1，是男孩还是女孩？ 2，”three person“ 婴儿？ 3，光是什么？.pdf

                     原汁原味的Sci & Tech News weekly

Volume 1  19年5月8日

Editor: Dr. Collin F. Hu

卷首语： 本期在science领域选择了一篇关于性别决定的科学新闻报道，你100%确定你是男人或者是女人吗？从生理结构上，内分泌上，心理上全部认同吗？也许你是幸运的，认同自己的性别。这篇新闻告诉我们，如果你并非那么确定，你并不是那么孤单, 比如现在电视上很活跃的舞蹈演员金星就不认同自己的性别;在genetic领域选择了一篇关于三人婴儿诞生的报道，妈妈得了线粒体疾病，不能怀孕或者宝宝会遗传这种疾病，感谢这些医生的工作，诞生了一个健康的婴儿，但是他的细胞中含有爸爸，妈妈（大量）的DNA和卵子捐献者（少量）的DNA；在fun science这部分介绍了人类对光的认识，每天见到它，它是什么，波长范围是多少？

science：

看过这篇文章后，我才知道性别的决定不是那样简单的事情。原来以为，性别的决定就是简单由人体内的第23对染色体决定，xx是雌性，xy是雄性，很简单的二分法。二分法虽然简单，但太过粗暴。在体育比赛中，简单的分为男运动员或者女运动员，给很多运动员可乘之机。实际的情况远比这要复杂得多，这篇文章谈到外生殖器性别，染色体性别，内分泌性别，社会文化性别等都会影响到这个人的性别意识。

我在网上阅读了一些文献，发现这是个很普遍的问题，Being intersex is almost as common as having red hair 【跨性别像长红头发一样的普遍】，达到的比例是1%∼2%。在我周围都是鲜活的男孩，女孩或者男人，女人。看来，社会上有太多的东西被压倒水面下。所以，如果你是一个intersexual的baby，你其实一点儿也不孤单。不知道现在很著名的金星，是否就是intersex。

Nature and sex redefined – we have never been binary

By Vanessa Heggie The Guardian 19 February 2015

[What is it?] A recent article in Nature claims that biologists ‘now think’ that sex is not a binary feature for human beings – rather than being simply male or female, there are various kinds of sex, such as chromosomal sex or hormonal sex, and all of us exist across several spectrums of sexual identity.

claim 声称，科学家的新的结论（尤其是不对正常思维的）常常用。

Nature 和 Science是自然科学界最著名的期刊，在上面发表能够发表文章是一种荣誉。

binary feature：二分特性；如男孩和女孩，计算机中的0和1，中国文化中的阴和阳，物理学中的粒子和波等。

rather than 是用来说明binary feature的具体内容。

spectrums:谱线，比如说某人是2/7性，某人是5/7性。甚至都可以是连续的。

推荐读13遍的英语句子：

1，  A recent article in Nature claims that biologists ‘now that sex is not a binary feature for human beings.

claims：宣称，如果科学研究得出的结论很一般，也可以用shows。

[Why it matters？]It’s possible to design tests for many of these kinds of sex, but none of them provide a convenient ‘male or female’ binary answer. Results will always depend on averages, on statistical norms, or on arbitrary cut-off points, and there will always be people who appear both male or female (or neither) when all nine kinds of sex are considered. Further, what science cannot do is tell us which of these tests is the best measure of sex, or which gives us our ‘true’ identity – that entirely depends on what we want to do with the results, why we’re testing, and our cultural attitudes towards sex and gender (gender being the psychological and social aspects of sexual identity).

注意，是design tests。

在文中蓝色部分both male or female的表达是正确的，一般是 either … or … 。因为本文离现实文化有点远，word没看懂。

这段话的第二句涉及到一些比较技术化的东西。如果你做了9种检测，如染色体检测，外生殖器检测，内分泌检测，心理学检测等，你如何对待这9种检测结果？先把每一项结果都normalize到100分，再把这9个得分来个平均？或者每一项检查的结果都cut off到是男性还是女性的二项选择中？然后再评估这9个检测的综合结果。

这样的性别分类程序有些复杂，对建立在男性和女性基础上的传统文化，会有一个巨大的冲击。比如运动会这种希望能简单分为男性运动与女性运动的场合来说，我们应该如何处置？看将来如何发展吧！

推荐读13遍的英语句子：

1.   It’s possible to design tests for many of these kinds of sex, but none of them provide a convenient ‘male or female’ binary answer.

convenient：方便的，便利的，国外有很多的便利店convenient store，比如连锁的7-11，类似于国内街边的小超市。

2.   Further, what science cannot do is tell us which of these tests is the best measure of sex or which gives us our ‘true’ identity.

这句话的后面为什么用or，成分并列吗？

Genetics：

这个‘三人婴儿’不是连体人，是一项最新的医学成果，可以帮助到因为线粒体疾病的而不能生育的女性。通过把爸爸，妈妈的细胞核和另外一个捐献的除掉细胞核的卵细胞在体外相融合，2–6 天后，形成了一个健康的受精卵，重新移植回妈妈的子宫内。因此，这个诞生下来的小家伙细胞核中含有爸爸，妈妈的DNA（含有大部分的遗传物质DNA），还含有卵子捐献者的线粒体中少量的DNA。

 ‘Three person’ baby boy born in Greece

By James Gallagher BBC 11 April 2019

[What is it?] The experimental form of IVF uses an egg from the mother, sperm from the father, and another egg from a donor woman. It was developed to help families affected by deadly mitochondrial diseases which are passed down from mother to baby…. But some fertility doctors believe the technology could increase the odds of IVF too.

IVF: In vitro fertilisation 试管婴儿，即让精子和卵子在体外受孕，受精卵经过2-6天发育后，再移植回母体子宫内。

mitochondrial diseases：线粒体的疾病。因为母亲提供卵子含有线粒体，所以这种疾病可能导致不孕或者会遗传给下一代，会影响到身体很多重要器官的发展。

现在的这种新技术可以确保下一代有健康的线粒体，但也意味着线粒体中的DNA信息会遗传给下一代，形成所谓的three person baby。

[Why it matters？] Dr Panagiotis Psathas, president of the Institute of Life in Athens, said: "A woman's inalienable right to become a mother with her own genetic material became a reality. "We are very proud to announce an international innovation in assisted reproduction, and we are now in a position to make it possible for women with multiple IVF failures or rare mitochondrial genetic diseases to have a healthy child."

推荐读13遍的英语句子：

1，It was developed to help families affected by deadly mitochondrial diseases which are passed down from mother to baby.

affected by 受到疾病的影响。遗传疾病是pass down。

2，A woman's inalienable right to become a mother with her own genetic material became a reality.

inalienable：不可或缺的。这个词很有意思，因为alien 是外星人的意思。

become a reality是成为现实的意思。

Fun Science：

What is light？

From Wikipedia 5 May 2019

[What is light?] Light is electromagnetic radiation within a certain portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. The word usually refers to visible light, which is the visible spectrum that is visible to the human eye and is responsible for the sense of sight. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), or 4.00 × 10⁻⁷ to 7.00 × 10⁻⁷ m, between the infrared (with longer wavelengths) and the ultraviolet (with shorter wavelengths).

光是一种电磁波，只是波长在0.5微米左右。在19世纪的时候，没人知道光和收音机或者电磁波是同一种东西。是伟大的物理学家麦克斯韦，在摆弄（可以用manipulate）以他命名的著名方程组时，认识到电磁波的传播速度和真空中的光速一样，从而认识到光是一种电磁波。杨振宁教授反复的说过，这是人类认识史上的一个伟大时刻，诚如斯言。

[Sun and light] The main source of light on Earth is the Sun. Sunlight provides the energy that green plants use to create sugars mostly in the form of starches, which release energy into the living things that digest them. This process of photosynthesis provides virtually all the energy used by living things.

provides the energy：提供能量

create sugars：这儿用的是create，个人认为produce也许更好一些。

推荐读13遍的英语句子：

1, The word usually refers to visible light, which is the visible spectrum that is visible to the human eye and is responsible for the sense of sight.

注意refers to和is responsible for的用法。

2, This process of photosynthesis provides virtually all the energy used by living things.

注意virtually表示实际上的意思。

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1，是男孩还是女孩？ 2，”three person“ 婴儿？ 3，光是什么？.pdf