甲型H1N1流感病毒可能是人为制造!!!

以下分享一则重要新闻，是关于最近沸沸扬扬的甲型H1N1流感病毒的：

国际在线专稿:据彭博社13日报道，澳大利亚一学者在一份即将公布的报告中声称，甲型H1N1流感病毒源自实验室，而非大自然，甚至很有可能是故意制造出来的。获知此事后，世界卫生组织已经展开调查。世卫组织表示，病毒的流传不排除是学者失误的可能性。

　　据悉，撰写该报告的作者是澳大利亚病毒专家吉布兹（Adrian Gibbs）。现已退休的吉布兹上周末将此事上报给位于日内瓦的世界卫生组织总部，称即将在网上公布此报告。

　　报告中，吉布兹指出甲型H1N1病毒可能源自实验室，有可能是制造流感疫苗时发生了意外，或许根本就是故意制造出来的。该消息一出，立刻引起了人们的广泛关注。世界卫生组织在得知此消息后，不敢怠慢，紧急召集了全球人类及动物流感研究专家共商此事，研究报告的真实性。

　　世卫组织高官、权威流感科学家、健康及环境安全代理秘书长福田敬二（Keiji Fukuda）博士在11日的采访中表示，目前大家还在对此进行商讨，并未达成一致。吉布兹对病菌的研究已达40余载，也是首位对甲型H1N1流感病毒的基因组成进行分析的科学家。

　　吉布兹及两名同事对流感病毒8个基因编码的数百个氨基酸（amino acids）序列都进行分析后发现，该病毒基因突变的频率比通常猪身上的病毒高出3倍，说明病毒不可能来自于猪。只可能是病毒在传染到人身上时，先接触到了猪而已。在接受媒体的电话采访中，他表示:“只要我们搞清楚病毒究竟是从何而来，我们才会更加安全。我的研究结果已经得到了包括孟菲斯圣·朱迪儿童研究医院的科研人员里查德·维比(Richard J.Webby)博士等科学家的支持。

　　但福田敬二表示，最初的H1N1新型流感病毒分析报告确实认为该病毒的产生有其他的解释，但吉布兹的论断并非最正确的解释。目前所有的证据，都不支持吉布兹的理论。美国疾病控制中心已对甲型H1N1病毒基因序列做过相当广泛的分析，中心流感部主管南希表示:“我们都对病毒的来源感到好奇，但分析结论并不支持吉布兹的观点。”英国剑桥大学流感病毒演化专家也不赞吉布兹的说法。

吉布兹在接受彭博社的电视采访中也承认，对于病毒的蔓延最简单的解释就是来自实验室的泄露，但也不排除有其他多种的可能性。

Reference：http://news.cctv.com/world/20090514/100644.shtml

本文编辑：白振良

Were Mercury and Mars separated at birth?

The title of the article is ‘Were Mercury and Mars separated at birth?’ This is about the state of Mercury and Mars at birth. It means that Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars set up a system close to symmetrical, with the two largest planets between the two smallest, and Brad Hansen of the University of California, Los Angeles built a numerical simulation to explore how a ring of rocky material in the early solar system could have evolved into the planets, and at last Hansen find that Mercury and Mars were not separated at birth. Hansen find out that the smaller bodies around the sun are typically separated from the larger two bodies Earth and Venus if they experience collisions on the way, like the thought of Earth created the moon, also including Mercury and Mars. As the bodies once beyond the ring, they cannot acquire mass and so remain pint-sized, Mercury and Mars have various properties. And I agree with the idea of Hansen just because she got out the idea through her practices. The only holder of the idea is the simulation, but that can also prove the idea is believable. From the article, I find out that Mercury and Mars were not separated at birth, and also we should fulfill while we explore truth about everything.

Everybody knows forgotten happened with the time passed by, but when does the weakest memory happen and does it have any pattern?
A famous German psychologist named Hermann Ebbinghaus published his lab report in 1885, after that, research on memory becomes one of the most important fields in psychology and he is the person who found the memory forgotten pattern, that is the Ebbinghaus forgotten Curve which is the result of an experiment.
Three Greek alphabets were made up into one syllable by Ebbinghaus which don’t have any real meaning and were the memory objects for Ebbinghaus. In psychology experiment, using words which have real meaning is not allowed because those meaningful words cause different association to memorize. Every eight meaningless syllables were consisted one group and there are total eight groups and Ebbinghaus was the conner. The aim of experiment is to measure time required to memorize the eight groups of syllables. At first, he spent about 1000 seconds. Next, the time taken was contrasted by 580 seconds to memorize the same eight groups of syllables after 20 minutes and the time saving rate is around 58％, in contrast, the forgotten rate is 42％. The curve represents that the forgotten procession is not balanced, after memorizing, the short period of time, the faster rate of forgetting, similarly, the long period of time, the slower rate of forgetting.
The experiment also shows that the forgetting procession is not only related to time but also the meaning, amounts, or orders of materials, even the physical and mental factors.
As a student, we can use the Ebbinghaus Forgotten Curve properly to study. Better understanding, better memorizing. More industrial, more harvest from the study. So, revision regularly can reduce the forgetting rate from studying. According to different types of students, they need different kinds of revision plan. Memorize just like heating water in the pot. If a pot of water is heating up to 100 Celsius degree, it’s easy to reheat up to 100 Celsius degree if it is 70 Celsius degree than 30 Celsius degree. That means after learning, one day review is easier to review than three days later.

THE INVISIBLE CLOAK

Recently, the researchers of University of California, Berkeley have successfully made the staffs in the “invisible cloak” disappear.

Zhang Xiang (Xiang Zhang) is the University of California, Berkeley Department of Materials Science, Chief Scientist and its nano-science and engineering research center director. His researching team used silicon nano-materials to create a "cloak". The ordinary optical detection will not be able to find the items that placed in the mantle - although we are still able to see this "cloak", the items under the cloak have been "disappeared" without a trace. After exposing to a light plane, changing direction and refracting, the items in our vision vanish.

This device includes composite materials (composite metal materials, dielectric). It extraordinary "stealth" ability is more from the unique structure rather than material. They also invented the two new nano-materials which use silver and magnesium fluoride in turn to constitute fishing net into the new materials and generate from the porous alumina nano-silver line. Both materials can change the direction of light. It's an impossible character for the natural features.

Now, the invisible cloak can be operated in 1400 ~ 1800 nanometer wavelength. That is almost near-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum, slightly longer than light, visible to the naked eye of human. Zhang said that as the medium composition and design, the invisible cloak is easier to make and has a (coverage area) progressive expansion.

To think in an optimistic way, Researchers can create new materials in order to create a more accurate device - in other words, a real visual stealth.

In this experiment, they have already proved that the light refraction led to the principles of stealth is applicable in the two-dimensional space. The next goal is to create a cloak in the three-dimensional space and put such a device into practical use as soon as possible.

宇宙中的上帝之手

美国宇航局最近放出了一张美轮美奂照片，一只巨大的“手”在太空中大放光芒。

钱德拉X射线太空望远镜拍摄到一颗动力非常强大但垂死的微小脉冲星，脉冲星疯狂旋转，常常用其可怕的光芒照亮了周围区域。这颗脉冲星被命名为PSR B1509-58，很早之前便因燃料耗尽而变成了一个直径仅为12英里(约合19公里)的球体。结果形成了如此奇特的场景。

在这张由钱德拉X射线太空望远镜拍摄的照片中，PSR B1509-58脉冲星周围星云释放出高能X射线，这些X射线呈现绿色，而脉冲星以每秒7周的速度高速旋转，不断向周围环境释放能量，从而形成了魔幻景象——此景看上去就像是一只手伸向红色的宇宙光芒。

红色光芒其实是邻近一朵称为RCW 89的气云，天文学家认为是PSR B1509-58脉冲星的“宇宙之手”的手指照亮了它。此景覆盖周围150光年的区域，距离地球1.7万光年远，所以，我们看到的一幕其实发生在1.7万年前，只不过红色光芒刚刚抵达地球。

Huge Hand In the Space

Recently NASA released a new photon taken by Chandra X-ray Observatory. Tiny and dying but still-powerful stars called pulsars spin like crazy and light up their surroundings, often with ghostly glows.

High-energy X-rays emanating from the nebula around PSR B1509-58 have been colored blue to reveal a structure resembling a hand reaching for some eternal red cosmic light.

The red light actually a neighboring gas cloud, RCW 89, energized into glowing by the fingers of the PSR B1509-58 nebula, astronomers believe.

The scene, which spans 150 light-years, is about 17,000 light years away, so what we see now is how it actually looked 17,000 years ago, and that light is just arriving here.

会说话的IPOD Shuffle

仅高 45.2 毫米，厚 7.8 毫米

控制按键从 iPod shuffle 的机身处移到了耳机线上的耳塞下方，iPod shuffle 因此变得更小，但功能却完全不受影响。控制按键的位置十分恰当，使用起来非常方便。

强大的 VoiceOver

有了 VoiceOver 的全新语音功能，iPod shuffle 的音乐之声更加美妙动人。比如说你正在听一首歌曲，想知道歌曲名称或者是表演者名字，只需轻轻按一下按键，VoiceOver 便会用中文普通话为你读出来，并同时降低音乐的音量。它还能读出播放列表的名称。电池需要充电时，它同样会以语音通知你。

你的音乐收藏，随身携带

过去有限的存储空间意味着你无法将海量音乐随身携带，现在 iPod shuffle 的存储容量高达 4GB，给你充足的空间存放喜爱的音乐 - 多达 1,000 首歌曲*以及多个播放列表。

科技型格，时尚配饰

新款 iPod shuffle 就连背后的小夹子都星味十足，它用不锈钢材料制成，可以夹在衬衫、夹克、健身服甚至是背包上。银、黑两色的阳极电镀铝合金外壳精致耐用，让 iPod shuffle 成为你衣橱中的必备单品。没错，如此玲珑的身形仍然有足够空间刻上你的个性信息。

The New IPOD Shuffle

1.8" tall by 0.3" thin to be exact.

To create the world’s smallest music player, the controls are moved from iPod shuffle to the earbud cord. This allowed us to make the new iPod shuffle dramatically smaller. It’s also easier to use, with the controls located where you can access them quickly.

Introducing VoiceOver.

Musically speaking, the new iPod shuffle is brilliant, thanks to an exciting new feature called VoiceOver. Say you’re listening to a song and want to know the title or the artist. With the press of a button, VoiceOver tells you as the music dips down. It even announces the names of your playlists. And when your battery needs charging, VoiceOver tells you that, too.

Your music library.

There was a time when limited storage meant you had to leave a lot of your songs on the sync-room floor. But now that iPod shuffle has 4GB of storage, you have plenty of room to store hours and hours of music — up to 1,000 songs.* With room for multiple playlists, too.

Fashion tech-cessory.

Even the iPod shuffle clip gets the rock star treatment. Now forged in stainless steel, the clip attaches securely to your shirt, jacket, workout gear, even your backpack. And the sleek, durable anodized aluminum case — available in silver or black — makes iPod shuffle a wardrobe essential. And yes, there’s still room for personalized.

New year, New beginning~ First issue in 2009!!!

Have you ever thought of watching video when playing games in full screen on one computer? Do you often complain that Windows Vista slows your computer? Do you know that last year we human did the most significant experiment to find out what is the source of mass?
Read the latest Science Tour Magazine and you will know more about the world you are living.

Download link: http://www.brsbox.com/filebox/down/fc/6981cdece9fced39dad994518fa6a7c9/rand/803658470

Chicken droppings could help clear up oil spills

Chicken droppings may be one answer to cleaning up soil contaminated with crude oil, according to researchers in China.

Soil that has been ploughed with chicken manure breaks down 50 per cent more crude oil than soil lacking the manure, according to a team led by Huiwen Ma, a professor of biochemistry at China's Wuhan University.

The contamination of soil by crude oil is a growing problem as China accelerates its exploitation of oil reserves to meet rising energy demands. The fifth largest oil producer in the world, China produced 190 million tons of crude oil in 2008.

But the environment has paid a huge price. The Zhongyuan oilfield in Henan has polluted over 1,700 hectares of adjacent farmland, according to a preliminary calculation by Henan Agricultural University in 2002.

Previously, scientists have applied chemical fertilisers to the soil to encourage microbes to degrade the oil. But the fertilisers are expensive, can threaten the environment themselves and also cause the soil to harden and become less fertile.

In their laboratory experiment Ma's team found that a Bacillus species found in chicken manure is the most effective oil-removing microbe.

The manure decreases the acidity of soil, creating an environment ideal for the bacterial degradation.

The chicken farms that have sprung up over China in recent years have made accumulating chicken manure a more realistic prospect, said Zhang Zhongzhi, a professor of biochemical engineering from the China University of Petroleum. Ma's research offers a pragmatic approach to biodegradation, he told SciDev.Net.

But Ma said that, in the field, the manure will take longer to work because of differences in oxygen supply and fluctuating temperatures.

The study was published in the International Journal of Environment and Pollution in February.

鸡粪可以清除污土壤的原油

中国科学家说，鸡粪可能成为清洁受原油污染的土壤的一种解决方案。
　 根据中国武汉大学的微生物学教授马辉文领导的一个团队，耕地时加入鸡粪的土壤能够比没有鸡粪的土壤多分解50%的原油。
　 随着中国加速开采其石油储备从而满足日益增加的能源需求，原油污染土壤越来越成为一个问题。中国是全世界第5大产油国，在2008年开采了1.9亿吨原油。
但是环境为之付出了巨大代价。根据河南农业大学2002年的初步计算，中原油田污染了附近1700多公顷的农田。
　 此前，科学家在土壤中施用化肥从而促进微生物降解原油。但是化肥很贵，而且本身可能威胁环境，而且还导致了土壤硬化和肥力下降。
　　鸡粪能减少土壤的酸性，创造出细菌降解的理想环境。
在实验室进行的实验中，马辉文的团队发现，在鸡粪中发现的一种杆菌是最有效的清除石油的微生物。
中国石油大学的生物化学工程教授张忠智说，近年来中国的养鸡场蓬勃发展，这让不断积累鸡粪变得更为现实。他告诉本网站说，马辉文的研究提供了一种务实的生物降解方法。
但是马辉文说，由于氧气供应和温度的变化，鸡粪在田间需要更长的时间才能见效。
　 该研究发表在2月出版的《国际环境与污染杂志》上。