- People who are gay, lesbian or bi have more mental health and substance use problems, survey finds
- Germany draws up plan to prevent heatwave deaths
- How many shipwrecks are there in the world's oceans?
- Sahara salt diggers struggle to maintain centuries-old trade
- Climate change has caused turbulence to double in the last 40 years, new study finds
- Bowhead whales may have a cancer-defying superpower: DNA repair
Why is strep A surging — and how worried are scientists?
調查發現，同性戀者或雙性戀者有更多的心理健康和物質使用問題
Health
Despite increasing acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community, at least in some circles, adults who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual are more likely than those who identify as straight to have serious thoughts of suicide and mental health conditions including major depressive episodes, and they are more likely to misuse substances like alcohol or drugs, according to a new US government report. The report, published Tuesday, comes from the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health, sponsored by the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. It’s included a question about how the participant identifies their sexual orientation since 2015.
--from CNN Health
根據美國政府一份新的報告，儘管某些圈子對LGBTQ+社群的接受度有所提高，但自我身份認同是同性戀、女同性戀或雙性戀的成年人相較於異性戀的成年人會更容易出現嚴重的自殺念頭和心理健康問題，包括重度憂鬱發作，並且更容易濫用酒精或藥物。這份報告是由隸屬於美國衛生及公共服務部的『物質濫用暨精神衛生防治局』所贊助的年度國家藥物濫用和健康調查發佈的。自2015年以來，該調查的族群就加入了有關於參與者性取向的問題。
--摘錄翻譯自CNN Health
Germany draws up plan to prevent heatwave deaths
德國製定預防熱浪死亡計劃
Health
German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach on Tuesday warned that Germany was ill-prepared for soaring summer temperatures and promised a plan to remedy the situation. As a result of climate change, he said, Germany will be more severely affected by heat waves in the future and that lessons needed to be learned from other countries like France. "We have to realize that we are not well positioned in Germany to combat heat death," said Lauterbach, himself a qualified doctor and public health expert. Lauterbach is planning a heat protection plan based on the French model, which defines different degrees of severity of a heat wave and links them to specific measures in each case. These could include targeting messages to sick and elderly people about the symptoms of impending heat stroke and protective measures they might take. The measures could also include the provision of protective cooling rooms and free water dispensers.
--from DW Health
德國衛生部長Karl Lauterbach週二發出警告指德國在面對迅速上升的夏季溫度方面準備不足，並承將諾制定解決方案。他表示，由於氣候變化，德國在未來受到熱浪的影響將更加嚴重，並且應該向其他國家（如法國）學習經驗教訓。Lauterbach本人是一名合格的醫生和公共衛生專家，他指出：『我們必須意識到，在德國，我們在應對致死的高溫方面表現不佳。』Lauterbach計劃根據法國模式制定一套防暑計畫，該計畫將不同程度的熱浪對應具體的應對措施。這些措施可能包括對病患和老年人傳送關於有可能會遭遇中暑症狀和相關防護措施的信息，還可能包括提供防暑降溫的房間和免費的飲水設備。
--摘錄翻譯自DW Health
How many shipwrecks are there in the world's oceans?
全球的海洋中有多少沉船？
Culture
More than 100 years on, the relics at Antikythera, found off the coast of a Greek island on the edge of the Aegean Sea, are still captivating the public. But there are plenty of submerged wonders still waiting to be discovered. Take the recent UNESCO expedition to Skerki Bank, a particularly treacherous shallow reef that links the eastern and western Mediterranean. It has been heavily used for thousands of years – and in that time, it has claimed hundreds of ships. Using multibeam sonar and underwater robots, a team of scientists from eight countries mapped the seafloor in the region. This week, they announced the discovery of three new wrecks: the ghostly remains of boats dating to the 1st Century BC, 2nd Century AD, and 19th or 20th Century. And according to UNESCO's estimates, there could be many, many more undiscovered wrecks still to be found beneath the waves of the world's oceans.
--from BBC Future
即使過了一百多年，位於愛琴海邊際、希臘其中一個島嶼海岸附近的 Antikythera 遺跡仍然吸引著公眾。[除了上述遺跡] 仍有許多被淹沒的奇觀等待被發現。以聯合國教科文組織 (UNESCO)最近領航的 Skerki Bank (一個連接地中海東部和西部特別危險的淺礁區) 探險任務為例，船隻已在此海域內航行了數千年，而在那段時間裡，此海域已經奪去了數百艘船隻。一個由八個不同國家的科學家們所組成的研究團隊，利用多音束聲納探測儀及水下機器人，繪製了該地區的海底地形圖。本週，此團隊宣布發現了三個新的殘骸：可追溯到公元前 1 世紀、公元 2 世紀以及 19 或 20 世紀的幽靈般的船隻殘骸。根據UNESCO的推估，在全世界海洋的波浪之下，可能還有更多未知的船隻殘骸有待被發現。
--摘錄翻譯自BBC Future
Sahara salt diggers struggle to maintain centuries-old trade
撒哈拉採鹽工人正努力維持數百年的貿易
Culture
At the edge of an oasis almost engulfed by dunes where the rare caravan still passes is a desert landscape punctured by holes. The salt pans of Kalala near Bilma in northeastern Niger were once an essential stop for traders with their swaying lines of camels. Salt digging, carried on from generation to generation, was a thriving business, involving a commodity so precious that it was bought and sold across the Sahara and beyond. Over centuries, hundreds of pits have been dug by hand and then filled with water to leach salt from the local rock. Today, in this isolated desert region plagued by armed gangs and smugglers, the diggers struggle to survive.
--from Al Jazeeras
在一個幾乎被沙丘吞沒、偶而有大篷車經過的綠洲邊緣，是一片布滿洞窟的沙漠景觀。尼日東北部的Bilma小鎮附近的Kalala鹽田曾經是蜿蜒的駱駝商隊重要的中繼站。採鹽業代代相傳，原是一個欣欣向榮的產業。以前的商品(鹽)珍貴到其貿易買賣擴及整個撒哈拉沙漠及以外的地區。好幾個世紀以來，人們徒手挖了數百個洞，然後將其裝滿水以從本地岩石中濾出鹽分。如今，在這片充斥著武裝團伙和走私者的偏遠沙漠地區，採鹽工人的生計正受到考驗。
--摘錄翻譯自Al Jazeera
Climate change has caused turbulence to double in the last 40 years, new study finds
新研究發現，在過去 40 年中，氣候變化導致亂流翻倍
Sciences
If you’ve suffered a bumpy plane ride recently, you can blame climate change. Scientists have long suspected that an increase in turbulence is consistent with warming air temperatures. Now, a new study by meteorologists at the University of Reading in the UK has found that skies are up to 55 percent bumpier than four decades ago. The study analysed climate and atmospheric data from a four decade period to determine how climate change is affecting clear-air turbulence, the movement of air masses without any visual clues. The researchers also predict that clear-air turbulence is set to worsen as climate change progresses. The study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, confirms previous research that bumpier flights are consistent with the effects of climate change.
--from Euronews
如果您最近搭飛機因飛航顛簸感到不適，您可將其歸咎於氣候變化。長期以來，科學家們一直懷疑亂流增加與氣溫升高是一致的。現在英國Reading大學氣象學家的一項新研究發現，高空中顛簸狀況與40年前相比，增加了55%。該研究分析了40年期間的氣候和大氣數據，以確定氣候變化如何影響晴空亂流，也就是沒有視覺線索的氣團運動。研究人員還預測，隨著氣候變化的進展，晴空亂流將會惡化。這項研究發表在《地球物理研究快報》期刊，證實了之前的研究—顛簸的飛航與氣候變化的影響是一致的。
--摘錄翻譯自Euronews
Bowhead whales may have a cancer-defying superpower: DNA repair
弓頭鯨可能具有「DNA修復」的抗癌超能力
Sciences
Near the northern tip of Alaska, on the outskirts of the Arctic Ocean, bowhead whales have given scientists a glimpse into longevity. The gigantic marine mammals can live more than 200 years — and tissue samples collected from the animals reveal a fix-it superpower that might explain how. Bowhead whales’ cells are whizzes at repairing damaged DNA, scientists report May 8 at bioRxiv.org. The study coauthor Vera Gorbunova at the University of Rochester in New York and her colleagues identified two proteins in bowhead whale cells, CIRBP and RPA2, that are part of the DNA repair crew. “Discovering how animals fend off cancer is incredibly exciting, because all of these strategies have potential to be translated into effective treatments for people with cancer,” says Lisa Abegglen, a cell biologist who was not part of the new work
--from Science News
在阿拉斯加北端附近，北極海的外圍，弓頭鯨（或稱露脊鯨／北極鯨）讓科學家們得以一窺長壽之祕。這種巨大的海洋哺乳動物可以活200多年—從這些動物身上收集的組織樣本揭示了一種修復超能力，這或許可以解釋其原因。科學家於5月8日在bioRxiv.org上報告說，弓頭鯨的細胞非常擅長修復受損的DNA。該研究的共同作者紐約Rochester大學的Vera Gorbunova和她的同事在弓頭鯨細胞中發現了兩種蛋白質：CIRBP和RPA2，它們是DNA修復組的一部分。未參與研究的細胞生物學家Lisa Abegglen說：「發現動物如何抵禦癌症非常令人興奮，因為所有這些策略都有可能轉化成對癌症患者的有效治療。」
--摘錄翻譯自Science News