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Agriculture companies are using new methods to change the genes of plants to produce more productive crops.
农业公司正在使用新方法改变植物的基因，以生产出更高产的作物。
The process of gene-editing is gaining attention from people interested in agriculture. It makes changes to the existing genes of a plant, such as wheat. That is different from genetic modification, which produces what are known as genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. That process introduces completely new DNA to a plant’s genetic information.
基因编辑过程正在引起对农业感兴趣的人的关注。它对植物现有基因进行改变，例如小麦。这与基因改造不同，基因改造会产生所谓的转基因生物（GMOs）。基因改造是将全新的DNA引入植物的基因信息中。
Regulators and scientists believe gene-editing is less risky than genetic modification. They say it is closer to traditional methods of plant breeding. The process permits scientists to target several genes for editing.
监管机构和科学家认为基因编辑比基因改造风险更小。他们表示，基因编辑更接近传统的植物育种方法。这个过程允许科学家针对多个基因进行编辑。
A state-run company in Australia is preparing for a major trial of gene-edited wheat. Australian seed breeder InterGrain recently imported thousands of wheat seeds created by the American agricultural technology company Inari.
澳大利亚的一家国营公司正在准备一项基因编辑小麦的重大试验。澳大利亚种子育种公司InterGrain最近从美国农业技术公司Inari进口了数千粒小麦种子。
InterGrain chief Tress Walmsely said the wheat imports included hundreds of new genetic variations. Walmsley said the seeds are growing in a testing greenhouse in the state of Queensland. The plan is to create more seeds which can be planted across Australia in 2025.
InterGrain的主管Tress Walmsely表示，这些进口的小麦包含数百种新的基因变异。Walmsley说，这些种子正在昆士兰州的一个测试温室中生长。计划是到2025年生产出更多可以在澳大利亚各地种植的种子。
"Our job is to work out which gene combination gives the best results. Our goal is at least 10 percent yield improvement. These seeds have the potential to achieve that," she said.
“我们的工作是找出哪种基因组合能带来最佳结果。我们的目标是至少提高10%的产量。这些种子有潜力实现这一目标，”她说。
The company believes it could be selling seeds to Australian farmers starting in 2028.
该公司认为，到2028年可以开始向澳大利亚农民出售种子。
Inari uses artificial intelligence (AI) to consider a huge number of possible edits and then uses the CRISPR gene-editing tool to change more than one gene at a time.
Inari使用人工智能（AI）考虑大量可能的编辑，然后使用CRISPR基因编辑工具一次性改变多个基因。
InterGrain and Inari believe the program could result in stronger wheat and bigger crops with a process 10 to 15 times faster than traditional plant breeding. Plant breeding happens when scientists mate two plants with desirable characteristics. It can take years for the best version of a plant to arrive.
InterGrain和Inari相信，这个项目可以产生更强壮的小麦和更大的作物，其过程比传统植物育种快10到15倍。植物育种是指科学家将两株具有理想特性的植物交配，可能需要多年才能培育出最佳版本的植物。
Some gene-edited crops already exist. Most of them offer small nutritional improvements or have an increased ability to resist disease. The new wheat plants in Australia will have many of those qualities.
一些基因编辑作物已经存在。它们大多数提供了小幅的营养改善或增强了抗病能力。澳大利亚的新小麦将具备这些特性中的许多。
"We want to solve food security, climate change a

Reduced treatment for three kinds of cancer can make life easier for patients without hurting results, doctors reported recently at the world’s largest cancer conference.
减少三种癌症的治疗可以让患者的生活更轻松，而不影响治疗效果，医生们最近在世界上最大的癌症会议上报告。
The findings are part of a long-term move toward studying whether doing less surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation can help patients live longer and feel better. The latest studies involved ovarian and esophageal cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma.
这些发现是长期研究的一部分，研究是否减少手术、化疗或放疗可以帮助患者活得更久，感觉更好。最新的研究涉及卵巢癌、食道癌和霍奇金淋巴瘤。
Thirty years ago, cancer research was about doing more, not less. In one example, women with advanced breast cancer were pushed to the edge of death with large doses of chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants. The treatment did not work any better than chemotherapy and patients suffered.
三十年前，癌症研究注重的是多做而不是少做。举一个例子，患有晚期乳腺癌的女性被大剂量的化疗和骨髓移植推到了死亡的边缘。结果这种治疗效果并不比单纯化疗好，患者也承受了更多痛苦。
Now, in an effort to improve cancer care, researchers are asking: “Do we need all that treatment that we have used in the past?”
现在，为了改善癌症护理，研究人员在问：“我们是否需要过去使用的所有治疗？”
It is a question, “that should be asked over and over again,” said Dr. Tatjana Kolevska of the Kaiser Permanente National Cancer Excellence Program. Kolevska was not involved in the new research.
这是一个“应该一遍又一遍地问”的问题，凯撒永久国家癌症卓越项目的Tatjana Kolevska博士说。Kolevska并未参与新的研究。
Often, doing less works because of improved drugs.
通常，减少治疗有效是因为药物的改进。
Dr. William G. Nelson of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine was also not involved in the new research. He said, “The good news is that cancer treatment is not only becoming more effective, it’s becoming easier to tolerate and associated with less short-term and long-term complications.”
约翰霍普金斯医学院的William G. Nelson博士也没有参与新的研究。他说：“好消息是，癌症治疗不仅变得更有效，而且更容易耐受，并且与更少的短期和长期并发症相关。”
The term complications means to make a medical problem worse or to cause new medical problems to appear.
并发症一词意味着使医疗问题恶化或导致出现新的医疗问题。
Studies showing the effects of reduced treatments were discussed recently at an American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago.
显示减少治疗效果的研究最近在芝加哥的美国临床肿瘤学会会议上进行了讨论。
Here are a few key points:
以下是一些要点：
French researchers found that it is safe to avoid removing lymph nodes that appear healthy during surgery for advanced ovarian cancer. The study compared the results for 379 patients.
法国研究人员发现，在晚期卵巢癌手术中避免切除看起来健康的淋巴结是安全的。该研究比较了379名患者的结果。
Half had their lymph nodes removed and half did not. After nine years, there was no difference in how long the patients lived.
一半患者切除了淋巴结，一半没有。九年后，患者的生存时间没有差异。
Those with less-extreme surgery had fewer complications, such as the need for blood transfusions. The research was financed by the National Institute of Cancer in France.
那些接受较少激烈手术的患者并发症更少，比如需要输血的情况。该研究由法国国家癌症研究所资助。
A German study looked at 438 people with a kind of cancer of the esophagus that can be treated with surge

"Take your brolly, it's chucking it down!" The UK is famous for its rainy weather, and Brits LOVE to complain about it – particularly when the arrival of spring teases us with warmth and light, but with them come the 'April showers', lovingly shared by Britain, Ireland and some of coastal northern Europe. What exactly are they, and why do they insist on coming every year?
“拿起你的雨伞，它正在把它扔下来！” 英国以多雨的天气而闻名，英国人喜欢抱怨它——尤其是当春天的到来给我们带来温暖和光明的时候，但随之而来的是“四月阵雨”，英国、爱尔兰和一些沿海国家都喜欢分享这种天气。 北欧。 他们到底是什么人，为什么每年都坚持要来？
Meteorologists differentiate between rain and showers. The UK's national weather service, the Met Office, says that rain is precipitation brought by a weather front, is usually long-lasting, and stretches over large areas, whereas showers fall from individual clouds and are characterised by intermittent patterns. So, it can be sunny one minute, and the next you're getting caught in a large downpour, but then ten minutes later, you can put away your waterproof jacket and get your sunnies out!
气象学家区分雨和阵雨。 英国国家气象局英国气象局表示，降雨是锋面带来的降水，通常持续时间较长，覆盖大片区域，而阵雨则是从个别云层中落下，具有间歇性模式。 所以，可能前一分钟还是阳光明媚，下一分钟就下起了倾盆大雨，但十分钟后，你就可以收起你的防水外套，拿出你的太阳镜了！
So, what's responsible? Rob Thompson, meteorologist at the University of Reading, says that as the hot air rises, it forms the cumulus clouds that produce showers. These are then driven by the jet stream – strong winds that move northwards during spring – creating rather unsettled and unpredictable weather. Besides the drizzle, we're just as likely to experience snow as we are to feel sun as strong as that in late August!
那么，责任是什么？ 雷丁大学气象学家罗布·汤普森表示，随着热空气上升，它会形成积云，从而产生阵雨。 然后，它们受到急流（春季期间向北移动的强风）的驱动，造成相当不稳定和不可预测的天气。 除了毛毛雨之外，我们也可能会遇到雪，就像八月底那样强烈的阳光一样！
With all this in mind, would it surprise you to hear that April is actually one of the driest months of the whole year? In 2021, data company Statista recorded 137.6mm of rainfall in January, compared to just 20.1mm in April, with similar results for the last four years. That's because while there are lots of rainy days in April, the showers are scattered, and there aren't as many of the long downpours we see in the winter months. But, this is likely to change as the world warms up. Weather that causes flash floods is predicted to be four times as frequent in Britain by the 2070s, according to a study by Elizabeth Kendon and colleagues, published in Nature Communications.
考虑到这一切，当您听到四月实际上是全年最干燥的月份之一时，您会感到惊讶吗？ 2021 年，数据公司 Statista 记录的 1 月份降雨量为 137.6 毫米，而 4 月份仅为 20.1 毫米，过去四年的结果相似。 这是因为虽然四月有很多雨天，但阵雨分散，而且没有冬季那样多的长时间倾盆大雨。 但是，随着世界变暖，这种情况可能会发生变化。 根据伊丽莎白·肯登 (Elizabeth Kendon) 及其同事在《自然通讯》(Nature Communications) 上发表的一项研究，预计到 2070 年代，英国引发山洪的天气频率将增加四倍。
There is a British proverb that goes "March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers". It is a reminder that, despite our complaints, April showers can be a symbol for renewal and new beginnin

Boeing launched astronauts into space with its delayed Starliner spacecraft for the first time Wednesday. 
波音公司于周三首次使用其延迟的星际线飞船将宇航员送入太空。
The launch marked the company’s entry into competition with SpaceX to provide service for the American space agency NASA. 
此次发射标志着该公司进入与SpaceX竞争，为美国航天局NASA提供服务。
NASA test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams lifted off in the Starliner spacecraft for the International Space Station (ISS) from Cape Canaveral in Florida. It was powered by an Atlas V rocket from the United Launch Alliance of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. 
NASA测试飞行员Butch Wilmore和Suni Williams乘坐星际线飞船从佛罗里达州的卡纳维拉尔角起飞前往国际空间站（ISS）。该飞船由波音和洛克希德·马丁公司的联合发射联盟的Atlas V火箭提供动力。
Boeing designed Starliner to fly without human assistance. But the astronauts can take control of the spacecraft if necessary. The test flight calls for Wilmore and Williams to take control of the vehicle on the way to the space station. The trip to the ISS is expected to last 25 hours, with arrival on Thursday. The two astronauts will spend just one week at the orbiting laboratory before heading back to Earth to land in the western United States on June 14. 
波音设计的星际线飞船可以在没有人为干预的情况下飞行。但如果有必要，宇航员可以控制飞船。测试飞行要求Wilmore和Williams在前往空间站的途中控制飞行器。预计到达ISS的时间为25小时，预计将在周四到达。两名宇航员将在轨道实验室停留一周，然后于6月14日返回地球，降落在美国西部。
Wilmore and Williams are former Navy pilots and long-time astronauts. The two have spent a combined 500 days in space over two ISS missions each. Both said repeatedly before the launch that they had full confidence in Boeing for this flight after so many delays. 
Wilmore和Williams都是前海军飞行员和长期的宇航员。两人分别在两次ISS任务中共度过了500天的太空时光。两人在发射前反复表示，在经历了这么多次的延误后，他们对这次飞行充满信心。
The launch came two years after Starliner completed its first test flight to the ISS without astronauts on board. Last-minute problems had delayed the Starliner's first two launch attempts with humans. 
此次发射是在星际线完成首次无宇航员的ISS测试飞行两年后进行的。最后时刻的问题导致星际线的前两次载人发射尝试被推迟。
NASA halted a planned May 6 launch two hours before liftoff because of a problem with a rocket. Another attempt last Saturday was halted less than four minutes before liftoff because of a problem with a launchpad computer. 
由于火箭问题，NASA在计划于5月6日的发射前两小时叫停了发射。上周六的另一次尝试则在发射前不到四分钟因发射台计算机问题而被叫停。
“I know it’s been a long road to get here,” NASA’s commercial crew program leader Steve Stich said before the weekend delay. 
“我知道到达这里的道路很漫长，”NASA商业载人计划负责人Steve Stich在周末推迟前说道。
Boeing and SpaceX are both paid to carry NASA’s astronauts to and from the space station. The space agency wanted two competing U.S. companies after ending the space shuttle program. 
波音和SpaceX都获得了运送NASA宇航员往返空间站的报酬。在结束航天飞机计划后，NASA希望有两家竞争的美国公司。
In 2020, SpaceX became the first private business to launch astronauts into orbit. Only three countries, Russia, the U.S., and China have launched humans into space using their own systems. Since then, SpaceX has taken nine crews to the space station for NASA and three private groups for a Houston company. 
2020年，SpaceX成为首个将

NASA's Lucy spacecraft visited a little asteroid called Dinkinesh last November. The visit, scientists say, unlocks a surprisingly interesting history of the asteroid along with its companion, Selam.
NASA的露西号航天器去年十一月拜访了一个名为Dinkinesh的小行星。科学家们表示，这次拜访揭示了该小行星及其伴侣Selam的一个令人惊讶的有趣历史。
Asteroids are ancient objects from the beginning of the solar system. They offer clues about how Earth and other planets formed about 4.5 billion years ago.
小行星是太阳系形成初期的古老天体。它们提供了关于地球和其他行星在大约45亿年前如何形成的线索。
The U.S. space agency launched Lucy in 2021 on a 12-year mission to study asteroids. The mission is especially interested in Jupiter's Trojan asteroids, two groups of space rocks that lead and follow the giant planet as it orbits the sun.
美国航天局在2021年发射了露西号，执行一个为期12年的小行星研究任务。该任务特别关注木星的特洛伊小行星，这两组空间岩石在木星绕太阳运行时分别位于其前后。
On the way, Lucy flew past Dinkinesh and Selam in the inner edge of the main asteroid belt. The spacecraft observed ridges, trough structures and other features on Dinkinesh.
在途中，露西号飞过了主小行星带内缘的Dinkinesh和Selam。航天器观察到了Dinkinesh上的山脊、槽状结构和其他特征。
Dinkinesh has a diameter of nearly 720 meters. Selam is made up of two similarly sized lobes, one about 230 meters wide and the other about 210 meters. Selam orbits Dinkinesh once about every 53 hours at a distance of about 3.1 kilometers.
Dinkinesh的直径接近720米。Selam由两个大小相似的叶状体组成，一个约230米宽，另一个约210米宽。Selam以大约每53小时绕Dinkinesh一圈，距离约3.1公里。
It appears, the researchers said, that a big piece of rock broke free sometime in the past from Dinkinesh. The rock was about a quarter its total size, creating a trough on its surface and sending debris into space. Some of this debris, they said, fell back onto Dinkinesh's surface to form a ridge structure.
研究人员表示，过去某个时候，一大块岩石从Dinkinesh上脱落下来。该岩石约占其总大小的四分之一，形成了一个槽，并将碎片送入太空。他们说，其中一些碎片重新落回Dinkinesh的表面，形成了一个山脊结构。
Other materials came together to form Selam, becoming what is called a contact-binary moonlet.
其他材料聚集在一起形成了Selam，成为了所谓的接触双星小卫星。
Katherine Kretke, from the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado, is a co-writer of the study published in Nature. She said that “a contact-binary is when it appears that a single body is composed of two objects that collided gently enough not to become disrupted.”
来自科罗拉多州西南研究所的Katherine Kretke是发表在《自然》杂志上的这项研究的共同作者。她说，“接触双星是指看起来由两个相互碰撞且碰撞力度足够轻不会破碎的天体组成的单一天体。”
Kretke said they are common in the solar system, but Selam was “the first time a contact-binary has been observed orbiting another asteroid.”
Kretke表示，它们在太阳系中很常见，但Selam是“第一次观测到的绕着另一颗小行星运行的接触双星。”
Simone Marchi is another co-writer of the study. He said, "A planet like Earth formed by the accumulation of countless small bodies. Understanding the properties of small asteroids such as Dinkinesh and Selam helps us to have a better picture of the earliest phases of planet formation.”
Simone Marchi是该研究的另一位共同作者。他说：“像地球这样的行星是由无数小天体聚集形成的。了解像Dinkinesh和Selam这样的小行星的性质，有助于我们更好地了解行星

Robert: Well, there is another opportunity that might be more appealing… 
Robert: 嗯，还有一个可能更吸引人的机会……
Jessica: Ookaay, I’m listening…
Jessica: 好吧，我在听……
Robert: So that’s the classic hedge fund. High risk, high reward. But I wonder if you’d be interested in a newer product… a different kind of hedge fund. More distributed risk. Longer play. 
Robert: 那就是经典的对冲基金。高风险，高回报。但我想知道你是否会对一种新的产品感兴趣……一种不同类型的对冲基金。风险更分散，周期更长。
Jessica: But still… I’d need at least 250K? 
Jessica: 但我还是需要至少25万美元吗？
Robert: Not with this one. It’s just twenty-five thousand. And this is like a fund of hedge funds. It’s more of a long-term strategy that beats the stock market over time. Much lower risk than a classic hedge fund, and registered with the SEC. And get this: it’s a 1% management fee, with no performance incentive. 
Robert: 不是这个。只需要两万五千美元。而且这就像是一个对冲基金的基金。这是一种长期策略，随着时间的推移能够击败股票市场。风险比经典对冲基金低得多，并且在美国证券交易委员会注册。而且你看：管理费只有1%，没有业绩激励。
Jessica: That’s… interesting. In a few different ways. But… I wanted to ask about something else I’ve been reading about: corporate bonds. I’ve seen some pretty good numbers… like returns of over 10%. That sounds pretty good to me. 
Jessica: 这……很有趣。从几个不同的方面来说。但……我想问一下我最近读到的另一件事：公司债券。我看到了相当不错的数字……比如超过10%的回报。听起来很不错。
Robert: Yeah, corporate bonds… there’s a ton of stuff online about those. But not everything is 100% reliable, just as a note of caution. Kind of depends on the source.
Robert: 是的，公司债券……网上有很多关于它们的信息。但并不是所有的信息都100%可靠，这只是一个提醒。这有点取决于来源。
Jessica: Sure… I get that. I looked at several sites that touted the benefits. So I was just curious if that was part of the strategy? 
Jessica: 当然……我明白。我看了几个宣传其好处的网站。所以我只是好奇这是否是策略的一部分？
Robert: Well here’s the thing about corporate bonds: it’s a big investment in a single entity. Which is pretty much the same risk as a classic hedge fund, if you see what I’m saying. 
Robert: 关于公司债券的问题是：这是对单一实体的大笔投资。如果你明白我的意思，这和经典对冲基金的风险差不多。
Jessica: Hmm. Will have to think that through some more. 
Jessica: 嗯。我还得再仔细考虑一下。
Robert: You know, rather than corporate bonds, you might consider REITs. Or Real Estate Investment Trusts. Basically a company with diverse real estate holdings that pays dividends on a regular basis. Pretty stable, and pretty attractive returns. 
Robert: 你知道，与其考虑公司债券，你可能更应该考虑房地产投资信托基金。基本上就是一家拥有多样化房地产持有的公司，定期支付股息。相当稳定，而且回报也相当吸引人。
Jessica: Stability and returns… something to think about. So…that different kind of hedge fund you mentioned. The one with the low fees. “Fund of funds”didyou say? That might be appealing too. 
Jessica: 稳定性和回报……值得考虑。那么……你提到的那种不同类型的对冲基金。低费用的那种。你说的是“基金的基金”吗？那也可能很吸引人。
Robert: You know, there’s absolutely no need to rush on this. Your investments are doing fine for the time being. Just looking for some ways to dial up earnings without taking on too much risk. Anyway I’ll send you some things to re