stripes.

In sunlight black surfaces heat up more than white surfaces. The researchers think that zebra stripes create two different airflows. These airflows then act like a cooling fan that’s just above the animal’s skin. The researchers admit that more work needs to be done to find out if this is true. They say that the answer to the “zebra puzzle” might be a combination of several ideas.

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American Editor: Chris Tarn

Acknowledgements:

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January 22, 2015 Newsademic.com™ – American English edition page 19

ISSUE 241 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

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ACROSS

2 Noun (Plural) Drawings in newspapers or magazines that are meant to be funny

5 Noun (Plural) Terrible crimes 8 Adjective Describes a complex design 10 Adjective Describes something that is easy to recognize

because it is different from other things 11 Noun A group, or army unit, of soldiers who fight on

foot 14 Noun (Plural) Appearances of a ghosts or spirits. 16 Verb To change, or alter, the look of something so it

cannot be recognized 17 Noun The act of using calm thoughts as a religious

activity or to relax 18 Verb Kidnapped or taken away illegally 19 Noun A picture or design made of small pieces of

colored stone or glass

DOWN

1 Noun (Plural) People, animals or living organisms from which others are descended

3 Noun A connection between a group of people, or organizations, which have common a purpose or interest

4 Noun The person in charge of, or who keeps order in, an elected congress or parliament

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

7 Adjective Describes a type of writing that criticizes people or ideas in a humorous way

9 Noun An inactive state 12 Verb Left a country or organization for an opposing one 13 Noun (Plural) Useful or valuable items or supplies 14 Noun A large upright block of stone 15 Noun A method used to achieve something or gain an

advantage

January 22, 2015 Newsademic.com™ – American English edition page 20

ISSUE 241GLOSSARY 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.

M O N O L I T H G J S E T J K R Y E

E A O V C F I H A P G R D A V C K V

D I N A S E H N E X N N T N I A E I

I E I I Q G M A T N U R X T D L D T

T N B K F S K Z E E O S C P A E J C

A E I P B E J V C C R A L B T I A N

T D S E R W S Y I Z T V O C G Y P I

I Y Z U U L L T B K A R E G O L S T

O R E S K S I L A S A F T N V E B S

N T W H A E N N S T E D S K E L Y I

V N E H S N W O E D I B X F A A I D

M A F X J H C F O S P O Q D B C K J

Z F Y E J I O E G T A N N Y D I S M

E N B O A X O U S Q R Z U S U R H O

E I Y T M C I O B T F A D G C I G S

F D I Q E S X R S N O R C M T T X A

N O Q F E N J Z O E J R F C E A H I

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

MISSING WORD ANSWER =

ISSUE 240 A

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ERS

Z Y S R E B M I T J D E T J K R Y C

Z J O V C G K H A S T A M P E D E S

M I V A S E A L A B A N D O N E D X

T E I D I N F L U E N T I A L H J L

U N B K E S Y Z F H L S V M E T J E

T E I P B T J V A U R L M Y N I A N

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

E E Z R U L P F S K I M M O O L D I

S W S S E O O I E L V U A R V E E C

V K W O O T S S A N T F S C W E S E

V P E N P T E T D A E B X A Q C I D

M S F X A X I M T N P B Q D D N G J

Z B Y N J P E E I B U N N E T A N R

E J C O A X D F G R W O L S W I A O

E E Y C M C I O B S E I P G C L T B

E X T R E M I S T N X P N M M L E Y

N R E M U S N O C E J B F C O A D A

C V K V C B W W F P O F J I Q C Y Y

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 February 4, 2015 (GMT/UTC).*

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E1

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E

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A4

C R O N Y M E

T5

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B E R S C7

P C8

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U A D9

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T S10

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A I S A12

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