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An early Christmas present? 一份提前送出的圣诞礼物？

The search for dark matter
寻找暗物质

An early Christmas present?
一份提前送出的圣诞礼物？

Dec 17th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Wild rumours are circulating of the discovery of one of physics’s great unknowns: dark matter

消息传开了！发现了物理学中最重要的一个未知物——暗物质
继续阅读“An early Christmas present? 一份提前送出的圣诞礼物？”

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本帖最后由 lilywizardry 于 2009-11-19 08:34 编辑

The DNA database
英国DNA数据库

Slightly less big brother

Nov 12th 2009
From The Economist print edition

The vast police directory is trimmed, but only a little
整理了庞大的警查目录，但这只是九牛一毛

AT THE start of the 20th century, Scotland Yard’s fingerprint bureau began a quiet revolution in policing. A hundred years on, detectives have a new tool at their disposal in the form of DNA matching. In 1995 the government set up a national database recording the DNA of everyone who was convicted of a crime, hoping that it would make future cases easier to crack. Since then the England and Wales database has swollen to 5.5m entries, covering 4.8m citizens (some profiles are duplicates), or some 9% of the population. It is thought to be the biggest DNA database in the world. Despite plans announced this week to limit its growth, it looks likely to stay that way.
20世纪初，伦敦警察厅指纹局悄无声息地开始了一场警界革命。一百年以来，侦探们一直拥有可以随意使用的DNA匹配工具。1995年，英国政府建立了国家数据库，记录每一位犯人的DNA，希望将来可以更轻易地查案。自那以后，英国和威尔士的数据库有550万个条目，涵盖480万公民，或9%的人口的资料（有一些资料重复）。人们认为，这是世界上最大的数据库。尽管本周有计划宣布限制其增长，但该数据库似乎只能那样。
继续阅读“”

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College enrolment
大学注册

Boom times
雨后春笋般增长
Nov 12th 2009 | WASHINGTON, DC
From The Economist print edition

The recession drives young Americans back to learning
经济危机促使美国的年轻人重返校园
A BUSINESS that jacks up its prices during a recession is usually asking to lose customers. Not so America’s colleges, which are simultaneously raising tuition fees and experiencing record levels of enrolment. The Technical College System of Georgia, for instance, whose 28 campuses teach everything from power-line maintenance to dental hygiene, has sharply raised its fees, yet the number of students is up 24% from a year earlier. Campus parking lots are so full that “we got them parking in cow pastures,” says a spokesman.
通常来说，如果有一桩生意在经济危机时期提高价格，那么定会丧失其顾客。但是这一法则对美国的大学来说却毫不适用，它们在提高学费的同时却招来了史无前例的众多报名者。就拿乔治亚技术学院系统来说，其28个校区中从电力维修专业到牙科卫生专业均大幅增加了学费，但学生人数却比一年前增加了24%。一位发言人说，校园里的停车位已经满得“使我们不得不将车停到养牛的牧场里”。
继续阅读“”

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Down with the flu
流感的克星–疫苗

Oct 16th 2009
From Economist.com

Two different viruses will lay millions low this winter
今年冬天，两种病毒将对数百万人的生命产生威胁。

IT HAS taken seven months for the vaccine intended to protect people from the potentially deadly H1N1 strain of influenza to start trickling onto pharmacy shelves. The first doses are now being made available in America. Supplies will remain limited for months to come. In the meantime, the vaccine—both the killed version that is injected and the attenuated live version that is given as a nasal spray—is being rationed to those reckoned most in need.

H1N1型流感有致命的危险。人们用七个月时间研制出了H1N1型流感疫苗，此疫苗将开始逐渐登上药房货架。美国第一支流感疫苗已经研制成功，但是在接下来的几个月疫苗的供给还会有些紧张。同时，灭活疫苗（注射接种）和减毒活疫苗（使用鼻用喷雾接种）将先提供给那些最需要疫苗的人群。
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Hard act to follow
“强硬”行动
Sep 3rd 2009
From The Economist print edition

Environment: Making softwoods more durable could reduce the demand for unsustainably logged tropical hardwoods

环境：让软木更加耐用能够减少对不可再生的热带硬木的砍伐

Kebony ASAKebony’s product is furfuryl
Kebony ASAKebony公司的产品是糠醇

继续阅读“”

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Women, testosterone and finance
女性，睾酮和金融业

Risky business
冒险事业

Aug 26th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Hormones, not sexism, explain why fewer women than men work in banks

为什么银行从业者中女性远少于男性？性别歧视不是主因，荷尔蒙才是
继续阅读“”

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Zap!
激光歼蚊
Jun 4th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Medical technology: Researchers are devising laser-defence systems to shoot down mosquitoes and prevent the spread of malaria. No, really
医学技术：研究者正在设计激光防御系统，用来歼灭蚊子，防止疟疾扩散。不会吧，这是真的吗？


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Smart tyres hug the road
智能轮胎助行驶

Keeping a grip
保持抓地力

Jun 30th 2009
From Economist.com

A new type of tyre can help to avoid a skid
新型轮胎可防止打滑

FEW sensations of helplessness match that of driving a car that unexpectedly skids. In a modern, well-equipped (and often expensive) car, electronic systems like stability and traction control, along with anti-lock braking, will kick in to help the driver avoid an accident. Now a new tyre could detect when a car is about to skid and switch on safety systems in time to prevent it. It could also improve the fuel-efficiency of cars to which it is fitted.

     开车过程中由于意外打滑而感到无能为力是很罕见的。在当代，装备精良（同样也很昂贵）的汽车，诸如稳定控制系统和牵引力控制系统之类的电子系统，与防抱死系统相结合，有助于防止事故的发生。如今，一种新的轮胎可以探测到汽车的打滑倾向，从而转换到安全模式来防止其发生。它还可以提高安装此种轮胎的车辆的燃料效率。
继续阅读“”

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A web of sound
发声网页

Talk about that
网站，说一说

Jun 18th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Websites that use the spoken word will empower the illiterate
发声网站，让文盲也可以上网

THE internet, wonderful though it is, reinforces one of life’s fundamental divisions: that between the literate and the illiterate. Most websites, even those heavy with video content, rely on their users being able to read and—if interactive—write. Building your own site certainly does.

英特网，自是精彩纷呈，同时也加剧了那些受教育的人和文盲之间在人生里的根本分歧。大多数网站，即便是那些加载了大量视频文件的网页，也需要浏览者具备阅读的能力，如需进行互动还要求浏览者会打字。要是想建立个人网站就更是如此了。 继续阅读“”