英倫翻譯社/ Trsmaster

2021/07/19 05:30

◎陳成良

The United Kingdom is weighing a ban on boiling live lobsters, crabs and other crustaceans amid a push from animal welfare activists to include the invertebrates in legislation that would recognize them as sentient beings.

英國正在考慮禁止煮食活龍蝦、螃蟹和其他甲殼綱動物，動物保護人士正在推動立法認定這些無脊椎動物是有知覺的生物。

At present the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill, which is making its way through the House of Lords, covers only vertebrates — animals that have a backbone.

目前，正在上議院審議的《動物福利（感知）法案》只涉及有脊骨的脊椎動物。

Though the legislation currently only includes vertebrates, lawmakers are weighing expanding it to include invertebrates such as lobsters, as well as octopuses and mussels, according to The Times .

據《泰晤士報》報導，儘管該立法目前只涵蓋脊椎動物，但立法者正在考慮將對象擴大到龍蝦、章魚、貽貝等無脊椎動物。

The legislation comes as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it has commissioned a study to examine the creature’s sentience.

在法案出爐之際，英國環境食品與鄉村事務部表示已委託進行一項研究，檢驗這些動物的感知能力。

2021/07/14 05:30

◎管淑平

New Yorkers can now get their dumpling fix from an automat with no human contact, and the adventurous can order flavors ranging from pepperoni pizza to peanut butter and jelly.

紐約客現在可由一套不需要與人接觸的自動販賣機為他們料理餃子，喜歡嘗試新鮮的人可從義式臘腸披薩到花生醬、果醬等口味中選購。

While the Brooklyn Dumpling Shop in the city’s East Village offers traditional pork and chicken bite-sized treats, chicken parm or Philly cheesesteak are also on the menu.

位於這座城市東村的布魯克林餃子店，提供一口大小的傳統豬肉、雞肉餡點心，菜單上也有焗烤雞肉，或是費城牛肉起司三明治。

Spurred by the pandemic and technology advances, the Brooklyn Dumpling Shop is delivering food via automat 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

在這場疫情以及科技進步的帶動下，布魯克林餃子店正透過自動販賣機，全年無休24小時出餐。

"Embrace technology, because technology is something that has to be embraced by hospitality（business）to thrive," said the shop’s owner Stratis Morfogen. （Reuters）

「擁抱科技，因為餐旅（業）要蒸蒸日上，就得擁抱科技」，店老闆史特拉狄斯．摩佛根說。（路透）

◎黃靖媗

Otago University and United Kingdom researchers developed the world-first device, which uses magnets to lock the mouth almost shut, to help fight the global obesity epidemic.

奧塔戈大學與英國研究人員研發了世界首款裝置，使用磁鐵鎖住嘴巴至幾乎閉上，幫助對抗全球肥胖流行。

DentalSlim Diet Control is an intra-oral device fitted by a dental professional to the upper and lower back teeth.

「牙科瘦身飲食控制」是一種口內裝置，會由牙科專業人員安裝至上下臼齒。

The device was being widely ridiculed after being shared on social media, with Twitter users calling it "creepy" and "bizarre".

這款裝置被分享至社群媒體後，受到大量嘲笑，推特用戶稱它「令人毛骨悚然」且「怪異」。

But Dunedin researchers who developed the device are defending the invention, saying those panning the weight loss tool have misunderstood its intention.

但開發這款裝置的達尼丁研究員為這項發明辯護，表示斥責這款減重工具的人們誤解了它的本意。

Lead researcher Prof Paul Brunton said it was not intended to be used for general weight loss purposes, but instead for specific cases where there was a clinical need to lose weight quickly.

首席研究員保羅．布倫頓教授表示，它不是為了用於普通的減重目的，而是針對臨床上需要快速減重的特殊案例。

2021/07/12 05:30

◎陳成良

A recent study done by a group of scientists at the Tel Aviv University has discovered that some plants will scream in a high frequency when they are undergoing stress.

近日一項由以色列特拉維夫大學的科學家團隊完成的研究發現，某些植物在承受壓力時會發出高頻率尖叫。

The research was carried out on tomato plants and tobacco plants by cutting their stems and depriving them of water. A microphone is placed 10cm away from the setup.

這項研究是透過切開番茄植株和菸草植株的莖部，或是剝奪其水分而進行，同時將一個麥克風放置在距離實驗裝置10公分的地方。

When they started cutting the stems, they found out that the plants started ’screaming’ between 20 and 100 kilohertz and they believe that this scream is probably meant to warn other plants and organisms nearby.

當他們開始切割莖部時，他們發現植物開始發出20至100千赫茲之間的「尖叫」，他們相信這種尖叫很可能是為了警告附近的其他植物和生物體。

When the tomato plant’s stem was cut, 25 ultrasonic distress sounds were recorded over the course of an hour, and on the other hand, 15 ultrasonic distress sounds were recorded from the tobacco plant.

他們在切開番茄植株的莖部後，在1小時的過程中記錄到25次超音波緊迫聲。另一方面，從菸草植株實驗中記錄到15次超音波緊迫聲。