While dog keepers realize their dogs can read their moods accurately, scientists have always been a little doubtful. Now thanks to some researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, Austria, we finally have some convincing evidence.

    For their study, biologist Corson Miller and his team exposed eleven selected dogs to digital images of women that were either angry or happy. Half the dogs were rewarded for touching the screen when shown a happy face, while the other half got their treat for selecting those that appeared angry.

    Interestingly, the dogs were not provided with the entire face. Some dogs were shown only upper halves while the others observed lower halves. That's because the scientists believe humans show their emotions on their entire face.

    After some training like how to recognize small differences like the wrinkles between the eyes or the changes in their shape that accompany the happy or angry expressions, the dogs were mostly able to identify the correct expression not only on a familiar face but on a strange face. The researchers concluded the dogs were smart enough to read human emotions.

    They also found those being trained to read angry expressions took a longer time to learn. They guess it may be because dogs find angry faces disgusting, causing them to withdraw quickly. However, once the smart dogs realized they were getting rewarded, the trepidation seemed to disappear. In fact, the dogs had such a good time playing the computer "game" that scientists had a hard time keeping them away from the touch screens after the study was completed.

    The researchers also noticed only dogs with a male owner had a harder time understanding the expressions correctly. Since the touchscreen models were all females, this confirmed what has been observed in previous studies—dogs are more efficient at reading facial expressions of people that are the same gender as their owner.

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    About three hours after Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas as a Category ( 级 别 ) 4 storm, it was downgraded to a Category 3 storm after winds decreased to 125 mph from maximum winds of 130 mph.

    Harvey also made a second landfall on the northeastern shore of Copano Bay around the time it was downgraded.

    The storm is the strongest to hit the state in decades, with serious flooding expected. The last Category 4 storm to hit the U.S. was Charley in 2004 in Florida, while the last Category 4 storm to hit Texas was Carla in 1961.

    Residents staying in the area madly stocked up on(备足) food, water and gas, while others heading out of the storm's path boarded up windows and doors of their homes and businesses.

    Airlines canceled flights, schools were closed while concerts and other planned events in Houston and coastal cities were postponed.

    The hurricane's effects are expected to last for days, with heavy rainfall through next week estimated to be as high as 40 inches in some areas.

    The National Weather Service warned Harvey could bring a potentially destroying storm surges( 风 暴 潮 ), heavy rainfall and wind hazards( 危 害 ) to the Lone Star State's coast. A tornado watch is in effect for areas of southeastern Texas and southwest Louisiana.

    Life-threatening storm surge waters could reach 9 to 13 feet above ground level. Destroying flooding is expected across parts of the area. And rainfall will be heavy, with an estimated 15 to 30 inches of rain falling in many areas and as high as 40 inches in some from today through Wednesday, the National Weather Service said.

Online Money Earning

    Yes you can earn money online without any investment or without anytime limit. I have many useful easy methods for earning easy money while we all spend our useful time on the Internet by surfing, chatting, downloading and other work. There is no need to stop any other work. We can earn with or without our daily routine. Here I tell you the complete method for online earning.

    First Method

    Earn money with “Bux. to”. You can earn money through “Bux.to” by clicking on ads on “Bux. to” site. First you need to open an account at “Bux. to”.

    “Bux. To” is a new international and FREE English based service that allows advertisers to reach thousands of potential customers by displaying their ads on our “Surf Ads” page. An exact calculated percentage of all advertising income is paid to our members. “Bux. to” makes money through advertising.

    How you make money

    You view websites in 30 seconds through the “Surf Ads” page. Once the 30 seconds is up, you'll either get a green tick sign or a red “x”. The green tick sign means you've earned $0.01and the “x” means you have not earned money for the visit. You'll get red x's when you have more than one websites from the “Surf Ads” page open. When this happens, you get no credit.

Earnings example

    You click 10 ads per day =$0.10

20 referrals(转送) click 10 ads per day =$2.00

Your daily earnings =$2.10

Your weekly earnings =$14.70

Your monthly earnings =$63.00

How to get paid

    If you have at least $10.00 accumulated, you can click on your account balance within your states area and it will meet your request. At present, it only makes payments through “AlertPay”. It will soon be using other methods of payment.

    AlertPay is the payment processing solution that we use to pay members. Your AlertPay address is the e-mail address you use to register with AlertPay. You can get a free AlertPay account at http://alertpay.com.

Method 2 will publish soon…

    Are you interested in hi-tech products? Here are some that you might find at the market pretty soon.

    CX-1

    Tired of dragging your bag through busy airports? Then you might want to consider CX-1. The smart suitcase uses facial recognizing software to follow its owner as he / she is checking in or heading to the gate. Though CX-1 can only move at a speed of up to seven miles per hour, a tiny tool enables owners to keep track of the suitcase's location. It is expected to be sold on the market by late 2018.

    Aibo

    Sony's latest version of the Aibo robotic dog is almost as fun as the real thing—but much less work. The pet dog can recognize its owner, obey several commands, and even recall the behavior that pleases its master the most. Aibo can also learn new tricks, take photographs, and over time, develop its own unique personality.

    Forpheus

    Forpheus, an “athletic” robot developed by Japanese technology company Omron. It teaches users how to play ping-pong. The 10-feet-tall machine uses a camera and artificial intelligence to track the ball's speed and can predict the ball's direction correctly. The smart Forpheus can also quickly test its player's abilities and adjust the playing level, making the game fun.

    Black Box VR

    Though many people determine to go to the gym once a week, few reach their goal. Black Box VR wants to change that by turning hard exercise into fun video games. Using it, gym users will find themselves fighting enemies, including big creatures—all while getting exercise.

    Antarctica's ice white environment is going green and facing other unexpected threats. Scientists say that as temperatures go up in the polar area, invading (入侵) plants and insects, including the flies, cause a major threat.

More and more of these invaders, in the form of larvae(幼虫) or seeds, are surviving in coastal areas around the South Pole, where the temperature has risen by more than 3℃ over the past three decades. Glaciers have melted, exposing more land which has been occupied by mosses that have been found to be growing more quickly and thickly than ever before—providing potential green homes for invaders.

    “The common house flies are a perfect example of the problem the Antarctic now faces from invading species,” said Dominic Hodgson of the British Antarctic Survey. “It comes in on ships, where it exists in kitchens and then at bases on the continent. It now has an increasing chance of surviving in the Antarctic as it warms up, and that is a worry. Insects like the house flies carry bacteria that could have a deadly effect on native lifeforms.”

    The Antarctic has several native species of insects. Together with its native mosses these are now coming under increased threat from three major sources: visiting scientists increasing numbers of tourists and global warming. However, it is global warming that is the main driver of the greening of Antarctica.

    In 2015, more than 38, 000 tourists visited Antarctica. “These tourists are often very careful about not leaving waste or having mud. But they could carry seeds or larvae on their boots when they set foot on the Antarctic, “ said Hodgson.

    More and more invasive insects and plants have been found on the Antarctic and have required removal. “The insects and plants that are native to Antarctica have survived there for thousands of years,” said Hodgson, “We have got to act now if we want to save the environment.”

Forget Cyclists, Pedestrians are Real Danger

    We are having a debate about this topic. Here are some letters from our readers.

    Yes, many cyclists behave dangerously. Many drivers are disrespectful of cyclists. But pedestrians are probably the worse offenders.

    People of all ages happily walk along the pavement with eyes and hands glued to the mobile phone, quite unaware of what is going on around them. They may even do the same thing while crossing a road at a pedestrian crossing or elsewhere. The rest of us have to evade (避让) them or just stand still to wait for the unavoidable collision.

    The real problem is that some pedestrians seem to be, at least for the moment, in worlds of their own that are, to them, much more important than the welfare of others.

——Michael Horan

    I loved the letter from Bob Brooks about cyclists (Viewpoints, May 29). I am afraid they seem to think they own the roads.

    I was walking across Altrincharn Road one morning when a cyclist went round me and on being asked what he was doing he shouted at me.

    The government built a cycle lane on the road but it is hardly used.

    The police do nothing. What a laugh they are!

    The cyclists should all have to be made to use the cycle lanes and wear helmets, fluorescent (发荧光的)jacket and tights at night and in the morning. They should pay some sort of tax and be fined for not wearing them.

——Carol Harvey

    Cyclists jump on and off pavements (which are meant for pedestrians), ride at speed along the pavements, and think they have a special right to go through traffic lights when they are on red.

    I was almost knocked down recently by a cyclist riding on the pavement when there was a cycle lane right next to him.

    Other road users, including horse riders, manage to obey the rules so why not cyclists?

    It's about time they had to be registered and insured, so when they do hit a pedestrian or a vehicle, or cause an accident, at least they can be traced and there might be an opportunity to claim.

——JML

    Write to Viewpoints of the newspaper.