科学美国人60秒 SSS 全球科学简讯

I'm Scientific American assistant news editor Sarah Lewin Frasier.

我是《科学美国人》助理新闻编辑莎拉·莱温·弗雷西尔。

And here's a short piece from the May 2020 issue of the magazine,

下面是本杂志2020年5月刊的一篇短文，

in the section called Advances: Dispatches from the Frontiers of Science, Technology and Medicine.

摘自“进展：科学、技术和医学前沿快报”版块。

The article is titled "Quick Hits," and it's a rundown of some non-coronavirus stories from around the globe.

这篇文章名为《要闻快讯》，汇集了全球各地非新冠病毒报道的摘要。

From Chile:

智利：

Baffled by unexplained skin lesions on blue whales,

因为对蓝鲸皮肤原因不明的损伤感到困惑，

scientists shot darts¹ by crossbow to take samples from the whales' blisters² and fat in a bid to identify potential pollutant³ causes.

科学家用弩射出飞镖，从蓝鲸水泡和脂肪取样，以确定潜在的污染诱因。

From Russia:

俄罗斯：

A 46,000-year-old bird recovered from the Siberian permafrost is in such good condition that it looks like it died days ago, researchers say.

研究人员表示，他们在西伯利亚永久冻土中发现了一只距今4.6万年的小鸟，其状态之好，就像几天前才死去的一样。

It is the only nearly intact bird carcass found from the most recent ice age.

这是在冰河时期最晚期发现的唯一一具几近完整的鸟类尸体。

From Zimbabwe and Mozambique:

津巴布韦和莫桑比克：

New research on African turquoise⁴ killifish, which live in ponds that dry up seasonally⁵,

对生活在季节性干涸池塘中的非洲青鳉鱼的最新研究表明，

reveals that their embryos⁶ can suspend development by up to two years, with no impact on their ultimate life span after hatching.

其胚胎可暂停发育长达两年之久，而且不会影响孵化后的最终寿命。

From China:

中国：

Researchers in northern China uncovered fossils of the oldest green algae⁷ on record,

中国北方的研究人员发现了有记录以来最古老的绿藻化石，

a multicellular two-millimeter organism that lived a billion years ago—the earliest known ancestor of today's photosynthesizing plants.

这种绿藻是2毫米长的多细胞生物，距今10亿年，是如今光合作用植物的已知最早祖先。

From Malaysia:

马来西亚：

Scientists say they are scaling up an experimental farm

科学家表示，他们将扩建一座实验农场，

that uses metal-loving plants to draw and harvest nickel from the soil in the Malaysian portion of Borneo.

该农场位于婆罗洲马来西亚领土上，利用热爱金属的植物从土壤中吸引和收获镍。

The expanded farm will cover 50 acres.

扩建后的农场将占地50英亩。

From Austria:

奥地利：

For the first time, engineers executed a new bridge-building technique with two vertical⁸ girders,

工程师首次执行一种新的桥梁建造技术，将两个竖桁向上竖立，

erecting⁹ them upward before unfurling the span like an umbrella.

之后展开伞状桥跨。

Two such structures will form bridges across Austrian rivers.

跨越奥地利各个河流的桥梁都将由这两种结构组成。

The process saves time and cuts down massively on the scaffolding needed to build horizontally.

该过程不仅节约了时间，还大大减少了水平建造所需的脚手架工作。

That was "Quick Hits." I'm Sarah Lewin Frasier.

莎拉·莱温·弗雷西尔报道。

1 darts   

n.掷飞镖游戏；飞镖( dart的名词复数 )；急驰，飞奔v.投掷，投射( dart的第三人称单数 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• His darts trophy takes pride of place on the mantelpiece. 他将掷镖奖杯放在壁炉顶上最显著的地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I never saw so many darts in a bodice! 我从没见过紧身胸衣上纳了这么多的缝褶！ 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 blisters   

n.水疱( blister的名词复数 )；水肿；气泡

参考例句：

• My new shoes have made blisters on my heels. 我的新鞋把我的脚跟磨起泡了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His new shoes raised blisters on his feet. 他的新鞋把他的脚磨起了水疱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 pollutant   

n.污染物质，散布污染物质者

参考例句：

• Coal itself is a heavy pollutant.煤本身就是一种严重的污染物。
• Carbon dioxide may not be a typical air pollutant.二氧化碳可能不是一种典型的污染物。

4 turquoise   

n.绿宝石；adj.蓝绿色的

参考例句：

• She wore a string of turquoise round her neck.她脖子上戴着一串绿宝石。
• The women have elaborate necklaces of turquoise.那些女人戴着由绿松石制成的精美项链。

5 seasonally   

参考例句：

• The price of vegetables fluctuates seasonally. 蔬菜的价格随季节变动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They moved seasonally among various vegetation types to feed on plants that were flourishing. 它们还随着季节的变化而在各种类型植物之间迁移，以便吃那些茂盛的植物。 来自辞典例句

6 embryos   

n.晶胚；胚，胚胎( embryo的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Somatic cells of angiosperms enter a regenerative phase and behave like embryos. 被子植物体细胞进入一个生殖阶段，而且其行为象胚。 来自辞典例句
• Evolution can explain why human embryos look like gilled fishes. 进化论能够解释为什么人类的胚胎看起来象除去了内脏的鱼一样。 来自辞典例句

7 algae   

n.水藻，海藻

参考例句：

• Most algae live in water.多数藻类生长在水中。
• Algae grow and spread quickly in the lake.湖中水藻滋蔓。

8 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

9 erecting   

v.使直立，竖起( erect的现在分词 )；建立

参考例句：

• Nations can restrict their foreign trade by erecting barriers to exports as well as imports. 象设置进口壁垒那样，各国可以通过设置出口壁垒来限制对外贸易。 来自辞典例句
• Could you tell me the specific lift-slab procedure for erecting buildings? 能否告之用升板法安装楼房的具体程序？ 来自互联网