英倫翻譯社/ Trsmaster

◎國際新聞中心

Adding enzymes from seaweed microbes to toothpaste and mouthwash could provide better protection against tooth decay, a team of UK scientists have said.

英國科學家團隊說，牙膏和漱口水中加入海藻微生物的酵素，可能會更有效預防蛀牙。

Researchers at Newcastle University had been studying Bacillus licheniformis to see if it could clean ships’ hulls. But the scientists now believe it could protect the areas between teeth where plaque can gather despite brushing. Their lab tests suggest the microbe’s enzyme cuts through plaque, stripping it of bacteria that cause tooth decay.

新堡大學研究人員一直在研究腸道分離菌，觀察是否能清潔船殼。不過現在科學家相信，即便在刷了牙也可能積累牙垢的牙縫間，它也能形成保護。實驗結果顯示，微生物酵素穿透牙垢，移除造成蛀牙的細菌。

Dr Nick Jakubovics, of the university’s school of dental sciences, said: "Plaque on your teeth is made up of bacteria which join together to colonise an area in a bid to push out any potential competitors. "Traditional toothpastes work by scrubbing off the plaque containing the bacteria - but that’s not always effective - which is why people who religiously clean their teeth can still develop cavities.

新堡大學牙醫系的賈庫波維克斯博士說：「牙齒的牙垢是由細菌組成，結合起來佔據一個區域，試圖趕走可能的競爭者。傳統牙膏之所以有效，是刷掉含有細菌的牙垢，不過並非絕對有效，這就是為何固定刷牙的人還是會蛀牙。」

"We found this enzyme can remove some of these undesirable bacteria from plaque."

「我們發現這種酵素能移除牙垢中一些討厭的細菌。」

Instead of removing the plaque entirely, Dr Jakubovics believes the treatment could strip away the harmful bacteria that cause tooth decay.

◎陳維真

A museum in Italy has started burning its artworks in protest at budget cuts which it says have left cultural institutions out of pocket.

義大利一家美術館開始燒毀館藏藝術品，抗議政府削減預算，讓文化機構賠錢經營。

Antonio Manfredi, of the Casoria Contemporary Art Museum, set fire to the first painting on Tuesday."Our 1,000 artworks are headed for destruction anyway because of the government’s indifference," he said.

卡索利亞當代美術館的安東尼歐曼佛萊帝，週二點火焚燒第一幅畫作。「我們的1000件館藏，無論如何都要燒毀，都是政府漠視造成的。」

The work was by French artist Severine Bourguignon, who was in favour of the protest and watched it online.

這幅畫作是法國藝術家布赫吉農的作品，他支持抗議行動，並在線上觀看抗議過程。

Mr Manfredi plans to burn three paintings a week from now on, in a protest he has dubbed "Art War".

曼佛萊帝計畫從現在開始，在他稱為「藝術之戰」的抗議活動中，一週燒3幅畫。

Artists from across Europe have lent their support, including Welsh sculptor John Brown, who torched one of his works, Manifesto, on Monday.

◎俞智敏

Facebook’s $1 billion gobbling up of Instagram has sent disgruntled fans of the photo-sharing app to the delete button.

臉書以1億美元價格吃下Instagram公司，已促使這個照片分享應用程式的眾多不滿粉絲們選擇按下刪除鍵。

Twitter and other online platforms recently buzzed with depictions of Facebook as a corporate monster trampling over a defenseless community of creative, free-spirited types. "Guess it’s time to delete my instagram app before Facebook ruins it," griped a Twitter user.

推特及其他網路平台最近充滿著把臉書描繪為一隻企業怪獸，專門踐踏無助的創意、崇尚自由社群的討論。「我想現在該是在instagram被臉書破壞前，先刪除這個程式的時候了，」一名推特用戶抱怨說。

For Instagram’s 30 million users, the cult-status app has a very different identity to the mass market Facebook. Unlike Facebook, there is no advertising, and certainly no selling of users’ personal details to advertisers.

對Instagram的3000萬用戶而言，這個受人崇拜的應用程式與大眾市場導向的臉書完全不同。相較於臉書，這個程式沒有廣告，更不會把用戶的個人資料賣給廣告商。

"Its ability to let its users delicately toe the line between public and private gave us a little breathing room from the all-pervasiveness of Facebook, and to see it whisked away feels like a tangible loss," wrote Jenna Wortham on The New York Times tech blog.

「這個程式能讓使用者在公開與私人領域間巧妙地維持分際，讓我們在無孔不入的臉書之外能有一點喘息的空間，現在卻看著它被一下子買走，讓人覺得彷彿遭受了具體的損失，」紐約時報科技網誌作者沃翰寫道。

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg went out of his way to reassure Instagram purists that they needn’t get their hands dirty. On his own Facebook page, Zuckerberg noted that users can maintain their Instagram photos off Facebook and also keep their Instagram followers separate. （AFP）

◎管淑平

Zeddie Little, who became an Internet sensation after being dubbed ’Ridiculously photogenic guy’, is in a serious relationship. He is ’very committed’ to his girlfriend of five years and is overwhelmed by all the attention he has been receiving, his father said.

被暱稱為「上相得不像話的傢伙」、在網路上爆紅的柴迪．利托，已經有認真交往的對象了。柴迪的父親說，他對交往5年的女友「非常死心塌地」，外界對他的注意讓他受寵若驚。

Speaking from his home in South Carolina, Zeddie’s father also revealed his son has spent years trying to break into the PR business--only to become famous overnight.

住在南卡羅萊納州的柴迪父親也透露，兒子幾年來一直想進公關界，沒想到卻一夕出名。

’What’s happened is crazy... my son is such a hard-working and unassuming guy,’ he said, ’this is totally unexpected and has just happened--he was in the right place at the right time with the right smile.’

「這件事很瘋狂…我兒子是很努力工作、又不喜歡出鋒頭的人」，他說，「完全沒料到會這樣。他是在對的時間、帶著對的微笑，出現在對的地方。」

Zeddie Little was photographed when he went home to compete in the 10km Cooper Bridge run in Charleston.

柴迪．利托是回家參加在查爾斯頓舉行的庫柏橋10公里路跑時被拍到。

Amateur photographer Will King took the picture of Zeddie with his beaming smile. King tagged it on his Flickr account as ’Ridiculously Photogenic Guy’.

◎張沛元

So you want to hang out with a bunny?

那麼，你想跟兔子玩嗎？

Look no further than Candy Fruits Usagi no Yakata（Rabbit Hall）in Tokyo’s bustling Akihabara, a district known as much for its maid cafes now as it was for stores selling electronic gadgetry in days gone by.

那就鎖定位於熙來攘往的東京秋葉原區的「糖果水果 兔之館」。秋葉原區過去以販賣各種電子零組件的商店打響名號，如今則以許多女僕咖啡店聞名。

"Welcome!" A woman in a pink outfit replete with rabbit ears says in greeting.

「歡迎光臨！」一名戴著兔耳朵、一身粉紅色裝束的女子上前迎賓。

The staff members are known as "ko-usagi"（rabbit girls）, but they are not the main attraction：Here, it’s the rabbits.

這些工作人員被稱為「娘兔」（兔女孩），但她們並不是最大賣點：在這裡，最大賣點是真的兔子。

There’s a basic charge for admission. It is 1,600 yen for an hour. Coffee and tea are all-you-can-drink, but there’s no food for people on the menu：only "rabbit snacks." These cost an additional 200 yen and consist of finely chopped carrots, apples and turnip leaves--in other words, rabbit food. Visitors are allowed to play with the rabbits.