内容摘要：Zou Renge, a 27-year-old public policy master’s student at the University of Chicago, said she had planned to take some time off and work in humanitarian aid programs abroad after graduating at the end of this year.

Zou Renge, a 27-year-old public policy master’s student at the University of Chicago, said she had planned to take some time off and work in humanitarian aid programs abroad after graduating at the end of this year.

London-based design editor Cara Gibbs, meanwhile, has noticed the free-wheeling use of paint.“I feel like it used to be wacky to paint a room pink from top to bottom, but now the application of these bright, poppy palettes is chic, interesting and most importantly very livable. I’m here for it!” she says.

So is Massachusetts designer Nicole Hirsch. She’s put a zingy green — she calls it “alligator” — on a bathroom ceiling. Tangerine on a playroom ceiling. Cobalt blue, lipstick pink and chrome yellow add lively punches on furnishings.In her own California home, designer Alison Pickart has the kind of roomy closet that storage-challenged homeowners would envy. But she saw value in a different use.“It was a hall closet, but with its generous size and great natural light from a back window, I just felt like the space could be ‘more,’” she says.

So she turned it into a little “phone room” for herself. “It seemed like the perfect size and place to escape, with some privacy to make a call.”Clara Jung of Banner Day Interiors worked with clients on a San Francisco ranch house that’s full of big, airy spaces. But nudge the secret panel in the living room bookcase and you’ll find a cozy, color-saturated, album-lined music den. There’s a vintage wood bar and a sprawl-worthy crimson rug.

“The homeowners are avid LP collectors,” she says, “and the husband’s a musician.”

Jung was ready to install a door when the clients suggested creating the secret entrance instead. “We loved the idea!” she says. “It’s the perfect escape for an audiophile.”Vicki Szabo de la Universidad de Western Carolina, quien estudia la historia de la caza de ballenas y no participó en la reciente investigación, afirma: “Los humanos y las ballenas claramente han estado encontrándose durante mucho tiempo”.

Los científicos piensan que los antiguos humanos fabricaban instrumentos de hueso de ballena en lugares como el Ártico y el Pacífico Sur. Existen pruebas sólidas de herramientas de ese material que datan de hace unos 5.000 años, pero la nueva investigación publicada el martes en la revista Nature Communications retrocede la línea de tiempo.Los antiguos humanos no necesariamente cazaban ballenas, dijo el autor del estudio, Jean-Marc Petillon, del Centro Nacional de Investigación Científica de Francia. Más probablemente, rebuscaban los cuerpos de los cetáceos varados y tallaban sus densos y pesados huesos para construir herramientas para cazar renos o bisontes.

Las herramientas indican que los pueblos antiguos del área aprovechaban los recursos cercanos al mar para sobrevivir. Probablemente también recolectaban conchas marinas y pescaban. Ha sido difícil encontrar pruebas de lo anterior, ya que el aumento del nivel del mar altera las costas en todo el mundo, dijeron los científicos.“Es una contribución más a la importancia de los entornos costeros para los grupos humanos, incluso en este pasado lejano”, señaló Petillon.