Read / Listen *** Oku / Dinle

All About Sharks / Köpekbalıkları Hakkında Herşey

Turkeys in the USA / Amerikada Hindiler

How the Revolution Against Britain Divided Families and Friend / Britanya'ya Karşı İhtilal Aileleri Ve Arkadaşları Nasıl Böldü

Smokers Should Stop Smoking / İçiciler Sigara İçmeyi Bırakmalı

Understanding Happiness / Mutluluğu Anlamak

Vitamins Are Important to Good Health / Vitaminler Sağşıklı Bir Yaşam İçin Önemli

The Story of Aspirin / Aspirinin Hikayesi

What Doctors Are Doing About Headaches, and What You Can Do / Doktorlar Baş Ağrıları İçin ne yapıyor, Ve Sen Ne Yapabilirsin

How to Get the Most Out of a Workout / En İyi Egzersiz Nasıl Yapılır

Sharks: A Bad Image, but Oceans Value Them / Köpekbalıkları : kötü Bir Görüntü Ama okyanuslar Onlara Değer Veriyor

Transgenic Monkeys Produced in Japan / Japonyada Transgenik Maymunlar Üretildi

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All About Sharks / Köpekbalıkları Hakkında Herşey

All About Sharks

Download MP3   (Right-click or option-click the link.) This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.  I'm Barbara Klein. And I'm Doug Johnson.
On our program this week, we tell about sharks.  They are among the oldest animals on Earth.  Sharks are famous for attacking other sea creatures and even people.  Yet they also have been threatened by human activities.
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Scientists say sharks have lived in the world's oceans for millions of years.  Today, sharks live the same way they did more than two hundred million years ago, before dinosaurs existed on the Earth.
Scientists say there are more than three hundred fifty different kinds of sharks.  Most sharks are about two meters long.  The dogfish shark, however, is less than twenty centimeters in length.  And, the biggest whale shark can grow to a length of twenty meters.
Sharks do not have bones.  The skeleton of a shark is made of cartilage.  Human noses and ears are also made of cartilage.
A shark has an extremely good sense of smell.  It can find small amounts of substances in the water, such as blood, body liquids and chemicals produced by animals.  Sharks also sense electrical and magnetic power linked to nerves and muscles of living animals.  These powerful senses help them find their food.  Sharks eat fish, other sharks, and plants that live in the ocean.  Some sharks will eat just about anything.  Many unusual things have been found in the stomachs of some tiger sharks.  They include shoes, dogs, a cow's foot and metal protective clothing.
Sharks grow slowly.  Some kinds of sharks are not able to reproduce until they are twenty years old.  Most reproduce only every two years.  And they give birth to fewer than ten young sharks.
About forty percent of the different kinds of sharks lay eggs.  The others give birth to live young.  Some sharks carry their young inside their bodies, with a cord connecting the fetus to the mother, like humans do.
Scientists are beginning to understand the importance of sharks to humans.  Medical researchers want to learn more about the shark's body defense system against disease.  They know that sharks recover quickly from injuries.
Sharks appear never to suffer infections, cancer or heart diseases.  Many people believe that shark cartilage can help prevent cancer.  Scientists have questioned this idea.  Yet they still study the shark in hopes of finding a way to fight human disease.
Most sharks live in warm waters, but some can be found in very cold areas.  Most sharks live in the oceans.  However, the bull shark leaves ocean waters to enter freshwater rivers and lakes.  They have been found in the Zambezi River in Africa, the Mississippi River in the United States, and Lake Nicaragua in southwestern Nicaragua.
Sharks are important for the health of the world's oceans.  They eat injured and diseased fish.  Their hunting activities mean that the numbers of other fish in the ocean do not become too great.  This protects the plants and other forms of life that exist in the oceans.
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People have long feared sharks because of their sharp teeth, aggressive actions and fame as fierce hunters.  "Jaws" was the name of a popular book published in nineteen seventy-four.  It told about people in an American coastal town who sought protection from a great white shark that killed swimmers in the ocean.  Thirty years ago last month, the film version of the book was released.  "Jaws" became one of the most popular American movies in history. The movie was extremely frightening.
However, experts say not all sharks are like the one shown in "Jaws."  Still, sharks attacked sixty-one people around the world last year.  Twenty-seven of those attacks took place in North American waters.  Twelve were in waters near the southeastern state of Florida.
The International Shark Attack File keeps records of all reported shark attacks.  The list has been in existence since nineteen fifty-eight.  The world attack totals last year were similar to those of the most recent years.  Yet the number of attacks has risen during the past century.  However, the number of deaths from shark attacks each year around the world remains very small. Experts say sharks killed only seven people last year.
Shark experts say bees, snakes and elephants kill more people each year than sharks do.  They say there is no great need to protect people from sharks.
Many people disagree with that idea.  That is because of media reports about shark attacks and resulting deaths.  On June twenty-fifth, a shark attacked a fourteen-year-old girl as she swam near the coast of northwestern Florida.  The girl was swimming with a friend in the Gulf of Mexico.  They were more than ninety meters from the coast when a shark bit one of the girl's legs.  A man surfing in nearby waters brought her back to land.  But medical workers were unable to save the girl.  She died of her wounds.
Two days later, there was another attack about one hundred kilometers east of where the girl died.  A sixteen-year-old boy was attacked while standing and fishing in waters near an area called Cape San Blas.  He survived the attack, but doctors were forced to remove one of his legs.
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Shark experts are attempting to discover why many shark attacks take place within the same general area.  They say warm weather conditions may influence both fish and shark activity.  The warmer waters moving close to the coast carry many fish to that area.  Experts say sharks may have followed the fish into the same area where many people were swimming.
Experts say most sharks bite people by mistake.  For unknown reasons, they think that a person is a large sea animal, like a seal or sea lion.  That is why people should not go swimming in the ocean at the times of the day when the sun goes down or comes up.  Those are the times when sharks are looking for food.  Experts also say that people should not wear bright colors or shiny metal jewelry.  These may cause sharks to attack.
The experts say shark attacks only seem to be increasing because more people are swimming in the oceans than ever before.  They say the number of sharks in the world has decreased in recent years.  Scientists say people are killing sharks faster than the sharks can reproduce.
People hunt sharks for sport, food, medicine and their skin.  Experts say the international market for some kinds of sharks has increased greatly because many parts of a shark are valuable.
For example, shark meat is good to eat.  In Asia, people enjoy a special kind of soup made from shark fins.  Experts say a fisherman can earn about fifty dollars a kilogram for shark fins.  Collectors pay thousands of dollars for the jaws of a shark.  Shark liver oil is a popular source of Vitamin A.  Some people believe that a shark's cartilage and liver can improve people's health.  The skin of a shark can be used like leather.
People also kill sharks because of fear.  Many sharks are killed by mistake.  Each year, thousands die in traps set out to catch other kinds of fish.
If too many sharks in one area are killed, that group of sharks may never return to normal population levels.  Such hunting activities also have made some kinds of sharks in danger of disappearing from Earth.
Many scientists say the number of sharks worldwide has dropped by fifty percent over the past fifteen years.  Among some kinds of sharks, the number may have decreased by more than seventy percent.  For example, the number of dusky sharks and sandbar sharks off the eastern United States decreased by more than eighty percent.  This happened between nineteen eighty-five and nineteen ninety-five.  The sand tiger shark and the great white shark are threatened around the world.
Many nations have approved laws to protect the great white shark.  These nations include Australia, South Africa, and the United States.  Last October, the great white shark gained international protection for the first time.  The recognition came at a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES.  Delegates at the meeting approved a plan to require a permit for selling the jaws, teeth and fins of great white sharks.
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This program was written by Nancy Steinbach and George Grow.  Cynthia Kirk was our producer.  I'm Barbara Klein. And I'm Doug Johnson.  Join us again next week for Science in the News in VOA Special English. Our reports are online at voaspecialenglish.com.

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Turkeys in the USA / Amerikada Hindiler

Turkeys in the USA

This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT.
Last Thursday, millions of Americans ate turkey as part of a traditional meal on Thanksgiving, a national holiday. Turkey is also popular on Christmas.
In the past, half of all turkeys sold in the United States were eaten during the holidays. Now that share is thirty percent, as more turkey products appear on the market. Over the years Americans have been eating less red meat and more chicken and turkey. Turkey is now the fourth most popular meat.
The National Turkey Federation in New York represents the industry. The group says Americans eat two times more turkey than they did twenty-five years ago. Last year the average amount per person was eight kilograms. Americans are second only to Israelis in the amount of turkey eaten. The French are third.
Six percent of turkeys raised in the United States are exported. Mexico is the top importer. Next come Hong Kong, Russia and Taiwan.
Over the years, growers have developed birds that are better for industrial meat production. A turkey hen lays eighty to one-hundred eggs in a season. To fertilize the eggs, reproduction is left not to nature but to the process of artificial insemination.
Farmed turkeys grow very quickly. In fourteen weeks, a hen weighs seven kilograms and is ready for market. Male turkeys, called toms, are grown longer. In eighteen weeks, a male turkey weighs more than fourteen kilograms. Hens are usually sold as whole birds. The toms are processed into meat products.
Two-thirds of the cost to raise a turkey is in the food they eat. Farmed turkeys eat a mixture of corn and soybean with vitamins and minerals added. To raise a fourteen-kilogram bird requires about thirty-six kilograms of food.
Most turkeys are raised inside barns. But higher-priced turkeys may be permitted to go outside in the open air. Farm turkeys cannot fly, and even wild turkeys cannot fly very far.
The Department of Agriculture says turkeys are not fed hormones to increase growth. It says turkeys may receive antibiotic drugs to prevent disease and increase feed efficiency. There are turkeys raised without antibiotics or feed grown with chemicals. But people who want to feed their families an organic turkey for the holidays, or any time, pay a higher price at the store.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter. This is Steve Ember.

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How the Revolution Against Britain Divided Families and Friends / Britanya'ya Karşı İhtilal Aileleri Ve Arkadaşları Nasıl Böldü

How the Revolution Against Britain Divided Families and Friends

Download MP3   (Right-click or option-click the link.) This is Rich Kleinfeldt. And this is Ray Freeman with THE MAKING OF A NATION, a VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.  Today, we continue the story of the American Revolution against Britain in the late 1700s.
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Delegates to the American Continental Congress approved and signed a Declaration of Independence on July Fourth, 1776.  The new country called the United States of America was at war with Britain.  Yet, not everyone in the former colonies agreed on the decision.
No one knows for sure how many Americans remained loyal to Great Britain.  The Massachusetts political leader, John Adams, thought about thirty-three percent of the colonists supported independence, thirty-three percent supported Britain, and thirty-three percent supported neither side.  Most history experts today think that about twenty percent of the colonists supported Britain.  They say the others were neutral or supported whichever side seemed to be winning.
As many as thirty thousand Americans fought for the British during the war.  Others helped Britain by reporting the movements of American rebel troops.
Who supported Britain?  They included people appointed to their jobs by the king, religious leaders of the Anglican Church, and people with close business connections in Britain.
Many members of minority groups remained loyal to the king because they needed his protection against local majority groups.  Other people were loyal because they did not want change or because they believed that independence would not improve their lives. Some thought the actions of the British government were not bad enough to make a rebellion necessary.  Others did not believe that the rebels could win a war against such a powerful nation as Britain.
Native American Indians did not agree among themselves about the revolution.  Congress knew it had to make peace with the Indians as soon as the war started, or American troops might have to fight them and the British at the same time.  To prevent trouble, American officials tried to stop settlers from moving onto Indian lands.
In some places, the Indians joined the Americans, but generally they supported the British.  They expected the British to win. They saw the war as a chance to force the Americans to leave their lands.  At times, the Indians fought on the side of the British, but left when the British seemed to be losing the battle.  Choosing to fight for the British proved to be a mistake.  When the war was over, the Americans felt they owed the Indians nothing.
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Black slaves in the colonies also were divided about what side to join during the American Revolution.
Thousands fought for the British, because that side offered them freedom if they served in the army or navy.  Some American states also offered to free slaves who served, and hundreds of free blacks fought on the American side.  Many slaves, however, felt their chances for freedom were better with the British.  Details are not exact, but history experts say more blacks probably joined the British in the North than in the South.
At least five thousand African-Americans served with the colonial American forces.  Most had no choice.  They were slaves, and their owners took them to war or sent them to replace their sons. Others felt that a nation built on freedom might share some of that freedom with them.
In the South, many slave owners kept their slaves at home.  Later in the war, every man was needed, although most slaves did not fight.  Instead, they drove wagons and carried supplies.  Many African-Americans also served in the American navy.  Blacks who served in the colonial army and navy were not separated from whites.  Black and white men fought side by side during the American Revolution.
History experts say, however, that most black slaves spent the war as they had always lived:  working on their owners' farms.
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The American rebels called themselves patriots.  They called British supporters Tories.  Patriots often seized Tories' property to help pay for the war.  They also kidnapped Tories' slaves to be used as laborers for the army.  Many Tories were forced from towns in which they had lived all their lives.  Some were tortured or hanged.  In New Jersey, Tories and patriots fought one another with guns, and sometimes burned each other's houses and farms.
Some history experts say the American Revolution was really the nation's first civil war.  The revolution divided many families.  Perhaps the most famous example was the family of Benjamin Franklin.  Ben Franklin signed the Declaration of Independence. His son William was governor of the colony of New Jersey.  He supported the king.  Political disagreement about the war tore apart this father and son for the rest of their lives.
Different ideas about the war existed among the patriots, too. That is because the colonies did not really think of themselves as one nation.  They saw themselves as independent states trying to work together toward a goal.  People from Massachusetts, for example, thought Pennsylvania was a strange place filled with strange people.  Southerners did not like people from the North. And people who lived in farm areas did not communicate easily with people who lived in coastal towns and cities.
This meant that the Continental Congress could not order the states to do anything they did not want to do.  Congress could not demand that the states provide money for the war.  It could only ask for their help.
George Washington, the top general, could not take men into the army.  He could only wait for the states to send them.  History experts say George Washington showed that he was a good politician by the way he kept Congress and the thirteen states supporting him throughout the war.
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As the people of America did not agree about the war, the people of Britain did not agree about it, either.  Many supported the government's decision to fight.  They believed that the war was necessary to rescue loyalists from the patriots.  Others did not think Britain should fight the Americans, because the Americans had not invaded or threatened their country.  They believed that Britain should leave the colonies alone to do as they wished.
King George was not able to do this, however.  He supported the war as a way to continue his power in the world, and to rescue British honor in the eyes of other national leaders.
Whichever side British citizens were on, there was no question that the war was causing severe problems in Britain.  British businessmen could no longer trade with the American colonies.  Prices increased.  Taxes did, too.  And young men were forced to serve in the royal navy.
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At the start of the war, the British believed that the rebellion was led by a few extremists in New England.  They thought the other colonies would surrender if that area could be surrounded and controlled.  So, they planned to separate New England from the other colonies by taking command of the Hudson River Valley.
They changed this plan after they were defeated in the Battle of Saratoga in New York state.  Later, they planned to capture major cities and control the coast from Maine in the north to Georgia in the south.  They failed to do this, although they did occupy New York City for the whole war, and at times had control over Philadelphia and Charleston.
The British experienced many problems fighting the war.  Their troops were far from home, across a wide ocean.  It was difficult to bring in more forces and supplies, and it took a long time. As the war continued, American ships became more skilled at attacking British ships at sea.
The colonial army had problems, too.  Congress never had enough money.  Sometimes, it could not send General Washington the things he needed.  Often, the states did not send what they were supposed to.  Americans were not always willing to take part in the war.  They were poorly trained as soldiers and would promise to serve for only a year or so.
The political and economic developments of the American Revolution concerned not just the Americans and the British.  European nations were watching the events in America very closely.  Those events, and the reactions in Europe, will be our story next time.
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Today's MAKING OF A NATION program was written by Nancy Steinbach.  This is Rich Kleinfeldt. And this is Ray Freeman.  Join us again next week for another VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.
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This was program #13 in THE MAKING OF A NATION

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Smokers Should Stop Smoking / İçiciler Sigara İçmeyi Bırakmalı

Smokers Should Stop Smoking

Download MP3   (Right-click or option-click the link.)

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.  I’m Bob Doughty.
And I’m Faith Lapidus.  On our program this week, some new information about tobacco smoke -- and it’s not good news.

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Few people would argue that tobacco smoke is good for you.  For more than forty years, scientists have said cigarette smoking can cause serious health problems.  But today, smokers and people who do not smoke often argue about smoking in the workplace.
Many non-smokers would like to have smoking banned where they work.  They fear harmful effects from other people's tobacco smoke, also known as secondhand smoke.  Business owners often say a ban on smoking would harm their profits.  And, smokers say such a ban would interfere with their rights.
In the United States, secondhand smoke causes about three thousand non-smoking adults to die of lung cancer each year.  That information comes from a private group, the American Cancer Society.
Recently, the American Journal of Public Health published two reports about secondhand smoke.  The Multnomah County Health Department in Oregon and the Oregon Department of Human Services organized one study.  The University of Minnesota Cancer Center in Minneapolis assisted them.
The study involved eighty-four non-smokers who worked at restaurants and drinking places in Oregon.  Thirty-two worked in businesses that banned smoking.  Fifty-two others worked in businesses that permitted smoking.  Most worked as servers or prepared drinks.  Two thirds of those studied were women.
The researchers asked the non-smokers about how much time they had spent around smokers while away from work.  The breath of the workers was tested to make sure they had not been smoking.
Then the researchers tested liquid wastes from the workers.  They found a substance called NNAL in the urine.  NNAL is a byproduct of NNK, a chemical found only in tobacco products.  Other studies have linked NNK to lung cancer.  Over time, scientists have identified more than sixty chemicals in tobacco smoke that cause cancer in people and animals.
The researchers tested the urine of the workers before they started their jobs and again as they finished.  Those working where smoking was permitted were more likely to have NNK in their urine.The study did not deal with whether secondhand smoke caused health problems in nonsmokers.  But last year, the evidence against secondhand smoke caused America's top medical officer to advise banning smoking in buildings.

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The second report in the American Journal of Public Health came from the Public Health Institute in California.  The Public Health Institute is a nonprofit organization that says businesses should be free of smoke.
The Institute says employers must keep workplaces safe for employees.  It tells employers that they are open to legal action if their environment harms workers.
Margaret Chan is director-general of the World Health Organization.  She has urged all countries to pass laws banning smoking in workplaces.
Businesses are not the only places where secondhand smoke is a threat.  People who smoke at home should think about the health of others living with them.  The American Cancer Society says secondhand smoke causes lung infections in as many as three hundred thousand young children each year.
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The W.H.O. estimates that smoking is responsible for the deaths of five million people each year.  At current rates, it says tobacco use could kill ten million people a year by two thousand twenty.  Smoking by pregnant women can threaten the unborn.  Expectant mothers are more likely to have babies with health problems and low birth weight.  Babies with low weight at birth have an increased risk of dying young.  They may also suffer health problems.
Older smokers are also at risk.  A study in the publication Neurology showed that older adults who smoke face an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.  Decreased mental health also was more likely in persons who smoked than in non-smokers.
Alzheimer’s patients lose ability to think, plan and organize.  After a time they become unable to care for themselves.
Researchers in the Netherlands studied almost seven thousand adults aged fifty-five years or older.  Seven hundred six of the adults developed dementia during the seven years of the study.  Dementia is a condition that causes a decrease in a person's thinking ability.
Persons who smoked during the study were fifty percent more likely to develop dementia than those who never smoked or had stopped.
Most people know that smoking causes lung cancer.  But it also has been proven to be a major cause of cancers of the mouth, esophagus, kidney, bladder and pancreas.  Cigarettes are not the only danger.  Smokeless tobacco and cigars also have been linked to cancer.  But these facts are not enough to prevent people from smoking.
The American Cancer Society says there is no safe way to smoke.  It says smoking begins to cause damage immediately.  All cigarettes can damage the body.  Smoking even a few cigarettes is dangerous.
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Nicotine is a substance in tobacco that gives pleasure to smokers.  Nicotine is a poison.  The American Cancer Society says nicotine can kill a person when taken in large amounts.  It does this by stopping the muscles used for breathing.
The body grows to depend on nicotine.  When a former smoker smokes a cigarette, the nicotine reaction may start again.  This forces the person to keep smoking.
Studies have found that nicotine can be as difficult to resist as alcohol or the drug cocaine.  So experts say it is better never to start smoking than it is to smoke with the idea of stopping later.
Experts say menthol cigarettes are no safer than other tobacco products.  Menthol cigarettes produce a cool feeling in the smoker’s throat.  So people can hold the smoke in their lungs longer than smokers of other products.  As a result, experts say menthol cigarettes may be even more dangerous than other cigarettes.
Other smokers believe that cigarettes with low tar levels are safer.  Tar is a substance produced when tobacco leaves are burned.  It is known to cause cancer.
America's National Cancer Institute has said people who smoke low-tar cigarettes do not reduce their risk of getting diseases linked to smoking.  Scientists found no evidence of improvements to public health from changes in cigarette design and production in the past fifty years.
Is there no way to smoke without harming your health?
The American Cancer Society does not think so.  The group wants people to stop or at least reduce smoking.  For this reason it organizes the Great American Smokeout every year.  The event takes place in November.  Local volunteers support the efforts of individuals who want to stop smoking.
The American Cancer Society says blood pressure returns to normal twenty minutes after the last cigarette.  Carbon monoxide gas levels in the blood return to normal after eight hours.  The chance of heart attack decreases after one day.  After one year, the risk of heart disease for a non-smoker is half that of a smoker.
There are products designed to help people reduce their dependence on cigarettes.  Several kinds of nicotine replacement products provide small amounts of the chemical.  These can help people stop smoking.
Experts also say a drug used to treat depression has helped smokers.  The drug is called Zyban.  It does not contain nicotine.  It works by increasing levels of dopamine in the brain.  Dopamine is a chemical that produces pleasure.
Here is some advice from people who have stopped smoking: Stay away from alcoholic drinks.  Take a walk instead of smoking a cigarette.  Avoid people who are smoking.  If possible, stay away from situations that trouble you.
It is not easy to stop smoking.  And people never can completely control their own health.  But as one doctor advises her patients, becoming a non-smoker is one way to gain control of your life.

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This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jerilyn Watson.  Brianna Blake was our producer.  I’m Bob Doughty.
And I’m Faith Lapidus.  Read and listen to our programs at voaspecialenglish.com.  Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

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Understanding Happiness / Mutluluğu Anlamak

Understanding Happiness

Download MP3   (Right-click or option-click the link.) I’m Bob Doughty. And I’m Faith Lapidus with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. For thousands of years, people have been debating the meaning of happiness and how to find it.
From the ancient Greeks and Romans to current day writers and professors, the debate about happiness continues. What makes someone happy? In what parts of the world are people the happiest? Why even study happiness? Today, we explore these questions and learn about several new books on happiness studies.

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The Greek philosopher Aristotle said that a person’s highest happiness comes from the use of his or her intelligence. Religious books such as the Koran and Bible discuss faith as a form of happiness. The British scientist Charles Darwin believed that all species were formed in a way so as to enjoy happiness. And, the United States Declaration of Independence guarantees “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” as a basic human right.  People throughout history may have had different ideas about happiness. But today, many people are still searching for its meaning.
But how do you study something like happiness? You could start with the World Database of Happiness at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. This set of information includes how to define and measure happiness. It also includes happiness averages in countries around the world and compares that information through time.
Some findings are not surprising. For example, the database suggests that married people are happier than single people. People who like to be with other people are happier than unsocial people. And people who have sex a lot are happier than people who do not.  But other findings are less expected: People with children are equally happy as couples without children. And wealthier people are only a little happier than poorer people.  The database suggests that people who live in strongly democratic and wealthy countries are happier than those who do not.
This database also shows that studying happiness no longer involves just theories and ideas. Economists, psychiatrists, doctors and social scientists are finding ways of understanding happiness by examining real sets of information.
Positive psychology is the new term for a method of scientific study that tries to examine the things that make life worth living instead of life’s problems. Traditional psychology generally studies negative situations like mental suffering and sickness. But positive psychology aims to study the strengths that allow people and communities to do well. Martin Seligman is the director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He says positive psychology has three main concerns: positive emotions, positive individual qualities and positive organizations and communities.
There is also an increasing amount of medical research on the physical qualities of happiness. Doctors can now look at happiness at work in a person’s brain using a method called magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI. For example, an MRI can show how one area of a person’s brain activates when he or she is shown happy pictures. A different area of the brain becomes active when the person sees pictures of terrible subjects.
Doctors are studying brain activity to better understand the physical activity behind human emotions. This research may lead to better understanding of depression and other mental problems.

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Happiness is an extremely popular subject for books.  If you search for "happiness" on the Web site of the online bookseller, Amazon.com, you will find more than two hundred thousand results. Experts from several areas of study recently published books on the subject.
The historian Darrin McMahon examines the development of happiness in “Happiness: A History.” Mr. McMahon looks at two thousand years of politics and culture in western countries. He says it is only in recent history that people think of happiness as a natural human right.
Darrin McMahon explains how the ancient Greeks thought happiness was linked to luck. He says it was not until the Enlightenment period in eighteenth century Europe that people began to think they had the power to find happiness themselves. He notes that in demanding happiness, people may think something is wrong with them or others if they are not happy. Mr. McMahon sees the pressure to be happy as actually creating unhappiness.
Darrin McMahon says his book will not make readers happier. But he says that by comparing your situation with people throughout history, you can have a better understanding of the idea of happiness.
The journalist Eric Weiner recently wrote a book called “The Geography of Bliss."  Mr. Weiner traveled to countries such as Switzerland, Bhutan, Qatar and Thailand to investigate happiness in different parts of the world. He met with experts and talked with local people to try to understand what makes people in different societies happy.
For example, Eric Weiner learned that in Bhutan, the government measures “Gross Domestic Happiness” as a way to tell whether its citizens are happy. Mr. Weiner also traveled to Moldova, a country he says is one of the least happy countries in the world. And he traveled to Iceland because studies show that it is one of the happiest nations in the world.
Mr. Weiner at first could not understand why a country with so little sunlight in the winter and so many alcohol drinkers could be so happy. But, he decided that happiness in Iceland is linked to its close community, striking natural beauty and high levels of creativity. Denmark, another cold country, also has been listed as one of the happiest countries.  Mr. Weiner says the United States is the twenty-third happiest country in the world.
Dan Gilbert teaches psychology at Harvard University in Massachusetts.  He recently published “Stumbling on Happiness.” Mr. Gilbert looks at the way the human mind is different from other animals because we can think about the future and use our imaginations.  He also explains how our minds can trick us in a way that creates difficulties in making happy choices for the future.
For example, a person might think that buying a new car would make him or her happy even though the last car the person bought did not. So, events that we believe will bring us happiness bring us less than we think. And, events we fear will make us unhappy make us less unhappy than we believe. The book provides valuable information on the surprising ways in which our minds work. Here is a recording of Mr. Gilbert talking about this “impact bias.” It was taken from the Big Think Web site.
DAN GILBERT:
"Most of the time when people are wrong about how they’ll feel about the future, they’re wrong in the direction of thinking that things will matter to them more than they really do. We are remarkable at our ability to adjust and adapt to almost any situation; but we seem not to know this about ourselves. And so we mistakenly predict that good things will make us happy . . . really happy for a really long time . Bad things, why they’ll just slay us. It turns out neither of these things is by and large true."

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Why is studying happiness important? There are many answers to this question. One has to do with understanding happiness in order to create better public policies. Richard Layard is a British economist and lawmaker who studies this subject. His research is influenced by the eighteenth century thinker Jeremy Bentham. Mr. Bentham believed that the goal of public policy was to create the “greatest happiness for the greatest number.”
Richard Layard has looked at the relation between happiness and a country’s wealth. He questions why people in western countries are no happier than they were fifty years ago although they now earn more money.
Mr. Layard believes that part of the problem is that economics and public policy tend to measure a country’s success by the amount of money it makes. He notes that happiness depends on more than the purchasing power of a person or a nation.
Mr. Layard says that public policy should also help people improve the things that lead to happiness such as job security and health.  To help improve public health policies in Britain, Mr. Layard has pressed the British government to spend more money on mental health treatment centers. He argues that by helping people recover from mental illness, the government can make a big step in the effort to increase happiness.
Many people have also written songs about happiness. We leave you with this song by the Pointer Sisters about the happiness of being in love.

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This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I’m Bob Doughty.
And I’m Faith Lapidus. You can read and listen to our programs on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

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Vitamins Are Important to Good Health / Vitaminler Sağlıklı Bir Yaşam İçin Önemli

Vitamins Are Important to Good Health

Download MP3   (Right-click or option-click the link.) This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty. And I'm Faith Lapidus. This week, we tell about vitamins.
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Many jobs must be done with two people. One person takes the lead. The other helps. It is this cooperation that brings success.
So it is with the human body. Much of our good health depends on the cooperation between substances. When they work together, chemical reactions take place smoothly. Body systems are kept in balance.
Some of the most important helpers in the job of good health are the substances we call vitamins.
The word "vitamin" dates back to Polish scientist Casimir Funk in nineteen-twelve. He was studying a substance in the hull that covers rice. This substance was believed to cure a disorder called beriberi.
Funk believed the substance belonged to a group of chemicals known as amines. He added the Latin word "vita," meaning life. So he called the substance a "vitamine" -- an amine necessary for life.
Funk was not able to separate the anti-berberi substance from the rice hulls; it was later shown to be thiamine. Other studies found that not all vitamines were amines. So the name was shortened to vitamin. But Funk was correct in recognizing their importance.
Scientists have discovered fourteen kinds of vitamins. They are known as vitamins A, the B group, C, D, E and K. Scientists say vitamins help to carry out chemical changes within cells. If we do not get enough of the vitamins we need in our food, we are at risk of developing a number of diseases.
This brings us back to Casimir Funk. His studies of rice were part of a long search for foods that could cure disease.
One of the first people involved in that search was James Lind of Scotland. In the seventeen-forties, Lind was a doctor for the British Navy. He was investigating a problem that had existed in the Navy for many years.
The problem was the disease scurvy. So many sailors had scurvy that the Navy's fighting strength was very low. The sailors were weak from bleeding inside their bodies. Even the smallest wound would not heal. Doctor Lind thought the sailors were getting sick because they failed to eat some kinds of foods when they were at sea for many months.
Doctor Lind separated twelve sailors who had scurvy into two groups. He gave each group different foods to eat. One group got oranges and lemons. The other did not. The men who ate the fruit began to improve within seven days. The other men got weaker. Doctor Lind was correct. Eating citrus fruits prevents scurvy.
Other doctors looked for foods to cure the diseases rickets and pellagra. They did not yet understand that they were seeing the problem from the opposite direction. That is, it is better to eat vitamin-rich foods to prevent disease instead of eating them to cure a disease after it has developed.
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Which foods should be eaten to keep us healthy? Let us look at some important vitamins for these answers.
Vitamin A helps prevent skin and other tissues from becoming dry. It is also needed to make a light-sensitive substance in the eyes. People who do not get enough vitamin A cannot see well in darkness. They may develop a condition that dries the eyes. This can result in infections and lead to blindness.
Vitamin A is found in fish liver oil. It also is in the yellow part of eggs. Sweet potatoes, carrots and other darkly colored fruits and vegetables contain substances that the body can change into vitamin A.
Vitamin B-one is also called thiamine. Thiamine changes starchy foods into energy. It also helps the heart and nervous system work smoothly. Without it, we would be weak and would not grow. We also might develop beriberi.
Thiamine is found not just in whole grains like brown rice, but also in other foods. These include beans and peas, nuts, and meat and fish.
Another B-vitamin is niacin. It helps cells use food energy. It also prevents pellagra -- a disease that causes weakness, reddish skin and stomach problems. Niacin is found in meat, fish and green vegetables.
Vitamin B-twelve is needed so folic acid can do its work. Together, they help produce red blood cells. Vitamin B-twelve is found naturally in foods like eggs, meat, fish and milk products. Folic acid has been shown to prevent physical problems in babies when taken by their mothers during pregnancy.
Vitamin B-twelve is found in green leafy vegetables and other foods, like legumes and citrus fruits. In some countries, it is added to products like bread.
In two thousand three, Japanese researchers identified a new member of the B-vitamin group. It is a substance known as pyrroloquinoline quinone or PQQ.
The researchers found that PQQ is important in the reproductive and defense systems of mice. They said the substance is similarly important for people. PQQ is found in fermented soybeans and also in parsley, green tea, green peppers and kiwi fruit.
Vitamin C is needed for strong bones and teeth, and for healthy blood passages. It also helps wounds heal quickly. The body stores little vitamin C. So we must get it every day in foods such as citrus fruits, tomatoes and uncooked cabbage.
Vitamin D increases levels of the element calcium in the blood. Calcium is needed for nerve and muscle cells to work normally. It also is needed to build strong bones.
Vitamin D prevents the children's bone disease rickets. Ultraviolet light from the sun changes a substance in the skin into vitamin D. Fish liver oil also contains vitamin D. In some countries, milk producers add vitamin D to milk so children will get enough.
Vitamin K is needed for healthy blood. It thickens the blood around a cut to stop bleeding. Bacteria in the intestines normally produce vitamin K. It can also be found in pork products, liver and in vegetables like cabbage, kale and spinach.
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Experts agree that everyone needs vitamins so that their bodies can operate normally. In general, a complete diet should provide all the vitamins a body needs in their natural form. In addition, many foods and food products now have extra vitamins and minerals added.
Some people fear they do not get enough vitamins from the foods they eat. So they take products with large amounts of vitamins. They think these products, called vitamin supplements, will improve their health and protect against disease. Many adults now take vitamin supplements every day.
In two thousand six, medical experts gathered near Washington, D.C. to discuss studies about vitamin supplements. The experts found little evidence that most supplements do anything to protect or improve health. But they noted that some do help to prevent disease.
The experts said women who wish to become mothers should take folic acid to prevent problems in their babies. And, they said vitamin D supplements and calcium can protect the bones of older women.
The medical experts agreed with doctors who say that people who know they lack a vitamin should take vitamin supplements. Some older adults, for example, may not have enough vitamin B-twelve. That is because, as people get older, the body loses its ability to take it from foods.
The experts also noted that taking too much of some vitamins can be harmful. They said people should be sure to discuss what vitamins they take with their doctors.
Several studies have not been able to show that taking vitamin supplements in addition to a balanced diet helps to prevent disease. One study found that older Americans do not get enough Vitamin C and required minerals. The study involved more than six thousand individuals. More than half of them took vitamin supplements.
Vitamins are important to our health. A lack of required vitamins can lead to health problems.
Different vitamins are found in different foods -- grains, vegetables and fruits, fish and meat, eggs and milk products. And even foods that contain the same vitamins may have them in different amounts. Experts say this is why it is important to eat a mixture of foods every day, to get enough of the vitamins our bodies need.
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This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS program was written by Brianna Blake. I'm Faith Lapidus. And I'm Bob Doughty. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

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The Story of Aspirin / Aspirinin Hikayesi

The Story of Aspirin

Download MP3   (Right-click or option-click the link.) This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty. And I'm Faith Lapidus. This week, we will tell the story of aspirin.
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People have known since ancient times that aspirin can reduce pain and high body temperature. But that is not all the drug can do. It has gained important new uses in recent years. Low amounts may help prevent health threats from stroke to heart attack. Recently, researchers reported that aspirin could help patients with one kind of cancer live longer.
At the same time, doctors warn that acid in aspirin can cause bleeding in the stomach and intestines.
But there is promising evidence of a way to reduce the risk of bleeding. A newly reported British study suggests that taking another drug with a small amount of aspirin may help solve the problem. If that proves true, it would help thousands of people who are seeking to prevent life-threatening conditions.
So, how did aspirin become so important? The story begins two thousand years ago with a willow tree. The Greek doctor Hippocrates advised his patients to chew on the bark and leaves of the willow.
The tree contains a chemical called salicin. In the eighteen hundreds, researchers discovered how to make salicylic acid from the chemical. In eighteen ninety-seven, a chemist named Felix Hoffmann at Friedrich Bayer and Company in Germany created acetyl salicylic acid.
Later, it became the active substance in a medicine that Bayer called aspirin. The "a" came from acetyl. The "spir" came from the spirea plant, which also produces salicin. And the "in"? That is a common way to end medicine names.
In nineteen eighty-two, a British scientist shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine in part for discovering how aspirin works. Sir John Vane found that aspirin blocks the body from making natural substances called prostaglandins.
Prostaglandins have several effects on the body. Some cause pain and the expansion, or swelling, of damaged tissue. Others protect the lining of the stomach and small intestine.
Prostaglandins also make the heart, kidneys and blood vessels work well. But there is a problem. Aspirin works against all prostaglandins, good and bad.
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Scientists learned how aspirin interferes with an enzyme. One form of this enzyme makes the prostaglandin that causes pain and swelling. Another form of the enzyme creates a protective effect. So aspirin can reduce pain and swelling in damaged tissues. But it can also harm the inside of the stomach and small intestine. Sometimes it can cause bleeding.
Aspirin competes with many other medicines for pain and fever these days. The competition includes acetaminophen, the active substance in products like Tylenol. Like the medicine ibuprofen, aspirin is an NSAID -- a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.
Many people take aspirin to reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke from blood clots. Clots can block the flow of blood to the heart or brain and cause a heart attack or stroke. Scientists say aspirin prevents blood cells called platelets from sticking together to form clots.
A California doctor named Lawrence Craven first noted this effect about sixty years ago. He observed unusual bleeding in children who chewed on an aspirin product to ease the pain after a common operation.
Doctor Craven believed that the bleeding took place because aspirin prevented blood from thickening. He thought that this effect might help prevent heart attacks caused by blood clots.
He examined the medical records of eight thousand aspirin users and found no heart attacks in this group. He invited other scientists to test his ideas. But it was years before large studies took place.
Charles Hennekens of Harvard Medical School led one of the studies. In nineteen eighty-three, he began to study more than twenty-two thousand healthy male doctors over forty years of age. Half took an aspirin every other day. The others took what they thought was aspirin. It was only a placebo, a harmless substance.
Five years later, Doctor Hennekens reported that those who took aspirin reduced their risk of a heart attack. But they had a higher risk of bleeding in the brain than the other doctors.
More recently, a group of experts examined studies of aspirin at the request of federal health officials in the United States. The experts said people with an increased risk of a heart attack should take a low-strength aspirin every day.
Aspirin may help someone who is having a heart attack caused by a blockage in a blood vessel. Aspirin thins the blood, so it may be able to flow past the blockage. But heart experts say people should seek emergency help immediately. They say an aspirin is no substitute for treatment.
Studies also suggest that aspirin can help with cancer prevention and survival. Several studies have found that men who take NSAIDS have a decreased risk of prostate cancer. The prostate is part of the male reproductive system.
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota wanted to see how NSAIDs might affect prostates that are enlarged but not cancerous.  They followed the health of two thousand five hundred men for twelve years. One-third were taking NSAIDs daily when they entered the study.
The researchers said these drugs may delay or stop development of an enlarged prostate. They said the risk of an enlarged prostate was fifty percent lower in the NSAID users than the other men. The risk of bladder problems was thirty-five percent lower.
Another study found that aspirin blocks the formation of blood vessels that feed cancer growth. Researchers at Newcastle University in England explored a biological process that makes blood vessels grow.
The researchers studied how aspirin affects the cells found on the inner surface of blood vessels. They found that a small amount of aspirin suppressed the way the cells form tubes.
Studies have found that aspirin may help prevent cancers of the stomach, intestines and colon. Research reported earlier this year told about people who had colorectal cancer. They found that aspirin users had an almost thirty percent lower risk of dying from their cancer. That was during an average of eleven years after the cancer was discovered.
Aspirin does not help everything, however. It can cause problems. For example, it can interfere with other medicines, although this is true of many drugs.
Also, some people should not take aspirin. People who take other blood thinners or have bleeding disorders are among this group. Pregnant women are usually told to avoid aspirin.
Research has shown a link between aspirin use and the disease Reye's Syndrome. Children's doctors say patients up to age nineteen should not take anything containing Salicylatic products when sick with high temperatures.
The National Reye's Syndrome Foundation warns about aspirin use, especially during the spread of influenza. In the past, children have died or suffered permanent harm from Reye's Syndrome during widespread influenza attacks.
People taking low-dose aspirin who fear stomach and intestinal ulcers and bleeding had some good news a few months ago. The British medical journal "Lancet" published a study about the drug famotidine, also known as Pepcid. The study suggested that famotidine taken with low-dose aspirin may prevent ulcers. This break down of tissue can cause bleeding.
The patients took seventy-five to three hundred twenty-five milligrams of aspirin a day. After twelve weeks, three percent of those taking famotidine with the aspirin had stomach ulcers. But fifteen percent of those taking the placebo and aspirin had them. Upper intestinal ulcers were found in only one-half of one percent of the famotidine group. In the placebo group, seventeen percent had these ulcers.
Still, medical experts say people should not take aspirin for disease prevention without first talking to a doctor.
There are risks, and researchers have reported that some people get little or no protection from aspirin. But research continues to give new life to one of the oldest and most widely used drugs in the world.
This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by George Grow and Jerilyn Watson. Our producer was Brianna Blake. I'm Bob Doughty. And I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

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What Doctors Are Doing About Headaches, and What You Can Do / Doktorlar Baş Ağrıları İçin ne yapıyor, Ve Sen Ne Yapabilirsin

What Doctors Are Doing About Headaches, and What You Can Do

Download MP3  (Right-click or option-click the link.)

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty. And I'm Shirley Griffith.

Today we tell about headaches, the pain that strikes almost everyone at some time.
Have you had a headache recently? If your answer is yes, you are like many millions of people worldwide who experience pain in the head. The pain can be temporary, mild and cured by a simple painkiller like aspirin. Or it can be severe.
The National Headache Foundation says more than forty five million people in the United States suffer chronic headaches. Such a headache causes severe pain that goes away but returns later.
Some headaches may prove difficult and require time to treat. But many experts today are working toward cures or major help for chronic headaches.
The US Headache Consortium is a group with seven member organizations. They are attempting to improve treatment of one kind of headache -- the migraine. Some people experience this kind of pain as often as two weeks every month. The National Headache Foundation says about seventy percent of migraine sufferers are women.
Some people describe the pain as throbbing, causing pressure in the head. Others compare it to someone driving a sharp object into the head. Migraine headaches cause Americans to miss at least one hundred fifty million workdays each year. A migraine can be mild. But it also can be so severe that a person cannot live a normal life.
One migraine sufferer lives in Ellicott City, Maryland. Video producer Curtis Croley had head pain as a child. He does not know what kind of headaches they were. But when he suffered severe headaches as an adult, doctors identified the problem as migraine.
Today, Mister Croley says months can pass without a headache. But then he will have three migraines within a month. If he takes the medicine his doctor ordered early in his headache, it controls the pain. If not, the pain in his head becomes extremely bad. Sometimes he has had to be treated with a combination of drugs in a hospital.
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Some people take medicine every day to prevent or ease migraine headaches. Others use medicine to control pain already developed. Doctors treating migraine sufferers often order medicines from a group of drugs known as triptans.
Most migraines react at least partly to existing medicine. And most people can use existing medicine without experiencing bad effects. Doctors sometimes use caffeine to treat migraine headaches. Interestingly, caffeine also can cause some migraines.
Medical experts have long recognized the work of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The Mayo Clinic says several foods are suspected of causing migraines. Cheese and alcoholic drinks are among them. Food additives like salt and monosodium glutamate also are suspected causes.
The Mayo Clinic tells patients to avoid strong smells that have seemingly started migraines in the past. Some people react badly to products like perfume, even if they have a pleasant smell.
The clinic's experts say aerobic exercise can help migraine sufferers. Aerobic exercise increases a person's heart rate. It can include walking, swimming or riding a bicycle. But a sudden start to hard exercise can cause headaches.
The experts advise that people should plan to exercise, eat and sleep at the same times each day.
The Mayo Clinic has advice about estrogen for women who suffer from migraines. The female body makes estrogen. Drugs like birth control pills contain a version of this chemical.
Such medicines may produce headaches or cause them to worsen, the clinic says. The same is true for estrogen replacement drugs for women. Doctors sometimes order estrogen replacement for women who no longer able to have children.
The clinic also says hypnotherapy might help suppress headaches. It says the method could reduce the number and severity of a patient’s headaches. In hypnotherapy, willing people are placed in a condition that lets them receive suggestions. They look like they are sleeping. The suggestions they receive may be able to direct their whole mental energy against pain.
The Mayo Clinic says the hypnotizer can never control the person under hypnosis. It also says the hypnotized person will remember what happened during the treatment.
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More people suffer tension headaches than migraines. But most tension headaches are not as powerful.
Events that start tension headaches may include emotional pressure and the deeper than normal sadness called depression. Other tension headaches can start from something as simple as tiredness. Common changes in atmospheric conditions also can be responsible.
The Mayo Clinic says you may feel a tension headache as tightness in the skin around your eyes. Or, you may feel pressure around your head. Episodic tension headaches strike from time to time. Chronic tension headaches happen more often. A tension headache can last from a half hour to a whole week.
The Mayo Clinic says the pain may come very early in the day. Other signs can include pain in the neck or the lower part of the head. Scientists are not sure what causes tension headaches. For years, researchers blamed muscle tension from tightening in the face, neck and the skin on top of the head. They believed emotional tension caused these movements.
But that belief has been disputed. A test called an electromyogram shows that muscle tension does not increase in people with a tension headache. The test records electrical currents caused by muscle activity. Such research caused the International Headache Society to re-name the tension headache. The group now calls it a tension-type headache.
Some scientists now believe that tension headaches may result from changes among brain chemicals such as serotonin. The changes may start sending pain messages to the brain. These changes may interfere with brain activity that suppresses pain.
Medicines for tension headache can be as simple as aspirin or other painkillers. But if your pain is too severe, you will need a doctor's advice.
A web site called Family Doctor dot org provides information from the American Academy of Family Physicians. The group suggests steps to ease or end a tension headache.
For example, it says putting heat or ice on your head or neck can help. So can standing under hot water while you are getting washed. The group also advises exercising often. Another idea is taking a holiday from work. But you had better ask your employer first.
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Ask anyone with a cluster headache, and they will tell you that the pain is terrible. The Cleveland Clinic in Ohio says the cluster headache can be many times more intense than a migraine.
Cluster headaches usually strike young people. Smokers and persons who drink alcohol often get these headaches. Men are about six times more likely than women to have them. The Cleveland Clinic says this is especially true of younger men. Doctors say cluster headaches often strike during changes of season.
Cluster headache patients describe the pain as burning. The pain is almost always felt on one side of the face. It can last for up to ninety minutes. Then it stops. But it often starts again later the same day. Eighty to ninety percent of cluster headache patients have pain over a number of days to a whole year. Pain-free periods separate these periods.
The Cleveland Clinic says the cause of cluster headaches is in a brain area known as a trigeminal-autonomic reflex pathway. When the nerve is made active, it starts pain linked to cluster headaches. The nerve starts a process that makes one eye watery and red.
Studies have shown that activation of the trigeminal nerve may come from a part of the brain called the hypothalamus. The Cleveland Clinic says injections of the drug sumatriptan can help. Many other drugs could be used. For example, doctors say breathing oxygen also can help.
Thankfully, modern medicine has ways to treat almost all of our headaches.

This program was written by Jerilyn Watson. Our producer was Brianna Blake. I'm Shirley Griffith. And I'm Bob Doughty. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

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How to Get the Most Out of a Workout / En İyi Egzersiz Nasıl Yapılır

How to Get the Most Out of a Workout

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This is the VOA Special English program SCIENCE IN THE NEWS. I’m Faith Lapidus. And I’m Bob Doughty.

Today, we will tell about physical exercise. We will tell why exercise is important, and some of the popular ways to get in shape.

Summer officially returns to the United States in less than two weeks. For many Americans, summer is a time to put on swim wear and spend time at the sea or a lake. But before going anywhere, they may want to lose any extra weight gained during the winter.

So, where does one get started? Diet is surely important, but diet alone will not do much good without an exercise plan. Health experts have long noted the importance of physical activity.

Exercise not only improves your appearance. It can also improve your health. Exercise helps to reduce the risk of some diseases. They include heart disease, stroke, type-two diabetes, osteoporosis and even some kinds of cancer.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. In two thousand six, heart disease killed more than six hundred thirty thousand Americans. High blood pressure and high cholesterol levels in blood can increase your risk of heart disease. Medical experts say both can be reduced through normal exercise.

Physical activity is also known to increase the release of endorphins. These chemicals reduce feelings of pain. They also help people feel more happy and peaceful. There is some debate about exactly what causes the brain to release endorphins. Some experts believe it is the act of exercising itself. Others say it is the feeling one gets from having met an exercise goal. Either way, the two things work together when it comes to improving one’s emotional health.

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Surprisingly, exercise improves your energy levels by increasing the flow of blood to the heart and blood vessels. One of the main reasons people exercise is to control or reduce their weight. Physical activity burns calories – the energy stored in food. The more calories you burn, the easier it is to control or reduce your weight.

So exactly how much exercise do you need to do to gain all of these great health effects? Experts say it is easier than you think. Two years ago, the Centers for Disease Control released its first ever Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. The report included suggestions for young people, adults, disabled persons and those with long-term health problems. One of the major ideas noted in the report is that some activity is better than none. So if you are not doing anything, now is the time to get started.

The C.D.C. defines physical activity as anything that gets your body moving. And, it says there are two separate, but equally important kinds of physical activity. Aerobic or cardio exercise gets your heart rate going faster and increases your breathing. Some examples are activities like walking at an increased speed, dancing, swimming or riding a bicycle.

Muscle-strengthening activities help build and strengthen muscle groups in the body. This kind of exercise includes things like lifting weights, or doing sit-ups and push-ups.

To get the most from your exercise plan, experts say adults should get at least two and a half hours of aerobic exercise each week. More intense activities reduce the suggested amount of time to one hour and fifteen minutes. Examples are playing basketball, swimming and distance running.

Earlier advice from the C.D.C. said people need to exercise thirty minutes each day for at least five days to get the health benefits of exercise. More recent research suggested that those gains are the same whether you exercise for short periods over five days or longer sessions over two or three days.

In addition, the newer suggestions say any exercise plan should include at least two days of muscle training. Each exercise period should be at least ten minutes long. The total amount of activity should be spread over at least three days throughout the week. Most importantly, experts say people should choose physical activities that they find fun. This helps to guarantee that they stay with the program.

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So, what are some of the most popular physical activities in the United States? Walking tops the list. A two thousand six report from the C.D.C. found that more than seventy-nine million Americans walk to stay physically fit. For many people it is considered the easiest way to get exercise. It does not require a health club membership. Walking is safe. And, it is said be to as valuable for one’s health as more intense forms of exercise like jogging. Walking is also reported to be less damaging to the knees and feet. This makes it a better choice of exercise for older adults.

Another popular form of exercise is jogging, or running at a slow to medium speed. USA Track and Field Hall of Famer, Bill Bowerman, is credited with bringing jogging to the United States in the nineteen seventies. He did so after witnessing the popularity of the activity himself during a trip to New Zealand in the nineteen sixties. He started the first running club in America and wrote a book about jogging for fitness. Bill Bowerman also helped establish Nike, the tennis shoe company.

Jogging provides great physical conditioning for the heart and lungs. And, it increases the flow of blood and oxygen in the body. All of these things combined help to improve heart activity, lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and reduce bone and muscle loss. Running is also a good way to lose weight. People burn an average of one hundred sixty calories a kilometer while running.

The Census Bureau says swimming was the third most popular sports activity in the United States in two thousand seven. The top two were walking and exercising with equipment. Swimming is said to be one of the best ways to exercise. Nearly all of the major muscle groups are put to work.

Swimming also presents less risk of muscle and joint injury because of the body’s weightlessness in water. This makes it a great choice of exercise for people with special needs, like pregnant women, older adults, and persons who are overweight.

Water aerobics is another popular form of exercise. This can be anything from walking or running against the resistance of water, to doing jumping jacks in the water. There is a debate about whether or not swimming burns as many calories as other forms of exercise. But one thing is sure: the effects on your health are just as great.

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Whatever kind of exercise you choose, experts agree that you should start small and work your way up. Start by exercising ten minutes a day two times a week. After a few weeks, increase your time to fifteen or twenty minutes, and increase the number of days.

Next, try to increase the intensity of your workout. If you have been walking, try walking faster, or take turns between walking and jogging. And try not to forget those muscle strengthening exercises. The more time you spend exercising, the more health benefits you get.

Health experts advise people who have been physically inactive to have a complete physical exam before beginning a new exercise program.

If one of your goals is to lose weight, you will also need to change how and what you eat. To lose weight, you must use or burn off more calories than you take in.

A pound of fat is equal to about four hundred fifty three grams or three thousand five hundred calories. To lose that fat in a week, you have to burn off at least that amount in calories or eat that much less. The best thing to do is to combine both ideas. Eat fewer calories and increase your activity so that you burn off more.

The National Institutes of Health suggests that women limit their calories to no less than one thousand two hundred calories a day without medical supervision. For men, the number is no less than two thousand five hundred. The American government also says a healthy diet is one that is high in fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by June Simms. Our producer was Brianna Blake. I’m Faith Lapidus. And I’m Bob Doughty.

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Sharks: A Bad Image, but Oceans Value Them / Köpekbalıkları : kötü Bir Görüntü Ama okyanuslar Onlara Değer Veriyor

Sharks: A Bad Image, but Oceans Value Them

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This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty. And I'm Faith Lapidus.

This week, we will tell about sharks -- a fish with a public relations problem.

A picture in the newspaper shows a person standing next to a huge shark. The body of the shark is hanging with its head down. A scale is measuring its weight.

The lines below the picture say the shark was a very big one. Or perhaps it was one of the biggest ever caught in the area. The person who brought in the fish looks extremely pleased. That person won a battle with what has been called one of nature's fiercest creatures.

Some people, however, do not approve of catching sharks. They do not think all sharks are terrifying enemies. They know that studies show lightning and snakebites threaten people more than shark attacks.

Activists for sharks note that the fish are valuable in the ocean. Sharks eat injured and diseased fish. Their hunting means that other fish do not become too great in number. This protects other creatures and plants in the ocean.

Environmental activists worry that some kinds of fish are in danger of dying out. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated that fishing operations kill more than one hundred million sharks every year. Sharks are harvested for meat and cartilage, liver oil and, especially, for their fins. Many of the animals die when people harvesting other kinds of fish pull in sharks by accident.

George Burgess leads the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History of the University of Florida. He says shark attacks increased during the past century for a good reason. Hundreds of millions of people now use the world's oceans, more than in the past.

Professor Burgess says the first ten years of the twenty-first century are expected to register the most attacks of any ten-year period.

Yet the International Shark Attack File reports that the number of shark attacks has, in fact, decreased in recent years. During this period, there was an average of sixty-three attacks worldwide each year. That compares with a high of seventy-nine in two thousand.

The file gives some likely reasons for the decrease. One reason is that overfishing of sharks and related fish has reduced the size of some shark populations.

Another is that more people are careful to stay away from waters where sharks swim. And the file says workers responsible for boating and beach safety may be doing a better job of warning people when sharks are seen.

The International Shark Attack File describes shark attacks as either provoked or unprovoked. An unprovoked attack means the person is alive when bitten. It also means the person must not have interfered with the shark.

Some divers interfere with sharks on purpose. They want to get the attention of sharks, perhaps to take pictures of them. The diver may put food in the water to get the animal to come close. Sharks do not normally want to be with people. But their excellent sense of smell leads them to food.

Some experienced divers say they may not face danger when near a shark. But they say the next person who comes near the shark may be in trouble. The animal's experience with being fed may make it connect food with people.

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Some divers, filmmakers and nature photographers enter a shark's territory while inside containers made of steel. Others wear heavy metal equipment for protection. And others get near sharks wearing only normal diving equipment.

Close contact with sharks has its critics. Some people say it represents invasion of the animals' territory for no good reason. But exciting films may increase public interest and sympathy for the animals.

Many people wanting to save sharks have formed activist groups. For example, a group called Shark Safe helped prevent the killing of sharks at a fishing competition in Florida earlier this month. Event organizers had said the goal would be to catch and release sharks.

But the Shark Safe Project said the stated goal of "bringing in the big one" would lead to killing of the biggest sharks. The big ones are the most likely to reproduce.

The Shark Safe Project planned a demonstration against the competition. The demonstration never took place, however. Instead, the event organizers changed their plans. Participants were to catch the sharks as expected. But all sharks were to be released.

The Shark-Free Marinas Initiative is a campaign aimed at helping sharks worldwide. Under the Initiative, people could not bring a killed shark to a participating marina. People transporting captured sharks to the boat landing for weighing and killing would also be rejected.

The initiative cooperates with several other programs, including the Cape Eleuthera Institute in the Bahamas islands. The Institute is an educational center that also operates a shark research program.

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In late two thousand seven, a United Nations conference reported that one kind of shark, the basking shark, is in danger of dying out. The numbers of basking sharks have been decreasing for the past half-century. The animals are the second largest shark, after whale sharks. They swim with their mouths open, cleaning the water as they move. They take up and eat objects like fish eggs and tiny sea organisms.

Scientists want to know how and where basking sharks travel.

Recently, experts on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean were interested in a huge basking shark discovered in eastern Canada. The remains of the eight-meter long animal were found on a rocky beach in Saint John, New Brunswick. Experts said the cause of death is unknown.

Donald McAlpine heads the zoology collection at the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John. He said scientists removed the head and some backbones from the shark for examination. Mr. McAlpine said pictures of the animal were sent to scientists in Britain. The British scientists had requested the pictures to learn if the shark was the same fish they had observed on their side of the Atlantic.

Sharks can be identified by their individual markings and sometimes by healed wounds.

For years, the travels of basking sharks have been a mystery to scientists. Basking sharks from the northeastern United States are not seen in the winter. They seem to disappear from cool waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Yet studies published in the journal Current Biology are providing clues about the mystery.

The studies found that the sharks went to warmer waters of the Atlantic during the winter. The animals did a good job of staying hidden from sight. They swam in waters from two hundred to one thousand meters deep.

Like Americans living in cold climates, some of the sharks traveled to Florida for the winter. Others went even further south. One spent a month in waters near Brazil.

One of the investigators was Gregory Skomal of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. He says the fish probably get to eat more plankton in the warmer waters.

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Today, a major threat to sharks comes from shark fin soup. The popularity of the soup has increased greatly over the years. Fisheries can earn a lot of money for even one kilogram of shark fins.

Finning, as it is called, is big business. It means cutting the fins off a live shark. Fishermen cut off the shark's fins and throw the animal back into the water. The shark then bleeds to death on the bottom of the ocean.

Many animal-protection groups and people worldwide have denounced finning as cruel. Some areas have banned this activity. But it is hard to enforce the ban in many places.

Ann Luskey is an activist for the world's sea environment. She lives on a boat and often dives to watch underwater life. Her three children took part in an unusual recording project. The family hopes the music will attract attention to the need for taking good care of the earth and its seas.

One of the recordings is a hip-hop song called "Shark Fin Soup." It urges people not to eat the soup because it threatens sharks.

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This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jerilyn Watson. Brianna Blake was our producer. I'm Faith Lapidus. And I'm Bob Doughty. Listen again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

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