- Salsa Is Smart: Latin Dance May Boost Your Aging Brain-- article with video
- How Tiny Edible QR Code Technology Could Tackle Counterfeit Medicines - and Fake Whisky Too
- Softening Tough Tissue in Aging Ovaries may Help Fight Infertility
- Giant 300kg Stingray Breaks Record as Largest Freshwater Fish Ever Discovered
- The Outback Way: Is This the World's Emptiest Road?
- Bangladesh's Fiery, Inventive Spin on Rice
KMU Weekly: News around the World
Issue 24 - June 27,2022
Salsa Is Smart: Latin Dance May Boost Your Aging Brain-- article with video
騷莎舞很聰明：拉丁舞可以活化你老化的大腦
Health
Latin dance classes may be a great workout and social outlet, but new research suggests that learning the intricate steps of the salsa, samba and merengue may also improve your memory. About 12% of older Hispanics in the United States currently are living with an Alzheimer's disease diagnoses, the study noted. That number is estimated to increase by 832% by 2060. In the study, a Latin dance program was offered to more than 300 Spanish speakers over four years in Chicago. After eight months of classes, assessments found significant improvement in participants' working memory scores. Program participants reported feeling better overall, making friends and being better able to manage chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes.
--from U.S.News, article with video
拉丁舞課可能是一種很好的鍛鍊和社交方式，新的研究表示：學習騷莎舞、森巴和美倫格舞的複雜舞步能改善你的記憶力。研究指出，目前美國約有12%的年長西班牙裔人被診斷患有阿茲海默氏症。到2060年，預估數量將增加832%。在這項研究中，4年內在芝加哥對300多名西班牙語使用者提供了拉丁舞課程。在為期八個月的課程後，評估發現參與者的工作記憶得分顯著提高。計劃參與者回報說：能結交朋友、並能更有效地管理高血壓和糖尿病等慢性病症，使總體感覺更好。
--摘錄翻譯自U.S.News，原文含影片
How Tiny Edible QR Code Technology Could Tackle Counterfeit Medicines - and Fake Whisky Too
小小的可食用二維碼技術如何應對假藥以及假威士忌
Health
Researchers in the United States and South Korea have developed an edible code. Their code, which is comparable to a QR code, consists of a pattern made by fluorescent silk proteins. Practically invisible to the naked eye, the code can be scanned with a smartphone, bringing up information about a particular medicine. It can be affixed onto an individual pill, tablet or capsule, or made into little silk tags and placed into a bottle of liquid medicine, letting consumers or other users verify a particular medication’s authenticity. Looking to the future, the team envisions entering into potential collaborations with the pharmaceutical or alcohol industry to develop their technology.
--from Euronews
美國和韓國的研究人員已經開發出一種可食用編碼。他們的編碼類似於二維碼，由螢光絲蛋白製成的圖案組成。肉眼幾乎看不到的編碼，可以用智慧手機掃描來帶出有關特定藥物的資訊。它可以貼在單一藥丸、藥片或膠囊上，或製成小絲質標籤放入藥液中，讓消費者或其他用戶驗證特定藥物的真偽。未來該團隊預計與製藥或製酒業展開可行性的合作，以發展他們的技術。
--摘錄翻譯自Euronews
Softening Tough Tissue in Aging Ovaries may Help Fight Infertility
軟化老化卵巢中的堅韌組織可能有助對抗不孕症
Sciences
Would-be parents hoping to get pregnant face a ticking clock: The older potential mothers get, the more their fertility drops. A new study in mice may help explain why. Ovaries accumulate “stiff” tissue as they age, and researchers have found that reducing the amount of this tissue—“softening” the ovaries, as it were—restored fertility in the animals, raising the possibility that the same approach could work in humans. The study “is a huge advance,” says ovarian biologist Francesca Duncan of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “The results suggest treatment for the age-related decline in fertility is “not a pipe dream.”
--from Science news
希望懷孕的準父母面臨著一個滴答作響的時鐘：潛在母親年齡越大，她們的生育能力下降得越快。一項針對老鼠的新研究或許有助於解釋原因。隨著年齡增長，卵巢會積累「僵硬」的組織，而研究人員發現，減少這種組織的數量—可說是「軟化」卵巢—可以恢復動物的生殖力，此法應用在人類身上可望提高生育的可能性。西北大學Feinberg醫學院的卵巢生物學家Duncan說：「這項研究是一個巨大的進步。其結果意味著治療與年齡相關的生育能力下降，不再是個白日夢。」
--摘錄翻譯自Science news
Giant 300kg Stingray Breaks Record as Largest Freshwater Fish Ever Discovered
300公斤的巨型達氏古魟打破了有史以來最大的淡水魚紀錄
Sciences
River in Cambodia, say scientists. The giant stingray measured almost 4 metres from snout to tail and weighed slightly under 300 kg, according to a statement by Wonders of the Mekong, a joint Cambodian-US research project. The previous record for a freshwater fish was a 293 kg Mekong giant catfish, discovered in Thailand in 2005, the group said. “The stingray's catch was not just about setting a new record”, Wonders of the Mekong leader Zeb Hogan said in an online interview with the University of Nevada. “The fact that the fish can still get this big is a hopeful sign for the Mekong River,” he said, noting that the waterway faces many environmental challenges.
--from Euronews
科學家表示：在柬埔寨的湄公河發現了世界上最大的有記錄淡水魚。根據柬埔寨和美國的聯合研究計畫「湄公河奇觀」發表的聲明：這條達氏古魟從鼻子到尾巴長近4米，重量略低於 300公斤。該團隊表示，先前的淡水魚紀錄是2005年在泰國發現的一條重293 公斤的湄公河巨型鯰魚。「湄公河奇蹟」計畫主持人Zeb Hogan在接受內華達大學線上採訪時，說：「此達氏古魟的捕獲不僅僅是創造新紀錄，這條水道面臨著許多環境挑戰，牠還能長到這麼大，對湄公河來說，是一個充滿希望的跡象。」
--摘錄翻譯自Euronews
The Outback Way: Is This the World's Emptiest Road?
內陸沙漠之路：是世界上最空曠的道路嗎？
Culture
Laverton, marooned on the edge of Australia's two largest deserts – the Victoria and the Great Sandy, marks the starting point of the Outback Way. Tracking north-west, connecting one side of Australia to the other, the Outback Way is the most direct route through the heart of the country. One of the world's great transcontinental traverses, it was laid out by Len Beadell from 1947 until 1963. Stretching 2,700km from Laverton in Western Australia to Winton in far-off Queensland, the Outback Way is a great diagonal "shortcut" across the nation that saves weeks of travel. Passing through countless indigenous homelands, skirts isolated national parks and stops in at life-saving outback roadhouses, the Outback Way captures the essence of outback travel as it once was.
--from BBC news
拉弗頓坐落在澳洲兩大沙漠—維多利亞及大沙地之間，為內陸公路的起點。內陸之路向西北延伸，將澳洲的兩側連接起來，是貫穿該國心臟地帶的最直接路線。由Len Beadell自1947到1963年間建造，是世界上的大型跨陸公路之一。從西澳大利亞的拉弗頓到遙遠的昆士蘭的溫頓，內陸之路綿延2,700公里，是一條橫跨全國的對角線「捷徑」，可以節省數週的旅行時間。行經無數原住民領域，繞過與世隔絕的國家公園，在提供溫飽的內陸餐館停歇，內陸之路捕捉了內陸旅行的精髓，如實呈現。
--摘錄翻譯自BBC new
Bangladesh's Fiery, Inventive Spin on Rice
孟加拉火辣創新的翻轉米食
Culture
One of the nation's most iconic snacks, jhal muri is a spiced puffed rice salad. (jhal means hot in Bangla; and muri, is puffed rice.) One of the nation's most iconic snacks, jhal muri is a spiced puffed rice salad (jhal means hot in Bangla; and muri, also called moori or murmura, is puffed rice) that combines two of Bangladesh's greatest loves: rice and spice. Muri is traditionally made by "frying" rice in hot salt or sand, and is firmly rooted in the tapestry of food cultures in Bangladesh, featuring prominently in both daily life and auspicious occasions such as the iftar meal during Ramadan for Muslims or the Puja period during Durgapuja for Hindus. But the bland muri gets the signature Bangladeshi fireworks – the "jhal" in jhal muri – from a smorgasbord of explosively hot and sour ingredients, providing nose-watering heat, crisp tartness and garden-fresh aroma.
--from BBC news
Jhal muri是香料調味的爆米香沙拉，是一種全國的指標性小吃。（jhal有熱辣的意思；muri的意思是爆米香），它結合了孟加拉國兩種最喜歡的食物：米飯和香料。Muri依傳統用熱鹽或沙「炒」米製作，深植於孟加拉的飲食文化錦繡中，在日常生活和如穆斯林齋戒月開齋餐、印度教徒在杜爾加女神節法會期間等良辰吉時，都佔有重要地位。不過，淡而無味的muri自大量爆炸性的酸辣食材中，獲得了孟加拉的招牌火花—jhal提供令人流鼻水的熱度、清脆的酸味和花園般清新的香氣。
--摘錄翻譯自BBC news