Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization?
The biggest threat to global stability is the potential for food crises in poor countries to cause government collapse
By Lester R. Brown Scientific American Magazine April 22, 2009
One of the toughest things for people to do is to anticipate sudden change. Typically we project the future by extrapolating from trends in the past. Much of the time this approach works well. But sometimes it fails spectacularly, and people are simply blindsided by events such as today’s economic crisis.
For most of us, the idea that civilization itself could disintegrate probably seems preposterous (absurdo). Who would not find it hard to think seriously about such a complete departure from what we expect of ordinary life? What evidence could make us heed(prestar atenção) a warning so dire(terrível, extremista)—and how would we go about responding to it? We are so inured (acostumado)to a long list of highly unlikely catastrophes that we are virtually programmed to dismiss them all with a wave of the hand: Sure, our civilization might devolve into(transformar em) chaos—and Earth might collide with an asteroid, too!
For many years I have studied global agricultural, population, environmental and economic trends and their interactions. The combined effects of those trends and the political tensions they generate point to the breakdown of governments and societies. Yet I, too, have resisted the idea that food shortages could bring down not only individual governments but also our global civilization.
I can no longer ignore that risk. Our continuing failure to deal with the environmental declines that are undermining the world food economy—most important, falling water tables(plato,lista de informações)), eroding soils and rising temperatures—forces me to conclude that such a collapse is possible.
domingo, 26 de abril de 2009
The dawn of the animals
The dawn of the animals
Apr 8th 2009
From The Economist print edition
Which came first, the eggs or the algae?
PNAS
Though the fossiliferous explosion known as the Cambrian period is often thought of as the beginning of animal life, animals actually appeared for the first time during a geological twilight called the Ediacaran, 635m-542m years ago, between the end of a great ice age and the arrival of all those well-preserved Cambrian fossils. The object on the left, less than a millimetre across in reality, is an example of what were once thought to be the encysted forms of Ediacaran algae. However, its similarity to the object on the right, which is the egg of a modern species of crustacean, has led Phoebe Cohen of Harvard University and her colleagues to suggest in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that it, too, is the egg of an animal. Which animal, exactly, is not clear. No crustaceans are known from the Ediacaran. Common adult Ediacarans included jellyfish-like critters and things that resemble flattened grapefruit segments. How these are related to the rest of animal-kind is not known. But somewhere among them must lurk one of humanity’s ancient ancestors.
Apr 8th 2009
From The Economist print edition
Which came first, the eggs or the algae?
PNAS
Though the fossiliferous explosion known as the Cambrian period is often thought of as the beginning of animal life, animals actually appeared for the first time during a geological twilight called the Ediacaran, 635m-542m years ago, between the end of a great ice age and the arrival of all those well-preserved Cambrian fossils. The object on the left, less than a millimetre across in reality, is an example of what were once thought to be the encysted forms of Ediacaran algae. However, its similarity to the object on the right, which is the egg of a modern species of crustacean, has led Phoebe Cohen of Harvard University and her colleagues to suggest in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that it, too, is the egg of an animal. Which animal, exactly, is not clear. No crustaceans are known from the Ediacaran. Common adult Ediacarans included jellyfish-like critters and things that resemble flattened grapefruit segments. How these are related to the rest of animal-kind is not known. But somewhere among them must lurk one of humanity’s ancient ancestors.
domingo, 19 de abril de 2009
Twice blessed
Twice blessed
Apr 16th 2009
From The Economist print edition
Bilingual babies are precocious decision-makers
WHETHER to teach young children a second language is disputed among teachers, researchers and pushy parents. On the one hand, acquiring a new tongue is said to be far easier when young. On the other, teachers complain that children whose parents speak a language at home that is different from the one used in the classroom sometimes struggle in their lessons and are slower to reach linguistic milestones. Would 15-month-old Tarquin, they wonder, not be better off going to music classes?
A study just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences may help resolve this question by getting to the nub(ponto chave) of what is going on in a bilingual child’s brain, how a second language affects the way he thinks, and thus in what circumstances being bilingual may be helpful. Agnes Kovacs and Jacques Mehler at the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste say that some aspects of the cognitive development of infants raised in a bilingual household must be undergoing acceleration in order to manage which of the two languages they are dealing with.
The aspect of cognition in question is part of what is termed the brain’s “executive function”. This allows people to organise, plan, prioritise activity, shift their attention from one thing to another and suppress habitual responses. The researchers speculate that it might be the fact of having to learn two languages in the same setting that requires greater use of executive function. So whether those benefits accrue to(crescer, aumantar =increase) children who learn one language at home, and one at school, remains unclear.
Apr 16th 2009
From The Economist print edition
Bilingual babies are precocious decision-makers
WHETHER to teach young children a second language is disputed among teachers, researchers and pushy parents. On the one hand, acquiring a new tongue is said to be far easier when young. On the other, teachers complain that children whose parents speak a language at home that is different from the one used in the classroom sometimes struggle in their lessons and are slower to reach linguistic milestones. Would 15-month-old Tarquin, they wonder, not be better off going to music classes?
A study just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences may help resolve this question by getting to the nub(ponto chave) of what is going on in a bilingual child’s brain, how a second language affects the way he thinks, and thus in what circumstances being bilingual may be helpful. Agnes Kovacs and Jacques Mehler at the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste say that some aspects of the cognitive development of infants raised in a bilingual household must be undergoing acceleration in order to manage which of the two languages they are dealing with.
The aspect of cognition in question is part of what is termed the brain’s “executive function”. This allows people to organise, plan, prioritise activity, shift their attention from one thing to another and suppress habitual responses. The researchers speculate that it might be the fact of having to learn two languages in the same setting that requires greater use of executive function. So whether those benefits accrue to(crescer, aumantar =increase) children who learn one language at home, and one at school, remains unclear.
Bash for help
Bash for help
Apr 2nd 2009
From The Economist print edition
A new way to find trapped miners
HIGH technology is not always needed to solve a problem. Indeed, a proposed new system for finding miners trapped by an underground collapse is activated simply by hammering on an iron plate with a sledgehammer. Rescuers can be not only alerted by the banging but also guided precisely to the scene.
Sensitive listening equipment has long been used to try to hear people trapped underground. It is possible to detect seismic waves created by miners hitting rocks, say, but it can be difficult to distinguish these from other underground noises.
Now a more accurate method has been found. It involves bolting iron plates to the walls of tunnels at regular intervals and placing sledgehammers nearby. The idea is that, in the event of a collapse, survivors able to reach one of the plates would bash it to create vibrations that are detected by a string of geophones, standard devices used to measure seismic activity, placed on the surface along the line of the mine.
Gerard Schuster and his colleagues at the University of Utah first tested the idea in a tunnel that carries pipes three metres below the university campus. After positioning the plates, the researchers listened to the sound that each one made on being struck. Every sound was unique, in part because of small variations in the geology surrounding the plates. They used a computer monitoring the string of geophones to analyse the signals to see if they contained the seismic fingerprint of any of the underground plates. The system could detect if a plate was being hammered and which one, thus indicating the location of the person hitting it.
Apr 2nd 2009
From The Economist print edition
A new way to find trapped miners
HIGH technology is not always needed to solve a problem. Indeed, a proposed new system for finding miners trapped by an underground collapse is activated simply by hammering on an iron plate with a sledgehammer. Rescuers can be not only alerted by the banging but also guided precisely to the scene.
Sensitive listening equipment has long been used to try to hear people trapped underground. It is possible to detect seismic waves created by miners hitting rocks, say, but it can be difficult to distinguish these from other underground noises.
Now a more accurate method has been found. It involves bolting iron plates to the walls of tunnels at regular intervals and placing sledgehammers nearby. The idea is that, in the event of a collapse, survivors able to reach one of the plates would bash it to create vibrations that are detected by a string of geophones, standard devices used to measure seismic activity, placed on the surface along the line of the mine.
Gerard Schuster and his colleagues at the University of Utah first tested the idea in a tunnel that carries pipes three metres below the university campus. After positioning the plates, the researchers listened to the sound that each one made on being struck. Every sound was unique, in part because of small variations in the geology surrounding the plates. They used a computer monitoring the string of geophones to analyse the signals to see if they contained the seismic fingerprint of any of the underground plates. The system could detect if a plate was being hammered and which one, thus indicating the location of the person hitting it.
Sweet dreams are made of geomagnetic activity
Sweet dreams are made of geomagnetic activity
00:01 01 April 2009 by Ewen Callaway
For similar stories, visit the The Human Brain Topic Guide
Are fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field giving you bizarre dreams? (Image: OJO Images/Rex)
Looking for an explanation for recurring nightmares of leaving the house without your trousers on or losing your teeth? New research suggests you can blame the Earth's magnetic field, rather than a repressed childhood.
Darren Lipnicki, a psychologist formerly at the Center for Space Medicine in Berlin, Germany, found a correlation between the bizarreness of his dreams, recorded over eight years, and extremes in local geomagnetic activity.
Other studies have tied low geomagnetic activity to increases in the production of the melatonin, a potent hormone that helps set the body's circadian clock. So, based on anecdotal evidence that melatonin supplements used as a sleeping aid can cause off-kilter dreams, Lipnicki wondered whether local magnetic fields could induce the same effects.
00:01 01 April 2009 by Ewen Callaway
For similar stories, visit the The Human Brain Topic Guide
Are fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field giving you bizarre dreams? (Image: OJO Images/Rex)
Looking for an explanation for recurring nightmares of leaving the house without your trousers on or losing your teeth? New research suggests you can blame the Earth's magnetic field, rather than a repressed childhood.
Darren Lipnicki, a psychologist formerly at the Center for Space Medicine in Berlin, Germany, found a correlation between the bizarreness of his dreams, recorded over eight years, and extremes in local geomagnetic activity.
Other studies have tied low geomagnetic activity to increases in the production of the melatonin, a potent hormone that helps set the body's circadian clock. So, based on anecdotal evidence that melatonin supplements used as a sleeping aid can cause off-kilter dreams, Lipnicki wondered whether local magnetic fields could induce the same effects.
domingo, 12 de abril de 2009
Is donated sperm just another product?
Is donated sperm just another product?
New Scientist 10 April 2009
BRITTANY DONOVAN was born 13 years ago in Pennsylvania. Her biological father was sperm donor G738. Unbeknownst to Brittany's mother, G738 carried a genetic defect known as fragile X - a mutation that all female children born from his sperm will inherit, and which causes mental impairment, behavioural problems and atypical social development.
Last week, Brittany was given the green light to sue the sperm bank, Idant Laboratories of New York, under the state's product liability laws (see "Sperm bank sued for 'unsafe' sperm"). These laws were designed to allow consumers to seek compensation from companies whose products are defective and cause harm. Nobody expected them to be applied to donor sperm.
Thousands of people in the US have purchased sperm from sperm banks on the promise that the donor's history has been carefully scrutinised and his sample rigorously tested, only for some of them to discover that they have been sold a batch of bad seed. Some parents learn about genetic anomalies after their disabled child is born and they press the sperm bank for more information. Others realise when they contact biological half-siblings who have the same disorder.
New Scientist 10 April 2009
BRITTANY DONOVAN was born 13 years ago in Pennsylvania. Her biological father was sperm donor G738. Unbeknownst to Brittany's mother, G738 carried a genetic defect known as fragile X - a mutation that all female children born from his sperm will inherit, and which causes mental impairment, behavioural problems and atypical social development.
Last week, Brittany was given the green light to sue the sperm bank, Idant Laboratories of New York, under the state's product liability laws (see "Sperm bank sued for 'unsafe' sperm"). These laws were designed to allow consumers to seek compensation from companies whose products are defective and cause harm. Nobody expected them to be applied to donor sperm.
Thousands of people in the US have purchased sperm from sperm banks on the promise that the donor's history has been carefully scrutinised and his sample rigorously tested, only for some of them to discover that they have been sold a batch of bad seed. Some parents learn about genetic anomalies after their disabled child is born and they press the sperm bank for more information. Others realise when they contact biological half-siblings who have the same disorder.
Resistance is useless
Resistance is useless
Apr 8th 2009
From The Economist print edition
Evolutionary theory may help to fight a fatal disease
LIKE many other activities, global health has fashions. For the past couple of decades AIDS has captured both the imagination and the research dollars. Recently, though, the focus has shifted towards malaria, which kills a million people a year, most of them children, and debilitates hundreds of millions more. Insecticide-impregnated bednets designed to stop people being bitten by infected mosquitoes are being scattered throughout Africa. New drugs based on a Chinese herb called Artemisia have been introduced. And researchers are vying(competindo) with one another to be the first to devise(inventar,mostrar) an effective vaccine. But the traditional first line of attack on malaria, killing the mosquitoes themselves, has yet to have a serious makeover.
One reason is that time and again chemical insecticides have produced the same dreary pattern. They prove wonderfully effective at first, only to dwindle into uselessness. This is because evolution quickly throws up(apresenta) resistant strains. Indeed, spraying campaigns, which generally aim to kill mosquitoes before they can breed(cruzar), might have been devised as textbook examples of how to provoke an evolutionary response. With their competitors all dead, the progeny(crias,descendentes) of a mosquito carrying a mutation that can neutralise the insecticide in question have the world to themselves.
The upshot(=upcome=resultado) is that discovering a way to retain the anti-malarial benefits of insecticides without provoking an evolutionary response would be a significant breakthrough(inovação). And that is what Andrew Read of Pennsylvania State University and his colleagues think they have done. They have rethought the logic of insecticides, putting evolutionary theory at the centre, instead of a simple desire to destroy the enemy. The result is a modest proposal to deal with the problem of resistance.
Apr 8th 2009
From The Economist print edition
Evolutionary theory may help to fight a fatal disease
LIKE many other activities, global health has fashions. For the past couple of decades AIDS has captured both the imagination and the research dollars. Recently, though, the focus has shifted towards malaria, which kills a million people a year, most of them children, and debilitates hundreds of millions more. Insecticide-impregnated bednets designed to stop people being bitten by infected mosquitoes are being scattered throughout Africa. New drugs based on a Chinese herb called Artemisia have been introduced. And researchers are vying(competindo) with one another to be the first to devise(inventar,mostrar) an effective vaccine. But the traditional first line of attack on malaria, killing the mosquitoes themselves, has yet to have a serious makeover.
One reason is that time and again chemical insecticides have produced the same dreary pattern. They prove wonderfully effective at first, only to dwindle into uselessness. This is because evolution quickly throws up(apresenta) resistant strains. Indeed, spraying campaigns, which generally aim to kill mosquitoes before they can breed(cruzar), might have been devised as textbook examples of how to provoke an evolutionary response. With their competitors all dead, the progeny(crias,descendentes) of a mosquito carrying a mutation that can neutralise the insecticide in question have the world to themselves.
The upshot(=upcome=resultado) is that discovering a way to retain the anti-malarial benefits of insecticides without provoking an evolutionary response would be a significant breakthrough(inovação). And that is what Andrew Read of Pennsylvania State University and his colleagues think they have done. They have rethought the logic of insecticides, putting evolutionary theory at the centre, instead of a simple desire to destroy the enemy. The result is a modest proposal to deal with the problem of resistance.
Biofools The environment
Biofools The environment
Apr 8th 2009
From The Economist print edition
Farming biofuels produces nitrous oxide. This is bad for climate change
MANY people consider the wider use of biofuels a promising way of reducing the amount of surplus carbon dioxide (CO2) being pumped into the air by the world’s mechanised transport. The theory is that plants such as sugar cane, maize (corn, to Americans), oilseed rape and wheat take up CO2 during their growth, so burning fuels made from them should have no net effect on the amount of that gas in the atmosphere. Biofuels, therefore, should not contribute to global warming.
Theory, though, does not always translate into practice, and just as governments have committed themselves to the greater use of biofuels (see table), questions are being raised about how green this form of energy really is. The latest come from a report produced by a team of scientists working on behalf of the International Council for Science (ICSU), a Paris-based federation of scientific associations from around the world.
The ICSU report concludes that, so far, the production of biofuels has aggravated rather than ameliorated global warming. In particular, it supports some controversial findings published in 2007 by Paul Crutzen of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany. Dr Crutzen concluded that most analyses had underestimated the importance to global warming of a gas called nitrous oxide (N2O) by a factor of between three and five. The amount of this gas released by farming biofuel crops such as maize and rape probably negates by itself any advantage offered by reduced emissions of CO2.
Although N2O is not common in the Earth’s atmosphere, it is a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2 and it hangs around longer. The upshot is that, over the course of a century, its ability to warm the planet is almost 300 times that of an equivalent mass of CO2. Robert Howarth, a professor of ecology at Cornell University who was involved in writing the ICSU report, said that although the methods used by Dr Crutzen could be criticised, his fundamental conclusions were correct.
Apr 8th 2009
From The Economist print edition
Farming biofuels produces nitrous oxide. This is bad for climate change
MANY people consider the wider use of biofuels a promising way of reducing the amount of surplus carbon dioxide (CO2) being pumped into the air by the world’s mechanised transport. The theory is that plants such as sugar cane, maize (corn, to Americans), oilseed rape and wheat take up CO2 during their growth, so burning fuels made from them should have no net effect on the amount of that gas in the atmosphere. Biofuels, therefore, should not contribute to global warming.
Theory, though, does not always translate into practice, and just as governments have committed themselves to the greater use of biofuels (see table), questions are being raised about how green this form of energy really is. The latest come from a report produced by a team of scientists working on behalf of the International Council for Science (ICSU), a Paris-based federation of scientific associations from around the world.
The ICSU report concludes that, so far, the production of biofuels has aggravated rather than ameliorated global warming. In particular, it supports some controversial findings published in 2007 by Paul Crutzen of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany. Dr Crutzen concluded that most analyses had underestimated the importance to global warming of a gas called nitrous oxide (N2O) by a factor of between three and five. The amount of this gas released by farming biofuel crops such as maize and rape probably negates by itself any advantage offered by reduced emissions of CO2.
Although N2O is not common in the Earth’s atmosphere, it is a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2 and it hangs around longer. The upshot is that, over the course of a century, its ability to warm the planet is almost 300 times that of an equivalent mass of CO2. Robert Howarth, a professor of ecology at Cornell University who was involved in writing the ICSU report, said that although the methods used by Dr Crutzen could be criticised, his fundamental conclusions were correct.
The meaning of freedom
The meaning of freedom
Apr 2nd 2009
From The Economist print edition
Why freedom of speech must include the right to “defame” religions
AT FIRST glance, the resolution on “religious defamation” adopted by the UN’s Human Rights Council on March 26th, mainly at the behest of Islamic countries, reads like another piece of harmless verbiage churned out by a toothless international bureaucracy. What is wrong with saying, as the resolution does, that some Muslims faced prejudice in the aftermath of September 2001? But a closer look at the resolution’s language, and the context in which it was adopted (with an unholy trio of Pakistan, Belarus and Venezuela acting as sponsors), makes clear that bigger issues are at stake.
The resolution says “defamation of religions” is a “serious affront to human dignity” which can “restrict the freedom” of those who are defamed, and may also lead to the incitement of violence. But there is an insidious blurring of categories here, which becomes plain when you compare this resolution with the more rigorous language of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948 in a spirit of revulsion over the evils of fascism. This asserts the right of human beings in ways that are now entrenched in the theory and (most of the time) the practice of liberal democracy. It upholds the right of people to live in freedom from persecution and arbitrary arrest; to hold any faith or none; to change religion; and to enjoy freedom of expression, which by any fair definition includes freedom to agree or disagree with the tenets of any religion.
In other words, it protects individuals—not religions, or any other set of beliefs. And this is a vital distinction. For it is not possible systematically to protect religions or their followers from offence without infringing the right of individuals.
Apr 2nd 2009
From The Economist print edition
Why freedom of speech must include the right to “defame” religions
AT FIRST glance, the resolution on “religious defamation” adopted by the UN’s Human Rights Council on March 26th, mainly at the behest of Islamic countries, reads like another piece of harmless verbiage churned out by a toothless international bureaucracy. What is wrong with saying, as the resolution does, that some Muslims faced prejudice in the aftermath of September 2001? But a closer look at the resolution’s language, and the context in which it was adopted (with an unholy trio of Pakistan, Belarus and Venezuela acting as sponsors), makes clear that bigger issues are at stake.
The resolution says “defamation of religions” is a “serious affront to human dignity” which can “restrict the freedom” of those who are defamed, and may also lead to the incitement of violence. But there is an insidious blurring of categories here, which becomes plain when you compare this resolution with the more rigorous language of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948 in a spirit of revulsion over the evils of fascism. This asserts the right of human beings in ways that are now entrenched in the theory and (most of the time) the practice of liberal democracy. It upholds the right of people to live in freedom from persecution and arbitrary arrest; to hold any faith or none; to change religion; and to enjoy freedom of expression, which by any fair definition includes freedom to agree or disagree with the tenets of any religion.
In other words, it protects individuals—not religions, or any other set of beliefs. And this is a vital distinction. For it is not possible systematically to protect religions or their followers from offence without infringing the right of individuals.
Women Smell Better Than Men
Women Smell Better Than Men
- April 9, 2009
Scientific American
Research at the Monell Chemical Senses Center finds that women have keener (mais forte, mais afiado)senses of smell than do men, and that men's body odors are harder to cover up than are women's. Christie Nicholson reports
A woman friend of mine recently commented about her guy: “He’s such a boy. His towels are stinky. And he doesn’t seem to notice!” Well, maybe he can’t smell the stinkyness. According to recent research from the Monell Chemical Senses Center, women have much sharper noses.
Scientists collected microdroplets of perspiration, and had men and women sniff the vials(frascos). According to both, the odors were equally rich. Subjects were then asked to rate odor strength when sniffing the sweat mixed one by one with 32 different fragrances. Only two of the fragrances stopped women from smelling the sweat. But 19 fragrances successfully blocked it from male noses.
Body odor is special—the authors note that in previous studies men’s and women’s scent detection did not differ when it came to other aromas. The researchers also concluded that men’s odor is harder to mask than women’s, regardless of who sniffs. Only a fifth of the fragrances could cover up male odor. But half of the scents masked female odor. The researchers suggest that for women there may be important biological information contained in male sweat. So maybe don’t wash those towels just yet.
—Christie Nicholson
- April 9, 2009
Scientific American
Research at the Monell Chemical Senses Center finds that women have keener (mais forte, mais afiado)senses of smell than do men, and that men's body odors are harder to cover up than are women's. Christie Nicholson reports
A woman friend of mine recently commented about her guy: “He’s such a boy. His towels are stinky. And he doesn’t seem to notice!” Well, maybe he can’t smell the stinkyness. According to recent research from the Monell Chemical Senses Center, women have much sharper noses.
Scientists collected microdroplets of perspiration, and had men and women sniff the vials(frascos). According to both, the odors were equally rich. Subjects were then asked to rate odor strength when sniffing the sweat mixed one by one with 32 different fragrances. Only two of the fragrances stopped women from smelling the sweat. But 19 fragrances successfully blocked it from male noses.
Body odor is special—the authors note that in previous studies men’s and women’s scent detection did not differ when it came to other aromas. The researchers also concluded that men’s odor is harder to mask than women’s, regardless of who sniffs. Only a fifth of the fragrances could cover up male odor. But half of the scents masked female odor. The researchers suggest that for women there may be important biological information contained in male sweat. So maybe don’t wash those towels just yet.
—Christie Nicholson
domingo, 5 de abril de 2009
VOCABULARY Fuvest 2000 a 2008
VOCABULARY Fuvest 2000 a 2008
Pew banco de igreja
Glance olhadinha
Nearby próximo
Row fileira
Cob espiga
Forbid proibir
Chewing mastigar
Wherever onde quer que
Whenever quando quer que
Multitasking task multiplas tarefas
Snack lance
Rolling ambulante, rolante
Cup holder porta copos
Gloveboxes porta luvas
Within –without dentro--sem
Regard considerar
Hardly scarcely raramente
Fitted em forma
Willing x unwilling disposto xindisp
Paperback livro, apostila
Script escrita
On a par with equivalente a
Late Mr.X finado Mr. X
Go up blind alley ficar sem saída
Battles batalhas
Missteps erros
the former – o 1o. citado
the latter – o 2o. citado
Come up with resultar
Misfortunes infortúnios
Achievement realizações
Uncertainty incerteza
Whether- se
Approach abordagem, aproximação
Crowd multidão
Slim magro
Handsome elegante, bonito
To reach alcançar
Pick out escolhecer selecionar
Pick up pegar
To turn into transformar
Mate companheiro, acasalar
Matchmaker casamenteiro
To sniff out cheirar, detectar
Therefore portanto
Profile perfil
Wildly radicalmente
To join junar-se
To spot localizar
To prevent impedir
Pleased satisfeito
Rather muito,bastante
Shy tímido
To usher conduzir
Given devido a
Forerunner 1o. colocado
Surrounding ao redor
Ubiquitous onipresente
Blockbusters sucesso de bilheteria
Nothing short of nada impossível
Nearly = almost quase
Employed empregado
Scores grande quantidade (20/20)
Sequel sequela
To face enfrentar
To dismiss dispensar
Role papel desempenho
Suitable adequado
No longer não mais
Quite bastante
Indeed realmente, na verdade
Consciousness cosnci~ência
As though como se
Flow fluxo
Inner self íntimo, alma
Deluded iludido
Not far off não muito distante
Insight introspecção
Resemble assemelhar-se
To master dominar
Human beings sêres humanos
Belief crença
Aware ciente
Expertise especialidade
Towards em direção
Rule regra, domínio
To retain reter
Vernacular lingua nativa
Backward retrógrado
To view visualizar
Pupils pupilos, alunos
Skull crânio
Whole inteiro
Embarrassing embaraçoso
To dare ousar
Developed desenvolvido
Standardized padronizado
Hence portanto
Shortage = lack falta de
To face enfrentar
Impracticable impraticável
Current atual
Measures medidas, decisões
Concerning realcionados a
key chave, importante
to improve melhorar
struggling lutando
to aim mirar, apontar, direcionar
available disponível
brushstroke pincelada
redraw redesenhar
churn out produzir
to design projetar
swept away varreu, limpou
law lei
play a part (role)desempenhar um papel
frown on franzir a testa(reprovar)
wholly inteiramente
outnumber superar
to allow permitir
arrival chegada
counterpart contraparte, outro grupo
to portray retratar
to depict descrever
seldom raramente
roughly aproximadamente
self assertive auto confiante
willies tremedeira
scare assustar
overcome superar
bored aborrecido, chateadop
spiders aranhas
annoying irritante
to find out descobrir
to behave comportar-se
yawning bocejar
rather than =intead of- em vez de
so far até agora
to address dirigir-se a
afterwards depois de
to quit parar, desistir
siren call alarme
stuck encalhado
charter alugar , arrendar
queue fila , caixa postal
junk lixo, ferro velho
inheritance herança
to fly flew flown voar
in time -antes da hora
remind lembrar-se
consumption consumo
state run conrolado pelo estado
twinge ponta, cutucada
burgeoning crescente
steering dirigir
demand demanda
rosiest mais oti mista
growth crescimento
quickened acelerou
purchases compras
sluggish vagaroso
mesmerizing impressionate
to dip mergulhar
as long as contanto que
boom explosão, progresso
lending rules regras de empréstimo
beyond além de
rules regras
startled chocado, surpreso
tightened apertou
weight pêso
to tilt balançar
despite , apesar de
strength força
to lag behind estar atrasado
harm prejudicar
shelter abrigar, abrigo
prejudice discriminação
threat ameaça
squabble over discutir
to grant dar
to tackle solucionar
attempt tentativa
rate taxa
amusingly divertido
height auge, altura
to turn away bloquear, impedir
plentiful abundante
harsher mais severo, rigoroso
hazard perigo
posit-montat
amid-entre
hubbub-mrmúrio
disease-doença
underwent(to undergo)sofrer,passar por
tilt(ed)inclinar
fidgeting(-pequenos movimentos
plentiful-abundante
satiety-satisfação
by measures-por razões
harm-prejuizo
lag-atrasar,ficar atrasado
overcome-superar
strength-força
Pew banco de igreja
Glance olhadinha
Nearby próximo
Row fileira
Cob espiga
Forbid proibir
Chewing mastigar
Wherever onde quer que
Whenever quando quer que
Multitasking task multiplas tarefas
Snack lance
Rolling ambulante, rolante
Cup holder porta copos
Gloveboxes porta luvas
Within –without dentro--sem
Regard considerar
Hardly scarcely raramente
Fitted em forma
Willing x unwilling disposto xindisp
Paperback livro, apostila
Script escrita
On a par with equivalente a
Late Mr.X finado Mr. X
Go up blind alley ficar sem saída
Battles batalhas
Missteps erros
the former – o 1o. citado
the latter – o 2o. citado
Come up with resultar
Misfortunes infortúnios
Achievement realizações
Uncertainty incerteza
Whether- se
Approach abordagem, aproximação
Crowd multidão
Slim magro
Handsome elegante, bonito
To reach alcançar
Pick out escolhecer selecionar
Pick up pegar
To turn into transformar
Mate companheiro, acasalar
Matchmaker casamenteiro
To sniff out cheirar, detectar
Therefore portanto
Profile perfil
Wildly radicalmente
To join junar-se
To spot localizar
To prevent impedir
Pleased satisfeito
Rather muito,bastante
Shy tímido
To usher conduzir
Given devido a
Forerunner 1o. colocado
Surrounding ao redor
Ubiquitous onipresente
Blockbusters sucesso de bilheteria
Nothing short of nada impossível
Nearly = almost quase
Employed empregado
Scores grande quantidade (20/20)
Sequel sequela
To face enfrentar
To dismiss dispensar
Role papel desempenho
Suitable adequado
No longer não mais
Quite bastante
Indeed realmente, na verdade
Consciousness cosnci~ência
As though como se
Flow fluxo
Inner self íntimo, alma
Deluded iludido
Not far off não muito distante
Insight introspecção
Resemble assemelhar-se
To master dominar
Human beings sêres humanos
Belief crença
Aware ciente
Expertise especialidade
Towards em direção
Rule regra, domínio
To retain reter
Vernacular lingua nativa
Backward retrógrado
To view visualizar
Pupils pupilos, alunos
Skull crânio
Whole inteiro
Embarrassing embaraçoso
To dare ousar
Developed desenvolvido
Standardized padronizado
Hence portanto
Shortage = lack falta de
To face enfrentar
Impracticable impraticável
Current atual
Measures medidas, decisões
Concerning realcionados a
key chave, importante
to improve melhorar
struggling lutando
to aim mirar, apontar, direcionar
available disponível
brushstroke pincelada
redraw redesenhar
churn out produzir
to design projetar
swept away varreu, limpou
law lei
play a part (role)desempenhar um papel
frown on franzir a testa(reprovar)
wholly inteiramente
outnumber superar
to allow permitir
arrival chegada
counterpart contraparte, outro grupo
to portray retratar
to depict descrever
seldom raramente
roughly aproximadamente
self assertive auto confiante
willies tremedeira
scare assustar
overcome superar
bored aborrecido, chateadop
spiders aranhas
annoying irritante
to find out descobrir
to behave comportar-se
yawning bocejar
rather than =intead of- em vez de
so far até agora
to address dirigir-se a
afterwards depois de
to quit parar, desistir
siren call alarme
stuck encalhado
charter alugar , arrendar
queue fila , caixa postal
junk lixo, ferro velho
inheritance herança
to fly flew flown voar
in time -antes da hora
remind lembrar-se
consumption consumo
state run conrolado pelo estado
twinge ponta, cutucada
burgeoning crescente
steering dirigir
demand demanda
rosiest mais oti mista
growth crescimento
quickened acelerou
purchases compras
sluggish vagaroso
mesmerizing impressionate
to dip mergulhar
as long as contanto que
boom explosão, progresso
lending rules regras de empréstimo
beyond além de
rules regras
startled chocado, surpreso
tightened apertou
weight pêso
to tilt balançar
despite , apesar de
strength força
to lag behind estar atrasado
harm prejudicar
shelter abrigar, abrigo
prejudice discriminação
threat ameaça
squabble over discutir
to grant dar
to tackle solucionar
attempt tentativa
rate taxa
amusingly divertido
height auge, altura
to turn away bloquear, impedir
plentiful abundante
harsher mais severo, rigoroso
hazard perigo
posit-montat
amid-entre
hubbub-mrmúrio
disease-doença
underwent(to undergo)sofrer,passar por
tilt(ed)inclinar
fidgeting(-pequenos movimentos
plentiful-abundante
satiety-satisfação
by measures-por razões
harm-prejuizo
lag-atrasar,ficar atrasado
overcome-superar
strength-força
Global warming
Global warming
Feb 3rd 2009From Economist.com
Global temperatures and sea levels are rising because of a build-up of greenhouse gases brought about by the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and other human activities. As a result, a growing number of governments and businesses are becoming more green-minded, while scientists are exploring ways to counteract climate change.
In 1997, rich-world countries convened the Kyoto Climate Change conference to curb greenhouse-gas emissions. But the resulting Kyoto protocol, enacted in 2005, has had little impact because it does not require developing countries to cut their emissions, and America is not a party to it.
Subsequent conferences in Bali in 2007 and Poland in 2008 produced little real progress, although there are signs of a change in American thinking under Barack Obama's presidency. The future of climate negotiations may lie in markets to commoditise both clean air and the right to pollute it.
Feb 3rd 2009From Economist.com
Global temperatures and sea levels are rising because of a build-up of greenhouse gases brought about by the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and other human activities. As a result, a growing number of governments and businesses are becoming more green-minded, while scientists are exploring ways to counteract climate change.
In 1997, rich-world countries convened the Kyoto Climate Change conference to curb greenhouse-gas emissions. But the resulting Kyoto protocol, enacted in 2005, has had little impact because it does not require developing countries to cut their emissions, and America is not a party to it.
Subsequent conferences in Bali in 2007 and Poland in 2008 produced little real progress, although there are signs of a change in American thinking under Barack Obama's presidency. The future of climate negotiations may lie in markets to commoditise both clean air and the right to pollute it.
Stem-cell research
Stem-cell research
Feb 9th 2009 From Economist.com
Most cells can only serve specific purposes. But stem cells can be coaxed to do many different things. Treatments using them are being developed for a range of diseases—most notably cancer—though actual therapies are perhaps over a decade away.
The most versatile stem cells used in research usually come from human embryos, created by somatic nuclear transfer (“cloning”) or parthenogenesis. These processes raise ethical dilemmas that are sparking intense political debate in America and Britain. For eight years under George Bush, America’s government declined to fund new embryonic stem-cell research, but Barack Obama has promised to reverse the ban. An American firm may also have found a way to make embryonic stem cells without upsetting anybody, while others are researching an uncontroversial type of stem cell, used to repair the body rather than to form a new one. Other leaders in the field, including Britain, China, Singapore and South Korea, permit cloning for the creation of embryonic stem cells.
Feb 9th 2009 From Economist.com
Most cells can only serve specific purposes. But stem cells can be coaxed to do many different things. Treatments using them are being developed for a range of diseases—most notably cancer—though actual therapies are perhaps over a decade away.
The most versatile stem cells used in research usually come from human embryos, created by somatic nuclear transfer (“cloning”) or parthenogenesis. These processes raise ethical dilemmas that are sparking intense political debate in America and Britain. For eight years under George Bush, America’s government declined to fund new embryonic stem-cell research, but Barack Obama has promised to reverse the ban. An American firm may also have found a way to make embryonic stem cells without upsetting anybody, while others are researching an uncontroversial type of stem cell, used to repair the body rather than to form a new one. Other leaders in the field, including Britain, China, Singapore and South Korea, permit cloning for the creation of embryonic stem cells.
The meaning of freedom
The meaning of freedom
Apr 2nd 2009 From The Economist print edition
Why freedom of speech must include the right to “defame” religions
Illustration by Peter Schrank
AT FIRST glance, the resolution on “religious defamation” adopted by the UN’s Human Rights Council on March 26th, mainly at the behest of Islamic countries, reads like another piece of harmless verbiage churned out by a toothless international bureaucracy. What is wrong with saying, as the resolution does, that some Muslims faced prejudice in the aftermath of September 2001? But a closer look at the resolution’s language, and the context in which it was adopted (with an unholy trio of Pakistan, Belarus and Venezuela acting as sponsors), makes clear that bigger issues are at stake.
The resolution says “defamation of religions” is a “serious affront to human dignity” which can “restrict the freedom” of those who are defamed, and may also lead to the incitement of violence. But there is an insidious blurring of categories here, which becomes plain when you compare this resolution with the more rigorous language of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948 in a spirit of revulsion over the evils of fascism. This asserts the right of human beings in ways that are now entrenched in the theory and (most of the time) the practice of liberal democracy. It upholds the right of people to live in freedom from persecution and arbitrary arrest; to hold any faith or none; to change religion; and to enjoy freedom of expression, which by any fair definition includes freedom to agree or disagree with the tenets of any religion.
In other words, it protects individuals—not religions, or any other set of beliefs. And this is a vital distinction. For it is not possible systematically to protect religions or their followers from offence without infringing the right of individuals.
Apr 2nd 2009 From The Economist print edition
Why freedom of speech must include the right to “defame” religions
Illustration by Peter Schrank
AT FIRST glance, the resolution on “religious defamation” adopted by the UN’s Human Rights Council on March 26th, mainly at the behest of Islamic countries, reads like another piece of harmless verbiage churned out by a toothless international bureaucracy. What is wrong with saying, as the resolution does, that some Muslims faced prejudice in the aftermath of September 2001? But a closer look at the resolution’s language, and the context in which it was adopted (with an unholy trio of Pakistan, Belarus and Venezuela acting as sponsors), makes clear that bigger issues are at stake.
The resolution says “defamation of religions” is a “serious affront to human dignity” which can “restrict the freedom” of those who are defamed, and may also lead to the incitement of violence. But there is an insidious blurring of categories here, which becomes plain when you compare this resolution with the more rigorous language of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948 in a spirit of revulsion over the evils of fascism. This asserts the right of human beings in ways that are now entrenched in the theory and (most of the time) the practice of liberal democracy. It upholds the right of people to live in freedom from persecution and arbitrary arrest; to hold any faith or none; to change religion; and to enjoy freedom of expression, which by any fair definition includes freedom to agree or disagree with the tenets of any religion.
In other words, it protects individuals—not religions, or any other set of beliefs. And this is a vital distinction. For it is not possible systematically to protect religions or their followers from offence without infringing the right of individuals.
I am just a poor boy though my story's seldom told
I am just a poor boy though my story's seldom told
Apr 2nd 2009 From The Economist print edition
How poverty passes from generation to generation is now becoming clearer. The answer lies in the effect of stress on two particular parts of the brain
THAT the children of the poor underachieve in later life, and thus remain poor themselves, is one of the enduring problems of society. Sociologists have studied and described it. Socialists have tried to abolish it by dictatorship and central planning. Liberals have preferred democracy and opportunity. But nobody has truly understood what causes it. Until, perhaps, now.
The crucial breakthrough was made three years ago, when Martha Farah of the University of Pennsylvania showed that the working memories of children who have been raised in poverty have smaller capacities than those of middle-class children. Working memory is the ability to hold bits of information in the brain for current use—the digits of a phone number, for example. It is crucial for comprehending languages, for reading and for solving problems. Entry into the working memory is also a prerequisite for something to be learnt permanently as part of declarative memory—the stuff a person knows explicitly, like the dates of famous battles, rather than what he knows implicitly, like how to ride a bicycle.
Since Dr Farah’s discovery, Gary Evans and Michelle Schamberg of Cornell University have studied the phenomenon in more detail. As they report in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they have found that the reduced capacity of the memories of the poor is almost certainly the result of stress affecting the way that childish brains develop.
Dr Evans’s and Dr Schamberg’s volunteers were 195 participants in a long-term sociological and medical study that Dr Evans is carrying out in New York state. At the time, the participants were 17 years old. All are white, and the numbers of men and women are about equal.
Apr 2nd 2009 From The Economist print edition
How poverty passes from generation to generation is now becoming clearer. The answer lies in the effect of stress on two particular parts of the brain
THAT the children of the poor underachieve in later life, and thus remain poor themselves, is one of the enduring problems of society. Sociologists have studied and described it. Socialists have tried to abolish it by dictatorship and central planning. Liberals have preferred democracy and opportunity. But nobody has truly understood what causes it. Until, perhaps, now.
The crucial breakthrough was made three years ago, when Martha Farah of the University of Pennsylvania showed that the working memories of children who have been raised in poverty have smaller capacities than those of middle-class children. Working memory is the ability to hold bits of information in the brain for current use—the digits of a phone number, for example. It is crucial for comprehending languages, for reading and for solving problems. Entry into the working memory is also a prerequisite for something to be learnt permanently as part of declarative memory—the stuff a person knows explicitly, like the dates of famous battles, rather than what he knows implicitly, like how to ride a bicycle.
Since Dr Farah’s discovery, Gary Evans and Michelle Schamberg of Cornell University have studied the phenomenon in more detail. As they report in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they have found that the reduced capacity of the memories of the poor is almost certainly the result of stress affecting the way that childish brains develop.
Dr Evans’s and Dr Schamberg’s volunteers were 195 participants in a long-term sociological and medical study that Dr Evans is carrying out in New York state. At the time, the participants were 17 years old. All are white, and the numbers of men and women are about equal.
Bash for help
Bash for help
Apr 2nd 2009 From The Economist print edition
A new way to find trapped miners
HIGH technology is not always needed to solve a problem. Indeed, a proposed new system for finding miners trapped by an underground collapse is activated simply by hammering on an iron plate with a sledgehammer. Rescuers can be not only alerted by the banging but also guided precisely to the scene.
Sensitive listening equipment has long been used to try to hear people trapped underground. It is possible to detect seismic waves created by miners hitting rocks, say, but it can be difficult to distinguish these from other underground noises.
Now a more accurate method has been found. It involves bolting iron plates to the walls of tunnels at regular intervals and placing sledgehammers nearby. The idea is that, in the event of a collapse, survivors able to reach one of the plates would bash it to create vibrations that are detected by a string of geophones, standard devices used to measure seismic activity, placed on the surface along the line of the mine.
Gerard Schuster and his colleagues at the University of Utah first tested the idea in a tunnel that carries pipes three metres below the university campus. After positioning the plates, the researchers listened to the sound that each one made on being struck. Every sound was unique, in part because of small variations in the geology surrounding the plates. They used a computer monitoring the string of geophones to analyse the signals to see if they contained the seismic fingerprint of any of the underground plates. The system could detect if a plate was being hammered and which one, thus indicating the location of the person hitting it.
Apr 2nd 2009 From The Economist print edition
A new way to find trapped miners
HIGH technology is not always needed to solve a problem. Indeed, a proposed new system for finding miners trapped by an underground collapse is activated simply by hammering on an iron plate with a sledgehammer. Rescuers can be not only alerted by the banging but also guided precisely to the scene.
Sensitive listening equipment has long been used to try to hear people trapped underground. It is possible to detect seismic waves created by miners hitting rocks, say, but it can be difficult to distinguish these from other underground noises.
Now a more accurate method has been found. It involves bolting iron plates to the walls of tunnels at regular intervals and placing sledgehammers nearby. The idea is that, in the event of a collapse, survivors able to reach one of the plates would bash it to create vibrations that are detected by a string of geophones, standard devices used to measure seismic activity, placed on the surface along the line of the mine.
Gerard Schuster and his colleagues at the University of Utah first tested the idea in a tunnel that carries pipes three metres below the university campus. After positioning the plates, the researchers listened to the sound that each one made on being struck. Every sound was unique, in part because of small variations in the geology surrounding the plates. They used a computer monitoring the string of geophones to analyse the signals to see if they contained the seismic fingerprint of any of the underground plates. The system could detect if a plate was being hammered and which one, thus indicating the location of the person hitting it.
Sweet dreams are made of geomagnetic activity
Sweet dreams are made of geomagnetic activity
00:01 01 April 2009 by Ewen Callaway
For similar stories, visit the The Human Brain Topic Guide
Are fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field giving you bizarre dreams? (Image: OJO Images/Rex)
Looking for an explanation for recurring nightmares of leaving the house without your trousers on or losing your teeth? New research suggests you can blame the Earth's magnetic field, rather than a repressed childhood.
Darren Lipnicki, a psychologist formerly at the Center for Space Medicine in Berlin, Germany, found a correlation between the bizarreness of his dreams, recorded over eight years, and extremes in local geomagnetic activity.
Other studies have tied low geomagnetic activity to increases in the production of the melatonin, a potent hormone that helps set the body's circadian clock. So, based on anecdotal evidence that melatonin supplements used as a sleeping aid can cause off-kilter dreams, Lipnicki wondered whether local magnetic fields could induce the same effects.
00:01 01 April 2009 by Ewen Callaway
For similar stories, visit the The Human Brain Topic Guide
Are fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field giving you bizarre dreams? (Image: OJO Images/Rex)
Looking for an explanation for recurring nightmares of leaving the house without your trousers on or losing your teeth? New research suggests you can blame the Earth's magnetic field, rather than a repressed childhood.
Darren Lipnicki, a psychologist formerly at the Center for Space Medicine in Berlin, Germany, found a correlation between the bizarreness of his dreams, recorded over eight years, and extremes in local geomagnetic activity.
Other studies have tied low geomagnetic activity to increases in the production of the melatonin, a potent hormone that helps set the body's circadian clock. So, based on anecdotal evidence that melatonin supplements used as a sleeping aid can cause off-kilter dreams, Lipnicki wondered whether local magnetic fields could induce the same effects.
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