New Scientist Discovery

Tour Amazing science-inspired tours across the globe with experts on board and in the company of fellow travelers who enjoy the discovery of science

Space: Past and Future: USA

14 days for £4.799

Departing 6th May and 14th September 2020

Follow the USA's footsteps in exploring space with this comprehensive tour of NASA's space centers and other key sites, including the Very Large Array in attractive New Mexico. Plus, visit the world's first commercial spaceport with leading researchers.

The Science of the Renaissance（文艺复兴）: Italy

7days for £1,825

Departing 3rd March and 3rd November 2020

Embark on a cultural adventure to the great science cities of Florence and Bologna, as architecture expert Andrew Spira and science historian Professor David Wootton guide you through the great discoveries and minds of the Renaissance.

Land of Fire and Ice: Iceland

8 days for £2,249

Departing 31st October and 7th November2020

Marvel at erupting geysers（喷泉）, glaciers and waterfalls on a trip of volcanic and geological（地质的）adventure. Joined by volcanologist Tamsin Mather, discover the best of Iceland with a chance to see the Aurora Borealis.

Tiger Conservation Safari: India

9 days for £3,850

Departing 10th April 2021

Involve yourself in jungle life in the search for the Bengal tiger. Learn how to protect the rich wildlife you encounter at India's reserves, complete with a masterclass in tracking and stay in a cozy lodge（小屋）.

Kanda really doesn't like to walk alone. The scientist from a research institute of intelligent robots finds the experience so boring that he'd rather drive—even though he lives close to his lab and knows that walking us healthy. "I enjoy walking with someone, like with my wife, with my daughter," Kanda said. "But they are not always available."

So Kanda, who specializes in human-like bots, developed a robotic walking partner that could make small talk based on its surroundings, which, he hopes, might motivate people to get out and exercise more. The bot rests on a person's shoulder like a boxy parrot. It weighs about a pound and a half and sits roughly 8.5 inches high, 3.5inches wide, and 10 inches long. A microphone, speaker, and internal camera allow it to communicate. It's even equipped with a smile.

Kanda and his team collected video form five different locations, including a garden and a shopping mall, and created a dataset of small talk topics related to each location. Then they programmed the robot to associate visual cues with specific topics. A special speech software provided the robot with a voice. Near a group of parked cars, for example, it might say, "In a big parking lot, sometimes I forget where I parked."

They tested the robot on 15 volunteers, 10 males and 5 females, who were paid and averaged about 26 years old. "Have you ever blown a puff of dandelion（蒲公英）seeds into the air?" The robot asked a participant, who smiled and responded, "Yes, I often did that when I was a child." Although several participants noted the robot's weight, Kanda was surprised that no one considered the experience as strange or funny. "I guess people enjoy new technologies," he said.

Just like a human partner, Kanda's bot isn't perfect. It's not able to go for walks in heavy rain and, while the robot can make expressions, it can't really hold a conversation, about which Kanda is most worried. Despite its limits, Kanda was comforted by the bot's presence. "I felt a kind of sense of being with someone, "he said, "particularly when it spoke."

Fitness junkies(上瘾者)locked out of gyms, commuters (上班族) fearful of public transport, and families going crazy inside their homes during the coronavirus pandemic have created a boom in bicycle sales unseen in decades.

Bicycle sales over the past two months saw their biggest spike in the U.S. since the oil crisis of the 1970s, said Jay Townley, who analyzes cycling industry trends at Human Powered Solutions. “People quite frankly have panicked, and they’re buying bikes like toilet paper,” Townley said, referring to the rush to buy essentials like toilet paper and hand sanitizer (杀菌剂) that stores saw at the beginning of the pandemic.

The trend is mirrored around the globe, as cities like Manila and Rome, set up bike lanes to accommodate growing interest in cycling while public transport remains reduced. In London, authorities plan to go further by banning cars from some central highways.

There are multiple reasons for the pandemic bicycle boom. Around the world, many workers were looking for an alternative to buses and subways. People unable to go to their gyms looked for another way to exercise. And shut-in families tried to find a way to keep kids active during stay-at-home orders.

The pandemic is also driving a boom in electric-assist bikes, called e-bikes, which were a minor part of the overall market until now. Sales at Cowboy, a Belgian e-bike maker, tripled in the January-April period from last year. Notably, they spiked in Britain and France at around the same time in May that those countries started easing lockdown restrictions, said Chief Marketing Officer Benoit Simeray.

Joe Minutolo, co-owner of Bar Harbor Bicycle Shop, said he hopes the sales growth translates into long-term change. “People are having a chance to rethink things,” he said. “Maybe we'll all learn something out of this, and something really good will happen.”