2 . Fifty-two-year-old American Henry Evans is one of the world’s first teletourists (远程游客). Henry has travelled to different places all over the world. Under normal environment, this journey would be impossible for him because he is disabled. A serious illness when he was 40 influenced his brain and left him without speech and unable to use his arms or legs. But with the help of technology, Henry is able to overcome his difficulties and get out to see the world.

When Henry wants to visit a museum, he uses a robot called the Beam, a big computer monitor (监视器). Using head movements, he can drive the machine around the halls, talking to the guide just like any other visitor. Several world’s museums already use these machines, and Henry hopes there will soon be more.

To see what is happening outside, Henry uses a tool called Polly. Polly is made up of a monitor and a camera. He controls it by moving his head, so that it turns around and shows him everything his partners can see and hear.

Thanks to technology, Henry can fly drones (无人机) which also enable him to search for something from the air. When he wants to go further a field, he has found a website which has 5,000 drone videos from all over the world. These give him a chance to all kinds of attractive places.

No journey is too far for Henry, who is currently creating the possibility of travelling into space. He got the idea from an article he came across on the Internet. He read that a research team was trying to get access (使用权) for PC users to a robot on the International Space Station.

3 . Hangzhou, together with five other cities in Zhejiang, hosted the 19th Asian Games from Sept 23 to Oct 8, 2023. The Games were very “smart” with the use of many exciting technologies. Let’s have a look!

The venue (会场) can change for different kind of weather.

The venue for the tennis finals (决赛) of the Hangzhou Asian Games is sometimes called the “Small Lotus (莲花)”. On the top of the stadium, there are eight “petals” (花瓣). They can open and close freely. It’s built this way for different kinds of weather.

Drones can help with first aid during the Asian Games.

What if there’s an accident during the game and the athletes need first aid? Drones (无人机) can be used to send things over. They can fly as far as 20 kilometers and travel 16 meters in one second. Using a drone saves about 60 percent of the time, according to the drone maker Antwork.

This AI system keeps athletes’ food safe.

Every dish at the Asian Games should be safe and healthy to eat. In the kitchen of the athletes’ village in Hangzhou, there is a special system that can tell people’s faces. If a “stranger” goes into the kitchen, an alarm will go off to let people know.

A screenshot of the Hangzhou Asian Games’ metaverse (元宇宙).

Want to walk around at the stadiums but can’t make it in person? You can try the Hangzhou Asian Games’ metaverse! There’s a mini program (程序) on Alipay. Inside, it’s like an online cartoon world. You can see the stadiums both from the outside and inside. Also, you can talk with other online users in the metaverse.

A screenshot of the Hangzhou Asian Games’ AR (增强现实) service.

It will be sad if you can’t find your way. Augmented reality (AR, 增强现实) is here to help. There’s a mini program called the Hangzhou Asian Games AR service. You simply turn on your phone’s camera and it will see where you are and then show you the way.

What will the world of the next generation (一代) look like? Many people today are confident that technology is going to help solve some of the most challenging problems we have on Earth today.    1     But it may also create new ones. No technology is perfect.

When we dream about the future, many of us like to think that we will be able to fly to the sky in our own personal flying car. The advantages are clear. This technology would allow total freedom of movement. We could fly at 480 km per hour, avoiding traffic lights and busy roads.     2     If the cars become popular, it is likely to cause a very heavy traffic. And what will happen if the cars break down?

3D printing is another new technology with exciting possibilities for the future. 3D printers are already used to make life-size models of car parts, and man-made body parts, such as ears. As we move into the future, 3D printing will change the way we make things and the way we treat sick people.     3    

Finally, imagine having your own Iron Man suit. Several companies are trying to build a practical robot suit. This is an electronic suit with robot arms and legs which follows the wearer’s movements. It allows you to lift heavy objects and walk long distances (距离).     4     However, one disadvantage at the moment is cost. Even a simple robot suit can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.

    5     One day, we will be able to fly to work, print out a new pair of shoes or lift a car above our heads. Although there are some problems to solve before all of this is possible, we can certainly dream of a world where technology makes life easier and safer.

5 . Scientists in Switzerland have used lasers (激光) to change the path (路线) of a lightning (闪电) strike (攻击). The experiment suggests that in the future, lasers might be useful for protecting large buildings from lightning.

Lightning can be very powerful and cause serious problems on the ground. Lightning strike can cause fires, destroy buildings, and even kill people. The damage (损害) from lightning costs billions of dollars every year. In the US, lightning strikes killed close to 450 people between 2006 and 2021.

Scientists have been trying to find a way to protect buildings from lightning for a long time. Now the best way is by putting metal rods (竿) on the buildings. These rods are connected to the ground. The lightning is attracted (吸引) to the rods, which safely guide the electricity into the ground. But lightning rods can only protect a small area. Some buildings—such as airports are so large that it’s difficult to protect the whole building using lightning rods.

Another idea is to use lasers to guide lightning. Scientists had been working on the idea for over 20 years. Using a powerful laser that can fire about 1,000 times a second, scientists in Switzerland were able to guide lightning strikes for 164 feet. The heat from the laser creates a path of air that is less thick than the air around it. The path also has a special charge (电荷). The lightning can follow this path almost as if it were a lightning rod. Scientist Matteo Clerici said, “The fact that we managed to do it in an outdoor environment is a very big step.”

But the laser still didn’t guide the lightning as far as the scientists would like. Besides, the laser is also very expensive. Scientists say it cost about $2 billion. It will probably take 10 or more years before a laser like this is truly able to protect large buildings.

7 . Some experts say that robots will take away human jobs with the rapid development of AI. A March 2023 report from Goldman Sachs showed that AI could do a quarter of the work done by humans. Across the European Union and the US, the report further notes that 300 million jobs could be lost to automation (自动化).

Thankfully, it’s not all bad news. The experts also add that there are still things AI cannot do. These tasks have clear human qualities, like emotional intelligence and creative thinking.

“I think there are generally three kinds of jobs that are going to be safe,” says Martin Ford, writer of Rule of the Robots: How Artificial Intelligence Will Transform Everything. “The first would be jobs that are creative enough to come up with new ideas and build something new.”

The second is jobs that require complicated (复杂的) interpersonal relationships. Ford points to nurses, businessmen and reporters. “These are jobs,” he says, “where you need a very deep understanding of people. I think it’ll be a long time before AI has the ability to interact (交流) in the kinds of ways that really build relationships.”

“The third safe one,” says Ford, “is jobs that really require lots of mobility (机动性) and dexterity (灵活性) and problem-solving ability in unpredictable environments. These are the kinds of jobs where you’re dealing with a new situation all the time, so they are probably the hardest of anything to automate.”

“It’s important to note,” says Ford, “that a higher education or a high-paying position is not a protection against AI takeover. In short, looking for roles in changing environments that include unpredictable tasks is a good way to stop jobs from being taken by AI. At least, for a while.”

10 . It might sound like magic, but in February, a paralyzed (瘫痪的) patient was able to drink water on his own by controlling a special glove with his brain. The glove then acted as his hand. This was a success in BMI technology made by a team of Chinese scientists and doctors. BMI means creating a connection between the human brain and external devices (外部设备), making communication between the brain and computers. For paralyzed people, BMI can allow them to move and do simple things by themselves.

On Oct 24, 2023, the team put a BMI chip (芯片) in the patient’s head. It can receive neural signals (神经信号) from the brain.

After three months of home training, the patient can now use his brain signals to control a glove powered by air pressure. This helps him do things like drinking water on his own.

BMI technology usually means putting chips directly onto the patient’s brain. However, only a tiny cut is made on the patient’s head to make sure the patient’s brain is not harmed. It also uses a wireless power supply (无线电源), so the device doesn’t need a battery.

Li Yuanning from Shanghai Tech University told CCTV News that BMI is now mainly used in the medical field. It can help to improve the lives of people with brain-related problems or speech problems. In the future, if will be used in other fields.

In China, BMI technology is still in the early period of research, with no products on the market yet. Some people are worried that tests may influence patients’ independence and even who they are. Some people are worried whether the patient has a clear understanding of what is going on when they agree to take part in the test.