VOA · Science & Technology
Intermediate · B1–B2learner speed3:442025-01-30public domain
Science & Technology reports explain discoveries and inventions in plain English. Technical terms are always introduced with context, making this program a low-stress way to build the science vocabulary that exam listening loves to test.
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01International researchers recently released a study on bursts of energy in an unexpected area of space.
02Scientists call the energetic activity chorus waves because they are said to move at the same frequency as sounds humans can hear.
03When the energy is turned into audio signals, the waves sound like birds chirping.
04Researchers have known about chorus waves in space for many years.
05But the latest research has found the waves exist 100,000 kilometers from Earth.
06Chorus waves have never before been measured at such a big distance from a planet.
07In an email, study writer Chengming Liu from Beiheng University in Beijing wrote, They are one of the strongest and most significant waves in space.
08Allison James is a space physicist at the University of Iowa who was not involved with the study.
09Speaking about the recent study, James said, That opens up a lot of new questions about the physics that could be possible in this area.
10The newfound chorus waves were detected in an area where Earth's magnetic field is stretched out.
11Scientists said they did not expect to find the waves there.
12The discovery raises new questions about how the chirping waves form.
13James added, We definitely need to find more of these events.
14Scientists still are not sure how the waves develop.
15But they think Earth's magnetic field may have something to do with it.
16For many years, radio antennas have picked up chorus waves.
17This includes receivers at an Antarctica research station in the 1960s.
18And NASA's two Van Allen probes heard the chirping sounds from Earth's radiation belts at a closer distance than the newest observations.
19The latest chorus waves were picked up by NASA's magnetospheric multiscale satellites.
20They were launched in 2015 to explore the Earth and the Sun's magnetic fields.
21Chorus waves have also been found near other planets, including Jupiter and Saturn.
22The waves can produce high-energy electrons.
23That means they can threaten satellite communications.
24The researchers said their findings suggest that chorus waves might be found everywhere in the magnetic fields of planets.
25The study was released on January 22nd in the scientific publication Nature.
26I'm Ana Mateo.
27I'm Ana Mateo.
28I'm Ana Mateo.
29I'm Ana Mateo.
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