Was Life Harder for Neanderthals or Early Humans?

Neanderthals are extinct, but they were the closest relative of modern humans. Up until about 30,000 years ago, human beings shared the Earth with Neanderthals. The two species were so close that they sometimes mated. Scientists have long believed th

【英语时差8,16】进化在行动

Evolution In Action Although rainforests cover less than two percent of Earths surface, they are home to more than half of all plant and animal species. How did rainforestsevolve so much more diversity than other parts of the globe? For starters, tro

PBS高端访谈:帝王蝶可能会成为濒临灭绝的物种

HARI SREENIVASAN: Every year, millions of North American monarch butterflies head south for the winter in one of the insect world's most fantastic feats. But as you've likely heard, their numbers have declined dramatically in the past two decades. No

万物简史 第104期:势不两立的科学(5)

Inspired by the controversy, in 1796 Cuvier wrote a landmark paper, Note on the Species of Living and Fossil Elephants, in which he put forward for the first time a formal theory of extinctions. His belief was that from time to time the Earth experie

科学家称基因编辑技术应该留在实验室

Scientists: Gene Editing Should Stay in Laboratories 科学家称基因编辑技术应该留在实验室 Scientists are debating how to limit their newly-discovered power to change genetic structure. Scientists already modify the genes of farm animal

万物简史 第508期:丰富多彩的生命(4)

When Emerson poetically noted that mosses favor the north sides of trees (The moss upon the forest bark, was pole-star when the night was dark) 当埃默森富有诗意地谈到苔藓喜欢生长在树木的北侧的时候（在漆黑的夜晚，树干

猫狗之争：从进化角度看猫科比犬科更好

It's the debate that has long divided animal lovers. Now scientists have confirmed that cats really are better than dogs at least from an evolutionary perspective. 一直以来，猫和狗哪个更好这一问题将动物爱好者划分为两大阵营。

发照片 做外星人认识的第一个地球人

NASA wants to send your messages to aliens. 美国国家航空航天局想要将你的消息发给外星人。 Back in the 1970s the Voyager 1 probe was sent out into space containing a record of images and words selected by Carl Sagan and others. Th

VOA慢速英语--House or Home - Which Is It?

A house or a home? That is the question. How do we know when to use one or the other? In todays Ask a Teacher, we answer this question from one of our readers on Facebook. Answer: Hello and thanks for asking! Both house and home are nouns that refer

万物简史 第441期:小生物的世界(12)

In the early days, this was an exceedingly painstaking process. 早年，这是个极费力气的过程。 Work on a single bacterium could easily consume a year. 研究一个细菌就可能一下子花掉一年时间。 At that time, according to Wo

Mexico to better monitor endangered flora and fauna

MEXICO CITY, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Mexican government signed an agreement with the non-governmental group TRAFFIC on Tuesday to exchange information about illegal seizures of flora and fauna species in Mexico. The agreement with the wildlife trade m

托福阅读备考之长难句分析：生物多样化

Coincident with concerns about the accelerating loss of species and habitats has been a growing appreciation of the importance of biological diversity，the number of species in a particular ecosystem，to the health of the Earth and human well-being

托福语法：虚拟语气在写作中的应用

在托福作文的一些特殊场合中，需要用到虚拟鱼台，同学们要注意。托福作文中我们经常会遇到考古类，历史类，天文类等可能涉及比较多过去的东西。我们一般会在文中涉及到过去事件描述

【美国精神】第88期

Explanation: Before there were cars or very good railroads, which are special roads for trains, most transportation in the United States relied on (or used) rivers. Using boats on rivers was the fastest way to move people and goods (or products, like

听一分钟英文：Kissing-亲吻

If you think about it, kissing is strange. I mean, here we are in the twenty-first century and we still like kissing. I think were the only species on Earth that does this. Of course, there are different kinds of kissing. Kissing your parents or frie

万物简史 第517期:丰富多彩的生命(13)

This was an amazing disclosure. 这句话里包含着丰富的历史内容。 Joseph Banks was England's greatest botanist, and the Endeavour voyage that is the one on which Captain Cook charted the 1769 transit of Venus 约瑟夫班克斯是英国最伟

【英语时差8,16】最成功物种

For many scientists, a species success is measured by sheer numbers. In that case, the most successful species known to man is a type of bacterium known as S-A-R-11, or SAR-11 for short. Scientists estimate that there are two-hundred and forty times

英语听书《白鲸记》第718期

But a few strokes, full of sparks, were given, when the exceeding strain effected the rest. 有几下子，由于用力过猛，火星迸发。 With a terrific snap, every fastening went adrift; the ship righted, the carcase sank. 可怕的啪嗒一声

万物简史 第525期:丰富多彩的生命(21)

Goodness knows what the results would be if anyone attempted a similar exercise with the planet's estimated 20,000 types of lichens, 50,000 species of mollusk, or 400,000-plus beetles. 要是有人试图对这颗行星上的大约2万种地衣、5万多

万物简史 第524期:丰富多彩的生命(20)

In principle you ought to be able to go to experts in each area of specialization, ask how many species there are in their fields, then add the totals. 原则上，我们可以去找一找每个专门领域的专家，问一问他们的领域里有多少