Ancient Footprints Let Experts Step Back in Time

Also: A study finds that being hopeful about future events might help you stay healthy and live longer. And a
mysterious sickness is reducing bat populations in the northeastern U.S. Transcript of radio broadcast:
30 March 2009

VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Bob Doughty. This week, we will tell about evidence of early human ancestors. We also will tell about the
health effects of hopeful feelings. And, we will tell about disappearing bat populations in the northeastern United
States.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

An international research team has discovered markings made by the ancestors of modern human beings more than
one million years ago. The discovery is exciting because it shows the shape of the feet and walking method of the
human ancestors.

Rutgers University Professor Jack Harris led the researchers and students who uncovered the marks during three
years of digging. They found the ancient footprints near the village of Ileret in northern Kenya. A report about their
findings was published last month in Science magazine.

VOICE TWO:

Early humans made the footprints as they walked on volcanic ash and soil that turned to rock over time. The team
found two sets of prints in separate levels of rock that are about one million five hundred thousand years old.

The scientists say the prints were left by one of two human ancestors: either Homo erectus or Homo ergaster.
However, many experts do not recognize a difference between the two. Homo erectus is the more commonly used
name.

VOICE ONE:

Surprisingly, the footprints look much like those you would find on a sandy coastline today. In their report, the team
said the discovery provides the oldest evidence of a foot structure that is generally the same as a modern human's.

The prints show how the big toe of Homo erectus is close to the other toes. In earlier species, the big toe is separated
widely from the other toes -- as in the foot structure of apes. No Homo erectus foot bones have ever been found. This
makes the well-preserved footprints especially valuable.

VOICE TWO:

Scientists have also learned how Homo erectus walked from the prints. Researcher Matthew Bennett of Bournemouth
University used laser technology to make digital images of the footprints. These images suggest that Homo erectus
walked by touching the ground first with the back of the foot and pushing off with the front -- just as we do.

The researchers could even estimate the height of the ancient individuals. One was only about a meter tall. It is
believed to have been a child. The others were about the average height of modern human adults.

VOICE ONE:

The findings provide more evidence that human ancestors were able to travel long distances. Homo erectus may have
left Africa for other parts of the world as early as one million eight hundred years ago.

This is only the second time that early human footprints have been found. In nineteen seventy eight, British
anthropologist Mary Leaky discovered the prints of a possible human ancestor at Laetoli, Tanzania. They belonged to
Australopithicus afarensis, a much earlier and smaller human-like creature that walked on two feet.

VOICE TWO:
Professor Harris says his team not only found footprints, but also many animal tracks in the rock. These include
markings of hoofed animals that Homo erectus may have hunted for food. Other tracks belonged to meat-eaters.
Such creatures were competitors or even threats to the early humans.

The footprints found in Kenya have let scientists step back in time to find new details about our distant ancestors and
their environment.

VOICE ONE:

An American study has shown that being hopeful about future events might help you stay healthy and live longer. The
study found links between people's beliefs and their risks of cancer-related death, heart disease and early death.

Researchers studied one hundred thousand women during an eight-year period, beginning in nineteen ninety-four. All
of the women were fifty years of age or older. The study was part of the Women's Health Initiative, a continuing
study organized by the National Institutes of Health. The findings were presented earlier this month at a meeting of
the American Psychosomatic Society.

VOICE TWO:

For the study, the women were asked questions that measured their beliefs or ideas about the future. The
researchers attempted to identify each woman's personality eight years after gathering the information.

The study found that the hopeful individuals were fourteen percent less likely than other women to have died from
any cause. The hopeful women were also thirty percent less likely to have died from heart disease after the eight
years.

VOICE ONE:

Hilary Trindle was the lead writer of the report. She is an assistant professor of medicine at the University of
Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. She says the study confirms earlier research that also linked optimistic feelings to longer
life. However, this study is different from earlier research on the subject.

The researchers also gathered information about people's education, financial earnings, physical activity and use of
alcoholic drinks or cigarettes. Independent of those things, the findings still showed that optimists had less of a
chance of dying during the eight-year period.

VOICE TWO:

Some women who answered the study's questions were found to be cynically hostile, or highly untrusting of others.
These women were sixteen percent more likely to die than the others. They also were twenty-three percent more
likely to die of cancer.

The study also found that women who were not optimistic were more likely to smoke, have high blood pressure or
diabetes. They were also more likely not to exercise.

Professor Tindle says the study did not confirm whether optimism leads to healthier choices, or if it actually affected a
person's physical health. She says the study does not prove that negative emotions or distrust lead to bad health
effects, and shorter life. Yet there does appear to be a link between the two. More research is needed to discover the
exact reasons for the findings.

VOICE ONE:

In recent years, biologists have observed a sharp drop in bat populations in the northeastern United States. The
biologists believe the drop has resulted from a mysterious sickness called white nose syndrome.

Little is known about the sickness. It is called white nose syndrome because of a white-
colored fungus found on the faces of affected bats. The fungus seems to grow in cold
weather. The affected animals were first observed in two thousand seven in New York State.

A dead Indiana bat found
in Rosendale, New York,
earlier this year. White
nose syndrome is killing
more bats over a larger
area of the U.S. this year.
Scientists believe the disease causes bats to awaken early from their hibernation or yearly
rest period. The scientists say the bats then leave their resting places in search of food
during the winter when the insects they eat are not available. Without a food supply, the bats
starve to death.
VOICE TWO:
Wildlife officials say white nose syndrome is not a direct threat to other animals or human beings. However, the bats'
continuing disappearance could have a far-reaching effect on the environment.

Bats have survived for about fifty million years. They eat large amounts of insects, up to twenty-five percent of their
body weight in one night's feeding. If fewer bats are available to eat the insects, farmers will have to use more insect-
killing chemical products to protect their crops. Diseases that are spread by insects could also become more common.

VOICE ONE:

Cases of white nose syndrome have been confirmed in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, Massachusetts
and Pennsylvania. It is difficult for scientists to know the exact number of bats that have died as a result of white
nose syndrome. However, some estimate that hundreds of thousands of bats have already disappeared.

The United States Geological Survey says the disease has affected six bat species. They include little brown bats,
northern bats, tricolored bats, Indiana bats, small-footed myotis and big brown bats.

Biologists are currently studying possible ways to keep the disease from spreading. Tests are needed to guarantee a
plan that will be effective.

Mixed Prospects for GM and Chrysler Following Rejection of Restructuring Plans

By Barry Wood Washington
30 March 2009

Two ailing U.S. carmakers - General Motors and Chrysler - are facing an uncertain future after President Obama
Monday rejected their restructuring programs and requests for more taxpayer money.

The new chief executive of General Motors, Fritz Henderson, says there is an increased risk of his company going
bankrupt. Until 2007, GM was the world's biggest car company. Its share price fell on Monday to about $2.70 - a
more than 90 percent decline in recent years.

Henderson said GM prefers to reorganize outside of bankruptcy court. President Obama has given the company 60
days to develop a revised business plan. And more deep concessions apparently are being asked of creditors and
unionized workers.

Austin Goolsby, a top advisor to President Obama, told CNBC television that he is hopeful GM as well as Chrysler will
avoid bankruptcy.

"The entire effort here is to try to get a package that will rapidly turn them around," said Austin Goolsby. "We aren't
talking about, as the president said, we are not talking about spending years in court and restructuring deals. This
has to be a rapid turnaround to make them viable in relatively short order."

Chrysler has fewer choices than GM Mr. Obama says the company needs a partner and Fiat of Italy is the only firm
that has stepped forward.

Chrysler's owner, New York-based Cerberus Capital, says substantial hurdles remain to closing that deal. Chrysler
needs money and has only 30 days to resolve its future. But neither Cerberus nor Fiat are willing to put up the
additional cash. Under the proposed deal, Fiat would manufacture small cars at Chrysler's North American factories
and obtain up to 49 percent ownership of the company.

Ford, the second biggest U.S. car company, also is struggling but has not asked for government assistance.

Obama Prepares for European Trip

By Paula Wolfson White House
30 March 2009

U.S. President Barack Obama will leave Washington early Tuesday morning on his first overseas trip since taking
office. He will attend a global economic summit in London and a meeting of NATO leaders on the French-German
border.

For the first time, Barack Obama will officially represent the United States on the world stage.

He will visit five countries in eight days, take part in three summits, hold numerous bilateral meetings, deliver a major
speech on arms proliferation and open a dialogue with young people on the Internet.

His first stop is London for a summit on the international economic crisis held under the auspices of the G20 - a
grouping of 20 of the biggest leading and emerging economies.

All agree that action must be taken. But there are differences over the right mix of government stimulus spending
and financial system reforms.

President Obama was expected to push for more spending, similar to action he has already taken to try to boost the
U.S. economy. But White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says the president will not dictate specific spending targets.

"The president and America are going to listen in London, as well as to lead," Gibbs said.

Reginald Dale is an analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

He says the president, who has promised new U.S. leadership, will have an opportunity to deliver in London.

"This is the chance - if Obama wants to restore world leadership - here is the opportunity being handed to him on a
silver plate," Dale said. "And if he wants to show he is a world leader, he has to grasp that opportunity and do so."

Mr. Obama will also meet privately in London with the leaders of Russia, China, India, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.

The president has talked about his desire to ease tensions between the United States and Russia. And his initial one-
on-one session with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev -- coming just days before the NATO summit -- will be
watched closely.

NATO talks will focus on the war in Afghanistan. And at this summit, President Obama's public popularity in Europe
could collide with the reality that few support sending more troops into combat.

John Glenn, Foreign Policy Director for the German Marshall Fund of the United States, says the Obama
administration will likely ask the Europeans for more military trainers and civilian personnel.

"They are reluctant to send more troops and put them in harms' way. However, there are signs they are willing to do
those other non-combat missions. I think that is going to have to be the way forward for the Obama administration,"
Glenn said.

Mr. Obama will not make his speech on weapons proliferation at the NATO summit. Instead, he will deliver it the next
day in the Czech Republic - a relatively new NATO ally and the nation that holds the rotating presidency of the
European Union.

The president is invited to Prague for an EU summit with Czech leaders and European Union officials. While there, he
is also expected to discuss American plans for a missile defense system in Europe. The Czech Republic and Poland
would host components of the system, which is now under review by the Obama administration.

Mr. Obama will end his trip on a symbolic note in Turkey - the first predominantly Muslim country to host the new
U.S. president. While there, he will seek to open a dialogue with young people in the region. Aides say Mr. Obama will
host a question and answer session that will be conducted, in part, on the Internet.