- Top 5 foods with the highest prebiotic content
- Adopting 8 healthy habits could add decades to a person's life
- Chocolate prices soar as cost of cocoa rises 25%
- The world's cheapest Domino's pizza is in inflation-hit India. It costs $0.60
- Some African birds follow nomadic ants to their next meal
- What would happen if we stopped fishing?
Top 5 foods with the highest prebiotic content
5種益生元含量最高的食物
Health
Prebiotics, which can be thought of as food for the microbiome, are different from probiotics, which contain live microorganisms. Both can potentially benefit microbiome health, but they work in different ways. Studies have linked higher prebiotic intake with improved blood glucose regulation, better absorption of minerals like calcium, and markers of improved digestive and immune function. Cassandra Boyd, a master's student at San José State University and Assistant Professor John Gieng, PhD. estimated the prebiotic content of thousands of food types by using preexisting literature to find out the foods offering the highest prebiotic content. According to the study, foods that pack the greatest prebiotic punch are dandelion greens, Jerusalem artichokes, garlic, leeks, and onions.
--from News Medical
益生元可以被認為是微生物群系的食物，與含有活微生物的益生菌不同。兩者都可能對微生物群健康有益，但它們的作用方式不同。研究顯示攝取較多的益生元與改善血糖調節、促進鈣等礦物質吸收以及明顯改善消化和免疫功能有關。San José State University碩士生Cassandra Boyd與助理教授John Gieng博士利用現有文獻估算了數千種食物的益生元含量，以找出益生元含量最高的食物。根據這項研究，最具益生元功效的食物是蒲公英葉、菊芋（又名洋薑）、大蒜、韭菜和洋蔥。
--摘錄翻譯自News Medical
Adopting 8 healthy habits could add decades to a person's life
養成8種健康習慣能增加數十年壽命
Health
A new study involving over 700,000 U.S. veterans reports that people who adopt eight healthy lifestyle habits by middle age can expect to live substantially longer than those with few or none of these habits. The eight habits are: being physically active, being free from opioid addiction, not smoking, managing stress, having a good diet, not regularly binge drinking, having good sleep hygiene, and having positive social relationships. According to the results, men who have all eight habits at age 40 would be predicted to live an average of 24 years longer than men with none of these habits. For women, having all eight healthy lifestyle factors in middle age was associated with a predicted 21 additional years of life compared to women with none of these habits.
--from News Medical
一項涵蓋超過70萬名美國退伍軍人的新研究報告稱，在中年前養成8種健康生活習慣的人壽命可望比那些有少數或沒有這些習慣的人長得多。這8個習慣是：積極鍛煉身體、無鴉片類藥物成癮、不吸煙、控制壓力、良好飲食、不酗酒、維持良好睡眠品質，並擁有積極的社交關係。研究結果顯示，40歲時擁有全部8種習慣的男性預估平均壽命比沒有這些習慣的男性多24年。對女性來說，在中年擁有全部8種健康習慣的女性與沒有這些習慣的女性相比，預估可以多活21年。
--摘錄翻譯自News Medical
Chocolate prices soar as cost of cocoa rises 25%
可可成本上漲 25%導致巧克力價格飆升
Culture
World heads into a potential third year of supply deficit as major growing regions inundated by flooding. In bad news for chocolate lovers, confectionery makers are increasing prices as cocoa beans trade at near decade highs with no respite on the horizon. Food companies have been grappling with rising costs for the main chocolate ingredient, with cocoa prices up more than 25% in a year amid widespread flooding in some of the world’s main growing regions. Analysts at Rabobank noted that sugar, another major ingredient in chocolate, was also priced at historically high levels. “Some of our favorite types of chocolate in Australia have risen in price by around 10 to 20%, so we’ve seen inflation in the category and that could continue if these cost pressures are going to increase,” associate analyst Pia Piggott said.
--from The Guardian
因主要種植地區被洪水淹沒，全球可能邁入第三年的可可豆供應短缺。對於巧克力愛好者，這會是個壞消息，糖果點心製造商正打算提高售價，因為可可豆的交易價格已經達到近十年的最高點，而且沒有任何轉圜空間。食品商持續努力面對巧克力主要原料成本漲價的狀況，因為全球一些主要種植區面臨大洪災，可可豆價格於一年內漲價了25%以上。荷蘭合作銀行分析師也指出，巧克力的另一個主要成分--糖的價格也來到歷史新高。「一些我們喜歡的巧克力商品，在澳洲已經上漲了約10%至20%，由此可見這類型的通貨膨脹，若成本壓力增加，可能情況會持續發生。」，副分析師Pia Piggott表示。
--摘錄翻譯自The Guardian(衛報)
The world's cheapest Domino's pizza is in inflation-hit India. It costs $0.60
世界上最便宜的達美樂披薩在通貨膨脹嚴重的印度只賣 0.60 美元
Culture/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/I27HV3EWK5KZVOYNEI4TPQXY6M.jpg)
The 49-rupee ($0.60) pizza in India, Domino's No.1 market outside America, is the tip of the spear in its fight against rampant inflation that's squeezing profits and pricing out many customers, according to the CEO of its franchisee there. The company wants to "own that price point", said Sameer Khetarpal, confirming the stripped down, seven-inch cheese pizza with a "sprinkle" of basil and parsley is Domino's cheapest anywhere. "You are coming to the store or open the app, because there is a 49-rupee callout," he said. "Customers are going to eat out less because prices are higher everywhere." In Shanghai, by comparison, Domino's cheapest savory pizza is priced about $3.80, and in San Francisco about $12, online menu prices show. Reuters interviews with six executives and 12 store managers revealed how Domino's and other global fast-food giants like Pizza Hut and Burger King are being forced to change tactics to weather rampant inflation in the market of 1.4 billion people.
--from Reuters
達美樂在印度的銷售執行長表示，達美樂在美國以外的第一大市場--印度售價49盧比(0.60美元)的披薩是用來對抗壓縮利潤及因通膨嚴重而損失客戶的先鋒。Sameer Khetarpal表示，公司希望維持這個價格，並確認這個撒上碎羅勒葉及香芹的7英吋起司披薩，是全球達美樂披薩中最便宜的， 他更說「你會去當地的店或是使用點餐APP，就是因為這個49盧比的價錢。」並表示「在印度，消費者外出用餐意願減少，因為這裡甚麼都變更貴了。」就相同尺寸且最便宜的鹹口味披薩網路上的菜單價格而言，在上海大約是3.8美元，在舊金山則是12美元左右。路透社採訪了6名達美樂及其他跨國速食業者，例如必勝客及漢堡王的高階主管及12名分店經理，揭露了在人口高達14億且通貨膨脹嚴重的印度是如何被迫改變策略。
--摘錄翻譯自Reuters(路透社)
Some African birds follow nomadic ants to their next meal
非洲的一些鳥兒會跟隨游牧蟻群去找尋下一頓大餐
Sciences
Ant-following birds are well studied in the neotropical Americas. In Africa, however, “people have seen birds follow ants, but nobody has really looked” to see whether the animals have a specialized relationship, says [Patricia] Rodrigues from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. The first step to figuring that out is finding driver ant nests. Since 2020, Rodrigues has spent weeks at a time scrutinizing the ground for ants in a forest near Ciudad de la Paz. When she finds them, she knows to keep her distance. For their latest study, Rodrigues, Powell and colleagues placed cameras at the entrances of seven driver ant nests and recorded about 80 hours of footage. “Birds come up to a nest entrance and check it out, and fly into the direction of where the ants are raiding that day.”
--from Science News
[科學家們]對於分布在新熱帶美洲、會跟隨螞蟻的鳥類已有相當程度的了解。然而在非洲，「人們看過鳥兒跟著螞蟻，但沒有人認真地觀察過」這些動物之間是否存在著特殊的關係，路易斯安那州立大學 (位於Baton Rouge)的研究員[Patricia] Rodrigues說道。若想弄清楚這些動物之間是否存在著特殊的關係，第一步就是找到矛蟻的巢穴。從2020 年開始，Rodrigues就花了數週的時間仔細檢查歐亞拉 (Ciudad de la Paz)附近森林的地面是否有矛蟻。當她找到矛蟻時，她知道要保持距離。在他們最新的研究中，Rodrigues、Powell 以及其他同事們在7個矛蟻巢的入口處放置了攝影機，並記錄了大約 80 小時的影像。「鳥兒會來到巢穴入口查看情況，然後飛往當天蟻群所行軍的方向。」
--摘錄翻譯自Science News
What would happen if we stopped fishing?
如果我們不再捕魚會發生什麼事呢？
Sciences
For decades after the Bikini Atoll experiments, the islands were a place of ghosts – other than caretakers, no humans have lived there since the 1950s. So, when Palumbi rolled off the boat into the atoll's central lagoon in 2016, together with his colleague Elora López-Nandam, they had no idea what they would find. The pair were diving in Bravo Crater, a basin 75m (246ft) deep and 1.5km (0.9 miles) wide in the north of the island chain. "It's mind-blowing," says Palumbi. Despite battling the effects of radiation, which is thought to have created a population of mutant sharks missing their second dorsal fins, the reef was very much alive. And the fish were giants – at least, compared to those you would find in places that are regularly plundered for their fish. This is the most obvious consequence of abandoning fishing – there would be more fish, and they would be much bigger than modern generations are used to.
--from BBC Future
比基尼環礁實驗結束後的幾十年裡，這些島嶼就成了鬼島—自 1950 年代以來，除了島嶼管理者以外，沒有任何人類居住於此。因此，當Palumbi和他的同事Elora López-Nandam在2016 年進入環礁的中央潟湖時，他們無法預期會發現什麼。兩人當時正在Bravo火山口潛水。這個火山口位於島鏈北部一個深 75 米（246 英尺）、寬 1.5 公里（0.9 英里）的盆地中。「這真是令人振奮」Palumbi說。儘管此區域受到輻射的嚴重影響，甚至還創造了一群失去第二背鰭的突變種鯊魚，但此珊瑚礁仍然非常活躍。而且這些魚的體型非常巨大——至少與那些經常被獵捕的魚相比之下是如此。 這是放棄捕魚最顯著的結果——魚會更多，而且這些魚會比現代人所習慣的大小巨大很多。
--摘錄翻譯自 BBC Future