Research in Progress on Adding Ethanol to Vegetables to Help Them Grow in High Temperature Environments

Recently NHK News on-line reported the following:

野菜に“エタノール”与え気温高い環境でも成長させる研究進む

2025年8月1日 19時31分

記録的な暑さの影響で野菜の不作や品質の低下が問題となる中、理化学研究所の研究グループは野菜にアルコールの1種「エタノール」を与えることで、気温が高い環境でも安定して成長させる研究を進めています。

農林水産省によりますと、暑い日が続くと、キャベツなど葉物野菜の成長が止まったり、トマトの実がならなかったりとさまざまな農作物に影響が出るため、生産量の減少や品質の低下が懸念されています。

暑さに強い野菜の栽培方法を研究している理化学研究所・環境資源科学研究センターの関原明チームディレクターのグループは植物にアルコールの1種「エタノール」を根から吸わせたり、葉の上から噴霧したりすると気温が高い環境でも安定して成長することを突き止めました。

研究グループの実験では、ミニトマトに0.1％ほどに薄めたエタノール液を吸わせたあと、50度の気温に数時間さらして成長をみたところ、水だけを与えた場合と比べて、葉が大きく育ち、実の数も3倍以上になったということです。

さらにエタノールを与えたさまざまな植物を分析したところ、高温から細胞を守るたんぱく質の増加が見られたり、葉や実などに含まれる糖分が増えたりといった変化がみられたということで、研究グループは、エタノールには、厳しい暑さの中でも植物が育つ能力を引き出す効果があるとしています。

関チームディレクターは、「手に入りやすいエタノールを、希釈して与えるだけという簡単にできる方法なので、さらに研究を進めて世界に広めることで、異常な猛暑による農業の問題を少しでも緩和していきい」と話しています。

 

枝豆 エタノールを与えて栽培 生産会社は

静岡県菊川市で枝豆を生産する会社では、去年の夏の暑さの影響で7月下旬以降、7割ほど収穫量が減ったことから、ことしから希釈したエタノールを与えて栽培する新たな対策を取り入れました。

会社では、暑さが本格化したことし7月から枝豆を育てている畑に7％ほどのエタノール液を、10日おきにドローンで散布しています。

その結果、畑10アール当たりおよそ730キロの収穫があったということで、散布しないで栽培した場合と比べ面積当たりの収穫量は2倍程度になったということです。

また、収穫期までの期間も4日ほど短縮されたということです。

枝豆を生産する会社の深川知久社長は、「期待以上の結果が得られた。暑さに左右されることなく、計画的な栽培が可能となり、経営上も大きなメリットだ。今後、この暑さや乾燥と付き合いながら農業をする1つの答えではないか」と話していました。

Translation

Research in Progress on Adding Ethanol to Vegetables to Help Them Grow in High Temperature Environments

Amid concerns about poor harvests and declining quality due to record-breaking heat, a research group at the RIKEN Institute was conducting research to add ethanol, a type of alcohol, to vegetables to help them grow steadily even in high temperatures.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, prolonged hot weather could affect a variety of agricultural crops, such as halting the growth of leafy vegetables like cabbage and preventing tomatoes from bearing fruit, raising concerns about reduced production and declining quality.

A group led by Team Director Motoaki Seki (関原明)of the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science which was researching on methods to cultivate heat-tolerant vegetables had discovered that allowing plants to absorb ethanol, a type of alcohol, through their roots or spraying it on their leaves could allow them to grow steadily even in high temperatures.

In their experiment, the research group made cherry tomatoes to absorb some 0.1% diluted ethanol solution and then exposed them to temperatures of 50°C for several hours. The results showed that compared to plants given only water, their leaves grew larger and they produced more than three times as many fruits.

Further analysis of various plants given ethanol revealed changes such as an increase in proteins that protect cells from high temperatures and an increase in sugar content in the leaves and fruits. The research group concluded that ethanol enhances plants' ability to grow even in extreme heat.

Team Director Seki said, "This method is simple; all you have to do is dilute readily available ethanol and give it to plants. By furthering our research and spreading it around the world, we hope to alleviate the agricultural problems caused by extreme heat, even only a little bit."

 

Edamame Soybeans Cultivated with Ethanol: Production Company

A company that produced edamame soybeans in Kikugawa City of Shizuoka Prefecture saw its harvest drop by about 70% in late July last summer due to the heat, so this year they adopted a new strategy of cultivating plants with diluted ethanol.

As the heat intensified, since July the company had been using drones to spray a 7% ethanol solution every 10 days on the fields where they grew edamame beans.

As a result, they were able to harvest approximately 730 kg from 10 measures of fields, which in comparation was about double the yield from similar size using cultivation without spraying.

The time until the harvest had also been shortened by about four days.

Tomohisa Fukagawa (深川知久), president of the edamame producing company, said, "We have achieved results that exceeded our expectations. We can now plan cultivation without being affected by the heat, which is a major benefit from a business perspective. We believe this is one way to farm while dealing with heat and dryness in the future."

So, amid concerns about poor harvests and declining quality due to record-breaking heat, a research group at the RIKEN Institute is conducting research to add ethanol, a type of alcohol, to help vegetables grow steadily even in high temperatures. Apparently, this could be one way to do farming when dealing with heat and dryness. It is good news to farmers.

Note:

1. 理化学研究所, in short known as 理研 (in English: stylized in all caps as RIKEN) is a national scientific research institute in Japan. Founded in 1917, it now has about 3,000 scientists on seven campuses across Japan, including the main site at Wakō, Saitama Prefecture, on the outskirts of Tokyo. (Wikipedia)

2. アール is a measurement of area (100 sq.m.)​ adopted from French.

匯豐控股利潤暴跌，因中國業務虧損加劇

Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

HSBC profit tumbles as China losses mount

Reuters - Selena Li and Lawrence White

Updated Wed, July 30, 2025 at 1:59 a.m. PDT·4 min read

HONG KONG/LONDON (Reuters) -HSBC Holdings reported a sharper-than-expected drop in profit on Wednesday, hurt by write-downs from exposures to a Chinese bank and Hong Kong real estate, while the bank pushed ahead with a global restructuring.

Its 26% slump in pretax profit in the first half showed the challenge ahead for CEO Georges Elhedery, as Europe's largest bank racked up losses in China, where it has increasingly pinned its plans for growth in recent years after shrinking in Western markets.

Elhedery, who has unleashed a sweeping restructuring at the bank after taking charge last year, said in an earnings conference call that the bank started reviews of its retail banking business in Australia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, and will start winding down its Bangladesh retail business in the second half of this year.

The lender's corporate and institutional banking businesses were unaffected by these developments, he said.

The bank posted a profit of $15.8 billion for the first six months of this year, missing brokers' estimates of $16.5 billion.

London-listed shares of HSBC fell 4.5%, matching earlier losses in its Hong Kong shares.

The lender's shares have risen 36% in the last year, as it benefited from higher returns on its lending and grew income in its wealth business, though that lagged a 76% gain over the same period in rival Standard Chartered.

HSBC took a further $2.1 billion hit from its stake in state-run Bank of Communications, following a $3 billion impairment it took in February 2024 amid mounting bad loans in China.

CEO Elhedery downplayed the impairments on the bank's BoCom stake, saying it would have no impact on its ability to pay dividends.

"These are accounting-related impairments...they do not impact the outlook we have on the Chinese economy, they are paper losses," he said on the call.

The new writedown included a $1.1 billion loss as a result of the Chinese bank's fundraising earlier this year, which diluted HSBC's ownership.

China's property market, once a key growth driver for the world's second-largest economy, has been in a multi-year tailspin despite repeated government attempts to revive weak consumer demand, which left losses on domestic lenders' loan books.

HSBC's expected credit losses grew by $900 million compared to the first half of last year to $1.9 billion, the bank said, partly due to its exposure to Hong Kong's troubled commercial real estate sector.

A sluggish property market in Hong Kong could continue to weigh on the asset quality of banks operating in Hong Kong, analysts from Citigroup said.

Hang Seng Bank, which is 62% owned by HSBC, saw shares slump close to 7% on Wednesday after a 224% increase in Hong Kong real estate credit charges in the second quarter from a year ago.

 

DOUR OUTLOOK

HSBC also said the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's trade tariffs could cause it to miss its profitability target of a mid-teens return on tangible equity in future years, in a scenario where the economy deteriorates and central banks slash policy rates.

The lender disclosed it expects to recognise a loss of around $1.4 billion in the fourth quarter this year, when it completes the sale of a mortgage portfolio in France to insurer Rothesay and French lender CCF.

The corporate and institutional banking business, HSBC's biggest revenue earner after a sweeping reorganisation since last year, delivered $6.4 billion in pretax profit in the first half, up 4% from same period last year, and was the only business segment out of four main divisions that saw profit increase.

The lender, with a market value of $225 billion, announced a new share buyback worth up to $3 billion, in line with expectations, on top of a $3 billion buyback programme announced earlier this year.

The bank said it would pay an interim dividend of 10 cents a share.

HSBC's immediate challenge is to find a replacement for Chairman Mark Tucker, who announced his plan to step down in May after eight years at the bank, said Morningstar senior analyst Michael Makdad.

"It needs to make sure that shareholders in Asia remain on board with the strategic direction CEO Elhedery is taking centered on simplification and intensive cost-cutting, but without a radical overhaul of the entire business model," he said.

Translation

匯豐控股利潤暴跌，因中國業務虧損加劇

香港/倫敦（路透社） - 匯豐控股週三公佈，利潤降幅超預期，原因是其對一家中資銀行和香港房地產業務的風險敞口減值，同時該行正在推進全球重組。

匯豐控股上半年稅前利潤暴跌26%，凸顯了執行長 Georges Elhedery面臨的挑戰。這家歐洲最大的銀行在中國市場不斷虧損，而近年來，在縮減西方市場業務後，匯豐控股的成長計劃越來越多地專注中國市場。

Elhedery去年上任後，對匯豐銀行進行了全面重組。他在財報電話會議上表示，匯豐已開始審查其在澳洲、印尼和斯里蘭卡的零售銀行業務，並將在今年下半年開始逐步縮減其在孟加拉的零售銀行業務。

他表示，貸款企業和機構銀行業務上並未受到這些變化的影響。

匯豐銀行今年上半年獲利158億美元，低於券商預期的165億美元。

在倫敦上市的匯豐銀行股價下跌4.5%，與其香港股票早前的跌幅吻合。

匯豐銀行股價去年上漲了36%，得益於貸款業務回報率的提高和財富管理業務收入的增長，儘管這一漲幅低於其競爭對手渣打銀行同期76%的漲幅。

匯豐銀行持有的國營交通銀行股份再度遭受21億美元的損失，此前該行於2024年2月因中國不良貸款激增而受到30億美元的減損。

執行長Elhedery淡化了該行所持交通銀行股份的減損損失，稱這不會影響其派息能力。

他在電話會議上表示： “這些是與會計相關的減值…這不會影響我們對中國經濟的展望，而是帳面損失。”

新的減損包括中國銀行的今年稍早因融資導致的11億美元損失，這稀釋了匯豐銀行的持股比例。

中國房地產市場曾是世界第二大經濟體的主要成長動力，儘管政府多次嘗試重振疲軟的消費需求，但多年來一直處於低迷狀態，導致國內銀行的貸款帳簿上出現虧損。

匯豐銀行表示，其預期信貸損失較去年上半年增加9億美元，達到19億美元，部分原因是其在香港陷入困境的商業房地產領域的風險敞口。

花旗集團分析師表示，香港房地產市場低迷可能會繼續拖累在港營運的銀行的資產質素。

匯豐銀行持有恆生銀行62%的股份，該行股價週三暴跌近7%，原因是其第二季香港房地產信貸費用較去年同期增加了224%。

前景嚴峻

匯豐銀行也表示，在經濟惡化,且各國央行大幅下調政策利率的情況下，美國總統特朗普的貿易關稅措施可能導致其未來幾年無法實現有形資產回報率達到大約15% 的獲利目標。

該行披露，預計今年第四季將出現約14億美元的虧損，屆時將完成向保險公司Rothesay和法國貸款機構CCF出售法國抵押貸款組合的交易。

企業及機構銀行業務是匯豐自去年以來進行全面重組後最大的收入來源，上半年實現了64億美元的稅前利潤，年增長4%，是四大主要部門中唯一實現利潤增長的業務部門。

這家市值2,250億美元的銀行宣佈，根據在年初宣佈的30億美元股票回購計劃的基礎上，再進行一項高達30億美元的股票回購，這與預期相符。

該行表示，將派發每股10美分的中期股息。

晨星高級分析師 Michael Makdad 表示，匯豐目前面臨的挑戰是尋找董事長 Mark Tucker 的繼任人。 Tucker在該行任職八年後，於5月宣佈了卸任計劃。

他說： “公司需要確保亞洲股東繼續支持首席執行官 Elhedery 所採取的以簡化和大幅削減成本為中心的戰略方向，不會去徹底改革整個商業模式。”

So, HSBC Holdings reported a sharper-than-expected drop in profit that was hurt by write-downs from exposures to a Chinese bank and Hong Kong real estate. HSBC also said the impact of U.S.'s trade tariffs could cause it to miss its profitability target. Apparently, banking business in Hong Kong is having a difficult time.

美國商品貿易逆差因進口大幅下降創近兩年新低

Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

US goods trade deficit hits nearly two-year low as imports tumble

Reuters - Lucia Mutikani

Updated Tue, July 29, 2025 at 6:44 a.m. PDT·3 min read

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. trade deficit in goods narrowed to the lowest level in nearly two years in June as imports fell sharply, cementing economists' expectations that trade likely accounted for much of an anticipated rebound in economic growth in the second quarter.

While the unexpected contraction reported by the Commerce Department on Tuesday could prompt economists to upgrade their gross domestic product estimates for last quarter, the steep decline in imports flagged slowing domestic demand.

Imports surged in the first quarter as businesses rushed to beat higher prices from President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs on foreign merchandise, contributing to the first decline in GDP in three years. The Trump administration has announced a number of trade deals which economists said could help to ease uncertainty.

"This lends upside risk for our (GDP) forecast," said Matthew Martin, a senior U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. "As trade policy uncertainty eases, imports and exports may begin to find their troughs in the second half of the year and become less volatile."

The goods trade gap narrowed 10.8% to $86.0 billion last month, the lowest level since September 2023, the Commerce Department's Census Bureau said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the goods trade deficit would rise to $98.20 billion.

Imports of goods decreased $11.5 billion, or 4.2%, to $264.2 billion, the lowest level since March 2024. The decline was led by a 12.4% plunge in consumer goods imports.

Industrial supplies imports, which include crude oil and non-monetary gold, slumped 5.5%. Imports of foods, feeds and beverages fell 1.1%, while those of motor vehicles decreased 2.0%. But capital goods imports rose 0.6%.

Goods exports slipped $1.1 billion, or 0.6%, to $178.2 billion. They were held back by an 8.1% drop in exports of industrial supplies. But exports of capital goods shot up 4.7%, while shipments of foods, feeds and beverages increased 4.0%. Shipments of consumer goods advanced 1.5%.

The government is scheduled to publish its advance estimate of second-quarter GDP on Wednesday. A Reuters survey of economists forecasts that GDP rebounded at a 2.4% rate in the April-June period after contracting at a 0.5% in the first three months of this year.

Though a reversal is expected in the trade deficit after it sliced off a record 4.61 percentage points from GDP in the first quarter, some of the boost to growth was likely partially offset by businesses drawing down on some of the imports, which had landed in warehouses as inventory.

The Census Bureau report also showed wholesale inventories increased 0.2% in June after declining by 0.3% in May.

Stocks at retailers rose 0.3%, matching May's gain. They were driven by a 0.9% increase in motor vehicle stocks. Excluding motor vehicles, retail inventories were unchanged. This component goes into the GDP calculation.

Translation

美國商品貿易逆差因進口大幅下降創近兩年新低

華盛頓（路透社）— 由於進口大幅下降，美國6月份商品貿易逆差收窄至近兩年來的最低水平，這鞏固了經濟學家的預期，即貿易可能在很大程度上推動了第二季度經濟成長的預期反彈。

儘管美國商務部週二公佈的意外萎縮可能促使經濟學家上調對上季國內生產毛額（GDP）的預期，但進口的大幅下降表明國內需求正在放緩。

由於企業爭相應對特朗普總統對外國商品徵收全面關稅導致的價格上漲，第一季進口激增，導致GDP三年來首次下降。特朗普政府宣布了一系列貿易協議，經濟學家表示，這些協議可能有助於緩解不確定性。

牛津經濟研究院高級美國經濟學家 Matthew Martin 表示： “這給我們的（GDP）預測帶來了上行風險。隨著貿易政策不確定性的緩解，進出口可能在下半年開始觸底，波動性也會降低。”

美國商務部人口普查局表示，上個月商品貿易逆差收窄10.8%，至860億美元，為2023年9月以來的最低水準。路透社調查的經濟學家先前預測，商品貿易逆差將升至982億美元。

商品進口減少115億美元，至2,642億美元，降幅4.2%，為2024年3月以來的最低水準。降幅是由消費品進口下降12.4%所帶動。

包括原油和非貨幣黃金在內的工業用品進口量下降5.5%。食品、飼料和飲料進口下降1.1%，汽車進口下降2.0%。但資本貨物進口成長0.6%。

商品出口下滑11億美元，至1,782億美元，降幅0.6%。由工業用品出口下降8.1%所導致。但資本貨物出口飆漲4.7%，食品、飼料和飲料出口增加4.0%。消費品出口增長1.5%。

政府定於週三公佈第二季GDP初值。路透社對經濟學家的調查預測，GDP在今年第一季縮小0.5%後，4-6月將反彈2.4%。

儘管貿易逆差在第一季創紀錄地削減了GDP的4.61個百分點，預計未來將出現逆轉，部分成長推動力可能因企業減少進口而部分抵消, 這些進口商品以庫存形式存入倉庫。

美國人口普查局的報告也顯示，繼5月則下降了0.3%後, 6月批發庫存增加了0.2%，。

零售庫存增長了0.3%，對應5月份的增幅。這主要由於汽車庫存成長了0.9%。撇除機動車，零售庫存保持不變。這部分已納入GDP的計算。

So, the U.S. trade deficit in goods narrowed to the lowest level in nearly two years in June as imports fell sharply.  Yet a steep decline in imports suggests a slowing domestic demand. Apparently, there is an uncertainty in how the US markets will behave as the tariff war plays out.

 

俄羅斯的軍事資金關鍵支柱正在崩潰。時機再糟糕不過了

Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

The key pillar of Russia's war chest is cracking. The timing couldn't be worse.

Business Insider - Huileng Tan

Updated Wed, August 6, 2025 at 8:29 p.m. PDT·4 min read

Russia's revenue from oil and gas has plunged recently, putting further pressure on Moscow to end its war in Ukraine.

In July, Russian President Vladimir Putin's administration collected 787.3 billion rubles, or $9.8 billion, from oil and gas revenue — 27% lower than a year ago, according to the country's finance ministry on Tuesday.

The decline in energy tax revenue further strains Russia's budget, which posted a deficit of 3.7 trillion rubles, or 1.7% of GDP, in the first half of the year. Oil and gas remain vital to Russia's economy and to funding its war, now in its fourth year.

That funding is now under threat on multiple fronts.

Last month, the European Union unveiled its 18th sanctions package against Russia. It replaced the fixed $60-per-barrel cap on Russian oil with a more flexible mechanism that limits prices to 15% below global market averages, effectively slashing Moscow's revenue on each exported barrel.

But the pressure isn't just coming from Europe.

 

Trump targets India over Russian oil

Recently, Trump has sharpened his rhetoric — and trade threats — against countries buying Russian oil, singling out India, a top buyer of the fuel.

Last week, Trump announced a 25% tariff on Indian goods and a "penalty" for its purchases of Russian oil.

"I think I'm going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours because they're buying Russian oil, they're fueling the war machine," Trump told CNBC in a Tuesday phone interview.

On Wednesday, the American president doubled that rate to 50%. The higher levy would take effect within 21 days.

India's external affairs ministry pushed back, saying on Monday that its energy imports are focused on ensuring "predictable and affordable energy costs" for Indian consumers.

Trump said last week that he wants a deal to end Russia's war with Ukraine by August 8.

"Putin will stop killing people if you get energy down another $10 a barrel. He's going to have no choice because his economy stinks," Trump told CNBC on Tuesday.

Even with Trump's ultimatum, Russia is likely to dig in its heels, according to Tatiana Orlova, a lead emerging markets economist at Oxford Economics.

"The Russian leadership seems to view the economy's resilience during the first three and a half years of war as proof that it is immune to further sanctions," Orlova wrote in a Wednesday note.

She estimates there's a 70% chance Russia continues the war.

If that happens, Washington is likely to respond with additional sanctions, particularly targeting Russia's energy sector, she said.

"The Russian economy is rapidly losing momentum, and additional 'biting' sanctions could tip it into recession, depending on the severity of the new measures," she added.

 

India could make a deal for trade relief

While most analysts believe India is unlikely to drastically reduce its Russian oil intake, some say it could be used as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations with Washington.

"Some reduction in Russian oil imports as part of a grand bargain is not outlandish, given that Russian crude share of total crude imports has surged from being negligible to ~38% since 2022," wrote Vishnu Varathan, Mizuho's head of macro research for Asia, excluding Japan.

Varathan cited the "dire threat of unrelenting US geo-economic pressures" as a key factor in why Delhi could reduce dependency on Russian oil as part of a trade deal with Trump.

Crude oil futures rose briefly following Trump's tariff threats but ended Wednesday lower as weak fundamentals persist.

US crude oil futures are down about 10% year to date, with global supply remaining strong as OPEC ramps up output. Demand from China, a major importer, is also weak amid a prolonged economic slowdown.

Analysts at ING said the market could absorb modest price increases if India cuts Russian oil imports and shifts to other suppliers. But they warned broader pullbacks could be disruptive.

"If India were to stop buying Russian oil amid tariff threats, we believe the market would be able to cope with the loss of this supply," wrote commodities strategists at ING in a Wednesday note.

However, the bigger risk is if other major Russian oil buyers also start to avoid buying the commodity.

"This would require OPEC to tap into its spare production capacity quickly and aggressively to balance the market. This could result in significant further upside for prices," they wrote.

Translation

俄羅斯的軍事資金關鍵支柱正在崩潰。時機再糟糕不過了

俄羅斯的石油和天然氣收入近期大幅下降，這給莫斯科帶來了進一步的壓力，迫使其結束在烏克蘭的戰爭。

根據俄羅斯財政部週二公佈的數據，今年7月，俄羅斯總統普京政府的石油和天然氣收入為7,873億盧布，約合98億美元，比去年同期下降了27%。

能源稅收的下降進一步加劇了俄羅斯的預算壓力，今年上半年俄羅斯的預算赤字達到3.7兆盧布，佔GDP的1.7%。石油和天然氣對俄羅斯經濟以及已進入第四年的戰爭資金仍然至關重要。

這些資金目前正面臨多方面的威脅。

上個月，歐盟公佈了針對俄羅斯的第18項制裁方案。該方案取代了對俄羅斯石油每桶60美元的固定上限，取而代之的是一套更靈活的機制，將價格限制在全球市場平均以下15%，這實際上大幅削減了莫斯科每桶出口石油的收入。

但壓力不僅來自歐洲。

 

特朗普就俄羅斯石油問題瞄準印度

最近，特朗普加強了針對購買俄羅斯石油國家的措辭和貿易威脅，並將印度 - 即俄羅斯石油的最大買家 - 特別強調提及。

上週，特朗普宣布對印度商品徵收25%的關稅，並對其購買俄羅斯石油處以「罰款」。

特朗普在周二接受CNBC電話採訪時表示： “我認為我將在未來24小時內大幅提高稅率，因為他們正在購買俄羅斯石油，他們正在為戰爭機器提供燃料。”

週三，美國總統將稅率翻倍至50%。較高的稅率將在21天內生效。

印度外交部週一反駁稱，其能源進口的重點是確保印度消費者獲得「可預測且可負擔的能源成本」。

特朗普上週表示，他希望在8月8日前達成協議，結束俄羅斯與烏克蘭的戰爭。

特朗普週二告訴CNBC： “如果能源價格再下降10美元/桶，普京就會停止殺人。他將別無選擇，因為他的經濟狀況十分糟糕。”

牛津經濟研究院首席新興市場經濟學家 Tatiana Orlova 表示，即使特朗普發出最後通牒，俄羅斯仍可能堅持己見。

Orlova 在周三的一份報告中寫道： “俄羅斯領導層似乎將俄羅斯經濟在戰爭前三年半的韌性視為其不受進一步製裁影響的證據。”

她估計，俄羅斯繼續戰爭的可能性為70%。

她表示，如果發生這種情況，華盛頓可能會採取進一步製裁措施，特別是針對俄羅斯的能源領域。

她補充說： “俄羅斯經濟正在迅速失去動力，額外的 ‘嚴厲’制裁可能會使其陷入衰退，這取決於新措施的嚴重程度。”

 

印度或將達成減輕貿易損失的協議

雖然大多數分析師認為印度不太可能大幅減少對俄羅斯石油的進口，但一些人表示，這可以作為與華盛頓進行貿易談判的籌碼。

Mizuho的亞洲（不包括日本）宏觀研究主管 Vishnu Varathan 寫道：「作為一項大協議的一部分，減少俄羅斯石油進口量並不奇怪，因為自2022年以來，俄羅斯原油在印度總進口量中的佔比已從微不足道飆升至約38%。」

Varathan 指出，「美國持續不斷的地緣經濟壓力帶來的可怕威脅」是印度在與特朗普達成貿易協議的過程中可能減少對俄羅斯石油依賴的關鍵因素。

在特朗普發出關稅威脅後，原油期貨一度上漲，但由於基本面持續疲軟，週三收盤走低。

美國原油期貨價格今年迄今下跌約10%，隨著 OPEC 增產，全球供應仍強勁。在經濟長期放緩的背景下，主要進口國中國的需求也較為疲軟。

ING 分析師們表示，如果印度減少從俄羅斯的石油進口並轉向其他供應國，市場可以消化小幅價格上漲。但他們警告稱，更廣泛的回調可能會造成破壞性影響。

ING大宗商品策略師們在周三的一份報告中寫道： “如果印度在關稅威脅下停止購買俄羅斯石油，我們相信市場將能夠應對供應減少的損失。”

然而，更大的風險在於其他主要的俄羅斯石油買家是否也開始避免購買這商品。

他們寫道： “這將需要OPEC迅速而積極地利用其閒置產能來平衡市場。這可能會導致油價進一步大幅上漲。”

So, Russia's revenue from oil and gas has plunged recently, putting further pressure on Moscow to end its war in Ukraine. In July, Putin's administration collected $9.8 billion from oil and gas revenue which was 27% lower than a year ago. The decline in energy tax revenue strains Russia's budget further. Oil and gas are vital to Russia's economy and its war effort. Apparently, Putin needs to handle the situation carefully.

Note:

1. In investing or market analysis, a 'broader pullback' refers to a decline in prices across the market or within a sector, usually due to market sentiment or economic factors.

一項新研究表明，史前尼安德特人的飲食中蛆蟲含量豐富 (2/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

Prehistoric Neanderthal diets were maggot heavy, a new study suggests (2/2)

Katie Hunt, CNN

Fri, July 25, 2025 at 12:24 p.m. PDT·7 min read

(continue)

‘No brainer’

It was a “no brainer” that Neanderthals ate maggots, said Karen Hardy, a professor of prehistoric archaeology at the University of Glasgow in Scotland.

Hardy, who wasn’t involved in the study, said the authors provided a “strong argument in favor of maggot consumption,” although such behavior is unlikely to be conclusively proven because maggot remains do not survive in the archaeological record.

“The surprise element is more to do with our Western perspective on what is edible and what is not,” she added.

Today, at least 2 billion people worldwide are estimated to consume insects as part of traditional diets, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

The study also noted that, according to historical accounts, many indigenous peoples such as the Inuit “viewed thoroughly putrefied, maggot-infested animal foods as highly desirable fare, not starvation rations.” Many such groups, according to the study, “routinely, often intentionally, allowed animal foods to decompose to the point where they were crawling with maggots, in some cases even beginning to liquify, and inevitably emitting a stench so overpowering that early European explorers, fur trappers, and missionaries were sickened by it.”

Knud Rasmussen, a polar explorer from Greenland, recorded the following culinary experience, cited in the study, in his 1931 book “The Netsilik Eskimos: Social Life and Spiritual Culture.”

“The meat was green with age, and when we made a cut in it, it was like the bursting of a boil, so full of great white maggots was it. To my horror my companions scooped out handfuls of the crawling things and ate them with evident relish. I criticised their taste, but they … said, not illogically: “You yourself like caribou meat, and what are these maggots but live caribou meat? They taste just the same as the meat and are refreshing to the mouth.”

The study also noted that maggots are not unknown in Western culinary traditions, noting the Sardinian cheese casu marzu is replete with the larvae of cheese skipper flies.

Beasley said that Northern latitude groups still process these foods today and consume them safely when prepared following traditional practices.

Limitations

Beasley’s research on modern-day corpses was exploratory and had several limitations, she cautioned.

The work, which involved small sample sizes, focused on human muscle tissue, not the tissue or organs of animals that might have been hunted by Neanderthals. What’s more, the fly larvae, which came from three different families, might have differed from those that existed in the late Pleistocene, which ended around 11,000 years ago.

The study also didn’t account for the wide variety of climates and temperatures that would have had an effect on stored meat in the Stone Age. She also added that the human body tissue wasn’t cooked, processed or prepared in any way.

Beasley has spoken with researchers in Alaska in the hopes of connecting with native groups that would be interested in sharing traditional food preparations. Her goal is to better understand how that might affect the nitrogen level.

The new research has “opened a fascinating line of inquiry” into the culinary practices of Stone Age hunter-gatherers such as Neanderthals, said Wil Roebroeks, professor emeritus of paleolithic archaeology at Leiden University in the Netherlands. He wasn’t involved in the research.

“It certainly gives a fresh — if that is the right word here — perspective on Neanderthal and other Late Pleistocene humans’ diets,” Roebroeks added.

Translation

一項新研究表明，史前尼安德特人的飲食中蛆蟲含量豐富 (2/2)

（繼續）

“毋庸置疑”

蘇格蘭格拉斯哥大學史前考古學教授 Karen Hardy 表示，尼安德特人食用蛆蟲是「毋庸置疑」的。

Hardy並未參與這項研究，但她表示，作者們提供了 “強有力的論點來支持食用蛆蟲” ， 儘管由於考古記錄中沒有蛆蟲的遺體而不太可能最終證實這種行為。

她補充道: 「令人驚訝的因素更多是與我們西方人對可食用和不可食用的視角有關」。

根據聯合國糧食及農業組織估計，如今全球至少有20億人將食用昆蟲作為傳統飲食的一部分。

研究也指出，根據歷史記載，許多原住民民族，例如 Inuit 人，「將徹底腐爛、蛆蟲滋生的肉類食物視為極佳的食物，而非充飢的口糧」。研究指出，許多這樣的群體「經常、通常是故意地讓動物性食物腐爛到爬滿蛆蟲的程度，在某些情況下甚至開始液化，不可避免地散發出令人作嘔的惡臭，令早期的歐洲探險家、毛皮獵人和傳教士感到噁心」。

該研究引用了格陵蘭極地探險家 Knud Rasmussen 在其1931年出版的《內特西利克愛斯基摩人：社會生活與精神文化》一書中記錄了的以下一段的烹飪體驗經歷。

肉隨著時間變綠，我們切開它，感覺就像膿腫破裂，裡面爬滿了巨大的白色蛆蟲。令我驚恐的是，我的同伴們一把一把地舀出這些爬蟲，津津有味地吃著。我批評它們的味道，但他們……卻不無邏輯地說： “你自己也喜歡吃馴鹿肉，這些蛆蟲不就是活馴鹿肉嗎？它們的味道和肉一樣，而且吃起來清爽可口。”

研究也指出，蛆蟲在西方烹飪傳統中並非聞所未聞，例如撒丁島的 casu marzu 乳酪就充滿乳酪蠅的幼蟲。

Beasley 表示，北緯地區的人們至今仍在加工這些食物，只要按照傳統做法烹調，就能安全食用。

 

局限

Karen Hardy 提醒說，Beasley 對現代屍體的研究是探索性的，存在一些限制。

這項研究的樣本量較小，著重於人體肌肉組織，而不是可能被尼安德特人獵殺的動物的組織或器官。此外，來自三個不同科的蠅幼蟲可能與末期更新世（約1.1萬年前結束）的蠅幼蟲有所不同。

這項研究也沒有考慮到石器時代氣候和溫度的多樣性對儲存肉類的影響。她還補充說，無論如何人體組織沒有經過任何烹飪、加工或準備。

Beasley 與阿拉斯加的研究人員進行了交流，希望能與那些有興趣分享傳統食物烹飪方法的當地群體建立聯繫。她的目標是更好地了解這可能會如何影響氮含量。

荷蘭萊頓大學舊石器時代考古學榮譽教授 Wil Roebroeks 表示，這項新研究因探索尼安德特人等石器時代狩獵採集者的烹飪實踐而 “開闢了一條引人入勝的探索路線” 。他並未參與這項研究。

Roebroeks 補充道: 「這無疑為尼安德特人和其他晚更新世人類的飲食提供了一個全新的 - 如果這個詞用得恰當的話 - 視角」。

So, a chemical signature in Neanderthal remains suggests their robust meat-eating habit. Now, new research hints at an unexpected Stone Age food - maggots - that could explain a distinctive chemical signature detected in the bones of prehistoric humans, including Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, and this gives a fresh perspective on Neanderthal and other Late Pleistocene humans’ diets.

一項新研究表明，史前尼安德特人的飲食中蛆蟲含量豐富 (1/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

Prehistoric Neanderthal diets were maggot heavy, a new study suggests (1/2)

Katie Hunt, CNN

Fri, July 25, 2025 at 12:24 p.m. PDT·7 min read

Neanderthals had a voracious appetite for meat. They hunted big game and chowed down on woolly mammoth steak as they huddled around a fire. Or so thought many archaeologists who study the Stone Age.

Fresh meat was far from the only thing on the menu, according to a growing body of research that has revealed our archaic cousins ate a varied diet that included pulses and shellfish.

Still, a chemical signature in Neanderthal remains that suggests robust meat eating — observed at higher levels than those seen in top predators such as lions and wolves — has puzzled researchers for decades. Now, new research hints at an unexpected Stone Age food.

Maggots — the larvae of flies, which hatch in and feed on decaying animal tissue — may also have been a staple of prehistoric diets, a study published Friday in the journal Science Advances suggests.

Lead author Melanie Beasley, an assistant professor of biological anthropology at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, found that a taste for maggots could explain a distinctive chemical signature detected in the bones of prehistoric humans, including Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, a species that went extinct 40,000 years ago.

The findings back up a hypothesis that had been put forward by Beasley’s coauthor John Speth, an anthropologist at the University of Michigan, who has for nearly a decade argued that putrid meat and fish would have formed a key part of prehistoric diets. His work was based on ethnographic accounts of the diets of indigenous groups, who he said found rotten meat and maggots acceptable fare.

“Not a lot of people took notice, because it was like this is an out-there idea. And there wasn’t any data,” said Beasley, who heard Speth give a talk in 2017 and subsequently decided to test his hypothesis.

Understanding past diets

To understand past diets and where an animal sat in the ancient food chain, scientists study the chemical signature of different isotopes, or variants, of elements such as nitrogen or carbon, which are preserved in teeth and bones over thousands of years.

Researchers first found in the 1990s that the fossilized bones of Neanderthals unearthed in Northern Europe had particularly elevated levels of the nitrogen-15 isotope, a chemical signature that suggests their meat consumption was on par with hypercarnivores such as lions or wolves.

“Grass will have one (nitrogen) value, but then the deer that eats the grass is going to have a higher value, and then the carnivore that eats the deer is going to have an even higher value,” Beasley explained. “So you can track nitrogen through this trophic food web system.” Neanderthal remains, she said, had even higher nitrogen values than carnivores.

This was puzzling, however, because modern-day humans, unlike wolves and lions, cannot stomach large quantities of lean meat. Overindulging in it can lead to a potentially lethal form of malnutrition in which the liver fails to break down the protein and rid the body of excess nitrogen.

Known today as protein poisoning, the condition was more common among European explorers of North America — who dubbed the illness “rabbit poisoning” or “mal de caribou” — given that wild game was far leaner than today’s farmed meat. Archaeologists believe that Neanderthals understood the importance of fatty nutrients, and, at least in one location in what’s now Germany, processed animal bones on a large scale to extract the fat.

Rotten meat might be higher in nitrogen than fresh tissue and may have been responsible for boosting nitrogen levels in Neanderthal bones, Speth’s research has suggested.

Not long after hearing Speth speak, Beasley, who was previously a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she conducted research at its Forensic Anthropology Center, decided to investigate. The research facility, sometimes described as a body farm, was established to study how the human body decomposes.

There, she analyzed nitrogen levels in the rotting tissue of donated human corpses left outdoors and the fly larvae that formed in the muscle tissue. The work, conducted over a two-year period, required a strong stomach, she said.

Beasley found that nitrogen levels increased modestly over time in the human tissue. However, she observed much higher nitrogen levels in the fly larvae, suggesting that Neanderthals and early modern humans likely consumed animal meat laced with maggots on a regular basis.

“I started getting the (nitrogen) values back, and they were just astronomically high,” Beasley recalled.

“John (Speth) and I started talking: What if it’s not just the putrid meat, but it’s the fact that … they’re never going to be able to prevent flies from coming and landing on the meat, and so fly larva just become part of the delicacy,” she said.

The data from her work not only provides insight into the Neanderthal diet but also informs modern forensic science, with nitrogen levels in maggots that form in human corpses helping scientists pinpoint time since death, she noted.

(to be continued)

Translation

一項新研究表明，史前尼安德特人的飲食中蛆蟲含量豐富 (1/2)

尼安德特人 (Neanderthals) 對肉類有著極大的胃口。他們獵捕大型獵物，並圍坐在火堆旁，狼吞虎嚥地吃著猛獁象的排。許多研究石器時代的考古學家都是這麼認為的。

越來越多的研究表明，我們的古代表親飲食種類繁多，包括豆類和貝類，鮮肉遠非菜單上的唯一食物。

然而，尼安德特人遺骸中一種表明其肉食量旺盛的化學特徵 - 其含量甚至高於獅子和狼等頂級掠食者 - 幾十年來一直困擾著研究人員。現在，新的研究暗示了一種意想不到的石器時代食物。

週五發表在《科學進展》雜誌上的一項研究表明，蛆 - 蒼蠅的幼蟲，在腐爛的動物組織中孵化並進食爛肉 - 也可能是史前飲食的主要成分。

研究的主要作者、印第安納州西拉斐特市 Purdue大學的生物人類學助理教授 Melanie Beasley 發現，對蛆情有獨鍾可以解釋在史前人類骨骼中檢測到的一種獨特化學特徵，包括智人和4萬年前滅絕的尼安德特人。

這些發現支持了Beasley 的合著者、密西根大學人類學家 John Speth 提出的一個假設。近十年來，Beasley一直認為腐爛的肉類和魚類是史前飲食的重要組成部分。他的研究是基於對原住民群體飲食的民族誌記錄，他表示，這些原住民群體認為腐爛的肉類和蛆是可以接受的食物。

Beasley 說: 「這沒多少人注意到，因為這聽起來像是一個天方夜譚。而且沒有任何數據」。她在2017年聽了 Speth 的演講，隨後決定驗證他的假設。

 

了解過去的飲食

為了解過去的飲食以及動物在古代食物鏈中的位置，科學家研究了氮或碳等元素不同同位素（或變體）的化學特徵，這些元素在牙齒和骨骼中保存了數千年。

研究人員在1990年代首次發現，在北歐出土的尼安德特人骨骼化石中氮-15同位素的含量特別高，這一化學特徵表明他們的肉類食用量與獅子或狼等超級食肉動物相當。

Beasley 解釋: 「草會有一個(氮含量)值，但吃草的鹿的含氮值會高些，而吃鹿的食肉動物的氮含量會更高」; 「所以你可以透過這個食物網系統追蹤氮的含量」。她表示，尼安德特人遺骸的氮含量甚至比食肉動物更高。

然而，這是令人費解，因為現代人類與狼和獅子不同，無法消化大量瘦肉。過量食用瘦肉會導致一種可能致命的營養不良，肝臟無法分解蛋白質並排出體內多餘的氮。

這種疾病如今被稱為蛋白質中毒，在北美的歐洲探險家群體中更為常見 - 他們稱之為“中兔子毒”或“馴鹿病”，因為當時的野味比今天的養殖肉類要瘦得多。考古學家認為，尼安德特人了解脂肪營養的重要性，並且至少在如今德國的一個地方，他們曾大規模加工處理動物骨骼以提取脂肪。

Speth 的研究表明，腐爛的肉中的氮含量可能高於新鮮肉，這可能是導致尼安德特人骨骼中氮含量升高的原因。

在聽了 Speth 的演講後不久，曾在田納西大學 Knoxville 分校擔任博士後研究員的 Beasley 決定展開調查，她曾在該校的法醫人類學中心進行研究。這個研究機構有時被稱為 “屍體農場”，旨在研究人體的分解過程。

在那裡，她分析了遺棄在野外而被捐贈到來的人類屍體的腐爛組織, 及在組織中形成的蠅蛆中的氮含量。她說，這項工作持續了兩年，需要能夠忍受心理或生理上的壓力。

Beasley發現，人體組織中的氮含量會隨著時間的推移而略有增加。然而，她觀察到蠅蛆體內的氮含量要高得多，這表明尼安德特人和早期現代人類可能經常食用含有蛆的動物肉。

Beasley回憶道: 「我開始測量（氮）值，結果發現它們是天文數字般高」。

她說: 「我和約翰(Speth）開始討論：如果問題不僅僅是腐爛的肉，而是……他們永遠無法阻止蒼蠅飛來停在肉上，所以蠅蛆就成了美味佳餚的一部分」。

她指出她的研究數據不僅對尼安德特人的飲食提供了深刻的見解，也為現代法醫學提供了資訊。人類屍體中形成的蛆蟲的氮含量有助於科學家確定死亡時間。

（待續）

根據《金融時報》報道，儘管美國實施限制，價值10億美元的英偉達AI晶片仍進入中國

Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

Nvidia AI chips worth $1 billion entered China despite US curbs, FT reports

Reuters - Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur

Thu, July 24, 2025 at 5:27 a.m. PDT·2 min read

(Reuters) -Nvidia's advanced artificial intelligence chips worth at least $1 billion were smuggled to China in the three months after Washington tightened chip export controls, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

The AI chip designer's high-end B200 processors, banned for sale in China, is widely available on a thriving Chinese black market for U.S. chips, the report said, citing sales contracts, company filings and multiple people with direct knowledge of the deals.

Nvidia told Reuters that building data centers with smuggled products is inefficient both technically and financially, as the company only offers service and support for authorized products.

The U.S. Department of Commerce, White House and Thai government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the FT report.

In May, multiple Chinese distributors started selling B200s to suppliers of data centers that serve Chinese AI groups, according to the report.

The U.S. and China are battling for global dominance in AI and other cutting-edge technologies, triggering a tightrope walk for companies such as Nvidia between the world's two largest economies.

Nvidia last week said it would be allowed to resume sales to China after the Trump administration reversed an export restriction on the sales of chips such as H20. The curbs were imposed in April.

In the three months before that, Chinese distributors from Guangdong, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces sold Nvidia's B200s, as well as other restricted processors such as the H100 and H200, according to the report.

Southeast Asian countries have become markets where Chinese groups obtained restricted chips, the report said, citing industry experts.

The U.S. Commerce Department is discussing adding more export controls on advanced AI products to countries such as Thailand as soon as September, the report said.

Translation

根據《金融時報》報道，儘管美國實施限制，價值10億美元的英偉達AI晶片仍進入中國

（路透社）- 根據《金融時報》週四報道，在華盛頓加強晶片出口管制後的三個月內，至少價值10億美元的英偉達先進人工智慧晶片被走私至中國。

該報告引述銷售合約、公司文件以及多名直接了解相關交易的人士的話稱，在中國被禁止銷售的這家AI晶片設計公司的高階B200處理器，在蓬勃的中國的美國晶片黑市上隨處可得到。

英偉達向路透社表示，使用走私產品建造數據中心在技術和財務上都是低效的，因為該公司只為授權產品提供服務和支援。

美國商務部、白宮和泰國政府均未立即回應置評要求。路透社無法獨立核實《金融時報》的報導。

據報道，今年5月，多家中國經銷商開始向服務中國人工智能集團的數據中心供應商銷售B200處理器。

美國和中國正在爭奪人工智能和其他尖端技術領域的全球主導地位，這使得英偉達等公司在世界兩大經濟體之間著面對两難的挑戰。

英偉達上週表示，在特朗普政府撤銷對H20等晶片出口限制後，該公司將被允許恢復對華銷售。此限制措施於4月實施。

據報道，在此之前的三個月裡，來自廣東、浙江和安徽省的中國經銷商銷售了英偉達的B200處理器，以及其他受限的處理器，例如H100和H200。

報告引述業內專家的話稱，東南亞國家已成為中國企業取得受限晶片的市場。

報道稱，美國商務部正在討論最快於9月對泰國等國家加強對先進人工智能產品的出口管制。

So, Nvidia's advanced artificial intelligence chips worth at least $1 billion were smuggled to China in the three months after Washington tightened chip export controls and Southeast Asian countries had become markets where Chinese groups could obtain restricted chips. I am wondering what the US will do regarding this smuggling.