What will our homes be like in the future? Here are some predictions:

    Want to take a shower when you get home? You'll be able to let your smart water heater(热水器) to start heating up when you're on your way home..

    Did I turn off the oven? Did I close the window? Everyone may have a moment like that. But in the future, your home will check these for you.

    In your home of the future, all of your devices (设备) can work together to make your life more comfortable. When you turn on the lights in the morning, your windows will open at the sometime. The lights will slowly turn off by themselves after the sun appears.

    Your home may have dangers. The hackers (黑客)could open your door and cause a mess at your home through your phone or other devices. Your home will tell you about it, but you can't arrive in time. So people will have to be careful of their personal information.

    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.

Everybody dreams. But only some people remember their dreams. Our dreams often include all the senses —- smells, sounds, sights, tastes and things we touch .Sometimes we dream the same dream over and over again.

    Early in the twentieth century, two famous scientists developed their personal ideas about dreams. Austrian psychiatrist (奥地利心理学家) Sigmund Freud wrote a book called "The Interpretation (诠释) of Dreams" in 1900. Freud believed people often dream about things they want but can't have. Swiss (瑞士) psychiatrist Carl Jung worked closely with Freud for several years, but he believed dreams provide solutions to problems we face when we are awake.

    Other researchers are studying how dreaming helps our bodies work with problems and very sad emotions (感情). Robert Stickgold is a professor of psychiatry (心理学教授) at Harvard University in Massachusetts. He says that when we dream, the brain is trying to make sense of the world. He does not agree with Sigmund Freud that dreaming is the way we express our hidden feelings and wishes.

    Scientists believe it is important to keep researching dreams. Doctor Stickgold says it's more than one hundred years since Sigmund Freud wrote his important book about dreaming. Yet there is still no agreement on exactly how the brain works when we are dreaming or why we dream.

    There are many animals in danger, such as pandas, elephants, and South China tigers.

    The South China tiger is the smallest tiger in Asia. It is also one of the rarest tigers in the world. Scientists think that there might be a few South China tigers living in the wild, but they are still not sure about it.

    The South China tiger is special in its face, but it shares the height with the common tigers. In the past, the South China tigers lived in the forests. But today more than half of them are living in zoos. If there are not safe places for them, they will die out soon. Baby South China tigers need their mothers' milk in the first two months. The mother teaches her babies how to hunt.

    Scientists think that people should do something to protect the rare animals. If people take action together, these animals will have a better place to live in. We'll also live in a better world.

    On April 2, we said goodbye to Tiangong I, China's first space lab. According to the China Manned Space Agency (中国载人航天), Tiangong I re-entered the Earth's atmosphere (大气层) and some of its debris (碎片) fell into the South Pacific Ocean.

    There are many spacecraft (宇宙飞船) that are still in orbit

     (轨道) above the Earth. After finishing their trips, they will all re-enter the Earth's atmosphere like Tiangong I.

    There are two types of re-entries: controlled re-entry and uncontrolled re-entry.

    Some satellites and manned spacecraft come back to the Earth in a controlled re-entry. Experts calculate (计算) the path of the falling spacecraft and its speed. Thy can guide the spacecraft to fall in a chosen area.

    Some spacecraft may have problems while in space after a certain amount of time. These spacecraft come back in an uncontrolled re-entry. It is hard to tell when and where these spacecraft will fall until the last few hours. The US space station Skylab came back partially uncontrolled in 1979. Parts of the station fell in western Australia, but no one was hurt.

    During re-entry, most of the spacecraft will burn up while passing through the Earth's atmosphere. Only a small amount of the debris will reach the ground. The debris typically ends up falling into the ocean, China Daily reported.