A team of engineers at Harvard University has been inspired by Nature to create the first robotic fly. The mechanical fly has become a platform for a series of new high-tech integrated systems. Designed to do what a fly does naturally, the tiny machine is the size of a fat housefly. Its mini wings allow it to stay in the air and perform controlled flight tasks.

    “It's extremely important for us to think about this as a whole system and not just the sum of a bunch of individual components (元件),” said Robert Wood, the Harvard engineering professor who has been working on the robotic fly project for over a decade. A few years ago, his team got the go-ahead to start piecing together the components.“The added difficulty with a project like this is that actually none of those components are off the shelf and so we have to develop them all on our own,” he said.

    They engineered a series of systems to start and drive the robotic fly. “The seemingly simple system which just moves the wings has a number of interdependencies on the individual components, each of which individually has to perform well, but then has to be matched well to everything it's connected to,” said Wood. The flight device was built into a set of power, computation, sensing and control systems. Wood says the success of the project proves that the flying robot with these tiny components can be built and manufactured.

    While this first robotic flyer is linked to a small, off-board power source, the goal is eventually to equip it with a built-in power source, so that it might someday perform data-gathering work at rescue sites, in farmers' fields or on the battlefield. “Basically it should be able to take off, land and fly around,” he said.

    Wood says the design offers a new way to study flight mechanics and control at insect-scale. Yet, the power, sensing and computation technologies on board could have much broader applications. “You can start thinking about using them to answer open scientific questions, you know, to study biology in ways that would be difficult with the animals, but using these robots instead,” he said. “So there are a lot of technologies and open interesting scientific questions that are really what drives us on a day to day basis.”

    An upset little boy wanted to meet God. He thought it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with a bag of potato chips and a six-pack of root beer and started his journey.

    When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old woman sitting on a park bench alone. The boy sat next to her and opened his suitcase. He was about to drink his root beer when he thought that the old lady might be hungry, so he offered her some chips. She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him. Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a root beer. Again, she smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling.

    As dusk fell, the boy got up to leave; but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old woman and gave her a hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever.

    When the boy opened the door to his own house, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, “What did you do today that made you so happy?” He replied, “I had lunch with God”

    Meanwhile, the old woman, also returned to her home with joy. Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face and he asked, “Mom, what did you do today that made you so happy?” She replied, “I ate potato chips with God.”

    Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

    The British live on a small island. They are surrounded by the sea, so it is not surprising that the sea has always played an important role in their lives. After the development of large, ocean­going sailing ships in the fifteenth century, the sea became even more important to the country's development. Ships setting sail from England determined to extend Britain's territories, its wealth and its knowledge of the world. Ships returned to England bringing goods, people and new ideas from foreign places. By the nineteenth century, Britain had the largest, most powerful navy in the world.

    The great sailing ships were so much a part of British life that they even affected the language. Many English expressions we use today were originally nautical (航海的) terms, although most people no longer realize this. For example, people commonly describe an honest and fair business deal as being "above board". This expression was originally used in sailing ship times when secretive, dishonest ship's business would be carried out below decks (below the boards) out of public view. On the other hand, honest business was always conducted on deck (above the boards), in the open where everyone could see what was going on.

    "Pipe down!", meaning "Be quiet!", is another common expression that has nautical origins. The ship's boatswain (水手长) would blow a whistle, or pipe, at the end of the day to indicate (表明) to the sailors it was time to quieten down and go to sleep.

    Most native English speakers have heard the expression "not enough room to swing a cat", but few know that the "cat" does not refer to a small furry animal with four legs and a tail. The "cat" is actually a short form of "cat of nine tails" — a whip with nine, knotted (打结的) tails. A boatswain needed a lot of space in order to swing the whip properly when lashing (鞭打) a poor sailor under his control!

    Depression and suicidal thoughts have doubled in young Americans, according to a new study from the American Psychological Association.

    Likely triggers? Cell phones and social media.

    "More US adolescents and young adults in the late 2010s, vs the mid-2000s, experienced serious psychological distress, major depression and more attempted suicide (自杀)", says lead researcher Jean Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State University. "These trends are weak or non-existent among adults 26 years and over, suggesting a generational shift in mood disorders instead of an overall increase across all ages."

    Twenge believes this trend is partially due to the explosion of digital culture over the past decade, which may have twisted modes of social interaction enough to affect mood disorders.

    The study analyzed data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which tracked drug and alcohol use and mental health issues in more than 200,000 youths aged 12 to 17 from 2005 to 2017 and almost 400,000 adults from 2008 to 2017.

    Major depression in the last 12 months increased by 52 percent in kids from 2005 to 2017 and 63 percent in young adults aged 18 to 25 from 2009 to 2017. There was also a 71 percent jump in young adults experiencing serious psychological distress in the previous 30 days from 2008 to 2017.

    So what's so different now? Twenge says research shows young people just aren't getting as much shuteye as they did in previous generations.

    Whereas older Americans might have established more stability in their lives, sleep-disrupting social stressors are likely at their peak for teens and young adults in this digital era, she says. Older adults are also less likely to let devices interfere (干预) with sleep.

    These results suggest a need for more research to understand how digital communication versus face-to-face social interaction influences mood disorders and to develop specialized interventions for younger age groups.

    Her suggestion? Put your phone down at least an hour before bedtime.

    Have you ever noticed how Americans fill up their entire glass with ice and then pour their beverage (饮品) in, but Europeans take their drinks at room temperature? In the U. S. , we've created fridges that give you cold ice at the press of a button, but in Britain they typically serve their tap water warm.

    This tradition—if that's what you want to call it—dates back to the 19th century. During that time, it was already commonplace for most American homes to have an ice box. Ice would be harvested in northern America or Canada and shipped across the Atlantic and sold at a high price in British department stores. Can you imagine heading to Macy's to treat yourself to a block of ice?

    Putting ice in your drink started to become somewhat of a fashion(时尚)trend for the wealthy in Britain. Some would put a few cubes in their champagne and sip on their chilled drinks at high-class parties. But, like with any fashion trend, it eventually faded, mainly because the ice was just too expensive. And even once ice boxes began appearing in homes in Britain as well, Brits never took a liking to ice in their drinks.

    So, next time you travel overseas, don't feel offended (被冒犯) when your server gives you an eye roll when you ask for ice water.

Poetry is never far away from our daily lives. Many of us grew up {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(recite) classic poems, learning to enjoy this beautiful art to convey such rich meanings.

The Chinese Shijing, which {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (date) back to the Western Zhou Dynasty, has a {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (long) history than the Homeric Epics. Even today, classic poems {#blank#}4{#/blank#} ( appreciate ) by a lot of people. To recognize the unique ability of poetry and capture its creative spirit, World Poetry Day {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (hold) annually to support linguistic diversity through poetic {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (express).

The Chinese Poetry Congress {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (feature) classic poetry is {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (extreme) popular. The competition sees over 100 hopeful participants taking part in {#blank#}9{#/blank#} number of challenges. The participants, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} ages range from 7 to 70, include students, farmers, teachers and foreign competitors with an interest {#blank#}11{#/blank#} Chinese literature. 

And even TV series {#blank#}12{#/blank#} (involve) poetry are very successful. For example, in The Story of Ming Lan , one of the drama's most moving songs is adapted from a poem {#blank#}13{#/blank#} (write) by Li Qingzhao. Besides, there {#blank#}14{#/blank#} (be) many poets and poems in Serenade of Peaceful Joy, a TV drama about Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, {#blank#}15{#/blank#} is also very popular with the audience.