古DNA證實，人類在發展農業前就擁有狗隻（1/2）

Recently the New York Times reported the following:

(Source: The NYT)

Humans Had Dogs Before They Had Farming, Ancient DNA Confirms (1/2)

New research pushes the first genetic evidence of dogs back by 5,000 years and suggests that hunter-gatherer groups may have acquired dogs from one another.

The NTY By Emily Anthes - Emily Anthes is a science reporter, writing primarily about animal health and science. She also covered the coronavirus pandemic.

March 25, 2026, 12:00 p.m. ET

In the waning days of the last ice age, when humans were still hunting with spears and using cave walls as canvases, a hot new trend was spreading through the Paleolithic landscape.

By roughly 14,000 years ago, hunter-gatherer societies across Europe had discovered dogs, scientists reported in two new papers, which were published Wednesday in the journal Nature. The studies provide the first definitive genetic evidence that dogs existed during the Paleolithic period, before humans developed agriculture.

The researchers, who used several approaches to analyze DNA extracted from ancient canine specimens, identified Paleolithic dogs at five different archaeological sites in Europe and Western Asia. The oldest of these dogs lived about 15,800 years ago, pushing back the oldest known genetic evidence of dogs by nearly 5,000 years.

These early dogs came from sites that extend from Britain to Turkey, and were associated with several very different hunter-gatherer populations. But the dogs themselves were closely related. Across the five sites, the dogs were more genetically similar than the humans were, the researchers found.

“The people are so different, but the dogs are very much the same,” said Greger Larson, a paleogeneticist at the University of Oxford and one of the authors on both new studies, which were conducted by large, international scientific teams.

The finding suggests that these early human societies were exchanging dogs or acquiring them from one another.

“It is kind of the equivalent of a new blade or a new point or a new kind of material culture or art form or something, where everybody’s getting really excited about having this fun new thing around.” Dr. Larson said. “And it’s useful and it’s interesting and it’s probably cute.”

The research provides new insight into the early history of dogs, as well as the genetic legacy and the interspecies relationship that extends to today.

“It’s really a major step forward in advancing our knowledge of humans and dogs,” said Elaine Ostrander, a canine genomics expert at the National Human Genome Research Institute who was not involved in the research.

Dogs descended from ancient wolves, but exactly when and where they first emerged remains a subject of intense scientific debate. Some scientists have suggested that the size and shape of ancient canine specimens indicate that dogs and wolves diverged more than 30,000 years ago.

But such remains can be tricky to identify definitively. In some cases, geneticists have determined that canine remains that initially appeared to be from dogs actually belonged to now-extinct wolves. In others, they haven’t been able to recover enough DNA to make a conclusive call about species. Before the new research, the oldest definitive dog DNA dated back just 10,900 years.

In one of the new studies, scientists assembled and analyzed the complete genomes of eight ancient canines and compared them with ancient and modern wolves and dogs. Six of the animals had genomes that resembled those of dogs, they concluded. And two of those dogs dated back to the Paleolithic era — a 15,800-year-old dog from Pinarbasi, Turkey, and a 14,300-year-old dog from Gough’s Cave, an archaeological site in Britain.

The genomes from those two Paleolithic dogs became “the Rosetta Stone, for lack of a better term, that then unlocked all of the stuff that we already had in our database,” said Lachie Scarsbrook, a paleogeneticist at the University of Oxford and an author of one of the studies.

That database had three other ancient canines, their species unknown. The genetic data on these animals was incomplete: Scientists had previously sequenced only the DNA from their mitochondria, representing a small fraction of their total genetic material. (A vast majority of an animal’s DNA is stored in the cell nucleus.)

But the mitochondrial DNA from these three unknown canines was so similar to the mitochondrial DNA from the British and Turkish dogs that the scientists concluded that these animals were probably Paleolithic dogs, too. They were 14,000 to 14,300 years old and came from sites in Germany, Italy and Switzerland.

In the second paper, scientists used a different approach to extract and analyze DNA from more than 200 ancient canine remains, including samples from the same site in Switzerland. They analyzed nuclear DNA from the same canine that the first team had identified as being a Paleolithic dog and reached the same conclusion.

(to be continued)

Translation

古DNA證實，人類在發展農業前就擁有狗隻（1/2）

一項新研究將最早發現狗基因的證據推前5000年前，並顯示狩獵採集群體可能彼此之間傳播了狗。

在上一個冰河時期的末期，當人類還在用長矛狩獵，並在洞穴牆上作畫時，一種新的潮流正在舊石器時代蔓延開來。

科學家在周三發表於《自然》雜誌的兩篇新論文中報告說，大約在14,000年前，歐洲各地的狩獵採集社會已經發現了狗。這些研究首次提供了確鑿的基因證據，證明狗在舊石器時代就已經存在，早於人類發展農業。

研究人員運用多種方法分析了從古代犬類標本中提取的DNA，在歐洲和西亞的五個不同考古遺址中發現了舊石器時代的犬類。其中最古老的犬類生活在約15,800年前，將已知最早的犬類基因證據向前推前了近5,000年。

這些早期犬類來自從英國到土耳其的多個遺址，並與幾個截然不同的狩獵採集群體有關。但這些犬類本身卻有著密切的親緣關係。研究人員發現，在這五個遺址中，犬類的基因相似度甚至高於人類。

牛津大學古遺傳學家Greger Larson說:「人類如此不同，但犬類卻非常相似」。他是這兩項新研究的作者之一，這兩項研究均由大型國際科學研究團隊完成。

研究結果顯示，這些早期人類社會可能在交換狗隻，或是從彼此之間獲得狗隻。

Larson博士說: “這有點像是一種新的刀刃、新的尖端、新的物質文化或藝術形式之類的東西，大家都對這種有趣的新事物感到興奮不已” ， “它既實用又有趣，而且可能還很可愛。”

這項研究為我們了解狗隻的早期歷史、遺傳傳承以及延續至今的跨物種關係提供了新的視角。

並未參與這項研究的美國國家人類基因組研究所的犬類基因組學專家Elaine Ostrander說道:「這確實是增進我們對人類和狗的了解的一大進步」。

狗起源於古代狼，但它們究竟何時何地出現仍然是科學界激烈爭論的話題。一些科學家認為，古代犬類標本的大小和形狀表明，狗和狼在3萬多年前就已經分道揚鑣。

但要準確鑑定這些遺骸並非易事。在某些情況下，遺傳學家已經確定，最初看似屬於狗的犬科動物遺骸實際上屬於現已滅絕的狼。而在其他情況下，他們未能提取到足夠的DNA來對物種做出最終判斷。在這項新研究之前，已知最古老的犬類DNA可以追溯到10,900年前。

在其中一項新研究中，科學家收集並分析了八種古代犬科動物的完整基因組，並將其與古代和現代的狼和狗的基因組進行了比較。他們得出結論，其中六種動物的基因組與狗的基因組相似。而這六種狗中有兩種可以追溯到舊石器時代 - 一種是來自土耳其Pinarbasi的距今15,800年的狗，另一種是來自英國高夫洞穴（Gough's Cave）考古遺址的距今14,300年的狗。

牛津大學古遺傳學家、其中一項研究的作者Lachie Scarsbrook表示，這兩隻舊石器時代犬的基因組，在沒有更好的名稱之下 ，“ 就稱之為‘羅塞塔石碑’，它解開了我們數據庫中已有的所有謎團”。

該資料庫中還包含另外三隻古代犬科動物，它們的物種尚不明確。這些動物的基因數據並不完整：科學家先前僅對它們的粒線體DNA進行了定序，而粒線體DNA僅佔其全部遺傳物質的一小部分。 （動物的大部分DNA都儲存在細胞核中。）

但這三隻未知犬科動物的粒線體DNA與英國和土耳其犬的粒線體DNA高度相似，因此科學家們得出結論，這些動物很可能也是舊石器時代的犬類。它們的年代是在14,000至14,300年前，來自德國、義大利和瑞士的遺址。

在第二篇論文中，科學家採用了不同的方法，從200多份古代犬類遺骸中提取並分析了DNA，其中包括來自瑞士同一遺址的樣本。他們分析了與第一組研究人員鑑定為舊石器時代犬類的同一隻犬的核DNA，並得出了相同的結論。

（待續）

Note:

1. The Rosetta Stone (羅塞塔石碑) is a stele of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts are in Ancient Egyptian using hieroglyphic and Demotic scripts, respectively, while the bottom is in Ancient Greek. The decree has only minor differences across the three versions, making the Rosetta Stone key to deciphering the Egyptian scripts. (Wikipedia)

香港警方根據新的國家安全法可要求提供手機密碼

Recently BBC news on-line reported the following:

HK police can now demand phone passwords under new national security rules

BBC - Martin Yip,Hong Kong and Kelly Ng

23 Mar 2026

Hong Kong police can now demand phone or computer passwords from those who are suspected of breaching the wide-ranging National Security Law (NSL).

Those who refuse could face up to a year in jail and a fine of up to HK$100,000 ($12,700; £9,600), and individuals who provide "false or misleading information" could face up to three years in jail.

It comes as part of new amendments to a bylaw under the NSL that the government gazetted on Monday.

The NSL was introduced in Hong Kong in 2020, in wake of massive pro-democracy protests the year before. Authorities say the laws, which target acts like terrorism and secession, are necessary for stability - but critics say they are tools to quash dissent.

The new amendments also give customs officials the power to seize items that they deem to "have seditious intention".

Monday's amendments ensure that "activities endangering national security can be effectively prevented, suppressed and punished, and at the same time the lawful rights and interests of individuals and organisations are adequately protected", Hong Kong authorities said on Monday.

Changes to the bylaw was announced by the city's leader, John Lee, bypassing the city's legislative council.

While law enforcement officials in many parts of the world have the authority to demand access to electronic devices as part of criminal investigations, the NSL covers a sweeping range of vaguely defined offences from secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with external forces.

The NSL also allows for some trials to be heard behind closed doors.

The city has seen the arrests of hundreds of protesters, activists and former opposition lawmakers since the introduction of the NSL.

In February, the father of pro-democracy activist in exile was jailed for trying to cash out her insurance policy, under a homegrown law that expands on the NSL.

Also in February, media tycoon Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in jail after being convicted of foreign collusion and publishing seditious material under the NSL.

Translation

香港警方根據新的國家安全法可要求提供手機密碼

香港警方現在可以要求涉嫌違反廣泛的《國家安全法》（NSL）的人士提供手機或電腦密碼。

拒絕提供密碼者最高可被判處一年監禁和10萬港元（約合12,700美元；9,600英鎊）罰款；提供「虛假或誤導性資訊」者最高可被判處三年監禁。

這是政府週一公佈的《國家安全法》細則修訂的一部分。

《國家安全法》於2020年在香港實施，此前一年爆發了大規模的民主抗議活動。當局稱，該法旨在打擊恐怖主義和分裂國家等行為，對維護社會穩定至關重要；但批評者則認為，該法是鎮壓異議的工具。

新修訂的條例還賦予海關官員權力，可以扣押他們認為「具有煽動意圖」的物品。

香港當局週一表示，星期一的修訂確保「危害國家安全的活動能夠得到有效預防、制止和懲處，同時個人和組織的合法權益得到充分保障」。

香港特首李家超繞過立法會，直接宣佈了這項條例的修改。

雖然世界許多地區的執法人員有權在刑事調查中要求查閱電子設備，但《國家安全法》涵蓋的罪行範圍廣泛，定義模糊，包括分裂國家、顛覆國家政權、恐怖主義和勾結境外勢力等。

《國家安全法》也允許一些案件進行閉門審理。

自《國家安全法》實施以來，香港已有數百名示威者、活動人士和前反對派立法會議員被捕。

今年2月，一名流亡海外的民主活動人士的父親因試圖兌現其女兒的保險金而被判入獄，該罪名依據的是一項在《國家安全法》基礎上擴展的本土法律。

同樣在2月，傳媒大亨黎智英因觸犯《國家安全法》並出版煽動性資料而被判處20年監禁。

So, Hong Kong police can now demand phone or computer passwords from those who are suspected of breaching the wide-ranging NSL. While law enforcement officials in many parts of the world have similar authority to demand access to electronic devices as part of criminal investigations, the NSL covers a sweeping range of vaguely defined offences from secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with external forces. Furthermore, the NSL also allows for some trials to be heard behind closed doors.

圖靈獎授予量子密碼學發明者

Recently the New York Times reported the following:

Turing Award Goes to Inventors of Quantum Cryptography

In the 1980s, Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard created a new kind of encryption that would be impregnable.

The NYT - By Cade Metz - Cade Metz has reported on quantum technologies since the 1990s.

March 18, 2026

Updated 8:19 a.m. ET

In the mid-1980s, Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard invented an encryption technology that could theoretically never be broken.

Called quantum cryptography, their technology relied on quantum mechanics, the strange and powerful behavior exhibited by electrons, photons and other very small things.

At the time, their technique was a fascinating but impractical creation. Forty years later, it is poised to become an essential way of protecting the world’s most sensitive information.

On Wednesday, the Association for Computing Machinery, the world’s largest society of computing professionals, said Drs. Bennett and Brassard had won this year’s Turing Award for their work on quantum cryptography and related technologies. The Turing Award, which was introduced in 1966, is often called the Nobel Prize of computing, and it includes a $1 million prize, which the two scientists will share.

In recent years, companies like Google and Microsoft have made great strides toward building a new kind of computer, called a quantum computer, which also relies on the counterintuitive properties of quantum mechanics. Experts believe that such a machine will soon be powerful enough to crack the encryption techniques that have guarded the world’s secrets since the 1970s.

If that happens, governments, businesses and even individuals will need the cryptographic techniques developed by Dr. Bennett, 82, a researcher at an IBM computer science lab in Yorktown, N.Y., and Dr. Brassard, 70, a professor at the University of Montreal.

The two met in 1979 while swimming in the Atlantic just off the north shore of Puerto Rico. They were taking a break while attending an academic conference in San Juan. Dr. Bennett swam up to Dr. Brassard and suggested they use quantum mechanics to create a bank note that could never be forged.

“It was a bit shocking,” Dr. Brassard remembered in an interview. “That is not something that happens every day.”

Collaborating between Montreal and New York, they applied Dr. Bennett’s idea to subway tokens rather than bank notes. In a research paper published in 1983, they showed that their quantum subway tokens could never be forged, even if someone managed to steal the subway turnstile housing the elaborate hardware needed to read them.

This led to quantum cryptography. After describing their new form of encryption in a research paper published in 1984, they demonstrated the technology with a physical experiment five years later.

Called BB84, their system used photons — particles of light — to create encryption keys used to lock and unlock digital data. Thanks to the laws of quantum mechanics, the behavior of a photon changes if someone looks at it. This means that if anyone tries to steal the keys, he or she will leave a telltale sign of the attempted theft — a bit like breaking the seal on an aspirin bottle.

“They introduced a totally new way of thinking about encryption,” said Prineha Narang, a professor of physical sciences and electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles. “The fundamental laws of physics can make it unhackable.”

The importance of this creation was first shown in 1994 when Peter Shor, a researcher at Bell Labs in New Jersey, proved that a quantum computer could break encryption schemes that did not rely on the techniques laid out by Drs. Bennett and Brassard.

That same decade, the two computer scientists took their ideas a step further. Alongside other researchers, they showed that data could be securely transmitted over long distances in a way that many scientists, even Albert Einstein, had deemed impossible.

Called quantum teleportation, their technique relied on a quantum property called “entanglement.” This is when two quantum objects — such as two electrons — are linked to each other, even though they are very far away.

As companies like Google and Microsoft create increasingly powerful quantum computers, quantum teleportation — what Einstein called “spooky action at a distance” — could profoundly change the way data travels from place to place.

Quantum teleportation could move information between quantum computers — and it could do so in a way that prevents anyone from intercepting it. In other words, Drs. Bennett and Brassard helped create what may be the computer networks of the future. And they ensured that these networks could stand up to hackers.

“For a long time, it was not clear how these ideas would be used,” Dr. Narang said. “Now, small companies, large companies and even the U.S. government is trying to deploy this technology.”

Translation

圖靈獎授予量子密碼學發明者

在 1980 年代，Charles Bennett和Gilles Brassard發明了一種理論上無法被攻破的新型加密技術

在 1980 年代中期，Charles Bennett和Gilles Brassard發明了一種理論上永遠無法破解的加密技術。

這項技術被稱為量子密碼學，它是基於量子力學 中的電子、光子和其他微小粒子所展現出的奇特而強有力行為。

當時，這項技術令人著迷，但卻不切實際。四十年後，它有望成為保護世界上最敏感資訊的重要手段。

週三，全球最大的電腦專業人士協會 - 美國電腦協會（ACM）宣佈Bennett博士和Brassard博士因其在量子密碼學及相關技術領域的研究而榮獲今年的圖靈獎。圖靈獎設立於1966年，常被譽為電腦界的諾貝爾獎，獎金高達100萬美元，將由兩位科學家共同分享。

近年來，Google和微軟等公司在建立一種名為量子電腦的新型電腦方面取得了長足進展。量子電腦同樣依賴量子力學的反直覺特性。專家認為，這種機器很快就能強大到足以破解自1970年代以來守護世界機密的加密技術。

如果這種情況發生，各國政府、企業甚至個人都將需要Bennett博士（現年82歲，紐約州約克鎮IBM電腦科學實驗室的研究員）和 Brassard博士（現年70歲，蒙特利爾大學教授）開發的加密技術。

兩人於1979年在波多黎各北岸附近的大西洋游泳時相遇。當時他們正在聖胡安參加一個學術會議，並在休息時相遇。Bennett博士游到Brassard博士身邊，提議他們利用量子力學製造一種永遠無法偽造的鈔票。

Brassard博士在一次採訪中回憶道: “這有點令人震驚” ， “這種事可不是每天都會發生的。”

他們在滿地可和紐約兩地合作，將Bennett博士的想法應用於地鐵代幣而非鈔票。在1983年發表的一篇研究論文中，他們證明，即使有人設法偷走了裝有讀取代幣所需複雜硬體的地鐵閘機，他們的量子地鐵代幣也永遠無法偽造。

這催生了量子密碼學。在1984年發表的一篇研究論文中描述了他們的新型加密方法後，五年後，他們透過一項物理實驗驗證了這項技術。

他們的系統名為 BB84，使用光子（光粒子）來創建加密密鑰，用於鎖定和解鎖數位資料。基於量子力學定律，光子的行為會因被注視而改變。這意味著，如果有人試圖竊取密鑰，就會留下盜竊未遂的痕跡 - 就像打開阿斯匹靈藥瓶的封條一樣。

加州大學洛杉磯分校物理科學與電子和計算機工程教授Prineha Narang說道:“他們引入了一種全新的加密思路”，“基於物理定律使這種加密方式無法破解。”

這項發明的重要性在1994年首次體現。當時，新澤西州貝爾實驗室的研究員Peter Shor證明，量子電腦可以破解那些不依賴Bennett和Brassard兩位博士所提出的加密方案。

在同一時期，這兩位電腦科學家將他們的想法進一步發展。他們與其他研究人員一起證明，數據可以安全地遠距離傳輸，而許多科學家，甚至包括愛因斯坦，都曾認為這是不可能的。

這項被稱為量子傳送的技術依賴一種名為「糾纏」的量子特性。糾纏是指兩個量子物體 - 例如兩個電子 - 即使相距十分遙遠，也能彼此相連。

隨著Google和微軟等公司不斷開發出功能日益強大的量子計算機， 量子傳送- 愛因斯坦稱之為「幽靈般的超距作用」- 可能會徹底改變數據傳輸的方式。

量子傳送可以在量子電腦之間傳輸訊息，並且能夠防止任何人攔截訊息。換句話說，Bennett博士和Brassard博士幫助創建了未來電腦網路的基礎架構，並確保這些網路能夠抵禦駭客攻擊。

Narang博士說: 「長期以來，這些想法將如何應用尚不明確」 ，「現在，小公司、大公司，甚至美國政府都在嘗試部署這項技術」。

              So, two features in the field of quantum mechanics have made a new kind of encryption impregnable. First, the laws of quantum mechanics point out that the behavior of a photon will change if someone looks at it. That means if anyone tries to steal the data, a telltale sign of an attempted theft could be noted. Second, based on the quantum property it is pointed out that two electrons are linked to each other, even though they are very far away. A technique called quantum teleportation is thus made possible.  Apparently, these features could enable us to change our way to conduct data travels from place to place.

Note:

1. The ACM A. M. Turing Award (圖靈獎) is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. The award is named after Alan Turing, also referred as "Father of Computer Science", who was a British mathematician and reader in mathematics at the University of Manchester. Born in London, Turing was raised in southern England. He graduated from King's College, Cambridge, and in 1938, earned a doctorate degree from Princeton University. During World War II, Turing worked for the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, Britain's codebreaking center that produced Ultra intelligence. He led Hut 8, the section responsible for German naval cryptanalysis. (Wikipedia)

2. Encryption keys (加密密鑰) are the core building blocks of secure communication in cryptography, they’re what lock (encrypt) and unlock (decrypt) data so only authorized parties can access it.  An encryption key is a string of bits (numbers) used by an algorithm to transform readable data (plaintext) into unreadable data (ciphertext), and back again. (ChatGPT)

3.  Quantum teleportation (量子傳送) refers to the process of transferring quantum information from one location to another, without physically moving the particle itself, utilizing entanglement. (ChatGPT)

February's Number of Foreign Tourists in Japan Reaches Record High for February, Despite Decline in Visitors from China

Recently NHK News on-line reported the following:

2月の訪日外国人旅行者数 2月として過去最高 中国からは減少

2026年3月18日午後5時58分

観光

先月、日本を訪れた外国人旅行者は346万人余りと、去年の同じ月と比べて6.4％増え、2月として過去最高でした。中国からの旅行者は引き続き減少したものの、韓国や台湾からの旅行者が増え、全体を押し上げました。

日本政府観光局によりますと、先月、日本を訪れた外国人旅行者は346万6700人と、去年の同じ月と比べて6.4％増加し、2月として過去最高でした。

1月の外国人旅行者数は日中関係悪化の影響で中国からの旅行者が大幅に減ったことから、コロナ禍の2022年1月以来のマイナスでしたが、2か月ぶりに増加に転じました。

国・地域別では中国からの旅行者が例年なら春節のため伸びる時期ですが、去年の同じ月と比べて45.2％減少しました。

一方、国・地域別で旅行者数が最も多い韓国は28.2％、2番目に多い台湾は36.7％増え、全体を押し上げました。

また、前の月はマイナスだった香港も19.6％増えたほか、メキシコが42.8％、インドが22.7％それぞれ増えました。

観光庁長官 「イラン情勢の緊迫化 影響を注視」

外国人旅行者数が2か月ぶりに増加したことについて、観光庁の村田茂樹長官は「春節の時期は中国からの旅行者が通常より増える時期だがマイナスになった。しかし、全体では2月として過去最多の旅行者数となっていて好調な状況が続いている」と述べました。

そのうえで、イラン情勢の緊迫化による影響については「ヨーロッパからの訪日客が中東の空港を経由して来日する場合もあるが、大半は直行便を利用している。ただ航空燃料についても変化が見られることから、インバウンド市場全体にどのような影響があるか引き続き注視していく」と述べました。

Translation

February's Number of Foreign Tourists in Japan Reaches Record High for February, Despite Decline in Visitors from China

March 18, 2026, 5:58 PM

Tourism

Last month, over 3.46 million foreign tourists visited Japan, a 6.4% increase compared to the same month last year, marking a record high for February. While the number of tourists from China continued to decline, increases in visitors from South Korea and Taiwan boosted the overall figure.

According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, 3,466,700 foreign tourists visited Japan last month, a 6.4% increase compared to the same month last year, being a record high for February.

The number of foreign tourists in January was down for the first time since January 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to a significant decrease in tourists from China as a result of worsening Japan-China relations. However, it had now increased for the first time after two months.

By country/region, while the number of tourists from China would usually increase during the Lunar New Year, it decreased by 45.2% compared to the same month last year.

Meanwhile, South Korea, which had the highest number of tourists by country/region, saw a 28.2% increase, and Taiwan, the second highest, saw a 36.7% increase, boosting the overall figures.

In addition, Hong Kong, which had seen a decrease the previous month, increased by 19.6%, while Mexico increased by 42.8% and India by 22.7%.

Japan Tourism Agency Commissioner: "We are closely monitoring the impact of the escalating tensions in Iran"

Regarding the increase in the number of foreign tourists for the first time in two months, Japan Tourism Agency Commissioner Shigeki Murata (村田茂樹) stated, "While the Lunar New Year period usually sees an increase in tourists from China, this time it was a decrease. However, overall, the number of tourists in February is the highest ever, and the situation remains strong."

He further added, regarding the impact of the escalating tensions in Iran, "While some visitors from Europe arrive via airports in the Middle East, the majority use direct flights. However, since we are seeing changes in aviation fuel, we will continue to closely monitor what impact this will have on the overall inbound tourism market."

So, last month, over 3.46 million foreign tourists visited Japan, a 6.4% increase compared to the same month last year. While the number of tourists from China continued to decline, increases in visitors from South Korea and Taiwan boosted the overall figure. Apparently, the “boycott” initiated by the China is not impacting tourism in Japan.

加州一種野花揭示了新近記錄的進化過程 (2/2)

Recently the CNN.com reported the following:

A wildflower in California reveals a newly documented evolutionary process (2/2)

CNN = By Jacopo Prisco

UPDATED MAR 12, 2026

(continue)

To understand the process, the researchers kept track of wildflower populations across 19 sites, which were visited every year to assess whether the plants lived or died. They then collected seeds from the plants, grew them in a lab, and then ground up the leaves from the plants they’d grown to extract DNA.

The DNA was then used to sequence the plant’s genome — its genetic instructions. “We were able to see this rapid evolution happen within seven years,” Anstett said, adding that the genetic mutations that the plant leveraged to become drought resistant weren’t new, but probably developed a long time ago. The plants that carried these drought-resistant traits were able to survive and pass those mutations forward via the seeds.

The next step in the study, which Anstett says could eventually span 30 or 40 years, is to see whether these mutations that allowed the plants to survive the megadrought will continue to be beneficial or hinder the plants if the drought stops.

More evidence of evolutionary rescue does not make drought or climate change less concerning, but it suggests that there could be more plants or animals that might be able to show resilience under extreme duress. Key for that to happen is genetic diversity, which means that conservation efforts to keep plant populations as widespread as possible are still crucial.

“The amount of genetic variation can be critical to this adaptation,” said Anstett. “This is a hint to conservation biologists to try to improve the amount of genetic variation and the connectivity between habitats so that organisms are able to ultimately be more resilient to a range of stressors.”

‘A real breakthrough’

Demonstrating that evolutionary rescue happens in the wild and identifying the specific genes responsible has been a major outstanding goal in evolutionary and conservation biology, David Field, an associate professor of applied biosciences at Macquarie University in Australia, said in an email. Field was not involved with the new study.

“The researchers used an elegant experiment to demonstrate that evolutionary rescue actually happens in the wild in our lifetime,” he wrote in an email, adding that the study provides an important demonstration of the possibilities of using similar experiments to help conservation efforts of endangered species globally.

Other researchers who also did not participate in the research expressed similarly positive views: “This is a very important study,” Diane Campbell, distinguished professor emerita of ecology & evolutionary biology at the University of California, Irvine, said in an email. “It provides exceptionally strong evidence that a process known mostly from theory can help wild plant populations recover from the increasing droughts predicted under climate change in Mediterranean-type areas.”

A major question on the mind of botanists is whether plants can evolve in time to survive the extreme droughts that are predicted to get worse with climate change, said Isaac Lichter Marck, a botanical researcher at the California Academy of Sciences. “When faced with extreme drought, animals can move, adapt, or die — but wildflowers are rooted in place, leaving them with a much shorter list: adapt or die,” he wrote in an email.

The study is a critical model for using genomics to predict which wildflower species are vulnerable to extinction as a result of climate change, he continued. But it also raises other concerns: “Pressures like habitat loss and invasive species are eroding genetic variation in the wild. As this research shows, loss of genetic variation could make the already alarming threats from climate change even worse.”

Jeff Diez, an associate professor in the biology department of the University of Oregon, said in an email that the research represents a real breakthrough and stands out for its sheer thoroughness. “The sobering part is that it took an extraordinary effort to show this for one species,” he added. “If we want to understand how whole communities of interacting species will respond to climate change, we need to assess evolutionary potential across far more species, and there is bound to be enormous variation in which species can evolve fast enough.”

Overall, he concluded, the study contains the genuinely hopeful message that some wild plants may evolve fast enough to survive climate disruption. “But it’s also wrapped in a humbling reminder of how much we still don’t know.”

Translation

加州一種野花揭示了新近記錄的進化過程 (2/2)

（繼續）

為了了解這個過程，研究人員追蹤 19 個地點的野花族群，每年都會前往這些地點評估植物的存活情況。隨後，他們收集了植物的種子，在實驗室中培育，並將培育出的植物葉片研磨成粉末提取 DNA。

研究人員之後利用這些 DNA 對植物的基因組（即其遺傳指令）進行定序。 Anstett 說: “我們能夠在七年內觀察到這種快速進化” 。他還補充道，該植物利用的抗旱基因突變並非新的，可能在很久以前就已經產生。攜帶這些抗旱性狀的植物可以存活，並透過種子將這些突變傳遞給後代。

研究的下一步，Anstett表示最終可能會持續30或40年，就是要觀察這些使植物在超級乾旱中存活下來的突變，在乾旱停止後是否會繼續有益，還是會阻礙植物生長。

更多進化拯救的證據並不能減輕乾旱或氣候變遷帶來的擔憂，但它表明，世上可能存在更多能夠在極端困境下展現韌性的動植物。而實現這一點的關鍵在於遺傳多樣性，這意味著盡可能保持植物族群分佈廣泛的保育工作仍然至關重要。

 Anstett說: 「遺傳變異的數量對於這種適應至關重要」; 「這提示保育生物學家應該努力提高遺傳變異的數量和棲息地之間的連通性，從而使生物體最終能夠更好地應對各種壓力」。

“一個真正的突破”

澳洲麥考瑞大學應用生物科學副教授David Field在一封電子郵件中表示，這證明進化拯救現像在自然界中確實存在，而去識別出負責的特定基因，一直是進化生物學和保育生物學領域一個重大的未解目標。Field並未參與這項新研究。

他在電子郵件中寫道：「研究人員運用了一項精妙的實驗，證明了進化拯救現像在我們有生之年確實會在自然界中發生」。他還補充說，這項研究有力地證明了利用類似實驗在全球範圍內幫助瀕危物種保護工作的可能性。

其他未參與這項研究的研究人員也表達了類似的正面看法。加州大學歐文分校生態與演化生物學榮譽退休教授Diane Campbell在一封電子郵件中寫道：「這是一項非常重要的研究」; 「這項研究提供了極其有力的證據，表明一種主要存在於理論中的過程，是可以幫助野生植物種群，從氣候變遷預測到的地中海型地區的日益嚴重的干旱中恢復過來」。

加州科學院的植物研究員Isaac Lichter Marck表示，植物學家關注的一個主要問題是，植物能否及時進化以應對氣候變遷預計到會加劇的極端乾旱。他在一封電子郵件中寫道: 「面對極端乾旱，動物可以選擇遷徙、適應或死亡 - 但野花紮根於此，它們的生存選擇就少得多：要么適應，要么死亡」。

他繼續說道，這項研究為利用基因組學去預測哪些野花物種容易因氣候變遷而滅絕提供了一個重要的模型。但這項研究也引發了其他擔憂：“棲息地喪失和外來物種入侵等壓力正在侵蝕野生植物的遺傳多樣性。正如這項研究表明的那樣，遺傳多樣性的喪失可能會使氣候變遷帶來的本已令人擔憂的威脅雪上加霜。”

俄勒岡大學生物系副教授Jeff Diez在電子郵件中表示，這項研究是一項真正的突破，其嚴謹且細緻程度令人矚目。 他補充道:「令人深思的是，僅僅針對一個物種就需要付出巨大的努力」; 「如果我們想了解整個相互作用的物種群落將如何應對氣候變化時，我們需要評估更多物種的進化潛力，而它們中那種是有足夠進化速度潛力必然存在巨大差異」。

他總結道，總的來說，這項研究傳遞了一個真正令人鼓舞的訊息：一些野生植物或許能夠進化到足以應對氣候變遷的速度。 “但它同時也包裹著一個令人謙卑的提醒，我們仍然有很多未知的領域。”

              So, in California some populations of wildflowers have defied the odds to survive an ordeal. Researchers say they now believe these flowers relied on a type of rapid genetic evolution to do this. This study provides an important demonstration of the possibilities of using similar experiments to help conservation efforts of endangered species globally. The challenging part is that it may take much effort to show this for just one species. Apparently, if we want to understand how the whole communities of interacting species will respond to climate change, we need to assess evolutionary potential across far more species, and that commands a lot of research work. The findings of this research reminder us how much we still don’t know.

加州一種野花揭示了新近記錄的進化過程（1/2）

Recently CNN.com reported the following:

A wildflower in California reveals a newly documented evolutionary process (1/2)

CNN  -  By Jacopo Prisco

UPDATED MAR 12, 2026

During California’s worst dry spell in the past 1,200 years, some populations of wildflowers defied the odds to survive the ordeal. Researchers say they now believe these flowers relied on a type of rapid genetic evolution — the first time such a phenomenon has been documented in the wild.

The dry spell happened between 2012 and 2015, and killed more than 100 million trees. It was a particularly brutal period during an ongoing megadrought that began in 2000 and which has been made worse by climate change. Even though the drought killed plants that are normally drought-resistant, the scarlet monkeyflower, a bright red wildflower that thrives in wet areas, and along creek beds and springs, showed remarkable resilience.

A team of researchers spent eight years studying 55 populations of the wildflower, whose scientific name is Mimulus cardinalis, by keeping track of its numbers in the wild and sequencing the flowers’ genomes to reveal genetic shifts.

“We were able to show that these populations across the range in California were declining due to this extreme drought, and we found evidence of a rapid evolution across the genome,” said Daniel Anstett, an assistant professor at the School of Integrative Plant Science of Cornell University and first author of a study on the findings, which published Thursday in the journal Science. “And then we were able to relate a metric of this evolution to the ability of these populations to recover and to not go extinct.”

While the entire species was not at risk of extinction, individual flower populations likely were, suffering declines of up to 90% compared to peak population sizes. It took about two to three years for these populations to rebound, according to Anstett.

This rapid comeback is a process biologists call evolutionary rescue, which happens when a species is able to recover from the threat of extinction by an external factor such as a drought, Anstett explained. “Evolutionary rescue occurs when the few individuals that are left have the right genetic makeup to do better than the ones that died, so they do well or thrive within these new conditions, so the population inches back from extinction,” he said.

Evolutionary rescue has been demonstrated in lab settings but researchers only had partial observations of it in the wild before: in cancer resistance in Tasmanian devils and adaptation to pollution in killifish. However, these studies did not provide full evidence that the process was taking place.

This study, Anstett said, offers rigorous evidence that evolution happened and it led to a demographic recovery. “We had a lot of information about the wildflowers’ demography and the genes, so that provided more ironclad information that ultimately evolutionary rescue was happening.”

A great indicator of drought

The scarlet monkeyflower is a perennial herb, meaning it regrows each season from the same roots. It’s pollinated by hummingbirds and can grow up to 3 feet tall and 3 feet wide.

“This plant is found in streams in California, Baja California and Southern Oregon that are often seeps of water that seasonally flow through habitat,” said Anstett. “It really requires that flowing water to complete its life cycle and then be able to grow all the way up to seed, so it’s a great indicator of drought.”

When a drought comes, Anstett explained, water stops flowing, so the plant has two choices: grow rapidly and produce flowers and seeds before the drought really takes hold — or grow much more slowly and perhaps live for another year. This latter strategy is what the wildflowers used. “What we saw was that the plants were, in fact, developing more slowly and going more towards bunkering down, living longer, growing less fast, which is called drought avoidance,” Anstett said.

(to be continued)

Translation

加州一種野花揭示了一種新近記錄的進化過程（1/2）

在加州近1,200年來最嚴重的乾旱期間，一些野花種群奇蹟般地存活了下來。研究人員表示，他們現在認為這些花依靠的是一種快速的基因演化 - 這是首次在野外記錄到這種現象。

這場乾旱發生在2012年至2015年間，造成超過1億棵樹木死亡。這是自2,000年開始的持續特大乾旱期間的一個特別殘酷的時期，而氣候變遷加劇了這場乾旱。儘管乾旱殺死了許多通常耐旱的植物，但一種生長在濕地、溪床和泉水邊的鮮紅色野花 - 猩紅猴面花 - 卻展現出了驚人的韌性。

一個研究團隊花了八年時間研究了 55 個野生花種群，這種野生花的學名是 Mimulus cardinalis，他們透過追蹤野生花的數量並對花朵的基因組進行測序，揭示了基因變化。

這項研究成果於週四發表在《科學》雜誌上。 康奈爾大學綜合植物科學學院助理教授、該研究的第一作者Daniel Anstett說道:「我們發現，由於極端乾旱，加州各地的猴面花種群數量都在下降，並且我們發現了基因組快速進化的證據」，「然後我們就能夠將這種演變的指標，與這些族群的復原並避免滅絕的能力聯繫起來」。

雖然整個物種沒有滅絕的風險，但個別猴面花族群可能面臨滅絕，其數量與族群高峰相比下降了高達90%。Anstett表示，這些族群大約花了兩到三年的時間才恢復過來。

Anstett解釋說生物學家將這種快速復甦的過程稱為 “進化拯救” ，當一個物種能夠從乾旱等外部因素造成的滅絕威脅中恢復過來時，就會發生這種情況。他說: 「當倖存的少數個體擁有比死亡個體更合適的基因組成時，進化拯救就會發生，它們能夠在新的環境中生存或繁衍，從而使族群逐漸擺脫滅絕的威脅」。

演化拯救已在實驗室環境中得到證實，但先前研究人員在野外僅對其進行過部分觀察：例如塔斯馬尼亞袋獾的抗癌能力和鱂魚對污染的適應能力。然而，這些研究並沒有提供充分的證據證明這個過程正在發生。

Anstett表示，這項研究提供了嚴謹的證據，證明演化確實發生，最終導致了族群數量的恢復。 “我們掌握了大量關於野花種群數量和基因的信息，這為我們提供了更確鑿的證據，證明進化拯救最終確實發生了。”

絕佳的乾旱指標

猩紅猴面花是一種多年生草本植物，這意味著它每年都會從同一根系重新生長。它由蜂鳥授粉，株高可達 3 英尺，株寬可達 3 英尺。

Anstett說: 「這種植物生長在加州、下加利福尼亞州和俄勒岡州南部的溪流中，這些溪流通常是季節性流經棲息地的滲水處」， 「它非常需要流動的水來完成其生命週期，並最終結籽，因此它是指示出有乾旱的絕佳植物」。

Anstett解釋說，當乾旱來臨時，水流停止，植物有兩種選擇：要么快速生長，在乾旱真正到來之前開花結籽；要么生長緩慢，或許可以再活一年。野花們選擇了後者策略。 Anstett說: 「我們觀察到，這些植物實際上發展得更慢，更傾向於固守生長模式，壽命延長，生長速度降低，這被稱為抗旱」。

（待續）

Note:

1. Tasmanian devil (袋獾) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. It was formerly present across mainland Australia, but became extinct there around 3,500 years ago; it is now confined to the island of Tasmania. The size of a small dog, the Tasmanian devil became the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world following the extinction of the thylacine in 1936. It is related to quolls, and distantly related to the thylacine. (Wikipedia)

2. Killifish (鳉鱼) are a type of small freshwater or brackish water fish, mainly belonging to the family Cyprinodontidae within the order Cyprinodontiformes. They are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical swamps, streams, and other waters in the Americas, Africa, and parts of Europe. (Baidu)

US Consumer Price Index Rises 2.4% in February, Matching Market Expectations

Recently NHK News on-line reported the following:

US Consumer Price Index (Source: NHK)

米 2月の消費者物価指数 2.4％上昇 市場の予想と同水準

2026年3月11日午後10時15分

(2026年3月12日午前0時19分更新)

消費者物価指数

円相場や株価にも影響するアメリカの2月の消費者物価指数は、去年の同じ月と比べて2.4％の上昇となり、1月から横ばいでした。ただ、イラン情勢を受けてガソリン価格が足元で大幅に値上がりするなど、今後、インフレが再加速するとの警戒感も強まっています。

アメリカ労働省が11日に発表した2月の消費者物価指数は、去年の同じ月と比べて2.4％の上昇となりました。

これは市場の予想と同じ水準で、前の月から横ばいでした。

項目別に見ると、ガス代が10.9％、電気代が4.8％、外食費が3.9％、それぞれ上昇した一方で、中古車・中古トラックは3.2％下落しました。

また、変動の大きい食品やエネルギーを除いたいわゆるコアの物価指数は去年の同じ月と比べて2.5％の上昇となり、こちらも前の月から横ばいでした。

今回の統計にはイラン情勢による影響は反映されていませんが、原油の先物価格が上昇する中、ガソリン価格が足元で大幅に値上がりするなど、今後、インフレが再加速するとの警戒感も強まっています。

Translation

US Consumer Price Index Rises 2.4% in February, Matching Market Expectations

March 11, 2026, 10:15 PM

(Updated March 12, 2026, 12:19 AM)

Consumer Price Index

The US Consumer Price Index for February, which would also affect the yen exchange rate and stock prices, rose 2.4% compared to the same month last year, remaining flat from January. However, concerns were growing that inflation might accelerate again in the future due to the recent sharp rise in gasoline prices in response to the situation in Iran.

The US Department of Labor announced on the 11th that the Consumer Price Index for February rose 2.4% compared to the same month last year.

This was in line with market expectations and remained flat since the previous month.

Looking at individual items, gas prices rose 10.9%, electricity prices 4.8%, and dining out prices 3.9%, while used cars and trucks fell 3.2%.

Furthermore, the so-called core price index which excluded volatile food and energy prices rose 2.5% compared to the same month last year, this also remained unchanged since the previous month.

While this statistic had not reflected the impact of the situation in Iran, concerns were growing that inflation might accelerate again in the future given the recent sharp rise in gasoline prices etc. amid rising crude oil futures prices.

So, the US Consumer Price Index for February rose 2.4% compared to the same month last year, remaining flat since January. However, concerns are growing that inflation may accelerate again soon due to the situation in Iran.