Every year there is a Spring Festival in China. Usually it is in January or February. It is the most important festival in China. So before it comes, everyone has to prepare things. They buy pork， beef, chicken, fruits and many other things. And they often make a special kind of food—“dumplings”. It means “come together”. On the day before the festival, parents buy new clothes for their children. Children also buy presents for their parents. On the Spring Festival Eve (除夕)，all the family members come back to their hometown. This is a happy moment. Some sing and dance, some play cards and others get the dinner ready. When they enjoy the meal, they give each other the best wishes for the coming year. They all have a good time.

    Have you ever imagined traveling to a foreign country without having to worry about the headache of communicating in a different language?

    In a recent Wall Street Journal article, technology policy expert Alec Ross argued that, within a decade or so, we'll be able to communicate with one another via small earpieces with built - in microphones. That's because technological progress is extremely rapid. It's only a matter of time. Indeed, some parents firmly hold the idea that this technology is approaching and they're wondering if their kids should even learn a second language.

    It's true that an increase in the quantity and accuracy of the data loaded into computers will make them cleverer at translating “No es bueno dormir mucho” as “It's not good to sleep too much.” Replacing a word with its equivalent (同义词) in the target language is actually the “easy part” of a translator's job. But even this seems to be a discouraging task for computers.

    It's so difficult for computers because translation doesn't--or shouldn't--involve simply translating words, sentences or paragraphs. Rather, it's about translating meaning. And in order to infer meaning from a specific expression, humans have to interpret a mass of information at the same time.

    Think about all the related clues that go into understanding an expression：volume，gesture, situation, and even your culture. All are likely to convey as much meaning as the words you use.

    Therefore, we should be very skeptical of a machine that is unable to interpret the world around us. If people from different cultures can offend each other without realizing it, how can we expect a machine to do better? Unless engineers actually find a way to breathe a soul into a computer, undoubtedly when it comes to conveying and interpreting meaning using a natural language, a machine will never fully take our place.

    New Sciencenter Featured Exhibition: Ocean Bound!

    Opening weekend

    Member Preview: Friday, February 3, 6—8 pm

    Public Opening: Saturday, February 4, 10 am — 5 pm

    Start a journey through watersheds to see how everyone's actions affect the health of our ocean. Enjoy interacting with 3D watershed models, piloting a full-size submersible from mountain stream to ocean, guiding water safely through a hazardous maze, diverting pollutants as they travel through storm-water drains, playing with early education exhibits inside a clubhouse, and many more engaging interactive exhibits.

    Showtime! Plant and Animal Double-Takes

    Saturday, January 21, 2 pm

    Have you ever looked at a living thing and wondered, Is that a plant or an animal? Join Sciencenter educators Julie Yurek and Sarah Cox to look into species that make you take a second look. Explore the surprising differences between these plants and animals.

    Showtime! Solar Power Goes Nano

    Saturday, February 11, 2 pm

    Did you know scientists are using nanotechnology to store solar energy? Learn about solar power and the emerging use of hydrogen fuel cells. Justin Sambur, NSF Postdoctoral Research Associate at Cornell's Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, will demonstrate a model race car that uses a hydrogen fuel cell kit powered by solar energy.

    Special Showtime! Presentation: Animal Adaptations for Winter

    Wednesday, February 22, 1 pm

    Have you ever wondered how animals survive in winter? Join Emma Brofsky of Cornell's Naturalist Outreach Program to explore animal adaptations for winter and learn how biology helps animals cope with cold weather, food shortages, and limited habitats. Touch animal pelts and do a hands-on activity on animal insulation.

    With the start of the new term, the students around the country exchange their fun and fashionable clothes for boring school uniforms. But not all schools are fashion deserts. Colorful sports shoes, school bags, T-shirts and even drink containers are breathing life into campuses.

    "The uniform makes us look like a bunch of clones, especially when we are doing morning exercises on the playground," said Qing Pei, a Senior 2 from Shanghai Qibao High School. "But the boys wear different sports shoes and girls have different decorations in their hair. These are the areas where you can express yourself," said Qing.

    Although it might be strange for boys to talk about fashion, they do care about what they wear in school, especially shoes, according to Qing.

    "Nike and Adidas basketball shoes, although they are still the must-have items for many of my friends, are becoming out-of-date," Qing added. He explained that "Since Liu Xiang ran so fast in Athens, running shoes are becoming popular in this autumn. "

    "Still in fashion are the various baseball caps and American-style T-shirts with random (随意的) English words printed on them," said Qing. "The accuracy of the written message is not important. Often, the words are not spelt correctly. Sometimes they do not even make sense, "Qing said with a smile.

    Besides sports shoes and T-shirts, styles and colors of school bags are another opportunity for students to express their taste in fashion. Some bags are made more eye-catching by decorating them with small hanging dolls.

    Other fashionable items are the colorful drink containers which are now popular among girls this term.

    "Some teachers are surprised to see a teenager sucking a bottle like this at school and criticize it as a childish regression (退化). But some girls just love it," said Yang Rui, a Senior 3. from High School attached to Xi'an Jiaotong University.

    Recently, American President Trump announced his budget. One of the budgets would cut all funding to the Institute of Museum and Library services and libraries across the United States. However, as far as I'm concerned, we need to save our libraries.

    Libraries provide books and after-school programs for children. They encourage literacy (识字）with summer programs. They help inspire a life-time love of learning and reading in children of all ages. Without them, where will kids with no Internet at home do their homework? Where will kids have a place to study or borrow books after school? Therefore, we need libraries for our kids. We need them so that kids can grow up with a place, other than school, where learning and exploration is encouraged. For adults, libraries serve as a place where they can use the Internet to apply for jobs, get job training, early voting centers as well as book clubs to help make new friends. It can also serve as a place to pick up a book and learn something new. What's more，they can also borrow a book and get away from it all.

    Libraries save our information for the next generation. When we live in an age of alternative (选择性的）facts, where science is ignored in favor of personal feelings, we need libraries now more than ever. We need them to educate ourselves on the facts and hold the government responsible for them. We need them to have strong public participation(参与).

    If you agree with me，you shouldn't be silent on this issue. You can write or call directly to tell the president to save our libraries. You can also write to both your state Senators (参议员）and your district representative. If you do not know who they are, you can find out here. Let them know this is a beneficial issue because all people use public libraries in their daily life.

    China will soon issue licenses for the commercialization(商业化) of 5G, as the country has already established(建立)a competitive advantage in the superfast wireless technology.

    The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said 5G is entering a critical period of commercial deployment(部署)globally and China's 5G industry has established a competitive advantage through a combination of innovation(创新) and open cooperation.

    Many foreign companies, including Nokia and Intel, have participated in China's technical 5G tests. These foreign companies have already participated in three phases of tests organized by China to get their 5G products and solutions ready for commercial use in the country.

    "With joint efforts of all parties, China has built a foundation for commercialization of 5G," the ministry said, adding it will issue commercial 5G licenses in the near future, a clear sign China will soon officially enter the first year of 5G.

    China's big three telecom carriers are forecast to spend 900 billion to 1.5 trillion yuan ($134 billion to $223 billion) in total on 5G network construction from 2020 to 2025, according to a report from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology. In comparison, Chinese telecom operators spent 720 billion yuan on 4G network construction from 2014 to 2018.

    In 2019, China Mobile plans to build 30,000 to 50,000 5G base stations this year, while China Telecom is looking to have 20,000.