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If they find themselves in a particularly cool environment, they can enter a dormant state and survive over a year without feeding. While bedbugs can easily move around, they usually stay within 20 feet of where their human host is regularly sitting or sleeping. So new infestations are most often the result of humans accidentally transporting bugs via furniture, clothing, or other items. 如果它们...

In 1834, the British Royal Navy ship, the Chanticleer, was dealing with a terrible cockroach infestation. The ship's surgeon, however, wrote enthusiastically about the stowaways, describing them as a “most valuable insect.” Their shining characteristic? Devouring every bedbug on board. 1834年，英国皇家海军舰艇“雄鸡号”（Chanticleer）遭遇了严重的蟑螂侵扰。然而，船上的外科医生却热情洋溢地描述了这些偷...

So a final thought experiment. Imagine trying to explain your life right now to a Luddite. Better yet, just imagine trying to explain the life of some ordinary British working-class stiff whose great, great, great, something, great grandfather was out there smashing machines. And I'm not just talking about the ordinary stuff about daily living standards like indoor plumbing. I mean, indoor plumbin...

Very few people in this room have ever worried about how they were going to obtain food or shelter or heat, or how they were going to bury a child who died of diarrhea before its first birthday. Those worries are the normal condition of humanity. We escaped them only through massive chronological luck. That is a precious and totally unearned inheritance, and I think we have an obligation to pay th...

Well, I gather I'm not the only one who spends a lot of time thinking about AI these days. And by think I mean panic. 嗯，我想，最近花大量时间思考人工智能的人不止我一个。我说的“思考”指的是恐慌。 I'm not even worried about the doomsday scenarios because I have no way to assess those. I just think about what's going to happen to jobs, because even if we solve the AI safety problem, it's still going...

And finally, the ammonia in urine does indeed make for an excellent stain-fighting solution, which is why Roman launderers often placed buckets on street corners to collect the urine of passersby. That reminds me, next question! 最后，尿液中的氨确实是一种极好的去污剂，这就是为什么罗马洗衣工经常在街角放置水桶来收集路人的尿液。这让我想起了下一个问题！ A. Many Roman homes featured a vomitorium, a roo...

Are you not entertained? And this is what you think of us. O tempora! O mores! 你们难道不开心吗？你们就是这么想我们的。啊，时代！啊，传统！ Salvete! Minerva here— esteemed Roman goddess of reason, wisdom, handicrafts, and war. It’s come to my attention that many of you have been thinking about Ancient Rome... a lot. But how much do you really know? I’ll be the judge. Let’s play a little game I lik...

We come out of the womb sterile, but that doesn't last for long. All the nooks and crannies of the human body soon become home to microbial life. In this study, scientists took stool samples from 1,000 newborns. Those first colonised by Bifidobacterium longum were half as likely to end up in hospital with a lung infection than those with different starter bacteria. 我们从子宫里出来时是无菌的，但这...

Once widespread around the UK, persecution from farmers and gamekeepers meant Britain's second biggest bird of prey had disappeared from England and Wales by the mid-19th Century. 金雕曾广泛分布于英国，但由于受到农民和猎场看守人的迫害，作为英国第二大猛禽的金雕在 19 世纪中期就从英格兰和威尔士消失了。 The numbers recovered a little after the two world wars, but England's last resident golden eagle,...

Do you ever wake up with a fuzzy feeling in your head, you can't concentrate on anything, or find your memory just isn't working as it should? You're not alone. 39% of British people said they suffer brain fog on a regular basis in a FutureYou Cambridge study. But why do we get brain fog, and can we do anything to prevent it? 您是否曾经以模糊的感觉醒来，您无法专注于任何东西，或者发现记忆无法正常工...

You've probably seen the impossible happen, or at least thought you have. When a magician makes a card disappear, or throws a ball into the air, only for it to vanish, it seems that they are using amazing powers. But the magic isn't happening on stage. It's actually all inside your brain.您可能看到了不可能发生的事情，或者至少认为自己有。 当魔术师使卡片消失或将球扔到空中时，只是为了消失时，他们似乎...

One answer comes from 19th-century philosopher G.W.F. Hegel. He argues that control over our intellectual creations is crucial to the quest for personal fulfillment. For example, musicians making a new song aren't just mixing their labor with the world— they’re expressing themselves. And Hegel believes creators should have the right to control these creative extensions of their personalities. By u...

The mystical city of Ockham is famous for its college of magic. Here, genius spellcasters invent incantations and publish them in enchanted scrolls that others can purchase. As an aspiring wizard, you study these scrolls to learn from the best. Specifically, you’re interested in making mathematical magic— like spells that conjure complex shapes— for researchers to study. Often, you can’t afford th...

In 2023, a US grocer recalled over 10,000 cases of broccoli cheddar soup over concerns they contained too much of an unintended ingredient. That ingredient? Bugs. We know insects regularly come into contact with our food— but how many are you actually eating? And is it okay? Let’s start with an extreme example: figs and their conspicuously close bond with certain bugs. 2023 年，一家美国杂货店召回...

Samsung, which sells Android smartphones, also indirectly described the issue in a small area at the bottom of a press release last month. Samsung said about RCS, “Encryption only available for Android-to-Android communication.” 出售Android智能手机的三星也间接地描述了上个月新闻稿底部的小区域中的问题。 三星谈到RCS时说：“加密仅用于Android到Android通信。 ” To avoid getting caught out when exchanging...

U.S. cybersecurity officials are advising people to use encryption in their communications after a major hacking campaign. 在重大黑客运动之后，美国网络安全官员建议人们在通信中使用加密。 Federal officials released a list of security suggestions for U.S. telecommunications companies that were targeted. 联邦官员发布了针对目标的美国电信公司的安全建议清单。 The advice includes one suggestion that every...

About one year ago, an American jury found that Google’s app store operates as an illegal monopoly. Then in August 2024, a federal judge ruled that Google had violated trade laws by operating its search engine as a monopoly. The ruling accused Google of paying smartphone makers to ensure that its search engine was set as the default system on new devices. 大约一年前，美国陪审团发现Google的App Stor...

Ever since Albert Einstein published his Special Theory of Relativity in 1905, one equation has been the bane of humans hoping to explore the stars: E=mc². In addition to informing our understanding of gravity, space, and time, this formula implies that traveling at or beyond light speed is impossible. And given how expansive the universe is, this speed limit severely restricts our ability to zip...

Throughout 2024, we saw further development of artificial intelligence (AI) systems and new legal action brought against technology companies. Here is a look back at some of the biggest tech stories we covered in 2024. 在整个2024年，我们看到了人工智能（AI）系统的进一步发展以及针对技术公司带来的新法律行为。 这是回顾我们2024年涵盖的一些最大的技术故事。 During the year, companies continued developing...

Google, the most popular internet search engine, releases its “Year in Search 2023” this week. Google是最受欢迎的Internet搜索引擎，本周发布了其“搜索2023年”。 Around the world, Google says the “war in Israel and Gaza” was the top search for news. The ongoing war topped searches for “Titanic submarine,” which imploded in June, and February’s “Turkey earthquake,” which killed at least 50,000 in Turke...

The auction house described the item on sale as a 'standard Spanish waxy napkin'. Though it's safe to say the buyer is unlikely to use it to wipe their mouth. 尽管拍卖行把拍卖物描述为 “普通的西班牙涂蜡餐巾纸”，不过可以肯定地说，买家不太可能用它来擦嘴。 It carries a written commitment from Barcelona Football Club's then sporting director that he'll sign the 13-year-old player Lionel Messi. 该纸上写...

Do you need an energising blast of water in the morning to wake you up for the day? Or do you prefer a relaxing, warm shower in the evening to help you wind down as part of your nighttime routine? Maybe you just shower whenever you feel like it. For something so many of us do, this topic is bound to divide opinion and stir up passion from both sides. But is one really better than the other? 您早上...

Turner sold more than 150 million records worldwide and won 12 Grammys. The performer was voted along with Ike Turner into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, and individually in 2021. Turner’s life story was made into a movie and Broadway musical. 特纳在全球售出了超过1.5亿张唱片，并赢得了12个格莱美奖。 这位表演者与艾克·特纳（Ike Turner）一起在1991年被投票成摇滚名人堂，并在2021年个人。 Mick Ja...

Kissinger helped restore ties between the United States and China. He also negotiated the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam. 基辛格帮助恢复了美国和中国之间的联系。 他还谈判了美国从越南撤离。 American former first lady Rosalynn Carter died on November 19. She was the closest adviser to her husband, former President Jimmy Carter. 美国前第一夫人罗莎琳·卡特（Rosalynn Carter）于11月19日去世。她是丈夫前总统...

2024 is just hours away. Before the world welcomes a new year, we remember some of the influential people who died in 2023. 2024年只有几个小时的路程。 在世界欢迎新的一年之前，我们记得一些有影响力的人在2023年去世。 We start with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. 我们从美国最高法院大法官桑德拉·戴·奥康纳（Sandra Day O’Connor）开始。 O’Connor died on December 1. She made history in 1981...