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Animal testing

Suffering for science
为科学牺牲

May 7th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Europe votes for better regulation of animal experiments
欧洲投票决定进一步规范动物实验。

FIFTY years ago, William Russell, a classics scholar, and Rex Burch, a microbiologist, outlined how the use of animals in scientific research could be made more humane. They wanted scientists to restrict the use of animals, to refine their experiments to minimise distress and to replace testing on animals with alternative techniques. Although the “3Rs” have become a guiding principle, the number of animals used today remains far higher than Russell and Burch would have accepted. Finally, that may be changing. On May 5th the European Parliament voted to update the rules on the use of animals in research.
50年前，杰出学者威廉•罗素和微生物学家雷克斯•伯奇共同概述了如何更人道地把动物用于科学实验中。他们提出“3R原则”，即减少动物使用量（replace testing on animals）、改善试验方法以减轻动物痛苦(refine their experiments to minimise distress)和用非活体动物实验替代动物实验(replace testing on animals with alternative techniques)。尽管该理论已经成为了实验动物用于科学研究的指导原则，但现今社会使用的动物数量却远远超过两人可接受的范围。现在，这种情况可能终于要改变了。本月五日，欧洲议会投票决定要更新动物实验规则。
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the behavioural effects of video games
电动游戏的行为学影响

Good game?
游戏有益？

 

May 28th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Playing video games can make you a better person

电动游戏帮助玩家成为更好的人

VIDEO games get a bad press. Many are unquestionably violent and, as has been the way with new media from novels to comic books to television, they have been accused of corrupting the moral fabric of youth. Nor are such ccusations without merit. There is a body of research suggesting that violent games can lead to aggressive thoughts, if not to violence itself. But not all games are shoot-’em-ups, and what is less examined is whether those that reward more constructive behaviour also have lingering impacts. That, however, is starting to change. Two studies showing that video games have a bright side as well as a dark one have been carried out recently.

大众对电动游戏颇有微词。不可否认，非常多的电动游戏都充斥着暴力色彩，因而也就难以逃脱败坏青少年道德观的指责，重蹈了小说、漫画、电视等新媒体的覆辙。不过这些指责并非毫无根据。大量的研究结果表明，暴力游戏即使不会使玩家有暴力的行为，也会让他们产生暴力的想法。然而，并非所有的游戏都是打打杀杀，有些游戏褒奖积极的行为，他们是否对玩家也有潜移默化的影响？这个问题却乏人关注。最近有两项研究表明电动游戏瑕瑜互见，优缺点并存。
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[2008.06.14] Consumer fuel cells 寻找永恒

 Consumer fuel cells
消费者燃料电池

In search of forever
寻找永恒

Jun 12th 2008
From The Economist print edition

As a source of power for cars, fuel cells have been a disappointment. For laptops and mobile phones, they are just about to take off
作为给汽车提供动力的一种能源，燃料电池令人失望。对笔记本电脑和移动电话来说，他们还刚刚开始起步。

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[2008.06.07] Hair today, hair tomorrow 永葆秀发

Regenerative medicine
再生药物
Hair today, hair tomorrow
永葆秀发

Jun 5th 2008
From The Economist print edition
2008年6月5日
《经济学人》印刷版

A cure for baldness
秃顶治疗法

THE success of Silvio Berlusconi’s hair transplant, four years ago, relied on the fact that the septuagenarian prime minister had enough of a thatch on the back of his head to enable some of it to be transferred to his thinning top. Although hair transplants have advanced to the stage where they are virtually undetectable (no more plugs of hair), they still rely on moving hairs from one place to another. So, though hairlines such as Mr Berlusconi’s can be thickened up, or even straightened, there may well not be enough material available to lower a hairline to its former, youthful level.
四年前，西尔维奥·贝鲁斯科尼的头发移植获得成功，这次成 功靠的是这位古稀之年的意大利总理脑后的一块够浓密的头发，使之能移植到其稀疏的头顶上。虽然头发移植技术已经发展到使种植的毛发外观自然（与周围的头发 无区别），但该技术仍然要靠从一皮瓣到另一条皮瓣置换。因此，虽然象贝鲁斯科尼那样的发际线能变粗，甚至变直，但很可能没有足够可获移植的自体头发使得他 的发际线低到其以前年轻时的水平。


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