Imagination Stage is a children's theater in the state of Maryland. A special performance is put on for children with autism (自闭症) each day. People with autism have difficulty communcating and socializing with other people. Children in the theater are allowed to move around during the performance. It's OK if they shout out or hold their ears when the music is too loud. These special performances are sometimes the only thing that a family can go to the theater together to see if a child has autism.

    That is the same idea with Autism on the Seas. This company organizes vacations for families of children with autism, especially vacations on cruise ships. Jamie Grover is director of group development in Autism on the Seas. He said, “With our staff on board, parents know that they are going to be able to relax, enjoy their vacation, and participate in ship activities. They know that their children are well taken care of.”

    The benefit of such vacations organized by Autism on the Seas is not waiting in huge lines on departure day. The company has staff to help in the ports. Waiting in long lines or being in the middle of big crowds can cause problem behavior in children with autism. Autism on the Seas helps families avoid situations like that.

    Autism on the Seas works with the help of cruise companies like Royal Caribbean. Special times or places are arranged for families to play video games, go skating or rock climbing, or eat dinner. Autism on the Seas also directs families to organizations that can help them pay for these vacations.

    Bambi Van Woert from the state of Michigan went on a cruise with her 7-year-old Ben, who has autism. She said, “I would never do something like this myself. I cannot take Ben shopping by myself at this point, so for me to try to do a cruise without help would be absurd.”

    Imagine that you're looking at your company-issued smartphone and you notice an e-mail from Linkedln: “These companies are looking for candidates like you!” You aren't necessarily searching for a job, but you're always open to opportunities, so out of curiosity, you click on the link. A few minutes later your boss appears at your desk. “We've noticed that you're spending more time on Linkedln lately, so I wanted to talk with you about your career and whether you're happy here,” she says. Uh-oh.

     It's an awkward scene. Attrition (损耗) has always been expensive for companies, but in many industries the cost of losing good workers is rising, owing to tight labor markets. Thus companies are making greater efforts to predict which workers are at high risk of leaving ,so that managers can try to stop them. Methods range from electronic monitor to well-designed analyses of employees' social media lives.

     Some of this work may be a reason to let employees to quit. In general, people leave their jobs because they don't like their boss, don't see opportunities for promotion or growth, or are offered a higher pay; these reasons have held steady for years.

    New research conducted by CEB, a Washington-based technology company, looks not just at why workers quit but also at when. “We've learned that what really affects people is their sense of how they're doing compared with other people in their peer group, or with where they thought they would be at a certain point in life, says Brian Kropp, who heads CEB's HR practice. “We've learned to focus on moments that allow people to make these comparisons.”

Technology also provides clues about which star employees might be eyeing the exit. Companies can tell whether employees using work computers or phones are spending time on (or even just opening e-mails from) career websites, and research shows that more firms are paying attention to these things. Large companies have also begun searching for badge swipes (浏览痕迹)—- employees' use of an ID to enter and exit the building or the parking garage—to identify patterns that suggest a worker may be interviewing for a job.

    Jack Ma's net worth increased $2.8bn overnight as Alibaba forecast sales growth that topped every analyst's estimate, despite the fact that China's economy is slowing down.

    Mr. Ma, aged 52 this year, is now the richest person in Asia and 14^th wealthiest in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His net worth has climbed $8.5bn this year to $（4）8bn.

    The latest surge came after China's largest e-commerce company forecast 45 to 49 percent revenue(收入) growth in the year ending March, demonstrating how investments beyond online shopping are paying off. Shares in Alibaba, where Mr. Ma is chairman, rose 13 percent to a record high.

    Alibaba and Tencent, which dominate online shopping and social media, respectively have ventured(冒险) deeper into new areas from cloud computing services to streaming music and video as the country's economy slows. Alibaba is capturing more digital advertising spending by incorporating(合并) social elements such as video in its shopping sites.

    Alibaba is holding meetings with investors this week. On Friday, the former English teacher said he wasn't going to discuss corporate forecasts. He took the stage instead to describe how his company had become effectively the world's 22^nd largest economy—just after Argentina—in terms of transaction(交易) by never fearing to think big. Mr. Ma, who said Alibaba revises 10-year plans annually, foresaw the company becoming the fifth-largest eventually by 2036 by serving a burgeoning Chinese middle classes, taking advantage of global trade and making use of its valuable data.

    Ma's comments about the evolution of data-driven technology echoed Masayoshi Son, Chairman of Japan's SoftBank. SoftBank—Alibaba's largest shareholder—has invested billions in companies such as ARM with the intention of staking out a leading position in the future Internet of Things.

    “The Internet of Things is going to be big because in the past, machines drink electricity,” Mr. Ma told investors. “In the next 20 years, machines will drink data. In the future, no company, no country, no business can survive without data.”

    It is hardly surprising that clothing manufacturers (生产商) follow certain uniform standards for various features (特征) of clothes. What seems strange, however, is that the standard adopted for women is the opposite of the one for men. Take a look at the way your clothes button. Men's clothes tend to button from the right, and women's from the left. Considering most of the world's population—men and women—are right-handed, the men's standard would appear to make more sense for women. So why do women's clothes button from the left?

    History really seems to matter here. Buttons first appeared only on the clothes of the rich in the 17th century, when rich women were dressed by servants. For the mostly right-handed servants, having women's shirts button from the left would be easier. On the other hand, having men's shirts button from the right made sense, too. Most men dressed themselves, and a sword drawn from the left with the right hand would be less likely to get caught in the shirt.

    Today women are seldom dressed by servants, but buttoning from the left is still the standard f0r them. Is it interesting? Actually, a standard, once set, resists change. At a time when all Women's shirts buttoned from the left, it would have been risky for any single manufacturer to offer women's shirts that buttoned from the right. After all, women had grown so used to shirts which buttoned from the left and would have to develop new habits and skills to switch. Besides, some women might have found it socially awkward to appear in public wearing shirts that buttoned from the right, since anyone who noticed that would believe they were wearing men's shirts.

Intuition Robotics, an Israeli company, has developed ElliQ, an artificial intelligence robot designed to help older Americans from loneliness. ElliQ offers companionship to seniors, engaging them in conversations, playing music, leading exercises, and providing reminders for health-related activities. The device resembles a small table lamp with a glowing, moveable head, creating an interactive experience that remembers the user's interests and tailors conversations accordingly.

Joyce Loaiza, 81, from Florida, is among the first users of ElliQ, who enjoys the device's company and the personalized nickname "Jellybean" given to her. Furthermore, in New York, ElliQ entertainment 92-year-old Marie Broadbent with games and music, while Washington state's Jan Worrell, 83, uses it to develop new friendships.

The AI assistant works privately, with conversations not heard by company employees and data stored only on the owner's device. According to Intuition Robotics CEO DorSkuler, users interact with ElliQ over 30 times daily, and over 90% report experiencing less loneliness. The project idea arose from personal experience when Skuler's grandfather needed a companion who shared his interests after losing his partner.

While ElliQ is primarily distributed through state agencies in New York, Florida, Michigan, Nevada, and Washington, it can also be purchased for an annual fee of $600,plus a setup cost of $250. The goal is to have more than 100,000 units in use within five years.

State officials emphasize that ElliQ is not meant to replace social interaction, but it provides a valuable service for those who may be home-bound or lack social connections. Despite concerns raised by Julianne Holt - Lunstad, a professor at Brigham Young University, regarding the potential of such devices to reduce social connections, agencies see EliiQ as a beneficial tool, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic increased social isolation among the elderly.

On a recent Wednesday, archaeologists announced a groundbreaking discovery that challenges our understanding of early human capabilities. They have unearthed what is believed to be the oldest wooden structure ever found, dating back nearly half a million years. This discovery at Kalambo Falls in northern Zambia, near the border with Tanzania, suggests that our ancestors were more technologically advanced than previously thought.

The wooden structure, which is exceptionally well-preserved, dates back at least 476,000 years. This timeline predates the emergence of Homo sapiens, as detailed in a study published in the journal Nature. The wood shows evidence of having been cut and shaped using stone tools, indicating a level of craftsmanship that was not previously attributed to these early humans.

The structure, which is thought to have functioned as a walkway or platform elevated above the seasonally wet ground, demonstrates a purposeful construction technique. A collection of wooden tools, including a wedge and a digging stick, were also found at the site, further supporting the idea of a developed woodworking tradition.

Larry Barham, an archaeologist at the University of Liverpool and the lead author of the study, described the structure as involving "the intentional shaping of two trees to create a framework of two interlocking supports." A notch was cut into one log, and another tree was shaped to fit through this notch, providing stability to the structure.

The use of wood by early humans was already known, but it was typically associated with basic tasks such as starting fires or hunting. However, the discovery at Kalambo Falls indicates a more sophisticated application of woodworking skills. Barham explained, "The structure involves the intentional shaping of two trees to create a framework of two interlocking supports," which required a level of planning and execution that suggests a higher cognitive ability.

The preservation of the wooden structure is remarkable, given that wood typically decays over time, leaving little trace for archaeologists to study. The high water levels at Kalambo Falls are believed to have played a crucial role in preserving the structure for centuries.

These findings from Kalambo Falls not only provide evidence of an early human ability to manipulate their environment but also suggest a more complex cognitive capacity among these early humans than what has been inferred from stone tools alone. Barham concluded, "The finds from Kalambo Falls indicate that these earlier humans, like Homo sapiens, had the capacity to alter their surroundings, creating a built environment." This discovery underscores the need to reassess our understanding of early human technological and cognitive development.