科學家窺見新疫情的起源（2/2）

Recently the New York Times reported the following:

Scientists Get a Glimpse of How New Pandemics Are Made (2/2)

Researchers have devised a new tool for discerning between naturally occurring viral outbreaks and those resulting from lab accidents.

The NYT - By Carl Zimmer

March 9, 2026

Updated 9:43 a.m. ET

(continue)

Since then, researchers have not found direct evidence to test this scenario or others like it. But the new study by Dr. Wertheim and his colleagues concluded that the 1977 virus underwent some odd evolution before the pandemic — and that the mutations it gained bear patterns identical to those found in viruses that are grown in labs.

Gigi Gronvall, a biosecurity expert at Johns Hopkins University, said that the new study suggests that the 1977 pandemic began as a vaccine trial. “It’s more evidence that they were trying to create an attenuated vaccine and failed spectacularly,” she said.

Spyros Lytras, a virologist at the University of Tokyo who was not involved in the new study, said the study’s methodology offered a new tool for tracing the origin of outbreaks. “The genetic data holds a robust signal that can distinguish between lab passaging and manipulations versus natural spillovers,” he said.

James Lloyd-Smith, a disease ecologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, said that detecting the genetic signature of lab evolution in the Russian flu was “very cool.” But he cautioned that scientists typically only capture a fraction of the evolution of viruses in their samples. “This approach isn’t a magic wand, and the study still faces the same challenges of limited data that have dogged the field,” he said.

Of the several outbreaks that Dr. Wertheim and his colleagues analyzed, only the Russian flu proved to be an exception to the rule. The virus that caused Covid — SARS-CoV-2 — was not.

The researchers found no peculiar changes in SARS-CoV-2 before it jumped into humans. It gained mutations as it spread from bat to bat, just like other bat coronaviruses did; only after the virus emerged in humans did it undergo a marked shift. Within a year, radically new variants were evolving, with mutations that made them exquisitely well-adapted to humans.

The new study adds to the ongoing debate over Covid’s origins. In a January interview with The New York Times, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the director of the National Institutes of Health, asserted that SARS-CoV-2 emerged from a lab. “I think if you just focus on the scientific evidence alone, I would say it’s certain,” he said.

Some experts who favor a lab-leak origin point to just how well prepared SARS-CoV-2 was to spread among humans from the start of the pandemic. In November, Dr. Robert Redfield, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, claimed that the Chinese military had created SARS-CoV-2 as an inhaled vaccine. “I think that was all engineered,” Dr. Redfield said in a podcast interview.

But last month, a group of experts assigned by the World Health Organization to examine Covid’s origins came down in favor of SARS-CoV-2 having originated in bats, which then passed it to animals sold in a market in Wuhan.

“Most of the peer-reviewed scientific evidence supports this hypothesis,” the scientists noted.

Dr. Wertheim has helped collect some of that peer-reviewed scientific evidence. The new study adds more evidence in favor of an animal origin, he said.

If SARS-CoV-2 was reared in a lab, its mutations would unfold in a pattern like that of the Russian flu. Instead, Dr. Wertheim and his colleagues found, its mutation pattern matched the five naturally occurring outbreaks they studied.

Instead, Dr. Wertheim said, Covid appears to have arisen from some really bad luck. As the precursor virus was adapting to infect bats, it ended up ready to start a pandemic among people. “It’s coincidentally exceptionally good at being a human virus,” Dr. Wertheim said.

David Robertson, a virologist at the University of Glasgow who was not involved in the new research, said that the study offered insights not just for Covid but for any zoonotic virus — a virus that spreads from animals to humans. “It’s a key point for understanding zoonotic risk,” he said. “Viruses can be circulating in nature without requiring adaptations to infect or transmit successfully in humans.”

If that’s the case across a wide range of zoonotic viruses, Dr. Wertheim said, we can expect more pandemics in the future. “It’s what we don’t know that’s going to get us,” he said. “They’re out there, and they’re ready to go.”

Translation

科學家窺見新疫情的起源（2/2）

研究人員開發出一種新工具，用於區分由自然發生的病毒爆發疫情和由實驗室事故導致的爆發

（繼續）

此後，研究人員尚未找到直接證據來驗證此假設或其他類似假設。但Wertheim博士及其同事的一項新研究得出結論：1977年的病毒在大流行之前經歷了某種奇特的進化 - 而且它獲得的突變模式與實驗室培養的病毒的突變模式完全相同。

約翰霍普金斯大學的生物安全專家Gigi Gronvall表示，這項新研究表明，1977年的疫情始於一次疫苗試驗。 她說:「這進一步證明，他們當時試圖研發減毒疫苗，結果卻慘敗了」。

並未參與這項新研究的東京大學病毒學家Spyros Lytras表示，該研究的方法為追蹤疫情起源提供了一種新工具。他說: 「基因數據包含一個可靠的訊號，可以區分實驗室傳代和人為操作，相對於自然溢出」。

加州大學洛杉磯分校疾病生態學家James Lloyd-Smith表示，在俄羅斯流感中檢測到實驗室進化的基因特徵是「非常酷」的事。但他提醒說，科學家通常只能捕捉到病毒樣本中演化過程的一小部分。他說: 「這種方法並非萬能，這項研究仍然面臨著數據有限的挑戰，而數據有限一直是該領域長期存在的難題」。

在Wertheim博士及其同事分析的幾宗疫情中，只有俄羅斯流感被證明是例外。導致新冠肺炎的病毒—SARS-CoV-2—則不是。

研究人員發現，SARS-CoV-2 在感染人類之前並沒有發生任何異常變化。它像其他蝙蝠冠狀病毒一樣，在蝙蝠間傳播的過程中不斷發生變異；只有在病毒出現在人類身上之後，才出現了顯著的變化。不到一年，全新的變種病毒就不斷湧現，這些變異使其能夠完美地適應人類。

這項新研究為新冠病毒起源的持續爭論增添了新的內容。美國國立衛生研究院院長Jay Bhattacharya博士在1月接受《紐約時報》採訪時斷言，SARS-CoV-2 源自於實驗室。他說: 「我認為，如果只看科學證據，我會說這是肯定的」。

一些支持實驗室洩漏起源論的專家指出，SARS-CoV-2 從疫情爆發之初就充份预備好在人群中傳播。去年11月，美國疾病管制與預防中心前主任Robert Redfield博士聲稱，中國軍方發展了SARS-CoV-2病毒作為吸入式疫苗。Redfield博士在一次播客採訪中說道: 「我認為這一切都是設計出來的」。

但上個月，世界衛生組織指派的一個專家小組對新冠病毒的起源進行了調查，最終得出結論：SARS-CoV-2病毒起源於蝙蝠，然後蝙蝠將其傳播給了武漢一家市場出售的動物。

科學家指出:「大多數經過同行評審的科學證據都支持這個假設」。

Wertheim博士曾參與那個收集一部分曾經過同儕審查的科學證據。他表示，這項新研究為病毒起源於動物的觀點提供了更多證據。

如果SARS-CoV-2病毒是在實驗室中培育的，那麼它的變異模式應該類似於俄羅斯流感病毒。然而，Wertheim博士及其同事發現，它的變異模式與他們研究的五宗自然發生的疫情相吻合。

Wertheim博士表示，新冠病毒的出現似乎純粹是運氣不佳。其前身病毒在適應感染蝙蝠的過程中，最終卻意外地具備了在人類中引發大流行的能力。 Wertheim博士說: 「它巧合地非常擅長成為一種人類病毒」。

並未參與這項新研究的格拉斯哥大學的病毒學家David Robertson，他表示，這項研究不僅為新冠病毒，也為所有人畜共通病毒 - 即從動物傳播給人類的病毒 - 提供了新的見解。 “這是理解人畜共患風險的關鍵，”他說道:“病毒可以在自然界中傳播，而無需進行適應性改造就能成功感染或傳播給人類。”

Wertheim博士表示，如果這種情況普遍存在於多種人畜共通病毒中，那麼未來我們可能會面臨更多疫情。 他說道:「讓我們陷入困境的，是我們不知道的事」，「它們就在那裡，隨時準備爆發」。

So, a new study finds that Covid is pretty ordinary. Scientists have compared seven viral outbreaks that occurred in recent decades. For the most part, the researchers find that the outbreaks have not been preceded by any unusual genetic changes in the viruses. In all but one case, in 1977, the viruses circulated in animals and gained the ability to spread to and among people. Covid appears to have arisen from some really bad luck of human. Apparently, we can expect more pandemics in the future. 

科學家窺見新疫情的起源（1/2）

Recently the New York Times reported the following:

Scientists Get a Glimpse of How New Pandemics Are Made (1/2)

Researchers have devised a new tool for discerning between naturally occurring viral outbreaks and those resulting from lab accidents.

The NYT - By Carl Zimmer

March 9, 2026

Updated 9:43 a.m. ET

The Covid pandemic was an extraordinary moment in history. Starting at the end of 2019, a virus new to science swept across the planet, killed more than 25 million people and caused trillion of dollars in economic damage.

But as outbreaks go, Covid was pretty ordinary, a new study finds.

Scientists compared seven viral outbreaks that occurred in recent decades, including epidemics of Covid, Ebola and influenza. For the most part, the researchers found, the outbreaks were not preceded by any unusual genetic changes in the viruses. In all but one case, in 1977, the viruses circulated in animals and gained the ability to spread to and among people only by unfortunate coincidence.

“We see that time and again,” said Joel Wertheim, a virologist at the University of California San Diego. He and his colleagues published the study on Friday in the journal Cell.

Dr. Wertheim and his colleagues reconstructed the evolutionary history of these viruses by looking at their genes. They tracked how viruses gained different kinds of mutations before causing outbreaks and looked at that pattern after the viruses jumped into the human population.

In one line of research, the scientists examined the influenza pandemic of 2009. In that year, a new strain of influenza emerged in North America and went on to infect one-quarter of all people on Earth and kill 230,000.

Other studies of the virus have revealed that it came from pigs, where influenza viruses gain mutations on a regular basis. Some mutations made it harder for the viruses to spread to other pigs. Others provided an evolutionary edge; still others had no effect.

The viral strain that jumped into humans in 2009 had split off as its own evolutionary branch at least a decade earlier. Until it reached humans, its evolution looked ordinary; the pattern of mutations gained and lost by the virus resembled what scientists would expect to see in any flu virus thriving in pigs.

Only after the virus jumped to humans did things change, and dramatically.

After infecting humans in 2009, the flu virus gained many new mutations. In pigs, those mutations would probably have hindered the virus’s ability to multiply and caused it to be outcompeted by other viruses infecting the animals.

But once the virus settled in a new host, those old constraints were gone. It began adapting to spread more successfully in humans.

Dr. Wertheim and his colleagues ran the same analysis on other outbreaks, including the Ebola epidemic that swept across West Africa in 2013 and is thought to have originated in a bat, and the 2022 outbreak of mpox, a virus that causes painful blisters and is believed to be harbored by African squirrels. Again and again, the researchers saw the same pattern: The viruses that eventually jumped into humans did not evolve in an unusual way beforehand but did change dramatically afterward.

“Once it gets into humans, it’s a new day,” Dr. Wertheim said.

But one virus turned out to be a major exception to that rule, the new study found. Its unique mutations suggest that it may have been set loose by a scientific accident.

In 1977, the world was hit by a pandemic that came to be known as Russian flu, because the first cases were reported by the Soviet Union. Scientists were baffled by the virus: Its closest relatives were not in pigs or other animals but instead looked a lot like viruses that were circulating in the early 1950s, a quarter-century earlier.

Some scientists speculated that the Russian flu was not a spillover from a pig or a bird. Rather, they suggested, it had emerged from a scientific mishap, perhaps a vaccine trial that had gone wrong in the Soviet Union or China.

The vaccine makers might have used a common technique that involved producing a vaccine made of weakened viruses. Viruses growing in Petri dishes in a lab accumulate mutations that would harm them if they were infecting a person. Scientists speculated that Soviet or Chinese scientists thawed out some old flu virus to make a weakened vaccine but used faulty techniques that allowed the virus to spread from person to person.

(to be continued)

Translation

科學家窺見新疫情的起源（1/2）

研究人員開發出一種新工具，用於區分由自然發生的病毒爆發疫情和由實驗室事故導致的爆發

新冠疫情是歷史上一個非同尋常的時刻。從2019年底開始，一種科學界先前未知的病毒席捲全球，造成超過2,500萬人死亡，並造成數兆美元的經濟損失。

但一項新的研究發現，就疫情爆發而言，新冠疫情其實相當普通。

科學家比較了近幾十年來發生的七次病毒爆發，包括新冠疫情、伊波拉疫情和流感疫情。研究人員發現，在大多數情況下，這些疫情爆發之前病毒並沒有發生任何異常的基因變化。除了1977年的那次例外，所有病毒都是在動物中傳播，並因不幸的巧合而獲得了在人與人之間傳播的能力。

加州大學聖地牙哥分校的病毒學家Joel Wertheim說:「我們一次又一次地看到這種情況」。他和他的同事於週五在《細胞》（Cell）雜誌上發表了這項研究。

Wertheim博士和他的同事透過分析病毒的基因，重建了這些病毒的演化史。他們追蹤了病毒在引發疫情之前如何獲得不同類型的突變，並研究了病毒進入人類群體後這種突變模式的變化。

在其中一項研究中，科學家檢視了2009年的流感大流行。那一年，一種新的流感病毒株在北美出現，並感染了全球四分之一的人口，造成23萬人死亡。

其他針對病毒的研究表明它來自豬，而流感病毒在豬體內經常發生突變。有些突變使病毒更難傳播給其他豬。有些突變則賦予了病毒進化優勢；有些突變則沒有產生任何影響。

2009年感染人類的病毒株至少在十年前就已經分化成一個獨立的演化分支。在感染人類之前，它的進化過程看起來很普通；病毒獲得的突變和缺失的模式與科學家預期在豬群中傳播的任何流感病毒的模式相似。

只有在病毒感染人類之後，情況才發生了劇烈的變化。

流感病毒在2009年感染人類後，獲得了許多新的突變。在豬群中，這些突變可能會阻礙病毒的繁殖能力，並使其在去感染其他動物的病毒競爭中敗下陣來。

但是，一旦病毒在新宿主中定居下來，這些原有的限制就消失了。它開始適應環境，從而更容易在人類中傳播。

Wertheim博士及其同事對其他疫情進行了同樣的分析，包括2013年席捲西非的伊波拉疫情（相信起源於蝙蝠）以及2022年的麻疹病毒疫情（一種會導致疼痛水皰的病毒，相信由非洲松鼠攜帶）。研究人員一次又一次地觀察到相同的模式：最終傳播到人類的病毒在傳播前並沒有異常的演化，但在傳播後卻發生了顯著的變化。

Wertheim博士說: 「一旦病毒進入人類體內，那就是嶄新的一天」。

但新的研究發現，有一種病毒是這個規則的主要例外。其獨特的突變表明，它可能是由科學事故釋放出來的。

1977年，一場被稱為「俄羅斯流感」的全球性流行病席捲全球，因為首批病例是由蘇聯報告的。科學家對這種病毒感到困惑：它的近親並非來自豬或其他動物，而是與25年前，也就是20世紀50年代初期流行的病毒非常相似。

一些科學家推測，俄羅斯流感並非源自豬或禽類。他們認為，它可能是科學事故的產物，例如蘇聯或中國疫苗試驗中出現的失誤。

疫苗生產商可能採用了一種常見的技術，即用減弱病毒去製造疫苗。在實驗室培養皿中培養的病毒會累積突變，如果它感染人類，這些變異會對病毒造成傷害。科學家推測，蘇聯或中國的科學家解凍了某種舊的流感病毒來製造減弱病毒疫苗，但由於使用了錯誤的技術，導致病毒在人與人之間傳播。

（待續）

US February Employment Statistics: Employment Declines by 92,000 from Previous Month - A Significant Drop

Recently NHK News on-line reported the following:

米 2月雇用統計 就業者は前月比9万2000人減 大幅な減少に

2026年3月6日午後10時49分

(2026年3月7日午前1時10分更新)

雇用統計

円相場や株価に影響を及ぼすアメリカの雇用統計が発表され、2月の農業分野以外の就業者は前の月から9万2000人の大幅な減少となりました。増加を見込んでいた市場予想を大きく下回り、金融市場では雇用情勢の減速への警戒感が再び強まることも予想されます。

アメリカ労働省が6日に発表した2月の雇用統計によりますと、景気の動向を敏感に示す農業分野以外の就業者は、前の月から9万2000人の大幅な減少となりました。

市場の予想では5万5000人程度の増加が見込まれていましたが、これを大きく下回り、アメリカメディアも予想外の減少と相次いで報じています。

また、失業率は前の月から0.1ポイント悪化し、4.4％でした。

専門家の間ではアメリカを襲った寒波や医療大手のストライキなどが影響した可能性があるとの指摘も出ていますが、雇用情勢が減速傾向にある可能性を示唆する内容となっていて、金融市場では、警戒感が再び強まりそうです。

今回の統計の内容などを踏まえてFRB＝連邦準備制度理事会は景気を下支えするための利下げのペースを判断していくことになりますが、アメリカなどとイランとの間の攻撃の応酬を受けて原油価格が大きく上昇していて、インフレが再加速することへの懸念も広がるなか、難しいかじ取りを迫られることになりそうです。

Translation

US February Employment Statistics: Employment Declines by 92,000 from Previous Month - A Significant Drop

Employment Statistics

The US employment statistics, which influenced the yen exchange rate and stock prices, had been released, showing a significant decrease of 92,000 non-agricultural workers in February compared to the previous month. This fell far short of market expectations, which had anticipated an increase, and was expected to rekindle concerns about a slowdown in the employment situation in financial markets.

According to the February employment statistics released by the US Department of Labor on the 6th, non-agricultural workers, a sensitive indicator of economic trends, fell sharply by 92,000 from the previous month.

Market expectations had projected an increase of around 55,000, but this figure fell significantly short, and US media were also reporting one after another that the decrease was unexpected.

Furthermore, the unemployment rate worsened by 0.1 percentage point from the previous month to 4.4%.

While some experts suggested that the cold wave that hit the US and strikes at major healthcare companies might have had an impact, the report suggested that the employment situation might be slowing down, which was likely to heighten concerns in financial markets once again.

Based on the contents of this data, the Federal Reserve would decide on the pace of interest rate cuts to support the economy, but with oil prices rising sharply due to the exchange of attacks between the US and Iran, and concerns about renewed inflation accelerating, the Federal Reserve would likely face a difficult decision.

              So, US employment statistics is showing a significant decrease of 92,000 non-agricultural workers in February compared to the previous month. This number falls far short of market expectations and may generate concerns about a slowdown in the employment situation.

中國家長將家庭作業外判給人工智能 (2/2)

Recently the New York Times reported the following:

China’s Parents Are Outsourcing the Homework Grind to A.I. (2/2)

Parents in China are turning to A.I. chatbots and other tools to help their children gain an edge and ease the fighting over homework.

The NYT - By Vivian Wang and Jiawei Wang - Vivian Wang reported from Beijing. Jiawei Wang reported from Seoul.

March 2, 2026

(continue)

Creating Learning Games

Yin Xingyu, 37, uses A.I. chatbots like DeepSeek in her job as a marketer in Shenzhen. She started to wonder whether the tool could also help her 6-year-old daughter.

Ms. Yin didn’t know how to code, so she turned to what’s known as “vibecoding” instead: using A.I. models to build software by describing what you want in plain language. She worked with DeepSeek to build an interactive English word game for her daughter. The chatbot wrote the code for her.

She is now sharing the prompts on social media so other parents can input them into their own chatbots and replicate her games.

Ms. Yin has also experimented with other models. She used Google’s A.I. image generator, Nano Banana Pro, to create comic strips that used her daughter’s Chinese vocabulary words, starring her favorite characters from movies like “Zootopia” and “Frozen.”

Ms. Yin said she didn’t think that her daughter would become dependent on A.I., because she designed the games to prioritize active thinking over passive stimulation. She plans to encourage her daughter to use the tools even more as she gets older; for example, by using chatbots to brainstorm ideas for essays.

“Most likely that’s how the future will be, and I want her to get used to it from a young age,” she said.

‘A.I. Self-Study Rooms’

Not every effort to use A.I. for education has been successful. Some companies have rolled out products that critics say are more hype than substance.

So-called “A.I. self-study rooms,” for example, are advertised as physical spaces where students can learn from A.I.-powered tablets that tailor learning plans to individual needs. Fees range from a few dollars an hour to hundreds of dollars a month.

A state media report from 2024 about the trend showed a classroom in Zhejiang Province lined with cubicles, where students sat quietly in front of tablets that assessed their completion of assignments for accuracy and speed.

But some parents and former employees have complained that the “A.I.” is merely a marketing facade for prerecorded lessons or other less advanced technology, and that the tablets are just basic, off-the-shelf devices.

State media outlets have also accused the operators of some of the centers of trying to circumvent a 2021 ban on for-profit tutoring that was meant to shield children from having too much homework and families from spending too heavily. Many tutoring services have continued to operate underground. (The study centers have said that A.I. is doing the teaching, not tutors, so the ban does not apply.)

Many of the study rooms have already shut down, according to media reports. The New York Times twice tried to visit one in Beijing, only to find it locked and empty, with posters purporting to show reviews from satisfied parents still on the walls.

May Zeng, 24, worked at a study room in Jiangxi Province for two months last year, where she was in charge of making sure that students didn’t slack off. She thought that parents didn’t care as much about A.I. as they did about having somewhere to put their children.

Still, A.I. was getting used — by Ms. Zeng herself. As part of her duties, she had to write feedback on each student’s progress.

“When I found I really had nothing to say, I’d just throw it to the A.I.,” she said. “In this A.I. self-study room, I was the one using the most A.I.”

Translation

中國家長將家庭作業外判給人工智能 (2/2)

中國的家長們正在轉向人工智能聊天機械人和其他工具，以幫助孩子在學習上取得優勢，並減少因家庭作業而起的爭吵

（繼續）

創建學習遊戲

37歲的Yin Xingyu在深圳擔任行銷人員，她在工作中經常使用像DeepSeek這樣的人工智能聊天機械人。她開始思考，這個工具是否也能幫助她6歲的女兒。

Yin女士不懂程式設計，所以她轉而使用所謂的「感知編碼」：透過用簡單的語言描述需求，利用人工智能模型來建立軟件。她用DeepSeek配合，為女兒開發了一款互動式英語單字遊戲。聊天機械人為她編寫出程式碼。

她現在在社交媒體上分享與電腦溝通的提示，以便其他家長可以用它們輸入到自己的聊天機器械中，從而複製她的遊戲。

Yin女士也嘗試了其他模型。她使用Google的人工智能影像產生器 Nano Banana Pro，創作了一些簡短漫畫，漫畫中使用了她女兒正在學習的中文詞彙，扮演是她最喜歡電影裡的角色，例如《瘋狂動物城》(Zootopia) 和《冰雪奇緣》(Frozen) 。

Yin女士表示，她不認為女兒將會變得依賴人工智能，因為她設計的這些遊戲旨在培養孩子的主動思考能力，而不是被動而非被動的刺激。她計劃鼓勵女兒在長大後更多地使用這些工具；例如，使用聊天機械人來集思廣益，為作文尋找靈感。

她說:「未來很可能就是這樣，我希望她從小就習慣它」。

“人工智能自學室”

並非所有將人工智能應用於教育的嘗試都取得了成功。一些公司推出的產品被批評者認為華而不實。

例如，所謂的「人工智能自學室」被宣傳為實體空間，學生可以在這裡使用人工智能平板電腦學習，這些平板電腦會根據個人需求量身定制學習計劃。費用從每小時幾美元到每月幾百美元不等。

2024年的一篇官方媒體報導了這一趨勢，報導中展示了浙江省的一間教室，教室裡排列著一排排隔間，學生們安靜地坐在平板電腦前，平板電腦會評估他們完成作業的準確性和速度。

但一些家長和前員工抱怨說，「人工智能」只不過是預先錄製的課程或其他不太先進技術的行銷噱頭，而這些平板電腦只是基本的現成設備。

官方媒體也指責一些自學中心的經營者試圖規避2021年禁止營利性課外輔導的禁令，該禁令旨在避免孩子作業過多，也避免家庭支出過高。許多輔導機構仍在暗中運作。 （這些輔導中心聲稱，授課的是人工智能，而非輔導老師，因此禁令對他們無效。）

據媒體報道，許多輔導室已經關閉。 《紐約時報》曾兩度試圖造訪北京的一家輔導室，卻發現它大門緊閉，空無一人，牆上還貼著一些據稱是家長好評的海報。

24歲的May Zeng去年在江西省的一家輔導室工作了兩個月，負責督促學生認真學習。她認為，家長更關心的是，是否有地方可以安置孩子，而不是人工智能。

然而，人工智能確實被Zeng本人使用了 。她作為工作的一部分，需要為每個學生的學習進度撰寫出回應。

她說:「當我發現自己沒什麼好說的時候，我就把它交給人工智能寫」; 「在這個人工智能自學室裡，我是使用人工智能最多的人」。

So, parents in China are turning to A.I. to gain a competitive edge. Some are making interactive learning games or using chatbots to grade their children’s homework, while others are using it to get past a language barrier. Their eagerness to embrace A.I. for learning is a sharp contrast to many in the United States who worry that it may feed students misinformation or erode critical thinking. Apparently, there is a huge different between these two countries due to cultural difference etc.

Note:

1. In the computer world, a “prompt” (提示) is essentially an instruction or input given to a computer system by a user to get a response or action from the computer. The exact meaning depends on context, but here are the main uses: 1. Command Line Prompt (classic meaning) - A prompt is the symbol or text that shows a computer is ready for input. Example: C:\Users\>; 2. Prompt as a Request for Input - Programs often “prompt” users to enter information. Example: “Enter your password:”; “Are you sure you want to continue? (Y/N)”; 3. AI Prompt (modern meaning) - With tools like ChatGPT, a prompt is the text you give an AI to guide its response. Example prompts: “Write a story about space travel”; “Explain quantum physics simply”; “Summarize this article”. (ChatGPT)

Iran Fired Ballistic Missiles at Joint US-UK Base in Indian Ocean, a US Bomber Launch Base: Target Missed

Recently CNN.co.jp reported the following:

イラン、インド洋の米英共同基地へ弾道ミサイル発射も命中せず　米爆撃機の出撃拠点

2026.03.21 Sat posted at 16:40 JST

  （CNN） イランが20日午前、インド洋のディエゴガルシア島にある米英の共同軍事基地に向けて中距離弾道ミサイルを発射したことが分かった。米当局者が明らかにした。

当局者によると、イラン沿岸から約3810キロ離れた基地に向けてミサイル2発が発射されたが、いずれも命中しなかったという。

ディエゴガルシア島は米国の重爆撃機にとって重要な航空拠点で、長年にわたり、米本土から遠く離れた地域への作戦に不可欠な米軍の海外出撃拠点の役割を果たしてきた。

CNNはホワイトハウスや米国防総省、英国防省、ディエゴガルシアの基地を管轄地域に収める米インド太平洋軍にコメントを求めている。

ディエゴガルシア島はモーリシャスから北東1609キロあまりに位置する群島、チャゴス諸島の一部。英国は1814年、フランスの皇帝ナポレオンを撃退後、モーリシャスと合わせてチャゴス諸島を取得した。

モーリシャスは1968年に独立したが、チャゴス諸島は今も英国の支配下にある。

米国と英国は71年、この地域におけるソ連の軍事的影響力を抑える目的で、ディエゴガルシア島に大規模な基地を建設した。

ディエゴガルシア島はイラク侵攻に寄与したほか、アジア各地への任務に飛ぶ爆撃機の重要な着陸拠点として機能してきた。米国による身柄引き渡しとの関連も指摘される。

トランプ米大統領は今年、チャゴス諸島の主権をモーリシャスに引き渡す計画を巡り、英国を「愚かだ」と批判した。

英国は条約の条件に基づき、チャゴス諸島の主権をモーリシャスに移譲する方針。ディエゴガルシアにある基地については、英国が毎年1億3600万ドル（約216億円）をモーリシャスに支払って99年間租借する予定で、米英は引き続き施設を使用できる。

Translation

Iran Fired Ballistic Missiles at Joint US-UK Base in Indian Ocean, a US Bomber Launch Base: Target Missed

March 21, 2026 (Sat) Posted at 4:40 PM JST

(CNN) A US official confirmed that Iran had fired medium-range ballistic missiles at a joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia Island in the Indian Ocean on the morning of March 20.

According to the official, two missiles were fired at the base, located approximately 3,810 kilometers off the Iranian coast, but neither hit its target.

Diego Garcia Island is a crucial air base for US heavy bombers and has long served as an essential overseas launch base for US military operations far from the US mainland.

CNN had reached out for comment to the White House, the US Department of Defense, the UK Ministry of Defense, and also the US Indo-Pacific Command which oversaw the Diego Garcia base.

Diego Garcia was part of the Chagos Islands, an archipelago located approximately 1,609 kilometers northeast of Mauritius. Britain acquired the Chagos Islands, along with Mauritius, in 1814 after repelling Napoleon the French emperor.

Mauritius gained independence in 1968, but the Chagos Islands remained under British control.

In 1971, the United States and Britain constructed a large base on Diego Garcia with the aim of countering Soviet military influence in the region.

Diego Garcia played a role in the invasion of Iraq and had served as an important landing base for bombers flying to various parts of Asia. Its connection to the US extradition had also been suggested.

This year, US President Trump criticized Britain as "stupid" over its plan to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

Britain intended to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius based on the terms of the treaty. The base in Diego Garcia was to be leased by the UK for 99 years, with the UK paying Mauritius $136 million (approximately 21.6 billion yen) annually, allowing the US and UK to continue using the facilities.

So, Iran has fired two medium-range ballistic missiles at a joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia Island in the Indian Ocean located approximately 3,810 kilometers from the Iranian coast, but neither hit its target. Apparently, up to this moment, Iran is unable to fire the missiles accurately over such a long distance, and for sure the accuracy will be improved eventually.

中國家長正將家庭作業外判給人工智能（1/2）

Recently the New York Times reported the following:

China’s Parents Are Outsourcing the Homework Grind to A.I. (1/2)

Parents in China are turning to A.I. chatbots and other tools to help their children gain an edge and ease the fighting over homework.

The NYT - By Vivian Wang and Jiawei Wang - Vivian Wang reported from Beijing. Jiawei Wang reported from Seoul.

March 2, 2026

Across China, where education is famously cutthroat, parents are turning to artificial intelligence to gain a competitive edge. Some are making interactive learning games or using chatbots to grade their children’s homework. Others are using A.I.-powered gadgets to get past a language barrier.

Their eagerness to experiment is one example of how Chinese users are embracing A.I. for learning, even as many in the United States worry that it feeds students misinformation or erodes critical thinking. This cultural rift is backed by data: A 2025 global survey led by the services firm KPMG found that more than 90 percent of Chinese said they felt optimistic about the technology, compared to just over 50 percent in the United States.

The enthusiasm in China has fueled a sprawling, often unchecked, marketplace for educational technology that is worth more than $43 billion by some estimates, and where gimmicks and exaggerated marketing are common. Yet for some families, the tools are providing genuine relief. Three parents shared videos of their routines, showing how A.I., while imperfect, has made parenting and teaching their children a little easier.

As a mother of two with a full-time public relations job, Zheng Wenqi, 42, had little time to practice English herself, let alone teach her children. She knew her 9-year-old son needed more conversational experience but didn’t know where to turn.

“There just wasn’t an opportunity for him to start talking,” said Ms. Zheng, who lives in northern China’s Heilongjiang Province.

Then she saw a livestream promoting a gadget she could wear to make her conversant in English.

It has two parts: a mask that covers her mouth, and a speaker that hangs around her neck. Ms. Zheng speaks Chinese into the mask, which also muffles her voice. Then, a translation comes out of the speaker. She began wearing it around the house, for 30 to 60 minutes a day.

The roughly $375 device, called Native Language Star, draws on speech and language models developed by several Chinese technology firms, according to the company, based in Shenzhen, that makes the device.

Ms. Zheng said the translations were sometimes stiff. But she said that after about a month, her son was speaking more confidently and initiating conversations.

Ms. Zheng also uses the device with her 5-year-old daughter, who had never learned English before. The child can now describe daily tasks, like getting dressed and putting her shoes on.

“We say, ‘Now is English time, let’s all speak in English,’ and I’ll put that thing on,” Ms. Zheng said. “And then they just say whatever they know.”

A Chatbot With ‘Eyes’

Li Linyun, a stay-at-home mother, used to fight with her 10-year-old daughter, Weixiao, over her studies.

Now Ms. Li has delegated supervision of Weixiao’s schoolwork to an A.I. chatbot.

“It’s a 24-hour online teacher, and it’s knowledgeable and extremely patient,” said Ms. Li, who lives in Hunan Province, in central China.

Ms. Li uses Doubao, China’s most popular A.I. chatbot, which was created by ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. It has a camera function, which parents refer to as Doubao’s “eyes.” People can use it to learn more about their surroundings, for instance by asking Doubao to identify plants or give more details about museum artifacts. (ChatGPT has a similar function for paying users; Doubao’s is free.)

After more experimentation, Ms. Li learned that Doubao could explain grammar rules better than she ever could.

Weixiao said she liked that she could ask Doubao to repeat explanations as many times as she needed, while her teachers moved on quickly. “It explains in more detail, so I can understand,” she said.

Ms. Li also began asking Doubao to grade completed homework assignments by uploading a photo to the app.

The chatbot identifies wrong answers and corrects them, Ms. Li said, though it sometimes makes mistakes.

The camera can also monitor Weixiao’s posture. But Ms. Li said she rarely used that feature, because her daughter didn’t like the feeling of being watched.

Ms. Li said she wasn’t worried about feeding so much footage of Weixiao to the chatbot. In the social media age, “we don’t have a lot of privacy anyway,” she said.

And the benefits were more than worthwhile. She no longer had to spend hundreds of dollars a month on English tutoring, and Weixiao’s grades had improved. “It makes educational resources more equitable for ordinary people,” Ms. Li said.

Her relationship with Weixiao had improved, too, she said. “To ease tensions in a parent-child relationship, you can’t spend too much time on homework,” she said. “Just encouraging her is enough.”

(to be continued)

Translation

中國家長正將家庭作業外判給人工智能（1/2）

中國的家長們正轉向人工智能聊天機器人和其他工具，幫助孩子在學習上取得優勢，並減少因家庭作業而起的爭執

在中國，教育競爭異常激烈，家長正轉向人工智能以獲得競爭優勢。有些家長會製作互動式學習遊戲，或使用聊天機器人批改孩子的作業。另一些家長則使用人工智能設備來克服語言障礙。

他們樂於嘗試，這正是中國用戶接受人工智能用於學習的一個例子，雖然許多美國人擔心人工智能會向學生灌輸錯誤訊息或削弱批判性思考。這種文化差異有數據佐證：畢馬威會計師事務所（KPMG）主導的一項2025年全球調查發現，超過90%的中國人對這項技術持樂觀態度，而美國祇有略高於50%的人持相同看法。

中國的熱情催生了一個龐大且往往缺乏監管的教育科技市場，據估計，該市場價值超過430億美元，各種噱頭和誇張的行銷手段層出不窮。然而，對一些家庭來說，這些工具確實帶來了實質的幫助。三位家長分享了他們的日常視頻，展示了人工智能雖然並不完美，但確實讓他們的育兒和教育工作變得輕鬆了一些。

42歲的Zheng Wenqi是一位有兩個孩子的母親，同時也從事全職的公關工作。她幾乎沒有時間自己練習英語，更別提教孩子練習了。她知道自己9歲的兒子需要更多的口語練習，但不知該向誰練習說英語。

住在中國北方的黑龍江省的Zheng女士說道:「他根本沒有機會開口說英語」。

後來，她看到一個直播，推廣一款可以穿戴的電子設備，幫助她學習英語。

這款裝置由兩個部分組成：一個遮住嘴部的面罩和一個掛在脖子上的揚聲器。Zheng女士對著面罩說中文，面罩也會降低她的聲音。然後，揚聲器會播放翻譯。她開始每天在家裡戴它30到60分鐘。

根據生產這款設備的公司介紹，這款名為「母語之星」（Native Language Star）的設備售價約為375美元，其語音和語言模型由多家中國科技公司共同開發，生產公司位於深圳。

Zheng女士說，翻譯有時略顯生硬。但她說，大約一個月後，她的兒子開始自信地用英語交流，並主動發起對話。

Zheng女士還用這款設備教她5歲的女兒，女兒之前從未學過英語。這女孩現在可以描述一些日常活動，例如穿衣服和穿鞋。

Zheng女士說: 「我們會說，『現在是英語時間，大家一起說英語吧！』然後我會戴上那個東西」; 「之後他們就會說他們知道的英語了」。

 

擁有「眼睛」的聊天機械人

全職媽媽Li Linyun以前常常因為10歲的女兒Weixiao的學習而和她吵架。

現在，Li女士把Weixiao的作業的輔導委託給了人工智能聊天機械人。

居住在中國中部湖南省的Li女士說:「它就像一位24小時線上老師，知識淵博，而且非常有耐心」。

Li女士使用的是豆寶 (Doubao)，這是中國最受歡迎的人工智能聊天機械人，由TikTok的母公司位元組跳動 (ByteDance)開發。它有一個攝影機功能，家長稱之為豆寶的「眼睛」。人們可以利用它來了解更多周圍環境的信息，例如讓豆寶識別植物或提供更多關於博物館藏品的細節。 （ChatGPT 為付費用戶提供類似功能；豆寶的功能是免費的。）

經過更多嘗試，Li女士發現豆寶講解語法規則比她自己講得更好。

Weixiao說她很喜歡可以不停地重複讓豆寶講解，而老師們講得很快。 她說:“它講得更詳細，所以我能理解”。

Li女士也開始讓豆寶批改完成的作業，只需將照片上傳到應用程式即可。

Li女士說，聊天機械人可以識別錯誤答案並進行糾正，儘管它有時也會出錯。

攝影機還可以監控Weixiao的舉動。但Li女士說她很少使用這個功能，因為她女兒不喜歡被監視的感覺。

Li女士說，她並不擔心把Weixiao的那麼多影像資料給聊天機械人。她說，在社群媒體時代，「我們本來就沒太多隱私可言」。

同時，這樣做的好處顯而易見。她不用再每月花幾百美元請英文家教了，Weixiao的成績也提高了。Li女士說: 「這讓一般人更容易獲得教育資源」。

她還說，她和Weixiao的關係也改善了。 她又說:“要緩解親子關係緊張，不能在作業上花太多時間”，“鼓勵她就足夠了。”

（待續）

印度如何成為世界最大經濟體之一（2/2）

Recently the New York Times reported the following:

How India Became One of the World’s Biggest Economies (2/2)

India has grown rapidly despite its slow industrialization, and its economy is now nearly as big as Japan’s.

NYT - By Alex Travelli and Aaron Krolik. Alex Travelli reported from New Delhi, and Aaron Krolik from Seoul.

Feb. 27, 2026

(continue)

India is still poor. The average Japanese income is 12 times the Indian average. The average German’s is 21 times as great. Indians on average have incomes of only about $2,900 a year, and the country’s top-heavy economy means most of its citizens make far less.

The contrasts can be shocking. In India, billions of dollars are being invested to build data centers, and airports are sprouting everywhere, even as about 800 million people depend on the government for free sacks of grain.

India’s inequality leaves most of a billion people in a state of subsistence, and it hobbles the country as a whole. Social divisions deepen, it becomes harder to fund public health and education — and it gets much tougher for consumer-facing companies to turn a profit.

But for businesses like Bajaj Finserv, Mr. Bajaj estimated, the better-off 400 million Indians are a great opportunity in their own right. No other country except China has so large a group of consumers, he said.

Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister since 2014, said he intended to transform India into a fully developed country by 2047, the 100th anniversary of its independence. That won’t happen unless the country’s growth speeds up to the kind of pace China achieved earlier this century.

Since the Industrial Revolution, no other place has shot up the top-tier rankings except through the power of its factories. China, factory to the world, devotes 25 percent of its economy to manufacturing. When Mr. Modi announced a Make in India campaign in 2015, manufacturing accounted for 16 percent of the economy. Since then, it has fallen to 13 percent.

That is barely more than in the United States, which is called a postindustrial economy. As is the case in America, India’s economy is driven by its services, led by high-value work like chip design, computer engineering and office work for multinational companies, and powered by transportation and trade in goods.

The evolution of the Bajaj family business illustrates the point.

Bajaj Auto was much bigger than Bajaj Finserv when the companies split ways, but now the banking company is 50 percent larger. Finance, not factories, has been the hotter sector in India, as it is in the United States.

But Bajaj Auto has also grown, in keeping with the industrial part of India’s economy. It produces 4.5 million motorcycles and auto rickshaws a year, nearly half for export to countries like Indonesia, Egypt and Mexico.

The mixed quality of India’s economy has helped it weather storms like the financial crisis of 2008, but it also made the country vulnerable during trade negotiations with President Trump. Focused mainly on serving its own immense population, India found itself without any bargaining chips in global supply chains.

The three cities in the world with the most skyscrapers under construction in 2025 were all in India. The tallest of those buildings, however, the 56-story Palais Royale in Mumbai, is stalled, under construction since 2008. India is in a mode of making tall promises, and delivering on them sporadically.

“Directionally, India is in a very exciting place. It’s screwed up, sure, but we’re in a very interesting position for the next 10 to 15 years,” Mr. Bajaj said. Its young people, perhaps especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, he continued, are “bright, and hungry,” and before long they will become part of the world’s third-largest economy.

Translation

印度如何成為世界最大經濟體之一（2/2）

儘管工業化進程緩慢，印度仍實現了快速成長，其經濟規模如今已接近日本。

（繼續）

印度仍然很貧窮。日本人均收入是印度人的12倍，德國人均所得是印度人的21倍。印度人均年收入僅約2,900美元，而該國經濟活動結構高度過度集中於上層，導致大多數公民的收入遠低於此。

這種對比令人震驚。在印度，數十億美元正被投資用於建造數據庫，機場也如雨後春筍般湧現，同時，約有8億人依賴政府免費發放糧食。

印度的貧富差距導致十億人口中的大多數生活在勉強糊口的境地，也拖累了整個國家的發展。社會分化加劇，公共衛生和教育經費越來越難籌措，面向消費者的企業獲利也變得更加艱難。

但Bajaj先生估計，對於像Bajaj Finserv金融服務公司這樣的企業來說，四億富裕的印度人本身就是一個巨大的商機。他說，除了中國，沒有一個國家擁有如此龐大的消費族群。

自2014年以來一直擔任印度總理的莫迪表示，他計劃在2047年 - 印度獨立一百週年之際 - 將印度轉型為一個完全發達國家。除非印度的經濟成長速度能夠達到中國在本世紀初所取得的水平，否則這一目標將無法實現。

自工業革命以來，除了依靠強大的工廠力量之外，沒有一個國家能躋身世界一流經濟體之列。中國，這個“世界工廠”，其經濟的25%都用於製造業。 2015年莫迪先生宣布「印度製造」運動時，製造業佔印度經濟的16%。此後，這一比例下降至13%。

這僅略高於被稱為後工業經濟體的美國。與美國一樣，印度的經濟也以服務業為驅動，其中以晶片設計、電腦工程和跨國公司辦公服務等高附加價值工作為主導，並以貨物運輸和貿易為支撐。

Bajaj家族企業的演變就說明了這一點。

Bajaj汽車公司在分拆時規模遠大於Bajaj金融服務公司，但如今這公司的銀行的規模卻比汽車公司大了50%。正如在美國一樣，金融業而非製造業才是印度的熱門產業。

但Bajaj汽車公司也隨著印度經濟的工業化而發展壯大。該公司每年生產450萬輛摩托車和自動三輪車，其中近一半出口到印尼、埃及和墨西哥等國家。

印度經濟的複雜結構幫助其抵禦了2008年金融危機等風暴，但也使其在與特朗普總統的貿易談判中處於弱勢地位。由於主要關注服務其龐大的人口，印度在全球供應鏈中缺乏談判籌碼。

到2025年，全球在建摩天大樓最多的三個城市都位於印度。然而，其中最高的建築 - 位於孟買的56層樓高的皇家宮殿大廈（Palais Royale） - 自2008年以來一直處於停工狀態。印度似乎總是做出高遠的承諾，但兌現卻時斷時續。

Bajaj先生說: 「從發展方向來看，印度正處於一個非常令人興奮的階段。當然，它現在也存在一些問題，但在未來10到15年，我們處於一個非常有趣的境地」。他繼續說道，印度的年輕人，尤其是那些來自弱勢背景的年輕人， “聰明且渴望成功” ，他們很快就會成為世界第三大經濟體的一部分。

              So, India, the world’s fastest-growing large economy is showing an expansion at a rate of 7.5 percent last year. In early 2026 India has become the world’s fourth-largest economy, overtaking Japan. India is still poor as about 800 million people are depend on the government for free sacks of grain. The average Japanese income is 12 times the Indian average. The average German’s is 21 times as great. Indians on average have incomes of only about $2,900 a year, and the country’s top-heavy economy means most of its citizens make far less. I am interested in seeing how India will continue to expand its economy in the coming decade.

Note:

1.  A Top-heavy economy (上層經濟活動集中) is an economic structure characterized by significant concentration of wealth and resources, typically within a few sectors or among a small percentage of the population, resulting in imbalances and potential economic weaknesses. (ChatGPT)

Iran in Talks with 8 Countries Regarding Giving Safe Passage of Yuan-Denominated Oil Going Through the Strait of Hormuz, Sources Said

 Recently CNN.co.jp reported the following:

人民元で取引される石油の安全なホルムズ海峡通過、イランが8カ国と協議　情報筋

2026.03.18 Wed posted at 11:00 JST

（CNN） イラン政府は中東以外の8カ国との間で、中国人民元で取引される石油の安全なホルムズ海峡通過を認めるイランの提案について協議していることが分かった。イランの治安情報筋がCNNに明らかにした。

これらの国は、イランが人民元で石油を取引する国の船舶に海峡通過を認める案を検討しているとの報道を受け、合意の可能性を探るためイラン政府に接触した。

情報筋は8カ国の国名を明らかにしなかった。イランは現在の封鎖措置を維持することに加え、海峡を通る船の交通を管理することを含むより広範な対応も検討しているという。

イランは先日、米国やイスラエル、その同盟国の船舶を攻撃目標にすると表明。世界の石油の約5分の1が通過する航路を事実上封鎖する形となり、エネルギー価格の急騰を招いている。ホルムズ海峡への機雷の敷設も開始しており、海峡再開に向けた今後の取り組みは複雑化しそうだ。

Translation

Iran in Talks with 8 Countries Regarding Giving Safe Passage of Yuan-Denominated Oil Going Through the Strait of Hormuz, Sources Said

March 18, 2026, Wed, posted at 11:00 JST

(CNN) The Iranian government was reportedly in discussions with eight countries outside the Middle East regarding Iran's proposal to allow safe passage of oil traded in Chinese yuan to go through the Strait of Hormuz. An Iranian security source told CNN.

These countries contacted the Iranian government to explore the possibility of an agreement following reports that Iran was considering a plan to allow ships from countries trading oil in yuan to pass through the strait.

The source did not name the eight countries. Iran was reportedly considering broader measures, including controlling shipping traffic through the strait, in addition to maintaining its current blockade.

Iran recently declared it would target US, Israeli, and their allied ships. This effectively blocked a shipping lane through which approximately one-fifth of the world's oil passes, leading to a surge in energy prices. With the laying of mines in the Strait of Hormuz also beginning, future efforts toward reopening the strait were likely to become more complicated.

So, Iran is reportedly in discussions with some countries outside the Middle East to allow safe passage of oil traded in Chinese yuan to go through the Strait of Hormuz. I am interested to know what are these countries.

印度如何成為世界最大經濟體之一（1/2）

Recently the New York Times reported the following:

How India Became One of the World’s Biggest Economies (1/2)

India has grown rapidly despite its slow industrialization, and its economy is now nearly as big as Japan’s.

NYT - By Alex Travelli and Aaron Krolik. Alex Travelli reported from New Delhi, and Aaron Krolik from Seoul.

Feb. 27, 2026

India, the world’s fastest-growing large economy for four years in a row, released data on Friday showing that it expanded at a rate of 7.5 percent last year, driven in part by strength in manufacturing.

Many economists, and India’s government, had expected India to become the world’s fourth-largest economy in 2025, overtaking Japan in size. Instead, with the Indian rupee weak against the dollar and Japan’s yen relatively strong, India’s economy stayed a step behind when measured in dollar terms.

But in terms of growth, India far outperformed Japan, which grew only 1.1 percent in 2025. The three largest economies — the United States, China and Germany — all grew more slowly than India last year.

India became the world’s fifth-largest economy four years ago, pushing aside Britain, its former colonial ruler. The International Monetary Fund has projected that India will nudge past Japan in 2026.

The strong growth last year underscores India’s place as one of the world’s most consequential centers of economic gravity, despite breaking every rule about how countries are supposed to modernize. Its rise up the league table of economies has given it geopolitical clout and drawn interest from investors. Yet the shape of its progress is unique. With India’s economic power growing even faster than its population — now more than 1.4 billion people, larger than any other country’s — India is on a course all its own.

The country’s thousands of small businesses hire most of its workers, but an increasing share of growth has come from its biggest companies. Dynastic family firms play an outsize role at every scale, from conglomerates like Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Group to industry-specific companies.

Sanjiv Bajaj, a scion of a 100-year-old family business with roots in the automotive sector, has had a ringside view of India’s growth. Mr. Bajaj, 56, split off the Bajaj group’s financial services operation from Bajaj Auto in 2007. Bajaj Finserv started with $550 million under management and now controls $53 billion. Its own market value has grown 377 times over.

Much of the company’s success can be traced to India’s policies to modernize technology. In the past decade, the government has pushed biometric IDs and digital payments, pulling a majority of India’s adults into the banking system. India’s own digital payments system now processes 20 billion transactions a month. Most amounts are tiny, Mr. Bajaj said, but the sheer size of the country’s population means that even small shifts in behavior turn into tremendous moneymaking opportunities.

All of that data, Mr. Bajaj said, “allows us to look at every small shop owner and see his inflows and outflows every day.” His company can now make lending decisions at an enormous scale, bringing millions of Indians into the formal credit system, he said.

Among the world’s economies, the United States and China are way ahead in terms of size, ahead of Germany, Japan and India, all in a tight cluster, by about four to six times.

India has been holding tight to its position as the fastest-growing large economy since 2021. With annual growth of more than 6 or 7 percent, it doubles in size every decade, while Germany, Japan and most other rich countries struggle to hit yearly growth of 2 percent.

Germany and Japan have over decades become manufacturing powerhouses that have lifted their populations out of post-World War II poverty.

(to be continued)

印度如何成為世界最大經濟體之一（1/2）

 儘管工業化進程緩慢，印度經濟仍實現了快速成長，如今其經濟規模已接近日本

 印度連續四年蟬聯全球成長最快的大型經濟體，週五公佈的數據顯示，去年印度經濟成長率達7.5%，部分原因是製造業的強勁成長。

許多經濟學家和印度政府曾預計，印度將在2025年超越日本，成為世界第四大經濟體。然而，由於印度盧比對美元疲軟，日圓相對強勢，以美元計價，印度經濟仍落後日本。

但就成長而言，印度遠超過日本，日本2025年僅成長了1.1%。三大經濟體 - 美國、中國和德國 - 去年的成長速度都低於印度。

四年前，印度超越其前殖民統治者英國，成為世界第五大經濟體。國際貨幣基金組織預測，印度將在2026年超越日本。

儘管印度打破了各國現代化進程的常規，但其去年的強勁成長凸顯了印度作為全球最具影響力的經濟中心之一的地位。印度在全球經濟排名中的崛起賦予了其地緣政治影響力，並吸引了投資者的注意。然而，印度的發展軌跡卻獨樹一格。印度的經濟實力成長速度甚至超過了其人口成長速度 - 目前印度人口已超過14億，超過其他國家 - 印度正走著一條與眾不同的道路。

印度數以千計的小企業僱用了大部分勞動力，但越來越多的成長卻來自其最大的公司。世代家族企業從Mukesh Ambani的信實集團 (Reliance Group) 到行業特定型公司，各個層級的都扮演著舉足輕重的角色。

Sanjiv Bajaj，一位擁有百年歷史的汽車行業家族企業的繼承人，親眼見證了印度的經濟成長。現年56歲的Bajaj先生於2007年將Bajaj集團的金融服務業務從Bajaj Auto公司剝離。Bajaj金融服務公司(Bajaj Finserv) 最初管理的資產為5.5億美元，如今已控制著530億美元的資產。其市值成長了377倍。

該公司的巨大成功很大程度上要歸功於印度推行的技術現代化政策。過去十年，印度政府大力推廣生物辨識身分和電子支付，使大多數印度成年人納入了銀行體系。印度的電子支付系統目前每月處理200億筆交易。Bajaj先生表示，雖然大多數交易金額都很小，但印度龐大的人口基數意味著，即使是微小的行為變化也能轉化為巨大的獲利機會。

Bajaj先生說，所有這些數據「讓我們能夠了解每一位小商戶每天的資金流入和流出」。他表示，他的公司現在可以大規模做出貸款決策，將數百萬印度人納入正規信貸體系。

在全球經濟體中，美國和中國的規模遙遙領先，遠超德國、日本和印度這三個緊密相連的一組國家，大約是它們的四到六倍。

自2021年以來，印度一直保持著全球成長最快的大型經濟體的地位。其年增率超過6%或7%，每十年經濟規模翻一番，而德國、日本和大多數其他富裕國家卻難以達到2%的年增長率。

德國和日本經過數十年的發展，已成為製造業強國，使兩國人民擺脫了二戰後的貧困。

（待續）

50多歲的男性可能比女性老化得更快，原因在於有毒的「永久性化學物質」（2/2）

Recently CNN.com reported the following:

Men in their 50s may be aging faster than women due to toxic ‘forever chemicals’ (2/2)

CNN- By Sandee LaMotte

UPDATED FEB 26, 2026

(continue)

Using a biological clock

The study, published Thursday in the journal Frontiers in Aging, used public data from a randomly chosen group of 326 older women and men enrolled in 1999 and 2000 in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Blood samples gathered at the time were examined for the presence of 11 types of PFAS chemicals. The DNA methylome — an epigenetic marker regulating gene expression — was also measured in the blood cells of the participants.

For this study, researchers fed these DNA data into a dozen “epigenetic clocks,” also known as biological clocks, to estimate the aging of blood and other tissues in the participants.

The dangers of PFAS

Used since the 1950s to make consumer products nonstick, oil- and water-repellent and resistant to temperature change, PFAS chemicals have been linked to serious health problems, including cancer, fertility issues, high cholesterol, hormone disruption, liver damage, obesity and thyroid disease.

The dangers of so-called legacy PFAS, such as perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, or PFOS, perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, and perfluorohexane sulfonate, or PFHxS, are so well-known they have been targeted for elimination worldwide under the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, a global treaty that would reduce toxic chemicals that bioaccumulate in organisms and the environment. The United States has signed the treaty but has not ratified it.

Under the Biden administration, the US Environmental Protection Agency planned to impose stricter guidelines about legacy PFAS levels, including labeling them as “hazardous substances” under the US Superfund law. However, those plans have been rolled back or delayed under the Trump administration.

The chemical industry has created many other forms of PFAS that have not been as widely studied. Those chemicals may well have the same biological impacts as the rest of the PFAS family — and that’s what the new study found, Li said.

“Our results suggest that some less-studied PFAS — namely perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluorooctanesulfonamide (PFOSA) — may also have biologically meaningful associations,” Li said.

In fact, the study found higher concentrations of PFNA and PFOSA were strong predictors of faster epigenetic aging in men between 50 and 64 years of age but not in women.

Despite these findings, “it’s important not to panic,” Li said. “Our study shows associations, not proof of causation. PFAS exposure is widespread, and complete avoidance is unrealistic.

“However, reducing exposure where feasible — such as using certified water filters, following local water advisories, and minimizing contact with stain- or grease-resistant materials — may be reasonable steps,” he added. “At the same time, meaningful risk reduction depends largely on regulatory action and environmental cleanup, since many exposures occur at the community level.”

Translation

50多歲的男性可能比女性老化得更快，原因在於有毒的「永久性化學物質」（2/2）

（繼續）

利用生理時鐘

這項研究於週四發表在《老化領域探索》（Frontiers in Aging）雜誌上，使用了來自美國國家健康與營養調查的公開數據，該調查隨機選取了326名老年男女，他們於1999年和2000年參與了調查。

研究人員檢測了當時採集的血液樣本中是否有11種PFAS化學物質。此外，研究人員還測量了參與者血細胞中的DNA甲基化組 - 一種調節基因表現的表觀遺傳標記。

在這項研究中，研究人員將這些DNA數據輸入到十幾個「表觀遺傳時鐘」（也稱為生理時鐘）中，以估算參與者血液和其他組織的衰老程度。

PFAS的傷害

自 1950 年代起，PFAS 化學物質被用於製造不沾黏、防油、防水和耐溫變的消費品。然而，這些化學物質已被證實與多種嚴重的健康問題有關，包括癌症、生育問題、高膽固醇、荷爾蒙失調、肝損傷、肥胖和甲狀腺疾病。

所謂「 延存PFAS」（例如全氟辛烷磺酸 (PFOS)、全氟辛酸 (PFOA) 和全氟己烷磺酸 (PFHxS)）的危害已廣為人知，因此，根據 2001 年《關於持久性有機污染物的斯德哥爾摩公約》，這些物質已被列為全球消除的目標。該公約是一項旨在減少生物體和環境中生物累積性有毒化學物質的全球性條約。美國已簽署該條約，但尚未批准通過。

在拜登政府時期，美國環保署曾計劃對PFAS 的延存水平實施更嚴格的指導方針，包括根據美國「超級基金法」將其列為「有害物質」。然而，這些計劃在特朗普政府時期已被撤銷或推遲。

化學工業也製造了許多其他形式的 PFAS，但這些物質的研究並不廣泛。Li教授表示，這些化學物質很可能與 PFAS 家族的其他成員具有相同的生物學影響 - 而這正是這項新研究的發現。

Li教授說： “我們的研究結果表明，一些研究較少的 PFAS - 即全氟壬酸 (PFNA) 和全氟辛烷磺酰胺 (PFOSA) - 也可能具有生物學上有意義的關聯。”

事實上，研究發現，PFNA 和 PFOSA 濃度較高是 50 至 64 歲男性表觀遺傳老化加速的強有力預測指標，但在女性中則沒有這種預測作用。

儘管有這些發現，李教授說:「重要的是不要恐慌」。 「我們的研究表明存在關聯，但並未證明因果關係。我們十分普遍地暴露於PFAS，完全避免接觸是不切實際的」。

他補充道:「然而，在可行的情況下減少接觸 - 例如使用經認證的淨水器、遵循當地的水質建議以及盡量減少接觸防污或防油材料 - 地可以是合理的措施」; 「與此同時，真正的有效風險降低在很大程度上取決於監管措施和環境清理，因為許多接觸是在社區層面發生」。

              So, a new study finds that the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS appear to be making men to age faster in their 50s and early 60s. Researchers find that higher concentrations of PFNA and PFOSA are strong predictors of faster epigenetic aging in men. Apparently, in view of the dangers of PFAS, on personal level, reducing contacting them in our daily life is a good solution while meaningful risk reduction depends largely on regulatory action and environmental cleanup.

Note:

1. In genomics, 'DNA methylome' (“DNA甲基化組”) refers to the complete set of DNA methylation marks across the genome and it plays a crucial role in gene regulation and expression. (ChatGPT)