Which constellation（星座）are you? For those who believe in stars, 2017 is going to be better in terms of love, and many signs have indicated signs of promise.

Gemini

Ah, you are going to be active in 2017. If you are coming into 2017 with a significant other, guess what? You should not have any any problems. In fact, I think I hear wedding bells in the distance...

Stay away from: Taurus, Pisces, Virgo

Positive signs: Sagittarius, Aries, Aquarius, Libra

Pisces

You will find your Mr. Right this year. Stay open-minded. The tide of love is strong. And for those already with perfect partner, great. This is your year to thoroughly deepen the bond between the two of you. In fact, do not be surprised if a new relationship suddenly seems to be moving faster and you you two take on a new level of seriousness.

Stay away from: Aquarius, Sagittarius, Gemini

Positive signs: Capricorn, Scorpio, Cancer

Taurus

Fortune favors you in 2017. You will find much peace throughout the year, although you will also have to face your fears. Through these trials, the true face of your loved ones will appear. Also, stay strong if you are currently with a partner. The two of you might have a quarrel. But love will find a way if it is truly meant to be.

Stay away from:   Aries, Aquarius. Leo

Positive signs: Scorpio, Capricorn, Virgo, Pisces

Leo

Roar heartily, Leo. 2017 is going to be a blessed year for you. Luck continues to find you in the dating game too, single Leo. However, since Leo is also feeling adventurous, those in relationship are about to meet some tension. It’s decisions that matter a lot.

Stay away from: Scorpio, Taurus, Cancer

Positive signs: Sagittarius, Gemini, Aries

My daughter Kelly is a cautious person. She needs to warm up situations, and is hesitant to try new things. When with close friends, she becomes a leader who laughs loudly and chants. “Girls rule, boys drool.” But when that comfort zone is not around her, she is shy and nervous.

This has been challenging for me at times. “Shy” is not a word that I think has ever been used to describe me. But this has been year of firsts for my girl that has filled her with a new sense of confidence. This year she moved to lap lane in swimming where she was preparing for a swim team. This year she learned to ride a bike without training wheels. And this year she completed her first kids’ triathlon（三项全能）.

On Saturday, with a thunderstorm coming soon and my son’s birthday party later in the day, we all went out in the dark of the morning for Kelly to participate in her first triathlon. We practiced transitions from swim to bike to run with her, we got all the equipment she’d need, and we kept talking about the race. But as we waited the two hours for the older kids to finish before her turn, she held my leg a little harder and told me she loved me a few too many times. She was nervous but trying to keep it together.

And then it was her turn. From the second she jumped into the water, my heart soared. My daughter transformed into the most confident human being I had ever seen. She dominated that swim, crushed that bike ride and ran to the finish with the biggest smile on her face.

I can honestly say that I never felt so proud of someone in my entire life. It wasn’t because she did a sport or anything like that. It was because she was afraid of something and conquered that fear with confidence and a fire I hadn’t seen before.

All day I would find myself just looking over at her and smiling. She might be wearing the finalist medal but I felt like I won that day. I won the chance to see my girl shine.

Shine on, sweet baby.

As trees across the northern areas turn gold and deep red, you can find autumn colors in parks and woodlands, in the cities, countryside, and mountains. People are wondering what these colors are for. For years, scientists have worked to understand the changes that happen to trees in the autumn. Up to now there have been different explanations for why natural selection makes autumn colors so widespread.

Dr. Hamilton from Oxford University proposed that bright autumn leaves contained a message: they warn insects to leave them alone. In autumn, insects choose trees where they will lay eggs. When the larvae（幼虫）come out the next spring, they feed on the trees, often with a result of destruction of the trees. Dr. Hamilton suggested that trees could ward off these insects with poisons. They could have strong defenses by letting egg-laying insects know what was in store for their eggs.

Dr. Hamilton and students turned the theory into a mathematical model, which showed that warning signals could indeed drive the evolution（进化）of bright leaves. It was a first attempt to see what was out there.

A research team from the University of Wisconsin gave a quite different explanation. “If you are up here in Wisconsin, by the time leaves change, all the insects that feed on leaves are gone.” Dr. Hoch said. He believed that autumn colors served mainly as protection.

According to Dr. Hoch and his team, autumn colors might be able to protect the leaves from sun damage or frost（冰冻）injury—in other words, they actually act as a sunscreen to avoid the destruction to the leaves. Besides, autumn colors might protect the leaves from water loss. If the cells in the leaves become dry, the connections between the cells will be weakened and leaves will break off.

Although there are different explanations about autumn colors, it has really given them a deeper concern for this time of year. “People sometimes say that science makes the world less interesting by just explaining things away,” one famous biologist said. “But with autumn leaves, the more you know about them, the more amazed you are.”

A business school in Paris will soon begin using artificial intelligence and facial analysis to determine whether students are paying attention in class. The software, called Nestor, is used in two online classes at the ESG business school beginning in September.

The idea, according to LCA founder Marcel Saucet, is to use the data that Nestor collects to improve the performance of both students and professors. The software uses students webcams（网络摄像机）to analyze eye movements and facial expressions and determine whether students are paying attention to a video lecture. It then formulates quizzes based on the content covered during moments of inattentiveness. Professors would also be able to identify moments when students’ attention declined, which could help to improve their teaching, Saucet says.

Advocates for AI in education say that the software is actually unable to teach a course, but the technology could be used as a digital tutor that would adapt to a student’s individual needs, and help develop more effective studying habits. Such software could also help teachers by providing feedback on the effectiveness of their teaching, advocates say.

Saucet says Nestor won’t store any of the video footage it gets and that his company has no plans to sell any other data the software collects. In addition to facial recognition and analysis, the software can integrate（合并）with students’ calendars to suggest possible study times, and track their online behavior to pick up on patterns.

Rose Luckin, a professor at the University College London Knowledge Lab, says AI could unlock the “black box of learning” by providing information on how and when learning happens. Luckin says a program like Nestor could be useful for students who take classes remotely, since “there isn’t a human there watching them.” And while some are concerned that AI may one day replace teachers, Luckin sees the technology more as an assistant, rather than a replacement. Saucet agrees. “Human contact is not going to go away,”   he says. “There will always be professors.”