Personality change after kidney transplant

　　爱妻捐肾救性命 丈夫感恩心相随?

　　A MAN in the UK who was transplanted with one of his wife's kidneys last October, claims to have taken on her personality, the Daily Mail in November 5th issue reports.

　　The man, Ian Gammons, said he was always the rugby-loving man of the house who hated cooking, shopping and gardening. But now he enjoys all his wife's hobbies. He is never happier than when baking scones or wandering round the shops and looking for bargains. Now he has even begun to share his wife's love of dogs, an animal he previously despised.

　　However, many scientists are skeptical that transplant patients can inherit character traits from the donor, known as "cellular memory". This is the notion that living cells "memorize" and recall characteristics of the previous body.

　　英国《每日邮报》本月5日撰文讲述发生在伊恩甘蒙斯身上的有趣现象，他去年10月接受了妻子捐赠的一个肾，没想到还“继承”了妻子的某些性格特征。

　　甘蒙斯过去是个橄榄球爱好者，向来对烹饪、购物和侍弄花草这类家务事”不屑一顾”。手术后，他仿佛变了一个人，不仅像妻子一样喜爱烹烤“司康饼”、徜徉商场寻找打折商品,甚至一改讨厌狗的习惯，开始与妻子共同分享照顾小狗的乐趣。

　　根据“细胞记忆”理论，捐赠器官的细胞会记忆并且回想起以前身体所实施的指令，器官接收者因此也很可能会“继承”捐赠者的某些性格特征，但是，目前许多科学家对这种理论仍持怀疑态度。

　　Sheep Bleat Through Madrid in Protest

　　千只绵羊”游行维权” 呼吁政府重视牧业

　　FARMERS led a flock of bleating sheep through downtown Madrid on November 12 in a pungent protest urging the protection of ancient grazing routes threatened by urban sprawl.

　　Around 700 of the animals meandered along major thoroughfares, tinkling bells in a parade that also featured donkeys, horses and people in old-fashioned garb from rural areas of Spain.

　　The annual protest, now in its 14th year, calls on authorities to protect 78,000 miles (1250,000 kilos) of paths used for seasonal movement of livestock, from cool, highland pastures in summer to lower-lying ones in winter. Some of them are 800 years old. Madrid lies along two of the north-south routes.

　　11月12日，来自西班牙各地的牧民在马德里举行了一年一度的穿城大游行，要求政府采取措施，保护因城市扩张而受到威胁的古老的游牧路线。

　　当日，由约700只绵羊、驴、马和穿着传统服饰的牧羊人组成浩大的游行队伍，在西班牙首都马德里的闹市区招摇过市。街道上，羊儿们“咩咩”地叫个不停，脖子上的铃铛“叮当”作响，每一个角落都弥漫着羊身上散发出的刺鼻气味。

　　今年已是马德里“绵羊游行”的第14个年头。14年来，它们游行抗议的目的始终如一，就是要求政府保护长达7.8万英里（12.5万公里）的古老游牧路线。这其中最古老的路线已有800年的历史。在西班牙，游牧动物每年都会在夏末冬初期间做季节性大迁徙，从凉爽的高原牧场迁移到地势较低的草原，而马德里市恰好位于两条南北向游牧路线的附近。

　　Hi-tech T-shirt turns air guitar into music

　　高科技隐身T恤衫穿在身上能奏乐

　　AUSTRALIAN scientists announced on November 13, that they have developed a new T-shirt which enables the wearer to play air guitar and create real noise in the process.

　　"We fashioned the 'wearable instrument shirt' out of an ordinary T-shirt fitted with an array of sensors around elbows and wrists", said Richard Helmer, an engineer who leads the research team from the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO).

　　The built-in technologies measure the arm motions of the wearer, while the wearer "plays" by moving one hand to mimic guitar chord patterns and uses the other to pluck virtual strings. The shirt is hooked up to a computer that is able to read the signals and turn them into guitar sounds.

　　澳大利亚科学家本月13日宣布，他们已经成功研发出了一种智能T恤衫。有了这种T恤衫，穿着者只要模拟吉他弹奏的动作，便可奏出音乐来。

　　这种T恤衫是澳大利亚联邦科学与工业研究组织的科学家们的杰作。据领导这一发明小组的工程师理查德赫默尔说，这种看似普通的T恤衫之所以能奏乐在于T恤衫的肘部和袖子部位都装有传感器。

　　在穿着者移动一只手的指尖模拟按弦,另一只手模拟拨弦“弹奏”吉他时,内嵌的传感器便会将探测到的手臂活动信息通过无线连接传输给电脑，由电脑同步播放出与动作相匹配的吉他乐曲。