Power ed by
, a division of Learning A-Z
Science
News 2014
January 2015
Top Science
Stories of
in
the
eSurrvReesuylts
A powerful 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
Rages in West Africa
Guinea
The largest-ever outbreak of Ebola
Life Science
put the entire world on alert in 2014.
The Ebola virus causes a deadly disease that kills many
of the people it infects. Some people can recover from
the disease, but there is currently no cure and no vaccine
to prevent it. Keeping the disease from spreading is the
best way to stop Ebola. Where did Ebola come from, and
how do people get it?
Sierra Leone
Nigeria
Liberia
The West African nations of Guinea, Sierra Leone,
and Liberia were hardest hit by the 2014 Ebola
outbreak. A smaller outbreak occurred in Nigeria.
Virus Origins
Scientists think the Ebola virus first infected fruit bats
in Africa. Other animals got the disease by eating the
infected bats or fruit that sick bats had fed on. That’s
because the virus spreads through the bodily fluids
of sick animals. These fluids include saliva, blood,
and mucus. Monkeys, chimpanzees, and gorillas
have been known to have the Ebola virus. Antelopes,
porcupines, and rodents can also carry the virus.
Hope for a Cure
Ebola is a serious disease. Thankfully, it does not pass
easily from person to person, like the flu or a cold. Still,
over 14,000 people became infected with Ebola in 2014.
More than 5,000 people died. Most of the cases were in
West Africa. Two nurses in the United States got the virus
from a sick man. The man had gotten sick in Africa before
flying to Texas. The nurses recovered, but the patient died.
Making the Jump
Ebola jumped to people when they ate meat from infected
animals. Once a person is sick, the virus can only pass to
other people through bodily fluids. The first known case
of Ebola in a human occurred in 1976. One outbreak
was in a village near the Ebola River in Africa. That’s
where the virus got its name.
Doctors are administering new drugs to treat Ebola. There
are also two vaccines being tested that may be able to
prevent the disease. A vaccine for smallpox wiped out
that disease years ago. Hopefully, a vaccine for Ebola can
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. New viruses break
out of the cell and
infect other cells.
A doctor in Guinea cares for a baby who may
have Ebola. He wears special protective
clothing to avoid getting the disease.
3
Viruses cause disease by infecting and killing healthy
cells. Then new viruses spread through the body.
Credits: front cover: courtesy of CDC/NIAID; page 2: © Kristin Palitza/dpa DPA/Landov
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SCIENCE in the NEWS
January 2015
Comet Landing
a Success!
On November 12, 2014, scientists
and engineers at the European Space
Agency held their breath. The Philae (FEE-lay) lander was
about to make history. It touched down on comet 67P,
320 million miles from Earth. This was the first time
people had landed a probe on a comet!
Space Science
A Long Flight
Philae was carried into deep space
by the Rosetta spacecraft. After a
ten-year flight from Earth, Rosetta
reached 67P. The spacecraft began
mapping the comet’s surface
from above. Mission controllers
discovered that comet 67P was
shaped more like a rubber duck
than a ball. They selected a
Rosetta took this
smooth spot on the surface
picture of comet 67P
where Philae could land.
on August 3, 2014.
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
The launch was picture perfect. But when Philae touched
down, devices that were meant to hold it to the surface
failed. The lander bounced a few times before coming
to rest. Philae was in working order, but its solar panels
were now hidden in the shadow of a cliff. Without
sunlight to generate energy, the solar panels would not
be able to keep Philae up and running. Back on Earth,
scientists rushed to gather information from Philae before
its batteries ran out. Engineers tried to move the lander
so that the panels could get more sunlight. The lander
took pictures of the comet. It also collected information
about the makeup of the comet’s surface and atmosphere.
Philae discovered that the comet contains molecules
that are the basic building blocks of life. Then Philae
went into sleep mode.
MISSION MILESTONES
1
2
Earth’s
orbit
3
Sun
4
Mars’s
orbit
Comet
67P’s orbit
The Little Lander That Could
But all is not lost. Scientists think that as the comet
nears the Sun, sunlight may begin to reach Philae’s solar
panels. If it gets enough power, the lander will wake up
and start collecting data again. In the meantime, Rosetta
continues to follow the comet. The spacecraft will study
the comet as it nears the Sun. Comets are leftovers from
the early days of our solar system. Learning more about
them may help us understand how the rest of our 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. Sometimes they already know
a certain animal or plant exists but later learn
that it is a unique species. Here are just a few
new species from the class of 2014.
Life Science
It’s hard to believe that 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 type of wasp with thin wings that have
long, graceful fringes. Fairy flies are parasites that
feed off the eggs and larvae of other insects.
The Kaweesak’s dragon tree
(Dracaena kaweesakii) grows
on hilly ground in Thailand.
Costa Rica’s newest fairy fly
(Tinkerbella nana) is named for the
character Tinkerbell from Peter Pan.
The round-eared sengi is sometimes called an elephant
shrew. Sengis have long, trunk-like noses. Despite their
small size, they are actually more closely related to
elephants than to shrews! This newly discovered species
is the smallest of all the sengis.
About the size of a gerbil, the round-eared sengi
(Macroscelides micus) lives in the Namib Desert
in Africa and mainly feeds on 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
Australia has a new dolphin in its waters. The Australian
humpback dolphin gets its name from the fin on its back.
It’s shaped more like a hump than the thinner, pointed fin
common in 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 territory, steal their food, and learn
where they go to get more food.
Scientists think that there are just a
few thousand Australian humpback
dolphins (Sousa sahulensis) in the world.
It’s hard to tell the mirror turtle ant (Cephalotes
specularis) in the center from the other ant
species (Crematogaster ampla) it steals from.
Scientists have found not one but four new species
of rodents called tuco-tucos. These small rodents
are similar to gophers. The toothy little guys get
their name from the sound they make while digging,
which sounds like “tuke-tuke.”
The four new species of tuco-tucos live in Bolivia.
They look similar to this tuco-tuco from Argentina.
This new critter is quite a mystery.
It looks like a mushroom, but it’s
actually an animal found in the
deep ocean waters off the coast
of Australia. Scientists think
it may be a primitive species
(Dendrogramma enigmatica)
thought to be long extinct. v
This new sea critter is only about 2 centimeters (1 in.)
long and may float freely in the water. The branched
markings are part of its simple 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 in Ireland won the 2014 Google Science Fair. The
teens worked with grain crops—such as oats and barley—and
bacteria that naturally grow on plant roots. The bacteria make
nitrogen available to the roots. Nitrogen is a nutrient that helps
plants grow. The scientific teens found that these bacteria also
cause seeds to sprout faster. Once the plants were grown, the
bacteria helped the plants produce more grains. Their discovery
could help increase food production. Farmers could use the
bacteria to grow more food crops in a shorter amount of time.
Three physicists from Japan won the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics
for inventing blue LED lights. LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, are
energy-efficient. They last one hundred times longer than regular
lightbulbs. What’s so important about blue lights? You need red,
green, and blue light to make white light. While there had been
red and green LEDs, 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 Planet Earth
since 1880. That’s when climate records were first kept. Climate scientists
measured the temperature of the land and the ocean in many locations
around the globe.
They found that
the average
temperature was
0.71°C (1.28°F)
higher than in any
previous year.
In most places,
the temperature
increased (red areas)
when compared to
the average.
g
in
er
in
e
Summer 2014: The Warmest Ever
En
g
Earth Science
Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano,
and Shuji Nakamura invented
a light source that saves energy.
Build a
Comet Chaser
Design and build a model of your
own comet craft and lander! Look
at pictures of Rosetta and Philae
for inspiration. Then sketch your
design. Make sure your lander
can separate from the craft and
drop to the ground without being
damaged. Use straws, toothpicks,
foil, cardboard, plastic containers,
bubble wrap, duct tape—just about
anything can work. Build it, test
it, and discuss it with others. Then
redesign it and test it again. Email
a picture of your creation 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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