Scientists in Britain have managed to teach bumblebees(大黄蜂) to pull strings to get to food and then pass on what they have learned to others in their colony(群体)—showing a high level of intelligence despite their tiny brains.

    Researchers at Queen Mary University of London said the experiments, often used to test the intelligence of apes (猿) and birds, showed for the first time that some insects are up to the task, and can also pass skills on through several generations.

    The findings add to the evidence suggesting the ability for “culture spread” — the ability to learn and pass on knowledge and skills — may not be exclusive to humans.

    In the research, published in the journal PLOS Biology on Tuesday, the scientists were able to train 23 out of a group of 40 bees to pull strings with their legs and feet.

    The strings were attached to discs — or artificial “flowers” — containing food at their center but placed under a transparent screen. The bees, spotting the food beneath the screen, learned to pull the “flowers” out by pulling the string with their legs and feet to be able to get to it.

    From another group of bees given the chance to solve the task without any training, only two of 110 were successful.

    Another group of bees was then allowed to observe the trained bees pulling the strings, and 60 percent of them successfully learned the skill. Finally, trained bees were put in colonies, and the scientists found the technique spread successfully to a majority of the colony's worker bees.

    Lars Chittka, a Queen Mary University professor who guided the project, said the team is interested in figuring out the brain processes behind the bees' learning and teaching skills.

    He wrote that the “human mind is capable of excitement without the application of unpleasant and violent stimulants (刺激物)”. And it appears that simply reading these words by William K Wordsworth proves his point.

    Researchers at the University of Liverpool found the writing of Shakespeare and Wordsworth and the like had a beneficial effect on the mind, making it active and excited by catching the reader's attention and leading to moments of self-reflection.

    Using scanners, they monitored the brain activity of volunteers as they read pieces of classical English literature both in their original form and in a modem translation. And according to the Sunday Telegraph, the experiment showed the more challenging writing and poetry set off far more electrical activity in the brain than the simple readings.

    The research also found poetry, in particular, increased activity in the right brain, an area concerned with “autobiographical memory”, which helped the readers to reflect on their own experiences in light of what they had read. The academics said this meant the classics were more useful than self-help books.

    The brain responses of 30 volunteers were monitored in the first part of the research as they read Shakespeare in its original and modern form. In one example, volunteers read a line from King Lear, “A father and a gracious aged man: him have you madded”, before reading the simpler, “A father and a gracious aged man: him you have enraged”. Shakespeare's use of the adjective “mad” as a verb caused a higher level of brain activity than the straightforward version.

    The next part of the research is looking at the extent to which poetry can affect psychology and provide benefit. Volunteers' brains were scanned while reading four lines by Wordsworth, and four “translated” lines were also provided. The result showed that the first version caused a greater degree of brain activity.

    “Poetry is not just a matter of style. It is a matter of deep versions of experience that add the emotional and biographical to the cognitive (认知的),” said Professor Davis, leader of the researchers.

    As I was thinking about language learning the other day, the image of baking bread came into my mind. I compared some of the exercises and drills that we put ourselves through in order to learn a language to the various ingredients that go into baking a loaf of fresh bread.

    Real language learning takes place in human relationships. No one sits down and eats a cup of flour, even if he is hungry and in a hurry. You don't become bilingual（双语的）by learning lists of vocabulary. You don't become a speaker of a language by memorizing verb conjugations（动词的词形变化）and agreement rules. You become bilingual by entering a community that uses that other language as its primary means of communication.

    I am not suggesting that we can make bread without ingredients. Flour is necessary, as are yeast, salt, water and other ingredients. Vocabulary is part of any language and will have to be learned. Grammatical rules exist in every language and cannot be ignored. But merely combining the appropriate ingredients in the recommended proportions does not result in bread. At best, you only end up with a ball of dough（面团）.

    In order to get bread, you have to apply heat to the dough. And in language learning, that heat comes from the community. Anyone who has learned a second language has experienced that heat. It creeps up your neck when you ask the babysitter, “Have you already been eaten?” when you meant to say, “Have you already eaten?” When you try to say something quite innocent and the whole room bursts into laughter, you are experiencing the heat that turns raw dough into good bread.

    Remember the old saying, “If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen”? This is where language learning often breaks down because we find the heat uncomfortable and we stop the baking process. In other words, we can't stand the heat, so we get out of the kitchen.

    However, the language learner who stays in the kitchen—in the heat—until the combined ingredients are thoroughly transformed will enjoy the richness of a quality loaf of bread. He said that he did not “get out of the kitchen” at the critical moment when the oven seemed too hot. The dedicated language learner knows that becoming bilingual cannot be achieved without the heat!

    Since his students began using Quizlet, English teacher Tristan Thorne has noticed an improvement in their ability to learn and use new words. Quizlet is a learning App, a computer program you use on your mobile phone. It can help users build and test their knowledge of English words. Quizlet has word sets for millions of subjects. And, it is quickly becoming a useful mobile tool for language learners.

    Thorne teachers at Columbia University in New York City. Thanks to learning Apps, Jeff Strack, another English teacher, has also notice improvement in his students' ability to remember information. He teaches at Hostos Community College, also in New York. He and Thorne are part of a growing number of language educators adding mobile Apps to their classes.

    Strack and Thorne seem to agree that the days when teachers would not permit the use of mobile phones are gone. When they use Apps, language learners communicate more differently than in a traditional classroom. Users act on or respond to something, instead of just listening to new information.

    Thorne believes that Apps can help learners become more active in learning. For example, each week, his students are required to add vocabulary words into Quizlet for others to use. He says some Apps also make it easy for students to know their language strengths and weaknesses.

    The biggest improvement Strack has seen in his students is that they are much more active inwhole-class or small-group discussions. “Apps let all students take part in the activity, whether it's a game, quiz or practice activity.” he says.

    Many existing learning Apps are designed for students of all ages and levels. Some are designed for group activities. Some support independent learning. Still some are good for homework. Thorne says he especially likes Quizlet and three other Apps: QR Codes, Socrative and Evernote.

    For many years, machines have been doing work that people once did, including some difficult jobs. Search and rescue operations in dangerous environments are often seen as the first areas that will employ high technology robots. But there is another area where they may soon take jobs traditionally held by human beings: the restaurant industry.

    Teams from around the world competed in early June at the DARPA Robotic Challenge Finals in California. A team from R. O. Korea and its robot, called DRC-Hubo, won first place in the competition. The second and third place finishers were from the United States.

    The robots were required to drive a vehicle, climb up steps and do mechanical work. Such activities are easy for humans to perform, but more difficult for machines.

    Not all of the competitors were successful. The failures showed how difficult it is to design effective walking machines.

    Recently, crowds gathered for the food machinery and technology show in Tokyo, Japan. They witnessed a robotic chef preparing food. Other machines cooked, baked tasty pastries and even made sushi.

    Akihiro Suzuki works at Yaskawa Electric, a company that develops robots. He says robots cannot do everything a human can, but they are able to work without becoming tired.

    He says robots cannot taste food, change heating levels or seasonings to get the best flavor. But he says if a food can be easily prepared, a robot can repeat the same movement to reproduce the same meal.

    One Japanese woman who saw the robots working wanted to bring them home. Masayo Mori says she would like to have a husband who could work like a robot. Suzumo Machinery demonstrated its sushi maker robot. It performs the often difficult work of wrapping the popular Japanese food. Hiroshi Monden is an official with the company. He says people all over the world now eat sushi, but there are not enough skilled workers to prepare for it. He says his machine can help anyone make sushi.

    Grown-ups are often surprised by how well they remember something they learned as children but have never practiced ever since. A man who has not had a chance to go swimming for years can still swim as well as ever when he gets back in the water. He can get on a bicycle after many years and still ride away. He can play catch and hit a ball as well as his son. A mother who has not thought about the words for remember the story of Cinderella or Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

    One explanation is the law of overlearning, which can be stated as follows: Once we have learned something, additional learning trials increase the length of time we will remember it.

    In childhood we usually continue to practice such skills as swimming, bicycle riding, and playing baseball long after we have learned them. We continue to listen to and remind ourselves of words such as "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" and childhood tales such as Cinderella and Goldilocks. We not only learn but overlearn.

    The multiplication tables(乘法口诀表)are an exception to the general rule that we forget rather quickly the things that we learn in school, because they are another of the things we overlearn in childhood.

    The law of overlearning explains why cramming (突击学习)for an examination, though it may result in a passing grade, is not a satisfactory way to learn a college course. By cramming, a student may learn the subject well enough to get by on the examination, but he is likely soon to forget almost everything he learned. A little overlearning, on the other hand, is really necessary for one's future development.