【652-654】How a Cat’s Sandpapery Tongue Deep Cleans
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*【652】AS IT IS
How a Cat’s Sandpapery Tongue Deep Cleans
December 07, 2018
A cat is presented during "the "3rd International Pursaklar Cat Beauty Fest", on October 14, 2018 in Ankara.
Cat lovers know that the animals spend a lot of time cleaning themselves. Cats use their tongues to remove dirt from their fur and smooth out their hair.
Scientists are now learning how the rough, sandpaper-like surface of cats’ tongues helps the animals get clean and stay cool.
The secret: small hooks that stand up on the tongue — with scoops, small rounded areas, built in to carry saliva deep into all that hair.
A team of mechanical engineers reported the findings this month. They said their discoveries are more than unusual, and could lead to inventions for people.
A cat’s tongue could help people put liquids or medicine on hairy skin, said lead researcher Alexis Noel of the Georgia Institute of Technology. Noel is seeking property rights for a three-dimensional printed tool that acts like the tongue.
Cats spend up to 25 percent of their waking hours cleaning themselves. Noel said she became interested in the subject when her cat, Murphy, struggled to free his tongue from a soft blanket. Scientists had always thought that the tongue was rough because it had small, uneven bumps. Noel wondered why.
First, computed tomography (CT) images of cats’ tongues showed they are not raised areas, but small hooks with scoops at the end. The hooks are flat, but when cats need them for self-cleaning, they stand up, Noel explains. The scientific name for them is papillae.
The Georgia Tech researcher found that the papillae take in liquid. A housecat has nearly 300 papillae that hold a small amount of saliva that is released when the tongue presses on fur.
Noel saw evidence that the papillae helped the animals stay extra clean.
Next she examined the tongues of other cats in the species, like lions.
Papillae were only a little longer in lions than in cats, noted Noel and David Hu, an associate professor at Georgia Tech. Their findings were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Next, Noel measured cat fur, which holds a lot of air to keep the animal warm. When the fur is pushed down flat against the cat’s skin, the distance is the same as the length of the papillae, she discovered. The one exception was the fur of long-haired Persian cats.
I’m Susan Shand.
Susan Shand adapted this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
fur – n. the hairy coat of an animal, especially when the hair is soft and thick
tongue – n. the soft, movable part in the mouth that is used for tasting and eating food and in human beings for speaking
hook – n. a rounded or bent tool for catching, holding, or pulling something
scoop – n. a rounded object used to lift something in one quick, continuous motion
saliva - n. the liquid produced in your mouth that keeps your mouth moist and makes it easier to swallow food
dimensional – adj. relating to something with height, width and depth
bump – n. a small raised area on a surface
computed tomography – n. a method of producing a three-dimensional image of a body with computer technology
*【653】
AS IT IS
‘Living Coral’: 2019 Color of the Year Comes from the Sea
December 07, 2018
US company Pantone has named its Color of the Year for 2019 - Living Coral. (Pantone)
A company known for shaping trends in color design has announced its color of the year for 2019.
The winning color is called Living Coral. It is based on the look of healthy coral reefs in the world’s oceans.
The announcement came December 5 from Pantone, a company with offices in the American state of New Jersey. Pantone seeks to predict color trends and examine the psychological effects of color.
The company advises major businesses on choosing colors for their products and advertising campaigns. Its color of the year can influence many different industries. These includes beauty care, fashion, art, home and product design.
Pantone says its experts look around the world for color influences in these and other industries throughout the year. The company’s Pantone Color Institute chooses the color of the year.
Leatrice Eiseman is the head of the institute. She says people in our busy and technological world seem to be “craving human interaction and social connection.”
Corals are groups of small organisms called polyps. These polyps live within a hard skeleton made of limestone.
Millions of corals grow together to form coral reefs. The reefs support many kinds of sea life. Coral reefs also support fishing activities and protect inland waterways.
The color Living Coral, Eiseman said, represents “humanizing and heartening qualities” that she thinks people will warmly receive. "Color is an equalizing lensthrough which we experience our natural and digital realities,” she added. “And this is particularly true for Living Coral."
Pantone’s vice president, Laurie Pressman, told the Associated Press (AP) the company considers the 2019 color of the year “warm and welcoming.” The choice was especially important as human interaction seems to be decreasing in society, she said.
“With everything that’s going on today, we’re looking for those humanizing qualities because we’re seeing online life dehumanizing a lot of things,” she told the AP.
Pressman added that the company believes people want colors that signal “nourishment and comfort” to make them feel good about themselves and the world. Living Coral is an example of that, she said. “It’s not too heavy. We want to play. We want to be uplifted.”
Pressman added that while Living Coral is very bright and eye-catching, it is “not so overpowering and in your face.”
The announcement comes at a time when rising water temperatures and human activities continue to harm coral reefs around the world. Such damage can remove the bright colors that represent coral as living, breathing things.
A Pantone statement said that Living Coral represents the energizing elements found in nature. It said the color shows the power of coral reefs to provide shelter to a great “kaleidoscope of color.”
I’m Bryan Lynn.
Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English. His report was based on reports from the Associated Press and Pantone. George Grow was the editor.
What do you think of the 2019 color of the year? Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.
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Words in This Story
trend – n. a general movement or direction
fashion – n. a popular way of dressing during a particular time or among a particular group of people
crave – v. to want something very much
lens – n. rounded piece of glass used by cameras, glasses or equipment to look at things
nourishment – n. the food needed to keep you alive and healthy
comfort – n. pleasant feeling of being relaxed and having no pain
kaleidoscope – n. mixture of many colorful things
*【654】 AS IT IS
Trump Announces New Attorney General and UN Ambassador Picks
December 07, 2018
President Donald Trump announces that he is nominating William Barr, attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, as his Attorney General, on the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, Dec. 7, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
United States President Donald Trump announced Friday that he will nominate former attorney general William Barr to lead the Justice Department. Trump told reporters that Barr was “my first choice since day one.”
Barr held the same position from 1991 to 1993 under former President George H.W. Bush.
Trump also said he would nominate Heather Nauert as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Nauert is the current State Department spokeswoman. She also is acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs.
Trump said Nauert is “very talented, very smart, very quick.”
Barr confirmed that he had accepted the president’s nomination. He is currently a business lawyer. Barr will replace acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker who was appointed last month after Jeff Sessions resigned.
Both the attorney general and U.N. ambassador positions require Senate confirmation. Trump said he hopes the process would be completed quickly, but Congress closes for its winter break in one week. The newly-elected Senate is seated on January 3.
Barr will have to answer questions at his confirmation hearing about the special counsel investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election. That investigation is being led by Robert S. Mueller III.
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal serves on the Judiciary Committee that will question Barr. He said in a statement that he would “demand that Mr. Barr make a firm…commitment to protect the Mueller investigation, operate independently of the White House, and uphold the law.”
The investigation, and the Justice Department’s supervision of it, have angered the President.
Trump dismissed his former attorney general, Jeff Sessions, partly because Sessions had removed himself from the investigation.
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Trump renewed his attacks on Friday, tweeting that he planned to do “a major Counter Report to the Mueller Report.”
“This should never again be allowed to happen to a future President of the United States!” Trump wrote.
The Mueller investigation appears to be nearing its end.
The Trump administration expects that Barr’s nomination will be well-received by Republicans, who respect his experience. Officials also hope Democrats might consider Barr a traditional republican with no personal ties to the president.
Nauert joined the State Department in 2017 after working as a TV reporter for Fox News. The 48-year-old spokesperson would replace U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who announced she was leaving the position at the end of the year.
Nauert has joined Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on several international trips.
Nauert would be responsible for voicing the administration’s foreign policy positions to diplomats at the U.N.
Among those are continued support for Israel and for economic sanctions against North Korea and Iran.
If she accepts the position, Nauert will most likely face difficult questions from the Senate about her lack of experience as a diplomat.
I’m Susan Shand.
Susan Shand wrote this story for Learning English. Mario Ritter Jr. was the editor.
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Words in This Story
talented –adj. having a special ability to do something well
commitment –n. a promise to do something
counter – adj. something in defense or in response to something
allow –v. to permit
sanctions – n. an action that is taken or an order that is given to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country, by not allowing economic aid for that country
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