Wrinkles

                                             Wrinkles

Source: Speak Up

Standard: British and American accents

Language Level: Basic

FRESH AIR

Do you have any wrinkles? Are you getting old? Well, scientists think that the cause of ageing is the very element crucial to our survival: oxygen. We breathe oxygen into our lungs, where it passes into our blood and then converts fats and proteins into energy. Yet not all the oxygen is absorbed in this process: the remaining oxygen is converted into “free radicals” which attack molecules in our bodies and destroy them. This causes damage to skin cells and produces wrinkles; it can also result in damage to brain cells and conditions such as Alzheimer’s Diseases. What’s the solution? Scientists have discovered a hormone called Klotho which neutralizes free radicals, but it will be a few years before anti-ageing treatments are available.

LET’S FLY TO MARS!

Scientists once thought that flying machines were impossible, but “crazy inventors” made the first aeroplanes and proved them wrong. Today, many scientists think that anti-gravity machines are also “crazy.” And yet, on Match 23^rd, the European Space Agency did the impossible: it successfully operated an anti-gravity machine. The machine was powered by a rotating superconductor and produced its own magnetic field. The anti-gravity machines could have many uses, from hover cars that run on solar energy to spaceships capable of flying to Mars!

THE BIRDS AND THE BEES

American scientists believe that the bumblebee risks extinction and this could be disastrous for both the US and world economies. Entomologists John Losey explains: “Insects provide valuable services: bumblebees, for example, play an important role in pollinating plants.” Losey reckons that this free service generates $57 billion for American Farmers. Insects are also crucial to the fish industry: without insects as a food source for freshwater fish, such as trout, the $28 billion US fish industry would collapse. So next time you are tempted to crush an insect, think again: it’s a valuable asset in our world.