Premise: Vitamins To supplement or not? Mineral, vitamin, and antioxidant health supplements make up a multi-billion-dollar industry in the United States alone, but do they really work? Evidence suggests supplementation is clearly indicated in special circumstances, but can actually be harmful in others. For the general population, however, supplements have negligible or no impact on the prevention of common cancers, cardiovascular diseases, cognitive decline, mortality, or any other major indicators of health. In pursuit of a longer, happier and healthier life, there are certainly better investments for most people than a tube of vitamin supplements. Particular sub-groups of the population can gain a proven benefit from supplementation. Folic acid has long been indicated as a prenatal supplement due to its assistance in foetal cell division and corresponding ability to prevent neural tube birth defects. Since Canada and the United States decided to require white flour to be fortified with folic acid, spinal birth defects have plummeted by 75%, and rates of neuroblastoma (a ravaging form of infant cancer) are now 50% lower. In countries without such fortification, or for women on low-carbohydrate diets, a prenatal multivitamin could make the crucial difference. The United States Department of Health and Human Services has concluded that the elderly may also benefit from extra vitamin D; calcium can help prevent bone fractures; and zinc and antioxidants can maintain vision while deflecting macular degeneration in people who would otherwise be likely to develop this affliction. There is mounting evidence, however, for many people to steer clear of multivitamins. The National Institutes of Health has noted a disturbing evidence of risk in tobacco users: beta-carotene, a common ingredient in multivitamins, was found over a six-year study to significantly contribute to higher lung cancer and mortality rates in smokers. Meanwhile, excessive vitamin A (a supplement often taken to boost the immune system) has been proven to increase womens risk of a hip fracture, and vitamin E, thought to improve cardiovascular health, was contraindicated in a study that demonstrated higher rates of congestive heart failure among such vitamin users. Antioxidant supplementation has no purpose nor does it achieve anything, according to the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences, and the Medical Letter Group has gone further in suggesting they may interfere with treatment and promote some cancers. Antioxidants are generally regarded as counteracting the destructive effect of free radicals in the body, but according to the Medical Letters theory, free radicals may also serve the purpose of sending a powerful signal to the bodys immune system to fix the damage. By taking supplements, we risk undermining that message and upsetting the balance of antioxidants and free radicals in the body. The supplements counteract the free radicals, the immune system is not placed on alert, and the disease could sneak through the gates. One problem with supplementation by tablet is the poor record on digestibility. These tablets are often stocked with metal-based minerals that are essentially miniature rocks, and our bodies are unable to digest them. Even the vitamin elements of these pills that are theoretically digestible are often unable to be effectively extracted by our bodies when they arrive in such a condensed form. In Salt Lake City, for example, over 150 gallons of vitamin and mineral pills are retrieved from the sewer filters each month. According to the physicians desk reference, only about 10% 20% of multivitamins are absorbed by the body. The National Advisory Board is even more damning, suggesting that every 100mg of tablet corresponds to about 8.3mg of blood concentration, although noting that this can still potentially perform a helpful role in some cases. In effect, for every $100 you spend on vitamin supplements, over $90 of that is quite literally flushed down the toilet. A final argument against multivitamins is the notion that they can lead people consciously or not to the conclusion that supplementation fills in the gaps of an unhealthy diet and mops up afterwards, leaving their bodies none the wiser that instead of preparing a breakfast of fresh fruit and muesli, they popped a tiny capsule with coffee and a chocolate bar. In a seven-year study, however, the Heart Protection study did not find any positive outcome whatsoever from multivitamins and concluded that while vitamins in the diet are important, multivitamin tablets are safe but completely useless. There is evidently no shortcut around the task of buying, preparing, and consuming fresh fruit and vegetables every day. Boosting, supplementing, and fortifying products alter peoples very perception of what healthy food is; instead of heading for the fresh produce aisle in the supermarket, they are likely to seek out sugary, processed foods with a handful of extra B vitamins as a healthy choice. We cannot supplement our way out of a bad diet.

Hypothesis: Some multivitamin tablets have indigestible ingredients.


Hypothesis: Some individual vitamins are better absorbed than others in a tablet form.


Hypothesis: Our bodies cannot distinguish food-based from supplement-based vitamins.


Hypothesis: Multivitamins can lead to poorer overall eating habits in a persons life.


Hypothesis: People typically know that fortified processed foods are not good for them.


Premise: Volunteers Thank you for volunteering to work one-on-one with some of the students at our school who need extra help. Smoking policy Smoking is prohibited by law in the classrooms and anywhere on the school grounds. Safety and Health Volunteers are responsible for their own personal safety and should notify the school of any pre-existing medical conditions. Prescription and any other medications that you normally carry with you must be handed in to the school nurse on arrival and collected on departure. If you require them, the nurse will dispense them to you in her office. Sign-in A sign-in book is located at office reception. Please sign this register every time you come to the school. This is important for insurance purposes and emergency situations. After signing the book, collect a Visitors badge from the office. This must be worn at all times when you are on school premises. Remember to return the badge afterwards. Messages Teachers will communicate with volunteers via telephone, email or messages left at the office. Always ask for messages. You may communicate with teachers in the same way the preferred method is to leave a memo in the relevant teachers pigeonhole. These can be found at the end of the corridor in the staffroom block. Work hours We understand that your time commitment is entirely voluntary and therefore flexible. If your personal schedule should change and this affects your availability, please contact the Co-ordinator for Volunteers at the school on extension 402: alternatively, you could drop in to her office situated in F block. Role of the Co-ordinator The Co-ordinator is responsible for matching volunteer tutors with students, organising tutorial rooms, ensuring student attendance and overseeing volunteer tutor training. If you encounter any problems, contact her as above.

Hypothesis: If you forget to sign the register, you wont be insured for accidents.


Hypothesis: As a volunteer, you will be helping students individually.


Hypothesis: You may smoke in the playground.


Hypothesis: The co-ordinator keeps student attendance rolls.


Hypothesis: You cannot take any medicine while at the school.


Hypothesis: The best way of communicating with teachers is in writing.


Hypothesis: You can choose your own hours of work.


Premise: Votes count. The United Kingdom has had a full parliamentary democracy since 1928 when women were allowed to vote in general elections at age 21, the same as men. Women were first given the right to vote in 1918 after the First World War, but only if they were over the age of 30. In 1969 the voting age for men and women was reduced to 18. Today, no person can vote unless their name appears on the electoral register, and the earliest you can register is age 16. Citizens of the Commonwealth and those of the Irish Republic are eligible to vote in all public elections (general and local) as long as they are resident in the UK. British nationals who move abroad retain the right to vote in British and EU elections for a further 15 years. Some people are disenfranchised, including convicted prisoners (but not those on remand), non-UK EU citizens, Church of England archbishops and bishops, members of the House of Lords and people lacking the mental capacity to vote on polling day. However, all of the above people (convicted prisoners and those lacking mental capacity excepted) can vote in local elections, and all EU citizens can also vote in European elections, though only in one country and not two.

Hypothesis: A 19-year-old female born in the Irish Republic is entitled to vote in a UK general election.


Hypothesis: Non-UK EU citizens over age 18 with mental capacity who are not prisoners are entitled to vote in a UK general election.


Hypothesis: A woman born in 1889 would not have been allowed to vote in the 1918 UK general election.


Hypothesis: A 55-year-old male born in Northern Ireland and domiciled in Spain five years ago is entitled to vote in a UK general election.


Premise: Voyage of going: beyond the blue line. One feels a certain sympathy for Captain James Cook on the day in 1778 that he "discovered" Hawaii. Then on his third expedition to the Pacific, the British navigator had explored scores of islands across the breadth of the sea, from lush New Zealand to the lonely wastes of Easter Island This latest voyage had taken him thousands of miles north from the Society Islands to an archipelago so remote that even the ok! Polynesians back on Tahiti knew nothing about it. Imagine Cook's surprise, then, when the natives of Hawaii came paddling out in their canoes and greeted him in a familiar tongue, one he had heard on virtually every mote of inhabited land he had visited Marveling at the ubiquity of this Pacific language and culture, he later wondered in his journal: "How shall we account for this Nation spreading it self so far over this Vast ocean? " B. Answers have been slow in coming. But now a startling archaeological find on the island of Efate, in the Pacific nation of Vanuatu, has revealed an ancient seafaring people, the distant ancestors of today's Polynesians, taking their first steps into the unknown. The discoveries there have also opened a window into the shadowy work! of those early voyagers. At the same time, other pieces of this human puzzle are turning up in unlikely places. Climate data gleaned from slow-growing corals around the Pacific and from sediments in alpine lakes in South America may help explain how, more than a thousand years later, a second wave of seafarers beat their way across the entire Pacific. C. What we have is a first-or second-generation site containing the graves of some of the Pacific's first explorers, " says Spriggs, professor of archaeology at the Australian National University and co-leader of an international team excavating the site. It came to light only by luck A backhoe operator, digging up topsoil on the grounds of a derelict coconut plantation, scraped open a grave the first of dozens in a burial ground some 3,000 years old It is the oldest cemetery ever found in the Pacific islands, and it harbors the bones of an ancient people archaeologists call the Lapita, a label that derives from a beach in New Caledonia where a landmark cache of their pottery was found in the 1950s. They were daring blue-water adventurers who roved the sea not just as expbrers but also as pioneers, bringing abng everything they would need to build new lives their families and livestock, taro seedlings and stone tools. D. Within the span of a few centuries the Lapita stretched the boundaries of theirworld from the jungle-clad vokanoes of Papua New Guinea to the bneliest coral outliers of Tonga, at feast 2,000 miles eastward in the Pacific. Abng the way they expbred millions of square miles of unknown sea, discovering and cobnizing scores of tropical islands never before seen by human eyes: Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa. E. What little is known or surmised about them has been pieced together from fragments of pottery, animal bones, obsidian flakes, and such oblique sources as comparative linguistics and geochemistry. Although their voyages can be traced back to the northern islands of Papua New Guinea, their language variants of which are still spoken across the Pacific came from Taiwan. And their peculiar style of pottery decoration, created by pressing a carved stamp into the clay, probably had its roots in the northern Philippines. With the discovery of the Lapita cemetery on Efate, the volume of data available to researchers has expanded dramatically. The bones of at feast 62 individuals have been uncovered so far including old men, young women, even babiesand more skeletons are known to be in the ground Archaeobgists were also thrilled to discover six complete Lapita pots. It's an important find, Spriggs says, for it conclusively identifies the remains as Lapita. "It would be hard for anyone to argue that these aren't Lapita when you have human bones enshrined inside what is unmistakably a Lapita urn. " F. Several lines of evidence also undergird Spriggs's conclusion that this was a community of pioneers making their first voyages into the remote reaches of Oceania. For one thing, the radiocarbon dating of bones and charcoal places them early in the Lapita expansion. For another, the chemical makeup of the obsidian flakes littering the site indicates that the rock wasn't local; instead it was imported from a large island in Papua New Guinea's Bismarck Archipelago, the springboard for the Lapita's thrust into the Pacific. A particularly intriguing clue comes from chemical tests on the teeth of several skeletons. DNA teased from these ancient bones may also help answer one of the most puzzling questions in Pacific anthropobgy: Did all Pacific islanders spring from one source or many? Was there only one outward migration from a single point in Asia, or several from different points? "This represents the best opportunity we've had yet, " says Spriggs, "to find out who the Lapita actually were, where they came from, and who their cbsest descendants are today. G. "There is one stubborn question for which archaeobgy has yet to provide any answers: How did the Lapita accomplish the ancient equivalent of a moon landing, many times over? No one has found one of their canoes or any rigging, which could reveal how the canoes were sailed Nor do the oral histories andtraditions of later Polynesians offer any insights, for they segue into myth long before they reach as far back in time as the Lapita. " All we can say for certain is that the Lapita had canoes that were capable of ocean voyages, and they had the ability to sail them, " says Geoff Irwin, a professor of archaeology at the University of Auckland and an avid yachtsman. Those sailing skills, he says, were developed and passed down over thousands of years by earlier mariners who worked their way through the archipelagoes of the western Pacific making short crossings to islands within sight of each other. Reaching Fiji, as they did a century or so later, meant crossing more than 500 miles of ocean, pressing on day after day into the great blue void of the Pacific. What gave them the courage to launch out on such a risky voyage? H. The Lapita's thrust into the Pacific was eastward, against the prevailing trade winds, Irwin notes. Those nagging headwinds, he argues, may have been the key to their success. "They could sail out for days into the unknown and reconnoiter, secure in the knowledge that if they didn't find anything, they could turn about and catch a swift ride home on the trade winds. It's what made the whole thing work. " Once out there, skilled seafarers would detect abundant leads to follow to land: seabirds and turtles, coconuts and twigs carried out to sea by the tides, and the afternoon pileup of clouds on the horizon that often betokens an island in the distance. Some islands may have broadcast their presence with far less subtlety than a cloud bank. Some of the most violent eruptions anywhere on the planet during the past 10,000 years occurred in Melanesia, which sits nervously in one of the most explosive volcanic regions on Earth. Even less spectacular eruptions would have sent plumes of smoke bilbwing into the stratosphere and rained ash for hundreds of miles. It's possible that the Lapita saw these signs of distant islands and later sailed off in their direction, knowing they would find land For returning explorers, successful or not, the geography of their own archipelagoes provided a safety net to keep them from overshooting their home ports and sailing off into eternity. I. However they did it, the Lapita spread themselves a third of the way across the Pacific, then called it quits for reasons known only to them. Ahead lay the vast emptiness of the central Pacific, and perhaps they were too thinly stretched to venture farther. They probably never numbered more than a few thousand in total, and in their rapid migration eastward they encountered hundreds of islands more than 300 in Fiji alone. Still, more than a millennium would pass before the Lapita's descendants, a people we now call the Polynesians, struck out in search of new territory.

Hypothesis: Professor Spriggs and his research team went to the Efate to try to find the site of ancient cemetery.


Hypothesis: Captain cook depicted number of cultural aspects of Polynesians in his journal.


Hypothesis: Captain cook once expected the Hawaii might speak another language of people from other pacific islands.


Hypothesis: The Lapita were the first inhabitants in many pacific islands.


Hypothesis: The unknown pots discovered in Efate had once been used for cooking.


Hypothesis: The um buried in Efate site was plain as it was without any decoration.


Hypothesis: The Lapita completed a journey of around 2,000 miles in a period less than a centenary.


Premise: WATER HYACINTH: BEAUTIFUL YET DESTRUCTIVE Despite possessing vibrant purple flowers and being attractive to the eye, the water hyacinth has often been referred to as the most problematic aquatic plant in the worlds waters. Due to its aesthetic appeal, water hyacinth, which is native to South America, has been distributed to many different regions and now thrives in the southern states of the USA and many subtropical and tropical locations. It has also been observed to be relatively tolerant of cooler climates and is routinely sold as an ornamental plant for domestic use in a number of horticulture centres. Though the hyacinth species is distinctive in appearance, another aquatic floating plant water lettuce is sometimes mistakenly identified as water hyacinth. Water lettuce, however, does not have the same attractive flowers, has larger leaves and is less tolerant of cooler climates. Water hyacinth has rounded waxy, green leaves which grow up to around 6 inches in width and floating leaf stems which grow up to 12 inches in length. Flowers are typically between 2 to 3 inches in width and as many as 15 flowers, each purple on the outside and containing a yellow centre, may grow from each plant. Many of the problems associated with the water hyacinth are due to its incredible growth and reproduction capabilities, which have made it difficult to control and allow it to quickly dominate the environment in which it grows and spreads. Its growth patterns are characterised by a rapid formation of an impenetrable vegetation mass; botanists say that one plant can produce around 5000 seeds and in one study two plants were observed to produce 1200 plants in as little as 4 months. Following natures usual pattern, water hyacinth seeds are distributed outside of the immediate area by birds, fauna, wind and water currents, facilitating growth in surrounding areas previously free of the plant. Domination of environments by water hyacinth populations has a number of negative implications. For humans, difficulties may be faced in getting boats through areas of rivers and lakes where the plant is present and fishing and swimming opportunities may be limited. However, the implications for the ecosystem of the immediate environment may be of even greater concern. The density of the mass of water hyacinth populations can prevent adequate amounts of sunlight and oxygen reaching the water: as a result, significant numbers of fish may die, other species of plant growing below water level are compromised and the ecosystem of the immediate area can therefore become unbalanced. Furthermore, the conditions created by the presence of water hyacinth, while detrimental to most forms of life, are perfect for encouraging growth of deadly bacteria often found in poorly oxygenated areas of water. In the southern states of the USA, in Florida in particular, water hyacinth is now under maintenance control. The plant population can be limited in a number of ways: including use of herbicides, clearance equipment and bio-control insects. However, efforts to minimise the population of water hyacinth need to be continual and consistent; experts warning that unless control methods are upheld, the problem can easily reoccur. Some say inattention for as little as a twelve month period would allow numbers to quickly return to infestation level; hardly surprising given that the species is known to be able to double in as little as 12 days. Water hyacinth is thought to have been introduced into Africa in the 1800s; its presence at Lake Kyoga was first identified in 1988 and at Lake Victoria in 1989. In the mid 1990s, water hyacinth was estimated to dominate 10% of the latter lakes waters. However, by 1998, the plant was almost completely eliminated from East African waters; this being achieved predominantly by the use of bio-control insects, in this case snout beetles, a type of weevil which feeds only on the water hyacinth species of plant. Tens of thousands of the weevils were distributed throughout the lake areas of East Africa, their habit of feeding on the leaves and laying their eggs in the plants stalks eventually causing the plants to die and sink to the bottom of the lake. In addition, the plant population was removed using mechanical clearing equipment and by hand with the help of a machete. Despite earlier success, however, negative repercussions of human activity have caused the return of water hyacinth to East African waters. Ugandas Lake Kyoga, has recently once again experienced problems with infestation. Sewage and agricultural waste making their way into the waterways and thereby creating an excess of nutrients in the water have been the main contributing factors to the re-emergence of water hyacinth. In addition, high levels of nitrogen in rainfall, which enters the water cycle from the smoke created by wood burning cooking fires used in the region, also serves as nutrition to the increasing plant population. Restriction of human activity on lakes such as this, caused by the infestation of water hyacinth has enormous implications; villages such as Kayago, which is in close proximity to the lake, are often almost completely dependent on fishing activity for their economy and food source. While the infestation of water hyacinth in Lake Victoria at the time of writing stands at 0.5%, far below the 10% level experienced in the middle of the 1990s, experts fear that growth could once again become out of control. The main concern is that, as a result of changing weather conditions, the activity of the snout beetle weevils may be less effective than in the past. The region around Lake Victoria has experienced an extended period of drought and while the water hyacinth is capable of living and reproducing both in lakes and surrounding dry land, its predator, the snout beetle can only survive on water. Plant populations growing in lakeside locations are therefore under limited threat from the insect brought in to control them and are consequently able to reproduce in relative freedom.

Hypothesis: The current problem of dominance of water hyacinth on Lake Kyoga is less serious than in the 1980s and early 1990s.


Hypothesis: Presence of dense water hyacinth populations can encourage the development of certain harmful forms of life.


Hypothesis: Sewage and waste created by farming have had more of an impact on the return of the water hyacinth population in Uganda than nitrogen- rich air.


Premise: WEATHERING IN THE DESERT In the deserts, as elsewhere, rocks at the earths surface are changed by weathering, which may be defined as the disintegration of rocks where they lie. Weathering processes are either chemical, when alteration of some of the constituent particles is involved; or mechanical, when there is merely the physical breaking apart and fragmentation of rocks. Which process will dominate depends primarily on the mineralogy and texture of the rock and the local climate, but several individual processes usually work together to the common end of rock disintegration. The great daily changes in temperature of deserts have long been supposed to be responsible for the disintegration of rocks, either by the differential heating of the various rock-forming minerals or by differential heating between the outer and inner parts of rock masses. However, both field observations and laboratory experiments have led to a reassessment of the importance of exposure to the suns rays in desert weathering. Almost half a century ago Barton remarked that the buried parts of some of the ancient monuments in Egypt were more weathered than were those parts fully exposed to the suns rays, and attributed this to the effects of water absorption below the ground surface. Laboratory experiments have shown that rocks subjected to many cycles of large temperature oscillations (larger than those experienced in nature) display no evidence of fissuring or fragmentation, as a result. However, when marked fluctuations of temperature occur in moist conditions small rock fragments quickly form. The expansive action of crystallising salts is often alleged to exert sufficient force to disintegrate rocks. Few would dispute that this mechanism is capable of disrupting fissile or well-cleaved rocks or rocks already weakened by other weathering agencies; wood is splintered, terracotta tiles disintegrated and clays disturbed by the mechanism, but its importance when acting upon fresh and cohesive crystalline rocks remains uncertain. Weathering achieves more than the disintegration of rocks, though this is its most important geomorphic effect. It causes specific landforms to develop. Many boulders possess a superficial hard layer of iron oxide and/or silica, substances which have migrated in solution from the inside of the block towards the surface. Not only is the exterior thus case-hardened but the depleted interior disintegrates easily. When weathering penetrates the shell the inside is rapidly attacked and only the hard outer layer remains to give hollowed or tortoiseshell rocks. Another superficial layer, the precise nature of which is little understood, is the well-known desert varnish or patina, a shiny coat on the surface of rocks and pebbles and characteristic of arid environments. Some varnishes are colourless, others light brown, yet others so dark a brown as to be virtually black. Its origin is unknown but is significant, for it has been suggested that the varnish grows darker with the passage of time; obviously before such a criterion could be used with confidence as a chronological tool its origin must be known with precision. Its formation is so slow that in Egypt, for example, it has been estimated that a light brown coating requires between 2,000 and 5,000 years to develop, a fully formed blackish veneer between 20,000 and 50,000 years. The development of relatively impermeable soil horizons that are subsequently exposed at the surface because of erosion of once overlying, easily eroded materials, and which thus become surface crusts, is widespread in arid regions, although it is also known outside the deserts, and indeed many of the examples in arid lands probably originated in former periods of humid climate. The crusts prevent the waters of occasional torrential downpours from penetrating deeply into the soil, and thus they contribute to the rapid run-off associated with desert storms. Also, after erosion has cut through the crust and exposed underlying soil layers, the hard layer forms a resistant capping (duricrust) on plateaux and mesas, such as are common in many parts of arid and semi-arid Australia. Some duricrust layers have been used as time markers for landforms and geological formations. The necessary conditions for this are that the crust forms fairly rapidly, and that it is sufficiently distinct in appearance to preclude the possibility of confusion with other crusts formed at other times. The Barrilaco calcrete of Mexico for instance is believed to date from about 7,000 B. C. The main silcrete of the northern districts of South Australia is believed to date from the Lower Miocene, the laterite of northern Australia to be of the Lower or Middle Miocene age.

Hypothesis: It is estimated that dark patina originated between 2,000 and 5,000 years ago.


Hypothesis: Desert rocks can become weathered when there is a chemical reaction within the rock.


Hypothesis: The parts of Egyptian monuments exposed to sunlight were found to be affected by the weather more than those below the ground.


Hypothesis: Duricrust layering is no longer used as an indicator of time because of the confusion with similar crusts.


Hypothesis: Because of surface crusts, water from torrential rains cannot be fully absorbed into the ground and as a result causes run offs in arid regions.


Hypothesis: Granite which has been subjected to huge temperature swings tends not to exhibit any signs of disintegration as a result.


Premise: WEST THAMES COLLEGE BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES West Thames College (initially known as Hounslow Borough College) came into existence in 1976 following the merger of Isleworth Polytechnic with part of Chiswick Polytechnic. Both parent colleges, in various guises, enjoyed a long tradition of service to the community dating back to the 1890s. The college is located at London Road, Isleworth, on a site occupied by the Victorian house of the Pears family, Spring Grove House. An earlier house of the same name on this site had been the home of Sir Joseph Banks, the botanist who named Botany Bay with Captain Cook in 1770. Later he founded Kew Gardens. Situated at the heart of West London, West Thames College is ideally placed to serve the training and education needs of local industry and local people. But its influence reaches much further than the immediate locality. Under its former name, Hounslow Borough College, it had already established a regional, national and international reputation for excellence. In fact, about eight per cent of its students come from continental Europe and further afield, whilst a further 52 per cent are from outside the immediate area. Since 1 April 1993, when it became independent of the local authority and adopted its new title, West Thames College has continued to build on that first class reputation. These days there is no such thing as a typical student. More than half of West Thames colleges 6000 students are over 19 years old. Some of these will be attending college part-time under their employers training schemes. Others will want to learn new skills purely out of interest, or out of a desire to improve their promotion chances, or they may want a change in career. The college is also very popular with 16-18 year olds, who see it as a practical alternative to a further two years at school. They want to study in the more adult atmosphere the college provides. They can choose from a far wider range of subjects than it would be practical for a sixth form to offer. If they want to go straight into employment they can still study at college to gain qualifications relevant to the job, either on a day-release basis or through Network or the Modern Apprenticeship Scheme.

Hypothesis: Chiswick Polytechnic was closed at the same time West Thames College was opened.


Hypothesis: Students under the age of 16 cannot attend any of the courses offered by the college.


Hypothesis: There are fewer subjects to study in the sixth form of a school than at the college.


Hypothesis: There are currently 6000 students over the age of 19 attending the college.


Hypothesis: The college offers a more mature environment in which to learn than a school.


Hypothesis: The college changed its name to West Thames College in 1993.


Hypothesis: Most of the students at the college come from outside the local area.


Premise: WESTLEY GENERAL HOSPITAL GUIDE FOR PATIENTS When you come to hospital for a planned stay, please remember that space is limited. We also advise you to bring an overnight bag even if you are only expecting to spend a day in hospital. A Clothing Please bring a selection of light clothing and personal belongings that may include: night clothes, a track suit, a sweater or fleece, a bathrobe, slippers or socks, glasses, contact lenses, dentures, a hearing aid, bottled drinks (plastic only), tissues, books and magazines, contact details of friends, cash to purchase items during your stay. B Toiletries Please bring a selection with you including a shaving kit if you are male. The hospital also runs a shop and trolley service from which extra items (additional toiletries, magazines, stamps, newspapers etc. ) can be purchased. C Valuables We strongly advise you not to bring any valuables with you as their security cannot be guaranteed. A closet is provided for some personal items. D Electrical appliances We ask that you do not bring electrical appliances with you. TV, radio and payphones are provided. E Medicines Please bring all your current medication with you, preferably in their original containers. On arrival the nursing staff will ask about your history and allergies. F Maternity Please bring the appropriate baby clothes and feeding equipment. For further information, please contact the Maternity Unit on 740648. G What Not to Bring Please do not bring any valuables (jewellery), personal computers, radios, TVs. The hospital cannot be held responsible for the loss of any items during your stay. Please note that the hospital does not allow the use of mobile telephones due to possible interference with patient monitoring equipment. H Smoking and Drinking Policy Smoking and alcohol are strictly prohibited in Westley Hospital. Patients wishing to smoke must do so outdoors. No alcohol is allowed on the premises. I Visiting Hours For details about when your friends and family can visit, see the list in your room or ward or check our website.

Hypothesis: Dont bring any money to the hospital.


Hypothesis: Radios can interfere with hospital electronic equipment.


Hypothesis: Leave any false teeth at home.


Hypothesis: Telephone services are provided through coin or card operated telephones.


Hypothesis: You should pack a bag to stay for the night even if you intend only to be a day patient.


Premise: WESTLEY SCHOOL OF ENGLISH Information for Students Timings The school is open Mon Fri from 7.30 am to 9.00 pm and on Saturday from 9.00 am to 12.30 pm. CLASS TIMINGS (Mon Fri) Lesson 1 8.45 am 10.15 am Lesson 2 10.45 am 12.15 pm Lesson 3 2.00 pm 3.30 pm Computer Room The school has a fully equipped computer lab with a free 24-hour internet connection. Students may use the computers at any time during school opening hours unless any class or activity is scheduled. In the evenings there is a booking system for the computers. Please read the rules for this in the computer room. Be advised that, due to the risk of viruses, students are not allowed to bring in and use their own disks or CDs. Self Access and Language Lab The lab is open and available for all students during school opening hours. There are tapes and self-study materials available for all levels. In the break times and the evenings there is a teacher on duty who can assist students with accessing material. Cafeteria The school cafeteria is open from 8.15 am to 5.00 pm. The cafeteria only sells hot food at lunchtime. A selection of sandwiches, snacks and hot or cold drinks are available at other times during the rest of the day. Attendance All students who come to the UK on student visas are required by law to attend a minimum of 85% of their scheduled courses. The school is required to inform the Department of Immigration of any student not fulfilling his visa obligations. A minimum attendance of 85% is also required for students to receive their course certificate. Fees All fees must be paid in full before the start of any course. A non-returnable deposit of 10% will secure a reservation on a course but the balance must be paid before classes begin.

Hypothesis: The police will visit any student not completing the required attendance levels


Hypothesis: Students can go into the Language Lab at 8.30 on Thursday mornings.


Hypothesis: Students may not use their own floppy discs in the schools computers.


Hypothesis: Students can have a cooked breakfast in the cafe before their morning classes.


Premise: WESTWINDS FARM CAMPSITE Open April September (Booking is advised for holidays in July and August to guarantee a place. ) Jim and Meg Oaks welcome you to the campsite. We hope you will enjoy your stay here. We ask all campers to show due care and consideration whilst staying here and to observe the following camp rules. Keep the campsite clean and tidy: dispose of litter in the bins provided; leave the showers, toilets and washing area in the same state as you found them; ensure your site is clear of all litter when you leave it. Dont obstruct rights of way. Keep cars, bikes, etc. off the road. Let sleeping campers have some peace. Dont make any noise after 10 oclock at night or before 7.30 in the morning. Dogs must be kept on a lead. Owners of dogs that disturb other campers by barking through the night will be asked to leave. Disorderly behaviour will not be tolerated. The lighting of fires is strictly prohibited. Ball games are not allowed on the campsite. There is plenty of room for ball games in the park opposite the campsite. Radios, portable music equipment, etc. must not be played at high volume. The management reserves the right to refuse admittance.

Hypothesis: You should book ahead for the busier times of the year.


Hypothesis: The owners of the campsite may not allow you to camp there.


Hypothesis: You are not allowed to cook food on open fires.


Hypothesis: No dogs are allowed on the campsite.


Hypothesis: The campsite is open all year round.


Hypothesis: The minimum stay at the campsite is two nights.


Hypothesis: The entrance to the campsite is locked after 10 p. m.


Premise: WHATS ON IN WINTER The Great Outdoors Sundays, June and July ORIENTEERING Where: various bush and farm locations Orienteering is an outdoor activity that combines adventure and sport with navigational skills through the bush. Take a hike or mountain-bike ride through a set course in a different bush or farm location on each excursion with guidance from a compass and a map. Each course is within an hours drive of the CBD. This is a fun, easy way to enhance fitness for the whole family, ages 7-70. To learn more about orienteering or sign up for a course, visit wa. orienteering. asn. au or call 9215 0700. Mountain Designs Adventure Race Australia 4 July Where: bush camp and forest retreat Adventure Race Australia heightens the thrill of adventure racing, combining biking, running, trekking, kayaking, rock climbing and other adventure sports to test physical strength, endurance and willpower. The race caters to both inexperienced and seasoned racers with a Raw course for beginners and a Hardcore course for racers who want an extra challenge. To get involved go to adventureaustralia. com. au Film Frenzy 21 June & 19 July MEMORABLE MOVIES IN MIDLAND Where: Town Hall Take a trip down memory lane at the Memorable Movies gathering, held once a month. This June the memorable movie is Roman Holiday, the 1953 classic starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. Then in July there is a school holiday special presentation of The Worlds Fastest Indian, a true-life story of motorcycle enthusiast and world-record breaker Burt Munro, starring Anthony Hopkins. Festivals and Fairs 17 to 19 June HILLARYS ANTIQUE AND VINTAGE FAIR Where: Hillarys Boat Harbour The Antique and Vintage Fair will showcase hidden treasures from the past, including fascinating items from antique furniture to retro fashion. Antique valuers will also be on the premises to give expert advice on buying and selling as attendees peruse the various stalls underneath one giant tent. Music Magic 29 to 30 July A TRIBUTE TO LOUIS ARMSTRONG Where: Concert Hall Louis Armstrong revolutionised American jazz and dominated the scene for more than 60 years. He defines the jazz style and is a legendary figure in music history. Conductor Benjamin Northey will accompany trumpeter James Morrison to pay tribute to the famous musician by playing some of his most well-known and beloved hits. Go to waso. com. au for more details. All the Rest Until 18 October WHODUNNIT? EXHIBITION Where: Scitech Become a detective for a day at the Whodunnit? Exhibition. The exhibition is a fabricated crime scene in a zoo: someone has shot and killed a security guard, and a famous white rhino is missing. Guests use forensic science to obtain evidence and solve the crimes.

Hypothesis: The motorcyclist was wearing a helmet when he crashed and died.


Hypothesis: This incident took place in Onondaga, New York.


Hypothesis: New York State requires motorcyclists to wear helmets.


Hypothesis: More than a hundred motorcyclists were taking part in this protest ride.


Hypothesis: Protests in the USA against compulsory use of motorcycle helmets have at times been successful.


Hypothesis: All states in the USA require motorcyclists to wear helmets.


Premise: WHEN the subject is global warming, the villain is usually America . Although it produces a quarter of the greenhouse gases that are heating up the planet, it refuses to regulate them. When other countries agreed on an international treaty to do so he Kyoto protocolAmerica failed to ratify it. But not all American officialdom is happy with the federal government's stance. In fact,12 states disagree so fiercely that they are suing to force it to curb emissions of carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas. The Supreme Court heard argument in the case on November 29th. The outcome will not be known for months, but the political wind seems to be shifting in favour of firmer action to counter climate change. The Clean Air Act charges the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with regulating air pollution from vehicles. But the EPA argues that Congress did not intend to include CO2 under that heading, and that to do so would extend the EPA's authority to an unreasonable extent. Furthermore, it contends that regulating emissions would not do good unless all or most other countries did the same. That is in keeping with the policies of President George Bush, who opposes mandatory curbs on emissions and believes that any international accord on global warming should apply to all countries unlike the Kyoto protocol, which exempts poor ones, including big polluters such as China and India . Ten states, among them gas-guzzling Texas and car-making Michigan, also back the EPA. The plaintiffs comprise 12 states, three cities, various NGOs, and American Samoa, a Pacific territory in danger of vanishing beneath the rising ocean. They are supported by a further six states, two power companies, a ski resort, and assorted clergymen, Indian tribes and agitated grandees such as Madeleine Albright, a former secretary of state. They point out that under the administration of Bill Clinton, the EPA decided that it did have the authority to regulate CO2. The act, they note, says the EPA should regulate any air pollutant that "may reasonably be interpreted to endanger public health or welfare". It goes on to define public welfare to include "effects on soils, water, crops, vegetation, manmade materials, animals, wildlife, weather, visibility, and climate". The Supreme Court may give a mixed ruling, decreeing that carbon dioxide is indeed a pollutant, but one the EPA is free to ignore or regulate as it pleases. Or it might dismiss the complaint on the grounds that the plaintiffs did not have the right to lodge it in the first place. In theory, they must prove that the EPA's foot-dragging has caused them some specific harm that regulation might remedy a tall order in a field as fraught with uncertainty as climatology. Even if the court found in the plaintiffs' favour, rapid change is unlikely. By the time the EPA had implemented such a ruling, Congress would probably have superseded it with a new law. That is the point, environmental groups say. They want Congress to pass a law tackling global warming, and hope that a favourable court ruling will jolly the politicians along. Moreover, the case has a bearing on several other bitterly-contested lawsuits. Carmakers, for example, are trying to get the courts to strike down a Californian state law based on certain provisions of the Clean Air Act that require them to reduce their vehicles' CO2 emissions. If the Supreme Court decides that the act does not apply to CO2, then the Californian law would also be in jeopardy. That, in turn, would scupper the decision of ten other states to adopt the same standard. However the Supreme Court rules, many state governments are determined to tackle climate change. California is in the vanguard. Its legislature has passed a law that will cap and then reduce industrial emissions of greenhouse gases. Seven eastern states have formed the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which will treat emissions from power plants the same way. Almost 400 mayors have signed an agreement to cut their cities' emissions in line with Kyoto . Many businesses, even some power companies, would rather see regulation now than prolonged uncertainty. And several of the leading contenders for 2008's presidential election are much keener on emissions caps than Mr Bush. Change is in the air.

Hypothesis: An American island is in danger of disappearing beneath the rising ocean.


Hypothesis: Texas and Michigan are among the 12 states which call for regulating air pollution.


Hypothesis: The Supreme Court's ruling may influence the results of other lawsuits.


Hypothesis: The plaintiffs can prove that the EPA foot-dragging has caused them harm that the regulation might remedy.


Premise: Walking on water The availability of groundwater has always been taken for granted by Australians. Groundwater supplies have in prior times been perceived as a resource of infinite bounds the prevailing mindset was out of sight out of mind. This has all changed with the modern epoch. Persistent neglect has resulted in numerous complications for groundwater users and many interest groups have great stake in its management and allocation. Over-allocation of surface water and persistent water shortages mean that reliance of groundwater supplies is expected to swell. The main point of concern now is whether or not a groundwater source can deliver a sustainable yield. This relies on a proper management of discharge (outflow) and recharge (inflow) rates. Discharge occurs when humans extract water as well as through vegetation and evaporation into the atmosphere. Sustainable use therefore depends on more than keeping within the recharge rate: if humans use water at precisely the recharge rate, discharge through other ways can be adversely affected. Queensland has been one of the most active states in managing groundwater supplies. This is because the territory sits atop the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) an expansive underwater aquifer that covers nearly one-fifth of the Australian continent. This resource has long been used by indigenous people and outback communities, particularly in times of drought (when surface water could dry up for hundreds of kilometres on end). Since farmers at Kerribee pioneered the use of bores in the country, the number has spiralled beyond sustainable levels and caused water pressure and flow rates across the region to decline. Furthermore, estimates indicate that 80% of GAB outflow is wasted because of inefficient and out-dated delivery systems. Open drains used to keep livestock hydrated are a particular scourge much water is lost due to seepage and evaporation. A number of initiatives have been undertaken to help stem this problem. The Queensland government declared in 2005 a moratorium on issuing new licences for water extraction from GAB. A strategy group known as the Great Artesian Basin Consultative Council has also published a management plan that involved capping some bores (to prevent further declines in pressure) and rehabilitating hundreds of other bores and bore drains with troughs and polyester piping (to prevent water seeping into the earth). It is now also apparent that corruption of groundwater supplies by humans is going to be an issue to contend with. In 2006, thousands of Sydney residents had their groundwater usage curtailed due to industrial pollution of the Botany Stands aquifer. Bore water for any domestic purposes has since been off limits due to chemical seepage from an estimated 8 industrial sites. Nevertheless, groundwater plans continue apace. Development of a controversial desalination plant has been postponed indefinitely while the feasibility of exploiting two aquifers near Sydney is explored. Authorities intend to use the aquifers to provide up to 30 gigalitres of water a year during dry spells and then leave them alone to replenish during higher rainfall years. But the proposed scheme it riddled with difficulties: low flow rates are hampering extraction: replenishment rates are lower than expected, and salinity imbalances caused by the procedure could wreak havoc on efforts to preserve wetland flora and fauna ecosystems that rely on a plentiful, clean and steady supply of water from the aquifers. It is not too late to turn groundwater into a sustainable resource. Groundwater is renewable through surface run off (and, a much slower rate, in organic springs where it is literally drip fed through rock on its way to aquifers). At present however, experts believe excessive amounts of groundwater are being squandered on aesthetic projects such as keeping parks, gardens and golf courses green. Aside from more judicious use of groundwater, many experts also believe that we need to look at harnessing other potential sources in order to meet our water needs. During rainy seasons for example urban areas are inundated with storm water and flash flooding that can bring cities to a standstill. Better storm water control mechanisms could potentially capture and preserve this rainwater for use at a later date.

Hypothesis: Australians have always seen groundwater as a precious resource.


Hypothesis: Using water at the recharge rate or lower will ensure sustainable use.


Hypothesis: Use of groundwater is predicted to increase.


Hypothesis: Humans cannot alter the recharge rate of groundwater.


Premise: Walking with dinosaurs Peter L. Falkingham and his colleagues at Manchester University are developing techniques which look set to revolutionize our understanding of how dinosaurs and other extinct animals behaved. The media image of palaeontologists who study prehistoric life is often of field workers camped in the desert in the hot sun, carefully picking away at the rock surrounding a large dinosaur bone. But Peter Falkingham has done little of that for a while now. Instead, he devotes himself to his computer. Not because he has become inundated with paperwork, but because he is a new kind of palaeontologist: a computational palaeontologist. What few people may consider is that uncovering a skeleton, or discovering a new species, is where the research begins, not where it ends. What we really want to understand is how the extinct animals and plants behaved in their natural habitats. Drs Bill Sellers and Phil Manning from the University of Manchester use a genetic algorithm a kind of computer code that can change itself and evolve to explore how extinct animals like dinosaurs, and our own early ancestors, walked and stalked. The fossilized bones of a complete dinosaur skeleton can tell scientists a lot about the animal, but they do not make up the complete picture and the computer can try to fill the gap. The computer model is given a digitized skeleton, and the locations of known muscles. The model then randomly activates the muscles. This, perhaps unsurprisingly, results almost without fail in the animal falling on its face. So the computer alters the activation pattern and tries again ... usually to similar effect. The modeled dinosaurs quickly evolve. If there is any improvement, the computer discards the old pattern and adopts the new one as the base for alteration. Eventually, the muscle activation pattern evolves a stable way of moving, the best possible solution is reached, and the dinosaur can walk, run, chase or graze. Assuming natural selection evolves the best possible solution too, the modeled animal should be moving in a manner similar to its now-extinct counterpart. And indeed, using the same method for living animals (humans, emu and ostriches) similar top speeds were achieved on the computer as in reality. By comparing their cyberspace results with real measurements of living species, the Manchester team of palaeontologists can be confident in the results computed showing how extinct prehistoric animals such as dinosaurs moved. The Manchester University team have used the computer simulations to produce a model of a giant meat-eating dinosaur. lt is called an acrocanthosaurus which literally means high spined lizard because of the spines which run along its backbone. It is not really known why they are there but scientists have speculated they could have supported a hump that stored fat and water reserves. There are also those who believe that the spines acted as a support for a sail. Of these, one half think it was used as a display and could be flushed with blood and the other half think it was used as a temperature-regulating device. It may have been a mixture of the two. The skull seems out of proportion with its thick, heavy body because it is so narrow and the jaws are delicate and fine. The feet are also worthy of note as they look surprisingly small in contrast to the animal as a whole. It has a deep broad tail and powerful leg muscles to aid locomotion. It walked on its back legs and its front legs were much shorter with powerful claws. Falkingham himself is investigating fossilized tracks, or footprints, using computer simulations to help analyze how extinct animals moved. Modern-day trackers who study the habitats of wild animals can tell you what animal made a track, whether that animal was walking or running, sometimes even the sex of the animal. But a fossil track poses a more considerable challenge to interpret in the same way. A crucial consideration is knowing what the environment including the mud, or sediment, upon which the animal walked was like millions of years ago when the track was made. Experiments can answer these questions but the number of variables is staggering. To physically recreate each scenario with a box of mud is extremely time-consuming and difficult to repeat accurately. This is where computer simulation comes in. Falkingham uses computational techniques to model a volume of mud and control the moisture content, consistency, and other conditions to simulate the mud of prehistoric times. A footprint is then made in the digital mud by a virtual foot. This footprint can be chopped up and viewed from any angle and stress values can be extracted and calculated from inside it. By running hundreds of these simulations simultaneously on supercomputers, Falkingham can start to understand what types of footprint would be expected if an animal moved in a certain way over a given kind of ground. Looking at the variation in the virtual tracks, researchers can make sense of fossil tracks with greater confidence. The application of computational techniques in palaeontology is becoming more prevalent every year. As computer power continues to increase, the range of problems that can be tackled and questions that can be answered will only expand.

Hypothesis: Research carried out into the composition of prehistoric mud has been found to be inaccurate.


Hypothesis: When the Sellers and Manning computer model was used for people, it showed them moving faster than they are physically able to.


Hypothesis: Some palaeontologists have expressed reservations about the conclusions reached by the Manchester team concerning the movement of dinosaurs.


Hypothesis: An experienced tracker can analyse fossil footprints as easily as those made by live animals.


Hypothesis: In his study of prehistoric life, Peter Falkinghom rarely spends time on outdoor research.


Hypothesis: Several attempts are usually needed before the computer model of a dinosaur used by Sellers and Manning manages to stay upright.


Premise: Walnuts cost more than peanuts. Walnuts cost less than pistachios.

Hypothesis: Pistachios cost more than both peanuts and walnuts.


Premise: Water Filter. An ingenious invention is set to bring clean water to the third world, and while the science may be cutting edge, the materials are extremely down to earth. A handful of clay yesterdays coffee grounds and some cow manure are the ingredients that could bring clean, safe drinking water to much of the third world. B. The simple new technology, developed by ANU materials scientist Mr. Tony Flynn, allows water filters to be made from commonly available materials and fired on the ground using cow manure as the source of heat, without the need for a kiln. The filters have been tested and shown to remove common pathogens (disease-producing organisms) including E-coli. Unlike other water filtering devices, the filters are simple and inexpensive to make. They are very simple to explain and demonstrate and can be made by anyone, anywhere, says Mr. Flynn. They dont require any western technology. All you need is terracotta clay, a compliant cow and a match. C. The production of the filters is extremely simple. Take a handful of dry, crushed clay, mix it with a handful of organic material, such as used tea leaves, coffee grounds or rice hulls, add enough water to make a stiff biscuit-like mixture and form a cylindrical pot that has one end closed, then dry it in the sun. According to Mr. Flynn, used coffee grounds have given the best results to date. Next, surround the pots with straw; put them in a mound of cow manure, light the straw and then top up the burning manure as required. In less than 60 minutes the filters are finished. The walls of the finished pot should be about as thick as an adults index. The properties of cow manure are vital as the fuel can reach a temperature of 700 degrees in half an hour and will be up to 950 degrees after another 20 to 30 minutes. The manure makes a good fuel because itis very high in organic material that bums readily and quickly; the manure has to be dry and is best used exactly as found in the field, there is no need to break it up or process it any further. D. A potters din is an expensive item and can could take up to four or five hours to get upto 800 degrees. It needs expensive or scarce fuel, such as gas or wood to heat it and experience to run it. With no technology, no insulation and nothing other than a pile of cow manure and a match, none of these restrictions apply, Mr. Flynn says. E. It is also helpful that, like terracotta clay and organic material, cow dung is freely available across the developing world. A cow is a natural fuel factory. My understanding is that cow dung as a fuel would be pretty much the same wherever you would find it. Just as using manure as a fuel for domestic uses is not a new idea, the porosity of clay is something that potters have known about for years, and something that as a former ceramics lecturer in the ANU School of Art, Mr. Flynn is well aware of. The difference is that rather than viewing the porous nature of the material as a problem after all not many people want a pot that wont hold water his filters capitalize on this property. F. Other commercial ceramic filters do exist, but, even if available, with prices starting at US$5 each, they are often outside the budgets of most people in the developing world. The filtration process is simple, but effective. The basic principle is that there are passages through the filter that are wide enough for water droplets to pass through, but too narrow for pathogens. Tests with the deadly E-coli bacterium have seen the filters remove 96.4 to 99.8 per cent of the pathogen well within safe levels. Using only one filter it takes two hours to filter a litre of water. The use of organic material, which burns away after firing, helps produce the structure in which pathogens will become trapped. It overcomes the potential problems of finer clays that may not let water through and also means that cracks are soon halted. And like clay and cow dung, it is universally available. G. The invention was born out of a World Vision project involving the Manatuto community in East Timor The charity wanted to help set up a small industry manufacturing water filters, but initial research found the local clay to be too fine a problem solved by the addition of organic material. While the AF problems of producing a working ceramic filter in East Timor were overcome, the solution was kiln-based and particular to that communitys materials and couldnt be applied elsewhere. Manure firing, with no requirement for a kiln, has made this zero technology approach available anywhere it is needed. With all the components being widely available, Mr. Flynn says there is no reason the technology couldnt be applied throughout the developing world, and with no plans to patent his idea, there will be no legal obstacles to it being adopted in any community that needs it. Everyone has a right to clean water, these filters have the potential to enable anyone in the world to drink water safely, says Mr. Flynn.

Hypothesis: E-coli is the most difficult bacteria to combat.


Hypothesis: Clay was initially found to be unsuitable for pot making.


Hypothesis: Coffee grounds are twice as effective as other materials.


Hypothesis: It takes half an hour for the manure to reach 950 degrees.


Premise: Water and chips break new ground Computers have been shrinking ever since their conception almost two centuries ago, and the trend is set to continue with the latest developments in microchip manufacturing. The earliest prototype of a mechanical computer was called the Difference Engine, and was invented by an eccentric Victorian called Charles Babbage. It weighed over 15 tons and had 26,000 parts. Colossus, the first electronic computer, did not appear until the end of WWTI, and with its 1,500 vacuum tubes was even more complex and much heavier than its mechanical predecessor. It was only when the silicon-based microchip was invented in the early 1950s that computers started to become more compact. The first microchip computers were very complex and had more than 100,000 transistors, or electronic switches; however, they were still rather bulky and measured several metres across. Nowadays microchips are measured in nanometres (nm)that is, in billionths of a metreand the search for even smaller microchips continues as scientists work on new methods of microchip production. Today, most microchips are shaped by a process called lithographic etching, which uses ultraviolet (UV) light. A beam of UV light with a wavelength of only 193 nm is projected through a lens on to an etching mask, a micro device with slits, or long narrow cuts. When the UV light hits the surface of silicon chips, it removes microscopic layers of silicon to create patterns for the microchips circuits. Microchips with features as small as 65 nm can be created with this wavelength. However, lithographic etching is unable to make chips much smaller than 65 nm due to the fundamental properties of light. If the slit in the mask were made narrower, the air and nitrogen used in the space between the lens and the etching mask would diffuse the light, causing a blurred image. This means that 193-nm UV light cannot be used to produce microchips with features smaller than 65 nm. Manufacturers know that they need to go even smaller for the technological demands of this century, and they are looking for new methods of making microchips. One approach to solving the problem is to use microscopic mirrors to focus X-rays rather than ultraviolet light. X-rays with a wavelength of less than 25 nm can be created, allowing engineers to make components smaller than 15 nm. The process is known as X-ray lithography etching. However, this technology is extremely expensive, so manufacturers are continuing to search for a cheaper alternative. A technology called immersion lithography might be the solution. Although liquids are not commonly associated with computers, a tiny drop of water may be all it takes to make microprocessors smaller and more powerful. Intel and IBM, who made the first microprocessors, have recently developed a unique method of microchip production, which uses water droplets to enable manufacturers to shrink the chipsand at a reasonable price! The new microchip is produced by using a drop of water to narrow the gap between the light source and the etching mask, and shorten the wavelength of the UV light to less than 34 nm. This process can be used to manufacture microchips as small as 45 nm, or possibly even smaller. Initially, engineers feared that air bubbles and other contaminants in water drops would distort the light and ruin the microchip etching process, and the first experiments proved these fears to be well-founded. The problem was overcome by using high-purity water, free of air and other substances. Scientists are also experimenting with liquids other than waterdenser liquids such as hydrofluoric acidwhich may allow the wavelength to be shrunk still further, thus producing even smaller chips. IBM have already successfully implemented immersion lithography on some of their production lines and created a fully-functioning microprocessor. IBM also claim that they are able to produce microchips with very few defects. Although immersion lithography is very new, it is highly promising as it will make the production of 45 nm and 32 nm chips commercially viable. It is a significant milestone in chip manufacturing and will help to bring the costs of the chip down without fundamentally changing the microchip production processes. In the near future, the ground-breaking technology of immersion lithography will enable computer manufacturers to make powerful microchips that will be used in electronic devices smaller than a coin. This will open up new opportunities in the ever-shrinking world of digital technology.

Hypothesis: The first electronic computer weighed more than the first mechanical prototype.


Hypothesis: Computers started to shrink with the invention of the microchip.


Hypothesis: In early 1950s engineers used ultraviolet rays to build the first microchip.


Hypothesis: X-ray lithography is an inexpensive alternative technology to lithographic etching.


Hypothesis: Immersion lithography has enabled microchip manufacturers to produce higher quality computer chips.


Premise: Water occupies 71% of our planet. About 96.5% of the water found on Earth is not readily available for human consumption, and resides in the oceans and seas. Out of the remaining 3.5%, 1.7% can be found in groundwater, 1.7% in glaciers and ice caps in Antarctica and Greenland and 0.001% in the air as vapour and clouds. Water moves continually through the water cycle of evaporation and transpiration, condensation, precipitation and runoff, usually reaching the sea. Whereas evaporation refers to the phase shift of any liquid to gas, transpiration is the process of water movement through a plant. Runoff is the flow of water over the Earth's surface. It's created when too much rain falls, and there is no more room in the soil to absorb more water. One of the reasons seas are salty is because they contain large amounts of highly soluble salts (such as sodium and chloride) which were washed away by runoff water on its way to the sea.

Hypothesis: Taking into account the water found in ice caps in Greenland and Antarctica, water constitutes over 71% of our planet.


Hypothesis: Water content in glaciers is not considered to be groundwater.


Hypothesis: The runoff stage in the water cycle takes the longest amount of time.


Premise: Water stress and scarcity Water stress and scarcity occur when there is an imbalance between the availability of water and the demand for water. When we hear people talking about water stress and scarcity, we often think of drought but this is only one of several causes. Alex Karpov, a representative from the WHO explains some of the other issues that also impact the availability of fresh water, The deterioration of ground water and surface water quality, competition for water between different segments of society, for example, between agricultural, industrial, and domestic users, and even social and financial barriers, are all causes of water stress and scarcity today. While approximately three quarters of the earth are covered with water only a small proportion of it is available as fresh water. Of the available fresh water supplies, nearly 70% is withdrawn and used for irrigation to produce food, and the demand just keep growing. Although there is currently no global scarcity of water, more and more regions of the world are chronically short of water. At present, 1.1 billion people have little choice but to use potentially harmful sources of water, and 2.6 billion people, which is around half the developing world, lack access to adequate sanitation. As Kathie Coles, an executive from the charity World of Water, describes, the situation will deteriorate. Over the next 20 years, an estimated 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with an absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world population may be under pressure conditions. This situation will only worsen, as rapidly growing urban areas place heavy pressure on water supplies. Of course, there have been different initiatives put into place around the world to help with water stress and scarcity. With larger scale projects, such as the construction of piper water systems, remain important objectives of many development agencies, a shortage of time and finances will leave hundreds of millions of people without access to safe water in the foreseeable future. Georgina Ronaldson, a spokesperson for the World Bank, recently announced a way to deal with the current difficulties. To help developing countries, various concerned organisations have developed the Safe Water System (SWS), which is an adaptable and flexible intervention that employs scientific methods appropriate for the developing world. The SWS has been criticised in various corners as being too amateurish, but Ronaldson continues to justify the approach. The use of relevant technologies is important, an in many places around the world, water provision efforts suffer from a lack of technical knowledge to effectively manage or adapt a system to a communitys changing needs. The SWS is a community-based, integrative approach to improving health and quality of life through increased access to improve water, sanitation and hygiene. Darren Stanford, a water quality engineer, explains the important three step methodology. The first is an assessment of water delivery system from catchment to consumer. The second is implementing appropriate interventions, which can include protection of source waters, improvements to the water deliver systems, introduction of SWS, improved sanitation and hygiene education. The third is the evaluation of the impact of the intervention of the health and quality of life of the consumers. One example of how poor water access can affect local populations is the problems of guinea worms in remote parts of Africa. This is a preventable parasitic infection that affects poor communities that lack safe drinking water. The infection is transmitted to people who drink water containing copepods (tiny water fleas) that are infected with the larvae of guinea worms. Once ingested these larvae take up to one year to grow into adult worms; the female worms then emerge from the skin anywhere on the body. Will Goodman, a doctor with WHO, says that this can affect communities in different ways. The emergence of the adult female worm can be very painful, slow and disabling and prevents people from working in their fields, tending their animals, going to school, and caring for their families. Currently many organisations are helping the last nine endemic countries (all in Sub-Saharan Africa) to eradicate guinea worm. Since the Guinea Worm Eradication programme began, the incidence of guinea worm has declined from 1.5 million cases per year in 20 endemic countries to 25,018 reported cases in 2008 from the nine remaining endemic countries. The eradication efforts make use of simple intervention for providing safe drinking water including using cloth filters and pipe filters to strain the infected copepods from water, applying chemicals to the water supplies to kill the larvae, and preventing infected people from entering and contaminating the water supplies, as the worms emerge from their skins. Providing borehole wells and other supplies of water in endemic village is another important component of the eradication efforts. The provision of borehole well is one of the principal aims of SWS. Many existing dug wells in communities only pierce the topsoil, do not reach deep enough and are therefore readily affected by drought or by the natural declines from summer to autumn in the water table. SWS borehole wells can pierce the bedrock and access a deeper aquifer with water that is not affected by surface drought. These are also unaffected by guinea worm infestation and water is much safer for human consumption.

Hypothesis: Majority of water available on earth is drinkable.


Hypothesis: SWS focuses on providing boreholes to eradicate the problem of guinea worms.


Hypothesis: Guinea worms in only found in Arica.


Hypothesis: One of main reasons behind declining availability of water is demand from different working segments of society.


Hypothesis: The SWS has been appreciated worldwide.


Hypothesis: SWS has been implemented in more than 30 countries.


Premise: Water, the most common liquid used for cleaning, has a property called surface tension. Molecules in the body of the water are surrounded by other molecules, but at the surface a tension is created as molecules are only surrounded by other molecules on the waterside. This tension inhibits the cleaning process, as it slows the wetting of surface due to tension causing the water to bead up. This is where water droplets hold their shape and do not spread. For effective cleaning to take place surface tension must be reduced so that water can spread. Surface active agents, or surfactants, are chemicals, which are able to do this effectively.

Hypothesis: The molecules on the waterside hinder the cleaning process.


Hypothesis: Surface-active agents, or surfactants, are only used for cleaning.


Hypothesis: Water is the only known liquid used for cleaning.


Hypothesis: If surfactant chemicals are added to water when cleaning a surface, surface tension will occur.


Premise: Water, the most common liquid used for cleaning, has a property called surface tension. Molecules in the body of the water are surrounded by other molecules, but at the surface a tension is created as molecules are only surrounded by other molecules on the waterside. This tension inhibits the cleaning process, as it slows the wetting of surface due to tension causing the water to bead up. This is where water droplets hold their shape and do not spread. For effective cleaning to take place surface tension must be reduced so that water can spread. Surface-active agents, or surfactants, are chemicals, which are able to do this effectively.


Premise: Water, the most common liquid used for cleaning, has a property called surface tension. Molecules in the body of the water are surrounded by other molecules, but at the surface a tension is created as molecules are only surrounded by other molecules on the waterside. This tension inhibits the cleaning process, as it slows the wetting of surfaces due to tension causing the water to bead up. This is where water droplets hold their shape and do not spread. For effective cleaning to take place surface tension must be reduced so that water can spread. Surface-active agents, or surfactants, are chemicals which are able to do this effectively.


Hypothesis: the molecules on the waterside hinder the cleaning process.


Hypothesis: surface active agents, or surfactants, are only used for cleaning.


Premise: Waterfalls Waterfalls are places where rivers or streams direct their flow over vertical drops. They have always been a lure for their scenic beauty or, in the case of the biggest, their ability to showcase natures might and majesty. Niagara Falls, on the border of Canada and America (discharging the most water of all), is a magnet for visitors, as is Victoria Falls, also straddling an international boundary between Zimbabwe and Zambia, and presenting the single largest sheet of falling water in the world. Similarly, the remoteness and inaccessibility of the highest waterfall, Angel Falls, located deep in the middle of the Venezuelan jungle, has not stopped it from becoming one of the countrys top tourist attractions. There are many possible causes of waterfalls, but a common one is differences in rock type. When a river flows over a resistant rock bed, erosion is slow, but with the complex geological faulting of the Earths surface, softer patches of rock can be exposed. The water cuts into this, resulting in a minor turbulence at the boundary, stirring up pebbles and grit from the riverbed, which increases the erosive capacity of the current. And so a process begins whereby the river takes on two tiers, or levels, and a waterfall is born. Other more abrupt causes of waterfalls are earthquakes or landslides, which create fault lines in the land, or divert watercourses, respectively. Additionally, during past ice ages, glaciers scoured out many deep basins. These glaciers may have disappeared, but their feeder rivers can continue to flow as waterfalls into the remaining depressions. Obviously then, waterfalls come in a variety of shapes and sizes, as different as the local geology in which they are found, and this has resulted in an abundance of descriptive terms. The word cataract refers simply to a large powerful waterfall, while a cascade descends a series of rock steps. If these steps are very distinct, it is a tiered waterfall, and if each step is larger still, of approximately the same size, and with a significant pool of water at each base, it is known as a multi-step waterfall. If the falling water engages with the rock face, it often widens, to be called a horsetail waterfall, while if it does not touch the rock face at all, it is a plunge waterfall often the most picturesque. Regardless of such differences, all waterfalls have in common a vertical height and average flow of water. These features, taken together, are a measure of the waterfalls power, quantified using a ten-point logarithmic scale. Giant falls, such as Niagara, are graded at the very top of this scale, find smaller falls, which may occur in town creeks, at the bottom. Another common feature of larger falls is a plunge pool. This is caused by the rubble at the base of the falls, which is stirred and broken into smaller pieces. In the never-ending eddies and whirlpools, these pieces scour out a deep underwater basin. An interesting consequence is that such falls are in the process of retreat, since the softer material at the lower face suffers undercutting. This gives rise to rock shelters behind the falling water, which steadily become larger until the roof collapses, and the waterfall retreats significantly backward into the Earth. Of course, to people at large, a waterfall seems fixed and forever. Erosion is indeed a slow process; however, given a sufficiently powerful waterfall and the right sort of rock, the retreat can be over a meter a year. This would be clearly observable over a persons life time, and a fast-motion view, spanning several decades, would see an essentially unchanged height of falling water burrowing backwards with surprising evenness. Since this motion is towards higher elevations or through more hilly terrain, a host of geological features can be laid in the waterfalls retreating path. Victoria Falls are a prime example, with its lower reaches characterised by spectacular islands, gorges, and rock formations. This retreat occasionally causes problems, as can be seen with Niagara Falls. In just over ten millennia, the falls have moved almost 11 kilometres upstream. Since the Niagara river marks the border of Canada and America, as agreed in 1819, the detectable retreat of these falls since that time technically means that the Canadian frontier has advanced forward at the expense of America, although this argument has obviously caused dispute. More practically, with so much infrastructure, such as hotels, roads, bridges, and scenic viewpoints, all rigidly established, it remains important to limit the erosion. For this reason, the exposed ridges of the falls have been extensively strengthened, and underwater barriers installed to divert the more erosive of river currents. The most ambitious erosion-control measure took place in 1969 on Niagaras American Falls, whose retreat was nibbling away at American territory. The branch of the Niagara river which feeds these subsidiary falls was dammed, allowing the main Horseshoe Falls to absorb the excess flow. The then-completely-dry-and-exposed river bottom and cliff face allowed a team of US-army engineers to use bolts, cement, and brackets, to strengthen any unstable rock. Five months later, the temporary dam was destroyed with explosives, returning water to the falls, but with the inexorable erosion process having been slowed considerably.

Hypothesis: Glaciers have produced the most waterfalls.


Hypothesis: Landslides can create waterfalls faster than erosion.


Hypothesis: Niagara, Victoria, and Angel Falls are on international boundaries.


Hypothesis: Niagara is a Grade Ten waterfall.


Hypothesis: A tiered waterfall has the largest steps.


Premise: Waterways. At the height of the Industrial Revolution in the mid-19th century, huge quantities of coal had to be transported from the pithead for iron smelting, manufacturing and domestic use. Coastal shipping, navigable rivers and horse-drawn carts were either slow or restrictive in comparison to the new purpose-built canals. A horse could pull a narrowboat weighing 50 times as much as a cart. The UK soon developed a national network of canals and by the middle of the 19th century almost all major towns and cities had a canal. At the same time, there was controversy as to the rival merits of transporting coal by canal or by railway. Stephensons locomotive could transport vast quantities of coal and other goods more quickly than by canal and also offered a new means of passenger transport. The canal network was doomed, and investment was redirected into railways, with local lines laid down in the coal districts developed into a national system for the whole of the country. Road haulage in the 20th century brought more competition for canals, and only a few remained open until the Second World War. Further declines were inevitable, and the use of canals for industrial purposes was minimal in the 1960s. However, interest in canals for leisure purposes had begun to grow, and some were restored and reopened by volun- teers in the 1970s. This trend has continued, with canals attracting government funding for restoration projects. Canals are now a major tourist industry, with more than 10 million visitors per year and 30,000 craft. Today there are more boats on the canals than at the height of the Industrial Revolution.

Hypothesis: There are more narrowboats on the canals today than at the height of the Industrial Revolution.


Hypothesis: A network of canals was in place before a national system of railways.


Hypothesis: The 1960s saw more interest in canals for leisure than for industry.


Hypothesis: Stephensons locomotive succeeded because it could transport vast quantities of coal.


Premise: Waves become swell when they leave the area of wind in which they were generated. Long after the wind that created it has stopped blowing, swell can continue to travel for thousands of miles and have a life span dependent on its wave length and the extent of ocean. The longer the wave the faster it travels and given sufficient sea room the longer it continues to travel. Wind can generate waves that travel faster than the wind itself and after a few hours of blowing the wave can be a long way ahead of the wind. At sea the arrival of a swell can be an indication of bad weather to come. If a long low swell arrives and it steadily increases in height then you should prepare for an approaching gale. If the swell remains long and low then it is likely that the wind that generated it is a long way away and you will escape it. Sometimes a swell generated far away crosses the waves generated by another wind. This can lead to a confused and in the extreme a dangerous sea state.

Hypothesis: The sentence wind can generate waves that travel faster than the wind itself and after a few hours of blowing the wave can be a long way ahead of the wind would be more correct if it read Wind can generate waves that travel faster than the wind itself and after a few hours of blowing the swell can be a long way ahead of the wind.


Hypothesis: The views expressed in the passage are a statement of the findings of experimental investigations.


Premise: We are such optimists and opportunists that we find it hard not to adopt every new technology as soon as it comes along. As a result, we tend to discover the adverse consequences of these new practices the hard way. When problems emerge, as they inevitably seem to do, we set about a search for a better technology to help solve or alleviate the problems created by the first. However, some commentators argue that the debate over the introduction of new technology to genetically modify crops was not about an existing technology but about a proposed one, and for once they claim we tried to identify the benefits and risks before running blindly into them. The example is held up as a new way of assessing technologies before adopting them, and governments are urged to require companies to test and environmentally model new technologies before they are introduced. The difficulty with such a recommendation to governments is that not all will adopt them and most new technologies are introduced by multinational companies that exist beyond the control of one or a few governments. These companies therefore can choose to avoid new controls over their commercial activities by simply taking their developmental work elsewhere.

Hypothesis: Some governments are already requiring companies to test and environmentally model the impact of new technologies before introducing them.


Hypothesis: If our government were to adopt the recommendation then we could look forward to no longer lurching from one failed technology to the next.


Hypothesis: Environmental problems such as acid rain or ozone depletion might have been avoided had the new approach been adopted in the past.


Premise: We freeze some moments in time. Every culture has its frozen moments, events so important and personal that they transcend the normal flow of news. Americans of a certain age, for example, know precisely where they were and what they were doing when they learned that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had died. Another generation has absolute clarity of John F. Kennedys assassination. And no one who was older than a baby on 11 th September, 2001, will ever forget hearing about, or seeing, aeroplanes flying into skyscrapers. In 1945, people gathered around radios for the immediate news and stayed with the radio to hear more about their fallen leader and about the man who took his place. Newspapers printed extra editions and filled their columns with detail for days and weeks afterward. Magazines stepped back from the breaking news and offered perspective. 11 th September, 2001, followed a similarly grim pattern. We watched again and again the awful events. Consumers of news learned about the attacks, thanks to the television networks that showed the horror so graphically. Then we learned some of the hows and whys, as print publications and thoughtful broadcasters worked to bring depth to events that defied mere words. Journalists did some of their finest work and made me proud to be one of them. But something else, something profound, was happening this time around: news was being produced by regular people who had something to say and show, and not solely by the official news organisations that had traditionally decided how the first draft of history would look. This time, the first draft of history was being written in part, by the former audience. It was possible, it was inevitable, because of new publishing tools available on the Internet.

Hypothesis: The author of this passage is a journalist.


Premise: We have all heard about bullying in schools, but bullying in the workplace is a huge problem in the UK which results in nearly 19 million days of lost output per year and costs the country 6 billion pounds annually. Workplace bullying is the abuse of a position of power by one individual over another. Otherwise known as harassment, intimidation, aggression, coercive management and by other euphemisms, bullying in the workplace can take many forms involving gender, race or age. In a nutshell, workplace bullying means behaviour that is humiliating or offensive towards some individual. This kind of bullying ranges from violence to less obvious actions like deliberately ignoring a fellow worker.

Hypothesis: Deliberately ignoring a colleague is a form of bullying.


Hypothesis: Bullying in the workplace hinders UK economic output.


Hypothesis: Another name for workplace bullying is coercive management.


Hypothesis: Bullying in the workplace is sometimes caused by religious intolerance.


Premise: We know the city where HIV first emerged It is easy to see why AIDS seemed so mysterious and frightening when US medics first encountered it 35 years ago. The condition robbed young, healthy people of their strong immune system, leaving them weak and vulnerable. And it seemed to come out of nowhere. Today we know much more how and why HIV the virus that leads to AIDS has become a global pandemic. Unsurprisingly, sex workers unwittingly played a part. But no less important were the roles of trade, the collapse of colonialism, and 20th Century sociopolitical reform. HIV did not really appear out of nowhere, of course. It probably began as a virus affecting monkeys and apes in west central Africa. From there it jumped species into humans on several occasions, perhaps because people ate infected bushmeat. Some people carry a version of HIV closely related to that seen in sooty mangabey monkeys, for instance. But HIV that came from monkeys has not become a global problem. We are more closely related to apes, like gorillas and chimpanzees, than we are to monkeys. But even when HIV has passed into human populations from these apes, it has not necessarily turned into a widespread health issue. HIV originating from apes typically belongs to a type of virus called HIV-1. One is called HIV-1 group O, and human cases are largely confined to west Africa. In fact, only one form of HIV has spread far and wide after jumping to humans. This version, which probably originated from chimpanzees, is called HIV-1 group M (for major). More than 90% of HIV infections belong in group M. Which raises an obvious question: whats so special about HIV-1 group M? A study published in 2014 suggests a surprising answer: there might be nothing particularly special about group M. It is not especially infectious, as you might expect. Instead, it seems that this form of HIV simply took advantage of events. Ecological rather than evolutionary factors drove its rapid spread, says Nuno Faria at the University of Oxford in the UK. Faria and his colleagues built a family tree of HIV, by looking at a diverse array of HIV genomes collected from about 800 infected people from central Africa. Genomes pick up new mutations at a fairly steady rate, so by comparing two genome sequences and counting the differences they could work out when the two last shared a common ancestor. This technique is widely used, for example to establish that our common ancestor with chimpanzees lived at least 7 million years ago. RNA viruses such as HIV evolve approximately 1 million times faster than human DNA, says Faria. This means the HIV molecular clock ticks very fast indeed. It ticks so fast, Faria and his colleagues found that the HIV genomes all shared a common ancestor that existed no more than 100 years ago. The HIV-1 group M pandemic probably first began in the 1920s. Then the team went further. Because they knew where each of the HIV samples had been collected, they could place the origin of the pandemic in a specific city: Kinshasa, now the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. At this point, the researchers changed tack. They turned to historical records to work out why HIV infections in an African city in the 1920s could ultimately spark a pandemic. A likely sequence of events quickly became obvious. In the 1920s, DR Congo was a Belgian colony and Kinshasa then known as Leopoldville had just been made the capital. The city became a very attractive destination for young working men seeking their fortunes, and for sex workers only too willing to help them spend their earnings. The virus spread quickly through the population. It did not remain confined to the city. The researchers discovered that the capital of the Belgian Congo was, in the 1920s, one of the best connected cities in Africa. Taking full advantage of an extensive rail network used by hundreds of thousands of people each year, the virus spread to cities 900 miles (1500km) away in just 20 years. Everything was in place for an explosion in infection rates in the 1960s. The beginning of that decade brought another change. Belgian Congo gained its independence, and became an attractive source of employment to French speakers elsewhere in the world, including Haiti. When these young Haitians returned home a few years later they took a particular form of HIV-1 group M, called subtype B, to the western side of the Atlantic. It arrived in the US in the 1970s, just as sexual liberation and homophobic attitudes were leading to concentrations of gay men in cosmopolitan cities like New York and San Francisco. Once more, HIV took advantage of the sociopolitical situation to spread quickly through the US and Europe. There is no reason to believe that other subtypes would not have spread as quickly as subtype B, given similar ecological circumstances, says Faria. The story of the spread of HIV is not over yet. For instance, in 2015 there was an outbreak in the US state of Indiana, associated with drug injecting. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been analyzing the HIV genome sequences and data about location and time of infection, says Yonatan Grad at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts. These data help to understand the extent of the outbreak, and will further help to understand when public health interventions have worked. This approach can work for other pathogens. In 2014, Grad and his colleague Marc Lipsitch published an investigation into the spread of drug-resistant gonorrhoea across the US. Because we had representative sequences from individuals in different cities at different times and with different sexual orientations, we could show the spread was from the west of the country to the east, says Lipsitch. Whats more, they could confirm that the drug-resistant form of gonorrhoea appeared to have circulated predominantly in men who have sex with men. That could prompt increased screening in these at-risk populations, in an effort to reduce further spread. In other words, there is real power to studying pathogens like HIV and gonorrhoea through the prism of human society.

Hypothesis: Humans are not closely related to monkey.


Hypothesis: It is believed that HIV appeared out of nowhere.


Hypothesis: HIV-1 group O originated in 1920s.


Hypothesis: HIV-1 group M has something special.


Hypothesis: Human DNA evolves approximately 1 million times slower than HIV.


Hypothesis: The most important role in developing AIDS as a pandemia was played by sex workers.


Hypothesis: Scientists believe that HIV already existed in 1920s.


Hypothesis: AIDS were first encountered 35 years ago.


Premise: We like to think of ourselves as unique but we are in fact 99.9 per cent genetically identical. DNA, which comprises the chemical code, governs the construction and function of every cell in our body. The Human Genome Project mapped the sequence for human DNA and provided a blueprint of the DNA shared by every person. But what of the 0.1 per cent that is not common to all mankind and was left out of the Human Genome Project blueprint? It is responsible for all individual idiosyncrasies and the differences between racial and ethnic groups. If it were not for this minute percentage there would be no individual differences. We would be clones. Individual differences could be greatly increased if we were to think the unthinkable and allow genetic engineering of the human DNA. This would involve inserting genes from one cell into another and changing that cells DNA and its characteristics. In theory it would be possible to take the DNA from an entirely different species and insert it into human cells. Such radical modifications could certainly make us much more unique.

Hypothesis: A word that means the same as blueprint is design.


Hypothesis: It can be inferred from the passage that a DNA molecule is contained in the nucleus of every cell in our body.