A cab company in one of Japan's major cities is introducing silent taxi drivers. Miyako Taxi, which is based in Kyoto, shows the new idea in March. The business is currently operating five “Silence Taxis” across the city.

    The cars look like any ordinary taxi，but a notice written on the back of the passenger seat  inform passengers that they have entered one of the new silent fleet. Drivers will offer a greeting when their passenger enters the car, and aside from confirming the route they will not engage in small talk. The drivers can indulge in conversation, only if they are spoken to first, and they are also allowed to communicate in emergency situations.

    Announcing the idea, Miyako Taxi said: “This service is currently in a trial stage, with the goal of creating an in-car atmosphere that provides the most comfortable ride for passengers through limiting the driver's speaking.” According to Japan Today, they made the move after hearing reports from passengers that they were fed up being forced to chat with their drivers.

    The company will assess the popularity of the trial before deciding whether to expand it and roll it out across more of their drivers.

    Language and speaking is at the heart of another issue facing Uber drivers, after lost a High Court Battle to block written tests in London. Drivers applying for a minicab license in the capital will now have to pass the written exam following Uber's failed challenge against Transport for London (TfL). The company argued it could see up to 33,000 existing drivers lose their licences under the new rule.

    The company's London head, Tom Elvidge: vowed to challenge the rule and said, “We've always supported spoken English skills, but writing an essay has nothing to do with communicating with passengers or getting them safely from A to B.”

    Whether in the home or the workplace, social robots are going to become a lot more common in the next few years. Social robots are about to bring technology to the everyday world in a more humanized way, said Cynthia Breazeal, chief scientist at the robot company Jibo.

    While household robots today do the normal housework, social robots will be much more like companions than mere tools. For example, these robots will be able to distinguish when someone is happy or sad. This allows them to respond more appropriately to the user.

    The Jibo robot, arranged to ship later this year, is designed to be a personalized assistant. You can talk to the robot, ask it questions, and make requests for it to perform different tasks. The robot doesn't just deliver general answers to questions; it responds based on what it learns about each individual in the household. It can do things such as reminding an elderly family member to take medicine or taking family photos.

    Social robots are not just finding their way into the home. They have potential applications in everything from education to health care and are already finding their way into some of these spaces.

Fellow Robots is one company bringing social robots to the market. The company's “Oshbot” robot is built to assist customers in a store, which can help the customers find items and help guide them to the product's location in the store. It can also speak different languages and make recommendations for different items based on what the customer is shopping for.

    The more interaction the robot has with humans, the more it learns. But Oshbot, like other social robots, is not intended to replace workers, but to work alongside other employees.“We have technologies to train social robots to do things not for us, but with us,” said Breazeal.

    For Zack, the shave was more than just a way to fund lifesaving research. It was a way to honor his late brother, Taylor Frink.

    Taylor, a volunteer firefighter in North Carolina, was killed in a car accident last September. Before his passing, Taylor was an eager supporter of St. Baldrick's. He went bald（秃头）for the cause in 2015, supporting kids with cancer and raising money to find cures.

    As a local hero, Taylor was beloved by the community. When he died, more than 1, 000 people attended his funeral to pay their respects. Zack looked up to his brother and this was the reason why he decided to become a junior firefighter himself. They did everything together. Zack remembers.

    Zack knew his brother had planned to shave again in 2016, so without hesitation he decided to fill his shoes and registered to shave at the local St. Baldrick's event in Kinston, N. C.

    “He was always goodhearted, and I want to make my brother proud,” shares Zack.

    As part of Zack's kindnesses, he raised more than $ 1,000 for the St. Baldrick's Foundation primarily by selling T-shirts he designed. Leading up to the event, Zack also visited his city council, commissioner's office and challenged the local official department to get involved.

    “We are not going to let Taylor's name be forgotten. That is what I love about St Baldrick's,” says Jean Culbreth, volunteer event organizer. “Zack gets it. He gets that what he is doing is keeping his brother's name alive.”

    The day finally came and Zack took his seat under the clippers (剪具), not only to honor his brother but to help kids with cancer. It was a special moment for all, and by the end of the day the event had raised more than $ 22,000!

    Do you want to do some volunteer work while exploring Africa? Then join in our 21-Day Flagship Program. Step onto the flat, sandy land of Ghana, and you'll immediately hear the laughter of children everywhere. This laughter will be the constant of your trip and a steady source of energy while you volunteer among one of Africa s kind communities.

    Community Service

    Volunteer in primary schools, working with children of different ages to help improve their English skills, tutor those who might be falling behind and contribute to each school's needs, including making improvements to the facilities. Split your time between teaching and campus refurbishment (翻修) projects to serve every aspect of the school, and learn all about education in Ghana.

    Hands-on Learning

    Participate in workshops such as batik cloth dyeing (蜡染), drumming, dancing and crash courses in the native language, Ewe or Krobo. You'll be given a Ghanaian name by the local chief of your village, and visit a seamstress (女裁缝) to have custom clothing made out of colorful fabrics you purchase. On the 21-Day Flagship Program, you'll hear about the nation's history as a center of the slave trade, and visit Fort Prinzenstein to truly understand the weight of this topic.

    Adventure

    You'll also experience the natural surroundings of Ghana with a beautiful waterfall hike: On your 21-Day Flagship Program, go on a two-night trip where you'll get to visit a monkey shelter.

    Lodging

    Global Leadership Adventures (GLA) operates two Home Bases for the 21-day program. Both are located outside of the capital city of Accra in rural village settings. Accommodations are basic, but clean and safe. Students sleep in rooms with roommates, and have access to shared bathrooms with cold-water showers.

    Dates

    June 26-July 16, 2019

    July 9-July 29, 2019

    July 20-August9, 2019

    Duration: 21 days

    Tuition: $5,399

    Community Service Hours: 60

    For more information, please call 1-858-771-0645 or send an email to info@experiencegla.com.

    Almost every night for more than 10 years, Kirk Alexander, 48, ordered a late dinner from his local restaurant Domino's Pizza. But for the past two weeks, he hasn't called for even once.

    "A few of my staff mentioned that we hadn't seen his order in a while. Then I found that it had been 12 days since he last ordered, which is not like him," Domino's general manager Sarah Fuller said, feeling she could no longer ignore Kirk's recent absence.

    Sarah has known Kirk since 2009 when she started working at the Domino's Pizza as a delivery driver (送餐员) and often made the short trip to Kirk's home about six minutes away. She knew Kirk worked from home, and neighbors said he seldom left. She also knew that he suffered some health problems in the past. Something, Sarah worried, was wrong.

    Around 1 a. m. on May 8, Sarah sent delivery driver Sean Hamblen to visit Kirk's home. Sean arrived at Kirk's home and knocked on the front door several times. There was no answer. He later noticed that the lights and the TV in the home were on. When he called Kirk's phone, it went straight to voice mail.

    Sean drove back to the restaurant to tell Sarah and they decided to call 911. Soon, officers arrived at Kirk's home. So did Sarah and Sean. They heard a man calling for help from inside. Officers broke down the door and found Kirk on the floor in need of medical attention at once after suffering from a heart attack (心脏病发作). One day later, they might have been too late.

    So is keeping an eye on regular customers (老顾客) part of Domino's business plan? Not really. "Kirk is part of our family here and we feel like we need to do something." Sarah said.

    More primary care doctors in a community (社区)appear to lead to improved life expectancy for people living there, though a lack of such physicians across U.S. could be a cause of concern for overall population health in years to come.

    For the study, researchers looked at physician counts per 100,000 people in a range covering 2005 to 2015 in the U. S., along with life expectancy and specific causes of death. They found that an increase of 10 primary care physicians per 100,000 population was associated with a 51. 5-day increase in life expectancy, while an increase of 10 specialty physicians per 100, 000 population increased life expectancy by 19. 2 days. An increase in primary care physicians also was associated with reductions of many deaths including heart diseases and cancers.

    Along with those findings, though, the study said many communities did not have primary care physicians in 2015, with the decline in supply more prominent in rural areas than their urban areas. Many believe that a well-functioning health care system requires a solid foundation of primary care, however, payment difference between primary care and technical specialties continue to dispirit the U. S. primary care physician workforce.

    "Higher pay and lifestyle preferences lead most students to choose non-primary care fields, even when their hearts say primary care," the study said. "We must turn this trend around with practical changes in physician payment policy; no amount of superb primary care training or creative practice reform will prevent further declines in primary care physician, which will lead to worsening health for the United States."

    The study's researchers conclude that future research should focus on the "quality and cover of primary care, types of primary care physician training and service offerings, and effective access rather than just supply".