Beth Bonness talked into the mirror as her hairstylist cut her hair. Bonness was telling a funny story about a trip to Rome. Suddenly, the stylist started moving her hands around in the mirror. “Beth. Beth. Beth. Can you hear me? ” she said. Bonness asked her what was wrong. In her mind, the words were coming out of her mouth. But she could see in the mirror that her lips weren’t moving. She started seeing bursts of light in the sides of her vision (视野). Then suddenly, the sensations disappeared.

Tests indicated Bonness had a transient ischemic attack (短暂性脑缺血发作) (TlA). About a third of people who have a TIA go on to have a more serious stroke (中风) within a year.

Bonness said she was told it was a one-off incident, so she didn’t worry about future problems. Plus, only old people have strokes, she told herself. She was 49, healthy and fit. Even the doctors implied that she was too young to worry. But the same week, while having a meal with her family, she couldn’t speak clearly again.

Bonness went on disability for a few weeks, and returned to work full-time half a year later. In the beginning, she felt less confident about speaking. Later she threw herself into living as healthy as possible. In 2011, her doctor said she’d fully recovered. She stopped all stroke-related medication.

In 2014, Bonness retired. She ended up saving a historic craftsman-style home in her neighborhood by changing it into a small residential development. The process had so many twists and turns (意外的曲折变化) that Bonness began writing a book about her story.

Last year, she started sharing her writing. She also started a writing group for survivors of stroke and brain injury in the hope that they too might find the same insight (领悟) and comfort. “Maybe it’s about doing more talking and sharing,” she said. “Every experience you have, all that travels with you.”

In the not-so-distant future, the doctors who treat our diseases might be tiny machines that swim through our bodies. Movies like Fantastic Voyage have long played with the idea of making machines the size of a single cell (细胞) — today advances in robotics have brought the idea ever closer to reality. In my lab, I’m just trying to build such intelligent, or smart, microrobots.

Tiny organisms (living things) , such as bacteria (细菌), have many intelligent behaviors, and if we can make robots copy some of them, it’s very exciting. The way bacteria travel across their environment is unbelievable. At first, they kind of just aimlessly move around, but when they start sensing food, like an amino acid (氨基酸) they will move gradually in that direction. As a roboticist, you could imagine making tiny robots that can do the same thing.

For example, look at something like E. coli (大肠杆菌). It has receptors on its surface that can sense amino acids around it. It can change how it’s moving. It can rebuild or repair itself. In fact, E.coli does all these sowell that some researchers are using it as part of their tiny machines. They are having their microrobots get free rides from it, and letting it do all the sensing for them and direct their movements.

We’re already using smaller and smaller medical tools for operations, like catheters (long thin pipes) that can travel deep into your brain to treat a tumor (肿瘤) or a blood clot. Next, we will put microrobots into the body that can travel into even smaller spaces and treat disease at an early stage. Imagine a device that can treat a blood clot deep in your brain that can’t be reached with existing catheters.

It’s important to note, though, that we may not actually need something as powerful as artificial intelligence (AI) in these cases. You can still build an extremely useful microrobot with a low degree of intelligence. For example: If a microrobot notices a tumor, it can slowly move in that direction, and carry medicine directly to that part. It might only have the intelligence of bacteria but could still be unbelievably effective.

What foods do you use to celebrate with your family? Do you eat something special on your birthday or holidays? Among the Hopi people, many foods for special celebrations are made from corn.

The Hopi people are Native Americans who live in Black Mesa, Arizona, USA. They grow special types of corn with long roots (根), which help the corn reach water in the ground in the hot and dry desert (沙漠).     16     In fact, in Hopi tradition, corn is the first solid food a baby eats.

The Hopi use each color of corn for something different. For example, blue corn is used to make some traditional Hopi foods. Piki is one Hopi food made with blue com. It is like a paper-thin, rolled pancake.     17     When a new baby is born, cobs (玉米棒子) of white corn are placed in the baby’s cradle (摇篮).     18     When girls grow up, they grind (磨碎) com for four days as part of their Coming of Age Ceremony. The Hopi also grind com by hand for wedding ceremonies.

    19     For example, in some Hopi villages, women walk down the Mesa to gather water and firewood every day. Men in those villages run up to 40 miles to their farms every day to grow corn, bean, and chili pepper crops. Other Hopi live in modern homes and use modern technology in their daily lives.     20     Corn is an important part of Hopi life today.

All kids desire more screen time. Code. org wants to make that time     36     (meaning) and fun by sharing online coding (编程) classes for kids of all ages     37     skill levels —all for free.

From pre-K to high school, kids can learn how to build video games and smartphone apps. It     38     (be) all thanks to the easy-to-follow course instruction. The time     39     (spend) learning how to problem-solve may one day lead to careers (事业) focused on high-tech innovation (创新), according to Beth Nickel     40     leads the program.

Nickel says that there are many     41     (advantage) for parents who sign up, too. “You can talk the same language if you know that they are working on an activity or an app, and you can share a common language. They also have     42     whole lot of really fun hands-on interactive activities, where families and students can create     43     (they) own game or app using the resources that Code. org offers.”

The creators of Code. org have a mission of     44     (get) computer science into the hands of students, teachers, and educators to help build a general     45     (understand) . Nickel shares that programs like this will help to build the talent pool needed to fill Arizona’s high-tech jobs of the future.