科学美国人60秒 SSS 冠状病毒相关的错误信息会产生严重后果

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Steve Mirsky.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是史蒂夫·米尔斯基。

"You know, the other day we had a bright, sunny day as we do today in New York, after many days of gloomy darkness and cold.

“前几天，在经历了许多天的阴暗和寒冷后，我们迎来了像今天的纽约一样阳光明媚的日子。

And I went outside to get some milk and saw the streets were full of people.

我出去买牛奶时，看到街上挤满了人。

And they were all young people who'd somehow gotten the message that this is only dangerous for old people."

他们都是年轻人，不知怎么得到的消息，称这种病只对老年人有危险。”

Laurie Garrett, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist

普利策奖获奖记者劳里·加勒特说到，

and author the 1995 book The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance.

她是1995年出版的《即将到来的瘟疫：失衡世界中新出现的疾病》一书的作者。

She's been on the pandemic beat for decades.

数十年来她一直在对抗流行病。

She was interviewed recently on the new Sustain What? Webcast launched last month by longtime journalist Andrew Revkin.

最近，她接受了资深记者安德鲁·雷夫上个月推出的网络广播《Sustain What?》的采访。

He now runs an initiative on communication and sustainability at Columbia University's Earth Institute.

他现在在哥伦比亚大学地球研究所负责关于交流与可持续性的倡议。

"You know, the misinformation that's come out is just incredible. And a lot of politicians are the major vehicles of this misinformation.

“所传出的这种错误信息简直令人难以置信。许多政客是这些错误信息的主要传播媒介。

They've somehow gotten the word that young people can't get sick, young people can't die, they won't be hospitalized. It's really not a problem.

他们不知怎么听到了这种说法：年轻人不会生病，年轻人不会死亡，他们也不会住院。这真的不是问题。

It's only old people, like me, that can get sick and die,

只有像我这样的老人才会生病和死亡，

so what the heck, I'll go ahead and go out and wander around and go jogging and hang out with my friends in the park for a picnic.

所以，管他呢，我要去外面闲逛、慢跑、和朋友们在公园里野餐。

And if I get infected, it's no biggie. Well, it is a biggie!

如果我被感染了，那也没什么大不了的。可这是个大事！

Because you can infect others. You can pass your virus on. You perpetuate¹ the epidemic². And, yes, you can get sick.

因为你可能传染别人。你会传染病毒。你会让传染病继续蔓延。没错，你可能会生病。

Forty percent of the seriously ill hospitalized people in New York City right now, which is the epicenter of the entire global pandemic at this moment,

纽约市目前是全球疫情的震中，约40%的重病住院患者都在纽约市，

40 percent of them are under 50 years of age.

其中有40%年龄在50岁以下。

So this notion that it's just old people: dead wrong.

因此，认为只有老年人会感染的观点，完全是大错特错。

And so the consequences of any statement by any leader that isn't rooted in solid science—

任何领导人发表的任何陈述，如果不是植根于可靠的科学，

or, if the solid science is uncertain, doesn't state the uncertainty—is socially irresponsible, is costing lives, is actually killing³ people."

或者，如果可靠的科学是不确定的且未说明其不确定性，那就是对社会不负责任，是在牺牲生命，实际上是在杀人。”

The entire Webcast is archived on YouTube, with the title, "The Press and the Pandemic: Tips from Pulitzer Winner Laurie Garrett."

完整版的网络广播存档在YouTube上，题目是“新闻与流行病：普利策奖得主劳里·加勒特的提示”。

For Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Steve Mirsky.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是史蒂夫·米尔斯基。

1 perpetuate   

v.使永存，使永记不忘

参考例句：

• This monument was built to perpetuate the memory of the national hero.这个纪念碑建造的意义在于纪念民族英雄永垂不朽。
• We must perpetuate the system.我们必须将此制度永久保持。

2 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。