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Recently, China announced it had achieved success in drilling fire ice or methane hydrate (天然气水合物，即可燃冰), from the seabed in the Shenhu area of the South China Sea. It produces high amount of energy when it is burned, leaving nothing but dioxide and water.     Many countries, including the United States and Japan, have long beeaban doing research on methane hydrate, but taking it from bottom of the sea has been a common problem they are facing. According to reports, China succeeded in drilling methane hydrate for a number of days continuously and got an average of over 16,000 m3 daily. It is believed to be a big breakthrough.

Scientists say there is about 21, 000 trillion (万亿) m3 of methane hydrate in the world. If we can use it, it can meet the world's energy need for 1, 000 years. However, it is too early to say a new energy source (来源) has been found because we are still facing two main challenges—environmental risk and economic (经济的)cost. When methane hydrate is taken from the seabed, it may go into the air easily. That's very bad for the environment because methane is one of the worst greenhouse gases. Besides, drilling methane hydrate is very expensive as well.     However, China's technology breakthrough is very important because it shows the way researchers across the world should take. It also raises hopes that one day we can drill methane hydrate as a source of energy.

    Honey(蜂蜜）from African(非洲）forest is very delicious.

    Most people and many animals like eating it. However, the only way for them to get that honey is to find a wild bees' nest(蜂巢）and take honey from it. Often, these nests are high up in trees, and it is difficult to find them. But in parts of Africa, people and animals have a strange helper — a little bird called a honey helper.

    In fact, the honey helper does not like honey, but it likes the wax(蜂蜡）in the nest. The little bird cannot reach the wax because it is inside the bees' nest. So, when it finds a nest, it looks for someone to help. The little bird sings loudly to get the attention(注意） of both passing animals and people. When it has their attention, it flies through the forest, waiting for the following animal or person that loves honey. Then it helps them find the nest. When they finally arrive at the nest, the follower tries to get the delicious honey and the bird waits and watches. Some of the honey and the wax always fall to the ground, and this is when the bird takes its share.

    Scientists do not know why the bird likes eating the wax, but they seem to be able to smell the wax far away.

    Do you know the movie I, Robot? It tells us a story about the future. The year is 2035 and robots are just as common as mobile phones. People depend on their robots to do lots of things, such as babysitting, cooking, doing chores and taking their dogs for a walk. Robots have to obey(顺从)humans' orders, because their designers make them do so, A police officer called Spooner hates robots. He doesn't think humans can get on well with their robots at all. But the scientist Susan has different opinions.  Susan works on robots' mind and she thinks one day robots will become more powerful (强大的) than humans and help humans to make progress (进步)

    When Spooner and Susan work together, they find that something is wrong with the worlds robots, A few robots have their own thoughts and they're trying to get out of humans: control(控制)！Of course these robots' dream doesn't come true. Humans work hard to control their robots again and they succeed at last.

    If music makes you smarter and exercise helps you to think, surely exercising to music can turn you into an intelligent(聪明的) person.

    A team of scientists from Ohio State University did tests on 33 volunteers who were getting better from heart problems following operation(手术). They found that people who exercised while listening to "The Four Seasons" did much better on language ability tests than without music.

    "Facts suggest that exercise improve the learning ability of people with heart problems," said the scientist Charles Emery, who led the study. "And listening to music is thought to enhance understanding. We just wanted to put the two results together." he added.

    The volunteers said they felt better after exercising with or without the music. But their improvement on the test doubled after listening to music during exercise. Scientists have shown it is true that music can be good for health. It helps cut down stress, sadness and nervousness. And it also wakes up the body and improves memory and thoughts.

    In medical fields, music is used widely for patients who have had headaches before and after operation. "The Four Seasons" was used because of its soft tempo(节拍) and better results in earlier research.

    "Exercise seems to cause better changes in the nervous system and these changes may have a direct result on learning ability." Emery said. Scientists have been studying the result of music on understanding since the early 1950s. By 1990, scientists were using Mozart's music to help children with speech disorders. Mozart was chosen because his music is not overexciting. A study showed students who listened to Mozart scored higher marks in an intelligence test. With important exams coming, your parents will not probably allow you to listen to music. But perhaps now you have good reasons to argue with them.