Science 2006: The Year in Medicine, Space and the Environment
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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Mario Ritter.
And I'm Bob Doughty. This week, we talk about last year. We tell
about some important science stories of two thousand six --
discoveries in medicine, space and the environment. Some of the
biggest science stories last year were in health and medicine.
And two of them came late in two thousand six. First is a major
finding about the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In
December, AIDS researchers announced findings about adult male
circumcision. Two studies in Africa found that circumcised men
had about half the risk of getting HIV from sex with women as
uncircumcised men had. The studies took place in Kenya and
Uganda. HIV rates are generally lower in areas of the world
where the removal of the foreskin from the penis is common in
babies or young boys. The findings of the African studies were
so clear that the United St