每日新闻播报(January 21)
chinadaily.com.cn 2019-01-21 14:54
>AI can guess your sexuality
AI可凭照片判断性取向
Artificial intelligence (AI) can accurately guess whether people are gay or straight based on photos of their faces, according to new research suggesting that machines can have significantly better "gaydar" than humans. The study from Stanford University found that a computer algorithm could correctly distinguish between gay and straight men 81% of the time, and 74% for women. It also found that gay men and women tended to have "gender-atypical" features, expressions and "grooming styles", essentially meaning gay men appeared more feminine and vice versa. The data also identified certain trends, including that gay men had narrower jaws, longer noses and larger foreheads than straight men, and that gay women had larger jaws and smaller foreheads compared to straight women.
一项新研究显示,人工智能可以通过人们面部的照片精确推测出照片中的人是同性恋还是异性恋。该研究认为,机器的"同志雷达"比人类要准得多。这项斯坦福大学的研究发现,计算机算法能正确区分直男与男同性恋,准确率高达81%,对女性性取向判别的准确率为74%。研究还发现,同性恋人士往往具有"非典型性别"特征、表情和"打扮风格",也就是说男同性恋看起来较女性化,女同则反之。研究数据还发现了某些趋势,包括:相较直男,男同性恋的下巴更窄、鼻子更长、前额更宽;比起直女,女同性恋的下巴更宽、前额更窄。
>People can live up to 115
研究:人类寿命上限115岁
Researchers claim to have discovered the maximum age "ceiling" for human lifespan - women live to a maximum of 115.7 years, while men can hope for 114.1 years at the most. Despite the growing life expectancy, as a result of better nutrition, living conditions and medical care, Dutch scientists have said our longevity cannot keep extending forever. Lifespan is the term used to describe how long an individual lives, while life expectancy is the average duration of life individuals in an age group can expect to have - a measure of societal wellbeing. The research by statisticians at Tilburg and Rotterdam's Erasmus universities said, however, there were still a few people who have bent the norm, like French woman Jeanne Calment who died at the ripe old age of 122 years and 164 days in 1997.
研究人员称,他们发现了人类寿命的年龄"天花板",女性最多能活到115.7岁,而男性则为114.1岁。荷兰科学家表示,虽然更好的营养条件、生活环境和医疗水平提高了人类的预期寿命,但是人类的寿命不会无限延长。寿命是描述一个人能活多久的术语,而预期寿命是指特定年龄段人群的平均预计寿命,是社会福利的一种衡量标准。蒂尔堡大学和鹿特丹伊拉斯姆斯大学的统计学家开展的研究称,然而还是有少数人打破了这一常规。比如,法国人雅娜•卡尔芒就活了122岁零164天,她于1997年去世。
>Plastic fibers in tap water
多国自来水被塑料污染
Microplastic contamination has been found in tap water in countries around the world, leading to calls from scientists for urgent research on the implications for health. Scores of tap water samples from more than a dozen nations were analyzed by scientists for an investigation by nonprofit organization Orb Media. Overall, 83% of the samples were contaminated with plastic fibers. The US had the highest contamination rate, at 94%. Lebanon and India had the next highest rates. European nations including the UK, Germany and France had the lowest contamination rate, but this was still 72%. "We don't know what the [health] impact of microplastic is," said Anne Marie Mahon at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. Microplastics can attract bacteria in sewage. Mahon said: "Some studies have shown there are more harmful pathogens on microplastics downstream of wastewater treatment plants."
全球多个国家的自来水被发现受到塑料微粒污染,科学家呼吁就其对健康的影响开展紧急研究。参与非营利组织Orb Media的一项调查的科学家们对来自10余个国家的大量自来水样本进行了分析。总体来说,83%的样本受到了塑料纤维的污染。美国自来水的污染率最高,达94%。污染率第二高的国家是黎巴嫩和印度。英国、德国、法国等欧洲国家的污染率最低,但其数值仍高达72%。高威梅雅理工学院的马洪表示:"我们不清楚塑料微粒对健康会有什么影响。"塑料微粒会吸引污水中的细菌。马洪称,部分研究已显示,污水处理厂下游的塑料微粒中的有害病原体更多。
>Grizzly bears go vegetarian
气候变暖使灰熊改吃素
Grizzly bears have stopped eating salmon in favor of elderberries after being forced to make a choice due to climate change. Warming temperatures meant that the berries are ripening earlier than usual, at exactly the same time as the freshwater streams on Alaska's Kodiak Island are overflowing with sockeye salmon. The island's brown bears typically feed first on salmon in early summer, followed by elderberries in late August and September. A study from the Oregon State University found that during the unusually warm summer of 2014, the bears, which would traditionally kill up to 75% of the salmon, were nowhere to be seen near the streams. Instead, they were in the hills busy munching on berries. Biologists warned that changes caused by a warming planet were behind the bears' unusual behavior and could affect the entire ecosystem. The researchers found that the forests around the streams suffered because the bears' fish carcasses were no longer there to enrich the soil.
由于气候变化,灰熊被迫做出抉择,放弃鲑鱼改吃接骨木果。气温上升使得这种浆果的成熟期比平时提前,与阿拉斯加科迪亚克岛的淡水河流里挤满了红鲑的时间完全重合。科迪亚克岛上的棕熊往往在夏初先以鲑鱼为食,然后在8月末和9月吃接骨木果。俄勒冈州立大学进行的一项研究发现,在2014年,夏季异常温暖,但河流旁却不见灰熊的踪影。通常来说,灰熊会吃掉高达75%的鲑鱼。但它们一反常态,跑到山上大吃浆果。生物学家警告称,全球变暖所带来的变化是灰熊的反常行为背后的原因,或将影响整个生态系统。研究人员发现,因为没有灰熊吃剩的鱼骸来给土壤增肥,河流周围的森林已经受到了影响。
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