P o w e r e d b y Science a-z, a d i v i s i o n o f L e a r n i n g A - Z

Science
News

January 2014

in
the

Top Science
Stories of

2013
Voyager 1 is now
traveling beyond
our Solar System
in interstellar space.

In this issue:

Can you spot the lizard?

Voyager 1 Leaves the Solar System

Top New Species of 2013
New Island Forms After Quake
Meteor Explodes Over Russia
Largest Telescope Array Powers Up
Written by Jane King, PhD
Learning AZ All rights reserved.

www.sciencea-z.com

Science in the News

January 2014

Vo ya g e r 1 L e a v e s
the Solar System
When the two Voyager spacecraft
were launched in 1977, no one
thought they would last long enough to go to the far
reaches of our Solar System and beyond. But theyve
now gone where no spacecraft have gone before!

Astronomers studied the information sent to

Earth from Voyager 1. They measured the amount
of plasma in the area around the spacecraft. The
amount of plasma in that area was much higher
than in the solar wind. This meant that Voyager 1
was traveling in the winds of interstellar space.

Space Science

On September 25, 2013, scientists announced that

Voyager 1 had left our Solar System. It is the first
spacecraft to visit interstellar space the area between
stars. How did astronomers know that Voyager 1 was
in interstellar space? Sensors on board Voyager pick
up and record information about solar wind and
interstellar wind.

Voyager 1 and its cousin, Voyager 2, have a lot more

exploring to do! Voyager 1 will continue to send
information back to Earth. Voyager 2 will leave the
Solar System in a few years and also report back
to Earth. Together, they will collect even more
information about the unknown universe beyond
our solar neighborhood. v

Solar wind is made up of charged particles, called

plasma. These particles blow away from the surface
of the Sun. They spread outward and form a bubble over
the Solar System. But within the universe are billions of
other stars. These stars make plasma winds of their own.
Plasma from these stars, gases, and dust make up
interstellar wind. The place where the solar wind bumps
up against interstellar wind and stops moving outward
is considered the edge of our Solar System.

Voyager 1 is 19 billion kilometers

(12 billion mi.) from Earth and has
been traveling for over 30 years.
But telescopes on Earth can
still see it. The VLBA radio
telescope captured this signal
from Voyager 1 in February 2013.

interstellar
space
Voyager 1

weak solar
wind

Sun
strong
solar wind

Voyager 2
Voyager 1 has traveled beyond
the solar wind and into the
winds of interstellar space.
Voyager 2 is not far behind.

Credits: Front cover (main): courtesy of NASA/JPL; front cover (inset): courtesy of Conrad Hoskin; page 2 (top right): courtesy of NRAO/AUI/NSF; page 2 (bottom): courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Learning AZ All rights reserved.

www.sciencea-z.com

Science in the News

January 2014

To p N ew S p e c i e s o f 2 013
Life Science

Each year, scientists discover exciting new plants and animals.

Take a look at the next two pages to learn about some of the
new species identified in 2013.

The blotched boulder frog

(Cophixalus petrophilus)
lives in piles of granite
boulders. It stays deep within
the cool spaces between the
rocks until a rainstorm. Then
it climbs out of the rocks
to find food and a mate.

The blotched boulder

frog has long legs to
help it climb rocks.

The pink orchid (Sobralia imavieirae)

was found in the Brazilian Amazon. It
is one of several recently discovered
species of orchid plants.

Cambodia

The Cambodian
tailorbird has a loud call.

Lurking just off the coast

of South Carolina is the
Carolina hammerhead
(Sphyrna gilberti). But
dont worrythis shark
mainly eats small fish.

Australia

Flowers of the pink

orchid last for only
one or two days.

The Cambodian
tailorbird (Orthotomus
chaktomuk) was
discovered just outside
a large city. These birds
weave leaves together
to make nests.

Brazil

United
States

The Carolina hammerhead can grow up to 4 meters (13 ft.) long!

Credits: top: courtesy of Conrad Hoskin; center left: Wildlife Conservation Society/AP Images; center right: Andr Cardoso; bottom: NOAA Fisheries/The State/AP Images

Learning AZ All rights reserved.

www.sciencea-z.com

Science in the News

January 2014

New Spec ie s
continued from page 3

The Cape Melville leaf-tailed

gecko (Saltuarius eximius)
is a great example of animal
camouflage. It blends well
with the trees and rocks
in its natural habitat
in Australia.

Piranhas are known for their

ability to eat much larger fish
in seconds. But the newly
discovered vegetarian piranha
(Tometes camunani) strictly
The vegetarian piranha
lives in the Amazon River.
eats water plants.
Brazil

Australia

The olinguito (oh-linGEE-tow) (Bassaricyon

neblina) is a tiny
member of the raccoon
family that lives in the
cloud forests of the
Andes Mountains. It
has long claws and
thick pads on its feet
for climbing trees. v
Colombia
and Ecuador

Some people think

the olinguito looks
like a teddy bear.

The well-hidden leaf-tailed

gecko waits for insects to
walk by for its next meal.

While new species are being

discovered, others are going
extinct. The Western black
rhino was officially declared
extinct on November 7, 2013.
Credits: left: courtesy of Conrad Hoskin; top right: Andrade, Marcelo C.; Giarrizzo, Tommaso; Jegu, Michel. Tometes camunani (Characiformes: Serrasalmidae), a new species of phytophagous
fish from the Guiana Shield, rio Trombetas basin, Brazil. Neotropical Ichthyology, 2013, vol.11, n. 2, ISSN 16796225.; center right: Mark Gurney/AP Images; bottom right: John King/Alamy

Learning AZ All rights reserved.

www.sciencea-z.com

Science in the News

January 2014

Meteor
Explodes
Over Russia

N e w I s l a n d Fo r m s
After Quake
On September 24, 2013, a huge
earthquake rocked Pakistan. The
7.7 magnitude earthquake was strong enough to
destroy 21,000 houses in the area. It also caused
a whole new island to form off the coast! People
first noticed the new island the day after the quake.
Earth Science

It turns out the island was created by a mud volcano.

This volcano erupted as a result of movements in
Earths crust. But instead of spewing lava, it released
tons of mud, rock, and sand. This new piece of land
wont last long, though. Since it is mostly made of
mud, ocean currents will soon wash it away. v

Russia

A dashboard camera in a car snapped

this photo of the Chelyabinsk meteor.

before earthquake
One meteorite punched an 8 meter (26 ft.)
hole in a frozen lake near Chelyabinsk.

On a frigid morning in February

2013, people in Chelyabinsk,
Russia, saw a huge fireball streak across the sky.
It glowed brighter than the Sun! The fireball was
an asteroid that had entered Earths atmosphere.
The asteroid was flying 60 times faster than the
speed of sound. It became a meteor as it began to
burn up in the atmosphere. As it burned, the meteor
exploded. The explosion created a shock wave that
shattered windows and damaged buildings. Pieces
of the meteor landed on the ground as meteorites.
Space Science

mud island

after earthquake

Pakistan

Satellite images show the coast

of Pakistan before and after the
earthquake that caused a new
mud island to form.

A new record for the coldest temperature on Earth

was announced on December 1 1, 2013. It reached a
bone-chilling 93.2C (135.8F) below zero in Antarctica!

Scientists will use the information from this meteor

to learn about other near-Earth objects that may
enter our atmosphere. v

Credits: left (both): NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using EO-1 ALI data from the NASA EO-1 team;
top right: REUTERS/Amateur video via Reuters TV; bottom right: REUTERS/Chelyabinsk Region Interior Ministry

Learning AZ All rights reserved.

www.sciencea-z.com

Science in the News

January 2014

Largest TelescOpe Array POwers Up

ALMA is located in the Atacama Desert thousands of
feet above sea level. Here, the skies are clear and the
air is dry, which makes for perfect viewing conditions.
Images collected by ALMA are even clearer than those
captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. Astronomers
are already using this powerful
telescope to study black
holes, distant planets,
and new stars. v

High up in the mountains of

northern Chile sits the most
powerful telescope ever made. It is called the Atacama
Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). This telescope will
allow us to look farther into space than ever before!
It has 66 separate radio antennas. They work together
to pick up signals from deep space. In March 2013,
ALMA became operational. Fifty of the huge antennas
are currently up and running.
Engineering

Chile

Separate antennas of ALMA point toward the same location in the sky to pick up signals from very far away.

In the November issue

of Science in the News,
we asked: Do you think
owls dream?

Where Is It?

in
at
ch

Results

eSurvey

Match the object or animal on the left with the place where you might find it on the right.

1. blotched boulder frog

a. Brazil

2. ALMA telescope array

b. Chile

62% of our readers

said yes

3. Chelyabinsk meteorite

c. edge of the Solar System

4. Voyager 1

d. Russia

38% of our readers

said no

5. Voyager 2

e. Australia

6. olinguito

f. interstellar space

7. mud volcano

g. Andes Mountains

8. vegetarian piranha

h. Pakistan

Daniel in Israel said,

I think that owls
dream dreams. They
dream about rats!

Matching Answers 1. e; 2. b; 3. d; 4. f; 5. c; 6. g; 7. h; 8. a
Credits: REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado

Learning AZ All rights reserved.

www.sciencea-z.com