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(同伴) 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.

B

    Researchers say they have created a new super-tough material in the laboratory. It is stronger, lighter and costs less than steel. But the new material is not a product of high technology. It is wood. Researcher Liangbing Hu says that it can compete with some of the world's strongest materials or even replace steel.

    The product is called Super Wood. It doesn't require any special raw, unprocessed material. That means the cost of the product will be relatively low.Hu said, “We can start with very cheap wood, and also very fancy, expensive wood. But in the end, we get very similar performance.”

    Super Wood is made by partially removing a natural polymer called lignin（木质素）. Hu explained, “Lignin is like glue to hold all the parts together in natural wood. To be able to densify（增密）the wood completely, some of the lignin has to be removed. “Strong chemicals are put on the wood to remove about half of its lignin. Then, after being left in extreme heat and pressurized for a day, the treated wood is ready.

    The wood is strong enough to build automobiles, airplanes, wind turbines and more. Researchers are finding many new ways to use wood, including creating batteries and see-through wood and paper.Hu said, “Wood has been existing on Earth for more than a million years. And human beings have been using wood for furniture, construction for more than 10 thousand years. And the more we worked on this material, we realized, we have never fully exhausted the potential of this amazing material.”

    Would you like to travel? Here is some advice for you.

    Kingsway Hall Hotel

    We offer quality service(优质服务)in Kingsway Hall Hotel. This location puts guests in easy reach of many places, such as the British Museum and Piccadilly Circus. Our hotel also has modern Western food, and offers a perfect dining environment. The lounge bar is a comfortable place to enjoy a drink while watching the tourists. There are hundreds of dining choices within walking distance. Non-smoking rooms are ready for guests.

    Hilton Docklands Riverside

    Located on the bank of the Thames, our hotel is about two miles east of Tower Bridge and 36 miles from London Heathrow Airport. Our hotel has a beauty salon, a flower shop and a swimming pool. The hotel also offers laundry(洗衣店)services, babysitting, shining shoes, and local area transportation.

    Windermere Hotel

    Located in the center of London, our hotel puts guests within easy reach of London's well-known buildings. Buckingham Palace and the Royal Parks are just a short walk away. Within 1. 5 miles you can visit Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. The theatres, Harrods shopping centre, and the designer shops of Sloane Square and Knightsbridge are all only a short walk away or a taxi ride away.

    "You're going to do WHAT?" I asked my best friend, Julie, in alarm.

    "I'm going to try out for the cheerleading squad (啦啦队)," she said, eyes fixed on the ground. We had been best friends since second grade and we did everything together. We had made many plans about what we would do this year, but now she was going off on her own. I was sure that if she joined the cheerleading squad, she would become best friends with someone else and I couldn't stand the thought.

    "Why are you doing this? Do you really want to hang around with those girls instead of me?" I cried, my voice filled with anger.

    "It's not about the girls," Julie said. "It's about the sport. I want to be on the squad at the high school level because they win scholarships (奖学金) at state competitions, and I have a better chance if I'm on the squad here," she explained. "Besides," she added, "it's not like I'm leaving the country or something."

    "Goodbye," I marched off, leaving Julie standing with a sad look on her face.

The rest of that week I was unhappy, and I avoided Julie in the hall. I planned to watch the first game and ignore Julie. Instead, I was amazed by the enthusiasm and skill of Julie's cheering. Although she was the youngest member of the team, Julie enthusiastically led cheer after cheer. I saw how her face lit up with joy. I was stunned (目瞪口呆) as I realized that she loved the sport. Trying out for the team had nothing to do with me—maybe it was just something she wanted to do.

    I approached her shyly, but Julie smiled immediately. "Hey, you were really great." I began, and then added quickly, "I'm so sorry I've been rude to you about your joining the squad."

    Julie smiled and replied, "A group of us are going for ice cream. Why don't you come along?"

    Julie's quick forgiveness made my eyes burn, but I smiled in return. As I walked toward the cheerleaders, I realized there was room in Julie's life for all of us. We could save the competition for the game.

    Mrs Smith trembled(颤抖)with excitement when she was told her fortunes(命运). "Somebody is coming home to you, " Mrs Gray said slowly. "He's carrying a rifle(步枪)on his back and he's almost there."

    Mrs Smith felt as if she could hardly breathe. "And there he is!"Mrs Gray cried, pointing to the road. They all rushed to the door to look.

    A man in a blue coat, with a gun on his back, was walking down the road toward the Smith farm. His face was hidden by a large pack on his back.

    Laughing and crying, Mrs Smith grabbed(抓住)her hat and her children and ran out of Mrs Gray's house. She hurried down the road after him, calling his name and pulling her children along with her. But the soldier was too far away for her voice to reach him.

    When she got back to their farm, she saw the man standing by the fence. He was looking at the little house and the field of yellow wheat. The sun was almost touching the hills in the west. The cowbells rang softly as the animals moved toward the barn(畜棚).

    "How peaceful it all is, "Private Smith thought." How far away from the battles, the hospitals, the wounded and the dead. My little farm in Wisconsin. How could I have left it for those years of killing and suffering?"

    Mrs Smith hurried up to her husband. Her feet made no sound on the grass, but he turned suddenly to face her. For the rest of his life, he would never forget her face at that moment.

    "Emma!" he cried.

    The children stood back watching their mother kissing this strange man. He saw them, and kneeling down, he pulled from his pack three huge red apples. In a moment, all three children were in their father's arms. Together, the family entered the little unpainted farmhouse.

    Later that evening, after supper, Smith and his wife went outside. The moon was bright, above the eastern hills. Sweet, peaceful stars filled the sky as the night birds sang softly.

    His farm needed work. His children needed clothing. He was no longer young and strong. But he began to plan for next year. With the same courage he had faced the war, Private Smith faced his difficult future.

    It was only a dollar. Belscher noticed it on the floor as he sat at the back of his English class. When the school day ended, Belscher wandered back to the classroom. The old bill was still there. He could easily have pocketed it without thinking twice. Instead, he picked it up and brought it to his English teacher, Mattison.

    "It wasn't my money," Belscher says. Mattison was a little surprised he'd turned the dollar in, knowing a lot of people would have just kept it. She suggested that Belscher tape(贴) it to the whiteboard at the front of the classroom, where she always puts lost things.

    Rose, another student, was in English class after break when he spotted the dollar on the whiteboard. After class, he asked Mattison why it was there. She was still waiting for the original owner to claim it, so she replied, "I don't know." Rose took the tape from Mattison's desk and taped a second dollar to the board.

    That got it rolling. The sight of the two dollar bills, side by side, started something in Mattison's students. They started asking about the purpose of the money, to which Mattison always gave the same answer: She didn't know. At that point, it was true.

    More students, curious, taped up single dollar bills. Mattison started to leave the tape on the tray of the whiteboard. The effort snowballed. Even with no clear purpose, many students wanted to be part of whatever this was. The amount continued to grow over several weeks, until it reached $175.76.

    That left Mattison to make the best decision. She kept thinking about her brother-in-law, Jack Hains. Eight years earlier, Jack had died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a rare and devastating neurological disease(神经疾病).

    Mattison explained to her classes that Jack had raised money every spring for the ALS Therapy Development Institute, established to seek a cure for the disease. She asked the teens whether they minded if she donated the dollars in their names in honor of Jack.

    Their answer was to tape enough money to the whiteboard over the next few days to push the amount to $321.06. Mattison, choking back tears as she recalls the moment, says she carefully picked the cash off the board and made the donation just before the beginning of May, which is National ALS Awareness Month. That was Saturday. By Monday afternoon, eight more dollars had been taped to the board.