★DIES IN FLAME★ eco&time 分类汇总※科技类※

刚刚好UID: 2599482

What is love?

Dec 17th 2008
From Economist.com

Google offers some insights into life's big questions

THE oldest questions are still the most puzzling. According to Google's annual list of popular search terms, even in these times of economic crisis, people are most concerned with working out what love is. The nature of gout, an ailment most commonly associated with gentlemanly excess, has fallen off the list since 2007. With fewer expensive meals and bottles of wine on offer, it is likely to be less of a problem in these frugal times. Interest in the identity of the president-elect, Barack Obama, reached sucha fever pitchthat he has replaced God on the list. John McCain could perhaps take comfort from the fact that more interest was shown in him than in his running mate, Sarah Palin.

seiranzcc1UID: 2514067

Suffering for science

May 7th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Europe votes for better regulation of animal experiments

FIFTY years ago, William Russell, a classics scholar, and Rex Burch, a microbiologist, outlined how the use of animals in scientific research could be made more humane. They wanted scientists to restrict the use of animals, to refine their experiments to minimise distress and to replace （所谓的“3R”，我觉得是比较好的用法）testing on animals with alternative techniques. Although the “3Rs” have become a guiding principle, the number of animals used today remains far higher than Russell and Burch would have accepted. Finally, that may be changing. On May 5th the European Parliament voted to update the rules on the use of animals in research.

AlamyExperimental subject with no vote

Some 12m animals are used in scientific procedures each year in Europe. Most are mice and rats. The European directive on how such animals should be treated dates from 1986, long before research led to the breeding of the first creatures that carried the genes of another species. Some countries have more restrictions than others. Britain, for example, uses far fewer primates in scientific research than does France. The European Commission said in November 2008 that it wanted to update the rules to better protect laboratory animals throughout Europe. It received hundreds of amendments, but has adopted few of them.

In particular, the politicians decided against an outright ban on the use of great apes. Instead they voted to allow such experiments only when they are intended to conserve the number of chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orang-utans, or when using these species becomes essential to tackling a disease that threatens people. In practice, no great apes have been used in Europe for years and there are no breeding colonies from which to take them. In America, chimpanzees are being used to develop a vaccine for hepatitis C because they are the only creatures, other than humans, to be afflicted by the disease.可以用成正面例子，这就是政府尽量少的干涉，可以尽可能地避免对科学的限制以使其充分发展→发散一下，如果这个时候政府限制了所有使用，那么很多研究就无法进行了，比如丙肝

Another proposal was to ban the use of primates caught in the wild. Scientists prefer to work with the offspring of animals raised in laboratories because knowledge of the creatures’ complete medical history makes them more dependable. The commission will investigate whether breeding colonies can be established within the next decade for all species used in research. Every other year, it will also conduct a review of the use of primates, mostly macaque monkeys, in research. Less than 0.1% of the animals used in research in Europe are primates.

All experiments will be classified according to the degree of pain and distress they cause. If mild or moderate, animals can be used again. Those that experience severe pain will be killed. The legislation would allow mild procedures to be approved by an employer. But those causing moderate or severe pain would need the permission of a national authority. 适当的限制有一定的作用

Sharing information freely should help to reduce the number of animals scientists use. Today they usually publish the results of their research only if they are positive, but if there is more data about negative results, scientists are less likely to repeat experiments needlessly.信息共享，这里和cooperation可以联系一下。The commission also agreed to expand the work of the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods to develop, co-ordinate and promote procedures that can replace animal testing. That is important because, at present, the centre concentrates on toxicology tests that account for only about 10% of animal experiments in Europe, whereas most animals are used in basic medical research. Any alternatives in Europe will need to be accepted by authorities worldwide to avoid animal tests being imposed elsewhere.

With elections for a new parliament soon to take place, MEPs are unlikely to see the reform through until at least 2010. It will then be up to member states to adopt the legislation, which could take another couple of years. Russell and Burch would have been pleased that progress is being made, but appalled at its slow pace.

seiranzcc1UID: 2514067

Electric cars and noise

The sound of silence

May 7th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Sound generators will make electric and hybrid cars safer

WHEN cars run on electric power they not only save fuel and cut emissions but also run more quietly. Ordinarily, people might welcome quieter cars on the roads. However, as the use of hybrid and electric vehicles grows, a new concern is growing too: pedestrians and cyclists find it hard to hear them coming, especially when the cars are moving slowly through a busy town or maneuvering in a car park. Some drivers say that when their cars are in electric mode people are more likely to step out in front of them. The solution, many now believe, is to fit electric and hybrid cars with external sound systems.

A bill going through the American Congress wants to establish a minimum level of sound for vehicles that are not using an internal-combustion engine, so that blind people and other pedestrians can hear them coming. The bill’s proponents also want that audible alert to be one that will help people judge the direction and speed of the vehicle. A similar idea is being explored by the European Commission.

Although there is little data on accidents, the latest research suggests there is cause for concern. Vehicles operating in electric mode can be particularly hard to hear below 20mph (32kph), according to experiments by Lawrence Rosenblum and his colleagues at the University of California, Riverside. Above that speed the sound of the tyres and of air flowing over the vehicle start to make it more audible.

The researchers made sophisticated recordings of Toyota Prius hybrids running on electric power and petrol-engined cars approaching at 5mph from different directions. These were played to a group of subjects wearing headphones. The subjects were asked to press one of two buttons to identify which way the vehicle was coming from as quickly and accurately as possible. As expected, they could determine the direction of the petrol-engined cars much faster. When natural background sounds, like the engine tickover of a parked car, were added, the hybrids’ direction sometimes could not be detected until they were perilously close. Both sighted and blind subjects gave similar results.

Beep, beep

Dr Rosenblum and his colleagues recently repeated the experiment outside in a car park. This time blindfolded subjects stood three metres away from the point where the vehicles passed. The researchers found that the hybrid vehicles had to be around 65% closer to someone than a car with a petrol engine before the person could judge the direction correctly.

What sort of noise should electric-powered cars make? They could, perhaps, beep as some pedestrian crossings do, or buzz like a power tool. Having worked with blind subjects, Dr Rosenblum is convinced of a different answer: “People want cars to sound like cars.” The sound need not be very loud; just slightly enhancing the noise of an oncoming electric vehicle would be enough to engage the auditory mechanisms that the brain uses to locate approaching sounds, he adds.

Systems to do this are already being developed. Lotus Engineering, the consultancy of a British sportscar-maker, recently signed an agreement with Harman Becker, a producer of audio systems, to commercialise one. Lotus has worked on a number of hybrid and electric vehicles and it was while these were moving around its factory that the engineers thought they would be safer if they made a noise.

The system Lotus uses was originally developed for a different reason: to cancel out intrusive noises inside a car. Sound-cancelling works by analysing any unwanted frequencies and then producing counteracting ones. The Lotus system was adapted so that it could also produce sounds that change with speed and use of the throttle, providing a familiar audible “feedback” to drivers of vehicles with a silent engine. Adding external speakers allows pedestrians to hear the noise too.

It is possible to create a different sound within a car from the one that is heard outside, says Colin Peachey, a chief engineer with Lotus. Manufacturers could create their own sounds according to how they perceive their models. Carmakers already take engine noises seriously enough to use acoustic engineers to tune exhaust pipes, especially for high-performance cars. Drivers of electric cars might in future even be able to select different engine sounds, and maybe download them like ringtones.

Although some drivers might want to cruise in an electric car thundering to the sound of a mighty V8 engine, it is not necessary—and traffic police may have something to say about it. Synthesised engine noises could even help reduce noise pollution, says Mr Peachey. For instance, sound from the speakers at the front of an electric car (or the rear if reversing) is highly directional. This means it is more likely to be noticed by pedestrians in front or behind the vehicle. The noise from an internal combustion engine, however, radiates in many directions—including upwards into offices and bedrooms.

Unique engine noises would still be possible. A sound-generator will be fitted to the Fisker Karma, a luxury plug-in electric hybrid which goes into production later this year. It will both alert pedestrians and enhance the “driver experience”, says Russell Datz of Fisker, based in California. As the Karma uses new technology it is fitting that its sound should also be new, he adds. But Fisker still has to decide what a luxury electric car should sound like.

tracywlzUID: 2522388

无论如何。我不会让这种分类资料的沉的。先顶。然后再Bs时有东西发上来~