SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

vol. 66 no. 1
ISSN 1041-1410

www.scholastic.com/scienceworld

INSIDE:
n Teens Make
Historic
Fossil Find
n Tracking the
Elusive Snow
Leopard
n Environmental
Victory

BEDBUGS
ARE BACK!
A blood-sucking
pest is causing sleepless
nights nationwide
 MAURICE R. ROBINSON,
Founder Scholastic Inc.
1895-1982

EDITORIAL:
Executive Editor: Patricia Janes
Senior Editor: Cody Crane
SEPTEMBER 7, 2009 vol. 66, no. 1
Senior Associate Editor:

Features
Karina Hamalainen
Intern: Hallie Satre
Copy Chief: Renee Glaser
Copy Editor: Veronica Majerol

8BITING BACK
ART:
Art Director: Brenda Jackson
Photo Editor: David Franck
LIFE/PARASITES

PRODUCTION:
Production Editor: Allan Molho
Mgr., Digital Imaging Group: Marc Stern Bedbugs are infesting mattresses nationwide, giving
CLASSROOM MAGAZINES: millions of people nightmares. The blood-sucking para-
President, Scholastic Classroom
Library Group: Greg Worrell;
sites were nearly eradicated 50 years ago, but lately
VP, Editor in Chief: Rebecca Bondor; their numbers have skyrocketed. Find out what tricks
Associate Editorial Director: Margaret
Howlett; Creative Director: Judith exterminators are using to get rid of the pesky pests.
Christ-Lafond; Design Director: Felix

10 TEEN DINOSAUR HUNTERS

Batcup; Publishing System Director:
David Hendrickson; Executive EARTH/FOSSILS
Production Director: Barbara Schwartz;
Media Editor: Marie Morreale
Executive Editorial Director, Copy
Desk: Craig Moskowitz; Executive
Director of Photography: Steven Students at The Webb Schools in Claremont, California, go
Diamond; Senior Administrative
Coor­dinator: Mirtha Williams; Manager,
on some extreme field trips: to the desert for fossil hunting.
Library Services: Kerry Prendergast; Then they display their finds at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of
VP, Marketing: Jocelyn Forman;
Marketing Manager: Allicia Clark; VP, Paleontology, located on the high school’s campus. Includes a
Finance: Allison Henderson; Director,
Manufacturing & Distribution: Mimi diagram that shows how fossils form.

14IN SEARCH OF SNOW LEOPARDS

Esguerra; Manufacturing Coordinator:
Georgiana Deen
LIFE/ENDANGERED SPECIES
CORPORATE:
President, Chief Exec. Officer,
cover: Dennis Kunkel Microscopy, Inc./Visuals Unlimited, Inc.; this page, Snow Leopard: Steve Winter

and Chairman of the Board

of Scholastic Inc.:
Richard Robinson
Snow leopards are in danger of becom-
ing extinct. Find out the biggest threats
POSTAL INFORMATION:
SCIENCE WORLD (ISSN 1041-1410; to this shy species and what scientists
in Canada, 2-c no. 55948) is published
biweekly during the school year, 14 issues, are doing to protect the cats. Includes a
by Scholastic Inc., 2931 East McCarty St.,
P.O. Box 3710 Jefferson City, MO
map of their range and a pie chart that
65102-3710. Periodical postage paid at shows the percent of the snow leopard
Jefferson City, MO 65102 and at additional
mailing offices. POSTMASTERS: Send population living in various countries.
notice of address changes to SCIENCE

18SAVING THE OZONE LAYER

WORLD, 2931 East McCarty St., P.O. Box
3710 Jefferson City, MO 65102-3710. PHYSICAL/ATOMS
PUBLISHING INFORMATION:
Copyright © 2009 by Scholastic Inc.
All rights reserved. Member, Audit
Bureau of Circulations. SCHOLASTIC, Scientists recently learned that steps taken in the 1980s to repair
Science World, and associated designs
are trademarks/registered trademarks
a human-caused hole in the ozone layer are working. Computer
of Scholastic Inc. models show that without action, there would have been little
Material in this issue may not ozone left by 2045. Includes a diagram that shows how certain
be reproduced in whole or in part
in any format without special permission human-made chemicals destroy ozone.
from the publisher.

FOR SUBSCRIPTION
INFORMATION
CALL TOLL-FREE:
1-800-SCHOLASTIC.
Departments
IN CANADA: 1-800-268-3848.
Printed in the U.S.A. 3 SCIENCE NEWS Physical/Technology: Fishy Robots
Graph It/Polar Regions: Too Many Tourists Numbers in the News

13
LAS
HO 08 WINNE

Graph It/Vertebrates: Catching Some Rays

20 R

I WANT THAT JOB!

TI
SC

E
R

CYCLE

Earth/Weather: Raining Burgers

21
D I S TI N

HANDS-ON
CONTAINS
D
AR

A MINIMUM

Life/Viruses: On Alert
AW
GU

SH
OF 10% POST- ED NT
I

22
A C HIE V E ME
CONSUMER
FIBER

Physical/Engines: Full Steam Ahead GROSS OUT

2 September 7, 2009
23 YOU CAN DO IT
 SCIENCE NEWS
GRAPH IT/POLAR REGIONS

TOO MANY TOURISTS

PHOTO OP:
Tourists visiting
Antarctica get up
close and personal
with penguins.

Number of

T
NUMBER OF PEOPLE

35,000

Tourists
30,000
ourists travel all the

Visiting
25,000
way to Antarctica

Source: International Association

of Antarctica Tour Operators
to catch a glimpse
20,000
of emperor pen- Antarctica 15,000
guins, elephant seals, and With new restrictions 10,000
humpback whales. But the on Antarctic tourism, 5,000
what trend do you
growing number of cruise think you would see in
0
ships visiting Earth’s south- the graph after 2008?
1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008
ernmost continent has
YEAR
some people worried that
increased tourism could windiest region on the number of tourists and leave nothing behind on
threaten this fragile eco- planet. The icy conditions ships that visit the region. the continent—not even
system. To ensure that the make travel risky for ves- Only 100 tourists will be human waste! “Tour opera-
animals and their pristine sels. In 2007, one tour ship allowed ashore at a time, tors follow these rules to
surroundings remain free carrying 154 people hit an and they must stay a safe protect Antarctica’s wild-
from harm, 27 countries, iceberg and sank. Such distance from wildlife. For life and the environment,”
Wolfgang Kaehler/Corbis

including the United States, accidents put passengers example, they will have to says John Splettstoesser,
recently agreed to enforce in danger and could leak keep at least 6 meters (20 adviser to the International
a set of tourism guidelines. fuel into the waters and feet)
35000away from penguins. Association of Antarctica
Tour
Antarctica holds threaten wildlife. The new Already,
30000 tourists who Tour Operators.
records as the coldest, guidelines will limit the visit
25000Antarctica must —Corey Binns
20000 Science World 3
15000
 SCIENCE NEWS
WARM-UP: By
sunning itself, a
panther chameleon
stays warm and
regulates the
production of an
important vitamin.

VITAMIN D (% Daily Value)

Foods High 100

InThere’s
Vitamin D
90
80
70
no need to 60
bake in the sun like a 50
lizard when you can get
40
plenty of vitamin D from
30
your diet. Which food
20
chameleon: Wolfgang Kaehler/Corbis; meatballs: ©2009 Sony Pictures Animation Inc.; mexico city: Marco Ugarte/AP Images

provides close to 100

10
0
percent of the vitamin D ned
Fortified Eggs Swisesse CaTnuna Salmo
n
you need per day, in a Mil k Ch e
100-gram serving? FOODS (100 grams)

EARTH/WEATHER

Raining BURGERS
I
n the animated film This real-life phenom- and Atmospheric
Cloudy With a Chance enon is not caused by a Administration.
of Meatballs, burgers, food-raining invention like Like tornadoes,
spaghetti, and pan- the one in Cloudy With waterspouts’ strong
cakes fall from the sky a Chance of Meatballs, winds can pick up
instead of rain. What’s but rather, scientists objects near a body
the chance of some- think, by waterspouts. of water’s surface and
thing that strange hitting “Waterspouts are the carry them through the
your umbrella? Around water-based cousin to air. When a waterspout
the world, people have the tornado,” says Joe eventually dissipates,
reported the occasional Golden, a retired weather water—and maybe even
downpour of fish, frogs, researcher who worked a fish dinner—rain down.
and other unusual items. for the National Oceanic —Karina Hamalainen

4 September 7, 2009
 GRAPH IT/VERTEBRATES

Catching
Check
out:
scholawww.
/scien stic.com
for an ceworld
upd
UNDERCOVER: Subway riders wear masks to on H1N ate

Some Rays
help prevent the spread of H1N1 flu in Mexico. 1.

life/viruses

L
izards love to soak up
the sun. These animals
ecologist at Texas Christian
University, fed chameleons On Alert
L
are ectotherms and a diet low in vitamin D,
sunbathe to regulate he found that the lizards ast April, a deadly ies diseases at Purdue
their body temperature. But increased their sun exposure outbreak swept across University.
they also bask in the sun to to boost vitamin D levels. Mexico, causing thou- Most of us fend off
spur production of vitamin Chameleons that ate a diet sands to become ill. the seasonal flu because
D, which is important for high in vitamin D spent less The culprit? A new strain previous exposure to the
Source: NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

healthy bones. time in the sun. of influenza, called H1N1, virus or a yearly flu vac-
All vertebrates (animals It seems that chameleons which soon spread to other cination has triggered our
with a backbone) can get alter their basking behavior countries, including the body’s disease-fighting
vitamin D either from the to regulate their vitamin D United States. The World immune system. But
foods they eat or by produc- levels. “What surprised us Health Organization (WHO) because H1N1 hasn’t
ing it in their skin with the was how effectively they became concerned that been around before and
help of sunlight. When Kris- did it,” says Karsten. the disease could quickly because a vaccine hadn’t
topher Karsten, a behavioral —Cody Crane become a pandemic—an been developed to offer
outbreak that could affect immunity (protection)
millions of people around against the virus, we’re
the world. more likely to get sick
H1N1 was first identi- from it. Early results
fied as a virus (tiny, non- showed that H1N1 doesn’t
JAW-DROPPING living particle that invades seem to be very virulent,
WEATHER:
Cheeseburgers and reproduces inside or dangerous, says Tara
rain from the living cells) that infected Smith, an epidemiologist
sky in the new pigs many years ago, so the at the University of Iowa.
film Cloudy
With a Chance illness was originally called But influenza viruses
of Meatballs, “swine flu.” But influenza can change quickly, and
in theaters
September 18. viruses can mutate, or become more deadly.
change. Tests showed that Officials are keeping
this new H1N1 contains a close eye on H1N1 to
parts of human-, pig-, and see if the current antiviral
bird-influenza viruses. drugs can effectively treat
“This is really a new human it. They are also working
credit copy to come

disease, spread from on making a vaccine to

humans to other humans,” protect against this new
says April J. Johnson, an virus in the future.
epidemiologist who stud- —Sara Goudarzi

Science World 5
 SCIENCE NEWS
PHYSICAL/ENGINES

Full Steam Ahead

T
his futuristic-looking its internal combustion using steam under intense
race car holds a sur- engine. The heat produced pressure to spin its twin
prise under its hood. drives the engine’s pistons turbines faster. The British
race car: Courtesy British Steam Car Challenge; robot: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images; porcupine: iStock; telescope: Matt Rourke/AP Images; teens: Kaz Mori/Getty Images

Instead of far-out up and down, making Steam Car Challenge team

technology, it uses a centu- the car move. A steam, hopes its car will break
ries-old method of generat- or external combustion, several records, including
ing energy: steam power. engine, on the other hand, the 103-year-old, official
Both the engine in this heats water in an external steam-car speed record of
steam-mobile and the boiler. Steam entering the 205.447 kilometers (127.659
engine in a typical car work engine turns a turbine, miles) per hour, during this
by burning fuel, a process powering the car. month’s World of Speed
called combustion. A regu- The steam car outpaces event at Utah’s Bonneville
lar car burns gasoline inside older steam vehicles by Speedway. —Stuart Fox

6 September 7, 2009
 NUMBERS IN
THE NEWS
$9,100,000 was to
be cut from the budgets
of New York’s zoos,
aquariums, and botanical
gardens next year.
But an ad showing a
porcupine named
Wednesday being
fired from
the Bronx Zoo
persuaded
legislators
to restore
the funding.

3,500 years ago, Queen

Hatshepsut (hat-SHEP-set)
ruled Egypt. Archaeologists
recently uncovered a bottle
of the pharaoh’s ancient
perfume and plan to
re-create its scent.

STEAM MACHINE: This

rocket-shaped race car runs
757 liters of seawater
flooded the Santa Monica
on superheated water vapor. Pier Aquarium in California
last February when a
curious octopus used its
powerful tentacles to open
the valve on its tank.
physical/technology
400

Fishy Robots
years old is the
age of a telescope built by
Galileo recently on display
at Philadelphia’s Franklin
Institute. It’s one of only
two of Galileo’s telescopes
still in existence.

A
school of five motion so that we could
robot fish will soon mimic it precisely,” says
be swimming the team leader Huosheng
seas. Engineers at Hu. Along with sen-
the University of Essex sors to find hazardous
in the United Kingdom chemicals, each of the 88 children took part in a
plan to release the fish 1.2 meter (4 foot)-long text messaging study in the
United Kingdom. The study
next year into a Spanish robots will be equipped found that kids who used
port to sniff out pol- with sonar. By using more text
abbreviations,
lution, like oil leak- sound waves to detect like “CUL8R,”
ing from ships. The objects, the robo-fish were better
robo-fish swim by can navigate and avoid readers.
becoming a surprise
swishing their tail fins
5 is the maximum number
credit copy to come

just like real fish do. catch in fishing nets. of objects that newly
“We studied real fish —Cody Crane hatched chicks can count.
Research suggests that the
limit for newborn humans
OFF THE HOOK: This robot fish shows off its swimming is just three.
abilities at the London Aquarium. More of the fish are
being designed to help monitor water pollution.
Science World 7
Life Parasites

Biting Back
Experts use creative weapons to battle a countrywide

J
ack sniffs his way Many victims develop itchy red welts,
through a client’s bed- while others show no symptoms.
room. The Jack Russell Detection dogs like Jack are only one
terrier-mix paws a spot of the weapons experts are using to
on the bed to alert bite back at bedbugs.
his handler he has
detected the target. Under the Radar
Sure enough, hidden in One reason for the bloodsucker’s
a mattress seam rests comeback is increased human travel
a tiny, flattened brown to and from countries where bedbugs
insect—a bedbug. were never eradicated. “This is a bug
bedbugs: The Birmingham News/AP Images (3);
top: Volker Steger/Photo Researchers, Inc.;

Bedbugs (Cimex lectularius) were that’s an amazing hitchhiker,” says

common in the United States until Michael Potter, an entomologist who
toxic pesticides nearly wiped them
out 50 years ago. Now the insects are
back in full force, infesting houses,
apartments, dorms, and hotels across
the country. The bugs lie low during For links to an online video of
Jack the dog in action, visit:
the day and come out at night to feed www.scholastic.com/scienceworld
on the blood of sleeping humans.

8 September 7, 2009
 WHAT A NIGHTMARE!
Bedbugs hang out in
bedbugS the seams of mattresses,
leaving behind dots
of excrement.

bedbug droppings

ment. “They’ll just wait you out. Or On the Offensive

they’ll move to an adjoining unit,” Once bedbugs are detected, the
says Potter. most common weapon extermina-
Exterminators can target bedbugs, tors use is an effective pesticide—
but first they have to find them. The although some bedbugs are becom-
parasites (organisms that depend on ing resistant (immune) to today’s

ack
another organism to exist) can spread chemicals. Another strategy is heat-
from a bed to other furniture, behind ing affected rooms to temperatures
edges of carpet, or even inside com- greater than 49°Celsius (120°Fahren-
puters. “Just about anywhere you can heit) or freezing the bugs with carbon
imagine, a bedbug can crawl into,” dioxide spray. “An insect is cold-
says Potter. blooded; it can’t regulate its internal
People must take apart furniture body temperature like we can,” says
and pull up carpet- Potter. Extreme
ing to locate the going buggy: Trained dogs can heat or cold kills
sniff out bedbugs (below). Left
bugs. But bedbug the parasites.
surge in bedbugs
untreated, a bedbug infestation can
detection dogs have cause itchy welts (bottom). Potter points
a trick of their own: out that there’s
their super-sensitive no need to go
studies insects at the University of noses. “While it buggy, but
Kentucky. Once the bedbugs crawl would take two it’s good to
onto suitcases, unsuspecting travel- people a good hour be aware of the
ers carry them home or to other to dismantle the current bedbug
hotels. The insects also are on the rise room and look, it invasion. In hotels
because many older pesticides found takes the dog two or at camp, exam-
to be harmful for humans and the minutes to move ine mattress seams
environment have been replaced with through the room for these insects or
matTress: Michael F. Potter; dog: Mark Rightmire/Zuma

ones not as effective against the bugs. and let you know if the droppings they
there are any bugs leave behind, which
Tricky Insect there,” says Gretta look like small
Press; bites: SPL/Photo Researchers, Inc.

The good news: Bedbugs aren’t MacIntyre, Jack’s black spots. If you
known to spread disease. The bad handler and the suspect bedbugs,
news: They use tricks that make owner of Sleep Tight ask for another
getting rid of them a challenge. For Canine Bed Bug room. This will help
instance, they’re good at retaining Detection Service. keep the bedbugs
moisture, so they can live for more Jack can sweep from biting—so you
than a year without feeding. This through roughly a can sleep tight. 9
means you can’t starve them out by hundred hotel —Jacqueline
temporarily vacating a room or apart- rooms a day. Adams

Science World 9
 Earth Fossils

Teen Dinosa examining

digging

Students scour the desert for prehistoric

fossils to display in their school’s museum

B
efore the school HEAD CASE:
Students helped
year officially unearth and
starts, students name this new
dinosaur species:
of The Webb Gryposaurus
Schools’ incom- monumentensis.
ing freshman
class hop into
vans and head
to the California
desert. It’s just
over an hour’s
drive from the
school’s parking
lot in Claremont,
California, to
where the students hike two miles
out to the dig site. There, they begin
their hunt for fossils, or the preserved of prehistoric life called paleontol- ogy—the only accredited museum on
remains of a once-living organism. ogy. All of the fossil discoveries on a high school campus in the country.
For some students, what starts out this trip will be taken back to Webb, Since the school’s first fossil-
as a getting-to-know-you weekend cleaned, catalogued, and stored in the hunting trip in 1936, students have
blossoms into a love for the study Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontol- been adding to the Alf Museum’s col-

10 September 7, 2009
ur Hunters cleaning

teaching

buried deeper in the sedimentary

ON DISPLAY:
The Raymond rock. Sedimentary rock is formed
M. Alf when particles from other rocks or
Museum of
Paleontology
the remains of plants and animals are
houses all of compressed and cemented together
the students’ over millions of years.
fossil finds.
If a dinosaur or other animal dies
and is quickly covered by a layer of
sediment, such as sand, silt, or clay,
lection, which currently boasts about ent it as a high school student,” says its body will be trapped in this layer
150,000 specimens ranging from tiny
dinosaur teeth and prehistoric turtle
Lucy Herrero, who is a senior at The
Webb Schools.
and preserved. The organs and other
soft tissues decompose very quickly,
it’s yo
shells to one of the largest collections but the harder parts like teeth and
of fossilized footprints on display. BARE BONES bones will turn into fossils. These
Webb students have traveled all over Any Webb student can go on the fossils remain in the rock until they
the Western United States and even to weekend fossil-hunting trips held reach the surface through erosion or it’s yo
fossil: Utah Museum of Natural History; all others: Courtesy

Mongolia’s Gobi Desert in search of throughout the school year. Over are dug up (see Nuts & Bolts, p. 12).
fossils to bring back to the museum. spring break and summer vacation, Webb students never know what
The Webb Schools/Alf Museum; background: iStock

They also get to take paleontology there are also longer trips to Utah they’ll find hidden in the rocks: On a
classes and study the fossils they
find. Some students have even made
and Montana where the school has
ongoing projects.
2002 trip to Utah, a whole new spe-
cies was discovered. The students it’s yo
new scientific discoveries, which they There are so many fossils at the helped quarry the skull of a duck-
have shared at conferences and in project sites that students often find billed dinosaur that they named
scientific papers. teeth and small bones lying on the Gryposaurus monumentensis. This
“It really sets us apart from anyone
else in the United States—or maybe
ground or hidden just
below the surface. They
discovery made the
2008 Top Ten New Spe-
it’s yo
even the world—because no one has also dig holes called cies List put out by the
Find a link to the
these types of opportunities to do quarries where they Alf Museum at:
International Institute
real science and actually get to pres- unearth fossils that are www.scholastic.com of Species Exploration.

it’s yo
/scienceworld

Science World 11
 it’s yourchoice
GY-SU kim shows off NIKKI PUjJi found this LUCY HERRERO holds up a piece
a dinosaur bone. piece of a horse jaw. of the Champsosaurus skull.

nuts&bolts
STUDY HALL paleontology classes. “It’s a good Gy-Su Kim, a senior at Webb, used
Back at The Webb Schools, stu- introduction to science and how sci- a scanning electron microscope to
dents in introductory paleontology ence works,” he says. take very detailed images of the jaw

nuts&bolts
and museum research classes study
the fossils. “It’s a pretty unique situ-
In these classes, students perform
background research on their individ-
and teeth of a carnivorous (meat-eat-
ing) dinosaur in the theropod group.
ation,” says Don Lofgren, director of ual topics, study the museum’s fossils This is the same group to which T-rex
the Alf Museum and teacher of the with high-tech equipment, and write and Velociraptor belong. “There’s so
scientific papers on their findings, just much more to studying the teeth than

nuts&bolts like professional paleontologists do. just [their] appearance,” says Gy-Su.
From the pictures she takes, Gy-Su
is learning a lot about the dinosaur,

How a Fossil Forms

from what it ate to the type of envi-
ronment in which it lived.

nuts&bolts
Webb students Lucy Herrero
and Nikki Pujji both examined the
An animal is buried by sediment,
60-million-year-old skull of a Champ-
1 such as volcanic ash or silt,
sosaurus, which is an aquatic verte-
shortly after it dies. Its bones
brate (animal with a backbone) and
are protected from rotting by
distant cousin to crocodiles. Lucy
the layer of sediment.
wanted to know how the animal held
its head while in the water, and Nikki
compared the Champsosaurus skull
More sediment layers accumulate to the skull of a gharial, which is a

checkitout
2 above the animal’s remains, and min-

ut
present-day crocodilian species that
erals, such as silica (a compound of lives in India.

Courtesy The Webb Schools/Alf Museum; background: iStock; diagram: 5wgraphics.com

silicon and oxygen), slowly replace All of the students’ hard work
the calcium phosphate in the bones. has paid off: Last May, Gy-Su, Lucy,
and Nikki presented their original

3 itout
research at the Cretaceous Confer-

ut check Movement of tectonic plates,

or giant rock slabs that make up
ence for scientists in Utah.
It is the final year at Webb for all
Earth’s surface, lifts up the three students, so the trio is plan-
sediments and pushes the fossil ning to go on as many trips as they
closer to the surface. can and continue their work in the
museum research class. They have
found that studying the fossilized
Erosion from rain, rivers, and wind bones has changed the way they look
4 wears away the remaining rock at the world. “These hills contain
layers. Eventually, erosion or scientific greatness, and so you see it
people digging for fossils will completely differently,” says Gy-Su.
expose the preserved remains. “You appreciate it a lot more.” 9
—Karina Hamalainen

12 September 7, 2009
 careers
I WANT That JOB!
Manuela Veloso is a robot scientist. She researches
ways to get robots to work together.

KICK OFF: Robot scientist Manuela Veloso

What does a robot readies a group of robots for a soccer match
scientist do? at the 2008 U.S. RoboCup.
A robot scientist creates artificial
mechanical devices that can under- the robot calculates all the possible
stand instructions and perform duties actions it could take and decides on
like humans can. My interests are in the best one. Then the robot moves
robots that can move, read the world on wheels or on legs.
around them through sensors such as
vision cameras, and work together. How can teens prepare
to be robot scientists?
TELL US ABOUT THE Teens should study physics
COMPETITION YOU WON LAST and math. But we also need people
YEAR CALLED ROBOCUP. who care about what robots can
I helped create the RoboCup inter- do for society, so understanding
national competition where teams of history, policy, and human
robots play soccer. They collaborate to behavior is also important.
make passes, score goals, and outsmart
their opponents. It’s more than just a How much
fun challenge, though. Robot soccer does a robot
is a way to study how teams of robots scientist earn?
can be used in similar situations, such Starting out with a
Courtesy Carnegie Mellon University

as a group of robotic firefighters extin- bachelor’s degree, a robot

guishing a fire, or a group of robots scientist earns between $40,000
maneuvering through a crowded city. and $50,000 per year. With a Ph.D.,
the salary can reach about $100,000
How can robots for robot scientists who work at uni- Learn more about RoboCup and
play soccer? versities. Those who work for compa- RoboCup Junior for middle and high
school competitors at:
Each robot has a camera to view nies might earn double that amount. www.scholastic.com/scienceworld
its environment. A computer inside —Natalie Peretsman

Science World 13
 In Search
it’s yourchoice

it’s yourchoice
it’s yourchoice

it’s yourchoice

Snow Leopa
it’s yourchoice it’s yourchoice

A shy, endangered cat eludes all

it’s yourchoice it’s yourchoice
but the cleverest of scientists

nuts&bolts nuts&bolts SAY CHEESE!

Wildlife photographer
Steve Winter set up
“trap cameras” that

nuts&bolts
snapped photos

nuts&bolts of snow leopards

as they walked past.

nuts&bolts nuts&bolts

nuts&bolts nuts&bolts
What does it
mean for a species
to be endangered?
An endangered species
is one that is in danger
of becoming extinct

itout checkitout checkitout

in the near future. When
a species becomes
extinct, it has no more
living members.

itout
14 checkitout
September 7, 2009 checkitout
of
Life Endangered Species

rds
W
e walked single file
along the thin moun-
tain trail. Twenty
packhorses carried
our gear. In a valley
far below, plants
and trees thrived
beside a roaring river. But along our
dusty trail, 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) HARSH HOME: Very little life can survive
above sea level, little grew. We in the snow leopard’s mountain habitat.
glimpsed a herd of wild sheep
Where Snow leopards roam
on a faraway cliff and birds cir- The shaded regions on the map show but sometimes there are too few
cling overhead, but saw nothing where wild snow leopards live. prey around. That’s because wild
Russia
else alive. The thin air made it sheep and goats, which compete
Kazakhstan
hard to breathe. Mongolia with domesticated herds for sparse
Kyrgyzstan
This was snow leopard Uzbekistan grasses on which to graze, often die
country. Our 10-person team, Tajikistan China of starvation or are forced to move
TAKLAMAKAN
DESERT
which included snow leopard away to find food. Additionally, local
stan
researcher Tashi Tundup and ani people sometimes hunt wild sheep
fgh H TIBETAN PLATEAU
an

A IM
award-winning wildlife photog- and goats, leaving hungry snow
t
kis

Iran AL
AYA S
Pa

rapher Steve Winter, had come leopards with little choice but to kill
Nepal Bhutan
to the Indian Himalayas looking livestock. When that happens, herd-
India
for the shy, elusive cat. Arabian ers poison or shoot the cats. It’s a
0 800 KM
Sea Bangladesh 0 500 MI
problem across all 12 Central Asian
FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL countries in which snow leopards live
It took us five days to reach the plants and animals) in which it lives. (see map, left).
first mountain village. Inside a mud- Even so, scientists have determined Illegal poaching poses another
brick house, we talked to locals over that the big cat is an endangered spe- threat to snow leopards. The cats’
yak-milk tea. Tundup translated. They cies (see Nuts & Bolts, p. 14). The luxurious fur commands $600 or
Steve Winter; map: jim mcmahon

told us that a snow leopard had just biggest reason snow leopards are more on the black market. That’s
killed three of their goats. The cat’s being killed is that they eat people’s three years’ salary for many people
kills were devastating to the families livestock, says Tom McCarthy, sci- living in the area.
because they relied on the goats’ meat, ence and conservation director of Snow leopards are also poached
milk, and wool for their livelihood. the Seattle-based organization Snow for their bones, which are smuggled
Snow leopards are the top preda- Leopard Trust. The cats would illegally to China for use in traditional
tor in the ecosystem (community of prefer to hunt wild sheep and goats, medicines. They are ground into

Science World 15
powder to treat swell- in Norway. “Although
it’s
ardsy
have
rchoice
oupowerful lungs and large
it’s
For a link to more facts about
ing and pain—and snow leopards, visit:
we’ve been studying chests to pull oxygen from the thin air.
are believed to give www.scholastic.com them for 50 years, To study the cats in their vast,
people the animal’s /scienceworld we know little about rugged mountain home, scientists
strength. One cat’s
bones can fetch $5,000 or more.
them,” he says.
Some of what scientists know
it’s yourchoice have to be clever. They look for the
scrapes or sprays
it’s
comes from studying snow leopards snow leopards
STUDYING A SHY CAT in zoos. For example, they know that use to mark their

it’s yourchoice it’

Most of the villagers we encoun- the cat’s large paws act like snow- territory, and then
tered on our 17-day trek had never set shoes, helping it to walk through they set up trap
eyes on the secretive snow leopard. snow. Long, powerful hind legs allow cameras in those
The cat’s elusive nature makes it dif- them to leap up to 9 m (30 ft)—five places. When the
ficult to study, says Joe Fox, a biology times their body length. And because animals pass by,

it’s yourchoice
professor at the University of Tromsø they live at high altitudes, snow leop- these cameras
automatically it’s
photograph them.

Percent of Total Number of By studying the

pictures, research-
SNOW Leopards, by country it’s yourchoice ers can identify
individual snow it’
The pie chart below shows the percent of snow leopards leopards because
healthy herds:
in zoos and in each country within the cat’s range. How many coun- each cat’s spot Vaccinations keep
tries contain a smaller percent of snow leopards than are housed in pattern is like a livestock from
getting sick so
zoos? A bigger percent? fingerprint—no that if a snow
two are alike. leopard kills an
Additionally, animal, locals

nuts&bolts n
Uzbekistan 1% China 38% still have healthy
researchers outfit ones for their
Afghanistan 2% the animals with livelihood.
radio collars.
Bhutan 2%
nuts&bolts n
These devices beam a signal to
Mongolia 13%
Kazakhstan 3% a satellite—which then transmits
the cat’s location to a computer.
One cat in Pakistan traveled 1,296
Russia 3%
Tajikistan 3%
Zoos 11%
nuts&bolts
square kilometers (500 square miles)
in a single year!
n
Kyrgyzstan 5% Nepal 7% SO MANY QUESTIONS
gathering&
nuts boltsabout snow n
India 7% Although scientists are slowly
Pakistan 5%
information
leopards, questions abound. Scien-
tists think the cats populate an area
roughly the size of Mexico, but they’re
not sure. Researchers also don’t know
how many kittens are born in the wild.
If they have few young, that would

checkitout checkitout checkitout

mean dwindling populations that don’t
SOURCE: IUCN 2008 RED LIST

rebound quickly. And while scientists

know that snow leopards are mostly
solitary, they don’t know where they

checkitout checkitout checkitout

go or what they do when they meet up
with one another.

16 September 7, 2009
 A more pressing question is how range from 3,500 to 7,000, but thou- golian herders’ handicrafts on its Web
many snow leopards are left, says sands of kilometers of snow leopard site and in zoos in the U.S. This gives
George Schaller, vice president of habitat have never been studied. Plus, the people income so they are not as
Panthera, a New York-based cat con- scientists suspect that poachers and dependent on their herds in the event
servation organization. Estimates herders may have killed as many as of a snow leopard attack. The organi-
40 percent of wild snow leopards in zation has even established livestock
the past 10 years, meaning that cur- insurance policies to pay for snow
rent estimates may be too high. leopard kills. In return, villagers sign
Scientists are trying hard to pro- a contract promising that they won’t
tect the endangered cats. “We are kill the cats or their prey.
working with local communities, These efforts are helping, but in
because they will decide the fate of order to do effective conservation, we
these animals,” says Schaller. Snow need more knowledge. “We need
Leopard Trust has vaccinated live- young people to get out there and
stock in Pakistan so fewer animals study these animals,” says Schaller.
in a family’s herd die of disease. That “[Snow leopards] are the top predator
way, if a snow leopard happens to kill in those mountains. If you protect
an animal from their herd, it is not as them, you protect all the plants and
devastating to that family’s livelihood. animals that live there.” 9
Snow Leopard Trust also sells Mon- —Sharon Guynup

urchoice it’s yourchoice

urchoice it’s yourchoice

urchoice it’s yourchoice

trail travel:
Packhorses
helped the team
travel through
the harsh, rugged
landscape of
the Himalayas.

urchoice it’s yourchoice

1. Which of the following 2. How have scientists 3. An endangered species is
threatens snow leopards? learned about snow leopards? one that is in danger of ___ in
A poaching A by watching them in zoos the near future.

urchoice C poisoning by herders

it’s yourchoice
B extreme weather conditions B by studying photos from
trap cameras
A starving
B becoming extinct
D both a and b C by radio collaring them C reproducing
Steve Winter

E both a and c D all of the above D being poached

Science World 17
Saving

G
Thirty years lobal warming is a
hot topic today. But
30 years ago, the idea
air conditioners. The chemicals are
normally inert, or nonreactive. But
when CFCs drift up into the atmo-

ago, scientists of pollution causing

the planet to heat up
sphere, they can break down ozone
gas (see Nuts & Bolts, p. 20).

fought to stop
was still a small blip Scientists acted quickly to per-
on scientists’ radar. suade governments around the world
Instead, their atten- to do something about the problem,

the destruction tion was on another

pressing environmen-
tal issue: Earth’s dis-
which they believed would only get
worse. That led to the creation of
the Montreal Protocol. Countries

of Earth’s appearing ozone layer. This layer of

gas high in the atmosphere shields us
that signed the 1987 treaty agreed to
phase out the use of CFCs and other

protective
from the sun’s harmful rays. ozone-destroying substances by 2000.
In 1985, scientists at a research Did the effort to ban CFCs all
station in Antarctica made a startling those years ago save the ozone layer?

ozone layer. discovery: a gaping ozone hole over

the South Pole. The area of depleted
“The answer is absolutely yes,” says
Paul Newman, an atmospheric physi-
ozone was caused by a group of cist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight

Did their rescue human-made chemicals called chlo-

rofluorocarbons (CFCs). At the time,
Center in Maryland. At a time when
protecting the planet may seem like

effort work?
CFCs were widely used in spray cans too big a task to tackle, check out
and as coolants in refrigerators and ozone’s environmental success story.

18 September 7, 2009
 it’s yourchoice it’s
Physical Atoms
it’s yourchoice it’s

The Future
it’s yourof
choice
the it’s
Ozone Hole
Computer models of Earth show
outherchoice
it’s yhow Montreal Protocol is
expected to halt ozone destruc-
it’s
Sun Blocker absorbing the sun’s
tion. The blue area over Antarc-
The invisible September 16 is International Ozone powerful ultraviolet tica represents the ozone hole.
ozone layer exists Day. The date marks the anniver- (UV) rays. These
sary of the signing of the Montreal
high in the strato- Protocol. Find out more at: invisible energy
Amount of Ozone
sphere, or a layer www.scholastic.com/scienceworld waves can cause

Less&bolts
nuts nu
of the atmosphere serious damage to
that is roughly 10 to 50 kilometers living cells. More
Ozone Ozone
(6 to 31 miles) above Earth. This A weakened ozone layer allows
buffer around the planet is made up a larger amount of UV light to reach

&HOLEbolts PROJECTED SIZE nu

antarctica: Momatiuk-Eastcott/Corbis; sunburn: Ken Glaser/Corbis

of ozone gas molecules, which consist

of three oxygen atoms (smallest unit
Earth’s surface. Not only does that
increase the chances of getting sun-
nuts
PROJECTED SIZE
OF OZONE OF OZONE HOLE
of matter) bound together. Ozone burn when you go outside, it could With Montreal Without Montreal
Protocol Protocol
nuts&bolts
molecules are very spread out. “If also lead to more skin cancer and
you could bring all the ozone mol- eye-clouding cataracts. UV rays also nu
ecules overhead together down to the harm the tissues of plants, causing
Earth’s surface, they would form a damage to crops. And it’s suspected 2008 2008
layer about 3 millimeters [0.1 inches] that increased UV radiation could
thick,” says Newman. That’s only reduce plankton in the world’s seas. nuts&bolts
Antarctica Antarctica
nu
about the thickness of two pennies These tiny marine organisms form
stacked together. the basis of the oceans’ entire
This thin layer of food web.
ozone acts as Earth’s
natural sunscreen, Good Vs. Bad Ozone
Not all ozone is found

checkitout checkitout checkitout

way up in the sky. Ozone
2036 2036
is a key ingredient in the
NATURAL smoggy haze sometimes Antarctica Antarctica
SUNSCREEN: seen hovering over cities.
Without the

checkitout checkitout checkitout

invisible ozone This “bad” ozone forms
layer high in when sunlight reacts
Earth’s atmosphere
blocking many of with pollution from car
the sun’s rays, exhausts and indus-
sunburn would be
more common. trial smokestacks. 2064 2064
Ozone at ground
level offers very little
UV protection. That’s Antarctica Antarctica
because there is much
less ozone in smog than
what can be found way

Science World 19
 it’s yourchoice
from CFCs and ozone to
take place, accelerating it’s yourchoi
CFC production had continued even
at less than half the rate of the 1970s,
ozone destruction. The by 2045, the ozone hole would have
result is a yearly ozone spread across the entire planet—wip-
CANNED: As
a result of hole above Antarctica. ing out our protection from the sun’s
the Montreal If measures hadn’t dangerous radiation.
Protocol, aerosol
sprays no longer been taken when the Thanks to the Montreal Protocol,
contain ozone- ozone hole was first experts say Earth likely avoided a
destroying
chemicals. discovered, scientists global disaster. Today, CFCs in the

nuts&bolts nuts&bolts
like Newman predict atmosphere are on the decline. And
there would be an even the ozone layer is expected to com-
larger hole over the South pletely recover by 2065. “It’s a very
Pole today (see “The Future of positive story. Scientists predicted
the Ozone Hole,” p. 19). He and there would be ozone losses, and

nuts&bolts nuts&bolts
up in the stratosphere. And because other NASA researchers have used politicians paid attention by enacting
it’s a highly reactive gas, breathing computer models to determine what an agreement that seems to be work-
in ozone in polluted air can actually might have happened if the Montreal ing,” says Newman. 9
damage your lungs. That can be a big Protocol had not been enacted. If —Cody Crane
problem for people with the breath-

nuts&bolts nuts&bolts
ing disorder asthma.
It would be great if we could ship
“bad” ozone up to the stratosphere
to repair the ozone hole. But shut-
tling ozone to the upper atmosphere
to repair a hole the size of North
How cfcs Destroy Ozone
America isn’t practical, says Bryan
Johnson, who monitors ozone levels nuts&bolts nuts&bolts
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are human-created
molecules made of chlorine (Cl), fluorine (F), and
for the National Oceanic and Atmo-
carbon (C). When a CFC molecule drifts up into The lone chlorine
spheric Administration. “It would be
the atmosphere, UV radiation reacts with the atom breaks apart
like trying to fill an Olympic-size pool
molecule, causing it to release a chlorine atom. an atmospheric
using a coffee cup,” he says.
ozone molecule
(O3) by grabbing
Model Problem O 2
Although nearly every nation has
O one of its
O oxygen atoms.
now signed on to the Montreal Pro-

kitout checkitoutF 1
checkitout Cl
checkito
tocol, we continue to see a seasonal
ozone hole because of CFCs’ long
life spans. The chemicals can stick
around in the atmosphere for 40 to
C Cl Cl
O
O
C l Cl O
100 years before breaking down into
O 3

kitout checkitout checkitout checkito

less harmful substances. C l
top: Roy McMahon/Corbis: DIAGRAM: CHRIS PHILPOT

CFCs still in the air have depleted 4

The result is another That leaves a
the ozone layer over areas like the
United States by about 6 percent.
O2 molecule. Now, O O chlorine monoxide
the chlorine atom can O molecule (ClO) and
Over Antarctica, ozone levels plum-
begin the cycle again, O an oxygen molecule
met each fall by more than 50 per-
attacking a new (O2). The chlorine
cent. The reason? Extreme cold
ozone molecule. monoxide molecule
temperatures there produce polar
transfers the oxygen
stratospheric clouds. The surface of
atom it holds to a
these clouds provides a place for the
free oxygen atom in
chemical reaction between chlorine
the air.
20 September 7, 2009
 HANDS-ON
(No Lab Required)
SCIENCE After reading “Saving the Ozone Layer” (p. 18),
try this activity to learn more about how CFCs
break down ozone in the upper atmosphere.

Predict
What happens to ozone in the
upper atmosphere when CFCs
are added?*
*Teachers: See teacher’s edition
(TE3) for background information.

Materials
• marker • paper • tape
DIRECTIONS

 1  In this activity, you will play

a game. Your teacher will
assign 2/3 of the class to
play an oxygen (O) atom,
1/6 to play a UV ray, and

 2
1/6 to play a CFC molecule.
 Depending on your assigned  5
 The CFCs should walk
among the ozone mol-
bers. Once tagged, this
oxygen atom must leave its
role, create a name tag ecules, oxygen molecules, group. This represents chlo-
labeled O; UV; or CFC. If and oxygen atoms. rine breaking down ozone
you have a CFC name tag,
also write chlorine, or Cl, on  6
 The UV rays should find a
CFC and gently tap one of
 9
and oxygen molecules.
 After all of the chlorines tag
the back of it. them. Once tapped, CFCs an oxygen, your teacher will

 3  Hold up your name tag, or

tape it to your shirt. You are
should “release a chlorine
atom” by flipping over their
tally the number of each
molecule and atom again.

 4
ready to begin the game.
 Students with oxygen (O)
tag. They now play the role
of a chlorine atom. UV rays 10  Repeat Steps 8 and 9 a
second time.
tags should go to the cen- sit down now because they
ter of the room and form used up their energy. CONCLUSIONS
as many groups of three
oxygen atoms as possible.  7
 Your teacher now will tally
the numbers of ozone  1  How many ozone molecules
were left after step 9? After
ILLUSTRATION BY DANIEL CHEN/i2iART.COM

These groups represent molecules (O3), oxygen mol- step 10?

one ozone molecule. Any
remaining oxygens should
ecules (O2), oxygen atoms
(O), and chlorine atoms  2  During the game, how did
the chlorine atoms released
try to form a group of two (Cl), and write the numbers from the CFCs affect the
to represent a more stable on the board. ozone molecules?
oxygen molecule. Any left-
over oxygens should remain  8
 Next, your teacher will have
each chlorine atom find a  3  If countries had not agreed
to ban CFCs in 1987, what
alone to represent an oxy- pair or trio of oxygen atoms would have happened to the
gen atom. and tag one of the mem- ozone layer?

Science World 21
GROSS OUT

squishy snack
A
fast food 80 percent of the world’s tain minerals such as tons] contain the protein
chain in population practices ento- calcium and iron. Plus, chitin, which is not highly
northern mophagy, or the eating of insects are packed with digestible,” says Turpin.
Thailand insects. In many cultures, protein, an important As for the taste, most
doesn’t have the organisms are consid- body-building nutrient. insects are cooked
french fries ered a delicacy. Japanese “The protein content with spices or flavorful
on the menu. menus sometimes feature is quite high in a lot of sauces. “Like anything
Instead, fried grasshoppers. And insects,” says Tom Turpin, else, they taste like how
diners at companies in Mexico an entomologist who they are prepared,” says
a restau- pack bees in cans filled studies insects at Purdue Turpin. Eaten plain, he
rant called Insects Inter with syrup and export University in Indiana. says, “most of them have
choose from a selection them to Europe and the Like the snack in the a bit of a nutty flavor.”
of fried insects. One United States as a gour- photo above, insect But don’t start munch-
Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP

popular item is wormlike met food. entrées are often made ing on bugs from your
larvae, or the immature Just like the more from larvae. That’s backyard, warn experts:
stage of an insect. familiar animal meats because larvae don’t Insects that live close to
The thought of snack- chicken and beef, insects have as much hard outer human populations may
ing on insects might make provide valuable nutri- exoskeleton material as contain toxic pesticides.
you squirm, but roughly ents. Bugs’ bodies con- adult forms. “[Exoskele- —Britt Norlander

22 September 7, 2009
 you Can DO IT
Across: 18. Someone who DOWN: *17. This compound
prefers to be by replaces calcium
*1. These human-made himself or herself *1. Polar stratospheric phosphate in bones
chemicals destroy ___ promote ozone to form fossils.
ozone. (abbr.) *20. Paleontology is the destruction.
___ of prehistoric life. 19. Strange
*4. An exoskeleton is a *2. This state is home to
___ outer covering 22. Fish that has a long The Webb Schools. 21. Crisp corn shell with
on many organisms, thin body like that of (postal code) filling
including insects. a snake 23. Transverse waves
3. ___ as a fox.
*8. The Raymond M. 25. One of these is that transfer electric
___ Museum of roughly equivalent to 5. Actinium (element and magnetic energy
1.6 kilometers. (abbr.) symbol) (abbr.)
Paleontology is
the only accredited 26. This option hides the 6. Move over to make *24. Cimex lectularius
museum on a high name of an e-mail ___ for someone. bites sleeping
school campus. recipient. (abbr.) 7. Its atomic number people, often while
9. This hard core has 28. The fibula is a bone is 105. (element they are in ___.
corn kernels attached in this limb. symbol) 26. Its average atomic
to it.
*30. In 1985, scientists 11. The element symbol mass is 264.
10. Type of question spotted an ozone ___ for radium. (element symbol)
found on a test: true over the South Pole. 12. What you did at *27. When UV radiation
___ false reacts with a CFC
31. Scientists carefully lunchtime yesterday.
13. University of Alaska, gather ___. *14. A virus causes this. molecule, a ___ atom
Fairbanks (abbr.) is released. (element
15. ___ day now. symbol)
*15. An ozone molecule
consists of three 16. Iron is extracted 29. The Peach State
oxygen ___. from this. (postal code)

*Starred clues relate to this issue’s stories.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9

10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17

18 19

20 21 22 23

24 25

26 27 28 29
Donnelly Marks

30 31 What’s this? Use one of these to remove

any excess graphite from your homework.

Science World 23
YOU CAN DO IT

Creepy Commuters?

Why do mosquito bites itch?

explain this: Collection Mix/Getty Images; illustration: DarylL Collins

Starting with the top
When a mosquito bites you, it injects word in each column
saliva into your skin to keep your blood below, change one
from clotting. The saliva contains letter to form a new
chemicals that activate special cells, word, and write it
called mast cells, in your skin. These in the blank space.
cells produce histamine, the chemi- Continue to do this
cal responsible for the symptoms of until you arrive at the
an allergy. Histamine, in turn, activates word listed at the bot-
an itchy feeling in your skin’s nerve tom of each column.
fibers, which transmit the impulse to
your brain. “This impulse causes your
body to respond with scratching that
LESS COLD
itch,” says Dr. Gil Yosipovitch, a der-
matologist at Wake Forest University in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Send YOUR questions to the

Question
editors! Write to us at:
from
[email protected]
Parry T.,
or Ask Science World
New York, NY
Science World
Scholastic Inc. MORE WARM
557 Broadway
New York, NY 10012

24 September 7, 2009