>QR codes replace menus
美餐廳興起二維碼點餐

The coronavirus pandemic ushered in the widespread use of QR codes, but restaurant industry experts think that the technology will stick around long after the health crisis ends.
新冠疫情促進了二維碼的廣泛使用，但餐飲業(yè)專家認為，在疫情危機結束后，二維碼技術還會繼續(xù)得以應用。

Bitly, a link management service, said that it's seen a 750% increase in QR code downloads over the last 18 months.
鏈接管理服務Bitly表示，在過去18個月里，美國商家二維碼下載量增加750%。

A QR code also gives restaurants more information on their customers.
掃碼點餐還能幫助餐廳了解更多顧客信息。

Reservation services pass along data on whoever made the booking to restaurants – but not everyone else at the table.
盡管不少餐廳此前一直提供預訂服務，但除預訂人外，餐廳無法了解前來就餐的其他顧客信息。

What the QR code might allow you to do is learn who that guest is right when they're sitting down.
而二維碼可以讓你在客人坐下的瞬間就知道他們是誰。

However, QR codes aren't the answer for all restaurants.
但是，并非所有餐廳都適用掃碼點餐。

Darren Seifer, food and beverage analyst for the NPD Group, said that fine-dining restaurants are less willing to replace their menus or ordering process with QR codes.
NPD集團的食品和飲料分析師達倫?塞弗表示，高檔餐廳不太愿意用掃碼點餐取代菜單或點餐過程。

>Mentally stimulating job cuts risk of dementia
工作有趣的人癡呆風險更低

Having an interesting job in your 40s may slash your risk of getting dementia in old age, a study suggested.
一項研究顯示，四十多歲時從事有趣的工作可以大大降低老年患癡呆癥的風險。

Researchers claim mental stimulation may stave off the onslaught of the memory-robbing condition by around 18 months.
研究人員指出，腦力鍛煉可以將癡呆癥發(fā)作的時間推遲約18個月。

Academics examined more than 100,000 participants and tracked them for nearly two decades.
研究人員在近二十年時間內追蹤調查了逾10萬人。

They spotted a third fewer cases of dementia among people who had engaging jobs that involved demanding tasks and more control — such as solicitors and doctors, compared to adults in "passive" roles - such as cashiers.
他們發(fā)現，與收銀員等被動型職業(yè)相比，律師、醫(yī)生等要求高、自主性也更強的從業(yè)者患癡呆癥的比例少三分之一。

And those who found their own work interesting also had lower levels of proteins in their blood that have been linked with dementia.
另外，從事有趣工作的人血液中與癡呆癥相關的蛋白質含量也更低。

Keeping the brain active by challenging yourself regularly likely reduces the risk of dementia by building up its ability to cope with disease, experts say.
專家指出，經常挑戰(zhàn)自己來保持大腦活躍有助于提高大腦應對疾病的能力，從而降低患癡呆癥的風險。

>'Drunk driving' of elephants banned
斯里蘭卡禁止'酒后騎象'

Sri Lanka will issue captive elephants with their own biometric identity cards and ban their riders from drinking on the job under a new animal protection law.
斯里蘭卡近日出臺一部新的動物保護法，不僅要為所有圈養(yǎng)大象發(fā)放生物識別身份證，更禁止所有人酒后騎大象。

The new measures are aimed at protecting the animals' welfare and include strict regulations around working elephants, as well as mandating a daily two-and-a-half-hour bath for each creature.
新的動物保護法旨在保護動物福利。新法對為人類工作的大象做出嚴格規(guī)定，每頭大象每天洗澡時長需保證不低于2.5小時。

Baby elephants can no longer be used for work -- even cultural pageants -- and cannot be separated from their mothers.
小象不能從事工作，文化性質的活動也不被允許，不得將其與母象分開。

Logging elephants cannot be worked for more than four hours a day, and night work is prohibited.
運送材料的大象每天工作時長不得超過4小時，且禁止其夜間工作。

There are new restrictions on the tourism industry too -- from now on, no more than four people can ride an elephant at once. 旅游業(yè)也受到了新的限制，從現在開始，同時騎象者不能超過四人。

Owners must send their animals for a medical check-up every six months.
大象主人必須每半年送大象去做一次體檢。

Those who violate the new law will have their elephant taken into state care and could face a three-year prison sentence.
違反規(guī)定者或面臨3年監(jiān)禁，大象也將交由國家照管。

>A third of adults suffer from high blood pressure
30歲以上人群中1/3患高血壓

A giant global study finds the number of people over 30 with high blood pressure has doubled over the past 30 years, and more than half of them are not being treated for it.
一項全球大型研究發(fā)現，30歲以上高血壓患者人數在過去30年間翻了一番，其中超半數未接受過任何治療。

The researchers looked at data covering 184 countries. The number of people with high blood pressure doubled from 648 million in 1990 to nearly 1.3 billion by 2019, they found.
研究人員研究了184個國家的數據，發(fā)現從1990年到2019年，高血壓患者的數量從6.48億增加到近13億。

Overall, just under a third of men and women ages 30 to 79 had high blood pressure, the study found.
總體來看，30至79歲的人群中有近1/3患有高血壓。

"The pandemic of cardiovascular disease has received less attention in the last 18 months but reflects concerning worldwide trends in unhealthy lifestyle choices such as high fat, sugar, salt and alcohol intake, sedentary lifestyles with avoidance of exercise, and smoking," said Robert Storey, a professor of cardiology at the University of Sheffield.
英國謝菲爾德大學心臟病學教授羅伯特?斯特里表示："過去一年半里，人們對心血管疾病的關注較少，但它反映的不健康生活方式已經成為全球普遍現象，比如高糖、高脂肪、重鹽和過量酒精的攝入，以及久坐、不鍛煉、吸煙等。"

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