Ebola Outbreak Could Become the Deadliest Ever

That is a very serious warning. How bad are the numbers now?

Health officials say there have been at least 4,300 cases.

They say there have been more than 2,000 deaths.

The outbreak was declared on 15 May.

But officials believe it began earlier, in February.

So the virus was spreading for weeks before people gave it a name.

Yes.

That made the response slower.

And it made things harder.

Where is this happening, and why is it so hard to control?

It is in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, near Bunia.

The area has instability.

So health workers can reach only about 30% of cases.

Only 30%?

That shows how difficult the work is.

It does.

The WHO Africa director said, "We chase the virus. It is ahead of us."

That sounds like a race the health teams are losing.

At the moment, yes.

The WHO says it hopes to bring transmission under control within three months.

But officials also say that does not mean the outbreak will end then.

So they are talking about control, not a full stop.

Exactly.

They also say this is the rare Bundibugyo type of Ebola.

There is no approved vaccine or medicine for this type yet.

That makes the next step feel even more urgent.

There is one hopeful sign.

The UK medicines regulator has allowed the first human trials of a vaccine.

The vaccine is being made by a team at the University of Oxford.

So there is progress, even if the outbreak is still spreading.

Yes.

The WHO also supports a trial of two antiviral treatments in Congo.

Doctors are still trying to save more lives while they fight the spread.

Physicists may be closer to finding glueballs.

Now we go to Noah, our LinguaWire correspondent for technology.

Yes, and this is a big step for particle physics.

Glueballs sound like something from a science fiction film. What are they?

They are particles made only of gluons.

Gluons are the tiny parts that hold quarks together.

They hold them inside protons and neutrons.

So this is about the stuff that makes up matter itself.

Exactly.

Physicists have looked for glueballs for years.

Theory says they should exist.

Now, researchers with the BES III experiment say they have found convincing new evidence.

What kind of evidence are we talking about?

The results were first shared in a preprint last month.

They were also presented at a conference on high energy physics last week.

So the work is new, but it still needs more checking.

That is right.

A preprint is not the final published paper.

Other scientists will still study the data closely.

Why have people looked in this area for so long?

Because glueballs are hard to catch.

They are very strange.

They can mix with other particles.

Researchers also think certain particle decays can make them easier to spot.

That gives the search a clear place to focus.

Yes.

One key particle is the J/psi particle.

When it decays, it makes many gluons and other particles.

And now they think one of those signals may be a glueball?

That is the idea.

The team says the new evidence is the strongest yet.

But they are still careful.

They do not say the question is fully solved.

I like that balance.

Strong evidence, but not a final answer.

Scientists usually need that caution.

In physics, a big claim needs strong proof.

Still, if confirmed, it would fill an old gap in the Standard Model.

First, three words from the health story.

deaths, people who died. In the story, officials said there were more than 2,000 deaths. Example: The floods caused many deaths.

cases, people who have a disease. In the story, health officials said there were 4,300 cases. Example: The clinic saw ten new cases yesterday.

under control, managed so it is not getting worse. In the story, the WHO hoped to bring transmission under control. Example: We need to get the fire under control.

Now one grammar point: be made of.

We use be made of to say what something is made from.

The particle is made of gluons.

This table is made of wood.

Repeat after me: is made of