Online clothes shoppers will be told exactly what size is best for them using new software which combines with their webcam(网络摄像头) or smart phone to form a 3D tape measure.

    Scientists from Surrey University and design experts from the London College of Fashion are developing a program which can take precise waist, hip, chest and other measurements from camera images.

    Using the person's height as a starting point, the software will be able to build up a 3D image and estimate their size at various different points on the body, based on their overall proportions. The result will be a more accurate sizing guide than previous systems based on waist size or a “small/medium/large” scale, which rely on limited measurements and the buyer's perception of their own body size.

    Shoppers and retailers(零售商) who choose to sign up for the project could save millions of pounds a year in postage costs by removing the need to order multiple sizes of the same garment and send back illfitting clothes, researchers claimed. The project, sponsored by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council(EPSRC), is expected to be brought to market within two years.

    After choosing an item, the shopper will activate the software, enter their height, stand in front of their webcam or smart phone in their underwear and take a photograph.

    The software will not store or transmit the image to the Internet, but will use it to judge the person's dimensions at various points on their body.

    Philip Delamore of the London College of Fashion said, “The potential benefits for the fashion industry and for shoppers are huge. Currently, it's common for online shoppers to order two or three different sizes of the same item of clothing at the same time, as they're unsure which one will fit best.”

    Since 2013, Torobo, a robotic arm designed to test the limits of artificial intelligence, has had one ambition—to be admitted to the University of Tokyo. However, it has repeatedly failed. This year was no exception.

    In early November Torobo took an exam to prepare for an all-important standardized test. While Torobo's total score of 525 out of 950 was 14 points higher than in 2015，its standard score of 57.1% was slightly lower, because human students did better in the 2016 test.

    Though the score，which is higher than the national average, is enough to get the robot admitted to many other famous Japanese universities,
it falls short of the minimum required for the University of Tokyo.

    A closer analysis of the results showed that Torobo's newly programmed ability to solve complex physics problems helped increase its
year-over-year physics score from 46. 5% to 59%. The robot also dug deep into its database of information from textbooks and websites to obtain
an impressive 66.3% in world history. The average 60% scores acquired in the two math sections, were not too shabby either.

    But，while Torobo is able to handle knowledge-based questions and ones involving complex mathematical calculations, it has a hard time thinking independently. As a result, the robot is unable to fully understand multiple sentences and phrases to arrive at the logical conclusions required in the English language tests. This weakness was reflected in the weak oral and writing scores, which came in at 36.2% and 50.5%, respectively.

    Fortunately, after four tiring years, the robot's creators have decided to free Torobo from its annual test-taking suffering, the research team will instead focus on improving the robot's ability to pick out specific answers from massive sets of data—a skill that led to its excellent history scores. They believe the expertise(专业技术）will  help Torobo succeed as an industrial robot.

    The most frightening words in the English language are, “Our computer is down.” You hear it more and more when you are on business. The other day I was at the airport waiting for a ticket to Washington and the girl in the ticket office said, “I'm sorry, I can't sell you a ticket. Our computer is down.”

    “If your computer is down, just write me out a ticket.”

    “I can't write you out a ticket. The computer is the only one allowed to do so.”

    I looked down on the computer and every passenger was just standing there drinking coffee and staring at the black screen. Then I asked her, “What do all your people do?”

    “We give the computer the information about your trip, and then it tells us whether you can fly with us or not.”

    “So when it goes down, you go down with it.”

    “That's good, sir.”

    “How long will the computer be down?” I wanted to know.

    “I have no idea. Sometimes it's down for 10 minutes, sometimes for two hours. There's no way we can find out without asking the computer, and since it's down it won't answer us.”

    After the girl told me they had no backup(备用) computer, I said. “Let's forget the computer. What about your planes? They're still flying, aren't they?”

    “I couldn't tell without asking the computer.”

    “Maybe I could just go to the gate and ask the pilot if he's flying to Washington, ” I suggested.

    “I wouldn't know what gate to send you to. Even if the pilot was going to Washington, he couldn't't take you if you didn't't have a ticket.”

    “Is there any other airline flying to Washington within the next few hours?”

    “I wouldn't know,” she said, pointing at the dark screen. “Only 'IT' knows. 'IT' can't tell me.

    By this time there were quite a few people standing in lines. The word soon spread to other travelers that the computer was down. Some people went white, some people started to cry and still others kicked their luggage.

    PTSD(战后创伤) is sadly a common affliction(折磨) for many soldiers who have witnessed conflict, an invisible wound that continues to cause incredible suffering long after the guns have fallen silent.

    "A lot of us come home without realizing we are bringing the war home with us," said Josh Marino, a veteran (退伍兵)of the Iraq war who suffered the effects of PTSD of suicide .

    "I didn't want to deal with it anymore," Marino said. He wrote a goodbye note, grabbed a knife and went outside for a final cigarette in the rain. But then, from the deepest depth of despair came hope. Meowing out of the bushes next to him came a stray black and white kitten (小猫) which, according to Marino, "just walked up and started rubbing up against my leg and let me pet him. I came to life again and I broke down crying. I burst into tears."

    From this accidental encounter everything changed. Marino found a new purpose in life through the friendly cat, who he named Scout, and who he credits with saving his life. "I stopped thinking about all my problems, and started thinking about all his problems, and what I could do to help him, "Marino said. The bond between them was instant，but that wasn't the end of the story.

    Marino has made a video of his and Scout's remarkable story of healing and heartbreak which you can watch on the Internet. The story is dedicated to showing how animals can help humans through tough times, as well as humans can help them. It is a beautiful story that is sure to tug at your heart strings, showing just how powerful the bond between humans and animals can be. We love it, and we hope you do too!

    Diet pills, diet Coke, diet Pepsi, no-fat diet, vegetable diet… We are surrounded by the word "diet" everywhere we look and listen. We have so easily been attracted by the promise and potential of diet products that we have stopped thinking about what diet products are doing to us. We are paying for products that harm us psychologically and physically.

    Diet products significantly weaken us psychologically. On one level, we are not allowing  our brains to admit that our weight problems lie not in actually losing the weight, but in controlling the consumption of fatty, high-calorie, unhealthy foods. Diet products allow us to jump over the thinking stage and go straight for the scale (秤) instead. All we have to do is to swallow or recognize the word "diet" in food labels.

    On another level, diet products have greater psychological effects. Every time we have a zero-calorie drink, we are telling ourselves without our awareness that we don't have to work to get results. Diet products make people believe that gain comes without pain, and that life can be without resistance and struggle.

    The danger of diet products lies not only in the psychological effects they have on us, but also in the physical harm that they cause. Diet foods can indirectly harm our bodies because consuming them instead of healthy foods means we are preventing our bodies from having basic nutrients. Diet foods and diet pills contain zero calorie only because the diet industry has created chemicals to produce these wonder products. Diet products may not be nutritional, and the chemicals that go into diet products are potentially dangerous.

    Now that we are aware of the effects that diet products have on us, it is time to seriously think about buying them. Losing weight lies in the power of minds, not in the power of chemicals. Once we realize this, we will be much better able to resist diet products, and therefore prevent the psychological and physical harm that comes from using them.

    I was in Walt Disney World with my son, Daniel, who is autistic (患自闭症的), and at that time he was 7 years old. My wife and our three other sons were with us too. He was having one of his melt down screaming tantrums (发怒), only God knows why. So my wife and I decided I would take the bus back to the hotel, and she would stay in the park with the other three children.

After we got on the bus, the screaming continued. My son looks "normal". To the many people on the bus, he appeared to just be a kid screaming — or a spoiled child who did not get his special toy that day. It did not take long — less than a minute — before the screaming brought about stares, then glares from the other passengers.

    To my shame, I found myself losing my temper at my own son. I was embarrassed, angry, and frustrated, and felt cheated by God for not being able to enjoy a normal vacation with my family because of him. I started to wonder what life would be like without having to deal with this cross (痛苦).

    And just as the reactions of the other passengers were becoming most intense, a man seated just in front of me turned around to face me. I cheered myself up for his advice on how to raise a well-behaved child.

    He said calmly, "Is he alright?" I said, "He's autistic." Then the man said, "It's alright." And he smiled. That's all.

    And suddenly, all the anger building up inside me was gone. I almost wept for shame at how I had felt a moment before. It no longer mattered what the other people thought. My son was my gift from God.

    I will never forget that man, nor his small, simple act of kindness and understanding. I truly believe he was my son's guardian angel that day maybe mine too.