Music for Humans and Humpback Whales (座头鲸)

    As researchers conclude in Science, the love of music is not only a universal feature of the human species but is also deeply fixed in complex structures of the human brain and is far more ancient than previously suspected.

    In the articles, researchers present various evidence to show that music-making is at once an original human “business”, and an art form with skillful performers throughout the animal kingdom.

    The new reports stress that humans hold no copyright on sound wisdom, and that a number of nonhuman animals produce what can rightly be called music, rather than random sound. Recent in-depth analyses of the songs sung by humpback whales show that, even when their organ would allow them to do otherwise, the animals converge on the same choices related to sounds and beauty, and accept the same laws of song composition as those preferred by human musicians, and human ears, everywhere.

    For example, male humpback whales, who spend six months of each year doing little else but singing, use rhythms (节奏) similar to those found in human music and musical phrases of similar length—a few seconds. Whales are able to make sounds over a range of at least seven octaves (八度音阶), yet they tend to move on through a song in beautiful musical intervals (间隔), rather than moving forwards madly. They mix the sounds like drums and pure tones in a ratio (比例) which agrees with that heard in much western music. They also use a favorite technique of human singers, the so-called A-B-A form, in which a theme is stated, then developed, and then returned to in slightly revised form.

Perhaps most impressive, humpback songs contain tunes that rhyme. “This suggests that whales use rhyme, the same way we do: as a technique in poem to help them remember complex materials,” the researchers write.

    Nola is a 41-year-old northern white rhino (犀牛) that lives at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, California. She is one of only four remaining northern white rhinos in the world, and the only one in the western part of the earth. The other three live in Kenya (肯尼亚).

    Rhinos have lived on earth for more than 40 million years, but they are now at the risk of dying out. Hunters illegally hunt rhinos for their horns (角), which are used for art, jewelry, and decorations. They sell the horns for thousands of dollars per pound, though it is not allowed by law. Rhino horns are also prized as a key part in traditional medicine, even though scientific tests have proven that the horns cannot cure illnesses. Experts say that every eight hours, one rhino will be hunted.

    Scientists are trying to find ways to prevent rhinos from dying out. In 1975, the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research started the Frozen Zoo, a program through which researchers have collected cell samples (细胞样品) from more than 8, 000 different animal species until now, including the northern white rhino. Scientists hope that by studying the rhino cells, they will gain greater understanding of the species, and will find ways to increase its number.

    Jeanne Loring works with the Frozen Zoo. Loring's research focuses on pluripotent stem cells, which are cells that can renew and become any cell type. Coloring's lab at TSRI is working together with scientist Oliver Ryder of the San Diego Zoo to use plenipotentiary stem cells to try to increase the number of the northern white rhino. Loring said the goal is to start producing new rhinos through this method over the next couple of years.

What's On?

    Electric Underground

    7.30pm－1.00am   Free at the Cyclops Theatre

    Do you know who's playing in your area? We're bringing you an exciting evening of live rock and pop music from the best local bands. Are you interested in becoming a musician and getting a recording contract(合同)? If so, come early to the talk at 7:30pm by Jules Skye, a successful record producer. He's going to talk about how you can find the right person to produce you music.

    Gee Whizz

    8.30pm-10.30pm   Comedy at Kaleidoscope

    Come and see Gee Whizz perform. He's the funniest stand-up comedian on the comedy scene. This joyful show will please everyone, from the youngest to the oldest. Gee Whizz really knows how to make you laugh! Our bar is open from 7.00pm with drinks and snacks.

    Simon's Workshop

    5.00pm-7.30pm    Wednesdays at Victoria Stage

    This is a good chance for anyone who wants to learn how to do comedy. The workshop looks at every kind of comedy, and practices many different ways of making people laugh. Simon is a comedian and actor who has 10 years' experience of teaching comedy. His workshops are exciting and fun. An evening with Simon will give you the confidence to be funny.

    Charlotte Stone

    8.00pm-11.00pm     Pizza World

    Fine food with beautiful jazz music; this is a great evening out. Charlotte Stone will perform songs from her new best-selling CD, with James Pickering on the piano. The menu is Italian, with excellent meat and fresh fish, pizzas and pasta(面食). Book early to get a table. Our bar is open all day, and serves cocktails, coffee, beer, and white wine.

    An online supermarket company—Ocado in the UK, has recently displayed a robotic hand that can pick fruits and vegetables!

    When an embryo (胚胎) is in the womb, the very first sense it develops is touch. The sense of touch is also the one that lasts the longest—as we get older and our vision and hearing begins to weaken, touch still remains. Humans use their touch to protect themselves, to create emotional relationships with other people, and to experience pleasure. Can you imagine life without it?

    The sense of touch comes from a network of nerve endings and special touch receptors on the surface of the skin. While there are different kinds of touch receptors (感受器), they help us judge pressure, texture and vibrations (震动). They are located in our fingertips, palms, soles of our feet, face, lips and tongue.

    When we touch something, the mechano-receptors perceive the touch and through a network of nerves, send signals to the brain. This informs the brain about the location of the touch, the amount of force used, and the speed at which it was used.

    Several different techniques have been tried in the past to create such a robotic hand—using three fingers. But this latest design by SoMa copies the human hand. The gripper (夹具) is made up of flexible materials which grasp onto the thing based on its size and shape. Then air pressure is used to control the movement of the robotic fingers to pick objects safely and without causing damage.

    The next step would be for the robot to judge how ripe the fruits and vegetables are, and apply pressure accordingly. Members of the research team are currently working on adding computerized vision to the robots, so that they can see what they are gripping.

    Does all this mean robots can replace people? According to Ocado, it helps improve productivity by removing some of the repetitive tasks done by humans.

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.

I will never forget the year 1979. I was just ten years old when my father decided to take me to see a stunt (特技) show starring the famous motorcyclist, Evel Knievel. After seeing the amazing stunts, I started dreaming about riding bikes and performing stunts myself one day.

My whole childhood was spent at skate parks; there was a group of us that would go there every day after school with our BMX bikes (a type of bicycle designed to ride on rough ground). After all, I would need to get some practice if I was going to be like my hero!

My later teenage years were spent competing in endless BMX freestyling championships; some I won and others I lost. But it was never about the trophies (奖杯). The atmosphere was magical, with over 1,000 riders at some events. I just loved the rush of energy I got from this, and from continuously trying newer, more daring stunts.

In 1995, I was chosen to compete in an important international action sports competition. For once in my life I was nervous. I landed badly on my hand and got injured. It took me out of the sport for a while, but my attitude was: "If others have suffered more and gone on, then why can't I?" I had once read that Evel Knievel suffered a total of thirty­five broken bones.

When the International Olympic Committee made BMX an Olympic sport, I couldn't have been more delighted! The way I see it, the sport finally got the recognition it deserved. Its entry into the Olympics encourages more people to take it up seriously.

I have heard some people say that BMX is too dangerous for kids. The risks, though, are really no greater than, say skateboarding. With riders pushing the limits far beyond what I could ever have imagined when I first started riding professionally, BMX seems set to remain one of the most exciting sports in history.