【Phat Yeti出品】60-SECOND SCIENCE 官方听力文稿 + 讨论帖 （更新至：2008.03.07）

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60-Second Science_ Aug 22, 2008

Tipsy Sports Fans Easily Buy More Booze
In a study done at multiple sports venues, fans who appeared intoxicated or underage were still able to purchase more alcohol. Steve Mirsky reports
One of the drawbacks to attending a sporting event can be the boorish behavior of some fans who have pounded down the brewskies.  Now comes a study that finds that three quarters of fans who appear to be already intoxicated had no trouble buying more alcohol.  And a fifth of people posing as underage also could buy beer.  The research appears in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.  
An additional public health service accomplished by the study was that it employed actors.  Four thespians hired on the basis of their ability to appear drunk were planted at stadiums.  And seven people over 21 but who looked much younger also attended games.  The research involved sixteen sports arenas in five states.  The apparently underage or intoxicated had three times the chance of making a successful alcohol purchase in the stands than at concession booths.  Some people seem to go to games just to drink.  They should consider staying home to drink.  It’s much, much cheaper, they’ll be off the roads and most important, they’ll be spilling beer on the couch, not on me.
—Steve Mirsky

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60-Second Science_ Aug 25, 2008

Earth's Air in Four Big Cells
A new study in the journal Science claims that our planet's air circulates as four major cells, not two as is the conventional wisdom. Steve Mirsky reports
For accurate weather forecasting and climate analysis, researchers need the best models possible about how the air circulates above the earth. And a new study is challenging the conventional picture of the planet’s air movements. Previous theories pointed to two large circular systems—air rises at the warm equator and then travels toward either pole, where it chills and falls. But the new study posits that there are actually four distinct air masses, two north of the equator and two south. The work appears in the August 21st issue of the journal Science.
In this new view, air again rises at the equator, but falls in the subtropics, making the first cell. The second cell consists of air rising in the middle latitudes—about 30 to 60 degrees north and south—and then falling again near the poles. The study says that this second cell of rising air accounts for temperatures, winds and moisture levels in the mid-latitudes. Water vapor is a major driver of weather events in the tropics. Turns out it may be just as important for weather—and climate—farther north and south.
—Steve Mirsky

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60-Second Science_ Aug 26, 2008

Cows Tend to Face North-South
Google Earth images reveal that cattle around the world tend to align themselves with Earth's magnetic field. Adam Hinterthuer reports
Don't be fooled by those big bovine eyes and the mouth slowly chewing cud—cows have a magnetic personality. At least that’s the claim made by German researchers in the August 26th issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Using Google Earth images, the scientists looked down on over 8,000 cattle around the world. And, when grazing or resting, cows tended to face either magnetic north or south.
The researchers combined field observations with the satellite data and discovered that herds of both deer and cattle tend to align themselves north-south. Factors like wind and the angle of the sun had little bearing on how the animals stood. More often than not, like needles of a compass, heads swiveled northward. While it’s been known that birds, bees and fish use the earth’s magnetic fields for orientation, this study is the first to point to a magnetic sense in large mammals. The scientists speculate that this behavior may allow the animals to stay spatially oriented. In case danger lurks and a cow needs to make any sudden…moos.
—Adam Hinterthuer

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60-Second Science_ Aug 27, 2008

Still Fighting the Plague
Researchers have come up with a way to make antibiotics more effective should the plague come back or if it is used for bioterrorism. Cynthia Graber reports
The plague is most famous for killing tens of millions of people all over Europe in the 1300s.  Plague is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis. And the disease still exists in pockets around the world. In fact, because it can be transmitted through the air, the government considers the plague a Category A bioterrorism agent and a serious potential threat.
Scientists from the University of Idaho have published a way to fight back at the plague in the journal Microbiology. Bacteria that cause the disease get past our defenses by dampening the immune system and actually preventing it from responding. But researchers have developed molecules that mimic a lipid on the bacterial surface. These molecules make the immune response spring back to life.
Scientists tested a nasal spray with two such molecules on mice infected with the plague. The spray enlivened the animals’ immune systems and made antibiotics much more effective. The spray and antibiotic combination helped more mice live through the plague compared with a control group. Despite this advance, one should still avoid Yersinia pestis like, well, the plague.

—Cynthia Graber

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60-Second Science_ Aug 28, 2008

Younger Kids Don't Care What's Fair
Children below the age of about seven were indifferent to whether their playmates shared in a candy giveaway, but older kids were more sensitive about fairness. Karen Hopkin reports
If you’ve ever spent time with toddlers, sooner or later you’ll hear the word “Mine!” It’s usually followed by an adult saying, “Now, now, you have to learn to share.” But a study in the August 28th issue of Nature suggests we may be wasting our breath. Because kids in the preschool set have no interest in making sure everyone gets their fair share.
Scientists from Switzerland wondered if, and when, young children begin to consider the welfare of others. So they gathered up over 200 Swiss schoolchildren and a small mountain of candy. And one-by-one they gave each child a choice that goes something like this: I can give one M&M to you and one to one of the other kids. Or I can give one to you—and none to anyone else.
Children who were three or four years old didn’t much care whether or not their friends also got an M&M, or a jellybean or any other sweet. But that attitude changed by the time the kids were seven or eight, when almost 80 percent of them opted to be fair. Okay, that doesn’t exactly make them candidates for a Nobel Peace Prize. But maybe magnanimousness begins with an M…&M.
—Karen Hopkin

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