The Internet, mobile phones and Ipads are part of our lives now. Technology is greatly affecting all ways of our lives, from the ways we work to the ways we play. And it even causes a number of social problems such as cloning humans.

      We have had lots of technology and it has changed our lives a lot. There is no doubt that humans will continue to use more and more technology. Here are some examples of modern technology that will change our ideas and will affect our lives greatly.

     Global positioning system (GPS) (全球定位系统)

      It's a system that uses radio signals from satellites to show exact information. It tells you where the user is on the earth in all weather conditions. It's made up of three parts: satellites, control equipments(设备) on land and receivers.

     Space Technology

      Russian and American scientists have worked together for the international Space Station (ISS) for a long time. They hope the ISS will provide a long-lasting lab. Such a lab will bring humans limitless (无限的) advantages. It's even hoped that one day space technology will take humans to their new houses in space.

     Underwater Robot

     Hercules is a kind of underwater robot with some high technology equipments. It will be used to look for ancient ships which were destroyed into the deep sea during their journey long ago.

     The world is changing so quickly that it's hard for us to catch up with all the new inventions because they seem to come out every month. It's important for us to learn about new technology and the role that it plays in our lives. So we should be willing to accept modern technology, or we will fall behind the times.

    Are you a big fan of E. T. (Extraterrestrial) or aliens? Then you should read Extraterrestrial Civilizations (《地球以外的文明世界》) by American writer Isaac Asimov (1920~1992). In his 1979 book, Asimov looked at whether there is life beyond the Earth. He also talked about how we might be able to communicate with aliens someday. Asimov even told us that there are possibly about 500, 000 civilizations (文明) in the galaxy(银河系). The book may be a little out of fashion since it came out in the 1970s. But you'll still enjoy the good reasoning (推理 ) and imagination of it. Asimov was a science fiction(科幻故事) master. His most famous works talk about the relationship between robots and humankind.

    Is there intelligent（有智力的） life on other planets? 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（存在） 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," says Shostak. "And our galaxy, the Milky Way, has at least 100 billion stars.

    Some planets going around these stars might be similar to the 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 the Earth-in other solar systems. These planets might have intelligent life.

    Have beings from space already visited the Earth?" Probably not," says Shostak. "It's a long way away. However, intelligent beings may contact us in other ways, 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."

    People and dogs have been living together for hundreds of years. When did dogs and people become friends? Where did dogs come from?

    A group of scientists tried to answer these questions. They just finished a study about the history of dogs. In the study, they looked at the DNA of dogs all over the world and found that dogs, like humans, shared DNA with their family members. The scientists put together a big family tree for dogs. It went all the way back to the animal's beginning.

    In this way, scientists learned about the history of dogs. The first dogs lived in Asia. They were born about 33,000 years ago. At first, there were only about 6,400 of them. Their parents were wolves(狼).

    The new study answers many questions. It raises some too. For example, what caused wolves in Asia to become dogs all those years ago?

    One idea is that their DNA slowly changed and the wolves became dogs in the end. As time goes by, dogs became "man's best friends" Or it could happen the other way around. It was possible that some wolves started living with people before they became dogs. Living with people led to many changes to these wolves. It changed their DNA, so their offspring(后代) became dogs. In other words, it was possible that wolves were our friends before they became dogs.

    By studying DNA, scientists now have a much better understanding of the history of dogs. ________.

    How exactly dogs came to be our friends is still unclear.

    Do you like pandas? Now you can watch them eat and play at iPanda. com 24 hours a day.

    The panda is a symbol of China. There are only about 1, 600 pandas in the wild(野外). You can also see them in the zoos of many countries like the US and the UK.

    Pandas have big black eyes and fat bodies(身体). When they eat, they sit on the ground and hold the food with two hands, just like children. They look very cute and funny.

    Pandas usually live for 30 years. Now many pandas in the wild have no food to eat. They are in danger and they need our help.