The number of accidents involving pedestrians (行人) wearing headphones is on the rise, a report suggests, causing fresh warning from road safety groups in Britain.

    A US-based study found a total of 116 reports of death or injury to pedestrians wearing headphones between 2004 and 2011, jumping from 16 in 2005 to 47 in 2011.

    Most victims were men (68%) and under the age of 30 (67%), with around one in ten of all cases (9%) under the age of 18.Some 89% of the cases occurred in urban areas and more than half (55%) of the victims were struck by trains .

Eighty-one of the 116 accidents (70%) resulted in the person's death—even though a warning was sounded in around a third of the cases.

    The study concluded, “The use of headphone may be a safety risk to pedestrians , especially in environments with moving vehicles（cars）. Further research is needed to determine if and how headphone use threatens pedestrian safety.” British road safety groups warned pedestrians to be careful.

    Floor Lieshout, director of Youth For Road Safety, said,“ This study shows once more the importance of using all of our senses while we are near traffic. It is important that we find an attractive way to make youth learn about the risks of wearing headphones in traffic.”

    Andrew Howard, who is the head of road safety at the Automobile Association, added that some pedestrians can be “so focused in their own little world they forget the world going on around them”. That can include headphone wearers, Howard said, but also people talking on phones.

    However, Howard said that more researches needed to be done.

    Earlier studies have shown that people wearing headphones or talking on phones can suffer “inattentional blindness” which makes them isolated (孤立) from the world around them .

    Ian Harvey, at the charity Civic Voice, said that “ to defeat isolation and to help build a civic(文明的) society, people need to interact(交往) with each other .

    He said,“ A basis for any civilized society is communication—Surfing the web, listening to MP3s, reading blogs or sending e-mail is not interacting with a person; it's interacting with a machine.

    “If people feel socially isolated, they need to have more face-to-face interactions with other human beings and in time, will begin to feel happier and more connected to the world and place they live in.”

D

    A survey has shown that what you do on a plane can be determined by which nationality is listed on your passport.

    According to the results of an international passenger survey. Australians are the biggest drinkers on board with 36 percent choosing to down the hatch（干杯）, compared to 35 percent of Americans and 33 percent of Brits.

    The Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) spoke to around 1,500 people, aged 18 and older, who have travelled by plane at least once during the last three months and were living in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, China, Singapore, Australia and Brazil.

    The results found Chinese travelers are most likely to nod off once the seat-belt sign switches off. They are also the first to take out their credit card for some in flight shopping and the biggest fans of gaming. Americans on the other hand like to use their time in the air more productively when not drinking, choosing to work while flying at 35,000 feet.

    Meanwhile, Brits and Germans are the best at making chat with random strangers spending 50 percent more time than any other nationality. Comparatively, Brazilians conduct their conversations online via email, messaging apps or social media.

    Despite plane food having a bad reputation, seven out of ten interviewees said they were happy to eat upon the selection of in-flight snacks and meals. In flight magazines were also popular with four out of five passengers.

    The international flyers did, however, express their desire for better in flight entertainment. “The industry has greatly improved the comfort, entertainment and onboard service, and passengers are accepting those improvements” said Russell Lemieux, the APEX executive director “At the same time, passengers are demanding more from their air travel experiences which will drive more improvements touching all aspects of the journey.” he added.

    Social media is one of the fastest-growing industries in today's world. Your friends' lives may look more exciting than yours on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but a new research shows it is because they are faking (伪造) it.

    A recent survey has found around two-thirds of people on social media post images to their personal information to make their lives seem more adventurous. And more than three quarters of those asked said they judged their peers based on what they saw on their Instagrm, Snapehat or Facebook pages.

    The British survey, by smart phone maker HTC, found that, in order to make our own pages and lives appear more exciting, six percent also said they had borrowed items to include in the images in order to pass them off as their own. More than half of those surveyed said they posted images of items and places purely to show off, causing jealousy among friends and family.

    Behavioral psychologist Hemmings said the trend was unsurprising due to the rise of social media. "We're living in a world instant communication." she said. "Fashion and style used to live and die in magazines; now people are in search of authentic, peer-to-peer recommendations as well, making social media an equal power house to magazines and newspaper."

    "With images being shared in an instant, we desire to know what our friends are wearing, or what super stars are buying, as soon as they have got them." Such is the influence of social media sites like Instagram, 76 percent of those asked also said seeing items on social influences them to buy them, with men more likely to take style advice and buy what they see.

Special Programs

    Career Stories

    What do you want to be when growing up? Hear first-hand from four Science Centre staff on the different career paths they have taken. Our real-life role models share their experiences and demonstrate that pathways to success, while unique to everyone, are based on the development of 21st century competencies and a commitment to lifelong learning.

    Duration: 60 minutes

    Time: 10:30-11:30

    Dates: May 13 & 27, 2018 Price: $15 per student

    Climate Change

    Understand the complex connections between human activity, greenhouse gases, heat transfer and climate change. Investigate past climate data, see ocean acidification in action and compare Canada to the world. Use a physical climate model to test whether you can stabilize the Earth's climate.

    Duration: 45 minutes

    Times: 10--10:45, 11-11:45, 12-12:45, 1-1:45 and 2-2:45

    Date: June 18, 23 &24, 2018 Price: $10 per student

    Characteristics of Electricity

    Witness the power of electricity with shocking demonstrations. From Galvani to Tesla, rediscover the practical applications of current, circuits and resistance. Understand how electric energy is generated, and be a part of a human electric circuit. Get energized with a spark-tacular static electric discharge (静电释放)！

    Duration: 55 minutes

    Time: 11-11:55

    Date: July 24, 2018 Price: $10 per student

    Mental Health: The Science of Anxiety

Your heart is racing, your mouth is dry and your stomach is in knots! Don't worry, everyone feels anxious sometimes. Explore what's really going on in our brains when we experience anxiety, how it affects our bodies and why stress can sometimes be a good thing. This presentation explains how our brains and bodies react to stress, while introducing students to evidence-based approaches. Mental health applies to everyone—-we can all take steps to enjoy life and deal with the challenges you face each day!

    Duration: 45 minutes

    Time: 11-11:45

    Dates: August7, 8, 9, 10&11, 2018 Price: $10 per student

In 1835, William Talbot finally succeeded in producing a photograph of his country house. He declared that his was the first house ever known to have drawn its own picture. The drawing was formed "by the action of light upon sensitive paper." Photography offered nature a "pencil" to paint herself through optical （光学的） and chemical means alone.

By the mid-nineteenth century, people no longer needed to hire a draftsman to draw detailed images because the process could be completed instantly with a camera. Advocates for the technology stated that not only was it more precise than the human hand-it was faster and cheaper.

The removal of human fallibility in the creating process was one of photography's biggest selling points, but this also started debates about the new medium's implications for visual culture. Could images made largely by a machine be considered art? If so, where did human creativity, fit in this process?

As the twenty-first century becomes increasingly automated （自动化的）, more and more people attempt to identify where human agency exists in the technologically driven world. Images generated with artificial intelligence by companies like OpenAI are stimulating questions like those that emerged with the coming of the photograph. By typing a sentence, users can generate "new" images composed from images collected across the internet. The result has been a flood of Al-generated images in places that are previously unique to human authors. Painting competitions, commercial graphic design and the fashion of portraiture（肖像） have all since collided with the technology in troubling ways.

The fine arts were thought to be a final hold-out of human creativity, but the surprisingly high quality of Al-generated images is producing deeper questions about the nature of originality. If the history of photography tells us anything, it's that the debate won't be settled quickly; straightforwardly or by the institutions we typically associate with cultural gate-keeping.

The 2024 Peace Poetry Awards

The awards con test is to encourage people to explore peace and the human spirit. There are three age categories（类型）： Adult （19 & over）, Youth （13-18）, and Youth （12 & under）. The yearly con test is open to people worldwide. Your poems must be unpublished , and in English.

Deadline

All entries（参赛作品） must be submitted by July 30, 2024.

Entry Fee

Adults — $ 20

Youth （13-18） —— $ 10

Youth （12 & under） — no fee

Notes

● You may submit up to three unpublished poems. At most 30 lines per poem.

● Include name, address, email, telephone number, and age in the upper right-hand corner of each poem. For the Youth （12 & under） category, please also include your school's name and your teacher's name.

● Title each poem.

● Please keep copies of all entries as we will be unable to return.

● Email your entries to: www. peacepoetryawards. com. By the way, we have no other ways to receive your entry. Please click here to pay your entry fee online.

Awards

Adult Winner — $ 800

Youth （13 -18） Winner — $ 500

Youth （12 & under） Winner — $ 200

Winners will be announced by September 30, 2024 on our website. Winners will be informed by mail. Past years' winning poems can be found here.