Discovery 探索

How to Understand Alien Languages

A computer programme which could help identify and even translate messages from aliens in outer space has been developed by a British scientist. 　　Even if there are extra terrestrials are one day discovered, scientists fear their alien tongue may make it impossible to understand them. 　　But John Elliott of Leeds Metropolitan University believes he has come up with software which at least will decipher the structure of their language - and be the first step in understanding what they are saying. 　　Dr Elliott's programme would compare an alien language to a database of 60 different languages in the world to search see if it has a similar structure. 　　Previous research had shown that it is possible to determine whether a signal carries a language rather than an image or music. Dr Elliott has gone a step further by devising a way to pick out what might be words and sentences. 　　All human languages have "functional terms" that bracket phrases - words like "if" and "but" in English. According to Dr Elliott, such terms in any language, are separated by up to nine words or characters. 　　This limit on phrase length seems to correspond to the level of human cognition - how much information we are able to process at once. 　　In an alien language, analysing these phrases might make it possible to gauge how clever the authors of the message are. 　　If they are much smarter than us, there would a lot of words packed into the phrases. 　　The programme should also be able to break a language up into crucial words such as nouns and verbs, even though their meaning is unknown. It can, for instance, locate adjectives from the fact that they are almost always next to nouns. 　　Because languages have different word orders, Dr Elliott is amassing a library of the syntaxes of 60 human tongues. If a message is received from outer space, it could be compared against this database. Scientists would then be able to see if it resembled anything human, or a mix of Earthly languages. 　　■内容概要 　　许多科学家都曾担忧，即使人类有朝一日真的发现了外星人，双方也会因为语言障碍而无法沟通。英国科学家John Elliott日前声称，他已经开发出一套能够解密外星人语言结构的计算机程序，该程序将能够理解并翻译外星人所要表达的意思。这一程序的原理就是将把外星语言与地球上60多种的语言作对比研究，看它们是否具有相似的结构。 photo 趣图

Meet Mr Green Genes

His eyes glow ghoulishly in the right light, just like any other cat's - but so do his nostrils, gums and tongue. 　　Mr Green Genes of New Orleans in the U.S. is the country's first 'glow in the dark' ginger tom. In daylight he looks normal, but put him in a darkened room and switch on an ultraviolet light, and his face will beam out a bright green. 　　The six-month-old cat was created by scientists who are trying to combat a range of diseases such as cystic fibrosis. 　　They modified his DNA to see if a gene could be introduced harmlessly into an animal's genetic sequence. To track where the gene went, they decided to use one that glowed under ultraviolet light. 　　■内容概要 　　美国新奥尔良的科学家培育出世界首只能在“黑暗处发光”的猫。这只六个月大的猫在日照条件下看起来很正常，但是将它放在一个黑暗的房间里，打开紫外线光后，它的脸部会发出一种明亮的绿光。除了眼睛之外，它的鼻孔、耳朵、牙龈都能发出绿光。 Life 生活

Speedy Eaters Likelier to Get Fat

People who eat quickly until full are three times more likely to be overweight, a problem exacerbated by the availability of fast food and the decline of orderly dining habits, Japanese researchers said recently. 　　The findings, published in the British Medical Journal, highlight how eating styles, and not just what or how much is eaten, can contribute to an obesity epidemic fueled by the spread of Western-style affluence in many parts of the world. 　　Those who said they ate until full and ate quickly were three times more likely to be fat than people in the "not eating until full and not eating quickly" group, the researchers found. They cited as causes both the availability of cheap food in big portions and habits like watching television while eating. 　　To counteract the "supra-additive effect" of speedy or glut eating among children prone to obesity, parents should encourage them to eat slowly and in calm surroundings, the study found. 　　■内容概要 　　日本研究人员日前称，狼吞虎咽吃饭的人肥胖几率为细嚼慢咽者的3倍。如今，快餐的盛行和不规律的饮食习惯使肥胖问题日益严重。 　　由于西式饮食的日益流行，肥胖正在世界很多地区蔓延。而该研究则主要探讨了饮食方式对于肥胖流行病的影响，这其中不仅包括吃什么和吃多少的问题。该研究结果发表在《英国医学期刊》上。

RIDDLE 猜谜

1. What nail should you never hit with a hammer? 　　2.What ring is square? 　　3.Will any keys not open locks? 　　■上期答案

1.The letter“L”.

2.Saturday ang Sunday----all the other days and weak(week) days.

3.Because he wanted to rock and roll.