科学美国人ScientificAmericans60sWord文档格式.docx

科学美国人ScientificAmericans60sWord文档格式.docx

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OddsFavorDrunkTraumaVictims

AstudyinthejournalAmericanSurgeonfindsthattraumavictimswhowereinebriatedatthetimeoftheirinjuryhavehighersurvivalratesthantheirsobercounterparts.RachelKremenreports

[Thefollowingisanexacttranscriptofthispodcast.]

Beingdrunkmightmakeyoumoreaccidentprone,butitalsoincreasesyourchanceofsurvival.ResearchpublishedinthejournalAmericanSurgeonrevealsthattraumapatientsaremorelikelytosurviveiftheywereintoxicatedatthetimeoftheirinjury.

Aretrospectivestudyofnearly8,000traumapatientsfoundthatsevenpercentofpeoplewhocameinsoberdiedoftheirinjuries,whilethosewhowerehurtwhiledrunkonlydiedonepercentofthetime.Apositivebloodalcohollevelseemedtoincreasethelikelihoodofsurvival,evenaftertheresearcherstookintoaccounttheageofthepatientandtheseverityoftheinjury.Traumapatientswhocameintothehospitaldrunkweredischargedsooner,too.Exactlyhowalcoholprotectstheinjuredisstillnotclear.Butapaststudyonanimalsdidfindthatethanolprotectedagainstnervedamage.Thenewworkhintsthatalcoholmighthaveaplaceintreatingtraumaticinjuries,althoughmoreresearchisneeded.Inthemeantime,avoidingtraumainthefirstplaceisstillthestrategyonemightcallmostsober.

—RachelKremen

PLAYOctober2,2009

IgNobelPrizesAwarded

OntheeveoftheNobelPrizeannouncements,theIgNobelPrizeswereawardedatHarvard,forstudiesintoknuckle-crackingandothervitalmedicalandscientificresearch.KarenHopkinretorts

WhenthereareNobelprizesthereareIgNobelprizes,whichwerehandedoutatHarvardonOctober1st.Theawardshonorresearchthat“makespeoplelaughandthenmakesthemthink.”

Amongthisyear’swinners:

Thephysicsprizewenttoastudyofwhypregnantwomendon’ttipover.Usually.Thechemistryprizewasawardedtoscientistswhoturnedtequilaintodiamonds.ProofthatallthatglittersisnotCuervogold.Theveterinarymedicineprizewasgivenforfindingthatcowsthathavenamesmakemoremilkthanthosewhoremainanonymous.Anotherstudythat’sudderlyoriginal.Themedicineprizewenttoaphysicianwho,forfiftyyears,crackedtheknucklesononlyhislefthandtotesthismother’scontentionthatknuckle-crackingcausesarthritis.Hisconclusion:

momwaswrong,althoughhisstudywasself-controlledandnotblinded.Finally,thepeaceprizewenttoSwissresearchersfordetermining,throughexperiment,whetherit’sbettertogetcrackedovertheheadwithafullbottleofbeeroranemptyone.Both,theyfound,arecapableoffracturingaskull.Whichshoulddefinitelymakeyouthinkduringyournextbarroombrawl,andthat’snolaughingmatter.

—KarenHopkin

PLAYOctober4,2009

TruthIsThatParentsLietoKids

AstudyintheJournalofMoralEducationfindsthatparentslietochildrenregularly,toinfluencebehavior

WhenIwaspregnant,afriendgavemeabookcalledGreatLiestoTellSmallKids.Initaregemslike“winemakesmommycharming”and“mendon’tgobaldnaturally,theylikegettingtheirhaircutthatway.”Now,ifyou’refilledwithhorroratthenotionofpullingatoddler’sleglikethat,anewstudyintheJournalofMoralEducationshowsthatparentsregularlyusedeceptiontoinfluencetheirkids.

Wecanallrecallliesourparentstoldustogetustodosomething,ortostopdoingsomething.“Ifyoucrossyoureyestheycouldstaythatway”comestomind.Butinthecurrentstudy,researchersfoundthattheseparentalfibsarehardlyfewandfarbetween.Andthatevenparentswhopreachtotheirkidsabouttheimportanceofbeinghonestadmittolyingtothemaswell.

Theresearchersplantoextendtheirstudiestoseewhetherallthislyingundermineschildren’strust.Untilthen,well,keeptellingjuniorthatifhespinsaroundreallyfast,thenstops,hisfacewillskidaroundtothebackofhishead.Itcouldkeephimbusywhilemommybecomesevenmorecharming.

PLAYOctober5,2009

NobelPrizeinPhysiologyorMedicine

The2009NobelPrizeinphysiologyormedicinegoestoHarvard'

sJackSzostak,JohnsHopkins'

sCarolGreiderandElizabethBlackburnatU.C.SanFrancisco,fortheirworkontelomeresandtelomerase.SteveMirskyreports

The2009NobelPrizeinphysiologyormedicinegoestoHarvard’sJackSzostak,JohnsHopkins’sCarolGreiderandElizabethBlackburnatU.C.SanFranciscofortheirworkonhowchromosomesareprotectedbytelomeresandtheenzymetelomerase.

TheNobellaureates’researchhelpedexplainhowanorganism’sDNAissuccessfullycopiedwhencellsdivide.Telomeresaregeneticsequencesthatactlikelittleprotectivecapsattheendofchromosomes—thinkofthesealedtipsofyourshoelaces.Telomeraseistheenzymethatbuildstelomeres.

BlackburnandSzostakdeterminedthatitwasaspecificDNAsequenceinthetelomeresthatkeptchromosomesfromfrayingwhenevertheywerecopiedwhenacellsplitsintwo.BlackburnandGreiderdiscoveredtelomerase.Thefindingshaveimplicationsfortheunderstandingofagingandcancer.Becauseiftheenzymekeepsthetelomeresrobust,thechromosomesstayprotectedandthecell’sagingisslowed.Andincancercells,whichunfortunatelydonotseemtoage,telomerelengthismaintainedvirtuallyindefinitely.Szostak,GreiderandBlackburnthusrevealedoneoflife’sbasicmechanisms,andpavedthewayfornewmedicalstrategies.

—SteveMirsky

PLAYOctober6,2009

NobelPrizeinPhysics

The2009NobelPrizeinphysicsgoestoCharlesKaoofStandardCommunicationsLabsinEnglandandtheChineseUniversityofHongKongfortheinventionofpracticalopticalfibercommunication,andGeorgeSmithandWillardBoyleofBellLabsinNewJersey,forinventingthecharge-coupleddevice,theCCD,makingdigitalcameraspossible.SteveMirskyreports

TheNobelPrizeinphysicsgoestoCharlesKao,ofStandardCommunicationsLabsinEnglandandtheChineseUniversityofHongKong,andGeorgeSmithandWillardBoyleofBellLabsinNewJersey.Kaofiguredouthowtotransmitlightoverlongdistancesinopticalglassfibers.Fromtheofficialannouncement:

“Today,morethanabillionkilometersofopticalfiberaroundtheworldformsthebackboneofmodernglobalcommunication.”

In1969,SmithandBoylemadeyourdigitalcamerapossiblebyinventingthecharge-coupleddevice,theCCD:

“Thisdeviceallowselectronicrecordingofimagesanditreplacesthephotographicfilmincameras.TheCCDrecordstheimageasadistributionofchargeinsmallcellsorpixels,anditoutputstheimageasaseriesofdigitalnumbers.TheCCDisacrucialcomponentofadvancedcameras,anditfindsnumerousapplicationsinscientificandmedicalequipment.Forexample,itgivesusthespectacularimagesoftheuniversethatwecanseetoday.”

PLAYOctober7,2009

NobelPrizeinChemistry

The2009NobelPrizeinChemistrygoestoVenkatramanRamakrishnan,ThomasSteitzandAdaYonathforstudiesoftheprotein-manufacturingribosome,withimplicationsforantibioticdevelopment.SteveMirskyreports

The2009NobelPrizeinChemistrygoestoVenkatramanRamakrishnanoftheMRCLaboratoryofMolecularBiologyinEngland,YaleUniversity’sThomasSteitz,andAdaYonathoftheWeizmannInstituteofScienceinIsraelfortheirstudiesoftheribosome.GunnarvonHeijneoftheRoyalSwedishAcademyofSciencesattheofficialannouncement:

“Thethreelaureateshaveaccomplishedwhatmanyscientiststhoughtimpossible,namelytodeterminethethree-dimensionalstructureofthemolecularmachinethatmakesalltheproteinsinacell,theso-calledribosome.Usingx-raycrystallographytoobtainsnapshotsoftheribosomeinaction,theyhavebeenabletoexplainhowtheribosomeselectsandcouplestogetheraminoacidstoformproteins.Theyhavealsoshownhowbacterialribosomescanbestoppeddeadintheirtracksbyvariousantibiotics,therebyprovidinginsightsthathelpresearchersdesignnewdrugstobeusedinournever-endingfightagainstbacterialinfections.”

PLAYOctober8,2009

PillMayChangeAttraction

InastudyinthejournalTrendsinEcologyandEvolution,researchersnotethatthebirthcontrolpillmaychangeawoman'

schoiceinwhomshefindsattractive.CynthiaGraberreports

Somepeopleliketothinkthere’ssomethingfatedaboutwhowefallinlovewith.It’sthatperfectmixofattraction,compatibility,andofcoursetiming.Butinsomecases,fatemaybetakingitscuesfrombirthcontrolpills.

First,let’sgooverawoman’scycleandhowthataffectsattraction.Whenwomenareovulating,theirfeatureschangeinwaysthatmenunconsciouslypickup.Somenareparticularlyattractedtowomenwhenthey’refertile.Anditworkstheotherway,too.Whenawomanisfertile,she’smoreattractedtomenwithmoretraditionallymasculinefeaturesandwhoaregeneticallydissimilartoher,ormorecompatibleintermsofprocreating.

Ofcourseoralcontraceptionchangesawoman’shormonalcycles.Herbodythinksit’spregnantanddoesn’tgothroughovulation-inducedchanges.AndinastudypublishedthismonthinthejournalTrendsinEcologyandEvolution,researcherssaythatwomenonthepilldonotshowtheovulation-inducedattractiontogeneticallydissimilar