 Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30-minute program from The Voice of America. I'm Ashley Thompson. And I'm Dan Novak. This program is designed for English learners, so we speak a little slower, and we use words and phrases, especially written for people learning English. Coming up on the program, Faith Perlow and Andrew Smith have a story on a kidnapping scam targeting Chinese students in the U.S. Gregory Stockle reports on a new study about an ancient species of great ape. Dan Friedle has the Health and Lifestyle report on an ultrasound tool that can help deliver Alzheimer treatments to the brain. Later, Andrew and Jill Robbins present the lesson of the day, but first... Late last month, 17-year-old Chinese student Kai Zhuang was reported missing near Salt Lake City in the American state of Utah. He was found days later, alone and cold in a tent in the mountains north of the city. Officials say the case was part of a cyber or online plan by criminals. The criminals tried to get $80,000 in ransom money by making Zhuang's family believe he had been kidnapped. Ransom is money that is paid to release a kidnapped person. Zhuang's case is one of many in which unknown criminals target Chinese students around the world and pretend to kidnap them. The criminals often pretend to be Chinese police or government officials. They convince the students to leave the places where they live and go stay at a hotel. Then they threaten the students' families and ask for tens of thousands of dollars for the release of their children. On January 3rd, just days after Kai Zhuang was found, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a warning about the fake kidnappings of Chinese people in the United States. Criminals have also attempted fake kidnappings of Chinese students in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan, VOA News found. It is not clear whether the criminals are working together or separately across these countries. Teresa Payton is Chief Executive Officer, or CEO, of the cyber security company Fortalus Solutions. She told VOA News that the complex relationship between the Chinese government and its citizens may move worldwide criminal groups to target Chinese students more than students from other countries. Other security experts say that the criminals pretend to be Chinese police or government officials for a reason. They are using the strong Chinese security system to their advantage. Chinese people are naturally afraid of the police, said Han Jiang Du Diao Seng, a pharmacist based in the United States. He runs accounts on YouTube and Weibo that are popular among Chinese exchange students. Seng has helped four Chinese students caught up in cyber kidnapping, he said. He explained to VOA News how the scam or illegal trick works. The criminals, pretending to be Chinese officials, first ask students if they have recently received money from their families. If they say yes, the criminals lie to the students. They may tell them that the money was sent illegally or they may tell them their families are targets of criminals. Then they tell the students to stop communicating with their family while officials look into the problem. Soon this makes the family believe their son or daughter has been kidnapped. In the cases Seng worked on, he said, the criminals forced all the students to leave where they lived and go stay at a hotel. This made their families believe the students were actually kidnapped. Seng said Chinese parents may be less likely to report their cases to American police. He noted that there is distrust among Chinese people of American police. Chinese state media often show American police as violent and irresponsible, Seng said. There is no clear information on the number of cyber kidnapping cases in the U.S. or around the world, cybersecurity experts told VOA. However, the number of cases appears to be growing. Improved technology, especially with artificial intelligence, AI, might make the cyber kidnappings easier for criminals, experts say. AI can create deep fakes. Deep fake audio and pictures can make it seem like victims have actually been kidnapped, said Peyton, the Ford Elise Solutions CEO. Joseph Steinberg is a cybersecurity expert based in New York City. He said improvements in AI mean that criminals do not even have to speak the same language as their victims. AI is only going to get better, and that means that the attacks will only be more and more realistic, he told VOA. Last February in Canada, police said Chinese students had been tricked out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by scammers, claiming to be Chinese government officials. In Japan last summer, at least six Chinese students were targeted in cyber kidnapping plans, local police said. The Chinese Embassy in Tokyo issued a warning about the scams in August. Police in Britain issued a warning about cyber scams targeting Chinese students in September. And in October, the Australian government issued a similar warning. Cyber security experts recommend families set up a password to check one another's identity over the phone during these kinds of situations. The cyber kidnapping scam very much can happen to anybody, Steinberg said. And that's what people need to be aware of. An ancient species of great ape likely disappeared hundreds of thousands of years ago when climate change put their favorite fruits out of reach during dry seasons, scientists recently reported. The species is known as Gigantopithecus blackie. It once lived in southern China. It stood three meters tall and weighed up to 295 kilograms. It represents the largest great ape known to scientists. It's just a massive animal, just really, really big, said Renault Joannès Boyo. He is a researcher at Australia's Southern Cross University. He helped write the study, which recently appeared in the publication Nature. But its size may also have been a weakness. Joannès Boyo said, when food starts to be scarce, it's so big it can't climb trees to explore new food sources. The huge apes likely looked similar to the modern orangutan. It survived for around two million years in the forested land of China's Guangxi area. They ate plants that included fruits and flowers until the environment began to change. Starting about 600,000 years ago, Guangxi's forests began producing fewer fruits. The area was experiencing more periods of dry weather. Researchers examined pollen and sediment found in underground areas called caves to learn more about the changes and their effects. The giant apes did not disappear quickly, the researchers say. They likely went extinct sometime between 215,000 and 295,000 years ago. As the climate changed, smaller apes may have been able to climb trees to search for different food. But the researchers found that the giant apes ate more food that provided less nutrients. That less nutritious food included tree bark and thin grasses called reeds. When the forest changed, there was not enough food preferred by the species, said Zhong Yingqi of China's Institute of Verdebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. He helped write the study. Most of what scientists know about the extinct great apes comes from studying their remains or fossils. The fossilized bones they studied included teeth and four large lower jaw bones. All of the fossils were found in southern China. No complete skeletons have been found. Between around 2 million and 22 million years ago, many species of great apes lived in Africa, Europe, and Asia fossil records show. Today, only gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, and humans remain. I'm Gregory Stockle. Researchers recently said a new tool that uses what is called focused ultrasound can help deliver important medicine to the brains of Alzheimer's patients. Alzheimer's is a disease that slowly reduces the brain function of patients, causing confusion and other problems. The new delivery method helps drugs remove the brain-clogging plaque the disease is known for. The small sound waves created by the ultrasound tool create openings in what is called the blood-brain barrier. It is the protective lining in blood vessels that prevents bacteria and other damaging substances from getting into the brain. However, the barrier also prevents Alzheimer's medication from getting into the brain. The new technique permits the medicine to get into the brain more easily and remove the plaque faster. So far, the tool has been used on only three patients. Each patient saw a faster removal of plaque than with a traditional treatment. Dr. Ali Rezai of West Virginia University's Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute led the study. Our goal is to give patients a head start, he said. Some of the new Alzheimer's treatments take a long time to work, he explained. But with the ultrasound tool, the drugs move into the brain faster. The medicine delivery requires three steps. First, doctors inject tiny bubbles into the bloodstream. Then patients put on a special head covering that permits doctors to send sound waves to an exact area of the brain. The waves vibrate the bubbles, which loosen the blood-brain barrier just enough for the drug to get in. Before Rezai's study, other researchers discovered the ultrasound technique was able to make small openings in the barrier. The openings closed up after 48 hours. Rezai's experiment showed that the technique could be used to deliver medicine. Many of the recently approved Alzheimer's treatments take a long time to work. Patients must come for injections every few weeks for 18 months. The new treatment offers hope that patients can get results faster. Why not try to clear the plaques within a few months, Rezai asked when discussing the reason behind his study? His team gave three patients a dose of the drug, Agi-helm, each month for six months. Right after each injection, his team aimed the focused ultrasound at part of the brain known to have the plaque buildup. As a result, more of the day's dose of the drug got through the blood-brain barrier. The team scanned the patient's brains before and after the treatment. After six months, scans showed a 32% reduction in plaque in the areas that were targeted compared to areas that were not targeted. Dr. Eleizer Moslia of the National Institute on Aging was not involved in the research. Moslia said the trial brings some hope for Alzheimer's patients. However, he advised that larger trials are needed. It's very exciting data, he said. It opens the door for more extensive larger studies. Moslia warned that one concern that must be investigated is whether the faster delivery of the drug will create side effects, such as swelling and brain bleeding. Rezai said he is about to start a new study using another Alzheimer's drug called Lekembi. He added that larger studies would be needed to see if combining focused ultrasound with Alzheimer's drugs makes a real difference for patients. Other researchers may start studying whether the technique works for the treatment of other diseases that affect the brain, such as cancer. I'm Dan Friedel. Dan Friedel joins me now to talk more about today's health story. Welcome, Dan. Thanks again for having me, Dan. Today's story was about a doctor in West Virginia who was testing a system that may help Alzheimer's patients get better results from some new treatments. Can you explain why Alzheimer's has been so difficult to treat until now? The problem is that Alzheimer's disease affects the brain, and the human brain has a special protective membrane that keeps bad things from directly entering the brain. That's a simple way to explain it, but the basic idea is that the barrier called the blood-brain barrier keeps bacteria and other harmful substances from entering the brain through the blood. The problem is that the barrier also blocks helpful substances, such as drugs that can treat diseases. Thanks. So tell us a little bit more about how this new system works and why it can make a difference in treating brain diseases. Well, Dan, the new Alzheimer's treatments approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration take a long time to work, and even after a year and a half, some patients do not see good results. Because of the blood-brain barrier, the drugs need to be strong, and they can have negative side effects. I saw a story that said only 1% of the beneficial antibodies from the drugs are able to enter the brain in traditional treatment. So this new system works to open the barrier for a short time and permits the helpful drugs to enter the brain. This does sound like a positive step forward for Alzheimer's patients. Are there any concerns about this treatment? Yes, Dan, there are some concerns. They mostly center on the fact that the trial in West Virginia did not test many patients. So while doctors are hopeful about the way this system works, they want to continue the tests on many more people to be sure it is safe. In addition, the tests needed to show the difference between using the focused ultrasound on one part of the brain and not another part of the brain. So even the patients involved in the test did not get the full benefit of the system. Well, it sounds like there's a lot of work to do, but this is a step in the right direction. Thanks for answering my questions today, Dan. You're welcome, Dan. Happy to help. VOA Learning English has launched a new program for children. It is called Let's Learn English with Anna. The new course aims to teach children American English through asking and answering questions and experiencing fun situations. For more information, visit our website learningenglish.boanews.com To the lesson of the day on the Learning English podcast, my name is Andrew Smith. And my name is Jill Robbins. Thanks for joining us. Today's lesson will help you learn more about the English you hear in our video series Let's Learn English. The series shows Anna Matteo in her work in life in Washington, D.C. Here's Anna introducing herself. Hello, my name is Anna Matteo. Today's lesson talks about the verbs hope and wish. Wish and hope are similar, but we generally say the word wish when we think it is unlikely that we can or will do something. So if I say, I hope I can finish my homework by tomorrow, that means I'm not sure I can finish it, but it also means I think I might be able to finish on time. But if I say, I wish I could finish my homework by tomorrow, that means I do not think it is possible for me to finish on time. And by saying wish, I express the idea that I want a situation that is different from my real situation. Andrew, is there something you cannot do but wish you could do? Hmm, that's a good question. I think I'm pretty happy with what I can do, but I wish I could speak more languages. I think I would like to speak Chinese. How about you, Jill? I wish I could go scuba diving. I have a certification, but I don't have the chance to go to a place to dive nowadays. Now let's listen to Anna in lesson 10 of level two of Let's Learn English. She is talking on the phone with her friend, Bruna. Be sure to listen for the verbs hope and wish. Hi, Anna. Hi, Bruna. What's up? I thought we could meet for lunch today. I wish I could, but I can't. I have to research Peru for a story. How's it going? Not so good. I've been reading about Peru and listening to Peruvian music. I really want to understand Peru. I hope it's enough. You should visit Peru. I wish you can. Bruna, I don't have the money or time to go to Peru. My deadline is tomorrow. No, I don't mean to really go there. The museum where I work is having a Peruvian festival today. At that last part, Anna got so excited when she heard about the festival that she just left her office and forgot to say goodbye on the phone. Now let's talk more about the verb wish. We wish for things we cannot do, be, or have at the present time. That's why when Bruna asked Anna to go to lunch, Anna said, I wish I could, but I can't. I have to research Peru for a story. For things we cannot do but wish to do, we add the modal could after the word wish. Listen to these three examples. I wish I could speak Chinese. I wish I could visit my family more often. I wish I could save more money. In those three examples, the speaker cannot speak Chinese, cannot visit family, and cannot save money. But the speaker wishes he could do those things. Next, for things we do not or cannot have, we put the word had after the word wish. Listen to these examples. We'll say what we don't have and then what we wish for. I don't have much time. I wish I had more time. I don't have many friends. I wish I had more friends. Next, for situations or states of being, we change the form of the verb be. After the word wish, we say were. Listen to these examples. We'll describe a situation and then say the different situation we wish for. I am not young. I wish I were younger. It is not sunny today. I wish it were sunny today. You are not here with me. I wish you were here with me. Now, here's one more example with Bruna and Anna. They meet at the museum. Listen for the verbs hope and wish. Don't forget this festival also shows Peruvian art. I hope I have time to see everything. Anna, I wish I could join you, but I have some work to do. Of course, of course. You go back to work. I'll check out the art. Andrew, I wish we had more time to give our listeners ways to practice using the verb wish. Me too, but don't worry. In our next lesson of the day, we're going to explain more and give our listeners ways they can practice using the verb wish. I hope they will listen to that lesson. Me too. And we hope you've enjoyed today's lesson. Remember that you can also find us on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. Thanks for listening. I'm Andrew Smith. And I'm Jill Robbins. And that's our program for today. Join us again tomorrow to keep learning English through stories from around the world. I'm Ashley Thompson. And I'm Dan Novak.