Mountain Views News          Saturday, August 30, 2014

B2

THE WORLD AROUND US

Mountain Views-News Saturday, August 30, 2014 


NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft Crosses

Neptune Orbit En Route to Historic Pluto Encounter


NASA’s Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft has 
traversed the orbit of Neptune. It is due to make a 
close encounter with distant Pluto on July 14, 2015.

 The sophisticated piano-sized spacecraft, which 
launched in January 2006, reached Neptune’s 
orbit on Aug. 25, 2014, in a record eight years and 
eight months. New Horizons’ milestone matches 
precisely the 25th anniversary of the historic 
encounter of NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft with 
Neptune on Aug. 25, 1989.

 “It’s a cosmic coincidence that connects one of 
NASA’s iconic past outer solar system explorers 
with our next outer solar system explorer,” said 
Jim Green, director of NASA’s Planetary Science 
Division. “Exactly 25 years ago at Neptune, 
Voyager 2 delivered our ‘first’ look at an unexplored 
planet. Now it will be New Horizons’ turn to reveal 
the unexplored Pluto and its moons in stunning 
detail next summer on its way into the vast outer 
reaches of the solar system.”

 “NASA’s Voyager 1 and 2 explored the entire 
middle zone of the solar system where the giant 
planets orbit,” said Alan Stern, New Horizons 
principal investigator at the Southwest Research 
Institute in Boulder, Colo. “Now we stand on 
Voyager’s broad shoulders to explore the even 
more distant and mysterious Pluto system.”

 Several senior members of the New Horizons 
science team were young members of Voyager’s 
science team in 1989. Many remember how 
Voyager 2’s approach-images of Neptune and its 
planet-sized moon Triton fueled anticipation of the 
discoveries to come.

 “The feeling 25 years ago was that this was really 
cool, because we’re going to see Neptune and Triton 
up-close for the first time,” said Ralph McNutt of 
the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics 
Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., who leads the 
New Horizons energetic-particle investigation and 
served on the Voyager plasma-analysis team. “The 
same is happening for New Horizons.”

 Voyager’s visit to the Neptune system revealed 
previously unseen features of Neptune itself, such 
as the Great Dark Spot, a massive storm similar 
to, but not as long-lived, as Jupiter’s Great Red 
Spot. Voyager also, for the first time, captured clear 
images of the ice giant’s ring system, too faint to be 
clearly viewed from Earth. “There were surprises 
at Neptune and there were surprises at Triton,” said 
Ed Stone, Voyager’s long-standing project scientist 
from Caltech. “I’m sure that will continue at Pluto.”

 Many researchers feel the 1989 Neptune flyby—
Voyager’s final planetary encounter—might have 
offered a preview of what’s to come next summer. 
Scientists suggest that Triton, with its icy surface, 
bright poles, varied terrain and cryo-volcanoes, is a 
Pluto-like object that Neptune pulled into orbit.

 “There is a lot of speculation over whether Pluto 
will look like Triton, and how well they’ll match 
up,” McNutt said. “That’s the great thing about 
first-time encounters like this—we don’t know 
exactly what we’ll see, but we know from decades 
of experience in first-time exploration of new 
planets that we will be very surprised.”

 Voyager 1 and 2 were launched 16 days apart 
in 1977. Voyager 1 is now the most distant 
human-made object, about 12 billion miles away 
from the Sun. Voyager 2 is 9 billion miles from 
the Sun.

 Similar to Voyager 1 and 2, New Horizons also is 
on a path toward potential discoveries in the Kuiper 
Belt—a disc-shaped region of icy objects past the 
orbit of Neptune—as well as other unexplored 
realms of the outer solar system and beyond.

You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@
MtnViewsNews.com.


HOW TO DEAL WITH A SORE THROAT AND COUGHING 

USING NATURE’S MEDICINE CHEST 

By Christopher Nyerges


It seems that 
sore throats and 
coughs have 
afflicted people 
forever, whether 
resulting from 
the proximate 
causes of 
pollen, dust, 
woodsmoke, or 
from talking 
too much, or yelling, or even from “catching” 
something from another person. 

 Fortunately, there are quite a few natural 
remedies which help relieve the pain and 
discomfort of coughs and sore throats, and many 
of these have been used for at least centuries. 

 Each of the plants described are commonly 
available in the wild, and typically can be 
purchased in the dried form in herb shops. 

MALLOW

 The various mallows have been used to soothe 
a sore throat for centuries. In fact, even the 
ancient Egyptians used one of the mallows for this 
purpose.

 In the United States, the common mallow 
(Malva parviflora) is a widespread “weed” of 
vacant lots and fields. It is sometimes referred to 
as poverty weed or cheeseweed. In fact, the tender 
leaves of mallow are tasty in salads, added to soup, 
and can be cooked with other vegetables or like 
spinach. They are high in vitamin C.

 In Mexico, mallow leaves (known as malva) 
have long been chewed so that the slightly 
mucilaginous quality can soothe a sore throat. 
Herbalists consider the mallow leaves an emollient 
and a demulcent. Whether the leaves are eaten, 
or made into a tea, this plant helps to relieve 
inflammation, especially to the throat.

HOREHOUND

 The horehound (Marrubium vulgare) is a bitter 
mint, native to Europe, which has now naturalized 
throughout the entire United States. It is called 
marrubio in Mexico, where it also grows in the 
wild. When you see it in the wild, it is an obvious 
mint, yet it lacks any strong aroma so typical of 
most mints. However, you’ll see the square stem, 
the opposite leaves, and the wrinkled leaves on 
horehound which makes it easy to recognize.

 Do any of you remember horehound candy? 
This was a popular “old-fashioned” cough drop, 
made by boiling the horehound leaves, straining 
out the leaves, and adding sugar or honey to the 
liquid. It is then cooked until it is thick enough 
to harden. (Recipes for horehound candy can be 
found in most candy-making books).

 Horehound is made into a tea, which is very 
bitter and unpleasant. No one would ever drink 
it if it weren’t so effective. Besides soothing a sore 
throat and a cough, horehound is an expectorant, 
which means it can help clear your throat when it 
is congested. 

 To make horehound tea, I collect the young 
leaves in the spring. They can be used fresh or 
dried. I place about one teaspoon of the herb into 
my cup, pour boiling water over it, cover it, and let 
it sit until it is cool enough to drink. The flavor? 
Terrible! Its bitterness must be experienced to 
understand. So add honey and lemon juice to 
your horehound tea to make it more palatable. 
The honey and lemon are also good for your sore 
throat. 

MULLEIN

 Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is another 
European native that has now naturalized 
throughout the entire United States. It is 
particularly common in dry waste areas 
throughout the Southwest. I can recall driving 
to the Grand Canyon once, and the dominant 
roadside plant was mullein.

 Mullein leaves feel like flannel or chamois cloth. 
The plant produces large basal leaves the first year, 
and then in the second year it sends up a seed spike 
that can reach up to four and five feet. 

 To make a tea, use the first year leaves of mullein, 
and infuse them. There is not much flavor, so I 
typically add mint to mullein tea. Mullein acts 
like a mild sedative on the lungs, and it helps to 
relieve the roughness in the throat common with 
coughs and some fevers. 

MORMON TEA

 Throughout the Southwestern United States 
is found a stick-like plant called Mormon Tea 
(Ephedra sp.). It is common in the California 
high deserts, in the Great Basin area, throughout 
Southern Colorado, and downa into Texas. It is 
commonly available at herb stores. 

The plant appears as a low shrub, with branched 
needle-like segments, with scales at the nodes. 

 In China, a related member of the Ephedra 
genus is the source of the drug ephedrine, which 
is used as a decongestant and a bronchial dilator. 
Though the wild U.S. species contain much less 
ephedrine, they are nevertheless useful in home 
remedies where there are breathing problems 
associated with coughs and colds. Typically, the 
stems are brewed into a tea at low temperatures in 
a covered pot. There is a mild but distinctive flavor 
and aroma that I like. 

 No doubt there are many, many other remedies 
for coughs and sore throats. Included here were 
just a few of the common wild plants which are 
safe and easy to use.

[Nyerges is the author of “Guide to Wild Foods” and 
“Foraging California” which describe these plant 
medicines in more detail. He has led wild food and 
survival skills walks since 1974. He can be reached 
at Box 41834, Eagle Rock, CA 90041 or www.
SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com.]