We all know the feeling: looking at the computer screen, pretending to be interested in our homework, even though we really feel bored. But such feelings may soon be at an end, says Dr. Harry Witchel, head of the Essex Medical School. He believes that computers of the future will notice when people feel bored and even take action to stopit.

    Before you get concerned, the machine won't be reading your mind. It will be observing the many movements you make while using a computer. It's not interested in the big movements needed to use the machine — like moving a mouse or touching a screen — but small, barely noticeable movements like closing your eyes, moving in your seat or rubbing your face. Witchel calls these “boredom movements" and says they show how interested the person is in what they are reading or watching. The higher the interest level, the less movement!

    To test his theory, Witchel invited 27 people to perform various computer-based tasks. The activities ranged from playing online games (an interesting task) to reading documents like government laws that most people would find boring.

A special video camera followed the participants' movements as they completed each task. Just as the researcher expected, the “boredom movements" greatly decreased, by as much as 42%，when the subjects were very interested in what they were reading or seeing.

    Fortunately, Dr Witchel isn't planning to use his results to create machines that report students who are not paying attention at school. Instead, he wants “movement sensing” technology to be built into future computers in order to improve students' computer-based learning experience.

    The scientist says that by measuring the students' interest level as they work, educators will be able to adjust their materials in real-time to keep students focused. Witchel also believes that the technology can provide filmmakers with honest audience opinions and in the future, help to develop more intelligent robots.

    Ever walked to the shops only to find, once there, you've completely forgotten what you went for? Or struggled to remember the name of an old friend? For years we've accepted that a forgetful brain is as much a part of ageing as wrinkles and grey hair. But now a new book suggests that we've got it all wrong.

    According to The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain, by science writer Barbara Strauch, when it comes to the important things, our brains actually get better with age. In fact, she argues that some studies have found that our brain hits its peak between our 40s and 60s— much later than previously thought.

    Furthermore, rather than losing many brain cells as we age, we retain （保留）them, and even produce new ones well into middle age. For years it's been assumed that brain, much like the body, declines with age. But the longest, largest study into what happens to people as they age suggests otherwise.

    This continuing research has followed 6,000 people since 1956, testing them every seven years. It has found that on average, participants performed better on cognitive （认知的）tests in their 40s and 50s than they had done in their 20s. Specifically, older people did better on tests of vocabulary, verbal memory (how many words you can remember) and problem solving.

    Where they performed less well was number ability and perceptual speed－how fast you can push a button when ordered. However, with more complex tasks such as problem-solving and language, we are at our best at middle age and beyond. In short, researchers are now coming up with scientific proof that we do get wiser with age.

    Neuroscientists are also finding that we are happier with ageing. A recent US study found older people were much better at controlling and balancing their emotions. It is thought that when we're younger we need to focus more on the negative aspects of life in order to learn about the possible dangers in the world, but as we get older we've learned our lessons and are sub-consciously aware that we have less time left in life: therefore, it becomes more important for us to be happy.

    My mother loves flowers. As soon as warm weather comes around, you will find her planting, watering and weeding over everything. For many years we lived next door to each other, and she spent as much time in my garden as she did her own. After the flowers became plentiful each summer, she would cut colorful bouquets (花束) to enjoy inside the house－both hers and mine. I would often come home from work and find a beautiful arrangement (布置) of fresh flowers on my coffee table.

    Shortly before Christmas one year, a local flower shop offered a bouquet month special. It seemed to be a great way to thank her for all of the flowers she had given me through the years. After the holidays, in early January, I drove her to the flower shop to pick up her first month's bouquet. The small fresh colorful bouquet would hardly fill a small vase (花瓶).

    I was so embarrassed(尴尬的). However, after we returned home, she began to arrange the flowers she had received. “Mom, I'm sorry,” I told her. “I can't believe how skimpy that bouquet is.” She looked at me and smiled. “It's okay,” she said. “It allows me to better enjoy the beauty of each one.”

    Mom's words helped me to realize something bigger and more important－when we have too many good things, we often fail to enjoy the beauty of each one.

      Thanks, Mom, for helping me understand that less is sometimes more.

    Scientists have found what they believe are pieces of a meteor(流星)that fell to the earth last year. The objects were discovered off the coast of the United States in the Pacific Ocean.

    The crew of the Nautilus, a private research ship, recovered the rock particles(颗粒).The Nautilus is operated by the Ocean Exploration Trust. The group says its aim at present is to examine areas of the ocean that have never been explored before.

    The search was launched after US government weather stations observed a large meteorite exploding some months ago. The explosion lit up the sky and sent the rock particles to the earth. The meteorite fall was the largest recorded over the United States in at least 20years. The team includes scientists from NASA, the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary and the University of Washington. The scientists examined what they believe were two small meteorite fragments. Further testing is needed before they can confirm that the material came from the explosion.

    The Nautilus is equipped with two remotely operated vehicles(ROVs), called Hercules and Argus. These robotic submarines help researchers find and collect materials from the seafloor. The fact that the particles landed in the ocean, instead of on land, means larger pieces may have survived and can be studied. For this reason, scientists decided to launch the first intentional search for meteorites from the ocean. Until the latest research, scientists had only accidentally discovered a small number of meteorites from drilling operations.

    The objects recovered from the bottom of the sea likely came from the recent explosion for two main reasons. First, meteorite particles are basically made of glassy materials that do not tend to last long in seawater. Secondly, they came from what looked like a small hole on the seafloor. Some evidence shows that they came from something that fell.

    He was once referred to as the Picasso of poetry. Beloved by Chileans of all classes, he is one of the most widely read and respected poets in history. And this year is the 100th birthday of Pablo Neruda (1904-1973).

    Born with the name Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basolto, he was a tall, shy and lonely boy. He loved to read and started to write poetry when he was ten. The American poet Walt Whitman, whose framed picture Neruda later kept on his table, became a major influence on his work.

    However, his father did not like the idea of having a poet for a son and tried to discourage him from writing. To cover up (掩饰) the publication of his first poem, he took the pen name Pablo Neruda.

    In 1924 Neruda gained fame with his most widely read work "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair". Yet his rich experience as a diplomat and exile (流亡) made him go beyond the theme of love. His work also reflected the political struggle of the left and development of South America. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.

    Neruda loved the sea which he saw as creative, destructive and forever moving. He found inspiration in the power and freedom of the waves and the seabirds on the coast. "I need the sea because it teaches me," he wrote. "I move in the university of the waves." He loved how the sea forever renewed itself, a renewal echoed in his work.

    Professor Martin's report says that children who attend a number of schools, because their parents have to move around the country, probably make slow progress in their studies. There are also signs, says Professor Martin, that an unusually large number of such children are mentally affected.

    The professor says, "It's true, my personal feeling is that children should stay in one school. Our feelings are based on research and not on any personal feeling that I or many assistants may have on the subject."

    Captain Thomas James, an army lecturer for the past 20 years and himself a father of two, said, "I've never heard such rubbish. Taking me for example, no harm is done to the education of my children who change school regularly—if they keep to the same system, as in our Army school. In my experience—and I've known quite a few of them—Army children are as well-adjusted (适应) as any others, if not better. What the professor doesn't appear to appreciate is the fact that in such situations children will adapt (适应) much better than grown-ups."

    When this was put to Professor Martin, he said that at no time has his team suggested that all such children were backward or mentally affected in some way, but simply that in their experience there was a clear tendency (倾向).

    "Our findings show that while the very bright child can deal with regular changes without harming his or her general progress in studies, the majority (大多数) of children suffer from constantly (不断地) having to enter a new learning situation."