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每日跟讀#732: Humankind’s ancestral ‘homeland’ pinpointed in Botswana

A large ancient wetlands region spanning northern Botswana — once teeming with life but now dominated by desert and salt flats — may represent the ancestral homeland of all of the 7.7 billion people on Earth today, researchers said on Monday.

研究人員週一表示，橫跨波札那北部的一大片古老溼地區域──當地曾經充滿生機，現在卻遍布沙漠和鹽灘──也許就是今日地球上所有七十七億人祖先的故鄉。

Their study, guided by maternal DNA data from more than 1,200 people indigenous to southern Africa, proposed a central role for this region in the early history of humankind starting 200,000 years ago, nurturing our species for 70,000 years before climate changes paved the way for the first migrations.

這份研究參考了一千兩百多名非洲南部原住民的母系DNA資料，從而推論出，該區域在二十萬年前開始的人類早期歷史中扮演著重要角色。這片土地養育著我們物種長達七萬年之久，直到氣候變遷使人類第一次向外遷徙成為可能。

A lake that at the time was Africa’s largest — twice the area of today’s Lake Victoria — gave rise to the ancient wetlands covering the Greater Zambezi River Basin that includes northern Botswana into Namibia to the west and Zimbabwe to the east, the researchers said.

研究人員表示，非洲當時最大的一座湖──面積足足是今日維多利亞湖的兩倍大──形成一大片古老的溼地，涵蓋整片大尚比西河流域，範圍包括波札那北部，向西延伸到納米比亞，向東延伸到辛巴威。

It has been long established that Homo sapiens originated somewhere in Africa before later spreading worldwide. “But what we hadn’t known until this study was where exactly this homeland was,” said geneticist Vanessa Hayes of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and University of Sydney, who led the study published in the journal Nature.

長久以來，科學界早有定論：「智人」起源於非洲某處，後來才擴展到世界各地。澳洲雪梨大學和嘉文醫學研究所的遺傳學家凡妮莎‧海斯，是這篇發表於期刊《自然》的主要作者。她指出：「但是一直到這份研究之前，我們所不知道的是，這個人類原鄉到底位於何處。」

The oldest-known Homo sapiens fossil evidence dates back more than 300,000 years from Morocco. The new study suggests that early members of our species, as represented by the Morocco remains, may not have left any ancestors living today, the researchers said.

目前已知最古老的智人化石證據可追溯到三十多萬年前，於摩洛哥出土。研究人員表示，這項新研究指出：摩洛哥遺骸所代表我們物種的早期成員，也許並沒有存活下來，成為今日人類的祖先。

“There is no contradiction between the presence of an early Homo sapiens-like skull in northern Africa, which may be from an extinct lineage, and the proposed southern African origin of the Homo sapiens lineages that are still alive,” added study co-author Axel Timmermann, a climate physicist at Pusan National University in South Korea.

南韓釜山國立大學的氣候物理學家阿克塞爾‧提默曼是這篇研究的共同作者。他補充指出：「在北非出現的早期類智人頭骨，也許是來自於一脈已經滅絕的世系，而這份研究提出的智人世系起源於非洲南部，且持續繁衍至今，兩者之間互不牴觸。」

The ancient lake Makgadikgadi began to break up about 200,000 years ago, giving rise to a sprawling wetland region inhabited by human hunter-gatherers, the researchers said. “It can be viewed as a massive extension of today’s Okavango Delta wetland area,” Timmermann said.

研究人員指出，遠古湖泊「馬卡迪卡迪」大約在二十萬年前開始分裂，形成持續向外蔓延的溼地區域，狩獵採集為生的人類當時就棲息於此。提默曼表示：「可以把它想像成今日奧卡萬戈三角洲溼地區域的巨大延伸。」

Changes in Earth’s axis and orbit caused climate, rainfall and vegetation shifts that set the stage for early migrations of this ancestral group of people away from the homeland region, first toward the northeast 130,000 years ago, then toward the southwest 110,000 years ago, Timmermann added.

“Our study provides the first quantitative and well-dated evidence that astronomically driven climate changes in the past caused major human migration events, which then led to the development of genetic diversity and eventually cultural, ethnic and linguistic identity,” Timmermann added.

提默曼補充說，地軸和地球軌道的改變導致氣候、降雨以及植被發生變化，為這群人類祖先創造出早期遷徙的條件。他們離開家鄉，先在十三萬年前向東北方移動，再於十一萬年前向西南方遷徙。

提默曼指出：「我們的研究提供首次經過量化並仔細定年的證據，顯示過去由天文變化導致的氣候變遷引發大規模的人類遷徙事件，進一步造成遺傳多樣性的發展，最後形塑出文化、種族以及語言等身分認同。」

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/11/03/2003725132/2

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每日跟讀#731: Low blood sugar levels increase risk of cardiac arrest

Diabetes should not be taken lightly, but diabetics are not always aware of the complications they should be paying the most attention to. A survey of awareness of the disease among diabetics, conducted by the Taiwanese Association of Diabetes Educators (TADB), has found that the complications diabetes sufferers are most concerned about are damage to the retina, kidney disease and cardiovascular complications, in that order. They should, however, be most worried about the cardiovascular complications and low blood sugar.

有糖尿病別輕忽，要注意的併發症和病患們想得不一樣。糖尿病衛教學會發布醫病認知調查，糖尿病患們最擔心的併發症依序是視網膜病變、腎病變、心血管併發症，但真正最該重視的應是心血管併發症與低血糖。

According to Tu Shih-te, president of the TADB, cardiovascular disease is currently the most common cause of death among diabetics, and 50 percent of the total number of diabetics who have had the disease for an average of 10 years or more and are hospitalized with comorbidity suffer from cardiovascular disease.

糖尿病衛教學會理事長杜思德指出，其實「心血管疾病」是目前糖尿病患者最常見的死因，因共病住院、平均罹病十年以上的糖尿病患者，有五成都有心血管疾病。

Tu also pointed out that, according to the latest figures from the 2019 annual report on diabetes in Taiwan, the mortality rate from cardiovascular disease as a result of complications from diabetes has been on the rise for the last 10 years.

他也指出，根據二○一九年最新糖尿病年鑑數據，糖尿病患併發心血管疾病的死亡率，十年來都是持續上升。

The association discovered that diabetics were not knowledgeable about the medicine they were taking, and despite being aware of the importance of controlling their blood sugar, diabetics often had trouble maintaining the correct blood sugar levels. At the same time, there was a gap between doctors and patients concerning their respective understanding of the seriousness of the disease complications.

糖尿病衛教學會發現糖尿病患們對自己吃的藥不了解，即使知道控糖的重要性，血糖卻未達標，同時也發現醫師、病人對併發症重要程度認知大不同。

According to the survey, 64 percent of patients were aware that controlling their blood sugar levels was important, but 60 percent failed to achieve the set levels for various reasons, including irregular lifestyles, a combination of multiple chronic diseases and a high average age, all of which made it difficult to keep blood sugar levels under control. In addition, some diabetics tend to assume they know best, and adjust their dosages without consulting their doctor, affecting their ability to control their blood sugar levels.

調查結果顯示，百分之六十四的病患認為控制血糖相當重要，但也有百分之六十的病患沒有達標，原因包括生活作息不規律、合併多種慢性病、平均年齡高等，造成控糖不易；另外也有患者偏好自己當醫師，隨意增減用藥，影響血糖控制。

Formosan Diabetes Care Foundation chief executive officer Tsai Shih-Tzer said that excessive blood sugar levels means that major organs will be exposed to high sugar concentrations over extended periods, and this will cause various kinds of complications. It is not the case, however, that the lower the blood sugar the better, he said, as major organs such as the brain and the heart require it, and excessively low blood sugar levels brings with it risk of heart attack.

糖尿病關懷基金會執行長蔡世澤說，血糖太高會讓重要器官長期浸泡在糖水當中，引發各種併發症，但血糖也不是愈低愈好，腦部、心臟等重要器官都需要糖分，血糖過低恐增加心肌梗塞風險。

Problems caused by low blood sugar levels can be a hidden killer, because it can lead to issues with the autonomic nervous system such as cold sweats, muscle shakes and heart palpitations, and in serious s cases can lead to hypersomnia, slurred speech and erratic behavior, in some cases leading to coma or even death.

而糖尿病低血糖問題也是隱藏殺手，因低血糖輕則出現自主神經症狀如冒冷汗、發抖、心悸等問題，嚴重更可能導致嗜睡、言語不清、不自主地出現怪異行為、甚至昏迷、致死。

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/11/18/2003726028/2

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每日跟讀#730: Laborious saffron harvest unites poor Moroccan village

A 10-year-old boy calls for the dawn prayer in an isolated village in Morocco’s Atlas mountains, announcing a laborious day racing against the clock to harvest fields that produce the most expensive spice on earth: saffron.

在摩洛哥阿特拉斯山脈裡面一座與世隔絕的村落中，一名十歲的男孩高聲呼喚眾人進行晨禱，同時宣告辛苦的一日即將開始，眾人要和時間賽跑，到田裡收成世界最昂貴的香料：番紅花。

It’s mainly older women who respond to his call, making their way out of Askaoun village before the sun rises and into fields of purple saffron flowers whose crimson stigmas will become aromatic orange saffron sold around the world. Though the women’s bent backs ache and their hands are blistered by the morning cold, they sing and chat as they pick the flower.

回應男孩宣禮的主要是年長女性，她們在日出前離開阿斯卡奧村，終於抵達開滿紫色番紅花朵的田裡。花朵中央緋紅色的雌蕊柱頭會變成芳香的橘紅色番紅花，販售到世界各地。儘管彎下的背隱隱作痛，雙手因為早晨的寒冷長出水泡，這些女性仍然一邊摘花一邊唱歌聊天。

Morocco is among the world’s top five saffron producers. The saffron plants bloom for only two weeks a year and the flowers, each containing three crimson stigmas, become useless if they blossom.

摩洛哥是世界上前五大的番紅花生產國。番紅花植株一年花期只有兩星期，每一朵花含有三根緋紅色的柱頭，一旦花朵全開，一切就付諸流水。

Every step is done by hand, and if stigmas aren’t picked out and dried within a few hours of harvesting, their quality drops drastically. Few crops can thrive in the arid soil of the lower Atlas range, so the village depends solely on saffron to survive.

採收的每一個步驟都是手工進行。如果沒有在收成的幾個小時內挑出柱頭並進行乾燥，品質就會大幅降低。在阿特拉斯山脈低海拔區域的乾旱土壤中，沒有多少作物能夠茂盛生長，所以整座村落僅能仰賴番紅花為生。

The harvesters see only a fraction of the money consumers spend for the spice, however.

“The women are simply not aware of the real value of saffron,” says Rachida Baha, president of Tamghart Al Filahya cooperative, which focuses on helping women saffron farmers. “For years, the women worked for free. Many still do.”

只不過，消費者為這種香料付出的金錢，只有一小部分進入到收成者的口袋中。

致力於協助女性番紅花農的Tamghart Al Filahya合作社主席 Rachida Baha指出：「這些女性單純沒有意識到番紅花的真正價值。」「多年來，這些女性無償工作，很多人到現在還是如此。」

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/11/16/2003725906

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每日跟讀#729: Taxing the rich to fund welfare is Nobel winner’s growth mantra

How do you spur demand in an economy? By raising direct taxes and distributing the money among the poor, says this year’s winner of the Nobel prize for economics.

在經濟結構中要如何刺激需求？今年的諾貝爾經濟學獎得主認為，應提高直接稅，並將錢分配給窮人。

Reducing taxes to boost investments is a myth spread by businesses, says Abhijit Banerjee, who won the prize along with Esther Duflo of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Michael Kremer of Harvard University for their approach to alleviating global poverty. “You are giving incentives to the rich who are already sitting on tons of cash.”

阿比吉特‧班納吉與麻省理工學院的艾絲特‧杜芙洛及哈佛大學的麥可‧克雷莫，以其對緩解全球貧窮問題的研究，共同獲得了今年的諾貝爾經濟學獎。班納吉表示，用減稅來鼓勵投資，是企業所散播的迷思，減稅「是在獎勵富人，而這些有錢人已是坐擁金山銀山」。

Countries from China to India to Indonesia are slashing taxes for businesses to spur growth amid a gloomy outlook for global economic expansion. The International Monetary Fund last month made a fifth-straight cut to its 2019 global growth forecast, pegging it at 3 percent.

全球經濟前景黯淡，從中國到印度再到印尼都在大幅削減企業稅，以刺激經濟成長。國際貨幣基金上個月將二○一九年全球成長率連續第五次下修，將其定為百分之三。

“You don’t boost growth by cutting taxes, you do that by giving money to people,” Banerjee said in an interview on Oct. 21, suggesting that cash in the hands of the poor will drive consumption. “Investment will respond to demand.”

班納吉十月二十一日在接受採訪時表示：「促進經濟成長不是透過減稅來達成，而是要給人錢」。這表示，窮人手中的現金才會推動消費，「有需求才會有投資」。

China earlier this year rolled out tax cuts worth US$280 billion on personal income and corporate profits, while India surprised with a US$20 billion stimulus, taking its corporate tax rate to among the lowest in Asia. Indonesia also plans to lower tax on companies to 20 percent from 25 percent.

MIT Professor Banerjee spoke in New Delhi where he was promoting his book Good Economics for Hard Times.

今年稍早，中國對個人所得和企業利潤實施減稅，所減之稅額達兩千八百億美元。而印度則出乎意料地祭出兩百億美元的經濟刺激措施，將印度的公司稅稅率降至亞洲最低。印尼還計劃將公司稅由百分之二十五降至百分之二十。

Last year, US President Donald Trump unveiled a US$1.5 trillion tax package, and has promised “very substantial” tax cuts in 2020 for “middle-income” Americans.

It’s the widening inequality in developed countries such as the US that has angered people and is pushing the world into a trade war, Banerjee said. “It is unbelievable that in the name of growth you have allowed inequality to explode to this point.”

麻省理工學院的班納吉教授在印度新德里宣傳其著作《艱困時期的好經濟學》時，做出以上表示。

美國總統唐納‧川普去年公佈了一項一點五兆美元的稅務方案，並承諾在二○二○年對「中等收入」的美國人實施「很實質性的」減稅。班納吉說，激怒人們，並讓世界陷入貿易戰的，是美國等已開發國家日益擴大的不平等。「令人難以置信的是，你打著經濟成長的名號，卻讓不平等迅速擴大到這個地步。」

India Slowdown

Growth in India, Asia’s third-largest economy, has slumped to a six-year low as consumption is weak, prompting the central bank to cut interest rates to the lowest in almost a decade.

The government complemented the monetary policy easing with a series of measures to reverse the demand slowdown. Those steps — including scrapping a tax on foreign funds to allowing tax concessions on vehicle purchases — have raised concerns of a fiscal slippage.

印度經濟成長下滑

由於消費疲弱，印度這亞洲第三大經濟體，其經濟成長已跌至六年來最低，使得印度央行將利率調降至近十年來最低。為了避免因貨幣政策寬鬆所造成的需求放緩，印度政府以一系列措施來做配套。這些措施──包括取消對外資課稅，以及購車稅率優惠──引起了人們對政府財政惡化的擔憂。

“Given the demand slump it’s not a bad thing for the government to be expansionary,” Banerjee said. “If we want to stimulate demand and corporate tax cut doesn’t do that, which is my prediction, then what do we do.”

班納吉表示：「由於需求下滑，因此增加政府支出並不是件壞事」。「如果我們要刺激需求，而削減公司稅又如我所料達不到這目標，那我們也別無他法。」

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/11/05/2003725239/1

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每日跟讀#728: China introduces video game curfew and spending limits for minors

In recent years, China’s government has vociferously criticized video games, which it says have a deleterious effect on children. Last week, the Chinese government announced a new policy which will introduce strict controls on minors playing video games, through a real-name user identification system. Chinese citizens aged under 18 years old will be banned from playing online games between 10pm and 8am and will be restricted to 90 minutes per day outside these hours during weekdays, and three hours on weekends and during holidays. Spending limits will also be introduced to restrict the amount of money minors are able to spend on online games.

中國政府近年大力批評「電玩遊戲」可能對青少年產生不良影響，因此上週公布了新政策，嚴格要求未成年玩家以「實名制」認證身分，並禁止十八歲以下的玩家在晚上十點到早上八點間上線玩遊戲，平日也只能玩九十分鐘，假日則限制為三小時；同時也限制玩家花費在遊戲上的金錢。

According to reporting by the BBC, in addition to announcing a video game curfew on Nov. 5, the Chinese authorities also introduced restrictions on spending. Spending by Chinese gamers aged between eight and 16 years old will be capped at 200 yuan (approx. NT$880) per month, while 16-18-year-olds will be limited to 400 yuan (approx. NT$1,700).

據英國廣播電台報導，中國政府十一月五日宣布實施青少年的「電玩宵禁」，此外連消費都有限制，八到十六歲的玩家每月最多只能花費人民幣兩百元（約新台幣八百八十元），而十六到十八歲玩家最多能花費人民幣四百元（約新台幣一千七百元）。

Underage gamers will be required to register using their real names and provide additional information to verify their identity, including their mobile phone number and WeChat ID. Although all gamers must already provide valid identification credentials to register an online gaming account, in reality a large number of underage gamers use their parents’ information to register. This has made it difficult for the authorities to implement effective controls. Under the new system, the Chinese government will work with law enforcement agencies to build a “unified identification system” that can be used by all gaming platforms

若未成年玩家欲註冊遊戲帳號，皆須以「實名制」進行驗證，包括「本人的」手機號碼、微信帳號或其他個資等，所有網遊用戶皆須使用有效的身分資訊才能註冊，但實際上仍有許多未成年人使用家長資料來註冊遊戲帳號，導致針對未成年人的管理難以徹底執行。未來中國政府將與執法部門合作，建立一個統一的識別系統，讓所有遊戲平台都能使用該系統，讓玩家通過驗證身分和年齡的關卡。

Last year the WHO for the first time listed gaming addiction as a mental illness. Having previously strongly criticized video game companies for products that have a negative effect on children, last year the Chinese government established a gaming regulator, delivering a blow to the lucrative gaming industry.

去年，世界衛生組織首度將「遊戲成癮」視為精神疾病的一種，中國近來也大力批評電玩遊戲會對青少年產生負面影響，去年建立遊戲監管機構後，對利潤豐厚的遊戲產業造成打擊。

China is currently the second-largest market for video games in the world. The increased regulations imposed on the industry by China’s government have already started to bite. This year the US is forecast to overtake China as the world’s largest revenue-generating market for video games.

據統計，中國是世界上第二大的遊戲市場，由於中國對遊戲產業的監管日益嚴格，讓美國今年的遊戲收入首次超過中國。

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/11/13/2003725716

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