Power ed by
, a division of Learning A-Z
Science
News 2014
January 2015
Top Science
Stories of
in
the
eSurrvReesuylts
This picture from a strong microscope
shows the Ebola virus (blue) sprouting
from an infected cell (yellow).
Novembe
ve m b e r
In o u r N o to ld u s
u
yo
y,
su rve
wa s th e
th a t g a rl ic ta st e d
t
fl a vo r th a t.
th e wo rs
Written by Rhonda Lucas Donald
Credits: xxxx
Credits: xxxx
What’s
Inside:
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Ebola
Outbreak
Comet Landing
a Success!
ew Species
N
of 2014
inning
W
Science
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SCIENCE in the NEWS
January 2015
Deadly Ebola Virus
in West Africa
Guinea
The largest-ever outbreak of
Life Science
Ebola put the world on alert in
2014. The Ebola virus causes a deadly illness. Some
people can recover. But there is no cure and no way
to prevent it. Keeping the disease from spreading is
the best way to stop it. Where did Ebola come from?
How do people get it?
Sierra Leone
Nigeria
Liberia
Countries in West Africa (shaded red) were
hardest hit by the 2014 Ebola outbreak.
Virus Origins
Scientists first found the Ebola virus in fruit bats.
Animals that ate these bats then got the virus, too.
Other animals got it when they ate fruit that sick
bats had fed on. That’s because the virus is found in
fluids that come from the body. These fluids include
saliva and blood. Monkeys and some other animals
can carry the virus. People got Ebola when they ate
meat from sick animals. Once one person became
sick, the virus spread to other people.
Hope for a Cure
Ebola does not spread easily, like a cold. Still, over
14,000 people got Ebola in 2014. Many people
died. Most of the people who got sick were in Africa.
Two nurses in the United States got the Ebola virus
while caring for a sick man. The man had gotten sick
while he was in Africa. The nurses recovered, but the
man died.
Doctors are now using new drugs to help people with
Ebola. They are also testing vaccines (vak-SEENS).
A vaccine is a type of medicine. It prevents people
from getting a disease. An Ebola vaccine could stop
the virus before it can make more people sick. v
VIRUS
LIFE CYCLE
1
cell
1. A virus enters
a healthy cell.
virus
2
2. The cell makes
copies of the virus.
3. The new viruses break
out of the cell. They
spread to other cells.
People caring for Ebola patients
wear protective clothing to avoid
getting the virus.
3
Viruses cause illness by getting into healthy cells and
killing them. Then new viruses spread through the body.
Credits: front cover: courtesy of CDC/NIAID; page 2: © China Stringer Network/Reuters /Landov
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2
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SCIENCE in the NEWS
January 2015
Comet Landing
a Success!
On November 12, 2014, the
Philae (FEE-lay) lander made
history. It touched down on comet 67P, 320 million
miles from Earth! This was the first time people
had landed a machine on a comet.
Space Science
A Long Flight
Philae reached deep space on
the Rosetta spacecraft. The trip
lasted ten years. Rosetta took
photos of the comet’s surface
from above. The images
showed that Comet 67P was
shaped like a rubber duck!
A team of scientists on
Rosetta took this
Earth picked a smooth
picture of comet 67P
spot on the surface where
on August 3, 2014.
Philae could land.
This artist’s drawing shows Philae leaving
the Rosetta spacecraft. It is the first
mission to orbit and land on a comet.
A Bumpy Ride
Then Philae left Rosetta. The lander bounced a few
times when it touched down on the comet. Luckily,
Philae was still working. But its solar panels were
in the shadow of a cliff. Without sunlight, the solar
panels were not able to make energy. Philae’s
batteries were running out! Back on Earth, the team
rushed to learn what it could from Philae. They tried
to move the lander to reach more sunlight.
MISSION MILESTONES
1
2
Earth’s
orbit
3
Sun
The lander took pictures of the comet. It also studied
the comet’s surface. Philae found that the comet
contains the basic building blocks of life!
Mars’s
orbit
The Little Lander That Could
4
Comet
67P’s orbit
Then Philae went into sleep mode. But all is not lost.
As the comet gets closer to the Sun, sunlight may
reach Philae’s solar panels. If it gets enough power,
the lander will wake up and start working again.
In the meantime, Rosetta continues to follow the
comet. It will study 67P as it nears the Sun. Comets
are leftovers from the early days of our solar system.
Learning about them may help us understand how
the rest of the solar system formed. v
Jupiter’s
orbit
1. A
ugust 2014—Rosetta reached comet 67P
2. N
ovember 2014—Philae landed on comet
3. A
ugust 2015—Closest approach to Sun
4. D
ecember 2015—End of mission
Rosetta reached comet 67P when it was located
between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
Credits: top left: courtesy of ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA; background: courtesy of ESA–C. Carreau/ATG medialab
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SCIENCE in the NEWS
January 2015
New Species of 2 0 1 4
Scientists discover hundreds
of new species of animals
and plants each year. Here are just a few new
species from the class of 2014.
Life Science
The pretty Kaweesak’s (kuh-WEE-sacks) dragon
tree was unknown until now. It grows up to
12 meters (39 ft.) high and has white and
orange flowers.
You need a microscope to see the Tinkerbell
fairy fly. It’s a kind of wasp. It has thin wings
with long fringes. Fairy flies are parasites.
They eat the eggs and young of other insects.
The Kaweesak’s dragon tree grows
on hilly ground in Thailand.
Costa Rica’s newest fairy fly is
named for Tinkerbell from Peter Pan.
The round-eared sengi (SENG-ee) is also called an
elephant shrew. Sengis have long noses. They are
small in size, yet they really are related to elephants!
This new species is the smallest of all the sengis.
The gerbil-sized, round-eared sengi
lives in Africa and mainly eats insects.
Credits: left: courtesy of Jennifer Read; top right: courtesy of Paul Wilkin; bottom right: courtesy of Dr. Jack Dumbacher/California Academy of Sciences
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SCIENCE in the NEWS
January 2015
New Species continued from page 4
The Australian humpback dolphin gets its name
from the fin on its back. It’s shaped more like a
hump than the pointed fin found on other dolphins.
A new ant from Brazil is a sneaky thief!
Mirror turtle ants look like another type
of ant. They sneak into the other ant’s
colony and steal its food.
There may be just a few thousand Australian
humpback dolphins in the world.
It’s hard to tell the mirror turtle ant (center)
from the other ant species it steals from.
Scientists have found four new species of tuco-tucos.
These toothy rodents are similar to gophers. They get
their name from the sound they make while digging.
It sounds like “tuke-tuke.”
The four new species of
tuco-tucos live in Bolivia.
This new critter is quite a mystery.
It looks like a mushroom. But it’s
an animal! It lives in the deep
ocean off the coast of Australia. v
This new sea critter is only about 2 centimeters
(less than 1 in.) long. The markings are part of
its digestive system.
Credits: top right: courtesy of Robert Pitman; center left: courtesy of Scott Powell; center right: © Gabriel Rojo/NPL/Minden Pictures; bottom right: courtesy of Jørgen Olesen and PLOS ONE
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SCIENCE in the NEWS
January 2015
g
n
i
n
Win ience
Sc
Process Science
From a science fair to the Nobel Prize,
2014 included lots of winning science!
Three teenagers from Ireland won the 2014 Google Science
Fair. They worked with bacteria and crops such as oats and
barley. The bacteria naturally grow on plant roots. They bring
nitrogen to the roots. Nitrogen helps plants grow. The teens
found that these bacteria also cause seeds to sprout faster.
The bacteria even helped plants produce more grains. Their
find could help farmers grow more food crops in less time.
Three scientists from Japan won the 2014 Nobel Prize
in Physics. They invented blue LED lights. LEDs, or lightemitting diodes, are energy savers. They last one hundred
times longer than regular lightbulbs. What’s so important
about blue lights? You have to mix red, green, and blue
light to make white light. Red and green LEDs had been
around for a while. But no one had been able to make
blue ones until this bright trio came along. v
Sophie Healy-Thow, Émer Hickey,
and Ciara Judge won the grand prize
at the 2014 Google Science Fair.
The summer of 2014 was the warmest for Earth since
1880. That’s when climate records were first kept. Scientists measured the
temperature of the
land and the ocean
all around the
globe. The average
temperature was
0.71°C (1.28°F)
higher than any
year before.
On this map,
the areas in red
were warmer
than usual.
g
in
er
in
e
Summer 2014: The Warmest Ever
En
g
Earth Science
Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji
Nakamura invented a light that saves energy
and lasts far longer than regular bulbs.
Build a
Comet Chaser
Design and build a model of your
own comet spacecraft and lander!
Look at pictures of Rosetta and
Philae for ideas. Then sketch your
design. Make sure your lander
can leave the craft and drop
down onto the ground without
breaking. You could use straws,
toothpicks, foil, cardboard, plastic
containers, bubble wrap, and duct
tape. Just about anything can
work. Build it, test it, and show
it to others. Then redesign it
and test it again. Please email
a picture of your craft to
[email protected]
Credits: top left: © nakres/iStock/Thinkstock; center left: © Niall Carson/PA Photos /Landov; top right: © Kyodo News/AP Images; bottom left: courtesy of National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC
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