911後：鯨魚歡樂、孩子悲傷

發生在11年前的911恐怖襲擊事件改變了很多事情，不過有一些改變直到最近才引起人們的注意。有兩項獨立研究顯示，911恐怖襲擊對鯨魚活動產生了積極的影響，而對很多當時尚未出生的嬰兒則產生了負面效應。《華盛頓郵報》刊登的一份研究顯示，911恐怖襲擊之後，美國境內幾乎所有船運活動都突然中止，由此導致美國附近海域的鯨魚羣的健康狀況和活動水平都有所提升。另一項表觀遺傳學研究則顯示，911襲擊時紐約市1700多名懷孕女性中有大部分都將創傷後壓力心理障礙症傳給了她們未出生的孩子。研究結果顯示，這些孩子出生後的皮質醇水平都偏低，而這個因素通常都與創傷後壓力心理障礙症有關。

The tragic events of September 11, 2001 changed the world forever. But 11 years after the terrorist attacks, a number of strange byproducts of that day's events are coming to light.

For example, two independent studies have suggested that events directly connected to the 9/11 attacks had a positive effect on whales and a negative effect on unborn babies.

As first reported by the Washington Post, a study of whale behavior was already taking place in September 2001. Researchers continued collecting data and found that whale health and activity improved in the days after the attacks, when nearly all shipping activity in the U.S. ground to a sudden halt.

The evidence is now being used to study how "whales and other sea life that use sound to communicate and travel can be harmed by the noise."

A second study in the emerging field of epigenetics suggested that many of the estimated 1,700 pregnant women in New York City at the time of the attacks may have potentially have passed heir Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms to their unborn children.

The study results, which were published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, found that some of the children tested in the year after September 11, 2001 measured low-levels of cortisol, a trait commonly associated with PTSD.

Professor Jonathan Seckl of the University of Edinburgh told the BBC, "Because the babies were about a year old at the time of testing, this suggests the trauma effect transfer may have to do with very early parent-child attachments, cortisol 'programming' in the womb or shared genetic susceptibility It may be that stress has an effect on the developing brain of a fetus."

However, the results are still being debated, as some other experts say the low-levels of cortisol may have only been present in children of mothers who were already predisposed to symptoms associated with PTSD.

These two odd news items were included in a larger list compiled by Robert Evans over at Cracked magazine. Amongst the other strange ways Evans says 9/11 affected the world: a decline in sales of the drug Ecstasy, lowered suicide rates in England, an increase in the number of car accident fatalities and more insects making it past screeners at U.S. shipping facilities.