>Playing games improves memory
兒時(shí)玩電玩提升認(rèn)知力
A number of studies have shown playing video games can lead to structural changes in the brain, including increasing the size of some regions, or to functional changes, such as activating areas responsible for attention or visual-spatial skills.
大量研究表明，玩電子游戲會(huì)導(dǎo)致腦結(jié)構(gòu)變化，包括增加某些區(qū)域的大小，或?qū)е麓竽X產(chǎn)生功能性改變，如激活負(fù)責(zé)注意力或視覺空間技能的區(qū)域。
New research from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya has gone further, showing how cognitive changes can take place even years after people stop playing.
加泰羅尼亞歐貝塔大學(xué)的最新研究進(jìn)一步表明，即使不玩游戲好多年后，其導(dǎo)致的認(rèn)知變化也會(huì)發(fā)生。
This is one of the conclusions of the article, published in "Frontiers in Human Neuroscience".
這是一篇發(fā)表在《人類神經(jīng)科學(xué)前沿》上的論文得出的一個(gè)結(jié)論。
According to Marc Palaus, the author of the study, what most video games have in common are elements that make people want to continue playing, and that they gradually get harder and present a constant challenge.
論文作者馬克?帕勞斯表示，游戲的最大共同點(diǎn)是，它們包含使人們想要玩下去的元素，而且逐漸變得越來越難，并提出了持續(xù)的挑戰(zhàn)。
"These two things are enough to make it an attractive and motivating activity, which, in turn, requires constant and intense use of our brain's resources. Video games are a perfect recipe for strengthening our cognitive skills, almost without our noticing," he said.
"這兩件事足以使它具有吸引力和激勵(lì)性，反過來又需要不斷地高強(qiáng)度地使用我們的大腦資源。"帕勞斯指出："電子游戲是增強(qiáng)我們認(rèn)知能力的完美秘訣，潛移默化地發(fā)揮著作用。"

>Birds sing softly in pandemic
疫情期間鳥類叫聲更低
San Francisco birds started singing differently in the quiet of the coronavirus lockdown, according to a study in Science.
《科學(xué)》雜志的一項(xiàng)研究稱，舊金山的鳥兒在安靜的疫情封鎖期間叫聲發(fā)生了改變。
Before, the urban white-crowned sparrow's breeding territories were almost three times as loud as rural territories, the study found.
研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，之前白冠麻雀在城內(nèi)繁殖地區(qū)的噪音是鄉(xiāng)下的三倍。
But during the pandemic, researchers noted noise levels in urban areas were drastically lower.
但是在疫情期間，研究人員注意到，城區(qū)的噪音大大降低。
In fact, they were consistent with traffic flow in the mid-1950s.
事實(shí)上，這一噪音水平和上世紀(jì)50年代中期的交通噪音水平持平。
"We found birds sang more softly when noise levels were lower," researchers said.
研究人員稱："我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，當(dāng)噪音水平降低時(shí)，鳥兒叫聲更輕柔。"
Even though the birds were singing more softly, the study found communication distances nearly doubled, elevating species fitness and increasing mating potential.
雖然鳥兒用更輕柔的聲音唱歌，但研究發(fā)現(xiàn)它們的溝通距離幾乎翻倍，增強(qiáng)了物種的體力，提高了交配的可能性。
"In addition, the signal-to-noise ratio doubled, which helps explain media reports suggesting bird songs sounded louder during the shutdown," the researchers said.
研究人員稱："此外，信號(hào)噪聲比的加倍有助于解釋媒體關(guān)于鳥叫聲在封鎖期間聽起來更嘹亮的報(bào)道。"

>Visitor sued over negative review
游客因惡評在泰國被訴
An American has been sued by an island resort in Thailand over a negative TripAdvisor review, authorities said, and could face up to two years in prison if found guilty.
泰國當(dāng)局近日表示，一名美國人因在貓途鷹旅游網(wǎng)站發(fā)表負(fù)面評論而被泰國一家島嶼度假酒店起訴，如果罪名成立，他可能面臨最高兩年的監(jiān)禁。
A recent visit to the Resort on Koh Chang Island landed Wesley Barnes in trouble after he wrote unflattering online reviews about his holiday.
韋斯利?巴恩斯最近在象島上的海景度假酒店居住后遇到了麻煩，因?yàn)樗诰W(wǎng)上對這家酒店發(fā)表了一些差評。
Barnes was accused of causing "damage to the reputation of the hotel", and of quarrelling with staff over not paying a corkage fee for alcohol brought to the hotel.
巴恩斯被指控"損害了酒店的聲譽(yù)"，還因未能支付自帶酒水的開瓶費(fèi)而與員工發(fā)生爭執(zhí)。
According to the review Barnes posted in July, he encountered "unfriendly staff" who "act like they don't want anyone here".
今年7月份，巴恩斯在貓途鷹旅游網(wǎng)站發(fā)布評論稱，他遇到了"不友好的員工"，他們"表現(xiàn)得好像不希望任何客人來"。
The Sea View Resort said legal action was only taken because Barnes penned multiple reviews on different sites over the past few weeks.
海景度假酒店表示，之所以采取法律行動(dòng)，是因?yàn)榘投魉乖谶^去幾周內(nèi)在不同的網(wǎng)站上發(fā)表了多篇評論。
At least one was posted in June on TripAdvisor accusing the hotel of "modern-day slavery" - which the site removed after a week for violating its guidelines.
今年6月，他曾在貓途鷹網(wǎng)站發(fā)帖指責(zé)這家酒店實(shí)行"現(xiàn)代奴隸制"，該網(wǎng)站一周后以違反規(guī)定為由將帖子刪除。

>World lost 100M hectares of forest
全球森林減少近億公頃
The world has lost nearly 100 million hectares of forests in two decades, marking a steady decline though a slower pace than before, a UN agency reported.
聯(lián)合國糧農(nóng)組織報(bào)告稱，全球森林面積在20年間減少了近1億公頃，盡管減少的速度低于以往，但森林面積在穩(wěn)步下降。
The proportion of forest to total land area fell from 31.9% in 2000 to 31.2% in 2020, some 4.1 billion hectares according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.
根據(jù)聯(lián)合國糧農(nóng)組織的數(shù)據(jù)，全球森林面積目前約為41億公頃，占土地總面積的比例已經(jīng)從2000年的31.9%降至2020年的31.2%。
Deforestation has hit sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia particularly hard.
森林砍伐對撒哈拉以南非洲和東南亞的影響尤為嚴(yán)重。
In contrast, in many parts of Asia, Europe and North America forest area has increased or stayed the same in the last five years, thanks to policies to restore woodlands and allow forests to expand naturally.
相比之下，在亞洲、歐洲和北美洲的許多地區(qū)，由于政策鼓勵(lì)恢復(fù)林地，讓森林自然擴(kuò)張，森林覆蓋率在過去五年間上升或持平。
In China, forests make up 23.3% of land area, up from 22.3% in 2015.
在中國，森林覆蓋率從2015年的22.3%上升到23.3%。
In Japan, they account for 68.4%, the same as five years ago.
在日本，這一比例為68.4%，與五年前持平。

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