- Breakfast around the world: How different places start the day
- Is the Pilbara in Australia the oldest place on Earth?
- The virus still has a lot of tricks up its proverbial sleeve and we need to approach the future of the pandemic with more humility
- Scientists warn climate change could unleash ‘rivers in the sky’
- Emergency phase of pandemic could end in 2022 but conditions still ‘ideal’ for new variants, WHO says
- Worries May Raise Men's Heart Risks, Even When Young
Breakfast around the world: How different places start the day
世界各地的早餐：不同的地方如何開始新的一天
Culture
When it comes to breakfast foods around the world, there are as many ways to enjoy the first meal of the day as there are to say "good morning." From creamy cornbread cake in Brazil and savory Tunisian chickpea soup to fluffy Ukrainian pancakes and sweet coconut jam toasts in Singapore, these 21 international specialties offer a food option for every palate. And even if the flavors in some of these dishes might be unexpected based on your typical choices, the presentations are likely familiar. Read through CNN Travel's list -- in no particular order -- and learn about the delicious diversity of our world's breakfast cultures. Maybe you'll even find some inspiration for your next meal. (from CNN Travel)
當談到世界各地的早餐時，享受一天中第一餐的方式與說「早安」的方式一樣多。 從巴西的奶油玉米蛋糕、美味的突尼斯鷹嘴豆湯，到鬆軟的烏克蘭煎餅和新加坡的甜椰子醬吐司，這 21 種國際特色美食為每個人的味蕾提供了不同的選擇。即使這些佳餚和你向來習慣的口味不同，但你對它們呈現的形式可能很熟悉。你可以閱讀CNN Travel的列表（不分先後），來了解世界各地早餐文化的美味多樣性。也許你甚至能為你的下一餐得到一些靈感。 （原文出自CNN Travel）
Is the Pilbara in Australia the oldest place on Earth?
澳洲的皮爾巴拉是地球上最古老的地方嗎？
Culture
In recent years, science has confirmed what Aboriginal Australians, the world's oldest continuous living culture, always knew: the Pilbara region of Western Australia is among the oldest places on Earth. The Pilbara began to form more than 3.6 billion years ago and its vast landscape of deep pindan reds and endless panoramas, which stretches from the west coast to the Northern Territory border, is an ancient, forbidding place. For those travelling to the region for the first time, the initial sense of space and solitude can be daunting: it's roughly double the size of Great Britain, but with a population of just 61,000, it is one of the most sparsely populated regions on Earth. (from BBC Travel)
近年，科學驗證了世界現存最古老文化的澳洲原住民知識—西澳的皮爾巴拉地區為地球上最古老的地方。皮爾巴拉在 36 億多年前開始形成，廣闊深紅斑斕的地貌和一望無際的景觀，從西海岸一直延伸到北領地邊界，是一個古老而險峻的地方。對於那些第一次造訪該地區的人來說，原始的空間感和孤獨感可能會讓人望之生畏：它的面積大約是英國的兩倍，但人口只有 61,000，是地球上人口最稀少的地區之一。 （原文出自BBC Travel）
The virus still has a lot of tricks up its proverbial sleeve and we need to approach the future of the pandemic with more humility
病毒仍詭譎多變，我們需要以更謙遜的態度來面對未來的疫情
Sciences
Barely 2 months after it began, the Omicron wave is already ebbing in some countries. Still, researchers urge caution. Omicron has shown that even a relatively mild wave can put a tremendous burden on health systems and societies as a whole. What the virus will do next is another wild card. What WHO has termed “Omicron” actually comprises several slightly different viruses. BA.1, the lineage that dominated early on, appears to be giving way to a sister lineage named BA.2, which is suggested more transmissible, in Denmark and some other countries. Delta might also make a comeback. That depends in part on how much more transmissible Omicron really is than Delta. It’s spreading so fast now because it can evade people’s existing immunity. The two variants might also recombine to produce a virus that incorporates both Omicron’s immune evasion tricks and Delta’s severity, says virologist Christian Drosten at Charité University Hospital in Berlin. “That would be worrying because it could lead to a difficult next winter.” (from Science News)
Omicron感染潮開始僅兩個月，在一些國家已開始消退。儘管如此，研究人員仍呼籲務必謹慎。由Omicron窺知：縱使感染潮相對溫和，對衛生系統與社會仍是沉重負擔。病毒接下來會詭譎難測。世衛所稱的Omicron實際上包含了數個略有不同的病毒。在丹麥與其他一些國家，原本主導的BA.1病毒株正被傳播力更強的亞種BA.2取代。Delta也可能捲土重來。端看Omicron的傳播力比Delta強多少，它能傳播得如此之快，是因為它能避開人們現有的免疫力。柏林夏里特大學的病毒學家Christian Drosten說：這兩種病毒也可能重組成新病毒，結合Omicron的免疫逃避力和Delta嚴重性。而此狀況令人擔憂，因為這將使下個冬季更難熬。 （原文出自 Science News）
Scientists warn climate change could unleash ‘rivers in the sky’
科學家警告氣候變遷可能會使「空中河流」失控
Sciences
Atmospheric rivers are long, narrow columns of water vapor flowing through the sky that pick up moisture from warm areas then deposit it in colder regions. When they hit a barrier like a mountain range, it can lead to extreme levels of rain or snowfall. Scientists at the University of Tsukuba in Japan ran simulations using nearly 60 years of weather data. Computer models showed that if we see the worst outcomes of climate change, atmospheric rivers would cause record-breaking amounts of precipitation in Japan, Taiwan, northeastern China and the Korean Peninsula. “Atmospheric rivers will bring unprecedented extreme rainfall over East Asia under global warming,” says the newly published paper. Though the data in the research was limited to East Asia, the researchers say that their findings could also apply to other parts of the world. An increase in global temperatures means more moisture in the air with atmospheric rivers becoming larger, more intense and carrying higher volumes of water. (from Euronews)
大氣層河流是氣流自溫暖地區吸收水氣到較冷地區時凝聚而成的狹長水蒸氣柱，在遇到高山屏障時，便導致強降雨或降雪。日本筑波大學的科學家們使用將近60年的氣象數據進行模擬，電腦模擬顯示：若從氣候變化最壞的結果來看，大氣層河流將在日本、台灣、中國東北和朝鮮半島造成破紀錄的降水量。新發表的論文指出「全球暖化下，大氣層河流將給東亞帶來前所未有的極端降雨」。儘管研究僅使用東亞的觀測數據，研究人員表示這些發現也適用於世界其它地區。全球氣溫升高意味著空氣中的水分增加，大氣層河流也更形巨大、密集、挾帶更大量的水。 （原文出自Euronews）
Emergency phase of pandemic could end in 2022 but conditions still ‘ideal’ for new variants, WHO says
世衛組織表示，全球疫情的緊急階段可能會在 2022 年結束，但整體條件對新變種病毒仍然是「理想的」
Health
The emergency phase of the pandemic could end this year if 70 percent of the population of every country is vaccinated, among other criteria, even as conditions across the globe make the surfacing of new variants a strong possibility, the director-general of the World Health Organization said. “It is dangerous to assume that omicron will be the last variant, or that we are in the endgame,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at an executive board meeting. “On the contrary, globally the conditions are ideal for more variants to emerge.”
The World Health Organization’s Europe director, Hans Kluge, has also expressed optimism for Europe, telling Agence France-Presse that “it’s plausible that the region is moving towards a kind of pandemic endgame.” (from Washington Post)
世界衛生組織秘書長表示，如果每個國家70%的人口都接種了疫苗，全球疫情的緊急階段應該會在今年結束；綜觀所有條件，依現今全球的狀況來看，新變種仍可能出現。譚德塞在執行委員會會議上提到：「視 Omicron為最後一個變種、或假設我們正處於最後階段是很危險的。相反地，全球的條件非常有利更多變種病毒出現。」世界衛生組織歐洲主任漢斯·克魯格則是對歐洲表示樂觀，他告訴法新社:「我們合理相信歐洲地區正走向疫情的尾聲。」 （原文出自Washington Post）
Worries May Raise Men's Heart Risks, Even When Young
憂慮可能會提高男性的心臟病風險，即使在年輕時也如此
Health
Worrying can take a toll on your psyche. A new research suggests that when middle-aged men fret too much, they face a higher risk for developing diabetes, heart disease or stroke down the road. And this increase in risk is on par with the health risks linked to heavy drinking, the findings showed. The study wasn't designed to say how worry and anxiety increase risks for disease, but worriers were indeed more likely to smoke, consume alcohol and not exercise regularly. However, good news is that some of the things that help lower your risk for heart disease, such as regular exercise, can also have spillover benefits for mental health. (from US News)
慮會影響人的心理，而新的研究表明，當中年男性過度煩惱時，他們患糖尿病、心臟病或中風的風險更高。研究結果顯示，這種風險增加與大量飲酒相關的健康風險相當。該研究並非意在說明擔憂和焦慮如何增加疾病風險，而是憂慮的人確實更有可能吸煙、飲酒和不規律運動。然而，好消息是，一些有助於降低患心臟病風險的事情，例如定期運動，也對心理健康有所助益。 （原文出自US News）