科学美国人60秒 SSS 世界科学新闻简报

I’m Scott Hershberger, with Scientific American as an American Association for the Advancement¹ of Science Mass Media Science and Engineering Fellow.

我是《科学美国人》的斯科特·赫什伯格，是美国科学促进会大众传媒科学与工程研究员。

And here’s a short piece from the October 2020 issue of the magazine, in the section called Advances: Dispatches from the Frontiers of Science, Technology and Medicine.

下面是该杂志2020年10月期的一篇短文，题为《进展:来自科学、技术和医学前沿的报道》。

The article is titled “Quick Hits,” and it’s a rundown of some stories from around the globe.

这篇文章的标题是《快速点击》，它是来自世界各地的科学新闻简报。

From Mexico: In now flooded caves, researchers discovered the oldest known ochre mines in the Americas.

墨西哥报道:在当前被洪水淹没的洞穴中，研究人员发现了美洲最古老的赭石矿。

Around 12,000 years ago inhabitants of the Yucatán Peninsula extracted the red pigment², possibly for use as an antiseptic and sunscreen or for symbolic³ purposes such as body painting.

大约1.2万年前，尤卡坦半岛的居民提取了这种红色色素，可能是用作防腐剂和防晒霜，也可能是用于人体彩绘等象征性目的。

From Italy: A massive bloom of pink algae⁴, triggered by low snowfall and high spring and summer temperatures, could accelerate the melting of the Presena glacier⁵ by causing the ice to absorb more sunlight.

意大利报道:由低降雪量与春夏季高温引发的粉红色海藻大规模泛滥，可能会导致冰吸收更多的阳光，从而加速普雷塞纳冰川的融化。

From Botswana: At least 350 elephants have dropped dead in the Okavango Panhandle since March, and live elephants have acted disoriented or seemed partially⁶ paralyzed.

博茨瓦纳报道:自3月份以来，至少有350头大象在奥卡万戈沙漠中死亡，而活着的大象表现出分不清方向或部分瘫痪的样子。

With poaching and anthrax ruled out as potential causes, investigators⁷ suspect an unknown disease.

由于排除了偷猎和炭疽热的潜在原因，调查人员怀疑是一种未知疾病引起的。

From Libya: A seven-million-year-old crocodile skull⁸ suggests the prehistoric⁹ animals may have traveled from Africa to the Americas.

利比亚报道:一具700万年前的鳄鱼头骨表明，这种史前动物可能是从非洲迁徙到美洲的。

Computerized tomography of the fossil, found in Libya, revealed a slight bump in the middle of the snout—a feature of modern American crocodiles but not their African counterparts.

这具化石是在利比亚发现的，电脑断层扫描显示，它的鼻部中间有一个轻微的凸起——这是现代美洲鳄鱼的特征，而非洲鳄鱼却没有。

From Polynesia: Through a genetic¹⁰ analysis of modern-day Polynesians and Indigenous¹¹ people from South America’s Pacific coast, scientists concluded the two groups came into contact between A.D. 1150 and 1230.

波利尼西亚报道:通过对现代波利尼西亚人和南美洲太平洋海岸的土著居民的基因分析，科学家得出结论，这两个群体在公元1150年到1230年之间有过接触。

Where the transoceanic encounter occurred remains¹² unknown, but the team suspects eastern Polynesia.

跨洋相遇的地点仍然未知，但研究小组怀疑相遇地点是东波利尼西亚。

And from the United Arab Emirates: The successful launch of a Mars orbiter called Hope marked the first interplanetary mission conducted by an Arab nation.

阿拉伯联合酋长国报道:火星轨道飞行器“希望”号的成功发射标志着阿拉伯国家首次执行星际任务。

Carrying instruments to study the Red Planet’s daily and seasonal¹³ weather, the spacecraft is set to enter Martian orbit in February 2021.

该航天器携带有研究这颗红色星球日常和季节性天气的仪器，将于2021年2月进入火星轨道。

That was “Quick Hits.” I’m Scott Hershberger.

这是《快速点击》的全部内容。 我是斯科特·赫什伯格。

1 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。

2 pigment   

n.天然色素，干粉颜料

参考例句：

• The Romans used natural pigments on their fabrics and walls.古罗马人在织物和墙壁上使用天然颜料。
• Who thought he might know what the skin pigment phenomenon meant.他自认为可能知道皮肤色素出现这种现象到底是怎么回事。

3 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

4 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。

5 glacier   

n.冰川，冰河

参考例句：

• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。

6 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

7 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

9 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

10 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

11 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。