An artist in Oakland, California isusing his skills to help the homeless. Greg Kloehn builds very small shelters that make life on the streets a little more comfortable. The structures offer the homeless some safety and protection from bad weather. Each little house also has wheels on the bottom so it can go wherever its owner goes.

    Greg Kloehn has given away at least 20 tiny houses. Several are on the roadside near an active railroad. On a recentday, Mr. Kloehn stops at one to visit Oscar Young. The two men hug. Inside his little shelter Mr. Young gets relief from cold nights on the streets. Mr. Kloehn also visits Sweet-Pea, another friend who also lives in one of the little homes the artist built. She says it keeps her safe and protects herbelongings.

    In the mornings, Mr. Kloehn searches the streets for building materials. He gathers what he can and takes it to his studio. There, he puts the houses together. Empty coffee bags become roofmaterial. A washing machine door and refrigerator part become windows. Nails, screws and the sticky glue hold all the pieces together. The artist also attaches a small electrical device to the house. The device is powered by the sun.

    Some of the people living on the streets once had normal houses of their own. But some of the people say they have learned to live with less and they are thankful to that man.

    Mr. Kloehn says his work is not a social project. He says he is just someone using his skills to help his homeless neighbors.

    Wouldn't it be wonderful to travel to a foreign country without having to worry about the headache of communicating in a different language?

    In a recent Wall Street Journal article, technology policy expert Alec Ross argued that, within a decade or so, we'll be able to communicate with one another via small earpieces with built-in microphones. That's because technological progress is extremely rapid. It's only a matter of time. Indeed, some parents are so convinced that this technology is imminent that they're wondering if their kids should even learn a second language.

    It's true that an increase in the quantity and accuracy of the data loaded into computers will make them cleverer at translating “No es bueno dormir mucho” as “It's not good to sleep too much.” Replacing a word with its equivalent (同义词) in the target language is actually the “easy part” of a translator's job. But even this seems to be a discouraging task for computers.

    It's so difficult for computers because translation doesn't—or shouldn't—involve simply translating words, sentences or paragraphs. Rather, it's about translating meaning. And in order to infer meaning from a specific expression, humans have to interpret a mass of information at the same time.

Think about all the related clues that go into understanding an expression: volume, gesture, situation, and even your culture. All are likely to convey as much meaning as the words you use.

    Therefore, we should be very skeptical of a machine that is unable to interpret the world around us. If people from different cultures can offend each other without realizing it, how can we expect a machine to do better? Unless engineers actually find a way to breathe a soul into a computer, undoubtedly when it comes to conveying and interpreting meaning using a natural language, a machine will never fully take our place.

    Dogs can tell how other dogs are feeling from the way their tails are wagging(摇摆)，according to researchers who monitored the animals' heart rate as they watched dogs' movies. The Italian team found that dogs had higher heart rates and became more anxious when they saw others wag their tails more to the left，but not when they wagged more to the right, or failed to wag at all.

    The curious form of communication is probably not intentional, or consciously understood, but is instead an automatic behavior that arises from the structure of the brain, said Giorgio. “It's not something they clearly and exactly understand,” Giorgio told The Guardian. “It's just something that happens to them.”

    Giorgio traces the effect back to the way the two halves of the brain process different experiences. In a previous study, his team showed that when a dog had a positive experience, activity rose in the left side of the brain, bringing about more tail wagging to the right. Or else more tail wagging to the left. The effect is barely visible to the human eye because dogs tend to wag their tails too fast, but it can be seen with slow motion video, or in some larger types.

    In the latest study, the researchers wanted to find out whether the direction of tail wagging had any effect on other dogs. To get an answer, they fitted dogs with vests that recorded their heart rates, and played them movies of other dogs wagging their tails one way and then the other. To ensure the dogs reacted only to tail wagging, and not appearance? They repeated the experiment with dogs that appeared only as shadows.

    “When dogs saw other dogs wagging their tails to the right, there was quite a relaxed reaction and no evidence of an increased heart rate. But when the wagging was to the left we saw an increase in heart rate and a series of behaviors typically associated with stress, anxiety and being more watchful, “Giorgio said. The anxious animals held their ears up, breathed, and kept their eyes wide open. The study appears in the latest issue of Current Biology.

    Samuel Morse was born in Massachusetts USA. He started off his career as an inventor after being a painter and sculptor (雕塑家). He even earned a gold medal from the famous Adelphi Society of Arts for his first effort in sculpture, the "Dying Hercules". He became the first president of the National Academy of Design, and was made Professor of the Arts of Design in the University of the City of New York.

    Yet, this painter turned to inventing to make his fortune during a sea voyage. On this journey, Samuel Morse heard about many attempts to create usable telegraphs. He was fascinated by this problem and began to study books on physics for two years to gain more scientific knowledge. He realized that pulses (脉冲) of electrical current could carry information over wires.

    Thus the world's first working model of a telegraph was born. His signaling device was quite simple. It consisted of a transmitter (containing a battery and a key), a small buzzer (蜂鸣器) as a receiver and a pair of wires connecting the two. Samuel Morse improved it by adding a switch and a second buzzer to allow transmission (传播) in the opposite direction as well.

    On May 24, 1844 Samuel Morse sent the first electronic message between Baltimore and Washington, "Look what God has enabled us to build, and benefit by."

    Seventeen years later, the two coasts of the United States were linked by telegraph. The telegraph continued to enjoy the position of being the fastest and most reliable means of communication for almost 140 years since its invention.

    Researchers in Australia have discovered an effective new method to capture the atmospheric carbon dioxide that is damaging our planet and transform it into something solid, making it much easier to store.

    Carbon capture isn't new, but previous methods call for the gas to be compressed into liquid and then injected underground. Widespread usage of that technology has been locked by economic and environmental concerns due to possible leaks. Instead, in a study published in Nature Communications, the group details their sustainable and cost-effective plan for transforming CO₂ into coal.

    This new process involves a liquid metal catalyst(催化剂)that is efficient in conducting electricity. CO₂ gas is dissolved in a container with some liquid. Once electricity charge is introduced, the CO₂ begins to turn into solid pieces of carbon, which can be collected and stored.

    What makes this particularly unique is that the entire process can occur at room temperature. Previous experiments have only shown a gas to solid conversion at extremely high temperature, which made it impossible on a large scale. Now, the researchers are hoping that their work will be used to create even further when it comes to carbon storage.

    In an interesting side benefit, the solid carbon also works as an electrode(焊条), which opens up a world of possibilities. "A side benefit of the process is that the carbon can hold electrical charge, becoming a super battery, so it could potentially be used as a part in future vehicles," explains Dr. Dorna Estrafilzadeh, a researcher. "The process also produces fuel as a by-product, which could also have industrial applications."

Here are four books recommended by one of the most respected editors from Reader's Digest. If you have time to dip yourselves into the books, they can surely offer much food for thought.

Face It

Debbie Harry

HARPERCOLLINS

Picture this: it's the late 1970s and the punk music scene is starting to take hold. The band releases the album ParallelLines, which becomes the greatest hit. Everyone wants to attend her concert and some teenage girls even dream to be her. Now 75, Harry bares all about herself in Face It, starting from her childhood. Part shocking, this book is as humorous, moving and vigorous as its subject.

Scatterbrain

Henning Beck

NEWSOUTHBOOKS

If there is no obvious connection among what we see, the brain will substitute in the rest of the information without you even noticing, Beck says in the chapter Memory. In this "user's guide for your brain", he argues that mistakes are the keys to success. He combines science with brain-boosting advice and real-life stories to take the reader on a fascinating adventure through human memory.

You're Not Listening

Kate Murphy

PENGUINERANDOM HOUSE

When was the last time you listened to someone? Really listened without thinking about what you wanted to say next? And when was the last time someone really listened to you? Compared with talking, listening isn't considered so important, argues journalist Kate Murphy, but she insists it is actually the more powerful position in communication. Her insights could transform your conversations, your relationships and your life.

The Right-Brain Work Out

Russel Howcroft with Alex Wadelton

PENGUIN

In 1968,1600 five-year-olds were given a creativity test. They were retested at ages 10 and 15 and their scores were compared against adults. While 98 per cent of five-year-olds were assessed in the "highly creative" range (genius level), only two per cent of adults could be considered "highly creative". In The Right-Brain Work Out, the authors promise to re-train your brain to be more creative, using 70 questions to challenge you.