- What actually happens to your body during a festive cold water swim?
- Don’t blame the turkey. Here’s what experts say is really behind your food coma
- At this Texas school, every student is a teen mother
- Iranian woman takes part in international chess tournament without mandatory hijab
- Brain stimulation boosts hearing in rats with ear implants
- ‘Bear-dar’: This tech uses AI to reduce the risk of dangerous polar bear encounters in the Arctic
What actually happens to your body during a festive cold water swim?
在節日的冷水游泳期間，你的身體實際上發生了什麼？
Health
Many people see in the New Year or celebrate Christmas or Boxing Day with a cold water swim – often in fancy dress or just a swimsuit to get chilly in the winter water. “Research suggests that cold water swimming has a wide variety of health benefits including mood improvement linked with the release of ‘feel good’ brain chemicals, reduced depression and improvement in general wellbeing. Cold water swimming can also have cardiovascular benefits,” says GP Dr Nisa Aslam from Puressentiel. However, safety is obviously something to be wary of when it comes to cold water swimming – also known as winter swimming or ice swimming.
--from Independent
許多人會在新年、聖誕節或節禮日（Boxing day）當天以怪異的打扮或穿泳衣跳入冰冷刺骨的寒冬冷水裡游泳以示慶祝。「研究顯示，冷水游泳對健康大有好處，包括釋放讓人『感覺良好』的化學物資改善情緒、減少憂鬱症以及改善整體健康狀況。冷水也對心血管有益，」來自Puressentiel的全科醫生 Nisa Aslam表示。然而，當涉及到冷水遊泳（也被稱為冬泳或冰泳）時，必須要時刻注意安全。
--摘錄翻譯自Independent
Don’t blame the turkey. Here’s what experts say is really behind your food coma
別責怪火雞；這是專家提出的餐後嗜睡背後的真正原因
Health
A mainstay on the dinner table at this time of year, turkey contains tryptophan, which is widely believed to be responsible for the uncontrollable yawns and sudden snoozes common after huge family feasts. “Tryptophan is an essential amino acid needed to make serotonin, a hormone that has many functions in our body, including balancing mood and sleep,” said sleep specialist Dr. Raj Dasgupta, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine. However, many foods besides turkey contain tryptophan, including cheese, chicken, egg whites, fish, milk, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, soy beans and sunflower seeds, according to the National Library of Medicine.
--from CNN
作為每年這個時候的主菜——火雞，牠肉質內所含有色胺酸（tryptophan）在普遍認知上，是造成家庭盛宴後難以控制地打哈欠與瞌睡的原因。「色胺酸是製造血清素所必需胺基酸，而血清素是一種在我們體內擁有多功能的激素，包括調節情緒與睡眠，」南加州大學Keck醫學院臨床醫學副教授、睡眠專家Raj Dasgupta 博士表示。然而，美國國家醫學圖書館（National Library of Medicine，NLM）指出，除火雞之外，許多食物都含有色胺酸，包括奶酪、雞肉、蛋清、魚、牛奶、花生、南瓜子、芝麻、大豆和葵花籽。
--摘錄翻譯自CNN
At this Texas school, every student is a teen mother
每一位在這所德州學校的學生都是未成年母親
Culture
From the outside, Lincoln Park looks like any other US high school - sandy brick, school buses parked out front and the American flag flying in the breeze. But inside, alongside the sounds of teens going to class are the cries and babbles of babies. On its walls, posters encouraging going to college sit alongside ones promoting pregnancy services and parenting classes. The school in Brownsville, Texas, a town on the US-Mexico border, is one of the last providers of a specific educational service - to teach teenage mothers.
--from BBC
從外觀上看，Lincoln Park和其他美國高中沒什麼不同——沙磚砌成的牆壁，停在校前的校車，和在微風中飄揚的美國國旗。 但在校園裡，除了青少年上課的聲音外，還有嬰兒的哭啼聲和牙牙學語。 校園的牆上鼓勵同學們上大學的海報以及推廣產科服務和育兒課程的海報並排張貼。這所學校位於德克薩斯州的布朗斯維爾市(Brownsville)，位於美墨邊境的一個小鎮，是最後的特定教育機構之一——教授未成年的母親們。
--摘錄翻譯自BBC
Iranian woman takes part in international chess tournament without mandatory hijab
伊朗女子在參加國際象棋錦標賽時不穿戴頭巾
Culture
Iranian chess player Sara Khadem, also known as Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, took part in an international tournament without a hijab, Iranian news outlet Jamaran said on Tuesday. Khadem is the latest sportswoman to appear at a competition without a hijab since anti-government protest erupted in September.
--from CNN
伊朗新聞媒體 Jamaran 於週二報導，伊朗國際象棋棋手 Sara Khadem，也被稱為 Sarasadat Khademalsharieh，在參加國際象棋比賽時並未穿戴頭巾。自9 月爆發反政府抗議活動以來，Khadem是目前最近期的一名不穿戴頭巾參加比賽的女運動員。
--摘錄翻譯自CNN
Brain stimulation boosts hearing in rats with ear implants
腦部刺激可增強帶有耳內植入體大鼠的聽力
Sciences
Stimulating neurons that are linked to alertness helps rats with cochlear implants learn to quickly recognize tunes, researchers have found. The results suggest that activity in a brain region called the locus coeruleus (LC) improves hearing perception in deaf rodents. Researchers say the insights are important for understanding how the brain processes sound, but caution that the approach is a long way from helping people. Cochlear implants use electrodes in the inner-ear region called the cochlea, which is damaged in people who have severe or total hearing loss. The device converts acoustic sounds into electrical signals that stimulate the auditory nerve, and the brain learns to process these signals to make sense of the auditory world.
--from Nature news
研究人員發現：刺激與警覺性相關的神經元有助植入人工耳蝸的大鼠學會快速辨識曲調。結果顯示，被稱為藍斑核（locus coeruleus , LC）的大腦區域的活動可改善失聰囓齒動物的聽覺感知。研究人員表示，這些結論對於理解大腦如何處理聲音很重要，但同時告誡要將此法用於幫助人類仍相去甚遠。在聽力完全喪失或損傷嚴重者之內耳區（又稱耳蝸）植入的人工耳蝸使用電極；該裝置將自然傳輸的聲波轉換為刺激聽覺神經的電子信號，大腦學會處理這些信號以理解聽覺世界。
--摘錄翻譯自Nature news
‘Bear-dar’: This tech uses AI to reduce the risk of dangerous polar bear encounters in the Arctic
「熊達」技術使用人工智慧來降低在北極遇到危險的北極熊之風險
Sciences
Climate change is warming our planet and reducing the amount of sea ice in the Arctic. Ice-free periods are becoming longer and polar bears are forced to spend more time on land, increasing the risk of dangerous encounters with people. As greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, the bears will spend even more time on land, close to communities in the Arctic. But if a bear can be spotted as it approaches, non-lethal deterrents like flares or noisemakers can be used to scare it away. This reduces the risk of harm to these vulnerable creatures and to humans. This is the idea behind Polar Bears International’s ‘Detect and Protect’ research, which uses radar systems and artificial intelligence (AI) to help facilitate this.
--from Euronews
氣候變遷正在使我們的星球變暖，並減少北極海冰的數量。無冰期越來越長，北極熊被迫在陸地上停留的時間也更長，同時提高了與人類發生危險接觸的風險。隨著溫室氣體排放量持續增加，熊將在北極鄰近人類社區的陸地上度過更多時間。但是，若在熊接近之際，可以立即察覺，就能以照明彈或噪音製造器等非致命遏阻物將其嚇跑。如此便可降低對這些脆弱生物和人類造成傷害的風險。此為Polar Bears International 的“檢測和保護”研究背後的理念，該研究使用雷達系統和人工智能 (AI) 來幫助實現這一目標。
--摘錄翻譯自Euronews