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© Learning A–Z All rights reserved. www.sciencea-z.com
January 2015
Ebola Outbreak
Comet Landing a Success!
New Species of 2014
Winning Science
What’s Inside:
A powerful microscope shows the Ebola virus (blue) sprouting from an infected cell (yellow).
Written by Rhonda Lucas Donald
Top Science Stories of
2014
ScienceNews
inthe
P o w e r e d b y , a d i v i s i o n o f L e a r n i n g A - Z
Credits: front cover: courtesy of CDC/NIAID; page 2: © Kristin Palitza/dpa DPA/Landov
© Learning A–Z All rights reserved. www.sciencea-z.com2
Hope for a CureEbola 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.
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
The largest-ever outbreak of Ebola 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?
Virus OriginsScientists 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.
Making the JumpEbola 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.
January 2015
A doctor in Guinea cares for a baby who may have Ebola. He wears special protective clothing to avoid getting the disease.
Guinea Sierra Leone
Liberia
Nigeria
The West African nations of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia were hardest hit by the 2014 Ebola outbreak. A smaller outbreak occurred in Nigeria.
Viruses cause disease by infecting and killing healthy cells. Then new viruses spread through the body.
VIRUS LIFE CYCLE
1. A virus enters a healthy cell.
2. The cell makes copies of the virus.
3. New viruses break out of the cell and infect other cells.
virus
cell
1
2
3
Deadly Ebola Virus Rages in West Africa
SCIENCE in the NEWS
Life Science
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
© Learning A–Z All rights reserved. www.sciencea-z.com3
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!
A Long FlightPhilae 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 smooth spot on the surface where Philae could land.
A Bumpy RideThe 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.
The Little Lander That CouldBut 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
January 2015
Comet Landing
a Success!
This artist’s drawing shows Philae leaving the Rosetta spacecraft. It is the first mission to orbit and land on a comet.
Rosetta reached comet 67P when it was located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
MISSION MILESTONES
Earth’s orbit
Sun Mars’s orbit
Comet 67P’s orbit Jupiter’s
orbit
1. August 2014—Rosetta reached comet 67P
2. November 2014—Philae landed on comet
3. August 2015—Closest approach to Sun
4. December 2015—End of mission
12
4
3
Rosetta took this picture of comet 67P on August 3, 2014.
SCIENCE in the NEWS
Space Science
Credits: left: courtesy of Jennifer Read; top right: courtesy of Paul Wilkin; bottom right: courtesy of Dr. Jack Dumbacher/California Academy of Sciences
© Learning A–Z All rights reserved. www.sciencea-z.com4
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.
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.
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.
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.
New Species of 2014
About the size of a gerbil, the round-eared sengi (Macroscelides micus) lives in the Namib Desert in Africa and mainly feeds on insects.
The Kaweesak’s dragon tree (Dracaena kaweesakii) grows on hilly ground in Thailand.
January 2015
Costa Rica’s newest fairy fly (Tinkerbella nana) is named for the character Tinkerbell from Peter Pan.
SCIENCE in the NEWS
Life Science
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
© Learning A–Z All rights reserved. www.sciencea-z.com5
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.
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.”
January 2015
Scientists think that there are just a few thousand Australian humpback dolphins (Sousa sahulensis) in the world.
The four new species of tuco-tucos live in Bolivia. They look similar to this tuco-tuco from Argentina.
It’s hard to tell the mirror turtle ant (Cephalotes specularis) in the center from the other ant species (Crematogaster ampla) it steals from.
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.
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.
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
New SpeciesSCIENCE in the NEWS
continued from page 4
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
Engin
eerin
gSummer 2014: The Warmest Ever
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.
© Learning A–Z All rights reserved. www.sciencea-z.com6
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
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]
Build a Comet Chaser
January 2015
Winning
Science
Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura invented a light source that saves energy.
Sophie Healy-Thow, Émer Hickey, and Ciara Judge won the grand prize at the 2014 Google Science Fair.
SCIENCE in the NEWS
In most places, the temperature increased (red areas) when compared to the average.
Earth Science
Process Science
