While music has value all by itself, researchers have long noticed that musicians also tend to be better at learning languages and show other improved reading and math abilities. Now a new study from the University of Washington by Christina Zhao shows that rhythm is an important bridge between music and speech as early as nine months of age.

    Researchers randomly placed babies into two groups of 20 each, and each group played at the lab with their parents for a dozen 15-minute sessions over a month.

    In one group, researchers played recordings of songs with a waltz rhythm and showed the parents how to help their babies tap out that 1-2-3 beat in time with the music on boy drums or with their feet. In the other group, children played with typical toys and no music.

    The babies in the music group were better able to detect random mistakes in that rhythm when they heard it within two weeks of the last session. They also showed a stronger brain response to disruptions in the rhythm. For example, researchers would sometimes alter the timing of syllables(音节) by slightly shortening the middle sound of a word like bibbi to make it bibi—and the babies with music training were more likely to notice it.

    In other words, music training not only improved the babies' ability to notice when a musical rhythm skipped a beat, but also improved their ability to notice when the rhythms of speech changed unexpectedly, an important skill for learning to talk.

    The study reflects Zhao's personal experiences as a pianist who music in college, and as someone who speaks both Mandarin and English. She noticed that a lot of her fellow musicians were also good at learning other languages. “That really got me wondering how these two are related, “Zhao said.

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    Visitors to Britain are sometimes surprised to learn that newspapers there have such a large circulation (发行 ). The “Daily Mirror “ and the “Daily express” both sell about four million copies everyday. British families generally buy a newspaper every morning and two or three on Sundays.

    Besides the national papers, there is, however, another branch of the British press which sells almost as many copies. Local newspapers have a weekly circulation of 13 million. Almost every town and county area has one. Nearly all of them hold their own financially (财政 ) and many of them are very profitable (赚钱的 ) .

    These papers are written almost entirely for readers interested in local events-births, weddings, deaths, council (地方会议 ) meetings and sports. Editors prefer to rely on people who know the district well. A great deal of local news is regularly supplied by clubs and churches in the neighborhood and it does not get out to date as quickly as national news.

    The editors must never forget that the success of any newspaper depends on advertising ( 广告) . He is usually anxious to keep the good will of local businessmen for this reason. But if the newspaper is well written and the news items have been carefully chosen to draw local readers, the business men are grateful for the opportunity (机会 ) to keep their products in the public eyes.

    Traditionally, across the world, boys and girls attend a mixed school, where they study together. But boys' schools are the perfect place to teach young men to express their emotions (情感) and encourage them to take part in activities such as art, dance and music.

    Boys at single-sex schools were said to be more likely to take part in cultural and artistic activities that helped develop their emotional expressiveness, rather than feeling they had to correspond to(和…相符) the "boy code" of hiding their emotions to be a "real man".

    The findings of the study go against accepted wisdom that boys do better when taught together with girls.

    Tony Little, head master of Eton, warned that boys were being failed by the British education system because it had become too focused on girls. He criticized teachers for failing to recognize that boys are actually more emotional than girls.

    The research argued that boys often perform badly in mixed schools because they become discouraged when girls do better earlier in speaking and reading skills.

    But in single-sex schools teachers can tailor (量身定做) lessons to boys' learning style, letting them move around the classroom and getting them to compete in teams to prevent boredom, wrote the study's author, Abigail James, of the University of Virginia.

    Teachers could encourage boys to enjoy reading and writing with "boy-focused" approaches such as themes and characters that appeal to them. Because boys generally have more acute vision, learn best through touch, and are physically more active, they need to be given "hands-on" lessons where they are allowed to walk around. "Boys in mixed schools view classical music as feminine（女性的） and prefer the modern genre （类型） in which violence and sexism are major themes," James wrote.

    Single-sex education also made it less likely that boys would feel that they had to be "masterful and in charge" in relationships. "In mixed schools, boys feel forced to act like men before they understand themselves well enough to know what that means," the study reported.

    In 1941, science fiction writer Isaac Asimov stated the Three Laws of Robotics. These laws come from the world of science fiction, but the real world is catching up. A law firm gave Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University $10 million to explore artificial intelligence. Peter Kalis, chairman of the law firm, K&L Gates, said the development of technology had led to questions that were never taken seriously before. What will happen when you make robots that are smart, independent thinkers and then try to limit their freedom?

    Researcher Kalis said, “One expert said we'll be at a point when we give an instruction to our robot to go to work in the morning and it turns around and says, 'I'd rather go to the beach.'” He said that one day we would want laws to keep our free-thinking robots from running wild.

    With the law firm's gift, the university will be able to explore problems now appearing within automated industries. “Take driverless cars for example,” Kalis said. “If there's an accident concerned with a driverless car, what policies do we have in place? What kind of insurance policies do they have?” In fact, people can take a ride in a driverless car in Pittsburgh where an American online transportation network company uses the city as a testing ground for the company's driverless cars.

    The problems go beyond self-driving cars and robots. Think about the next generation of smartphones, those chips fixed in televisions, computers, fridges, etc., and the ever-expanding collection of personal data being stored in the “cloud”. So can Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics be used in reality? Is it necessary to have a moral guideline that everyone can understand? Whatever it is, doing no harm should be the very first one.

    Captain America and Blackpanther were about to defend Earth from the criminal Thanos when Kevin Foley first noticed something was wrong. Foley, a 46-year old information-technology worker from Kyle, Texas, was heading into the theater to see Avengers: Infinity War when he realized he was having trouble breathing normally. The same symptom struck again during another movie the following night, but more severe this time. Once the cast on the second film rolled, Foley took action: he looked at his wristwatch. It was a bigger step than you might imagine, because Foley was wearing an Apple Watch equipped with medical sensors and experimental software to track basic functions of his heart. And the watch was worried. It had, according to the display, detected signs of an irregular heartbeat.

    Before long, Foley was in an emergency room, where doctors hooked him up to an ECG(心电图), which showed that he was in atrial fibrillation(心房颤动), an irregular heartbeat that can lead to blood clots(血栓), stroke and other potentially disastrous diseases. Foley spent the next few days in the hospital while doctors worked to return him to a normal heart rhythm eventually turning to a procedure called electrical cardioversion to shock his heart back to normal. Foley is doing fine now. But he believes that, if not for the warning on his watch, he might not have sought help in time. “I would have never known,” he says.

    Foley and his watch were part of an experiment run by Apple and Stanford's medical school. But beginning Dec. 6, anyone can get an on-the-fly heart checkup, assuming they've paid $399 or more for an Apple Watch. That's when Apple will launch a software update that turns its latest model, called the Series 4, into a personal ECG, thanks to an innovative new sensor. Though less complicated than hospital ECG machines, the watch version can still provide basic information and warnings of potential risks worthy of a closer look by a medical professional.

    For Apple, this new ECG-on-your-wrist is its biggest bet yet that personal technology will inevitably include personal health. Along with competitors, Apple has already offered fitness functions, such as apps to track the steps you've walked. But with the new ECG scan, Apple is moving straight into medical aspects of heath, a distinction underlined by the fact it sought and received Food and Drug Administration clearance for the clearance for the heart monitor.

    Summer is the most popular season to visit Texas since there is so much to see and to do. While visiting the Lone Star State this summer, don't miss visiting some of these attractions and taking part in some of Texas' best summer vacation activities.

    Visit SeaWorld

    There are sea life shows, adventure camps, thrilling rides and a water park. A great many activities are waiting for you at SeaWorld.

    Windsurf at South Padre

    With miles of shallow（浅的), calm water in the Lower Laguna Madre and strong winds coming off the Gulf of Mexico. South Padre Island is a windsurfer's dream.

    Swim at Barton Springs

    Barton Springs is in the famous Zilker Park. It was formed when Barton Creek was built. Since its opening. Barton Springs has become one of the most popular swimming pools in the state.

    Take part in an outdoor adventure

    In the scenic Texas Hill Country. Lake Buchanan Adventures offers different kinds of activities, including boating, hiking, camping and more.

    Camp and hike in Big Bend Park

    Big Bend offers a great number of outdoor activities in an old way. Backpacking. mountain biking fishing boating hiking nature watching and camping-you name it. If it can be done outdoors.it can be done in Big Bend.

    Enjoy saltwater fishing

    Saltwater fishing in Texas is as good as anywhere else in the USA. More and more fishermen have been discovering this in recent years and packing their bags and rods （鱼竿） to make good use of Texas' world-class saltwater fishery.