- Best month to diet REVEALED - and it's not in the summer
- Living near green space makes you 2.5 years younger
- South Koreans become younger overnight after country scraps ‘Korean age’
- World’s largest ‘wood city’ to be built in Stockholm
- Fossil marks suggest hominids butchered one another around 1.45 million years ago
- Bottlenose dolphin moms use baby talk with their calves
Best month to diet REVEALED - and it's not in the summer
夏天並非減重成效最佳的月分
Health
Oxford University researchers, led by dietitian Dr. Dimitrios Koutoukidis, noted that weight loss is one of the most common New Year's resolutions. Those starting a diet in January lose 5.6lbs (2.54kg) on average, compared to 3.5lbs (1.61kg) in the summer. Experts believe the motivated, 'fresh start' mentality may be behind the success of New Year diets. On the other hand, they concede summer holidays may make it difficult to stick to healthy habits. To get to the bottom of this, they monitored 85,514 people in England, aged 65 on average, who started the NHS Diabetes Prevention Program between January 2017 and December 2018. Participants had high blood sugar but had not yet developed diabetes. They attended face-to-face or online sessions where they were encouraged to follow a healthier diet, exercise more and lose weight. The results, published in the journal Obesity, show that the group lost 4.4lbs (2kg) over six months, on average, equating to 2.3 per cent of their body weight. --from UK Daily Mail
由營養學家Dimitrios Koutoukidis博士所帶領的牛津大學研究團隊發現減重視常見的新年新希望之一，選擇1月開始減重的人平均減重2.54公斤，而選擇夏季減重的人平均減重1.61公斤。專家也認為新年減重成功的關鍵在於動機，“全新的開始”於心理層面的作用，另外也發現夏季假期也使人更難執行減重計畫。研究團隊更進一步針對英國國民保健署於2017年1月至2018年12月糖尿病防治計畫中的85,514位平均65歲之參與者進行監測觀察，這些參與者有高血糖，但尚未成為糖尿病患者。這個計畫透過面對面或線上座談的方式鼓勵參與者以健康的飲食方式、多運動，進行減重。研究顯示，參與者於六個月減重平均達2公斤，為原本體重的2.3%，此研究結果也發表於《肥胖》期刊。 --摘錄翻譯自英國《每日郵報》
Living near green space makes you 2.5 years younger
居住於綠地附近讓你平均年輕2.5歲
Health
Washington (AFP) – City parks and green spaces help counter heat, boost biodiversity, and instill a sense of calm in the urban jungle. They also help slow biological aging, with people who have access to green spaces found to be on average 2.5 years biologically younger than those who do not, according to a new study published Wednesday in Science Advances. "Living near more greenness can help you be younger than your actual age," Kyeezu Kim, the study's lead author and a postdoctoral scholar at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, told AFP. "We believe our findings have significant implications for urban planning in terms of expanding green infrastructure to promote public health and reduce health disparities." Exposure to green spaces has previously been linked with better cardiovascular health and lower rates of mortality. It's thought that more physical activity and social interactions are at play, but whether parks actually slowed down aging on a cellular level has been unclear. --RFI(Radio France International)
法新社報導城市中的公園及綠地不僅可幫助抵擋熱氣，更可以提升生物多樣性，同時這些都市叢林也可以使人心情平靜。根據科學進展(Science Advances)期刊於週三所刊載的新研究指出，綠地還可以延緩人類身體老化，可接觸綠地者平均生理年齡比無法接觸者平均年輕2.5歲。西北大學（Northwestern University）費恩柏格醫學院（Feinberg School of Medicine）博士後研究員Kyeezu Kim告訴法新社: 生活於更多綠意之中，能讓你比實際年齡更加年輕，同時提及這項發現也能幫助都市計畫增加綠地建設，以促進大眾健康且縮小健康不平等情形。根據先前研究即發現接觸綠地與心血管較健康及降低死亡率有關，一般認為是因為身體活動更多且有社交活動，但並不曉得綠地公園確實可以減緩細胞老化。 --摘錄翻譯自法國國際廣播電台
South Koreans become younger overnight after country scraps ‘Korean age’
廢除「韓國年齡」後，韓國人一夜之間變年輕了
Culture
More than 51 million people in South Korea awoke on Wednesday to find themselves a year or two younger – at least, according to the law. Under legislation that came into effect Wednesday, “all judicial and administrative areas” across the East Asian country will adopt the “international age” system used by most of the world, ending years of debate about the problems caused by the formerly common use of “Korean age” and “calendar age.” Standardizing ages will “reduce various social confusions and disputes,” said Lee Wan-kyu, the Minister of Government Legislation, at a news briefing on Monday. The law, passed by South Korea’s Parliament last December, is also expected to “greatly reduce social costs that have been unnecessary due to the mixed use of age standards,” Lee said, adding this had been a maj–––––––or pledge by President Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office last May. --from CNN
本週三(6/28)，超過 5100 萬的韓國人一覺醒來，發現自己年輕了一、兩歲——至少根據法律規定是如此。依據這週三生效的法案，這個東亞國家的「所有司法和行政領域」將採用世界上大多數國家所使用的「國際年齡」制度，結束了多年來「韓國年齡」和「日曆年齡」所造成的問題與爭論。[韓國]法制處處長李完揆在週一的新聞發布會上表示，年齡標準化將「減少各種社會上的誤會和糾紛」。李處長表示，韓國議會去年12月通過的這項法案預計還將「大大降低由於混合使用年齡制度而不必要的社會成本」，並補充道，這是於去年五月上任的韓國總統尹錫悅所承諾的一項重大改革。 --摘錄翻譯自CNN
World’s largest ‘wood city’ to be built in Stockholm
世界上最大的「木造城」將在斯德哥爾摩建造
Culture
In recent years, wooden buildings have reached new heights, with soaring timber skyscrapers completed or underway in countries like Norway, Switzerland, and Australia. Singapore, meanwhile, can lay claim to the largest timber building in Asia with a sprawling 468,000-square-foot college campus that opened in May. Now, real estate developer Atrium Ljungberg has announced plans to build the world’s largest “wooden city,” which will be constructed in Sweden’s capital, Stockholm, from 2025. Stockholm Wood City will feature 7,000 office spaces and 2,000 homes in the city’s southeast, and will offer “a vibrant, urban environment with a mix of workplaces, housing, restaurants, and shops,” according to a press release. Set across 250,000 square meters (2.7 million square feet), it has been described by its developer as the “world’s largest known construction project in wood.” --from CNN
近年來，木造的建築達到了新的巔峰。在挪威、瑞士和澳洲等國，高聳的木造摩天大樓已建成或正在建設中。與此同時，新加坡擁有亞洲最大的木造建築，佔地468,000平方英尺的大學校園於5月開幕。現在，不動產開發公司Atrium Ljungberg宣布將建造世界上最大的「木城」。此木城預計於2025年在瑞典首都斯德哥爾摩開始建造。斯德哥爾摩木城規劃坐落於城市的東南部，並將設置7,000個辦公空間和2,000套住宅。據新聞稿稱，該計畫將提供「一個充滿活力的城市環境，集辦公場所、住宅、餐館與商店於一體」。此木城將佔地250,000平方公尺（270萬平方英尺）。開發商描述此木城計畫為「目前已知世界上最大的木造建築項目」。 --摘錄翻譯自 CNN
Fossil marks suggest hominids butchered one another around 1.45 million years ago
化石痕跡顯示原始人類在大約145萬年前互相殘殺
Sciences
A 1.45-million-year-old hominid leg fossil sports previously unrecognized evidence of our ancient evolutionary relatives butchering and possibly eating one another, a new study claims. An ancient individual used a stone tool to make nine incisions on the fossil, which preserves the shin and knee. Analyses of 3-D models of these marks peg them as resembling damage produced by stone tools rather than by large predators’ bites or by animal trampling, researchers report June 26 in Scientific Reports. Those incisions are the oldest convincing example of such butchery and possibly cannibalism among ancient hominids, says paleoanthropologist Briana Pobiner of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. But there’s debate about that interpretation. --from Science News
一項新的研究宣稱，一塊145萬年前的原始人類腿骨化石中呈現以前未被辨識出的證據，顯示我們的親屬在遠古進化中互相殘殺，且可能吃掉彼此。一位古代人用石器在這化石上切了九個切口，保留了小腿和膝蓋。於6月26日的《科學報告》期刊中研究人員報導指出「分析這些標記的3D模型後發現，它們更像是石器造成的損害，而非大型獵食者咬傷或動物踐踏所傷。華盛頓特區Smithsonian學會（譯者註：19間美國博物館及9所研究中心的組織）的古人類學家Briana Pobiner說：「那些切口是古代原始人之間的屠殺及疑似同類相食的最古老並具說服力的範例。」但這樣的解釋仍存在著爭議。 --摘錄翻譯自Science News
Bottlenose dolphin moms use baby talk with their calves
寬吻海豚媽媽用兒語與幼豚說話
Sciences
When speaking to young kids, humans often use squeaky, high-pitched baby talk. It turns out that some dolphins do, too. Bottlenose dolphin moms modify their individually distinctive whistles when their babies are nearby, researchers report June 26 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This “parentese” might enhance attention, bonding and vocal learning in calves, as it seems to do in humans. The researchers examined 40 instances of each dolphin’s signature whistle, verified by the unique way each vocalization’s frequencies change over time. Half of each dolphin’s whistles were voiced in the presence of her baby. When youngsters were around, the moms’ whistles contained, on average, a higher maximum and slightly lower minimum pitch compared with those uttered in the absence of calves, contributing to an overall widened pitch range. --from Science News
當與年幼的孩子說話時，人類經常使用尖銳高音調兒語。事實證明—有些海豚也如此。研究人員6月26日在《美國國家科學院院刊》上報導：當幼豚在身邊時，寬吻海豚媽媽會改變牠們各自獨特的鳴聲。這種「親子語」可能會增強幼兒的注意力、親密關係和聲音學習，如同人類所為。研究人員調查了40個隻海豚的標誌性鳴聲案例，並通過獨特方式驗證了隨時間變化的每種發聲頻率。每隻海豚的鳴聲中有一半是當她的孩子在場時發出的。當幼豚在場時，母豚的鳴聲平均來說比幼豚不在時，包含更頻繁的最高音調和較少的最低音調，使得整體音調範圍擴大。 --摘錄翻譯自Science News