Newsletter No. 551

藝 士 匹 靈 / ARTS pirin 守恆與節約的真真假假 Energy Conservation: Laws and Myths 字 裏 科 技 / T ech T alks 曼妙樂韻 La Dolce Musica 利希慎音樂廳座無虛席，觀眾凝神 傾聽蜚聲國際的女高音 蕾妮．費蘭明 （左）講解音樂與大腦的關係，她曾 獲《紐約時報》首席古典音樂評論 家 安東尼．托馬西尼 形容為「炙手可 熱的一代抒情女高音」。 2013年，時任美國總統 奧巴馬 向她 頒授美國藝術家最高榮譽國家藝術 勳章。她四度獲頒格林美最佳古典 聲樂獨唱獎，也曾在諾貝爾和平獎 頒獎典禮和白金漢宮舉行的 伊麗莎白二世 女王鑽禧音樂會演唱。費蘭明不單成就傑出，她 孜孜不倦探索音樂的治療力量亦令我讚嘆不已。 她發表演講前，香港管弦樂團演奏海頓的弦樂四重奏《皇帝》，作曲家的編曲和大提琴低 沉的和音撫慰我的心神。於腦神經學家而言，此紓緩作用緣於音樂觸發大腦的紋狀體釋放 多巴胺。音樂如何與大腦的不同區域互動一直教人好奇。 費蘭明是華盛頓甘迺迪表演藝術中心的主要藝術顧問，為節目規劃和公眾參與計劃出謀獻 策。她對音樂的熱忱讓她聯繫上美國國立衞生研究院（NIH）院長 法蘭西斯．柯林斯 博士， 共同探索音樂、身心健康和科學之間的關聯。 縱然費蘭明是知名女高音，背誦外語歌詞偶爾令她感到吃力。為了解大腦如何協助她唱 歌，她參與了NIH的腦神經學研究，在接受功能性核磁共振成像掃描時，幻想自己在唱  《河曲》的一段。過程揭示她的想像激活了大腦杏仁核中處理人類情感的區域，以及分析 音樂句法和預備動作的下額葉皮層。 了解過音樂在大腦內的角色，費蘭明與領先的腦神經學家、醫生、音樂治療師和教育工作者 合作，探索音樂如何改變生命，範疇涵蓋兒童期發展、認知神經科學、音樂療法及其對醫 療保健的影響。2017年以來，她在北美、歐洲和亞洲三十多個城市舉辦關於音樂與大腦的 演講。 音樂是普世語言。海頓、莫扎特和巴赫的音樂結構工整，迄今已廣為採納作音樂治療之用。 通過音樂，我們可以更加了解大腦和人性。 The Lee Hysan Concert Hall drew a full house for the ‘Music and the Mind’ event presented by the globally acclaimed soprano Renée Lynn Fleming (left), who is described by The New York Times ’ chief classical music critic Anthony Tommasini as ‘the most sought-after lyric soprano of her generation’. In 2013, US President Barack Obama awarded her the National Medal of Arts, America’s highest honour for an artist. She is a four-time winner of the Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo, who has sung on occasions from the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to the Diamond Jubilee Concert for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. I am fascinated not only by her distinguished achievements but also her passion in exploring the healing power of music. Prior to her presentation, the Hong Kong Philharmonic performed Haydn’s string quartet ‘Emperor’. The composer’s arrangement in the symphonic richness of sound and the cello’s low-register harmony gave me a soothing vibe. To neuroscientists, the unwinding effect is due to the release of dopamine in the striatum triggered by music. They are curious about how music engages different regions in the brain. Fleming is the Artistic Advisor at Large to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and plays an important role in the Center’s future programming and public engagement. Her passion in music connects her to another music lover Dr. Francis Collins , the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). They have been exploring together the connections between music, wellness, and science. Though a famed soprano, Fleming admitted she sometimes found it hard to memorize lyrics in foreign languages. To learn how her brain supports her singing, she partook in a study at NIH to have her brain go through an fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) scan while imagining herself singing an excerpt of ‘River Songs’. It revealed that her imagined singing activates regions in amygdala that deal with human emotions, and the inferior frontal cortex, which plays a role in musical syntax and motor preparation. Knowing how music plays a role in the brain, Fleming has worked with leading neuroscientists, physicians, music therapists, and educators to explore how music can change lives. Topics include childhood development and cognitive neuroscience as well as music therapy and its impact on health care. Ever since 2017, she has presented ‘Music and the Mind’ in over 30 cities across North America, Europe, and Asia. Music is a universal language. To date, the well-structured music of Haydn, Mozart, and Bach has been a popular basis for therapeutic interventions. Through music we learn much about the brain and human nature. J. Lau Source: Morningside College 09 # 5 5 1 | 1 9 . 0 1 . 2 0 2 0 一方面，能量守恆定律（也稱熱力學第一定律）告訴我們宇宙間的能量是一個常數，不會增 加也不會減少。另一方面，環保支持者倡議節約能源，以減少天然資源的消耗，保育地球。 傳奇物理學家 Richard Feynman（1918 – 1988）曾以這樣一個比喻解釋能量守恆定律：假 設天突然下雨，你一邊走避一邊以毛巾掩頭，直至走進室內，你開始以同一條毛巾揩擦，卻 怎樣也揩不乾身子頭髮。這是因為在一個封閉系統（完全沒有通風及空氣蒸發的密室）， 你把水分自身上揩到毛巾上，但毛巾上的水分也只會揩到你身上，怎樣揩也送不走水分。這 個例子中的水便好比能量。 很多人不論在家中還是辦公地點，總會在完成工作或離開時把電器和電燈熄滅。但其實單 是「熄機」並不足夠，要走多節能一步，便要把電源也切斷。因為大部分電器用品在靜止狀 態其實還是會耗用電力的。一台閒着的電腦，其實仍在消耗相當電力，以便有人一按鍵便馬 上可重新運作。 充電器是現代生活不可或缺的小道具。不在充電狀態的充電器不會耗用電力，這也是一個 常見的誤解。其實只要接上電源，就算不裝上要補充電力的裝置，充電器本身也會消耗所 謂的「殭屍能量」的。 電池內置的手機和流動裝置，則除非把電池拆離，否則也會繼續耗電。很多人不自覺地不分 地點、無分晝夜地為裝置充電，流於過度，少不免造成能源浪費。 根據神秘的物理定律，我們可能永不能揩乾濕了的頭髮，但我們可以稍盡省電綿力，出門前 把電源也切掉。 As with many phrases, ‘energy conservation’ has two meanings. One is encapsulated in the so-called first law of thermodynamics: that energy in the universe is constant and can be neither created nor destroyed. The second is a constant battle cry to save our natural resources and hence our planet. The famed physicist Richard Feynman (1918–1988) once illustrated the first meaning with a hypothetical example. Imagine you’re caught in the rain and use a towel to cover your head. Once you get inside a room you begin to dry your hair and your body with the towel. This you can never accomplish because, in a closed system (a sealed room with no ventilation or evaporation), the water goes from your body to the towel and vice versa. The water is like energy. It does not disappear into thin air. At home or in office, environmentally conscious denizens like us will not forget to switch off the electrical or electronic appliances when the job is done or the day is over, as the case may be. Well, switching off is not enough. Cutting the power (unplugging) is. This is because most appliances still use and consume energy even in turned-off or standby modes. A computer still uses quite a lot of energy in a sleep or hibernate mode so as to be able to immediately bounce back into service on the punch of a key. The charger is another ubiquitous feature of modern living. It looks innocent enough when the device to be charged is not connected to it. That is another myth. A plugged charger, even if not connected to the device to be serviced, still uses so-called ‘vampire power’. Smart phones and mobile devices with built-in batteries will not use energy only when the battery is removed. But then most of us would charge our phones and watches whenever we can get to it, day or night, office or home. Incessant and excessive charging is a much neglected aspect of wasteful energy habits. While some mysterious physical law rules that we can never dry our hair, we can do incrementally better by unplugging the appliances in our home or office at the end of a long day or on weekends. TC Courtesy of Ferdi Rizkiyanto