新奇事件簿 顶拳比握手更卫生（在线收听）

A new(ish) and alternative form of greeting and showing respect has been found to be more hygienic than shaking hands. We have all seen it on TV. Basketball and baseball players do it after a teammate scores. Rock stars and actors do it onstage at awards ceremonies. Even U.S. President Barack Obama does it. What is it? Well, it's fist bumping. It's kind of like a high five, except the hand is clenched into a ball and the other person's fist is given a gentle nudge, knuckles to knuckles. Researchers at the University of Aberystwyth in Wales have discovered that this twenty-first-century greeting spreads one-twentieth of the germs than a traditional handshake does and around one-tenth of the germs in a high five.

研究发现，一种新的可选择的打招呼、表示尊重的方式，要比握手更加卫生。我们在电视上都曾见到过。篮球和棒球运动员在队友得分之后会那样做。摇滚明星和演员在颁奖仪式的舞台上也那样做过。甚至美国总统奥巴马也做过。是什么呢？那就是顶拳。这种方式有点像击掌，但是手指是紧握成球状的，然后另一个人轻轻用拳头顶一下，关节对关节。威尔士阿伯里斯特威斯大学的研究人员发现，这种21世纪的打招呼的方式传播的细菌是传统握手礼节的1/20，是击掌方式的1/10。

An article on Wikipedia explains that the fist bump originated with American motorcycle gangs in the 1940s. It was easier and safer to fist bump another rider than to shake hands when two bikes were side by side at traffic lights. It achieved global exposure 70 years later when in 2008, President Obama and his wife Michelle fist bumped during a televised presidential campaign speech. There is less skin-to-skin contact during a fist bump so the chance of spreading germs is lower. A researcher said: “People rarely think about the health implications of shaking hands, but if the general public could be encouraged to fist bump, there is a genuine potential to reduce the spread of infectious diseases.”

维基百科中的一篇文章解释说，顶拳起源于20世纪40年代美国的摩托帮。当摩托车手在交通灯前并排等着的时候，顶拳比握手更加简单、安全。这一方式在70年之后，也就是2008年受到了世界的关注，奥巴马总统在一次电视总统竞选演说的时候，与妻子米歇尔使用了顶拳的方式。在顶拳的过程中，皮肤之间的接触更少，这样细菌传播的可能就更小。一名研究人员称，人们基本不会想到握手对于健康的影响，但是如果能够鼓励人们使用顶拳的方式，那么就有降低传染性疾病传播的可能。