Whether in the home or the workplace, social robots are going to become a lot more common in the next few years. Social robots are about to bring technology to the everyday world in a more humanized way, said Cynthia Breazeal, chief scientist at the robot company Jibo.

    While household robots today do the normal housework, social robots will be much more like companions than mere tools. For example, these robots will be able to distinguish when someone is happy or sad. This allows them to respond more appropriately to the user.

    The Jibo robot, arranged to ship later this year, is designed to be a personalized assistant. You can talk to the robot, ask it questions, and make requests for it to perform different tasks. The robot doesn't just deliver general answers to questions; it responds based on what it learns about each individual in the household. It can do things such as reminding an elderly family member to take medicine or taking family photos.

    Social robots are not just finding their way into the home. They have potential applications in everything from education to health care and are already finding their way into some of these spaces.

    Fellow Robots is one company bringing social robots to the market. The company's “Oshbot” robot is built to assist customers in a store, which can help the customers find items and help guide them to the product's location in the store. It can also speak different languages and make recommendations for different items based on what the customer is shopping for.

    The more interaction the robot has with humans, the more it learns. But Oshbot, like other social robots, is not intended to replace workers, but to work alongside other employees. “We have technologies to train social robots to do things not for us, but with us,” said Breazeal.

    We've all experienced that feeling that comes when your phone makes a sound to tell you that its battery level is low. It often comes at the worst times – when you're out on a trip and don't have a charger, or when you're expecting an important phone call.

    Indeed, this feeling is so common that South Korean electronics manufacturer LG has given it a name: low battery anxiety.

    According to a survey of 2,000 US adults conducted by the company last year, 90 percent of respondents said that they panic if their battery level reaches 20 percent or lower.

    And last month, UK telecommunications service provider 02 found that around 15.5 million Britons live in “constant fear” of their mobile phones running out of power, according to a survey by the company.

    “The problem is not about being unable to make calls, but is rooted in the fact that smartphones are now where we store digital memories,” noted the Daily Mail.

    However, battery worries don't just affect smartphone lovers. Many owners of electric vehicles also suffer from so-called “range anxiety”. This refers to the concern that the vehicle may not make it to its destination before the power runs out.

    Meanwhile, it isn't just low power that people worry about. A study carried out by South Korea's Sungkyunkwan University and China's City University of Hong Kong found that many of us also worry about not having constant access to our phone.

    This condition is known as nomophobia, short for “no mobile phone phobia（恐惧症）”. Symptoms include feeling uncomfortable when access to one's phone isn't possible, being unable to turn off your phone, and constantly topping up the battery to make sure it never dies.

    So, why do so many people treat their smartphone with such importance? The underlying reason may be that they keep us connected to the people around us, and if we're unable to use our phone, we feel like we're cut off from our social life.

    With products with bigger batteries being released all the time though - such as Xiaomi's Mi Max smartphone range or Tesla's Model S cars – battery anxiety may hopefully soon be a thing of the past.

    Letters as a way of communication have long given way to phone calls and WeChat messages.

    But a TV show, Letters Alive, is helping bring this old way to keep in touch back into the present.

    Letters Alive took its idea from a UK program with a similar name, Letters Live, which was first shown in 2013. Both shows feature famous actors and actresses, but there is no gossip , no eye-catching visual effects or any regular showbiz (演艺圈) activities. Instead, it's just one person walking up to a microphone and reading a letter.

    But these are not just any letters. They are selected from a wide time span and a diverse range of subjects. There is, for example, a passionate letter that famous painter Huang Yongyu wrote to playwright Cao Yu 30 years ago to criticize his lack of creativity. There is also a heartfelt note from Spring and Autumn Period written by two ordinary young soldiers to their elder brother to report their lives in the war zone.

    Every letter is like a small piece of history. By hearing them being read, it's as if we are being sent back in time to experience a moment that we would otherwise never have had the chance to.

    “Letters Live makes us pause and imagine the lives behind the letters,” UK actor Benedict Cumberbatch, one of the readers on the UK show, told The Guardian. “It allows people from all ages and all walks of life to experience a moment of time in someone else's life for a brief moment.”

    Compared to published texts, letters also come with a personal touch.

    One example from Letters Live was a note of thanks from the mother of a dying child to JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books. It read: “Mrs Rowling, Cancer threatened to take everything from my daughter, and your books turned out to be the castle we so desperately needed to hide in.”

    According to Guan Zhengwen, the director of Letters Alive, it is this kind of humanity behind every letter that strikes a chord (引发共鸣) with the audience. It is also what made the show a big hit in China ever since its first episode aired on Dec 5.

    “It's a thing of the past that entertainment shows establish themselves only with pretty faces,” Guan told Sohu News. “Showbiz is starting to switch to a focus on wisdom and intelligence.

    Pacific Science Center Guide

    Visit Pacific Science Center's Store

    Don't forget to stop by Pacific Science Center's Store while you are here to pick up a wonderful science activity or souvenir to remember your visit. The store is located(位于) upstairs in Building 3 right next to the Laser Dome.

    Hungry?

    Our exhibits will feed your mind, but what about your body? Our café offers a complete menu of lunch and snack options, in addition to seasonal specials. The café is located upstairs in Building 1 and is open daily until one hour before Pacific Science Center closes.

    Rental Information

    Lockers are available to store any belongings during your visit. The lockers are located in Building 1 near the Information Desk and in Building 3. Pushchairs and wheelchairs are available to rent at the Information Desk and Denny Way entrance. ID required.

    Support Pacific Science Center

    Since 1962, Pacific Science Center has been inspiring a passion(热情) for discovery and lifelong learning in science, math and technology. Today, Pacific Science Center serves more than 1.3 million people a year and brings inquiry-based science education to classrooms and community events all over Washington State. It's an amazing accomplishment and one we cannot achieve without generous support from individuals, corporations, and other social organizations. Visit pacificsciencecenter.org to find various ways you can support Pacific Science Center.

    Two Chinese-themed films -- "Go Back to China" and "Baby" -- will be screened at the 20th annual Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) this week.

    The film "Go Back to China," written and directed by Chinese American filmmaker Emily Ting, tells the story of fashionista, Sasha Li, a spoiled rich girl living in the United States, who burns through her trust fund (信托基金) and is forced to return to China to work for the family toy business. The second Chinese film, "Baby" was directed by Liu Jie and produced by Shan Gao, and will be on its first show at China Onscreen Biennial. In the film, a Chinese girl, Jiang Meng, who is a lowly cleaner working in a children's hospital, swears to save a baby born with the same congenital defects(先天性缺陷) she was born with, whose father has abandoned it as too expensive to treat.

    Running from April 25 to May 2, the Newport Beach Film Festival boasts over 60 narrative films and over 200 shorts in its line-up this year. These films and shorts are carefully selected by many countries which includes China, Chile, Ireland, South Korea, Europe, Japan, South America and Australia. Film fans are invited to attend the Pacific Rim Showcase Party this Wednesday, honoring the best in Chinese, Asian and Australian filmmaking.

    NBFF Executive Director, Gregg Schwenk, said of the festival," This year, the theme is the Power of Ideas. We've always focused on diverse, strong filmmaking, and we're most proud of how we've been embraced, not just by our audience, but by the filmmaking community."

    On a rainy winter day, several decades ago, a British artist named Christopher got on a train in Oxford to go to London. When he began his journey, he never knew that it was the beginning of almost 40 years of accidents and near death experiences.

    During the journey, the train fell into an icy river, killing 12 passengers. Christopher managed to swim back to the river bank. He only had a broken leg.

    Two years later, Christopher was on a plane from London to Manchester when a door suddenly opened and he fell out. A few minutes later, the plane crashed; 27 people were killed. Christopher was so lucky that he landed in a haystack (干草堆).

    A few years later, he was hit by a bus, but again had no serious injuries. Then a year after that, he was driving on a mountain road when he saw a truck coming straight at him. He drove the car off the road, jumped out, landed in a tree — and watched his car fall 100 meters down the mountain.

    "There are two ways you can look at it," Christopher said. "I'm either the worlds unluckiest man, or the world's luckiest." When a reporter asked Christopher what he thought, he chose the "luckiest" one.

    Two years ago, aged 71, Christopher bought his first lottery ticket (彩票) in 50 years and won more than 2 million. After this, a TV company in America said they wanted him to make an advertisement. At first he accepted, but then he changed his mind. Christopher said he would not fly to Los Angeles for the filming, because he did not want to push his luck. Who knows? If he had accepted the invitation, maybe he would have had another accident. But Mr. Christopher is a lucky man. If he had had another accident, he probably would have survived that too!