In Vietnam, New Rice Growing Methods Aim to Reduce Methane (Voice of America learning English April 28, 2024)

Farmers in Vietnam are growing rice using a new method thought to reduce emissions of methane gas and labor costs.

The method is called alternate wetting and drying, or AWD. It uses about 30 percent less water than traditional ways of growing rice. It also uses small flying vehicles called drones to put nutrients in the soil.

Traditional rice farming methods flood fields with water. The water stops oxygen from entering the soil. Low amounts of oxygen permit more methane-producing bacteria to grow.

Scientists say methane can trap 80 times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide over a short period of time. Climate scientists say releasing methane into the atmosphere increases the warming of the earth. A 2023 United Nations report said rice farming makes up about eight percent of all human-made methane in the atmosphere.

Vietnam is the world’s third-largest rice exporter. Boats carry rice up and down the Mekong River, and the grain is an important food in Vietnam.

Vo Van Van is a 60-year-old rice farmer who lives along the Mekong River. For the past two years, he has been using the AWD method with support from one of Vietnam’s largest rice exporters, the Loc Troi Group.

Van said using the drone to add organic fertilizer saves on labor costs. He says it is becoming harder to find people to work on the rice farms because more people are moving to the cities. The drone also puts the exact amount of fertilizer needed. Too much fertilizer causes the soil to release nitrogen gas. Nitrogen also traps heat in the atmosphere.

After the harvest, Van does not burn the remains of the rice plants. Instead, the Loc Troi Group collects the extra plant material. It then sells it to other companies. These companies can use the remains to feed livestock and grow mushrooms.

Van said the AWD method helps him in several ways. It lowers his costs while the amount of rice he produces is the same. Using organic fertilizer helps him sell for a higher price in European markets. He also has more time to take care of his own garden. “I am growing jackfruit and coconut,” he said.

Nguyen Duy Thuan is the chief of the Loc Troi Group. He said the AWD method uses 40 percent less seed and 30 percent less water. The Loc Troi Group said the method is used on 100 hectares of rice farms. Thuan said the company wants to expand AWD farming to 300,000 hectares.

The Vietnamese government aims to grow low-emissions rice on 1 million hectares by 2030. Vietnamese state media reported that officials said the method could reduce production costs by about 20 percent and increase profits by more than $600 million.

Effects of a changing environment

In recent years, the Mekong River’s water quality has changed. Dams in China and Laos have reduced water flow. Building projects cause problems because they use a lot of water and sand from the river. And rising sea levels have increased the amount of salt in the river’s large delta.

A recent study by Vietnam’s Water Resources Institute estimates rice farmers lost millions of dollars every year because of salty water.

Lewis H. Ziska is a professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University in New York City. He said that using different methods of farming can improve water use. Growing more kinds of rice would also help. Some kinds can better resist hot weather or need less water, Ziska said.

Some rice farmers in Vietnam are already growing different kinds of rice. Nguyen Van Nhat is director of a rice export company. He said growers are using rice that can grow in salty water and in hot weather.

Two employees work in a warehouse packed with bags of rice packaged for shipment at Hoang Minh Nhat, a rice export company in Can Tho, Vietnam, Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Two employees work in a warehouse packed with bags of rice packaged for shipment at Hoang Minh Nhat, a rice export company in Can Tho, Vietnam, Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

He also said the export company is using different methods to dry the rice because of changes in the weather. He said unseasonal rains are making it harder to dry the rice in the sun. As a result, the company has built places to dry it in their factory. The company will also put machines to dry the grain closer to the rice fields.

“We don’t know which month is the rainy season, like we did before,” Nhat said.

I’m Andrew Smith. And I’m Jill Robbins.

Aniruddha Ghosal reported this story for the Associated Press. Andrew Smith adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story.

emissions –n. gases released by a process;

alternate –adj. something that happens for a period and does not happen for the following period, repeating the pattern over time;

organic fertilizer –n. nutrients for plants that are considered organic, meaning they do not have man-made materials in them;

delta –n. a triangular area where a river flows into the sea and that has rich soil;

AI Tries Hand at Blending Coffee in Finland (Voice of America learning English April 26, 2024)

Human experts spend years roasting and tasting coffee from many places to learn about the beans. They might then combine a coffee bean from Africa with another one from South America to come up with a new blend.

But, a coffee roasting company in Helsinki, Finland is hoping that artificial intelligence, or AI, can help ease the workload.

Kaffa Roastery recently launched its “AI-conic” blend at the Helsinki Coffee Festival. The blend is a mixture of four kinds of beans, including Fazenda Pinhal from Brazil. It is the result of a joint project by Kaffa and Elev, a local AI business.

Elev told The Associated Press that its computer models, similar to ChatGPT and Copilot, created a blend that would “push the boundaries of conventional flavor combinations.”

Svante Hampf is the founder of Kaffa Roastery. He and his partners wanted to do an experiment to see what blend the computer would produce.

“We basically gave descriptions of all our coffee types and their flavors to AI and instructed it to create a new exciting blend,” Hampf said.

The “AI-conic” blend combined beans from Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia and Guatemala. It is described as “a well-balanced blend of sweetness and ripe fruit.”

Hampf said he thought the combination was “somewhat weird.” He was surprised that the AI program chose to make the blend out of four different kinds of beans. Most humans choose only two or three beans.

However, after the first blind test of the new blend, Kaffa’s coffee experts agreed that the AI-assisted blend was perfect. There was no need to change.

Elev’s Antti Merilehto said “AI-conic” is an example of “how AI can introduce new perspectives to seasoned professionals.”

The International Coffee Organization says that the 5.6 million people in Finland drink the most coffee per person in the world. And the roasters at Kaffa said they hope the AI project will help to bring more things to the strong coffee culture in the country.

Hampf called it a “first step,” adding, “I think AI has plenty to offer us in the long run. We are particularly impressed of the coffee taste descriptions it created.”

I’m Dan Friedell.

Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by The Associated Press.

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Words in This Story.

roast –v. to cook something over heat;

blend –v. to combine multiple flavors to come up with something new, for example, mixing three kinds of red wine;

conventional –adj. common, usual, traditional;

type –n. a categorization that shows the differences among one kind of thing, for example different grapes, or coffee beans;

flavor –n. how something tastes;

ripe –adj. ready to be picked and eaten or put to use;

weird –adj. strange, unusual;

perspective –n. a way of looking at things;

seasoned –adj. experienced;

We want to hear from you. Would you leave your morning coffee up to AI?

Pillbot Could Explore Inner Human Body (Voice of America learning English April 27, 2024)

A new, small robotic camera designed to be swallowed for use in medical examinations was recently demonstrated at a conference in Canada. The device called PillBot can be guided through a body remotely, meaning electronically from outside. Its creators hope the device will replace traditional endoscopies. An endoscopy is when a camera attached to a wire is directed down the throat and into a sleeping patient’s stomach.

The company Endiatx based in Hayward, California, developed the device. The research hospital, Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minnesota, is a partner in the project.

The PillBot is designed to be the first motorized endoscopic camera. Here is how developers say it works: A patient does not eat for one day, then swallows the PillBot with lots of water. The PillBot acts like a small submarine controlled by a wireless remote control. When the exam is complete, the body will expel the PillBot in the same way it expels other solid waste.

Dr. Vivek Kumbhari is co-founder of the company. He is professor of medicine and chairman of gastroenterology and hepatology at the Mayo Clinic. It is the latest step toward his larger goal of making complex medicine more accessible.

If endoscopies can be moved from a hospital setting to a patient’s home, he said, "then I think we have achieved that goal." Use of the device would require fewer medical workers and no anesthesia, he said. The device provides "a safer, more comfortable approach,” he added.

Kumbhari also said the technology is more efficient and permits people to get treatment earlier in the progress of a disease.

Alex Luebke is the co-founder of Endiatx. He said the PillBot can help people in rural areas where medical centers and treatment are lacking.

"Especially in developing countries, there is no access" to complex medical care, he said. "So being able to have the technology, gather all that information and provide you the solution, even in remote areas - that's the way to do it.”

The micro-robotic pill is undergoing testing. It could come before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for consideration in the coming months. If approved, the PillBot could be available by 2026.

Kumbhari hopes the technology can be expanded to the bowels, vascular system, heart, liver, brain and other parts of the body.

I’m Dan Novak.

Craig McCulloch reported this story for Voice of America. Dan Novak adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story.

accessible — adj. able to be reached or approached;

achieve — v. to get or reach by working hard;

anesthesia — n. loss of feeling in a person's body or part of the body through the use of drugs;

comfortable — n. not causing any physically unpleasant feelings;

approach — n. to begin to deal with or think about;

bowel — n. the long tube in the body that helps digest food and carries solid waste out of the body;

vascular — n. of or relating to the veins, arteries, etc., that carry fluids through the body;

Why Is Methane Gas Coming Out of the Ground on Mars? (April 28, 2024 Voice of America learning English)

Scientists are seeking to find out what is producing the slow release of methane gas on Mars.

Methane often results from biological processes. On Earth, most of the gas comes from living creatures. For this reason, the American space agency NASA has been investigating methane levels on Mars in a search for signs of current or past life. So far, no evidence has been found.

But a new study is providing fresh details about methane on Mars. NASA’s Curiosity explorer, or rover, has repeatedly measured methane levels on the Martian surface. The rover arrived on Mars in 2012 and has been exploring areas around Gale Crater. This area is believed to have contained a lake at one time and has also shown other evidence of flowing water in the past.

NASA says Gale Crater is the only place where methane has been discovered. Even a spacecraft sent to collect data on the Martian atmosphere has not identified the presence of methane. That spacecraft, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, is operated by the European Space Agency.

In addition to only being discovered, or detected, around Gale Crater, the observations of methane happen only at night, NASA researchers recently reported. Levels also go up and down during different seasons and at times, rise sharply for short periods.

The mysterious methane releases leave scientists considering “a lot of plot twists,” said Curiosity project leader Ashwin Vasavada. But a NASA research group recently proposed a possible explanation for how the gas behaves on Mars.

The researchers theorize that all detected methane could be trapped, or sealed, underneath hardened pieces of salt in Martian regolith. Regolith describes soil that contains rock and dust that sits on or below the surface.

The scientists say increases in temperature might explain the differences in gas release. During certain seasons or times of day warmer temperatures could weaken the seal on the methane, causing gas to be released.

NASA said the research was led by Alexander Pavlov, a planetary scientist at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. He said small amounts of methane could also be released when the regolith seal is broken by weight from above, for example, when the Curiosity rover drives over the area.

Pavlov said this theory could help explain why methane levels have only been discovered in the Gale Crater area. It is the only place on Mars where NASA’s Curiosity rover is currently active.

NASA has another rover working on Mars, Perseverance. But it has been exploring the Jezero Crater area on another part of the planet. Jezero Crater is also believed to have contained large water bodies in the distant past. But Perseverance is not equipped with a methane-detecting instrument.

Pavlov noted that the latest theory came from his memories of an unrelated experiment carried out in 2017. The experiment involved growing microorganisms in a simulated Martian environment that included frozen soil that contained salt.

During that experiment, researchers observed that the collection of soil on top formed an icy, salty crust. Changes in conditions caused the ice to melt, turning the solid material into a gas and leaving the salt behind.

Pavlov’s team tested five samples of frozen soil containing different kinds of salt material commonly found on Mars. A new set of Earth-based experiments was carried out in which the frozen material was exposed to different temperatures and air pressures inside an environment at Goddard that was designed to be like Mars.

The team was able to repeatedly copy the salt sealing process in Mars-like conditions during laboratory testing. The researchers said they plan to keep carrying out experiments under different conditions and using salt minerals to confirm their theory.

But the researchers noted that to carry out more detailed methane investigations, they will likely need a whole new generation of sensitive instruments. These would be designed to measure methane continuously from many places on Mars.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from NASA and the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.

Words in This Story.

plot twist – n. an unexpected development that happens in a play, movie, etc.;

simulate – v. to do or make something that behaves or looks like something real, but which is not;

crust – n. the hard, dry layer on the surface of something;

expose – v. to remove what is covering something so that it can be seen;

What makes a great library? (EPISODE 240314 / 14 MAR 2024)

Introduction.

What makes a library a library? Neil and Beth discuss this and teach you some useful vocabulary.

This week's question:

Founded in 1973 in central London, the British Library is one of the largest libraries in the world, containing around 200 million books. But which of the following can be found on its shelves. Is it:

a) the earliest known printing of the Bible?

b) the first edition of The Times’ newspaper from 1788? or,

c) the original manuscripts of the Harry Potter books?

Listen to the programme to hear the answer.

Vocabulary.

shhh! - 

exclamation used to ask for silence or quiet;

paperback - 

book with a cover made of thick paper and sold relatively cheaply, compared to a hardback book;

painstakingly (or painfully) - 

in a way that shows you have taken a lot of care, or made a lot of effort;

harmony - 

situation where people are peaceful and cooperate with each other;

knowledge equals power - 

(idiom) the more a person knows, the more they will be able to control events;

soft power - 

using political or cultural means rather than military power to influence events;

TRANSCRIPT.

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Neil:

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Neil.

Beth:

And I’m Beth.

Neil:

Shhh! Quiet please! I’m trying to read here, Beth!

Beth:

Oh, excuse me! I didn’t know this was a library.

Neil:

Well, what exactly is a library? Have you ever thought about that?

Beth:

Well, somewhere with lots of books I suppose, where you go to read or study.

Neil:

A symbol of knowledge and learning, a place to keep warm in the winter, or somewhere to murder victims in a crime novel: libraries can be all of these things, and more.

Beth:

In this programme, we’ll be looking into the hidden life of the library, including one of the most famous, the Great Library of Alexandria, founded in ancient Egypt in around 285 BCE. And as usual, we’ll be learning some useful new vocabulary, and doing it all in a whisper so as not to disturb anyone!

Neil:

Glad to hear it! But before we get out our library cards, I have a question for you, Beth. Founded in 1973 in central London, the British Library is one of the largest libraries in the world, containing around 200 million books. But which of the following can be found on its shelves. Is it:

a) the earliest known printing of the Bible?

b) the first edition of The Times’ newspaper from 1788? or,

c) the original manuscripts of the Harry Potter books?

Beth:

I’ll guess it’s the first edition of the famous British newspaper, 'The Times’.

Neil:

OK, Beth, I’ll reveal the answer at the end of the programme. Libraries mean different things to different people, so who better to ask than someone who has written the book on it, literally. Professor Andrew Pettegree is the author of a new book, 'A Fragile History of the Library'. Here he explains what a library means to him to BBC Radio 3 programme, Art & Ideas:

Andrew Pettegree

Well, in my view, a library is any collection of books which is deliberately put together by its owner or patron. So, in the 15th century a library can be 30 manuscripts painfully put together during the course of a lifetime, or it can be two shelves of paperbacks in your home.

Beth:

Andrew defines a library as any collection of books someone has intentionally built up. This could be as simple as a few paperbacks, cheap books with a cover made of thick paper.

Neil:

Today, books are available everywhere from supermarkets to train stations, but back in history that wasn’t the case. In earlier centuries, printed books or manuscripts were rare and may have been painfully collected over many years. Andrew uses the adverb painfully, or painstakingly, to describe something which took a lot of care and effort to do.

Beth:

But paperback books and private collections are only part of the story. You may not believe it, but libraries are places of power! To find out why we have to go back in time to the ancient Egyptian port of Alexandria in the third century BCE.

Neil:

The Great Library of Alexandria held the largest collection of books in the ancient world. Founded in the city built by Alexander the Great, the library’s mission was to bring together a copy of every book then in existence. According to history professor, Islam Issa, there were two reasons why the Great Library made Alexandria so powerful, as he explained to BBC Radio 3 programme, Art & Ideas:

Islam Issa:

The first is being in a location at the intersection of the continents and bringing a diverse set of people together to live in harmony, or relative harmony, can bring about economic prosperity. And the second is, quite simply, that knowledge equals power, and so the library is a form of soft power, it's a way of saying that Alexandria is an important centre of knowledge, a regional capital by being the guardians of knowledge…

Beth:

Alexandria was the meeting point of different cultures where different ideas and philosophies were exchanged. This atmosphere encouraged people to live in harmony, peacefully and cooperatively with each other.

Neil:

But the main reason for the Great Library’s importance is that knowledge equals power, a saying meaning that the more someone knows, the more they will be able to control events. Alexandria became the capital of soft power, the use of political and cultural knowledge, rather than military power, to influence events.

Beth:

Now, maybe it’s time to reveal the answer to your question, Neil?

Neil:

Sure, I asked you which famous text could be found in The British Library.

Beth:

I guessed it was the first edition of 'The Times’ newspaper. So, was I right?

Neil:

That was… the correct answer! In the British Library you’ll find the first copy of 'The Times’, along with the first editions of many famous books. OK, let’s recap the vocabulary we've learned in this programme starting with shhh!, an exclamation used to ask someone to be quiet.

Beth:

A paperback is a type of book with a cover made of thick paper and sold relatively cheaply.

Neil:

Doing something painstakingly or painfully means doing it in a way showing that lots of care and effort has been taken.

Beth:

Harmony is a situation where people cooperate peacefully with each other.

Neil:

According to the expression, knowledge equals power, the more you know, the more you’re able to control events.

Beth:

And finally, soft power involves using political or cultural means, rather than military power, to get what you want. Once again our six minutes are up! Goodbye for now!

Neil:

Goodbye!