Fire and Flood in Japan

日本火灾洪水

Houses burn amid flood waters on March 11 after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake off the coast of Japan triggered a powerful tsunami.

3月11日，日本遭受8.9级大地震袭击并引发可怕海啸。灾难发生后，无数房屋被泡在洪水中，部分起火燃烧。

The earthquake—the strongest in Japan in 140 years—struck 81 miles (130 kilometers) off the coast of Sendai at 2:46 p.m. local time. A port city of about a million residents, Sendai was hit by tsunami waves up to 33 feet (10 meters) high.The earthquake and its aftershocks were felt as far away as Tokyo, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) from the epicenter.

当地时间下午2点46分，大地震袭击仙台沿海81英里(130公里)的海域。地震引发的海啸随即袭击这个大约100万人口的港口城市，海浪高度达到33英尺(10米)。这是日本140年来遭受的最大地震，距离震中大约250英里(400公里)的东京也感到震感和余震。

Cyclops Shark

独眼鲨鱼

This extremely rare cyclops shark, found in Mexico, was confirmed by scientists in October. The 22-inch-long (56-centimeter-long) fetus has a single, functioning eye at the front of its head. The eye is a hallmark of a congenital condition called cyclopia, which occurs in several animal species, including humans.

10月在墨西哥发现的罕见独眼鲨鱼胎儿。这个胎儿身长22英寸(56厘米)，只有一只眼睛，长在头部前部。它患有一种名为独眼畸形的先天性疾病，很多动物都会出现独眼畸形，包括人类在内。

Scientists have documented cyclops-shark embryos a few times before, said Jim Gelsleichter, a shark biologist at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. The fact that none have been caught outside the womb suggests cyclops sharks don't survive long in the wild.

杰克逊维尔北佛罗里达州大学研究鲨鱼的生物学家吉姆·格尔雷切特表示，科学家此前就曾多次发现独眼鲨鱼胎儿。但他们一直未能在母体外捕获独眼鲨鱼，说明这种鲨鱼无法在野外存活很久。

Mind-Control Fungus

寄生真菌

A stalk of the new fungus species Ophiocordyceps camponoti-balzani grows out of a "zombie" ant's head in a Brazilian rain forest.

巴西雨林，僵尸蚂蚁的头部向外长出一根类似茎干的物体，这根茎干实际上是一种新发现的真菌，名为Ophiocordyceps camponoti-balzani。

Originally thought to be a single species, called Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, the fungus is actually four distinct species—all of which can "mind control" ants, scientists announced in March.The fungus can infect an ant, take over its brain, and then kill the insect once the it moves to an ideal location for growing and spreading the fungus's spores.

科学家3月表示，这种真菌最初被认为是单一物种，名为Ophiocordyceps unilateralis，但实际上有4个截然不同的种群，并且全部能够对蚂蚁进行大脑寄生。Ophiocordyceps camponoti-balzani能够感染蚂蚁并占领它们的大脑，一旦蚂蚁移动到最适于它们生长和传播孢子的区域，它们便会痛下杀手，杀死蚂蚁。

Largest Crocodile?

捕获最大鳄鱼

Caught alive after a three-week hunt, an allegedly 21-foot-long (6.4-meter-long) saltwater crocodile caught in the Philippines may be the largest crocodile yet captured, officials said in September.

经过长达3周的搜捕，一条长达21英尺(6.4米)的咸水鳄最终在菲律宾落网。官员们9月表示这可能是迄今为止捕获的体型最大的鳄鱼。

The 2,369-pound (1,075-kilogram) crocodile is suspected of attacking several people and killing two. The animal, named Lolong, survived capture and was held in a temporary enclosure near Bunawan township (map).

这条鳄鱼重2369磅(1075公斤)，被命名为Lolong，曾多次袭击人类，共造成两人死亡。目前，Lolong临时被囚禁在棉兰老岛一个围栏内。

Remembering the Space Shuttle

铭记亚特兰蒂斯号

Cocoa Beach surfers watch from the water as the space shuttle Atlantis lifts off from nearby Kennedy Space Center in Florida on September 8, 2000.The shot was among those chosen by National Geographic editors as the most unforgettable pictures from the entire NASA shuttle program.

2000年9月8日，亚特兰蒂斯号航天飞机从美国佛罗里达州的肯尼迪航天中心发射升空。在附近的可可海滩，海上的冲浪爱好者目睹了亚特兰蒂斯号飞向云霄的景象。美国《国家地理杂志》的编辑将这幅照片评为美国宇航局航天飞机计划最令人难忘的照片之一。

In July Atlantis completed STS-135, the final shuttle mission in the program's 30-year history." The space shuttle has been with us at the heart and soul of the human spaceflight program for about 30 years, and it's a little sad to see it go away," STS-135 mission commander Christopher Ferguson told reporters in a televised interview from the International Space Station.

7月，亚特兰蒂斯号完成STS-135任务。这是历时30年的航天飞机计划的最后一次太空任务。STS-135任务指挥官克里斯托弗·弗格森在国际空间站接受采访时说：航天飞机是近30年的人类太空飞行计划的核心和灵魂，看到它们退役，我难免感到一丝伤感。