Your cell phone holds secrets about you. Besides the names and numbers that you've programmed into it, traces of your DNA linger on the device, according to a new study.
DNA is genetic material that appears in every cell. Like your fingerprint, your DNA is unique to you unless you have an identical twin. Scientists today routinely analyze DNA in blood, saliva, or hair left behind at the scene of a crime. The results often help detectives identify criminals and their victims.
Scientists wonder whether traces of DNA might linger on cell phones. To find out, a group of researchers collected flip-style phones from 10 volunteers. They used swabs to collect invisible traces of the users from two parts of the phone: the outside, where the user holds it, andthe speaker, which is placed at the user's ear.
The researchers scrubbed the phones using a solution made mostlyofalcohol. Theaim ofwashingwastoremoveall detectable traces of DNA. The owners got their phones back for another week. Then the researchers collected the phones and repeated the swabbing of each phone once more.
The scientists discovered DNA that belonged to the phone's owner on each ofthe phones. Bettersamples were collected from the outside of each phone, but those swabs also picked up DNA that belonged to other people who had apparently also handled the phone.
Surprisingly, DNA showed up even in swabs that were taken immediately after the phones were scrubbed. That suggests that washing won't remove all traces of evidence from a criminal's device. So cell phones can now be added to the list of clues that can clinch a crime-scene investigation.
參考譯文:手機(jī)泄密
你的手機(jī)里藏有許多有關(guān)你的秘密。根據(jù)一項(xiàng)新的研究,除了你自己輸進(jìn)去的人名和電話號(hào)碼以外,你的微量DNA也會(huì)在手機(jī)上留下痕跡。
DNA是每一個(gè)細(xì)胞里都存在的一種遺傳物質(zhì)。與指紋一樣,每個(gè)人的DNA都不一樣(除非你有一個(gè)與你一模一樣的雙胞胎兄弟姐妹)。今天,科學(xué)家對(duì)遺留在犯罪現(xiàn)場(chǎng)的血液、唾液或是毛發(fā)進(jìn)行分析已經(jīng)是司空見慣了,分析結(jié)果常常能幫助偵查人員確定罪犯和受害人。
科學(xué)家們想知道,是否會(huì)有微量DNA在手機(jī)上留下痕跡。為尋求答案,有一組研究人員從10名志愿者那里收集了10部翻蓋式手機(jī)。他們用藥簽從手機(jī)的兩個(gè)部位收集手機(jī)使用者的肉眼看不見的痕跡:一個(gè)部位是在手機(jī)的外面,使用者手握手機(jī)的地方;另一個(gè)部位是在放在使用者耳朵邊的話筒。
研究人員用一種以酒精為主的溶液擦洗這些手機(jī)。擦洗的目的
是去除一切有可能檢測(cè)到的DNA痕跡。然后讓手機(jī)的主人把手機(jī)拿回去一個(gè)星期。隨后研究人員把手機(jī)收集起來,用藥簽再一次對(duì)每個(gè)手機(jī)重做一遍上述的試驗(yàn)。
科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn),在每一臺(tái)手機(jī)上都留下了屬于手機(jī)主人的DNA。在每臺(tái)手機(jī)外部收集到的樣本最清楚,不過那些藥簽上也檢測(cè)到了別的一些人的DNA,這些人顯然也曾觸摸過手機(jī)。
令人驚異的是,甚至用藥簽在剛剛擦洗過的手機(jī)上抹一下也能檢測(cè)到DNA。這就說明洗滌不可能完全清除罪犯用過的手機(jī)上所有可作證據(jù)的痕跡。因此,手機(jī)現(xiàn)在可以添加到能夠確定犯罪現(xiàn)場(chǎng)調(diào)查的線索清單里面去了。(注意斜體字的譯法)
Mind - reading Machine
Winning at "I spy" would be a whole lot easier if there were just some ways to know what your opponent was looking at. It's not too far-fetched an idea. A team of researchers in California has developed a way to (A) p what kinds of objects people are looking at by scanning what's (B)h in their brains.
When you look at something, whether it's a tomato or your backpack or your best friend, your eyes send a (C) s about that object to your brain. Different (D) r of the brain process the information your eyes send. Cells in your brain called neurons are responsible for this processing.
Likecells anywhereelseinyourbody, activeneuronsuse (1) o. Blood brings oxygen to the neurons, and the more active a neuron is, the more oxygen it will (E) c. The more active a region of the brain, the more active its neurons, and in turn, the more blood will travel to that region. And by using a (F) t called functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, scientists can visualize which parts of the brain receive more oxygen-rich blood and therefore, which parts are working to process (2) i.
An fMRI machine is a device that scans the brain and measures changes in blood flow to the brain. The technology shows researchers how brain activity changes when a person thinks, looks at something, or carries out an (3) a like speaking orreading. By highlighting the areas ofthe brain at work when a personlooks at different images, fMRImay help scientists determine specific (4) p of brain activity associated with different kinds of images. This is the working principle of fMRI, on which it can read your mind.
(A, B, C, D, E, F FOR CROSS, 1, 2, 3,4 FOR DOWN. Thefirst lettersoftheabsents were given)
TurnTheFish
Arrange 8 matchsticks to form the fish swimming left as shown in the illustration. The object of the puzzle is to move 3 matchsticks to make the fish swimming in the opposite direction, i. e. to the right.
上期Reading
Comprehension答案
1. A2. D3. C4. C
上期Crossword答案
A. EarthB. version
C. concernsD. dismissed
E. powerful F. lawsuit
1. produce2. particle
3. acquire4. planet
上期Illation答案