 | 50th Anniversary of VOA Special English Promotional video for the 50th anniversary of VOA Special English on October 19, 2009 Promotional video for the 50th anniversary of VOA Special English on October 19, 2009 Views: 10,004 |
 | With Resistant Crops, Progress Can Raise New Problems This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, from voaspecialenglish.com Plant breeders and genetic engineers keep working to give cro... This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, from voaspecialenglish.com Plant breeders and genetic engineers keep working to give crops the strength to resist threats like insects, diseases, droughts or floods. But before you can resist a threat, you need to understand it. We told you last week about a newly completed genetic map of the organism that causes late blight. That disease led to starvation in Ireland from potato shortages in the middle of the eighteen hundreds. The new ... Views: 2,391 |
 | Remembering Norman Borlaug This the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, from voaspecialenglish.com Norman Borlaug led what was known as the Green Revolution. As a ... This the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, from voaspecialenglish.com Norman Borlaug led what was known as the Green Revolution. As a plant scientist, he may have saved more lives than anyone else in history -- as many as a billion, by some estimates. He traveled the world to help poor people develop better ways to produce food. He worked in the fields to show farmers new ways to grow wheat, rice and other crops. And he worked in the laboratory to breed new wheat varieties that could ... Views: 624 |
 | Study Finds More Trees on Farms Than Was Thought This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, from voaspecialenglish.com. Farmers, especially in developing countries, are often criti... This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, from voaspecialenglish.com. Farmers, especially in developing countries, are often criticized for cutting down forests. But a new study suggests that many farmers recognize the value in keeping trees. Researchers using satellite images found at least ten percent tree cover on more than one billion hectares of farmland. That is almost half the farmland in the world. The World Agroforestry Center in Kenya led the study. The findings were ... Views: 601 |
 | US States Will Compete for School Reform Aid This is the VOA Special English Education Report, from voaspecialenglish.com The Obama administration is launching a national competition ca... This is the VOA Special English Education Report, from voaspecialenglish.com The Obama administration is launching a national competition called Race to the Top. States will compete for more than four billion dollars in grants to support the best plans for improving schools. President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced the details in July. The president said this competition will not be based on politics or ideology or the wishes of a particular interest group. Instead, it ... Views: 1,454 |
 | Deficits Found in Brain's Reward System in ADHD Patients This is the VOA Special English Health Report, from voaspecialenglish.com ADHD is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Children with AD... This is the VOA Special English Health Report, from voaspecialenglish.com ADHD is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Children with ADHD might have trouble paying attention. They might not seem to listen. They might forget things. They might not be able to stay seated or play quietly. They might talk too much. And they might act and speak without thinking about the results of their behavior. These are among the signs listed on the Web site of the Centers for Disease Control and ... Views: 3,075 |
 | Using Computer Games to Support Democracy and Conflict Resolution Video games can be fun to play. They also can teach people how to settle conflicts peacefully. This is a video game called Food Force. It ca... Video games can be fun to play. They also can teach people how to settle conflicts peacefully. This is a video game called Food Force. It can be downloaded from the Web site of the World Food Program. The groups Jennifer Parmalee says the game shows children the difficulty of getting food to areas of conflict. JENNIFER PARMALEE: It helps them feel like they can be part of a solution. Thats something empowering and fun for them. Another video game is called A Force More Powerful. It takes ... Views: 1,264 |
 | New Findings About Disorder in Bees This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, , from voaspecialenglish.com Colony collapse disorder first struck honey bees in the Uni... This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, , from voaspecialenglish.com Colony collapse disorder first struck honey bees in the United States in late two thousand six. Over the next two years, beekeepers lost more than one-third of their honey bees. Scientists in the United States and other countries have been working to explain the mysterious disappearances of bees. Now, a new study suggests that several viruses may act together. Scientists from the University of Illinois and the ... Views: 633 |
 | California Gets a Budget This is the VOA Special English Economics Report, from voaspecialenglish.com The recession may be easing, but American states are still feel... This is the VOA Special English Economics Report, from voaspecialenglish.com The recession may be easing, but American states are still feeling the pain. Most of the fifty states began their budget year July first. Almost all states require balanced budgets. Already, some predict new deficits. Congress included state aid in the two-year stimulus plan approved in February. But states have had to find other ways to fill budget holes. The recession has hit especially hard in California, home of ... Views: 807 |
 | Three Scientists Win Nobel Prize in Medicine This is the VOA Special English Health Report. Three scientists based in the United States have won the two thousand nine Nobel Prize for Ph... This is the VOA Special English Health Report. Three scientists based in the United States have won the two thousand nine Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. They are being honored for their work in the nineteen eighties about the health of cells and the aging process. The winners are Elizabeth Blackburn from the University of California, San Francisco; Jack Szostak from Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts and Carol Greider from Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. They will share ... Views: 459 |
 | Seeking Opinions on Health Reform, and Getting an Earful This is the VOA Special English Economics Report, from voaspecialenglish.com President Obama is letting Congress write the details of his pl... This is the VOA Special English Economics Report, from voaspecialenglish.com President Obama is letting Congress write the details of his plan for what he calls health insurance reform. Congress was on vacation in August. But members held what are known as town hall meetings around the country to hear reaction. And they have been getting an earful from crowds for and against the plan. The president, at his own meetings, pointed back to the nineteen nineties. He said "Every time we come close ... Views: 1,129 |
 | In Afghanistan, Preparing for a Threat to Wheat Plants This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, from voaspecialenglish.com Farmers in Afghanistan already struggle with the effects of d... This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, from voaspecialenglish.com Farmers in Afghanistan already struggle with the effects of drought and years of conflict. Now there is worry about a new threat headed in their direction in the wind -- a fungus that destroys wheat crops. The disease is a form of stem rust named for its discovery in Uganda ten years ago. Ug99 is now in one of Afghanistan's neighbors, Iran. The disease kills wheat plants by robbing them of water and nutrients ... Views: 1,013 |
 | Understanding Down Syndrome This is the VOA Special English Health Report, from voaspecialenglish.com Human genes are normally organized along forty-six chromosomes in ... This is the VOA Special English Health Report, from voaspecialenglish.com Human genes are normally organized along forty-six chromosomes in our cells, twenty-three from each parent. But some people are born with an extra copy of the twenty-first chromosome. This third copy is a result of a mistake in cell division. The name for this condition is Down syndrome. A British doctor named John Langdon Down first described it in the eighteen sixties. An estimated three hundred fifty thousand people ... Views: 1,801 |
 | More Physical Education, but Also More Injuries in Class This is the VOA Special English Education Report. Too much eating. Too many unhealthy foods. Too many advertisements for food. Too little ac... This is the VOA Special English Education Report. Too much eating. Too many unhealthy foods. Too many advertisements for food. Too little activity. Different explanations are offered for America's weight problem a problem increasingly shared by other countries. Almost one-fifth of American children and teenagers are overweight. Schools have been urged to increase physical education, an important tool for public health. And many have. Yet now comes a study showing an increase in the number of ... Views: 815 |
 | New Ways for Poor Countries to Diagnose Infectious Diseases This is the VOA Special English Development Report, from voaspecialenglish.com Two new discoveries could offer easier ways to identify infec... This is the VOA Special English Development Report, from voaspecialenglish.com Two new discoveries could offer easier ways to identify infectious diseases in developing countries. The first involves sheep. Researchers have found that hair sheep are a good source of blood for use in tests to diagnose infectious diseases in people. In developed countries, microbiologists do these tests with blood from wool sheep or horses. But for developing countries, that costs too much. So tests often use ... Views: 581 |
 | Getting Students Excited About a Life in the Biosciences This is the VOA Special English Education Report, from voaspecialenglish.com The American biotechnology industry recently did a study of bio... This is the VOA Special English Education Report, from voaspecialenglish.com The American biotechnology industry recently did a study of bioscience education across the country. The biosciences are biology and other sciences that deal with living organisms. Paul Hanle is president of the Biotechnology Institute, one of the groups that did the study. He says international tests show that the United States is performing twenty-fifth out of thirty developed countries in science education.So the ... Views: 633 |
 | Vitamins: D and the Diet This is the VOA Special English Health Report, from voaspecialenglish.com Vitamin D helps bones and muscles grow strong and healthy. Low lev... This is the VOA Special English Health Report, from voaspecialenglish.com Vitamin D helps bones and muscles grow strong and healthy. Low levels of vitamin D can lead to problems like rickets and osteoporosis. Rickets is a deformity mainly found in children. Osteoporosis is the thinning of bone, a common problem as people, especially women, get older. Studies in recent years have suggested that vitamin D may also have other uses. Studies have shown that low levels of D may increase the risk ... Views: 932 |
 | A Test for Brain Injury Creates Its Own Risks in Children This is the VOA Special English Health Report, from voaspecialenglish.com A concussion happens when the brain is shaken, often in a car cras... This is the VOA Special English Health Report, from voaspecialenglish.com A concussion happens when the brain is shaken, often in a car crash or a fall or a strike to the head in sports. Concussions can be mild, but doctors may order a CT scan to look for a more serious injury. Computed tomography provides a detailed image of the brain. But a recent study warned that more children than necessary are being exposed to radiation this way. A national team led by two doctors at the University of ... Views: 279 |
 | Simple, Low-Cost Ways to Cut the Risk of an Early Birth This is the VOA Special English Development Report, from voaspecialenglish.com We talked last week about a new report on preterm births the ... This is the VOA Special English Development Report, from voaspecialenglish.com We talked last week about a new report on preterm births the leading cause of death in newborn babies worldwide. Each year an estimated thirteen million babies are born too soon. More than one million of them die as a result of their prematurity. Yet experts say many early births can be prevented. The report came from the March of Dimes and the World Health Organization. Christopher Howson is the vice president ... Views: 399 |
 | 'Non-Formal' Schools Aim to Fill Need in Kenya's Slums This is the VOA Special English Development Report, from voaspecialenglish.com In two thousand three, the government of Kenya established a ... This is the VOA Special English Development Report, from voaspecialenglish.com In two thousand three, the government of Kenya established a program of free primary education for all children. But there are not enough public schools for all the children who live in the crowded slums of Nairobi. Instead, some of these children attend what are known as non-formal or informal schools. These are supported by communities, religious groups and other organizations. Informal schools use the national ... Views: 693 |
 | E-Books Hold Next Chapter for Book Industry This is the VOA Special English Economics Report, from voaspecialenglish.com The book industry is trying to get a good read on its future. T... This is the VOA Special English Economics Report, from voaspecialenglish.com The book industry is trying to get a good read on its future. These days, instead of turning paper pages, many readers reach for handheld devices. These electronic readers not only store books to show on a screen, they can also read them out loud. In July, Amazon lowered the price of its Kindle reader by sixty dollars to just under three hundred dollars. The device can download books wirelessly from a store on ... Views: 5,369 |
 | Rebalancing the World Economy This is the VOA Special English Economics Report. In September, the Group of 20 met in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the third Group of 2... This is the VOA Special English Economics Report. In September, the Group of 20 met in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the third Group of 20 summit in less than a year. Leaders of the major developed and developing economies discussed ways to fix the world financial system. In April they had agreed to do everything necessary to prevent a collapse. This time they noted their success, but warned that the "process of recovery and repair remains incomplete." The presidents and prime ministers ... Views: 880 |
 | Building a Straw House This is the VOA Special English Development Report. Today we bring you a new take on an old tale. It's the story of the three little pigs an... This is the VOA Special English Development Report. Today we bring you a new take on an old tale. It's the story of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf that blew down one house made of straw and one made of sticks. The only house left standing was the one made of bricks. Now there is new evidence to suggest that houses built with bales of straw can be very strong. They are also environmentally friendly. Pete Walker is a professor at the University of Bath in Britain. He and a team of ... Views: 924 |
 | Recession Easing, but Many Americans Still Afraid to Spend This is the VOA Special English Economics Report, from voaspecialenglish.com Stock prices took a roller-coaster ride in August -- down one d... This is the VOA Special English Economics Report, from voaspecialenglish.com Stock prices took a roller-coaster ride in August -- down one day, up the next. Experts say the situation is likely to continue until investors feel more sure about signs of economic recovery. Some investors worry that Americans are not doing enough to lift the world's largest economy out of recession. This is back-to-school season. But the National Retail Federation says school-related sales are down from last year ... Views: 1,766 |
 | Do-It-Yourself: Pruning Plants (First of Two Parts) This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. Pruning makes no sense. You cut off parts of a plant. Yet the plant is supposed to grow ... This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. Pruning makes no sense. You cut off parts of a plant. Yet the plant is supposed to grow back even better than before? This demands an answer. The explanation begins with the apical bud. This bud is at the end of the actively growing tip of the plant. Apical buds produce a growth hormone called auxin. The buds release this hormone down the plant stem. When the top of the main shoot is removed -- by pruning or breakage -- the auxin is no long ... Views: 1,655 |
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