Scientific Popularization in Brazil and in Russia: An Essay to a Comparative Analysis of Discourses

Grillo, Sheila Vieira de Camargo; Glushkova, Maria

doi:10.1590/2176-457323556

Sheila Vieira de Camargo Grillo

Universidade de São Paulo - USP, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; CNPq - PQ no. 309502/2014-4; sheilagrillo@uol.com.br

Maria Glushkova

Saint Petersburg State University - Saint Petersburg, Russia; maria.glushkova@yahoo.com

Tables (5)

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Brazilian edition Russian edition “How sleep configures memory,”29Scientific American Brasil, n. 136, cover and pp.28-33, Sept. 2013. “How sleep builds memory,”30V míre naúki (“In the world of science”), n. 4, cover and pp.42-49, 2015. “A scar of the Big Bang,”31Scientific American Brasil, n. 150, cover and pp.46-55, nov.2014. “Distant echoes of the Big Bang,”32V míre naúki (“In the world of science”), n. 12, cover and pp.22-32, 2014. “The intriguing minds of our Neanderthal cousin,”33Scientific American Brasil, n. 154, cover and pp.26-33, mar. 2015. “Our brothers by intellect,”34V míre naúki (“In the world of science”), n. 4, cover and pp.4-14, 2015.

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Scientific American Brasil, n. 154, mar. 2015, emphasis added V míre naúki, n. 4, april. 2015, p.4, emphasis added Author journalist (Kate Wong, senior editor of Scientific American) Human evolution 37 Evolution of a man 41 Neanderthal Minds38 Intellect of a Neanderthal42 Anatomy analyses, DNA and cultural legacies produce fascinating information about the inner life of our mysterious extinct cousins [...] (emphasis added)39 Studying the anatomy and DNA traces of Neanderthal culture, we can penetrate into the mysterious inner world of our extinct relatives [...] (emphasis added)43 Some experts suggest that interbreeding between the lower Neanderthal population and the more numerous modern one perhaps has taken the Neanderthals to extinction by “flooding” or mastering their gene pool. (emphasis added)40 Some experts even believe that, perhaps, mixing a large population of Homo sapiens and a smaller Neanderthals population has led to a decline in the past by dissolving their genes in the general mass. (emphasis added)44 Authors scientists (G. Tononi and Chiara Cirelli, a psychiatry research professors) Scientific American Brasil, n. 136, sept. 2013 V míre naúki, n. 10, oct. 2013 Why do we sleep 45 Why do we sleep 49 When we are awake, memories are formed as neurons that are activated jointly strengthen their links. (emphasis added)46 When we are awake, remembering is due to the fact that neurons are activated at the same time links are strengthened. (emphasis added)50 In contrast, the synaptic decay during sleep would restore brain circuits to a baseline level of power and efficiency, avoiding the consumption of excessive energy and cellular stress. We designate this restorative function of sleep baseline as the preservation of synaptic homeostasis and name our general hypothesis about the role of sleep the synaptic homeostasis hypothesis, or SNY, its acronym in English. (emphasis added)47 Conversely, during sleep synaptic transmission attenuation restores its original level in nerve circuits that avoid excessive power consumption and reduce the load on individual neurons. We believe that the restoration of the initial level when sleeping is needed to save the synaptic homeostasis, and named our hypothesis about the role of sleep the hypothesis of synaptic homeostasis. (emphasis added)51 We look forward to testing predictions of SNY and exploring its further implications. We hope to find out if sleep deprivation during neural development leads to changes in the organization of brain circuits, for example. (emphasis added)48 We plan to check the predictions obtained by the synaptic homeostasis hypothesis and continue to explore the possibilities of its application. For example, we hope to find out whether sleep deprivation during development of the nervous system leads to changes in the organization of neural circuits. (emphasis added)52

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Scientific American Brasil, n. 154, march 2015. V míre naúki, n. 4, april 2015. Reported speech Neanderthals’ brains were a little flatter than ours, but equally bulky; in fact, in many cases they were larger, paleoneurolog Ralph Holloway of Columbia University explains.57 Paleonthologist Ralph Holloway of Columbia University writes that the Neanderthal brain is flatter than ours, but of the same, and often larger size.60 Hawks highlights that a major problem in trying to figure out how Neanderthal brains functioned from their genes is that, generally speaking, researchers do not know how genes affect thoughts in our own species. “We know next to nothing about Neanderthal cognition from genetics, because we know next to nothing about (modern) human cognition from genetics,” he summarizes.58 Hawks says that the influence of genes on the features of the ancient people’s brains is still a big problem, because researchers do not know much about the influence of genes even on the thinking of modern man.61 The similarities within findings at sites of early modern human beings were remarkable. “Regardless of how we classify the data, there were no significant differences between the groups,” says Henry. “The evidence we now have does not suggest that the earliest modern human beings in Eurasia had more efficient access to foods of plant origin.”59 The similarity within the findings at sites of Homo sapiens was simply astounding. According to Henry, “Attitudes have changed: no significant difference between these groups exists now.” She notes that, according to their data, the anatomically modern humans did not have an advantageous access to the benefits of plant foods.62

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Scientific American Brasil, n. 136, sept. 2013, emphasis added V míre naúki, n. 10, oct. 2013, emphasis added Sleep, in this narrative, would preserve the ability of the brain circuit to continuously form new memories over the life of a person without saturation or obstruction of older memories.65 Thus, sleep allows the brain throughout life to continuously retain the ability to form new memories, avoiding over-saturation or destruction of old memories.66 Scientific American Brasil, n. 150, cover and pp.46-55, nov. 2014. V míre naúki (“Mundo da ciência”), n. 12, cover and pp.22-32, 2014. In 1980, Alan Guth, a young physicist-with a PhD, thought about these paradoxes when he found the solution: the Universe imagined by him, based on particle physics, could have inflated quickly long after the Big Bang.67 In 1980, a young physicist Alan Guth pondered over these two paradoxes, and found a solution: our Universe could quickly swell immediately after the Big Bang.70 As in the case of the Higgs field, the symmetry breaking field would produce massive and exotic particles, but the masses involved in the process were much larger than the mass of the Higgs particle. In fact, it would be necessary to build an accelerator 10 trillion68 times more powerful than the LHC to directly explore the theories that support this phenomenon.69 As in the case of the Higgs field, the hypothetical field that breaks the symmetry should produce exotic and very massive particles. In practice this means that for the direct search of relevant experimental evidence it is necessary to create an accelerator 10 billion times more powerful than the LHC.71

Brazilian edition	Russian edition
“How sleep configures memory,”²⁹ 29 In the original text: "Como o sono configura a memória" Scientific American Brasil, n. 136, cover and pp.28-33, Sept. 2013.	“How sleep builds memory,”³⁰ 30 In the original text: "Kak son vaiáet náchu pámiat" V míre naúki (“In the world of science”), n. 4, cover and pp.42-49, 2015.
“A scar of the Big Bang,”³¹ 31 In the original text: "A cicatriz do Big Bang" Scientific American Brasil, n. 150, cover and pp.46-55, nov.2014.	“Distant echoes of the Big Bang,”³² 32 In the original text: "Daliókii ótzvuki bolchógo vzryva" V míre naúki (“In the world of science”), n. 12, cover and pp.22-32, 2014.
“The intriguing minds of our Neanderthal cousin,”³³ 33 In the original text: "A mente intrigante de nosso primo neandertal" Scientific American Brasil, n. 154, cover and pp.26-33, mar. 2015.	“Our brothers by intellect,”³⁴ 34 In the original text: "Náchi brátia po rázumu" V míre naúki (“In the world of science”), n. 4, cover and pp.4-14, 2015.

Scientific American Brasil, n. 154, mar. 2015, emphasis added	V míre naúki, n. 4, april. 2015, p.4, emphasis added
Author journalist (Kate Wong, senior editor of Scientific American)
Human evolution ³⁷ 37 In the original text: Evolução humana	Evolution of a man ⁴¹ 41 In the original text: Evoliútsiia tcheloviéka
Neanderthal Minds³⁸ 38 In the original text: Mentes neandertais	Intellect of a Neanderthal⁴² 42 In the original text: Rázum neandertáltsa

Anatomy analyses, DNA and cultural legacies produce fascinating information about the inner life of our mysterious extinct cousins [...] (emphasis added)³⁹ 39 In the original text: Análises de anatomia, DNA e legados culturais produziram informações fascinantes sobre a vida interior de nossos misteriosos primos extintos (...) (emphasis added)	Studying the anatomy and DNA traces of Neanderthal culture, we can penetrate into the mysterious inner world of our extinct relatives [...] (emphasis added)⁴³ 43 In the original text: "Izytcháia anatómiiu, DNK i sliedy' kultúry neandertáltsiev, my mójem proníknut v zagádotchnyi vnútrennii mir náchikh vy'merchikh ródstvennikov (...)" (emphasis added)

Some experts suggest that interbreeding between the lower Neanderthal population and the more numerous modern one perhaps has taken the Neanderthals to extinction by “flooding” or mastering their gene pool. (emphasis added)⁴⁰ 40 In the original text: "Alguns especialistas sugerem que a miscigenação entre a população neandertal menor e os modernos mais numerosos talvez tenha acabado por levar os neandertais à extinção ao "inundar", ou dominar seu pool genético" (p.33; emphasis added).	Some experts even believe that, perhaps, mixing a large population of Homo sapiens and a smaller Neanderthals population has led to a decline in the past by dissolving their genes in the general mass. (emphasis added)⁴⁴ 44 In the original text: "Niékotorye ekspiérty daje polagáiut, chto, vozmójno, smechénie bolchói populiátsii tcheloviéka razúmnogo i menchei populiátsii neandertáltsiev priveló k upádku posliédnikh pútiem rastvoriéniiia ikh guénov v óbschei másse (p.13; emphasis added)."
Authors scientists (G. Tononi and Chiara Cirelli, a psychiatry research professors)
Scientific American Brasil, n. 136, sept. 2013	V míre naúki, n. 10, oct. 2013
Why do we sleep ⁴⁵ 45 In the original text: "Por que dormimos"	Why do we sleep ⁴⁹ 49 In the original text: "Por que nós dormimos"
When we are awake, memories are formed as neurons that are activated jointly strengthen their links. (emphasis added)⁴⁶ 46 In the original text: "Quando despertos, as memórias se formam conforme neurônios que são ativados conjuntamente fortalecem suas ligações" (p.30).	When we are awake, remembering is due to the fact that neurons are activated at the same time links are strengthened. (emphasis added)⁵⁰ 50 In the original text: "Kogdá my bódrstvuem, zapominánie proiskhódit za schiot togo, chto miéjdu odnovriémenno aktivíruiuschimisia neurónami ucílivaiutsia sviázi" (p.44).
In contrast, the synaptic decay during sleep would restore brain circuits to a baseline level of power and efficiency, avoiding the consumption of excessive energy and cellular stress. We designate this restorative function of sleep baseline as the preservation of synaptic homeostasis and name our general hypothesis about the role of sleep the synaptic homeostasis hypothesis, or SNY, its acronym in English. (emphasis added)⁴⁷ 47 In the original text: "Em contraste, o enfraquecimento sináptico durante o sono restauraria circuitos cerebrais a um nível basal de força e eficácia, evitando assim o consumo de energia excessivo e o estresse celular. Designamos essa função restauradora da linha de base do sono como de preservação da homeostase sináptica e denominamos a nossa hipótese geral sobre o papel do sono, hipótese da homeostase sináptica, ou SNY, na sigla em inglês" (p.31; emphasis added).	Conversely, during sleep synaptic transmission attenuation restores its original level in nerve circuits that avoid excessive power consumption and reduce the load on individual neurons. We believe that the restoration of the initial level when sleeping is needed to save the synaptic homeostasis, and named our hypothesis about the role of sleep the hypothesis of synaptic homeostasis. (emphasis added)⁵¹ 51 In the original text: "Naoborót, vo vrémia sna oslabliénie sinaptítcheskoi peredátchi vosstanávlivaet ieió iskhódnyi úroven v niérvnykh tsépiakh, chto pozvoliáet izbeját tchrezmiérnogo potrebliéniia enérgii i snízit nagrúzku na otdélnye neiróny. My stchitáem, chto vosstanovlénie iskhódnogo úrovnia vo snié nújno dlia sokhranénia sinaptítcheskogo gomeostáza, i nazváli náchu guipótezu o róli sna guipótezoi sinaptítcheskogo gomeostáza" (p.45; emphasis added).

We look forward to testing predictions of SNY and exploring its further implications. We hope to find out if sleep deprivation during neural development leads to changes in the organization of brain circuits, for example. (emphasis added)⁴⁸ 48 In the original text: "Estamos ansiosos para testar previsões da SNY e explorar suas implicações ainda mais. Esperamos descobrir se a privação de sono durante o desenvolvimento neural leva a mudanças na organização dos circuitos cerebrais, por exemplo" (p.33; emphasis added).	We plan to check the predictions obtained by the synaptic homeostasis hypothesis and continue to explore the possibilities of its application. For example, we hope to find out whether sleep deprivation during development of the nervous system leads to changes in the organization of neural circuits. (emphasis added)⁵² 52 In the original text: "My planíruem proviérit predskazániia, polútchennye s pómoschiu guipótezy sinaptítcheskogo gomeostáza, i prodóljit izutchénie vozmójnostei ieió primeniéniaia. Naprimiér, my nadiéemsia vyiasnit, deistvítelno li lichénie sna vo vriémia razvítiia niérvnoi sistemy privódit k izmenéniiam v organizátsii neirónnykh tsépei" (p.48; emphasis added).

Scientific American Brasil, n. 154, march 2015.	V míre naúki, n. 4, april 2015.
Reported speech
Neanderthals’ brains were a little flatter than ours, but equally bulky; in fact, in many cases they were larger, paleoneurolog Ralph Holloway of Columbia University explains.⁵⁷ 57 In the original text: "Cérebros de neandertais eram um pouco mais achatados que os nossos, mas igualmente volumosos; de fato, em muitos casos eles eram maiores, explica o paleoneurologista Ralph Holloway, da Colúmbia University" (p.28).	Paleonthologist Ralph Holloway of Columbia University writes that the Neanderthal brain is flatter than ours, but of the same, and often larger size.⁶⁰ 60 In the original text: "Paleonievrólog Ralph Holloway iz Kolumbíiskogo universitiéta píchet, chto mozg neandertáltsa bolee plóskii, tchem nach, no takógo je, a zatchastúiu i bólchego razmiéra" (p.7).

Hawks highlights that a major problem in trying to figure out how Neanderthal brains functioned from their genes is that, generally speaking, researchers do not know how genes affect thoughts in our own species. “We know next to nothing about Neanderthal cognition from genetics, because we know next to nothing about (modern) human cognition from genetics,” he summarizes.⁵⁸ 58 In the original text: "Hawks salienta que um problema maior na tentativa de descobrir como cérebros neandertais funcionavam a partir de seus genes é que, de modo geral, pesquisadores não sabem como genes afetam pensamentos em nossa própria espécie. 'Não sabemos praticamente nada sobre cognição neandertal a partir da genética, porque não sabemos quase nada sobre cognição humana [moderna] a partir da genética', resume ele" (p.31)	Hawks says that the influence of genes on the features of the ancient people’s brains is still a big problem, because researchers do not know much about the influence of genes even on the thinking of modern man.⁶¹ 61 In the original text: "Hawks govorít, chto vliiánie guiénov driévnikh liudéi na ossóbennosti ikh mózga predstavliáet sobói ieschió bólchuiu probliému, poskólku issliédovateli mnógogo ne znáiut o vliiánii guiénov na mychlénie dáje u sovremiénnogo tcheloviéka" (p.10).

The similarities within findings at sites of early modern human beings were remarkable. “Regardless of how we classify the data, there were no significant differences between the groups,” says Henry. “The evidence we now have does not suggest that the earliest modern human beings in Eurasia had more efficient access to foods of plant origin.”⁵⁹ 59 In the original text: As similaridades com achados de sítios de humanos modernos primitivos eram notáveis. "Independentemente de como classificamos os dados, não houve diferenças significativas entre os grupos", relata Henry. "As evidências que temos agora não sugerem que os humanos modernos mais primitivos na Eurásia fossem mais eficientes no acesso a alimentos de origem vegetal" (p.33).	The similarity within the findings at sites of Homo sapiens was simply astounding. According to Henry, “Attitudes have changed: no significant difference between these groups exists now.” She notes that, according to their data, the anatomically modern humans did not have an advantageous access to the benefits of plant foods.⁶² 62 In the original text: Skhódstvo s nakhódkami na stoiánkakh tcheloviéka razúmnogo bylo prosto porazítelnym. Po slovám Khenri, "vzgliády izmenílis: znatchítelimykh razlítchii miéjdu étimi grupami tepiér niet". Ona otmetcháet, chto, po ikh dánnym, u anatomístcheski sovremiénnogo tcheloviéka ne bylo preimúschestva v dóstupe k rastítelnoi pische (p.13). //

Scientific American Brasil, n. 136, sept. 2013, emphasis added	V míre naúki, n. 10, oct. 2013, emphasis added
Sleep, in this narrative, would preserve the ability of the brain circuit to continuously form new memories over the life of a person without saturation or obstruction of older memories.⁶⁵ 65 In the original text: O sono, nessa narrativa, preservaria a capacidade de os circuitos do cérebro formarem continuamente novas memórias ao longo da vida de uma pessoa, sem saturação ou obstrução de memórias mais antigas (p.30).	Thus, sleep allows the brain throughout life to continuously retain the ability to form new memories, avoiding over-saturation or destruction of old memories.⁶⁶ 66 In the original text: Takím óbrazom, son pozvoliáet mózgu v tetchénii jízni neprery'vno sokhraniát sposóbnosti formirovát nóvye vospominániia, izbegáia perenasyschéniia ili unitchtojéniia stáryh vospominánii (pp.42-43).
Scientific American Brasil, n. 150, cover and pp.46-55, nov. 2014.	V míre naúki (“Mundo da ciência”), n. 12, cover and pp.22-32, 2014.
In 1980, Alan Guth, a young physicist-with a PhD, thought about these paradoxes when he found the solution: the Universe imagined by him, based on particle physics, could have inflated quickly long after the Big Bang.⁶⁷ 67 In the original text: Em 1980, Alan Guth, um jovem físico-doutorado, refletia sobre esses paradoxos quando encontrou a solução: o Universo imaginado por ele, baseado na física de partículas, poderia ter se inflado rapidamente longo após o Big Bang (p.49)	In 1980, a young physicist Alan Guth pondered over these two paradoxes, and found a solution: our Universe could quickly swell immediately after the Big Bang.⁷⁰ 70 In the original text: V 1980 godú molodói fízik Alan Gut razmychliál nad étimi dvumiá paradóksami i nachiól rechéniie: nácha Vselénnaia moglá stremítelno razdútsia srázu je pósle Bolchógo vzry'va (p.25).

As in the case of the Higgs field, the symmetry breaking field would produce massive and exotic particles, but the masses involved in the process were much larger than the mass of the Higgs particle. In fact, it would be necessary to build an accelerator 10 trillion⁶⁸ 68 While in the Brazilian version it is 10 trillion times, in the Russian version it is 10 billion times. There seems to have been a translation mistake of the original. times more powerful than the LHC to directly explore the theories that support this phenomenon.⁶⁹ 69 In the original text: Como no caso do campo de Higgs, o campo de quebra de simetria produziria partículas massivas e exóticas, mas as massas envolvidas no processo eram muitos maiores que a massa da partícula de Higgs. Na verdade, seria necessário construir um acelerador 10 trilhões de vezes mais poderoso que o LHC para explorar diretamente as teorias que respaldam esse fenômeno (p.52).	As in the case of the Higgs field, the hypothetical field that breaks the symmetry should produce exotic and very massive particles. In practice this means that for the direct search of relevant experimental evidence it is necessary to create an accelerator 10 billion times more powerful than the LHC.⁷¹ 71 In the original text: Tak je kak v slútchaie pólia Higgsa, narucháiuscheie simmétriiu guipotetítcheskoie póle doljnó porojdát ekzotítcheskiie i ótchen massívnyie tchastítsy, no vovletchénnyie v étot protsés mássy doljny' byt gorázdo bólche, tchem mássa rígsovskoi tchastítsy. Faktítcheski eto oznatcháiet, chto dliá priamógo póiska sootvétstvuiuschikh eksperimentálnykh podtverjdénii neobkhodímo sozdát uskorítel v 10 milliárdov raz moschnéie, tchem BAK (p.28).

Brasil

Brasil

Scientific Popularization in Brazil and in Russia: An Essay to a Comparative Analysis of Discourses

ABSTRACT