"Over the years the unthinkable hasbecome thinkable and today we sense we are close to being able to alter humanheredity œ#)." These were the words of David Baltimore of the CaliforniaInstitute of Technology, on December 1st, when he opened a three-day meeting inWashington to discuss the morality and use of human gene editing. Dr Baltimoreis an old hand at these sorts of discussions, for he was also a participant inthe Asilomar conference, in 1975, which brought scientists together to discussa safe way of using the then-new tcchnology of recombinant DNA, and whoserecommendations influenced a generation of biotechnology researchers.

Four decades on, the need for a similarsort of chin-wag has arisen. The InternationalSummit on Human Gene Editing has been held by the national scientific academiesof three countries — America, Britain and China. They are particularlyconcerned about whether gene editing should be used to make heritable changesto the human germ line, something Dr Baltimore described as a deep andtroubling question. Like those of Asilomar, the conclusions of this meetingwill not be binding. But the hope is that, again like Asilomar, a mixture ofcommon sense and peer pressure will create a world in which scientists aretrusted to regulate themselves, rather than having politicians and civilservants do it for them. The meeting is being held against a backdrop of rapidscientific advance, Since 2012 research into a new, easy-to-use editing tool calledCRISPR-Cas9 has blossomed. This technique involves a piece of RNA (a chemicalmessenger, which can be used to recognise a target section of DNA) and anenzyme (酶)called a nuclease that can snip unwanted genes out and paste new ones in.

Public interest was aroused in April,when Chinese scientists announced they had edited genes in non-viable ( 无活力的) humanembryos, and again in November when British researchers said they hadsuccessfully treated a one-year-old girl who had leukaemia ( 白血病),using gene-edited T-cells. T-cells are part of the immune system that attack,among other things, tumour cells. The researchers altered T-cells from ahealthy donor to encourage them to recognise and kill the patient's cancer, tomake them immune to her leukaemia drug, and to ensure they did not attack herhealthy cells.

In another recent development, a firmcalled Edit as Medicine, which is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has saidit hopes, in 2017, to start human clinical trials of CRISPR-Cas9 as a treatmentfor a rare genetic form of blindness known as Leber congenital amaurosis (伯氏先天性黑蒙).Though other companies are already testing gene-editing therapies, these employolder, clunkier forms of the technology that seem likely to have lesscommercial potential. Moreover, researchers at the Broad Institute, also inCambridge, said this week that they had made changes to CRISPR-Cas9 whichgreatly reduce the rate of editing errors — one of the main obstacles to thetechnique's medical use.

On the subject of germ-line editing,Eric Lander, the Broad's head, told the meeting it would be useful only in rarecases and said it might be a good idea to "exercise caution? before makingpermanent changes to the gene pool. The need for caution is advice that mightalso be heeded by those pursuing work in animals other than people, and inplants — subjects not being covered by the summit.

    Nancy Wake was born in New Zealand, in 1912. The family moved to Australia in 1914 and after being educated in Sydney, she travelled to Europe where she worked as a journalist. In Nazi (纳粹的) Germany she saw the rise of Adolf Hitler and Anti-Semitism. On one occasion in Vienna she witnessed Jews being whipped by members of the Sturm Abteilung (SA). In 1939 Nancy married the wealthy French industrialist, Henri Fiocca, in Marseilles. Nancy was in France when the German Army invaded in May 1940. After the French government surrendered, Nancy joined the French Resistance. She worked with Ian Garrow's group helping British airmen shot down over France to escape back to Britain.

    In December 1940 the network was betrayed and Nancy was forced to go into hiding. She continued to work for the French Resistance and was eventually arrested while in Toulouse. However, the authorities did not realize they had captured the woman known as the “White Mouse” and she was set free after four days.

    It was now too dangerous to remain in occupied France and Nancy crossed the Pyrenees into Spain before travelling to Britain. She now joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and agreed to become a British special agent (特工).

On 29th April 1944, Nancy was parachuted into the Auvergne region of France. Her main aim was to locate local soldiers and to provide them with some guns that were being dropped by parachute by the Royal Air Force four times a week.

Nancy had the task of helping the resistance to prepare for the armed uprising that was due to coincide with the D-Day landings. She also led an attack against the Gestapo headquarters in Mountucon and a German gun factory. Henri Tardivat, one of her comrades in the resistance later said that: “She is the most feminine woman I know, until the fighting starts. Then she is like five men.”

    After the war, Nancy worked for the Intelligence Department at the British Air Ministry. In 1960 she married John Forward and returned to Australia to live.

    Robots and humans will soon be living in harmony(和睦).A singing robot is being taught to create jazz with a human in a project.

    Antonio Chella from Italy is working with a Telenoid robot. To start with, the Telenoid will be trained to follow the movements and simple sounds made by a human singer, and to connect music with different emotional states. Chella then plans to see if the robot can use these connections to create music.

    Intelligence is often regarded as the ability to find connections between the existing things. But Chella suggests that a conscious(有意识的) creature should be able to go a step further and introduce new connections that result in the creation of something new.

    Some jazz musicians say that they should have a mental library of musical phrases so that they are able to combine them in new ways. More importantly, however, this combination happens in a state that is similar in a sense to dreaming. Chella wants to copy these states in a machine.

    “This work raises interesting questions about the link between consciousness and music making,” says Philippe Pasquier, a musician and computer scientist. But he is skeptical about whether a robot musician needs a physical body.

    Pasquier argues that the robots are faced with two challenges(挑战). Software that can copy Bach has already been developed. But interpretation（演绎）includes human's different tastes and judgments. “What made the Beatles famous was not so much their works, but the fact that the interpretations of the works were wonderful,” he says.

    It is not yet clear how a robot would go about interpreting music in a new way. But by copying humans and then learning to sing, Chella's robot could provide clues.

    What seems to be important is that human composers often listen to lots of music made by others. So Chella's robot had better listen to those jazz standards first.

Prague VS Vienna: Which One to Visit?

    Prague and Vienna are both wonderful and exciting cities with modern cosmopolitanism and ancient history and culture. But if you've got a European vacation planned and are trying to decide which one of these amazing cities to visit, it can be daunting(困难)for sure.

    Sightseeing

    While both cities are rich in sightseeing adventures, Prague is definitely more beautiful as a city. You can walk along the Danube River for breathtaking views, sit in one of the many cafes that dot the urban landscape, and breathe in the amazing architecture  both old and modern that makes up this Central European metropolis(都市).Vienna is a hotbed of history, home to such great sites such as The Hofburg, Schonbrunn Palace and Gardens, and St. Stephen' S Cathedral.

    Shopping

    You most likely didn't travel all the way to Europe just to go shopping. But, if you happen to be a shopaholic, Vienna is definitely better. But be warned: fine goods you buy in Vienna will sometimes be three times more expensive than what they are in the United States or Canada.

    Cuisine

    When it comes to great dining, both cities are equally fascinating. Austrians are known for their love of sweets and pastries(糕点), which is reflected in the many bakeries, cafés, and restaurants scattered around Vienna. Some restaurants in either city offer local cuisine, though you're more likely to be eating a combination of Western European or even Americanized food. Bear in mind that Prague(being that it is in Central Europe)will be far less pricey than Vienna.

    Culture

    What do you hope to see on your trip? Palaces? Medieval Cathedrals? The Opera? How about museums? If you do happen to visit both cities, you'll find that culture equally as enriching. However, Vienna has more world—class museums which display the rich history of the area.

    CLASSIC TOURS—COACH BREAK INFORMATION

    Luggage

    We ask you to keep a medium-sized suitcase per person, but a small holdall can also be taken onto the coach.

    Seats

    Requests for particular seats can be made on most coach breaks (巴士旅游) when booking, but since seats are booked on a first come, first serve basic, early booking is advisable. When bookings are made with us, you will be offered the best seats that are available on the coach at that time.

    Travel Documents

    When you have paid your deposit（订金）, we will send you all the necessary documents, so that you can receive them in good time before the coach break leaving date. Certain documents, for example, air or boat tickets, may have to be reserved and your guide will then give them to you during the break.

    Special Diets

    If you require a special diet, you must inform us at the time of booking with a copy of the diet. This will be told to the hotels on your coach break. The hotels for certain coach breaks are tourist class and they may not have the equipment to deal with special diets. Any extra costs must be paid to the hotel by yourself before leaving the hotel.

    Accommodation

    On any coach break there are only a limited number of single rooms. When a single room is available, it may be subject to an extra charge and this will be shown on the brochure page.

    Entertainment

    Some of our hotels arrange extra entertainment which could include music, dancing, films, etc. The nature and frequency of the entertainment presented is decided by the hotel and therefore not guaranteed and could be withdrawn if there is a lack of demand or insufficient numbers in the hotel.

Every four or five years, vast quantities of warm water build up along the west coast of South America. This phenomenon, El Nino, creates storms that cause destructive floods. The result is costly.

Modern farmers come to terms with El Nino. They use money saved in good years to rebuild in bad ones. But history suggests it need not be like that. In a paper published recently, Ari Caramanica, an archaeologist at University of the Pacific, in Lima, shows how it used to be done. And the answer seems to be, "better".

Dr Caramanica and her colleagues have been studying the Pampa de Mocan, a coastal desert plain in northern Peru. Pampa de Mocan is not suitable for farming. Its soil contains little organic matter and the annual rainfall in non-Nino years is usually less than two centimeters. Today's farmers therefore depend on canals to carry water from local rivers to their fields.

It had been assumed that ancient farmers had a similar arrangement — and so they did. But Dr Caramanica also found eight canals that could carry water far beyond the range of modern farms. She thinks that they were intended to guide the floodwaters arriving during Nino years. Around a quarter of the ancient agricultural infrastructure of this area seems to have been built only for managing Nino-generated floodwaters.

Evidence from pollen supports this theory, revealing that Pampa de Mocan produced lots of crops in some years, while remaining nearly barren in others. The team also uncovered two cisterns in the area serviced by the extended canals. These, probably, were used to store extra flood-water.

These findings suggest that, rather than resisting El Nino, early farmers in Pampa de Mocan were ready to make use of it when it arrived. Modern farmers might do well to learn from them.