New Way to Experience Dentistry

    Have you ever had your hand held during a dental procedure you feel uneasy about? What about a dental office that mimics（模仿） the spirit of Disneyland? If you're looking for a dental office that provides the best careand the best environment, you're looking for Dr. Licking's office in Sunnyvale.

    Officer manager Judy, who has worked with Dr. Licking for 38 years, speaks highly of his kindness. She believes. that the office is “the Disneyland of dentistry”. Everyone from children to their grandparents loves the environment and care they receive from this welcoming office.

    Dr. Licking is known as the best dental care provider for anyone who fears facing appointments with the dental office. The staff goes out of their way to make patients feel comfortable and at ease. Dr. Licking and Judy set the standard with their saying, “when someone comes to your home, you stand up and welcome them, like an old family friend.”

    Dr. Licking'soffice has all. They recently relocated to put the new equipment into their practice. The office is equipped with an intra-oral video camera, and as a patient you can get pictures of your teeth as you're walking out the door.

    Setting himself apart from other dentists, Dr. Licking continues his education beyond what is required. For this reason, he is one of few dentists in the country who offers ozone treatment. Ozone cannaturally stop decay (蛀蚀) in its tracks. For more information on this new technology, visit their websiteat www.drjohnlicking.com.

    Dr. Licking's office is Diamond Certified, an honor given only to companies with the higher quality after extensive and continual research. Dr. Licking's office extends an invitation to you to meet their gentle staff and offers you a free office visit, including x-rays and an exam.

    The office holds extended hours ranging from 7 a. m. to 8 p, m., Monday through Thursday. Don't worry ifyou have an emergency. Dr. Licking's office responds to all emergencies and urgent calls.

JOHN LICKING, D.D.S.

Cosmetic & Family Dentistry since 1970

408—736—6235

drjohnlicking.com

877 W.Fremont Ave. Suite C3,Sunnyvale

    Are you interested in students in other countries? Do they also have so much homework like you? What do they do in their spare time?

    On April 8, a report came out on the lives of high school students in China, Japan, South Korea and the US. It surveyed around 6200 students from the four countries last year. You will find the answers to many of your questions in this report.

    Who study hardest?

Chinese students spend the most time studying. Nearly half of Chinese students (48.65%) spend more than two hours on their homework every day. That's much more than students of the US (26.4%), Japan (8.2%) and South Korea (5.2%).

    Who sleep most often in class?

Japanese students fall asleep in class most often. About 45% of them said they sometimes sleep in class. In South Korea, it's 32%; in the US,21%; and 5% in China.

    Who are the most distracted?

    American students are the most active in class, but also the most distracted. 64.2% said they chat with friends in class; 46.9% said they eat snacks in class; and 38.9% said they send emails or read storybooks in class.

    What do they do after school?

    In their spare time, most Chinese students study or surf the Internet. Most American students go out to play with their friends. Most Japanese students do physical exercise. Most Korean students watch TV.

    How's your happiness quotient (指数)? Science tells us that if you want to increase your "happiness quotient" every day, it's important to take time and accept the present blessings (恩赐) in your life.

    I wanted to share a moment of feeling about some of my blessings and what's in my life to be grateful for as Thanksgiving approaches.

    One of our family traditions at our Thanksgiving meal is to go around the table and to let each one share something we're especially thankful for.

    I'm going to recite lots of things, including that I'm grateful for my health, my loving husband, and the wonderful relationship we share. My husband joins me for 3-mile walk to start our day. The exercise habit keeps our moods in check and the ups and downs of life easier to manage. We talk as we walk, sharing ideas, worries and good feelings too. Sometimes we argue a little until we figure out what to do. We always come up with something. What a blessing that is!

    It is so much to be grateful for. I feel I am the luckiest woman alive. It's my wish for you that you'll be able to spot something in your life. I hope yet you will savor (体味) and appreciate it.

    Many of us spend the holiday with our aging parents or other loved ones. In my work at AgthgParents.com, we just reminded everyone that you never know if there will be another Thanksgiving with these loved ones. We can't take the day for granted. Just be in the moment. We suggest that you verbally give thanks to your parents, no matter what conditions your aging parents may be in now. Do what you can to be tuned in to what you need as well as what your family needs.

    Scientists recently discovered that pictures on cave walls at Creswell Crags are the oldest known in Great Britain. But they didn't find out in the usual way.

    Archaeologists often date cave art with a process called radiocarbon dating. The technique can measure the age of carbon found in charcoal (木炭) drawings or painted pictures. Carbon is an element found in many things, including charcoal and even people. But in this case, there was no paint or charcoal to test. People carved the pictures of animals and figures into the rock using stone tools. The scientists had an "aha!" moment when they noticed small rocks stuck to the top of the drawings. The small rocks must have formed after the drawings were made.

    "It is rare to be able to scientifically date rock art," said Alistair Pike, an archaeological scientist at Britain's University of Bristol. "We were very fortunate that some of the engravings were covered by stalagmites(石笋).

    When a test proved that the stalagmites formed 12,800 years ago, the scientists knew the art underneath them had to be at least that old. And some of the animals shown, like the European bison, are now extinct-another tip-off that the art is quite old.

    The artists came to Creswell Crags, This place is one of the farthest points north reached by our ancient ancestors during the Ice Age. At that time, much of the North Sea was dry, so people could move about more easily.

    Some tools and bones found there are 13,000 to 15,000 years old. They show that the travelers hunted horses, reindeer, and arctic hare. Their artwork is similar to art in France and Germany. It tells scientists that the Creswell Crags artists must have had a close connection to peoples several thousand kilometers away—another important clue to understanding how humans spread out across the world.

A new study reveals that pigeons (鸽子) can tackle some problems just like artificial intelligence, enabling them to solve difficult tasks that might challenge humans. Previous research has theorized that pigeons employ a problem-solving strategy, involving a trial-and- error approach, which is similar to the approach used in AI models but differs from humans' reliance on selective attention and rule use. To examine it, Brandon Turner, a psychology professor at the Ohio State University, and his colleagues conducted the new study. 

In the study, the pigeons were presented with various visual images, including lines of different widths and angles, and different types of rings. The pigeons had to peck (啄) a button on the right or left to indicate the category to which the image belonged. If they got it correct, they received food; if they were wrong, they received nothing. Results showed that, through trial and error, the pigeons improved their accuracy in categorization tasks, increasing their correct choices from about 55% to 95%. 

Researchers believed pigeons used associative learning, which is linking two phenomena with each other. For example, it is easy to understand the link. between "water" and "wet". "Associative learning is frequently assumed to be far too primitive to. explain complex visual categorization like what we saw the pigeons do," Turner said. But that's exactly what the researchers found. 

The researchers' AI model tackled the same tasks using just the two simple mechanisms that pigeons were assumed to use: associative learning and error correction. And, like the pigeons, the AI model learned to make the right predictions to significantly increase the number of correct answers. For humans, the challenge when given tasks like those given to pigeons is that they would try to come up with rules that could make the task easier. But in this case, there were no rules, which upsets humans. 

What's interesting, though, is that pigeons use this method of learning that is very similar to AI designed by humans, Turner said. "We celebrate how smart we are that we designed artificial intelligence: at the same time, we regard pigeons as not clever animals," he said.

Favorite Books for Young Readers

The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble

( For ages 5 to 8)

Everywhere you look in The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, there's a tiny, precise and lovely detail—a plant, a bird, a lizard, a shell and of course the great horses. This story of a Plains Indian girl who runs away with a band of wild horses, and eventually becomes one of them, won the Caldecott in 

1978. The recognition was well- deserved for its insightful portrayal(描写) of the bond between the human spirit and the wilderness. 

Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall

( For ages 4 to 8)

Waves roll by, seasons come and go, keepers tend to their duties, and through it all, the lighthouse stands tall, sending its light out into the darkness, signaling hello to all the ships at sea. The Caldecott winner Sophie Blackall does a significant job showing the timeless nature of lighthouse life— and the change that's coming. 

The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson

( For ages 6 to 9)

One of the most— if not the most— beautiful books on this list. Kadir Nelson's fancy, photorealistic paintings pair with Kwa me Alexander's powerful words for a tribute (致敬) to decades of Black brilliance, pain and perseverance. " This is one of those texts that really spoke to me; it was beautifully written and I

felt it was a really great pairing of words and pictures of an author and an artist, " Nelson said. 

Harlem by Walter and Christopher

( For ages 9 and up)

This poem by Walter Dean Myers—a revered elder of children's literature— celebrates Harlem, where he grew up, full of" colors loud enough to be heard" and songs first heard in the villages of" Ghana/ Mali/ Senegal". His son Christopher's vivid illustrations, part paint and part co llage (拼贴画), don't talk down to kids, instead pulling them into a lively city.