A new version of omicron has taken hold in the U.S., according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.根据美国疾病控制与预防中心的最新数据，一种Omicron新变种已经在美国肆虐。The subvariant of omicron, named XBB.1.5, has raised concerns about another potential wave of Covid cases following the busy holiday travel season.这种名为XBB.1.5的Omicron新变种引发了人们对繁忙假日旅行季之后可能出现的另一波新冠感染的担忧。The CDC projected Friday that about 40% of confirmed U.S. Covid cases are caused by the XBB.1.5 strain, up from 20% a week ago. In the Northeast, about 75% of confirmed cases are reported to be XBB.1.5.美国疾病控制与预防中心周五预计，约40%的美国新冠确诊病例是由XBB.1.5变种引起的，高于一周前的20%。在美国东北部，约75%的确诊病例报告为XBB.1.5。![]()
It's not clear yet where this version of omicron came from, but it appears to be spreading quickly here. There's no indication it causes more severe illness than any other omicron virus, Dr. Barbara Mahon, director of CDC's Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division, told NBC News.目前还不清楚这个Omicron新变种来自哪里，但它在美国传播得很快。美国疾病控制与预防中心冠状病毒和其他呼吸道病毒部门主任芭芭拉·马洪博士告诉NBC新闻，没有迹象表明它会比其他Omicron病毒引发更严重的疾病。While overall Covid hospitalizations are rising around the country, areas such as the Northeast that have seen high levels of the new variant have not experienced a disproportionate increase in hospitalizations, Mahon said.马洪说，虽然全国各地的新冠住院率总体在上升，但Omicron新变种传播水平较高的东北部等地区的住院率并没有出现不成比例的增长。There's a lot that's still unknown about the latest subvariant, including whether it's more contagious than other forms of omicron, Mahon said.马洪说，关于最新的亚变种还有很多未知之处，包括它是否比其他形式的Omicron更具有传染性。![]()
Other scientists worry that XB.1.5 is even better at getting around the antibodies we've built up from Covid vaccines and previous infection from the many different types of omicron that have spread since last December, including the original BA.1 and the more recent BQ.1.1 and BQ.1 subvariants.其他科学家担心，XB.1.5甚至能更好地绕过我们从新冠疫苗以及自去年12月以来传播的许多不同类型的Omicron中建立的抗体，包括最初的BA.1和最近的BQ.1.1和BQ.1亚变体。The XBB.1.5 is a relative of the omicron XBB variant, which is a recombinant of the omicron BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75 subvariants. Combined, XBB and XBB.1.5 make up 44% of cases in the U.S., crowding out other versions of omicron.XBB.1.5是Omicron XBB变体的近亲，它是Omicron BA.2.10.1和BA.2.75子变体的重组。XBB和XBB.1.5加起来占美国病例的44%，超过了其他Omicron变种。
Throughout the past year, we followed some interesting new inventions in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Here is a look back at five notable AI developments in 2022.
在过去的一年里，我们关注了人工智能领域的一些有趣的新发明。下面回顾一下2022年人工智能的五个重要的研制成果。Facebook's parent Meta said it had built a technology tool designed to directly translate spoken speech from one language to another. The AI-powered tool was built to translate between English and the Hokkien language.脸书的母公司Meta表示，其已经开发了一种旨在将语音从一种语言直接翻译成另一种语言的技术工具。这款人工智能工具是用于进行英语和闽南语互译的。The company said the project required unusual development methods. This is because Hokkien is mainly a spoken language and does not have a widely used written form.该公司表示，该项目需要不同寻常的开发方法。这是因为闽南语主要是一种口语，没有广泛使用的书面形式。Meta said it trained its AI models on written text examples from Mandarin Chinese, which is similar to Hokkien. In addition, developers used an encoding tool designed to compare spoken Hokkien to similar English text.
Meta表示，其利用类似于闽南语的普通话的书面文本示例来训练人工智能模型。此外，开发人员还使用了一种编码工具来比较闽南语口语和类似的英语文本。The team also worked closely with Hokkien speakers to ensure correct results. Meta said it aims to use the same methods used for Hokkien to create speech-to-speech translation systems for many more languages in the future.该团队还与说闽南语的人密切合作，以确保结果正确。Meta表示，其目标是在未来利用与闽南语-英语互译方法相同的方法为更多语言创建语音-语音翻译系统。Researchers announced a new AI method to identify Parkinson's disease – a neurological disease that harms the brain. The system works by measuring a person's breathing patterns during sleep.
研究人员宣布了一种新的人工智能方法来识别帕金森症--一种损害大脑的神经系统疾病。该系统的工作原理是测量人在睡眠期间的呼吸模式。![]()
A study describing the method said it can also measure the severity of disease and record its progression. The researchers noted that early signs of Parkinson's disease are not easy to discover.描述该方法的一项研究称，它还可以测量疾病的严重程度，并记录其发展状况。研究人员指出，帕金森病的早期症状并不容易被发现。
Many signs, or symptoms, only appear years after the disease sets in. But the team said its experiments showed that with just one night of sleep, the AI system was able to correctly identify Parkinson's up to 86 percent of the time.
许多症状只有在发病数年后才会出现。但该研究小组表示，他们的实验表明，只需观察一晚的睡眠状况，该人工智能系统能够识别帕金森病的正确率高达86%。With 12 nights of data, the rate went up to 95 percent. Researchers announced they had created a technology tool that uses pig sounds to interpret different emotions.有了12个晚上的数据，正确率上升到了95%。研究人员宣布，他们发明了一种可以用猪的声音来解读不同的情绪的技术工具。![]()
The tool is based on thousands of recordings collected from more than 400 pigs throughout their lives. The scientists developed an AI-driven algorithm to identify a series of emotions the animals could be experiencing.该工具基于从400多头猪一生中收集的数千份录音。科学家们开发了一种人工智能驱动的算法来识别猪可能经历的一系列情绪。
The study centered on more than 7,000 audio recordings of pigs in different situations. By training the algorithm to recognize the sounds in both good and bad situations, the team said the tool was able to identify the correct emotion 92 percent of the time.这项研究以7000多份猪在不同情况下的录音为中心。通过训练算法在好的和坏的情况下识别声音，该研究小组表示，该工具识别猪的情绪的正确率达到92%。Researchers said the tool is expected to lead to further systems, farmers can use to improve the productivity and well-being of their animals. Developers said they had created a technology tool that can identify and re-create different smells.
研究人员表示，该工具预计将会推动更多系统的产生，农民可以使用它们提高他们的动物的生产力和福祉。开发人员表示，他们开发了一种可以识别并重新创造不同气味的技术工具。![]()
The scientists built on past research to produce a brain-like technology model to create a "principal odor map" to identify molecules related to smells.
科学家在过去研究的基础上开发了一种类似大脑的技术模型，以创建“主要气味地图”来识别与气味相关的分子。
The team said such a system can be used across many different fields, including the healthcare, food and fragrance industries. The researchers reported that the tool can be used to help fight one of the world's biggest health problems – diseases spread through insects.
该团队表示，这样的系统可以用于许多不同的领域，包括医疗保健、食品和香水行业。研究人员报告说，这种工具可以用来帮助对抗世界上最大的健康问题之一--通过昆虫传播的疾病。They said the system can measure how effective a molecule is at keeping mosquitos away from humans. Researchers said they developed an AI system to help fill in missing words in ancient writings.
他们说，该系统可以测量某种分子在使蚊子远离人类方面的有效性。研究人员表示，他们开发了一种人工智能系统，来帮助填补古代作品中缺失的单词。![]()
The tool, called Ithaca, is designed to help historians repair the writings and identify when and where they were written. Researchers – led by Alphabet's AI company DeepMind – created the tool.
这个名为伊萨卡的工具旨在帮助历史学家修复这些文字，并确定古代人写这些文字的时间和地点。在Alphabet旗下的人工智能公司DeepMind的领导下，研究人员开发了这个工具。They said the system is "the first deep neural network" to identify missing text in damaged writings, or inscriptions. The team said that when historians work on their own, the success rate for repairing damaged inscriptions is about 25 percent.
他们表示，该系统是“第一个深度神经网络”，可以识别受损作品或铭文中缺失的文本。该研究小组表示，当历史学家独自工作时，修复受损铭文的成功率约为25%。But when humans teamed up with Ithaca to assist in their work, the success rate jumped to 72 percent.
宇宙中介的三种方式![]()