A Guide to the Library's Facilities(设备)

To use or reserve the facilities of the library, follow the procedures given at the circulation desk.

    Group Study Rooms (2F)

Students and teaching staff can use these rooms for group study. Students are advised to use unlocked rooms (3 rooms for 2 people, 2 rooms for 4 people) available for free. When you use locked rooms (2 rooms for 4 people, 1 room for 10 people), you need to go through reservation procedures at the circulation desk. These rooms are available for group discussion.

    Individual Reading Rooms (1-3F)

    There are 4 single rooms available for use by teaching staff and visiting scholars. Each room is equipped with a computer together 1 printer and 6 scanners. Reservation of these rooms is available for a period up to seven days on end.

    Meeting Rooms and Seminar Rooms (1-3F)

    Only teaching staff and graduate students can apply to use these rooms and reserve them one day in advance. The total number of seats is 40. They are available for workshops and small seminars.

    Computer Rooms (4F)

    These rooms are available for classes or seminars and so on. The total number of seats is 88. Only teaching staff can apply to use the computer rooms and reserve them one day in advance.

Welcome to the Kids' Science Challenge!

    Do you like science projects and winning some awesome gifts? This is the challenge for you. What's even better is that you don't have to build anything--simply come up with an original idea or design that relates to one of three topics given below.

Wonderful Sounds

    Ready for Wonderful Sounds? Click on Science Secrets to meet our sound specialist. And be sure to download fun activities with crazy new sounds and musical instruments in the Dig In section! Now what kind of new musical instrument can you invent?

Super Material for Sports

    Ready for Super Material for Sports? You'll discover the amazing world of Materials Science, where scientists and engineers develop new materials for everyday functions--like sports! Click on Science Secrets for information about our scientist. And don't forget to download the fun activities in the Dig In section! Now can you come up with a new sports material that would help you play your favorite sport?

Magical Microbes

    Ready to discover Magical Microbes, the tiniest living things on earth? Click on Science Secrets for information about our scientists. And be sure to download all the fun activities in the Dig In section! Now can you think of a brand new way that microbes can help people?

    2017 was an influential year for artificial intelligence (人工智能), not just in terms of the advancement of the technology itself, but also for the development of our understanding of AI's impact on our society.

    When we talk about AI, often we focus on the belief that it is going to take away certain types of jobs. However, we often ignore the fact that this technology will also slowly spread into most of our lives.

    Thanks to the development of AI, we are on the highway of IA, (human) intelligence augmentation (增强). Despite the great steps we've made in AI development and will continue to make in 2018, we are still years away from AI fully replacing human jobs. However, we are much closer to seeing the impact of AI spread into almost every job and the growth in human intelligence.

    Take a doctor for example: AI will soon be able to detect and diagnose common diseases more quickly and accurately than humans. Now, doctors can spend more of their time explaining the possible diagnoses, communicating with patients and developing unique, reliable treatment plans that are most effective for each specific patient.

    However, AI is so powerful and its adoption will only accelerate as it begins to help our work and allow us to focus on the parts of our job that are most important. But part of why AI is so attractive is also why it's so dangerous. That is, that same power allows AI that are making incorrect decisions to do so with greater speed and impact than humans have ever had.

    This is why, as AI becomes more useful in 2018, it will also become more closely examined. 2018 will be the year when companies purchasing AI products don't just ask about the power of AI—they will make sure that it is tested carefully in advance, minimizing their potential unexpected impact.

    Whenever we see a button, we are eager to press it because we know something will happen. This is true in most cases, for example on a doorbell and on the “on/off” button on the TV. But some buttons are actually fake, like the “close” button on a lift.

    Many people are in the habit of pressing the “close” button because they don't have the patience to wait for the lift doors to shut. But lifts' “close” buttons are a complete scam(骗局), at least in the US-the doors will not close any faster no matter how hard you press.

    It started in the 1990s when the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in the US, making sure that all lifts stayed open long enough so that people with disabilities could enter. Only US firefighters and repairmen can use the buttons to speed up the door-closing process if they have a code or special keys.

    But to normal lift riders, the buttons aren't completely useless. According to psychologists, fake buttons can actually make you feel better by offering you a sense of control.

    “Perceived (能够感知的)control is very important. It reduces stress and increases well-being,” Ellen J. Langer, a psychology professor, said, “having a lack of control is associated with depression.”

    Experts have revealed that a lot of buttons that don't do anything exist in our lives for this same purpose. For example, many offices in the US have fake thermostats(温度调节器) because people tend to feel better when they think they can control the temperature in their workspace.

    But psychologists found it interesting that even when people are aware of these little “white lies”, they still continue to push fake buttons because as long as the doors eventually close, it is considered to be worth the effort.

    “That habit is here to stay,” John Kounios, a psychology professor, said“Even though I have real doubts about the traffic light buttons, I always press them. After all, I've got nothing else to do while waiting. So why not press the button in the hope that this one will work?”

    Google's new camera, called Clips, is a small, smart device. It comes with a case that has a clip (夹子), but it's not designed to be worn on your clothing. Most interestingly, it uses artificial intelligence to take photography out of your hands so it can capture moments on its own.

    This roughly 2-inch by 2-inch camera, with a three-hour battery life and Gorilla Glass for toughness, is intended for candid moments, like when a child does something cute that may happen too quickly for you to pull out your smartphone.

    Onboard the Clips device, it uses machine learning algorithms ( 计 算 程 序 ) to help capture scenes. Those algorithms include face recognition. "Once it learns that there's a face you see frequently, it'll try to get nice photos of those faces," said Juston Payne, the device's product manager. And they also want it to recognize facial expressions, which involved "training it to know what happiness looks like". The Google team also trained it to recognize what not to shoot—like when a child's hand is over the lens, or if it is tossed in a dark purse.

    The only way to see the images is by connecting the camera with your phone, as it has no screen for viewing or editing.

    Were people concerned it could seem strange? Yes, Payne admitted. But they said they addressed that by making it obvious what it is. A green light on the front signals that it is on. Besides, unlike a camera meant to monitor your home, it is not connected to the Internet.

    "This product is only possible because of the way that silicon has advanced," Payne said, noting that it was only in the past year or so that they could squeeze the technology down into a device this size. Going forward, we're likely to get more assistance from the artificial intelligence packed into our apps and gadgets.

    In an effort to inform our citizens to clear the street snow, the city adopts a snow removal plan.

    Routes used by City Emergency Services come first. Secondly, connector streets will be cleared which allow citizens the greatest access to public roads. And thirdly, roads within neighborhoods will be cleared.

    Snow removal and ice control will start when:

    Snow accumulates 4 inches or more.

    Weather conditions do not endanger the safety of road crew.

    Snow falls during peak traffic periods of heavy use of main streets.

    Snow and ice removal will be delayed or cancelled when:

    There is severe cold, significant wind and limited visibility.

    The snowfall occurs on the weekend or a holiday and is not considered a threat to public safety. In that case, snow and ice removal may take place on the next normal weekday.

    Snow and ice may be left on roadways if melting is obvious.

    Your cooperation is requested during snow removal and these suggestions may apply:

    Limit travel during storms. Travel is possible once roads have been cleared or salted by the road crew

    Avoid removing snow from your driveway into the road. Pile the snow in your yard.

    Park your vehicles in your driveways and off the road or walks.

    Keep public sidewalks next to your house clear of snow and ice.

    Be responsible for removing this snow which is thrown by the snow plough(犁) from your driveways. Hopefully, you can understand this inconvenience.