A huge grouper who lived at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago has died. The fish became an instant celebrity and inspiration to cancer patients after he became the first fish in history to get chemotherapy and bounce back from cancer.
Shedd officials estimate Bubba the Grouper was 24 when he died near the end of August.
The “super grouper” weighed 69.3kg and came to live at the aquarium after it was abandoned at the Chicago aquarium in 1987; someone left the fish at the reception desk in a bucket. At the time Bubba came to the aquarium, he was a she. Employees at the aquarium nursed the fish back to health and put her in a tank. Bubba changed gender in the mid-1990s, which is not uncommon for certain kinds of fish.
Bubba was diagnosed with cancer in 2001. Two years later, Shedd officials decided to give the fish chemotherapy, a treatment never given to a fish before.
Cancer survivors, particularly children, were inspired by Bubba’s story, and he was a Shedd favorite, officials said.
“Bubba overcame some incredible odds over the years, and that’s what made him so special to us,” said George Parsons, director of the Shedd’s Fish department.
“Every once in a while for the last three years we have been getting phone calls from kids with cancer or from their parents, wondering how he is doing,” Parsons said. “It’s going to be tough now, if I have to tell them he’s no longer with us.’’(AP)
薛德水族館的一條巨型石斑魚魂歸西天了。牠成為史上首隻接受化療並成功抗癌的魚後,立即變成家喻戶曉的名魚,鼓舞癌症病人。
石斑魚「布巴」八月底逝世時,薛德水族館的人員推估牠得年二十四歲。
這條「超級石斑魚」重達六十九點三公斤,一九八七年被人遺棄在這家位於芝加哥的水族館後,在館內恢復生機;有人將布巴裝入水桶放在接待處。布巴來到水族館時,性別還是母的。水族館員工照顧這隻魚恢復健康,把牠放在魚缸裡。布巴在一九九○年代中期變性,這對某些魚類來說並不罕見。
二○○一年,布巴被診斷出癌症。兩年後,薛德水族館的人員決定讓牠接受化療,過去從沒有魚類接受過這類治療。
水族館人員表示,癌症倖存者,特別是孩童,都受到布巴故事的鼓舞,牠也是薛德水族館最受歡迎的生物。
薛德水族館的魚類部主任喬治.派森斯說︰「這麼多年來布巴奇蹟似地戰勝機運,這也是為何牠對我們來說如此特別。」
「過去三年以來,我們不時接到癌症孩童或他們父母打來的電話,想知道布巴近況如何,」派森斯說︰「現在,我必須告訴他們布巴不在我們身邊了,這是很難啟齒的事。」(美聯社/翻譯︰賴美君)
South Korea’s famous kimchi is falling victim to climate change, with scientists, farmers and manufacturers saying the quality and quantity of the napa cabbage that is pickled to make the ubiquitous dish is suffering due to rising temperatures. Napa cabbage thrives in cooler climates, and is usually planted in mountainous regions where temperatures during the key growing summer season once rarely rose above 25 degrees Celsius. Studies show that warmer weather brought about by climate change is now threatening these crops, so much so that South Korea might not be able to grow napa cabbage one day due to the intensifying heat. “We
It’s widely recognized that there are far more right-handed people than left-handed people in the world. Being right-handed simply means preferring to use one’s right hand for tasks that involve only one hand, such as writing and eating. But have you ever wondered about the possible reasons behind the global dominance of the right hand over the left? As with many complex biological questions, multiple factors appear to be at play. First, one reason seems to be genetics. __1__ Therefore, the global dominance of right-handedness is something that has been passed down through many generations of humans. Next,
A: What’s even more horrible is that the five suspects who purposely supplied ketamine to actor Matthew Perry were all his “friends.” B: Who exactly are the five suspects? A: They include Matthew’s two doctors, a broker, a drug dealer, and even his live-in assistant. B: Those scumbags should go to jail. A: Yeah, one of the doctors may be sentenced to up to 120 years in prison. A: 更可怕的是,提供男星馬修派瑞「K他命」的5人全是他的「朋友」。 B: 嫌犯是誰啊? A: 其中包括他的2位醫生、1位仲介、1位毒販、甚至他的同居助理! B: 那些人渣真該去坐牢。 A: 對啊,其中1位醫生可能面臨120年徒刑。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Continued from yesterday(延續自昨日) https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang Finally, cultural influence also plays a role in which hand people prefer. Historically, items that require physical manipulation have been designed for right-handed use. For example, tools like scissors and musical instruments are often constructed with right-handers in mind, making it difficult for left-handers to use them. __4__ While these factors offer some explanation, they remain speculative. The precise reasons for the global prevalence of right-handed people continue to be debated. Nevertheless, left-handedness will remain a phenomenon of great curiosity among scientists and researchers for many years to come. 最後,文化影響也在人們偏好哪一隻手上扮演一角。歷史上,需要用到肢體操作的物品都被設計來供右手使用。舉例來說,像是剪刀、樂器等工具常常就是考慮到右撇子而打造的,造成左撇子難以使用這些工具。因此,許多天生就是左撇子的人可能就必須透過學習使用右手來適應。 雖然這些因素都提供了一些解釋,但它們仍是推測而已。全球右撇子如此普及,確切的原因仍持續被爭論著。不過,在未來的許多年裡,左撇子依然會是科學家和研究人員相當好奇的一個現象。 What Did You Learn? (A) Specifically, different areas of