- Woman Pregnant in Each of Her Two Uteruses Gives Birth to Twins
- Tackle These Health Issues to Reduce Risk of Early Dementia, Study Says
- ‘Freak’ Turbulence Lands 11 Airplane Passengers in Hospital as They Returned from a Christmas Cruise
- Tourists to Kenya can Go Visa-free in 2024
- Will Superintelligent AI Sneak up on Us? New Study Offers Reassurance
- Reindeer can Activate Sleep Mode While Eating
Woman Pregnant in Each of Her Two Uteruses Gives Birth to Twins
一名女子兩個子宮都懷孕，並產下雙胞胎
Health
An Alabama woman with the rare condition of two uteruses, and who became pregnant in each uterus earlier this year, gave birth to twins last week a day apart. After a combined 20 hours of labor, Kelsey Hatcher gave birth to her third and fourth children, a set of rare twins, on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, according to a news release from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital. Hatcher was induced at 39 weeks and throughout labor had twice the monitoring and twice the charting and was assigned two labor and delivery nurses, the release says. “There was a cheer from everyone in the room when the first baby was delivered, but there was another baby left,” Dr. Shweta Patel, Hatcher’s obstetrician, said in the news release. “Kelsey was essentially laboring in the left uterus while simultaneously undergoing the postpartum process in the right.”
--from CNN
阿拉巴馬州一名婦女患有罕見的雙子宮疾病，今年稍早她的兩個子宮都懷孕了，上週她生下了一對雙胞胎，中間間隔一天。 據阿拉巴馬大學伯明翰醫院發布的新聞稿稱，經過20 個小時的分娩，Kelsey Hatcher於上週二和週三生下了她的第三個和第四個孩子，這是一對罕見的雙胞胎。 新聞稿稱，Hatcher 在第 39 週時被引產，在整個分娩過程中進行了兩倍的監測和兩倍的圖表，並分配了兩名分娩護士。 「當第一個嬰兒出生時，房間裡的每個人都歡呼雀躍，但還有另一個嬰兒，」Hatcher的產科醫生Shweta Patel博士在新聞稿中說。 “Kelsey基本上是在左側子宮中分娩，同時在右側子宮中進行產後過程。”
-- 摘錄翻譯自 CNN
Tackle These Health Issues to Reduce Risk of Early Dementia, Study Says
研究稱解決這些健康問題可降低早期失智症的風險
Health
Cognitive decline can begin years before signs of dementia set in, which for some can be as early as age 30, a condition known as young-onset dementia. Globally, it’s estimated nearly 4 million people ages 30 to 64 are living with the condition, according to a 2021 study, and case numbers have been rising. Key risk factors for later-life dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are well-known: older age and biological sex at birth (women are more likely to get Alzheimer’s). Genetics also determine risk — people who inherit one or more copies of the APOE4 gene are at greater risk of Alzheimer’s, although many never develop the disease. While those risks may not be modifiable, other risk factors are, including smoking, prediabetes and diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, depression, social isolation and hearing loss.
--from CNN
認知能力下降可能在出現失智症跡象之前數年就開始了，對於某些人來說，早在 30 歲時就可能出現這種情況，這種情況被稱為早發性失智。 根據 2021 年的一項研究，全球估計有近 400 萬名年齡在 30 歲至 64 歲之間的人患有這種疾病，而且病例數一直在上升。 晚年失智症和阿茲海默症的關鍵危險因子眾所周知：高齡及出生時的生物性別（女性更容易患阿茲海默症）。 遺傳學也決定風險——繼承一個或多個 APOE4 基因拷貝的人患阿茲海默症的風險更大，儘管許多人從未患上這種疾病。 雖然這些風險可能無法改變，但其他風險因素卻是可以改變的，包括吸菸、糖尿病前期和糖尿病、肥胖、高血壓、憂鬱、社交孤立和聽力損失。
--摘錄翻譯自CNN
‘Freak’ Turbulence Lands 11 Airplane Passengers in Hospital as They Returned from a Christmas Cruise
11 名從聖誕遊輪返回的飛機乘客因「怪異」亂流而入院
Culture
It sounded like the perfect festive break: a cruise around the sunny Caribbean, before flying back to the cold and wet UK just in time for Christmas. But the idyllic vacation turned into something of a nightmare for the 225 British passengers on P&O Cruises’ Caribbean Fly-Cruise, after their chartered return flight hit “freak” turbulence, landing some passengers in hospital and delaying everyone’s return home until after Christmas. The passengers had booked one or two-week cruises on the luxurious Arvia ship. With no fewer than four pools and 30 bars and restaurants onboard, it was set to be a dreamy trip around top Caribbean destinations, including Antigua, St. Lucia and the Dominican Republic. As it happened, the cruise went to plan. But getting home in time for Christmas was a different story. Passengers boarded a charter plane, organized by the cruise company, to fly them from Barbados to Manchester on December 23, but shortly after takeoff the plane experienced every flyer’s nightmare: clear air turbulence, which is impossible to predict. It hit two and a half hours into the flight, as the Airbus 0300-20, operated by Maleth Aero, was cruising at 38,000 feet.
-- from CNN
「在陽光明媚的加勒比海航行，然後正好趕上聖誕節飛回寒冷潮濕的英國」這聽起來像是一個完美的節日假期。 但對於乘坐P&O Cruises 加勒比海航線的225 名英國乘客來說，這個恬靜的假期變成了一場噩夢，因為他們乘坐的包機回程航班遇到了「怪異」的亂流，導致一些乘客住院，並將每個人的回家時間都延後到聖誕節後。 乘客們已於一到兩週前預訂豪華遊輪Arvia。 船上至少有4個游泳池和 30間酒吧和餐廳，這將是繞行安提瓜島、聖盧西亞和多明尼加共和國等加勒比海地區的夢幻之旅。郵輪照計畫進行，但是，在聖誕節前及時回到家，卻是另外一回事。 12月23日，乘客們登上了郵輪公司安排的包機，從巴貝多飛往曼徹斯特，但起飛後不久，每位乘客飛機上的程客就開始了他們的惡夢：晴空亂流，這是無法預測的。 飛行兩個半小時後，由 Maleth Aero 營運的空中巴士 0300-20 飛機在 38,000 英尺的高度巡航，發生了事故。
--摘錄翻譯自CNN
Tourists to Kenya can Go Visa-free in 2024
2024年前往肯亞的遊客可免簽證
Culture
Visitors to Kenya from across the world will no longer require a visa from January, President William Ruto said on December 12. Ruto said his government had developed a digital platform to ensure all visitors would receive an electronic travel authorisation in advance, instead of needing to apply for a visa. “It shall no longer be necessary for any person from any corner of the globe to carry the burden of applying for a visa to come to Kenya,” he said in a speech in the capital Nairobi at an event to mark 60 years of independence from Britain. Ruto has long advocated for visa-free travel within the African continent. At a conference in the Republic of Congo in October he said people from African countries would not require a visa to visit Kenya by the end of 2023. The tourism industry plays a vital role in Kenya’s economy, offering beach holidays along its Indian Ocean coastline and wildlife safaris inland. “Kenya has a simple message to humanity: Welcome Home!” he said.
--from CNN
總統William Ruto 12 月 12 日表示，從 1 月起，世界各地前往肯亞的遊客將不再需要簽證。 Ruto表示，該國政府已經開發了一個數位平台，以確保所有遊客都能提前獲得電子旅行授權，而無需申請簽證。 他在首都Nairobi舉行的紀念肯亞自英國獨立 60 週年的活動中發表講話時表示：「來自全球任何角落的任何人都不再需要負擔前往肯亞申請簽證的費用。」 Ruto長期以來一直主張非洲大陸免簽證旅行。 在 10 月於剛果共和國舉行的會議上，他表示，到 2023 年底，非洲國家的人們將不需要簽證即可前往肯亞旅遊。 旅遊業在肯亞經濟中發揮著至關重要的作用，它提供印度洋海岸線的海灘度假和內陸野生動物狩獵活動。 ｢肯尼亞向人類傳達了一個簡單的信息：歡迎回家！」 他說。
--摘錄翻譯自CNN
Will Superintelligent AI Sneak up on Us? New Study Offers Reassurance
超級人工智慧會偷襲我們嗎？ 新研究讓人放心
Sciences
Will an artificial intelligence (AI) superintelligence appear suddenly, or will scientists see it coming, and have a chance to warn the world? That’s a question that has received a lot of attention recently, with the rise of large language models, such as ChatGPT, which have achieved vast new abilities as their size has grown. Some findings point to “emergence”, a phenomenon in which AI models gain intelligence in a sharp and unpredictable way. But a recent study calls these cases “mirages” — artefacts arising from how the systems are tested — and suggests that innovative abilities instead build more gradually. “I think they did a good job of saying ‘nothing magical has happened’,” says Deborah Raji, a computer scientist at the Mozilla Foundation who studies the auditing of artificial intelligence. It’s “a really good, solid, measurement-based critique.”
--from Nature
超級人工智慧（AI）會突然出現，還是科學家可預見它的到來，並有機會警告世界？ 隨著 ChatGPT 等大型語言模型的興起，這個問題最近受到了廣泛關注，隨著大型語言模型興起如ChatGPT，隨著規模擴大這些模型已經實現了巨大的新能力。 一些研究結果指向｢湧現」，即人工智慧模型以敏銳且不可預測的方式獲得智慧的現象。 但最近的一項研究將這些案例稱為「海市蜃樓」——系統測試過程中產生的假象——並表明創新能力的建立是逐漸進行的。 Mozilla 基金會研究稽核人工智慧的電腦科學家Deborah Raji 表示：｢我認為他們在說『沒有發生任何神奇的事』方面做得很好。」 這是｢一個非常好的、可靠的、基於測量的批評」。
--摘錄翻譯自Nature
Reindeer can Activate Sleep Mode While Eating
馴鹿可以在進食時啟動睡眠模式
Sciences
It’s a long time since summer for reindeer in the Arctic right now, but those that gorged themselves during the bountiful months will be well equipped to survive the winter. A study released today in Current Biology reports that reindeer can put their brain into a sleep-like state while they chew, meaning that they are able maximize their eating time during Arctic summers. “Reindeer can meet digestive and sleep requirements at the same time,” says Melanie Furrer, the study’s first author and a neuroscientist at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. Like a cow, a reindeer has four chambers in its stomach, and it uses the first to store grass for later regurgitation and chewing — a process known as rumination.
--from Nature
對於北極的馴鹿來說，距離夏季已經過去很久了，但那些在豐收月份裡吃得飽飽的馴鹿將有足夠的能力度過冬天。 《Current Biology》今天發布的一項研究報告稱，馴鹿在咀嚼時可以使大腦進入類似睡眠的狀態，這意味著它們能夠在北極夏季更極致地利用進食時間。 「馴鹿可以同時滿足消化和睡眠需求，」該研究的第一作者、瑞士蘇黎世大學的神經科學家 Melanie Furrer 說。 像牛一樣，馴鹿的胃裡有4個腔室，它用第一個腔室來儲存草，以便稍後反芻和咀嚼。
--摘錄翻譯自Nature