Playing with apps on smart phones is very common among young people. Let's try some special apps and enjoy them.

Animals

    Corona viruses are common in animals. Sometimes, animals get infected (感染的) with these viruses which may then spread to human beings. To protect yourself, you should not visit live animal markets or have direct contact with wild animals. Stay away from raw meat, animal organs and other undercooked animal products.

    When an infectious pet was found in Hong Kong, some may wonder if one can get virus from their pets. Until today, there is no evidence that a dog, cat or any pet can transmit (传播) COVID-19. Please do not kill or give up pets!

Touching surface with virus

    Studies suggest that COVID-19 virus may stay on surfaces for a few hours or up to several days. However, the number may change under different conditions such as type of surface, temperature or the environment.

    If you think a surface may be infected, clean it with ethyl alcohol (酒精). After touching it, clean your hands with alcohol or wash them with soap and water. Avoid touching your eyes, mouth, or nose.

Package (包裹)

    Before delivering to your home, a package has been moved, travelled, and exposed to different conditions and temperature. Therefore, the possibility of being infectious because of your package from COVID-19-reported areas is rather low. There is no need to send your package back.

Smoking

    An article posted on Wechat recently says that cigarette can protect smokers from COVID-19 and thus make cigarettes sell very well. It is an online rumor (谣言)! As has been known, smoking harms people's health. It weakens the immune system and worsens diabetes and blood pressure. No smoking is still a must!

Transportation

    According to Feng Luzhao, an expert from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the major routes of transmission are still through respiratory droplets and direct contact. In order to protect yourself in underground station, wearing a mask and keeping your hands clean are good ways. People are also encouraged to use a personal transportation card or pay for the ticket via an app. After taking public transportation, washing hands is necessary.

    Dragon Boat Festival is a fun Chinese holiday. Usually, it's in June or July. Both children and adults（大人）like this holiday.

First, there are dragon boat races. Dragon boats are very long. They have bright colours, In each boat, there are many people rowing（划）. There's also somebody beating a drum（击鼓）. The winners（获胜者）of the races can get a lot of money.

During Dragon Boat Festival, people also eat a special kind of food-rice dumplings. To make these dumplings, people prepare（准备）many things. Then they can make different flavors of dumplings. Some are sweet（甜的），some are salty（咸的）. They all taste good. People give them to friends.

On the evening of the holiday, families have a big meal together. Dragon Boat Festival is a great time for everybody.

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Future astronauts could travel with emotional support robots

    To help astronauts of the future survive (幸免于) the mental (精神的) challenges that come with staying in space for quite a long time, space travelers‟ tasks could soon be accompanied(陪伴) by AI-powered, empathetic (有同理心的, 同感的) robotic helpers.

    Not only does space travel present astronauts with lots of physical stresses, spending months or years in such a physically demanding (要求高的) place with limited space and the same people can also raise many mental tests as well. According to MIT Technology Review, scientists are working to alleviate astronauts from some of the latter challenges by creating "an AI assistant that's able to feel human emotion and respond (做出反应) with empathy."

    While such a technology would prove itself useful by being able to predict the needs of the

crew members in space and "intervene (干预) if their mental health is in danger," it has the potential to be life-saving when humans choose to explore beyond Earth's gravitational field (引力场) and towards deep space.

    Though astronauts currently on the International Space Station have an intelligent robot to interact with called CIMON, it is short of proper emotional intelligence according to NASA CTO Tom Soderstrom. As a result, a team at the organization's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is working on a more complex (复杂的) emotional support companion that can control a spacecraft's functioning in addition to tracking the crew members‟ behaviours.

    Right now in the lab, an AI-equipped robot called Henry the Helper can be found walking around the grounds assisting visitors who appear confused or lost based on their facial expression. Two more emotionally intelligent robots are expected to be introduced later this year, one of which is said to be able to take part in conversations more complex than giving navigation(导航) assistance.

    The team's final goal is to make a companion named Fiona the Future a reality, an emotionally intelligent cross-platform system. Fiona, if all goes according to the JPL's plans, will help keep astronauts of the future stay mentally fit as they start their journeys to deep space.

Do you know many students aren't healthy?

Now many students know sports are good for their health. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Some of them only watch them on TV. What's more(而且), many of them only like watching TV and playing computer games. They often say, "{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Play basketball? Oh, it sounds difficult. "

{#blank#}3{#/blank#} They don't have carrots for lunch and they don't have tomatoes for dinner. But vegetables and fruit are healthy food. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} But they like junk food (垃圾食品). {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

If (如果) you would like to be healthy, eat vegetables and play sports every day. 
 

Are you interested in robots? If so, try out robot Little Q at our science center from August Ist to August 6th. Little Q is a cute robot with a round head, two big eyes and two long legs. It's like a big toy that our children will love.