Richard Firestone

BBC Learning English

People and places

Richard Firestone

Dima: Hello, I'm Dima, and today our guest is Richard

Firestone, an American

scientist in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who has

recently been involved in a fascinating research into an

unusual 'meteor', that's a piece of rock or other matter

from space.
Firestone - taster 0'12"

We think that this impact was the air burst, or an

explosion in the air, of a meteor, so anything underneath 1

this impact was likely to be injured or killed …

Dima: Richard Firestone explaining the theory behind a

unique discovery: ancient animal bodies pierced with small

pieces of matter which scientists believe came from outer

space some 35,000 years ago. As you can imagine, with a
topic like this we're certain to hear a number of words and

expressions that can be used when talking about science,

and in particular, about natural history. Words like

'impact', meaning the force of one object hitting another;

'burst' and
'explosion', both meaning a blast, or sudden expanding

after a release of energy;

'meteor' - a piece of rock or other matter from space that

produces a bright light as it travels through the Earth's

atmosphere; and 'shrapnel' - small pieces of matter that

cover an area in a blast, usually causing damage or death.

Let's now listen to Richard Firestone as he describes what

his team thinks happened to
the meteor, but before we listen, here's a quick reminder 2

of the words to look out for: 'impact', 'burst',

'explosion', 'meteor' and 'shrapnel'.
Firestone 0'18"
We think that this impact was the air burst, or an

explosion in the air, of a meteor. Probably an iron meteor,

right, that came in over Siberia and Alaska and exploded

maybe several miles up in the air sending shrapnel,

essentially 3, in all directions.
 
Dima: So to sum up, when the meteor entered the

atmosphere, there was an impact that caused a burst, or an

explosion in the air, and as a result of the explosion many

small pieces, or shrapnel, covered a large area. Listen

again and as you're listening, try to find answers to these

questions: first, which two regions of the Earth did the

meteor fly over? And second, how high above the ground did

the explosion happen?
Firestone 0'18"

We think that this impact was the air burst, or an

explosion in the air, of a meteor. Probably an iron meteor,

right, that came in over Siberia and Alaska and exploded

maybe several miles up in the air sending shrapnel,

essentially, in all directions.

Dima: So which two regions of the planet did the meteor

travel over? Richard
Firestone mentions Siberia and Alaska. And how high above

the Earth's surface did the blast happen? The answer is -

'several miles up in the air'.

Sting

Dima: Today we're talking about a unique discovery -

ancient animal bodies severely 4 damaged by particles, that

is small pieces of matter, from a burst meteor. But why are

scientists so excited by this find? Surely our planet has

been hit by meteors and comets uncounted number of times!

Well, as Richard Firestone
will explain, it's true that meteors are known to have

killed off whole species of animals, but not directly:

usually this happened because of resulting climate changes.

In this case, the shrapnel affected 5 animals in a direct

way, damaging their body parts or even killing 6 them.

Although Richard Firestone doesn't mention them, he means

'mammoths' - large hairy elephant type animals which no

longer exist. And how do we know this? Well, because, as

you're about to hear, he does mention particular body parts

which mammoths had. See if you can spot the word for these

body parts. Here's a clue: this word appears right at the

end of the clip and means pointed 8 teeth which stick out

from some animals' mouths:
 Firestone 0'12"

And these animals were lying under it, so anything

underneath this impact was likely to be injured or killed

by these things. Because there was one every few

centimetres, hitting these tusks 10.

Dima: Did you manage to spot the word for large pointed

teeth? It was 'tusks'. And if you're still not sure what

tusks are, take a look at the picture on the web page where

you can see an artist's impression of a mammoth 7 - just

visit bbclearningenglish.com and follow the link to People

and places. In a moment we'll hear from Richard Firestone

again, but just before that, here again is today's

vocabulary:

'meteor'

'impact'

'a burst'

'an explosion'

'shrapnel'

'a mammoth' and

'a tusk 9'.

Firestone 0'30"

We think that this impact was the airburst, or an explosion

in the air, of a meteor. Probably an iron meteor, right,

that came in over Siberia and Alaska and exploded maybe

several miles up in the air sending shrapnel, essentially,

in all directions. And these animals were lying under it,

so anything underneath this impact was likely to be injured

or killed by these things. Because there was one every few

centimetres, hitting these tusks.