2004-8-30
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VOICE ONE:
This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I'm Sarah
Long.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Bob Doughty. On our program this week: more pressure on
publishers over the costs of scientific literature.
VOICE ONE:
An expert on Chinese history says Genghis Khan could read and
write.
VOICE TWO:
Bulgarian scientists find an
ancient gold mask fit for a king.
VOICE ONE:
And, science and sports meet with "marathon mice."
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VOICE ONE:
Prices for published research on science, medicine and other
subjects have been rising. This has been a problem for many
libraries, schools and individuals. In Britain, for example, the
average price of an academic journal rose fifty-eight percent
between nineteen ninety-eight and two thousand three.
Recently, British and American lawmakers have proposed measures
toward what is called open access publishing. Researchers would pay
to have their studies published. They would also be permitted to
keep the right to reprint their own work. And, if a government pays
for a study, the findings would be free for the public to read on
the Internet.
In Washington, there are proposals from the House Appropriations
Committee. The committee said the National Institutes of Health
should provide free access to any research it finances. Such access
would normally be provided six months after a study has been
published in a journal. However, if a scientist used federal money
to pay any publication costs, then the research would go on the
Internet immediately.
These proposals now go to the Senate. The Science and Technology
Committee in the House of Commons made similar recommendations last
month to the British government.
VOICE TWO:
Critics, however, say such changes would decrease the number of
journals. They say scientific publications would not have enough
money to stay in business.
Crispin Davis heads the publishing company Reed Elsevier in
Britain. Mister Davis notes that many publishing companies already
offer free access to some materials. But he says this kind of
literature currently makes up only about one percent of what is
published. As a result, he says he does not believe the "scholar
pays" business model will succeed. Critics also say research could
be influenced by whoever pays to publish the work, such as drug
companies.
But supporters argue that open access publishing will help
researchers in developing countries especially. If the proposals
become law, supporters say more experts from around the world will
be able to influence scientific discovery.
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VOICE ONE:
This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Bob
Doughty.
A Chinese history expert says he has found new evidence about
Genghis Khan, the thirteenth century ruler of Mongolia. Tengus
Bayaryn of Inner Mongolia University says the evidence shows that
Genghis Khan could both read and write. Historians have widely
believed that he could do neither. Genghis Khan was over forty years
old before there was a written Mongolian language.
The new evidence is a group of ancient documents. The professor
says these include a letter apparently written by Genghis Khan in
the year twelve nineteen. The message praises the writings of a
Taoist religious leader. And it says the Mongolian ruler will read
the writings personally.
Professor Bayaryn says the letter was written in Mongolian and
the use of the word "personally" clearly suggests that Genghis Khan
could read.
Genghis Khan unified Mongolian tribes to create a fighting force
that controlled China and Central Asia. He became the Great Khan of
the Mongol Empire. Later, he was declared Genghis Khan, or universal
ruler. His territory reached from Asia to present day Europe. He
died in twelve twenty-seven.
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VOICE TWO:
Bulgarian scientists have found a solid gold mask in the burial
place of a Thracian king from two thousand four hundred years ago.
Thrace was an ancient country on the Balkan Peninsula in
southeastern Europe.
The research team found the mask near a village east of the
Bulgarian capital, Sofia. Georgi Kitov of the Institute of
Archaeology and Museum in Sofia says it is the first Thracian mask
of solid gold ever found. Professor Kitov says the mask weighs five
hundred grams and shows a human face. He says the face may be that
of King Seutus the third.
VOICE ONE:
The Thracians were a tribal people. They lived in parts of what
is now Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, Turkey and Greece. They lived
at the same time as the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. The
Thracians sometimes clashed with these other cultures. The Thracians
disappeared as a people almost two thousand years ago. They had no
written language.
The researchers who found the gold mask also found a ring nearby.
It shows a man rowing a boat in what appears to be an Olympic
competition. Professor Kitov had suggested that the discovery should
bring good luck to the Bulgarian rowers at the Athens Olympics.
Maybe it did. Rowers Ivo Yanakiev and Rumyana Neykova both finished
third in their individual events.
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VOICE TWO:
The Olympics closed Sunday after the men's marathon in Athens.
Those athletes ran fast and far. Now imagine if those runners had
the strength to go two times as far before getting tired. Scientists
have reported progress toward creating such an athlete. But, this
athlete would have trouble entering the Olympics.
Ronald Evans of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La
Jolla, California, led the research. He says his team of genetic
scientists created mice that ran for one thousand eight hundred
meters on treadmill machines. A group of normal mice ran only nine
hundred meters and they stopped after about an hour. The so-called
marathon mice kept going for thirty more minutes.
VOICE ONE:
The scientists made some genetic changes in the mice that
involved a protein. The protein is called PPAR-delta. It helps
control the burning of fat in the body; it acts as a switch. The
scientists treated normal mice with an experimental drug. As a
result, the so-called fat switch was always active in the skeletal
muscles.
The scientists found that the activated form increased the rate
at which the body burns fat. The mice had a lot more of the muscle
cells needed for long periods of exercise than normal mice. And
Ronald Evans says the muscles also provided resistance to weight
gain, even in mice that did not exercise.
The scientists say the PPAR-delta protein is a possible target
for drugs to treat diabetes and disorders that result from too much
fat in the blood. They say the discovery could also lead to
treatments for people who are obese, severely overweight.
VOICE TWO:
The Public Library of Science published the report in its free
online journal PLoS Biology, at publiclibraryofscience -- one word
-- dot o-r-g.
There was also a separate report on a study at the University of
California, San Diego. Professor Randall Johnson and his team say
they increased energy levels in mice by removing a gene. That gene
controls how skeletal muscles burn fat when there are changes in
oxygen levels in the muscle tissue.
Muscles in mammals normally burn fat through a process that uses
oxygen. This process is called aerobic metabolism. But if oxygen
levels get low, the muscles begin to burn fat without the use of
oxygen. That is called anaerobic metabolism. It provides bursts of
power but not long-term energy.
The scientists say the genetic change prevented the mice from
creating energy this way. As a result, the animals could run for a
much longer period of time. They were also much better swimmers than
normal mice.
VOICE ONE:
But there was a price to pay. After four days of tests, the
genetically engineered mice had far more muscle damage than a group
of normal mice. The scientists did not know why that happened.
Still, they say their work should interest medical researchers
seeking treatments for genetic disorders in people.
But discoveries of ways to create super-athletic mice must surely
also add to the worries of Olympic officials. The use of performance
drugs that are difficult to test for is already a problem.
Genetically engineered athletes may be next.
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VOICE TWO:
SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jill Moss, Nancy Steinbach and
Caty Weaver. Cynthia Kirk was our producer. This is Bob Doughty.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Sarah Long. To send us e-mail, write to
special@voanews.com. And join us again next week for more news about
science, in Special English, on the Voice of America.