Hi, I'm Scientific American podcast editor Steve Mirsky. And here's a short piece from the December 2018 issue of the magazine, in the section called Advances: Dispatches from the Frontiers of Science, Technology and Medicine.
The article is titled "Quick Hits," and it's a rundown of some science and technology stories from around the globe, compiled by editorial contributor Ankur Paliwal.
FROM ECUADOR
Scientists have identified a new hummingbird species in the Ecuadorian Andes. But very few of the birds exist, and the species is considered critically endangered. Its habitat is shrinking as nearby communities burn the native landscape to make way for cattle grazing.
FROM GERMANY
Germany has launched the world's first hydrogen powered trains in an effort to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. The trains, which can reach speeds up to 140 kilometers per hour, have fuel cells that convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity.
FROM RWANDA
Rwanda is setting up its first research center for noncommunicable diseases, including diabetes and cancer. Such illnesses currently account for 46 percent of the country's total deaths by all diseases — a 100 percent increase from 2000.
FROM CHINA
The Chinese government is requiring athletes who want to compete for the country in the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games to have their genomes sequenced. Officials say this practice is to screen for medical conditions that could affect the competitors' performance; some scientists have called it discriminatory.
FROM PAKISTAN
Researchers have detected the flesh-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri in the domestic water supply of Karachi, Pakistan's most populous city. The metropolis of 15 million people has seen an alarming uptick in cases of a fatal type of encephalitis caused by the parasite.
AND FROM ISRAEL
Scientists have discovered the world's oldest-known brewery in a cave near Haifa. They found residue from 13,000-year-old wheat and barley-based beer that resembled porridge. The previous earliest known brewery was thought to be 5,000 years old.
That was Quick Hits by Ankur Paliwal.
大家好，我是《科學美國人》播客編輯史蒂夫·米爾斯基。下面是本雜誌2018年11月刊的一篇短文，摘自「進展：科學、技術和醫學前沿快報」版塊。
這篇文章名為《要聞快訊》，匯集了全球各地科學和技術新聞報導的摘要，由編輯安古爾·帕裡瓦匯總。
厄瓜多
科學家在厄瓜多安第斯山脈發現了新品種蜂鳥。但這種蜂鳥的現存數量非常少，而且這個物種被認為是極度瀕危物種。臨近社區為放牧牛群而燒毀了當地的自然景觀，這導致該品種蜂鳥的棲息地不斷縮小。
德國
德國推出全球首批氫動力列車，以減少該國對化石燃料的依賴。列車時速可達140公裡每小時，其燃料電池可將氫和氧轉化為電能。
盧安達
盧安達將建立該國首個非傳染性疾病研究中心，涵蓋糖尿病和癌症。目前，這類疾病佔該國疾病死亡總數的46%，自2000年來增長了100%。
中國
中國政府要求希望代表國家徵戰2022年北京冬奧會的運動員進行基因組測序。官員表示，此舉旨在篩查可能影響運動員表現的健康狀況，但一些科學家認為這種做法帶有歧視性。
巴基斯坦
喀拉蚩是巴基斯坦人口最多的城市，而研究人員在該市的家庭供水系統中檢測出了食腦變形蟲「福氏耐格裡阿米巴原蟲」。在這座擁有1500萬人口的大都市，寄生蟲導致的一種致命腦炎病例出現令人震驚的上升。
以色列
科學家在海法附近的一個洞穴發現了世界上已知最古老的啤酒廠。他們發現了13000年前以小麥和燕麥為主要原料的啤酒殘留物，這些殘留物很像稀粥。人們此前認為，已知最古老的啤酒廠擁有5000年歷史。
以上是安古爾·帕裡瓦匯總的《要聞快訊》。