people_080212_firestone-1 Lyrics

BBC Learning English
People and places
Richard Firestone
People and Places © BBC Learning English 2008
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Dima: Hello, I'm Dima, and today our guest is Richard Firestone, an American
scientist in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who has recently been
involved in a fascinating research into an unusual 'meteor', that's a piece of
rock or other matter from s___e.
Firestone - taster 0'12"
We think that this impact was the air burst, or an explosion in the air, of a meteor, so anything
underneath this impact was likely to be injured or killed ...
Dima: Richard Firestone explaining the theory behind a unique discovery: ancient
animal bodies pierced with small pieces of matter which scientists believe
came from outer s___e some 35,000 years ago. As you can imagine, with a
topic like this we're certain to hear a number of words and expressions that can
be used when talking about science, and in particular, about natural history.
Words like 'impact', meaning the force of one object hitting another; 'burst' and
'explosion', both meaning a blast, or sudden expanding after a release of energy;
'meteor' - a piece of rock or other matter from s___e that produces a bright light
as it travels through the Earth's atmosphere; and 'shrapnel' - small pieces of
matter that cover an area in a blast, usually causing damage or death. Let's now
listen to Richard Firestone as he describes what his team thinks happened to
the meteor, but before we listen, here's a quick reminder of the words to look
out for: 'impact', 'burst', 'explosion', 'meteor' and 'shrapnel'.
Firestone 0'18"
We think that this impact was the air burst, or an explosion in the air, of a meteor. Probably an
iron meteor, right, that came in over Siberia and Alaska and exploded maybe several miles up
in the air sending shrapnel, essentially, in all directions.
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Dima: So to sum up, when the meteor entered the atmosphere, there was an impact
that caused a burst, or an explosion in the air, and as a result of the explosion
many small pieces, or shrapnel, covered a large area. Listen again and as you're
listening, try to find answers to these questions: first, which two regions of the
Earth did the meteor fly over? And second, how high above the ground did the
explosion happen?
Firestone 0'18"
We think that this impact was the air burst, or an explosion in the air, of a meteor. Probably an
iron meteor, right, that came in over Siberia and Alaska and exploded maybe several miles up
in the air sending shrapnel, essentially, in all directions.
Dima: So which two regions of the planet did the meteor travel over? Richard
Firestone mentions Siberia and Alaska. And how high above the Earth's
surface did the blast happen? The answer is - 'several miles up in the air'.
Sting
Dima: Today we're talking about a unique discovery - ancient animal bodies severely
damaged by particles, that is small pieces of matter, from a burst meteor. But
why are scientists so excited by this find? Surely our planet has been hit by
meteors and comets uncounted number of times! Well, as Richard Firestone
will explain, it's true that meteors are known to have killed off whole species of
animals, but not directly: usually this happened because of resulting climate
changes. In this case, the shrapnel affected animals in a direct way, damaging
their body parts or even killing them. Although Richard Firestone doesn't
mention them, he means 'mammoths' - large hairy elephant type animals which
no longer exist. And how do we know this? Well, because, as you're about to
hear, he does mention particular body parts which mammoths had. See if you
can spot the word for these body parts. Here's a clue: this word appears right at
the end of the clip and means pointed teeth which stick out from some animals'
mouths:
People and Places © BBC Learning English 2008
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Firestone 0'12"
And these animals were lying under it, so anything underneath this impact was likely to be
injured or killed by these things. Because there was one every few centimetres, hitting these
tusks.
Dima: Did you manage to spot the word for large pointed teeth? It was 'tusks'. And if
you're still not sure what tusks are, take a look at the picture on the web page
where you can see an artist's impression of a mammoth - just visit
bbclearningenglish.com and follow the link to People and places. In a moment
we'll hear from Richard Firestone again, but just before that, here again is
today's vocabulary:
'meteor'
'impact'
'a burst'
'an explosion'
'shrapnel'
'a mammoth' and
'a tusk'.
Firestone 0'30"
We think that this impact was the airburst, or an explosion in the air, of a meteor. Probably an
iron meteor, right, that came in over Siberia and Alaska and exploded maybe several miles up
in the air sending shrapnel, essentially, in all directions. And these animals were lying under it,
so anything underneath this impact was likely to be injured or killed by these things. Because
there was one every few centimetres, hitting these tusks.