In some science fiction movies, evil robots refuse to die, no matter how hard people fight back.

    Now science fiction has become science fact. For the first time, scientists have made a robot that can take a beating (挨打) and keep on going. Scientists from Cornell University made the robot, which looks like a spider with four legs.

    Until now, even the most advanced (先进的) robot was almost certain to break down when it was damaged. That is because its computer inside simply doesn't know how to make the machine work after its shape has changed.

    To deal with this problem, the scientists put eight motors (发动机) and two sensors (传感器) that read how the machine is working. They all give signals to the machine's software. Using this information, the computer can then figure out the machine's shape at any moment.

    The new technology is a big advance in robot-making, scientists say, and it's far from scary. It may someday help scientists create better artificial (假的) arms and legs and give new freedom to people who lose them. It might also help scientists understand how people and animals figure out their own sense of place in space.

    “It has been difficult to design robots that can work well when the environment changes or when it's damaged,” says Olaf Sporns of Indiana University in US. “With this work, we are nearer to solving this problem.”

    MSG(monosodium glutamate谷氨酸单钠) is a food additive(食品添加剂),which has been widely used by many food factories all over the world since it appeared first in Japan in 1909.

    MSG is a substance that is added to some food to improve its taste and color. It is used in foods around the world such as cakes, bread, frozen meat, fish and vegetables. In the beginning, people thought MSG was safe just like salt and sugar. However, in 1968 some people reported they seemed to have bad reactions(反应) to MSG after having had a meal at a restaurant. They included headaches and quick heartbeat . It was also reported that MSG excited a person's brain and caused his death in Japan. Scientists think that MSG may lead to many neurological disorders(神经紊乱). In mice studies done by a university, the result showed the mice didn't want to eat the food including MSG.

    Today many food companies “hide” MSG on food labels(标签) by using different names. If you see “natural flavorings (调味品) ”,“hydrolyzed protein” and  “spices” in a food label, you are probably seeing a hidden way to “report” MSG in a food label. Every time we have a meal in a restaurant, we always feel the food very delicious to taste, but sometimes it is dangerous for our health because some harmful food additives have been added to the food.

    To protect people's health, our governments, from central to local, are taking action to stop factories producing harmful food additives.

    Some people seem to have unusual memories. Zheng Aiqiang, a "memory athlete" on TV show Super Brain, can remember 2,660 numbers in just one hour!

    You would think people like him must have special brains. But according to a recent study by researchers from America and Holland, the brain structure (结构) of ordinary people and 23 of the world's leading memory athletes shows no difference.

    Good memories can be trained. New research in the magazine Neuron suggests that a person will get a super memory with just six weeks of hard training.

    Researchers found that a technique (技巧) called loci, invented by the ancient Greeks, can greatly help improve memory.

    By using loci, you are using your imagination to improve the brain's memory networks. You can link (关联) something you need to remember with a place that you know very well. For example, to remember a list of numbers, imagine yourself walking through your house. Each thing is linked to a number. For example, zero could be the handle on the door and five could be the painting on the wall.

    In one study, some ordinary people were given 20 minutes to remember 72 nouns. At the beginning, they could only remember 26 words, but when they were taught loci, they could remember 62 words.

"Not everyone can become a memory winner. But everyone using the technique can improve his memory greatly," said Boris Konrad, one of the researchers in the study.

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    Is there intelligent(有智力的) life on other planets(行星)? For years, scientists said "No." or "We don't know." But today this is changing. Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are astronomers (天文学家). They believe intelligent life exists somewhere in the universe. They also think we will soon contact these beings(人；生物).

    Why do Shostak and Barnett think intelligent life exists on other planets? The first reason is time. Scientists believe the universe is about 12 billion years old. "This is long enough for other planets to have intelligent life," say Shostak and Barnett. The second reason is size——the universe is huge. "Tools like the Hubble Telescope (哈勃望远镜) have shown that there are at least 100 billion galaxies (银河系) ," says Shostak. "And our galaxy, the Milky Way, has at least 100 billion stars. Some planets going around these stars might be similar to Earth. "

    In the past, it was hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe. But now, powerful telescopes (高倍望远镜) allow scientists to discover smaller planets--the size of Mars or Earth--in other solar systems (太阳系).These planets might have intelligent life.

    Have beings from space already visited Earth? "Probably not," says Shostak. "It's a long way away. However, intelligent beings may contact us in other way, such as radio signals(信号). "In fact, they may be trying to communicate with us now, but we don't have the right tools to receive their messages. However, this is changing. By 2025, we could make contact with other life forms in our universe and we might help each other.

    How do you light up the night sky? The answer is by using electricity. But did you know that nature can glow (发光), too?

    Scientists have found many glowing living things. Most of them live in the ocean. Some use their lights to talk to each other. Others use them to hunt, to mate (交配) or to protect themselves. The vampire squid (幽灵蛸), for example, uses a cloud of light to scare enemies.

    Scientists around the world are looking at this kind of light for new ideas. In 2013, the US company Gleaux said it has created the world's first light-producing plant, the Daily Mail reported. It is a genetically-modified (转基因的) plant. It can glow like a firefly.

    Alexander Krichevsky, the company's founder (创始人), and other scientists hope that in the future, glowing plants could replace lamps and glowing trees could light up highways. Krichevsky also hopes the technology could be used in farming. Farmers could know when their crops need water or are ready to be picked if they glow.

    While Gleaux is working on glowing plants, the French company Glowee is trying to use glowing bacteria (细菌) to light up shop windows and street signs. It's the same type of bacteria that cause a type of squid to light up, New Scientist Online reported.

    "Our goal is to change the way we produce and use light," said Glowee founder Sandra Rey. "We want to help reduce the 19 percent of electricity consumption (消耗量) that is used to produce light.

    Americans were shocked to discover that the national bird was in danger of disappearing from the skies forever. Studies in 1970 showed only about 1,000, or fewer, bald eagles(秃鹰) in the country.

    The major cause of the problem was people. The spread of civilization(文明) destroyed many of the eagles' feeding and nesting areas. And the eagles were being affected by D-D-T and other insect poisons. The poisons were in the animals the eagles ate. They reduced the eagles' ability(能力) to use calcium(钙). This made the outside of the eagles' eggs very thin. Often, the eggs broke before baby birds were developed.

    In 1972, the U. S. government banned(禁止) D-D-T. People also became interested in protecting places where eagles live. And stronger efforts were made to carry out laws protecting the birds. Scientists began a program that placed baby bald eagles which were born under human care, into nests of wild bald eagles. Often, the wild birds accepted the babies.

    These efforts appear to have been successful in saving the American bald eagles. Today the number of the bald eagles has increased to more than 11, 000.