- Colorectal Cancer: Healthy Plant-Based Diet May Decrease Risk By Up to 22%
- Sperm count down: What you need to know about the male fertility crisis
- Pakistani feminist comedians challenge taboos
- OCP’s commitment to restoring biodiversity in Africa
- Europe’s climate crisis in data: Homes need less heating and more cooling in these countries
- Discovered in the deep: the extraordinary sawshark with a weapon-like snout
Colorectal Cancer: Healthy Plant-Based Diet May Decrease Risk By Up to 22%
大腸癌：健康植物性飲食法可降低罹癌風險高達 22%
Health
A plant-based diet could have a significant impact on preventing colorectal cancer. Those are the findings from a study published in BMC Medicine that was conducted by a team of researchers from the United States and South Korea. The study published this week involved 173,427 participants who were from a variety of ethnic groups. Results, which came after an average follow-up time of just over 19 years, found that men who followed a healthy plant-based diet had lower rates of colorectal cancer. However, the women included in the study did not see the same benefit.
--from Healthline
植物性飲食法或許對預防大腸癌（Colorectal Cancer）有顯著的影響。一組來自美國與韓國的研究人員在BMC Medicine上發表了這項研究報告。這項於本週發表的研究涵蓋了來自不同族群的173,427名受試者。長期追蹤平均時間超過19年的研究結果發現，遵循健康植物性飲食法的男性罹患大腸癌的機率較低。然而，參與研究的女性並沒發現得到相同的好處。
--摘錄翻譯自Healthline
Sperm count down: What you need to know about the male fertility crisis
精子倒數：關於男性生育危機大你需要知道的事
Health
Staring at negative pregnancy tests, enduring the rollercoaster of fertility treatments and the heartbreak of miscarriages: struggling to conceive a child can be extremely stressful. So, when an international team of scientists published alarming research showing that sperm counts had more than halved worldwide in the past 50 years, and that the trend was accelerating, naturally it sparked concern. The decline, they warned, could become a problem too big to ignore, with the potential to “threaten mankind’s survival”. Professors Hagai Levine and Shanna Swan, who have been studying reproductive health for decades and published these latest findings, drew parallels with the climate crisis.
--from Euronews
看著驗孕棒上顯示的陰性結果，忍受猶如雲霄飛車一般的生育治療與流產的心碎：想要懷孕會帶來極大的壓力。因此，當一個國際科學家團隊發表了一項令人震驚的研究指出過去50年全球男性的精子數量減少了一半以上，且該趨勢還在持續加速進展時，自然引起了人們的關注。對於這項數據，他們警告道：這是不容忽視的大問題，甚至有可能「威脅人類的生存」。研究生殖健康的Hagai Levine 教授和 Shanna Swan 教授在近數十年的深入研究後，發表了這些最新發現，他們將這與氣候危機相提並論。
--摘錄翻譯自Euronews
Pakistani feminist comedians challenge taboos
巴基斯坦女權主義喜劇演員挑戰禁忌
Culture
While these women are a testament to the talent brimming in the country and a growing interest in female comedians' work, many barriers remain for women cementing their career in comedy on a full-time basis. "Over the past 10 years I've seen a lot of female comedians online, social media, improv and stand-up, but we still have a long way to go. Many women don't pursue it as a profession, as there is not enough scope for it, but I hope in the future, this will change," said Saleem. She added that unlike their Indian counterparts that have hit international success and recognition, owing in large part to OTT platforms such as Netflix commissioning shows, it is unlikely women comedians in Pakistan will have similar opportunities, as they are restricted by "social and religious factors."
--from Deutsche Welle
雖然這些女性證明了該國人才充沛，對喜劇女演員的興趣日益增長，但鞏固全職喜劇女演員的生涯仍存在許多障礙。Saleem說：「過去10年裡，在網上、社交媒體，即興表演和單口相聲見過很多女演員，但我們還有很長的路要走。」她接著補充：「許多女性不會把它作為一個職業來追求它，因為沒有足夠的空間，但我希望將來這種情況會改變。」與在國際上展露頭角及被認可的印度同行不同，因其大多是OTT平臺例如：Netflix等所發行的作品，巴基斯坦的女喜劇演員不太可能有類似的機會，因她們受到「社會和宗教因素」的限制。
--摘錄翻譯自Deutsche Welle
OCP’s commitment to restoring biodiversity in Africa
OCP對恢復非洲生物多樣性的承諾
Culture
Species and environments are constantly changing and adapting to climate variations. In recent years and decades, however, human activity has caused such dramatic changes to the environment that tens of thousands of species are lost every year. OCP Group is a global leader in plant nutrition and the world’s largest producer of phosphate-based fertilizers. The group’s commitments include: incorporating biodiversity conservation into its business strategy and planning; preservation of natural and cultural heritage sites; careful monitoring and control of any impacts on biodiversity brought about by OCP’s own operations, responsible disposal of waste material for the preservation of rivers and lakes, and protection of habitats and ecosystems of high ecological value where the group operates. The group undertakes to expand its reach even further, promoting the preservation of biodiversity outside the Moroccan borders within the African continent.
--from Euronews
物種和環境正在不斷變化，並適應氣候變化。 然而，近年來和幾十年來，人類活動給環境帶來了如此巨大的變化，以至於每年有數萬個物種喪失。OCP集團是植物營養的全球領導者，也是世界上最大的磷酸鹽肥料生產商。該集團的承諾包括：將生物多樣性保護納入其業務戰略和規劃；保護自然和文化遺產遺址；仔細監測和控制OCP自身業務對生物多樣性造成的任何影響，負責任地處置廢物以保護河流和湖泊，以及保護該集團運營的高生態價值棲息地和生態系統。該組織承諾將進一步擴大其保護範圍，促進摩洛哥邊界以外非洲大陸內的生物多樣性保護。
--摘錄翻譯自Euronews
Europe’s climate crisis in data: Homes need less heating and more cooling in these countries
歐洲的氣候危機數據：這些國家的家戶需要較少的暖氣和更多的冷氣供應
Sciences
Climate change is increasingly visible in Europe in big ways and small; from devastating wildfires in Spain this summer, to December snowdrops in the UK. Between 2012 and 2021, global average near-surface temperatures were 1.11 to 1.14 °C warmer than pre-industrial times. That decade is now the warmest one on record. Global warming is especially rapid in Europe. European land temperatures increased by 1.94 to 1.99 °C in this period, according to the European Environment Agency. How is global warming affecting our lives? As a simple example, we now need less heating and more cooling. According to Eurostat, the need to heat buildings in Portugal, Hungary, Sweden, Finland, etc., has decreased over the last decades, while the need to cool them with air conditioning has increased.
--from Euronews
從今年夏天西班牙毀滅性的野火，到英國12月的降雪，氣候變化鉅細靡遺在歐洲越來越顯見。2012年至2021年期間，全球平均近地表溫度比前工業時期高1.11至1.14°C。這十年現在是有記錄以來最暖的十年。全球暖化在歐洲尤其迅速。根據歐洲環境署所述， 歐洲陸地溫度在此期間上升了1.94至1.99°C。全球暖化如何影響我們的生活？舉個簡單的例子：我們現在需要較少的暖氣和更多的冷氣供應。從Eurostat數據看來，在過去的幾十年裡，葡萄牙、匈牙利、瑞典、芬蘭…等國，對建築物供暖的需求有所減少，而使用空調來冷卻它們的需求卻有所增加。
--摘錄翻譯自Euronews
Discovered in the deep: the extraordinary sawshark with a weapon-like snout
在深海中發現具有武器般前吻的非凡鋸鯊
Sciences
Swimming through the ocean are sharks that look as if they have a hedge trimmer fixed to their heads and a dangling moustache part way along it. These are sawsharks and they use their formidable headgear to slash through shoals of fish. The moustache is a sensory device that helps the sharks detect prey. Until recently, scientists knew of eight species of sawshark, including one that has six gill slits in the side of its body. “This is unusual among sharks,” says Simon Weigmann from the Elasmobranch Research Laboratory in Hamburg, Germany – as most sharks have five gill slits. With the help of fishers in Madagascar and Tanzania, two more species of sixgill sawsharks have come to light. Something that sets these species apart from previously known sawsharks is that their moustaches (technically known as barbels) lie closer to the tip of their snouts.
--from The Guardian
在海洋中游來游去是頭上好像裝著一個樹籬修剪機、中間還懸垂著一撮小鬍子的鯊魚。這些是鋸鯊，牠們使用可怕的頭飾來劃開魚群。鬍鬚是一種幫助鯊魚偵測獵物的感知裝置。直到最近，科學家們才知道鋸鯊有八種，其中一種在身體一側有六個鰓裂。德國漢堡Elasmobranch研究實驗室的Simon Weigmann說：「這在鯊魚中很不尋常，因為大多數鯊魚有五個鰓裂。」在馬達加斯加和坦桑尼亞漁民的幫助下，又發現了兩種六鰓鋸鯊；這些物種與以前已知的鋸鯊的區別在於它們的鬍鬚（技術上稱為觸鬚）更靠近前吻的尖端。
--摘錄翻譯自The Guardian