A cleanup operation has begun in Tonga after the island nation was hit by a tsunami and covered in volcanic ash at the weekend. The Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai undersea volcano erupted on Saturday. Experts believe it was the world’s biggest volcanic eruption in over 30 years. It sent tsunami waves across the Pacific to Japan and the U.S. coast. It also destroyed large parts of Tonga. Islanders are now trying to restore services and normal life to the country. However, the ash is making this difficult. A lot of the rescue and recovery work cannot go ahead until the ash has been cleared. It has buried many buildings. It is also blocking many of the country’s roads
Tonga trying to clean up after tsunami and volcano
A cleanup operation has begun in Tonga after the island nation was hit by a tsunami and covered in volcanic ash at the weekend. The Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai undersea volcano erupted on Saturday. Experts believe it was the world’s biggest volcanic eruption in over 30 years. It sent tsunami waves across the Pacific to Japan and the U.S. coast. It also destroyed large parts of Tonga. Islanders are now trying to restore services and normal life to the country. However, the ash is making this difficult. A lot of the rescue and recovery work cannot go ahead until the ash has been cleared. It has buried many buildings. It is also blocking many of the country’s roads
Doctors in the USA have transplanted a pig’s heart into a man. It is the first time this has happened. The doctors are from the University of Maryland Medical Center. They say David Bennett, 57, is doing well after his operation. Mr Bennett was very ill. The doctors said giving him the pig’s heart was the only chance of keeping him alive. Bennett spoke to doctors the day before the operation. He said: “It was either die or do this transplant. I want to live. I know it’s a shot in the dark, but it’s my last choice.” The pig’s heart came from a genetically-modified pig. Scientists changed the genes of the pig so its heart would be more suitable for a transplant into a human.
Every December, TIME magazine announces its Person of the Year. This year, that award goes to the groundbreaking entrepreneur Elon Musk. TIME’s editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal explained why. He wrote: “Person of the Year is a marker of influence. Few individuals have had more influence than Musk on life on Earth, and potentially, life off Earth too.” He added: “In 2021, Musk emerged not just as the world’s richest person, but also as perhaps the richest example of a massive shift in our society.” Mr Musk is worth more than $255 billion. He is the richest person in history. He is also helping to save our world and our future. He is leading efforts to explore space and get to Mars.
タイムズ誌 「今年の人」はイーロンマスクに
毎年12月、TIME誌はそのPerson of theYearを発表します。 今年、その賞は画期的な起業家のイーロン・マスクに贈られます。 TIMEの編集長であるEdwardFelsenthalがその理由を説明しました。 彼は次のように書いています。「パーソン・オブ・ザ・イヤーは影響力の指標です。マスクよりも地球上の生命、そして潜在的には地球外の生命にも影響を与えた人はほとんどいません。」 「2021年に、ムスクは世界で最も裕福な人物としてだけでなく、おそらく私たちの社会における大規模な変化の最も裕福な例として浮上しました。」マスクク氏は2550億ドル以上の価値があります。 彼は歴史上最も裕福な人です。 彼はまた、私たちの世界と私たちの未来を救うのを助けています。 彼は宇宙を探索して火星に到達するための取り組みを主導しています。
「Scientists create living robots that can have babies. 」 レッスン・アクティビティはこちら
Scientists say that a new kind of robot can reproduce – it can create baby robots. This is an example of science fiction becoming science fact. The scientists, from the Universities of Vermont, Tufts and Harvard, created the world’s first “living” robots. They are called “xenobots”. Scientists created them in 2020 from the stem cells of an African frog. Its scientific name – “xenopus laevis” – gave the xenobot its name. The xenobots are less than a millimetre wide. They can move, work together in groups and self-heal. Although they are not what we imagine robots to be, scientists say they are technically robots. They are a machine-animal hybrid. The scientists say xenobots are “an entirely new life-form”
Scientists create living robots that can have babies.
Scientists say that a new kind of robot can reproduce – it can create baby robots. This is an example of science fiction becoming science fact. The scientists, from the Universities of Vermont, Tufts and Harvard, created the world’s first “living” robots. They are called “xenobots”. Scientists created them in 2020 from the stem cells of an African frog. Its scientific name – “xenopus laevis” – gave the xenobot its name. The xenobots are less than a millimetre wide. They can move, work together in groups and self-heal. Although they are not what we imagine robots to be, scientists say they are technically robots. They are a machine-animal hybrid. The scientists say xenobots are “an entirely new life-form”
A new variant of the covid-19 virus is beginning to spread worldwide. The WHO named the mutation Omicron, after a letter of the Greek alphabet. It was first reported in Botswana on the 9th of November. Two weeks later, it was detected in South Africa and flagged as a “virus of concern”. Soon after this, cases were reported in Hong Kong, Israel, Madagascar and Belgium. Epidemiologists have warned that this new strain could be extremely infectious. They also said it may be able to evade protections afforded us by current vaccines. This has led to countries reinstating travel bans. Despite these, new cases have already been reported in the UK, Germany and the Czech Republic.
Chefs in the United Kingdom may soon have to change their cooking methods. They will no longer be able to boil seafood alive. The U.K. government is looking at research that accepts that sea life like lobsters, octopuses and crabs feel pain. The studies could change how people treat and kill these creatures. The research is part of the UK’s Animal Welfare Bill. This recognizes that all animals with a spine are “sentient beings”. Being “sentient” means being able to feel things like pain, distress and joy. Researchers at the London School of Economics (LSE) looked at 300 different studies to reach their conclusion that octopuses, squid, cuttlefish, crabs, lobsters and crayfish have feelings.