A logo sign of Biogen on April 29, 2019. [Photo/IC]
>First Alzheimer's drug
首款老年痴呆药将面世
An American drug company, Biogen, surprised the medical world by announcing it has developed the first effective medicine that could slow down Alzheimer's disease, and it is now ready to bring it to the market.
美国制药公司Biogen近日宣布已研制出世界上首款能有效延缓阿兹海默症(俗称老年痴呆症)的药物，目前正准备将其推向市场，此番言论令医药界一片哗然。
The announcement came not long after the company discontinued work on the drug in March this year due to years of trial failures.
就在今年3月，Biogen公司曾经中断了对于这款药物的研制，原因是数年来的试验均以失败而告终。
The drug, called aducanumab, neither prevents nor cures Alzheimer's, but helps slow down cognitive decline in some patients.
这款名为aducanumab的药物既不能预防也不能治愈老年痴呆，但是能延缓有些病人认知能力的下降。
The drugmaker said it would soon seek regulatory approval in the US, which could take a year or two.
Biogen表示很快将向美国药物监管部门寻求对aducanumab的审批，这一过程可能需要1-2年。
If successful, the company hopes to initially offer the drug to patients who had enrolled in clinical studies of the drug before.
如果成功获批，该公司希望将新药首先提供给那些曾参与其临床研究的病人。
Photo: Comfreak/Pixabay
>Selling your facial rights
机器人公司花高价'征脸'
According to a recent blog post by London-based outsourcing company Geomiq, a robotics company is currently looking for a "kind and friendly" face to put on a humanoid robot once it goes into production.
根据伦敦外包公司Geomiq近期发布的一条帖子，一家机器人公司正在给即将投入生产的人形机器人寻找一张"友善的"脸。
This will potentially entail using this person's face on thousands of robots around the world, so the company is willing to pay no less than ￡100,000 in licensing fees.
这张脸可能会应用到世界各地数以千计的机器人身上，因此该公司愿意支付不少于10万英镑(约合人民币91.2万元)的使用费。
The robot in question is designed to be a "virtual friend" for elderly people, and is scheduled to go into production next year.
这款机器人的设计初衷是作为老年人的"虚拟朋友"，并将于明年投入生产。
"We know that this is an extremely unique request, and signing over the licenses to your face is potentially an extremely big decision," Geomiq stated, adding that interested people can submit a photo of themselves via email.
Geomiq公司称："我们知道这是一个非常独特的请求，签约'卖脸'可能是一个极其重大的决定。"该公司补充说，有意"卖脸"的人可以通过电子邮件提交一张自己的照片。
The robotics company has reportedly been working on this particular humanoid robot for five years, and due to the secretive nature of the project, anonymity is of utmost importance.
据称，这家机器人公司研发这款特别的人形机器人已有五年，由于这个项目的保密性质，匿名是至关重要的。
However, candidates with the right kind of face chosen for the "next phase" will be given full details on the project.
不过，脸被选中参与"下一阶段"项目的人将获知这一项目的全部细节。
[Photo/Xinhua]
>Sea bridge outperforms
港珠澳大桥车流破150万
The tourism and logistics sectors in Hong Kong, Macao and western Guangdong province have great market potential thanks in large part to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, a year after the world's longest cross-sea thoroughfare opened to traffic, according to industry insiders.
世界上最长的跨海大桥港珠澳大桥通车已满一年。业界专家称，港珠澳大桥为香港、澳门和广东西部的旅游和物流业市场带来了巨大潜力。
The 55-kilometer bridge has served over 24 million passengers - an average 67,000 per day - since its opening on Oct 24 last year, according to the Guangdong government.
据广东省政府介绍，自去年10月24日通车以来，经这条全长55公里的大桥往来三地口岸的旅客总数逾2400万人次，平均每天6.7万人次。
Over 70,000 vehicles from Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macao have registered to be able to use the bridge, and since its opening, over 1.5 million vehicles have crossed the bridge.
超过7万辆来自香港、广东和澳门的车辆已注册大桥通行权限，自开通以来，港珠澳大桥总车流超过150万车次。
Yuan Longping, 89, known as the “father of hybrid rice”, shows visitors around a paddy in Hunan province Oct 22, 2019. [Photo/China News Service]
>Hybrid rice yields high
第三代杂交水稻首测产
平均亩产突破1000公斤
The third-generation hybrid rice developed by Yuan Longping, the "father of hybrid rice," and his team underwent its first public yield monitoring from Monday to Tuesday and achieved high output.
由"杂交水稻之父"袁隆平及其团队研发的第三代杂交水稻21日至22日首次公开测产，测产结果是第三代杂交水稻表现优秀。
The final yield of the tested variety, G3-1S/P19, came to 1,046.3 kg per mu, based on two plots of land in Qingzhu village under the city of Hengyang in central China's Hunan province.
本次测产的两个田块位于华中湖南省衡阳市下属的清竹村，新组合G3-1S/亲19的最终测产结果为平均亩产1046.3公斤。
Experts agreed that the rice has a stout stem, fertilizer tolerance, lodging resistance, large spike and more grains.
专家认为，这次测产的组合表现出茎秆粗壮、耐肥抗倒、穗大粒多的特点。
Unlike the previous two generations that required a large amount of water and fertilizers as well as demanding growing conditions and technological support, the third-generation hybrid rice is easier to be cultivated by ordinary farmers.
前两代杂交水稻需要大量的水和肥料，同时对生长环境和技术支持有要求，第三代杂交水稻栽种更简便，普通农民就可以种植。
Some previous high-yielding hybrid rice varieties in China took 160 to even 180 days from sowing to harvesting, while the figure was shortened to around 125 days for the new variety.
此前的高产量杂交水稻从种植到收割需要160天，甚至180天，而第三代的生长周期缩短到125天左右。
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来源：chinadaily.com.cn