Scientists have always been interested in the high level of organization in ant societies. American researchers have watched ants build life-saving rafts to keep afloat during floods. They also have recorded how ants choose their next queen — the female whose job is to produce eggs.

    New technology is helping to improve researchers' understanding of the insects. But there is still a lot to be learned.

    Fire ants living in Brazilian forests are perfectly at home in an environment where flooding is common. To save themselves, the insects connect their legs together and create floating rafts. Some ant rafts can be up to 20 centimeters wide.

    David Hu is an engineer with the Georgia Institute of Technology, also known as Georgia Tech, saying, "If you have 100 ants, which means 600 legs, 99 percent of those legs will be connected to a neighbor. So they're very, very good at keeping this network. "

    David Hu and other Georgia Tech researchers wanted to study ants and the secret of their engineering. They froze ant rafts and then looked at them with the help of computed technology, or CT images. The pictures showed that larger ants serve in central positions to which smaller ants hold. The larger ants create pockets of air that keep the insects afloat.

    Scientists say small robots or materials that can change shape could be programmed in a similar way, working towards a shared goal.

    Researchers at North Carolina State University are also studying ants. They examined how Indian jumping ants choose the leader of the colony when they lose their top female or queen.

    If you love to read, and if you love social networking, you should check out Goodreads. Goodreads allows you to write reviews（评论）for everything you've ever read. You can see and comment on your friends' reading progress, as well as create or find a book club group page in your area.

    Goodreads is simple to use. When you sign up here for an account（帐户）, you will be able to find your friends by their email addresses or other accounts. Once you have some friends, every time you log in（登录）, you will see a timeline of their updates. You can see when they've added a book to a list, or when they've finished or reviewed a book. As soon as you have an account, you can also start looking for books you've read or that you want to read. Once you finish reading a book, you can go to the book page and review it.

    Finding your next book has never been easier. Now, not only can you search for books you know you want to read and add them to your “to read” list, but you can also easily see what your friends have recently read.

    If you are looking for a book club that meets in your area, you can search for that on Goodreads, too. Similarly, if you want to create your own book club, you can do that easily: just start a new group on Goodreads and update the page to show what books you're reading.

    Suppose you want to go abroad and learn about the foreign exchange in culture in different countries. Here is some information you may need.

    When we think someone is smart，we say they have a big brain．But are there any facts to prove that statement？

    Yes! In a new study done by Michael McDaniel, a psychologist at Virginia Commonwealth University，bigger does mean smarter. "For all ages and sex groups，"he says，"it is now very clear that intelligence has something to do with brain volume（容量）．"

    McDaniel reached his conclusion after measuring the size and volume of 26 brains with the help of some instruments. He then used standard IQ tests to measure the intelligence of the owners of these brains.

    But do IQ tests really reveal intelligence？McDaniel believes that they do，and here are other studies to backup that point of view．One study last year found that IQ is related to the amount and distribution（分布） of gray matter in the brain．The study showed that the amount of gray matter in certain places was strongly related to high IQ．The distribution of gray matter in the brain，which is different for different people，could explain why one person with a high IQ is good at math but poor at spelling，while someone else with the same IQ has just the opposite ability．

    Yet another recent study found that women have more gray matter（compared with white matter） than men！However，the study also showed that in the areas of the brain specifically（特别地） related to intelligence，men had much more gray matter，which is needed for some tasks，such as doing a math problem. Women, on the other hand, had more white matter, which is necessary for collecting information．And the point is that intelligence can be influenced in different ways．

    "On average，"McDaniel says，"smarter people learn more quickly，make fewer mistakes，and are more productive．"He believes in the use of IQ tests to examine those who want to find a job. So, be well, do good work, and…exercise that brain!

    Emma and Ryan, a married couple, were driving to a friend's house when Emma turned to Ryan and asked, “Would you like to stop for lunch?”

    Ryan replied. “No, I'm not hungry yet,” and continued driving. Meanwhile, Emma sat quietly fuming (十分恼火)in the passenger seat. Ryan could not understand why Emma was unhappy. He had thought she was asking if he was hungry, but in reality, Emma was telling him that she was hungry and wanted to stop for lunch.

    Misunderstandings like this often occur between men and women, even among people from the same culture. Deborah Tannen, professor of linguistics at Georgetown University in the United States, has studied conversational rules.

    In Emma and Ryan's situation, Emma was making a request in the form of a question. Her style of talking is common for women. She needed Ryan to agree they were both hungry. So, Emma asked Ryan what he wanted. She was really telling Ryan what she wanted; however, Ryan did not understand this. If he had been hungry, he would have said something more direct, such as, “I'm hungry. Let's have lunch.”

    Tannen believes that most women grow up in a world where talk is used to express feelings. However, most men are raised differently and they tend to keep their feelings to themselves.

    Tannen says, for men, talk is often used as a situation used outside the home to gain respect, to entertain and get attention , or to exchange information. This is why men communicate by making each other laugh, or talking about sport and work. These men do not always feel it is necessary to talk to feel close or to express their feelings. Women, on the other hand, are encouraged to speak about their feelings since this is a way to build relationships.

    A small robot may help children who are recovering from long-term illnesses in the hospital or at home. These children may feel isolated from their friends and classmates. The robot takes their place at school. Through the robot, the children can hear their teachers and friends. They also can take part in class from wherever they are recovering.

    Anyone who has a long-term illness knows that recovering at home can be lonely. This can be especially true for children. They may feel left out. Now, these children may have a high-tech friend to help feel less lonely. That friend is a robot. The robot is called AV1. AV1 goes to school for a child who is homebound while recovering from a long-term illness. And the child's school friends must help. They carry the robot between classes and place the robot on the child's desk.

    A Norwegian company called No Isolation created the robot. The co-founders of No Isolation are Karen Dolva and Marius Aabel. Dolva explains how the robot AV1 works. She says, from home, the child uses an iPad or a phone to start the robot. Then they use the same device to control the robot's movements. At school, the robot becomes the eyes, ears and voice of the child.

    So, it sits at the child's desk in the classroom and the child uses an iPad or a phone to start it, control its movement with touch, and talk through it.

    The student can take part in classroom activities from wherever they are recovering — whether at home or from a hospital bed. The robot is equipped with speakers, microphones and cameras that make communication easy.