Zaman International School Newspaper Issue 38

NEWSPAPER

Volume 3 Issue 38

9 June 2006

The World Cup interest.

World Cup, international football tournament held every four years, considered the most popular sporting event in the ZAMAN NEWSPAPER Zaman, Publisher Esra Gulderen, Editor-in Chief Gurkan Cil, Editor at Large

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Copyright 2003 by the Zaman International School.

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Europeans could not match.

Although Brazil had qualified for every World Cup thus far, the country had yet to win. The Brazilians finally lived up to their potential at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, when they dazzled the competition and won the championship. The team's star was an astonishing 17-year-old, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, who was known worldwide by his nickname, PelĂŠ. He went on to dominate world football for the next 12 years. Brazil won again at the 1962 tournament in Chile, even with an injured PelĂŠ sitting on the sidelines for much of the event.

By this time, the major European countries had become interestedexcept for the United Kingdom. England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales, which field separate national teams, were not members of FIFA and refused to take part in the World Cup. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's fascist regime gained popularity by organizing the 1934 tournament in Italy, which Italy won. The World Cup proved so popular that 36 nations entered the 1938 tournament, and preliminary elimination games were played to decide the 16 finalists. France hosted the 1938 tournament, By 1958 the world had become aware of the Brazilian team's and Italy again won. technical abilities. The Brazilians World War II brought a halt to displayed an ease with the ball most international sporting that the Europeans could not activities, and the World Cup was match. Although Brazil had not played again until 1950, in qualified for every World Cup Brazil. England entered for the thus far, the country had yet to f i r s t t i m e , b u t s u ff e r e d t h e win. The Brazilians finally lived humiliation of losing 1-0 to the up to their potential at the 1958 United States, and was elimi- World Cup in Sweden, when they nated in the first round. Uruguay dazzled the competition and won again won the tournament, the championship. The team's beating Brazil in the final. West star was an astonishing 17-yearGermany won the 1954 tourna- o l d , E d s o n A r a n t e s d o ment in Switzerland, beating the Nascimento, who was known heavily favoured Hungarians worldwide by his nickname, who, until the final game, had PelĂŠ. He went on to dominate b e e n undefeated in international competition for four years.

world and the pinnacle of international football competition. The World Cup is followed with passionate interest around the globethe 2002 tournament was played to an estimated cumulative television audience of more than 40 billion viewers and the matches also garnered a worldwide Internet audience.

Founded in 1930 with just 13 teams, the tournament now attracts entries from over 140 countries. The teams must participate in elimination games within their own continent before qualifying to become one of the 32 nations participating in the By 1958 the final tournament. world had b e c o m e In 1930 the first World Cup aware of the tournament was held in Uruguay. B r a z i l i a n It was won by the host nation with t e a m ' s a victory over Argentina in the t e c h n i c a l final. Despite being largely abilities. The shunned by the stronger Brazilians European nations, the tourna- displayed an ment was a financial success ease with the a n d e x c i t e d i n t e r n a t i o n a l ball that the

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GENERAL stadiums. FIFA had introduced new laws to protect attacking players and keep the game flowing, and there were many highly entertaining games.

Although all but one of the quarter-finalists were European (Brazil was the exception), the tournament showed that standards were rising worldwide: Nigeria and Saudi Arabia defeated supposedly stronger opposition and the US team created the upset of the championship when they defeated Colombia who were one of the favourites (a tragic consequence was the murder of the Colombian defender Andres Escobar on his return home). For the first time in history the final went to a penalty shoot-out, in which Brazil became the first team to win the World Cup four times, with a victory over Italy. world football for the next 12 years. Brazil won again at the 1962 tournament in Chile, even with an injured Pelé sitting on the sidelines for much of the event.

The Dutch rose to prominence in the 1970s when they developed a style known as “total football”, in which every player was required to be capable of attacking or defending as the occasion demanded. Led by their captain and star Johann Cruyff, the Dutch played West Germany, the tournament host, in the 1974 final. The Germans, led by the renowned Franz Beckenbauer, won the game and became the new world champions. The Dutch again reached the final in 1978, and again they lost to the host team, falling to Argentina in extra time.

In 1982 the number of finalists was increased from 16 to 24 to allow more supposedly weaker nations to take part. The tournament was played in Spain, and Italy defeated West Germany in the final game to win the championship.

In 1986 Mexico became the first country to stage the World Cup twice.

Argentina won the

championship, largely on the strength of a masterful performance from the team's captain, Diego Maradona. The first of Maradona's two goals in Argentina's win over England became infamous when television replays revealed that he had punched the ball in with his hand; he later attributed the goal to divine intervention, claiming that “the hand of God” had scored the goal. Four minutes later Maradona dribbled half the length of the field to score one of the greatest goals in World Cup history. In the final, Argentina defeated West Germany, coached by its former

star player, Beckenbauer.

West Germany had its revenge at the 1990 World Cup in Italy, beating Argentina 1-0 in the final.

The low-scoring final characterized a disappointing tournament that had produced an average of only 2.2 goals per game, the lowest number in World Cup history.

FIFA held the 1994 World Cup in the United States, hoping to increase the popularity of football in the one major country where it did not enjoy leading status. It was a very successful event, featuring capacity crowds at nine

The 1998 World Cup, in France, was expanded to include 32 teams in the finals. Increasingly strict rules encouraged more unbroken play but resulted in a record number of sendings-off.

The competition was won by the host team, France, who, in beating Brazil 3-0 in the final, became the first team to score a goal in open play in a World Cup final since 1986 and the first new winners of the tournament since Argentina in 1978.

The 2002 tournament marked a watershed by being the first to be held in Asia and the first to be cohosted, with games being played in South Korea and Japan. The growing emergence of teams from Africa and Asia was confirmed with several shock results, kick-started by the defeat of the reigning champions France by Senegal in the first match of the tournament. South Korea became the first Asian side to reach the semi-finals of the competition. Equally surprising was the inability of several of the pre-tournament favourites to reach the latter stages of the competition, including France, Argentina, Portugal, and Italy. The final was played by two former winners of the World CupBrazil and Germanywith Brazil winning 2-0 thanks to two goals from the tournament's top scorer Ronaldo.

Vatey Sar

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GENERAL

Earthquake Introduction: Earthquake, vibrations produced in the Earth's crust when rocks in which elastic strain has been building up suddenly rupture, and then rebound. The vibrations can range from barely noticeable to catastrophically destructive.

Earthquakes can release energy thousands of times greater than the world's first atomic bomb.

History of earthquake study: Questions regarding the nature of earthquakes have occupied the minds of people living in earthquake-prone areas since ancient times. Some of the ancient Greek philosophers attributed quakes to subterranean winds, whereas others blamed them on fires in the depths of the Earth. In around ad 130 the Chinese scholar Chang Heng, reasoning that waves must ripple through the Earth from the source of an earthquake constructed an elaborate bronze vessel to record the passage of such waves. Eight balls were delicately balanced in the mouths of eight dragons placed around the circumference of the vessel; a passing earthquake wave would cause one or more of the balls to drop.

Earthquake waves were observed in this and other ways for centuries, but more scientific theories as to the causes of quakes were not proposed until modern times. One such concept was advanced in 1859 by the Irish engineer Robert Mallet.

Perhaps drawing on his knowledge of the strength and behavior of construction materials subjected to strain, Mallet proposed that earthquakes occurred “either by sudden flexure and constraint of the elastic materials forming a portion of the Earth's crust or by their giving way and becoming fractured”.

Later, in the 1870s, the English geologist John Milne devised a forerunner of today's earthquake-recording device, or

seismograph (Greek, seismos, “earthquake”). A simple pendulum and needle suspended above a smoked-glass plate, it was the first instrument used in seismology to allow discrimination of primary and secondary earthquake waves. The modern seismograph was invented in the early 20th century by the Russian seismologist Prince

called seismic sea waves ortheir Japanese nametsunamis. These towering walls of water have struck populated coastlines with such violent fury that entire towns have been destroyed. In 1896 Sanriku, Japan, with a population of 20,000, suffered such a devastating fate.

Where buildings have been c o nstructed on filled ground, t h e liquefaction of soils is another seismic hazard.

W h e n subjected to the s h o c k waves of a quake, soil used in landfill may lose virtually all its bearing strength a n d behave, in effect, Boris Golitzyn. His device, using like quicksand. Buildings resting a m a g n e t i c p e n d u l u m s u s- on these materials have literally pended between the poles of an been swallowed up. electromagnet, ushered in the m o d e r n e r a o f e a r t h q u a k e Earthquake Prediction: research.

Attempts at predicting when and Earthquake Effects: where earthquakes will occur have met with some success in Earthquakes produce various recent years. At present, China, e f f e c t s o f c o n c e r n t o t h e Japan, Russia, and the United inhabitants of seismically active States are the countries most regions. They can cause great a c t i v e l y s u p p o r t i n g s u c h l o s s o f l i f e b y d e s t r o y i n g research. In 1975 the Chinese structures such as buildings, predicted the magnitude 7.3 bridges, and dams, and they can quake at Haicheng, evacuating a l s o t r i g g e r d e v a s t a t i n g 90,000 residents only two days landslides. before the quake destroyed or damaged 90 per cent of the city's Another destructive effect of buildings. One of the clues that earthquakes is the generation, led to this prediction was a chain usually by undersea tremors, of of low-magnitude tremors, called so-called tidal waves. Because foreshocks, that had begun such waves are unrelated to the about five years earlier in the tides, they are more properly area. Other potential clues being

investigated are tilting or bulging of the land surface and changes in the Earth's magnetic field, in the water levels of wells, and even in animal behavior.

Devastating Earthquake: Historical records of earthquakes before the middle of the 18th century are generally lacking or unreliable. Among the ancient quakes for which reasonably trustworthy records exist are the one that occurred off the coast of Greece in 425 bc, making Euboea an island; one that destroyed the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor in ad 17; one that leveled much of Pompeii in 63; and those that partly destroyed Rome in 476 and Constantinople (now İstanbul) in 557 and again in 936. In the Middle Ages, severe quakes occurred in England in 1318, Naples in 1456, and Lisbon in 1531.

The earthquake in 1556 in Shaanxi (Shensi) Province of China, which killed about 800,000 people, was one of the greatest natural disasters in history. In 1693, an earthquake in Sicily took an estimated 60,000 lives; and early in the 18th century the Japanese city of Edo (the site of modern Tokyo) was destroyed, with the loss of some 200,000 lives. In 1755 the city of Lisbon was devastated by a quake and about 60,000 people died, a disaster that figured in the French writer Voltaire's novel Candide.

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SCIENCE

Wild Animals L E O PA R D S A N D S N O W LEOPARDS Leopards live in many parts of Africa and Asia. Most have pale brown fur with dark spots, but some are all blackthese are known as black panthers. Deer, gazelle and wildebeest are their usual prey, but leopards also chase monkeys and baboons up into trees. A leopard often drags its kill up into a tree to eat in peace, away from rival cats such as lions.

The snow leopard, which lives in mountainous areas of central Asia, has a pale grey coat with dark spots. This beautiful animal is now very rare.

JAGUARS Big cats are built to kill. All are powerful hunters with strong, muscular bodies. They have excellent sight and hearing, and sharp teeth and claws for killing and tearing apart their prey.

These predatory mammals are among the most beautiful of all animals, admired for their fine fur, speed and grace. The true big cats are the lion, tiger, jaguar, leopard and snow leopard, but the cheetah is also sometimes included.

and kill prey.

powerful. Lions were once widespread in Africa and Asia.

Now wild lions survive only south TIGERS of the Sahara Desert in Africa The biggest of the big cats is the and in the Gir wildlife sanctuary tiger. A fully grown male can be in India. up to 3 metres long, including the tail, and weigh 250 kilograms. Lions live in groups called prides.

Tigers live in parts of Asia, from A pride contains a number of Siberia to South East Asia, but females and their cubs and one have now disappeared from or more adult males. Like tigers, some areas where they used to lions stalk their preywildebeest, roam. Tigers living further north impalas (a type of small anteusually have paler coats than lope), zebras and buffalo are those living nearer the equator, common catches. Members of but all have dark stripes, which the pride often hunt together, vary from tiger to tiger. These with one lion driving the prey stripes make the tiger hard for a towards the others, and share prey animal to see, helping the the food afterwards. cat to creep up on its victim unnoticed. Pigs, deer, antelopes and buffalo are the tiger's main prey.

Big cats can move fast over short distances. Leopards and jaguars are expert climbers, and tigers and jaguars swim well. A big cat stalks its prey, creeping nearer and nearer until it is close enough to make a final highspeed dash and pounce on the victim. Small prey may be killed with one bite to the neck. To kill larger prey a big cat seizes it by the throat and holds on until the LIONS animal is suffocated. Most drag their prey away to eat in peace.

Most male and female big cats Most big cats live alone, except look very similar, when courting a mate or caring b u t m a l e a n d for young, but lions live in family female lions are groups. Female big cats give easy to tell apart. birth to between one and six T h e m a l e l i o n young (known as cubs). They h a s a s h a g g y feed, care for and protect their m a n e o f h a i r young for some months. When o v e r h i s n e c k the cubs are old enough they and shoulders, take them on hunting trips. The w h i c h m a k e s cubs cannot survive alone until him look larger they have learned how to stalk a n d more

The jaguar is the largest cat in the Americasa fully grown male can be up to 2.7 metres long, including its tail, and weighs about 120 kilograms. Jaguars live in an area that stretches from the southern United States to north Argentina, but they are most common in the rainforests of Central America and Brazil.

Like the leopard, the jaguar has a spotted coat, but its markings are like rosettes. Each rosette is made up of a circle of spots around a central spot. Favourite prey animals are the large rodents called capybaras and peccaries, a type of wild pig.

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GENERAL

Q&A: Bird Flu

What is bird flu?

should prevent that happening.

In addition, they say monitoring Like humans and other species, of the migratory patterns of wild birds are susceptible to flu. birds should provide early alerts There are 15 types of bird, or of the arrival of infected flocks avian, flu. meaning they could be targeted The most contagious strains, on arrival. which are usually fatal in birds, are H5 and H7.

How many people have been There are nine different types of affected?

H5. The nine all take different forms - some are highly patho- As of 27 April 2006, the World genic, while some are pretty Health Organization (WHO) had harmless. confirmed 204 cases of H5N1 in The type currently causing h u m a n s i n A z e r b a i j a n , concern is the deadly strain C a m b o d i a , C h i n a , E g y p t , H5N1, which can prove fatal to Indonesia, Iraq, Thailand, Turkey humans. and Vietnam, leading to 113 Migratory wildfowl, notably wild deaths. ducks, are natural carriers of the For the latest WHO information viruses, but are unlikely to on the numbers of humans actually develop an infection. infected and killed by avian flu, The risk is that they pass it on to see related internet links section domestic birds, who are much on right of page. more susceptible to the virus.

How quickly is the disease How do humans catch bird spreading? flu?

After bird flu claimed its first Bird flu was thought only to infect human victim - a three-year-old birds until the first human cases boy in Hong Kong in May 1997 were seen in Hong Kong in 1997. the disease was not detected H u m a n s c a t c h t h e d i s e a s e again until February 2003, when through close contact with live a father and son were diagnosed infected birds. with H5N1, again in Hong Kong.

Birds excrete the virus in their S i n c e t h e n i t h a s s p r e a d faeces, which dry and become westwards through Asia, the pulverised, and are then inhaled. Middle East, Europe and Africa.

Symptoms are similar to other Despite mass culls, exclusion types of flu - fever, malaise, sore zones and other measures put in throats and coughs. People can place to prevent its spread, the also develop conjunctivitis.

H5N1 virus has continued to Researchers are now concerned travel. because scientists studying a In one week in February 2006, case in Vietnam found the virus I t a l y , G r e e c e , B u l g a r i a , can affect all parts of the body, G e r m a n y, A u s t r i a , F r a n c e , not just the lungs.

Slovenia, India, Iran and Egypt This could mean that many confirmed their first cases of illnesses, and even deaths, H5N1 in wild birds. thought to have been caused by In April 2005, a dead swan in something else, may have been Scotland was found to have the due to the bird flu virus. strain.

Is it possible to stop bird flu But it can't yet be passed from coming into a country? person to person?

Because it is carried by birds, there is no way of preventing its spread.

But that does not mean it will be passed to domestic flocks.

Experts say proper poultry controls - such as preventing wild birds getting in to poultry houses - which are present in the UK,

virus from a girl who had the disease to her mother, who also died.

The girl's aunt, who was also infected, survived the virus.

UK virology expert Professor John Oxford said these cases indicated the basic virus could be passed between humans, and predicted similar small clusters of cases would be seen again.

It is not the only instance where it has been thought bird flu has been passed between humans.

In 2004, two sisters died in Vietnam after possibly contracting bird flu from their brother who had died from an unidentified respiratory illness.

In a similar case in Hong Kong in 1997, a doctor possibly caught the disease from a patient with the H5N1 virus - but it was never conclusively proved.

Yes. Experts say avian flu is not a food-borne virus, so eating chicken is safe.

The only people thought to be at risk are those involved in the slaughter and preparation of meat that may be infected.

However, the Who recommends, to be absolutely safe all meat should be cooked to a temperature of at least 70C. Eggs should also be thoroughly cooked.

Professor Hugh Pennington of Aberdeen University underlined the negligible risk to consumers: "The virus is carried in the chicken's gut.

"A person would have to dry out the chicken meat and would have to sniff the carcass to be at any risk. But even then, it would be very hard to become infected."

What is being done to contain W h a t w o u l d t h e c o n s e- the virus in the countries quences of a mass outbreak affected? be?

Steps have been taken to try to Once the virus gained the ability stop the disease spreading to pass easily between humans among birds. the results could be catastrophic. Millions of farmyard birds have Worldwide, experts predict been culled, while millions more anything between two million h a v e b e e n v a c c i n a t e d a n d confined indoors. and 50 million deaths.

However the mortality rate - Areas where the disease has which presently stands at around been found have been isolated 50% of confirmed cases - could a n d s o m e c o u n t r i e s h a v e banned imports of live birds and decline as it mutates, they say. poultry products.

In January 2006 international Is there a vaccine? donors pledged $1.9bn (ÂŁ1.1bn) There is not yet a definitive in the fight against bird flu, while vaccine, but prototypes which the World Health Organization offer protection against the H5N1 has devised a rapid-response plan to detect and contain a strain are being produced.

But antiviral drugs, such as global flu pandemic.

Ta m i f l u w h i c h a r e a l r e a d y T h e r e a r e a l s o m e a s u r e s available and being stockpiled by r e c o m m e n d e d w h e n a w i l d countries such as the UK, may infected bird is found, including help limit symptoms and reduce protection and surveillance the chances the disease will zones. spread.

Concerns have been prompted by news that patients in Vietnam have become partially resistant to the Tamiflu, the drug that doctors plan to use to tackle a human bird flu outbreak.

Scientists say it may be helpful to have stocks of other drugs from the same family such as Relenza (zanamivir).

For the most part, humans have contracted the virus following very close contact with sick birds.

There may have been examples of human-to-human transmission, but so far not in the form which could fuel a pandemic.

A case in Thailand indicated the probable transmission of the Can I continue to eat chicken?

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SCIENCE

PLANETS

Solar System, the system consisting of the Sun; the nine planets and their satellites; the asteroids, comets, and meteoroids; and interplanetary dust and gas. The dimensions of this system are specified in terms of the mean distance from the Earth to the Sun, called the astronomical unit (AU). One AU is 150 million km (about 93 million mi).

The most distant known planet, Pluto, has an orbit at 39.44 AU from the Sun. The boundary between the solar system and interstellar spacecalled the heliopauseis estimated to occur near 100 AU. The comets, however, achieve the greatest distance from the Sun; they have highly eccentric orbits ranging out to 50,000 AU or more. The solar system was the only planetary system known to exist until 1999. In the 1980s a number of relatively nearby stars were found to be encircled by swarms of orbiting material of indeterminate size (see Vega) or to be accompanied by objects suspected to be brown dwarfs. In 1999, four years after the first confirmed detection of an extrasolar planet, two teams of astronomers detected the first extrasolar multiple-planet system, comprising at least three

gas-giant planets around the Sun-like star Upsilon Andromidae, some 44 light years from Earth. It is believed that planetary systems of some sort are numerous throughout the universe. See Astronomy.

THE SUN AND THE SOLAR WIND The Sun is a typical star, of intermediate size and luminosity.

Sunlight and other radiation are produced by the conversion of hydrogen into helium in the Sun's hot, dense interior (see Nuclear Energy). Although this nuclear fusion is converting 600 million tonnes of hydrogen each second, the Sun is so massive (2 × 1027 tonnes) that it can continue to shine at its present brightness for 6 billion years.

This stability has allowed life to develop and survive on the Earth.

For all the Sun's steadiness, it is an extremely active star. On its surface dark sunspots bounded by intense magnetic fields come and go in 11-year cycles; sudden bursts of charged particles from solar flares can cause auroras and disturb radio signals on the Earth; and a continuous stream of protons, electrons, and ions

leaves the Sun and moves out through the solar s y s t e m , spiralling with the Sun's rotation. This solar wind shapes the ion tails of comets and leaves its traces in the lunar soil, samples of which were brought back from the Moon's surface by Apollo spacecraft.

THE MAJOR PLANET Major Planets Notes: A distance of 1 AU is equivalent to 150 million km (93 million mi). A circle has an eccentricity of 0.0, a parabola 1.0. The inclination of a planetary orbit is measured with respect to the plane of the Earth's orbit. The Earth's mass is 5.97 x 1024 kg, its mean radius is 6,371 km, its surface magnetic field is 0.31 gauss. (*) The rotation of Venus, Uranus, and Pluto is retrograde. (†) For Jupiter and Saturn, rotation periods vary with latitude, but the rotation of the interior (given here) can be measured by observation of radio emission.

Saturn's Rings Saturn's rings are extremely wide, but very flat, bands created by orbiting fragments of rock, gas, and ice.

There are more than 100,000 separate ringlets, making up the broad rings visible in telescopes on the earth. Cassini's Division, the distinct gap between the A and B rings, is approximately 4,800 km (3,000 mi) wide.

Voyager 2 captured this view, subsequently computerenhanced, from 8.9 million km (5.5 million mi) away as it flew by the planet in 1981.

Nine major planets are currently known. They are commonly divided into two groups: the inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) and the outer planets ( J u p i t e r, S a t u r n , U r a n u s , Neptune, and Pluto). The inner planets are small and are composed primarily of rock and iron. The outer planets (except Pluto) are much larger and consist mainly of hydrogen, helium, and ice.

Mercury is surprisingly dense, apparently because it has an unusually large iron core. With only a transient atmosphere, Mercury has a surface that still bears the record of bombardment by asteroidal bodies early in its history. Venus has a carbon dioxide atmosphere 90 times thicker than that of the Earth, causing an efficient greenhouse effect by which the Venusian atmosphere is heated. The resulting surface temperature is the hottest of any planetabout 477° C (890° F).

The Earth is the only planet with abundant liquid water and life.

Strong evidence exists that

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SCIENCE Mars once had water on its s i t u a t e d p r i m a r i l y surface (and still has below the between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The surface, in the form of ice).

Galileo spacecraft, a But now its carbon dioxide (CO2) s p a c e p r o b e atmosphere is so thin that the l a u n c h e d b y t h e planet is predominantly dry and U n i t e d S t a t e s cold, with polar caps of solid National Aeronautics Space carbon dioxide, or dry ice. Jupiter a n d is the largest of the planets. Its A d m i n i s t r a t i o n hydrogen and helium atmo- ( N A S A ) , p h o t osphere contains pastel-coloured graphed asteroid 243 c l o u d s , a n d i t s i m m e n s e Ida, above, in August magnetosphere, rings, and 1 9 9 3 . T h e s p a c e satellites make it a planetary p r o b e d e t e c t e d a system unto itself. Saturn rivals moon orbiting Ida, J u p i t e r, w i t h a m u c h m o r e making it the only intricate ring structure and more asteroid known to satellites, including one with a have a satellite. dense atmosphereTitan. Uranus and Neptune are deficient in The asteroids are hydrogen compared with the two small rocky bodies giants; Uranus, also ringed, has that move in orbits the distinction of rotating at 98째 to primarily between the the plane of its orbit. Pluto seems orbits of Mars and similar to the larger, icy satellites Jupiter. Numbering in of Jupiter or Saturn. Pluto is so t h e t h o u s a n d s , distant from the Sun and so cold asteroids range in that methane freezes on its s i z e f r o m C e r e s , which has a diameter surface. of 1,000 km (620 mi), to microscopic OTHER CONSTITUENTS grains. Some asteroids are I m a g e o f A s t e r o i d 2 4 3 I d a perturbed into eccentric orbits Asteroids are extremely small that can bring them closer to the planets that orbit the sun and are Sun. Smaller bodies orbiting the

Sun are called meteoroids.

Some collide with the Earth and appear in the night sky as streaks of light, known as meteors.

Recovered fragments are termed meteorites. Laboratory studies of meteorites have revealed much about primitive conditions in our solar system.

The surfaces of Mercury, Mars, Venus, and several satellites of the planets (including the Earth's moon) show the effects of an intense bombardment by asteroidal objects early in the history of the solar system. On the Earth that record has been eroded away, except for a few recent impact craters.

Some interplanetary dust may also come from comets, which are basically aggregates of dust and frozen gases about 5 to 10 km (3 to 6 mi) in diameter. Many comets orbit the Sun at distances so great that they can be perturbed by stars into orbits that bring them into the inner solar system. As comets approach the Sun, they release their dust and gases to form a spectacular coma and tail. Under the influence of Jupiter's strong gravitational field, comets can sometimes adopt much smaller orbits. The most famous of these is Halley's comet, which returns

to the inner solar system at 75year periods. Its most recent return was in 1986. In July 1994 fragments of Comet ShoemakerLevy 9 bombarded Jupiter's dense atmosphere at speeds of about 210,000 km/h (130,000 mph). Upon impact, the tremendous kinetic energy of the fragments was converted into heat through massive explosions, some resulting in fireballs larger than the Earth.

The surfaces of the icy satellites of the outer planets are scarred by impacts from comet nuclei.

Indeed, the asteroidal object Chiron, with an orbit between Saturn and Uranus, may itself be an extremely large inactive comet. Similarly, some of the asteroids that cross Earth's orbit may be the rocky remains of burned-out comets.

The Sun has been found to be encircled by three rings of interplanetary dust. One of them, between Jupiter and Mars, has long been known as the cause of zodiacal light. The other two rings, one lying only two solar widths away from the Sun, the other occurring in the region of the asteroids, were discovered in 1983.

Srey Ny

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ZAMAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL NEWSPAPER

ENTERTAINMENT

Down 1. Aquatic bird 2. Bet 3. Frenetic 4. Molten rock 6. Hints 7. Downpour 8. Speedy 10. Vernacular 13. Concealment 15. Jealousy 16. Bird crest 18. Concern 21. Peak of a hill

Across 2. Dock 4. Company emblem 5. Lure 8. Watercourse 9. Cephalopod 11. Jest 12. Flightless bird 14. Farm building 17. Oubliette 18. Incorrect 19. Part of an egg 20. Decapod 22. Sturdy

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