【推荐1】Video calls are a common occurrence, but have you imagined being able to touch the person on the other end of the line? Scientists are making this a reality.

Researchers at the University of New South Wales, Australia, have invented a soft skin stretch device (SSD), a haptic device that can recreate the sense of touch.    1    . It is similar to what is felt in the real world, through force, vibration or motion.

Vibration is the most common haptic technology today and has been built into many electronic devices.     2    . The existing technology also has great difficulty recreating the sense of touch with objects in virtual environments or located remotely, according to Mai Thanh Thai, lead author of the study.

    3    . The research team introduced a novel method to recreate the sense of touch through soft, artificial “muscles”. It works like this: Imagine you are at home and you call your friend who is in Australia. You wear a haptic glove with the SSDs and your friend also wears a glove with integrated 3D force sensors. If your friend picks up an object, it will physically press against your friend’s fingers.     4     The force signals can be sent to your glove so your device will generate the same 3D forces, making you experience the same sense of touch as your friend.

The haptic devices could allow users to feel objects inside a virtual world or at a distance. This could be especially beneficial during such times like the COVID-19 pandemic when people rely on video calls to stay connected with loved ones.     5    . Doctors can feel a patient’s organ tissues with surgical tools without touching them.

【推荐3】For decades, Frederick Banting and Charles Best were believed to have contributed to the discovery of insulin (胰岛素) between 1921 and 1922 at the University of Toronto (U of T). In 1923, the university created the Banting and Best Chair of Medical Research, followed by the Banting and Best Department of Medical Research and the Banting Institute (1930) and, in 1954, the Best Institute.

However, the 1923 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded jointly to Banting and John J. R. Macleod. The physiology professor, who headed up the laboratory where the research took place, had been much more involved in the research than was later acknowledged. After learning that Macleod was honoured alongside him rather than Best, Banting shared his prize money with Best. Macleod, meanwhile, split his share of the prize with the fourth member of the team, J. Bertram Collip, a young biochemist from the University of Alberta. Collip’s essential contribution was producing a purified pancreatic extract (胰腺提取物), which was administered on Jan. 23, 1922, to Leonard Thompson, a 14-year-old patient at Toronto General Hospital. That shot was the first successful human trial of insulin.

Much of the early research on insulin took place in the old medical school building at U of T. Opened in 1903, it featured state-of-the-art technology, including facilities for animal research. But Banting, a war-time surgeon, lecturer and medical researcher, was unimpressed. When he arrived in 1921, the operating room had lain unused for years and needed a thorough cleaning to make it usable. Located just below the building’s roof, it also became unbearably hot during the summer. Early laboratory testing took place right there.

In 1982, Michael Bliss, a history professor at U of T, restored Macleod and Collip to their rightful place as co-discoverers of insulin. In 1990, a new plaque (牌匾) acknowledging the cooperation was put up outside U of T’s current medical sciences building.

【推荐1】It was a seventeen-jewel Elgin in a locket-style case, and my mother bought it before she was married in September 1916. It was a typical watch of the era, functional yet decorative and was given to me around the time I was thirteen or fourteen. At that time, it was just another one of the things I owned. When I left for the service in April 1941, I took the watch with me.

My unit was sent to the Philippine Islands. While crossing the Pacific, I almost lost the watch after carelessly leaving it tied to a waterline when taking a shower. Thankfully, an honest GI found it and returned it. The watch still did not seem that special to me. It was just one of my practical possessions.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, we retreated to the Bataan Peninsula. Now I started to become a little concerned about my watch. When we were told to surrender to the Japanese, I knew that my watch could become a Japanese souvenir. I didn't want to lose it. I did what I could to outsmart my enemy. Finally, my unit surrendered, and we were sent to a work detail in northern Luzon. One day, I was standing in the dump box of a truck, guarded by one Japanese soldier. His eyes were staring at my pocket and then reached out with a gloved hand. I froze and held my breath, fearing that I was about to lose my now prized possession. Surprisingly, the guard was not curious enough to ask about what I had in my pocket, and again the watch was safe for a while.

The work detail lasted about seventy days. After that, we marched on to Cabanatuan Prison Camp, where I remained for two and a half years. There I removed the band from the watch and wrapped the face in medical gauze and tape. It made a small, easy-to-hide package. At last, when my camp was liberated, the watch and I made the trip home. When I walked through the door, I learned that my mother had died. Now her watch, which had become a reminder of my own survival, was also a reminder of her life.

【推荐2】When it comes to work, workers, and jobs, much of the concern of the modern age boils down to the fear that we're witnessing the final stage of the game, and that there will be nowhere for humans to withdraw as machines take over the last few tasks. The most recent example comes from the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Is there no area of human experience that can't be replaced by AI? And if not, what is left for humans to do except the tasks involved in taking care of the machines?

At the heart of this concern is our desire for good jobs — jobs that make the most of workers' natural abilities and where the work provides the worker with motivation and work-life balance. More importantly, good jobs support workers in learning by doing—and, in so doing, deliver benefits on three levels: to the worker, who gains in personal development and job satisfaction; to the organization, which reforms as staff find new problems to solve and opportunities to pursue; and to the community as a whole, which harvests the economic benefits of hosting positive organizations and workers. This is what makes good jobs productive for the organization, as well as engaging and fulfilling for the worker.

Does the ongoing advance of AI threaten to get rid of all the learning, creativity, and meaning that make a job a good job? Certainly, some have blamed technology for just such an outcome. Headlines today often express concern over technological innovation(革新) resulting in bad jobs for humans, or even the complete disappearance of certain professions. Some fear that further technology advancement in the workplace will result in jobs where employees are being asked to work in split times or for longer periods over more days.

The problem here isn't the technology; rather, it's the way the technology is used — and, more than that, the way people think about using it.

【推荐3】Volunteer and Make a Difference

There are a variety of volunteer opportunities in our four programs so that we can make it possible to fit your schedule. Current volunteer opportunities:

After School Games Room and Gym Activities

With the guidance of adult volunteers, kids will be able to learn sportsmanship and gain important, necessary and positive role models. One-on-one interaction between youth and adults is an essential building block for personality development.

Education Center and Computers

Volunteers are needed to help give kids the support they need in completing homework assignments. Adult tutors are also needed to help kids build their skills in particular areas such as reading or math. Activities include homework assistance, tutoring, story telling, word processing and internet research.

Coaching

Coaching takes a special person who cares about youth and who can model teamwork, sports and the joy of being involved in a healthy activity. At the same time, the coaches should help keep the kids safe when they take part in the activities. Sports needing coaches include football, baseball, volleyball and basket ball.

Administrative (行政) Support

Volunteers in this work are in charge of routine administrative tasks and special events. Volunteers also need to help collect money for the program and make sure the safety of kids. It is not easy, but the feeling of helping kids in person is fantastic.

【推荐1】At noon that day, I drove back to my house after the performance. Just as I entered the living room, I heard a gentle sound coming from the bedroom upstairs — it was the sound of my favorite violin.

“Thief!”

I dashed upstairs. Sure enough, as expected, a boy of about 12 years old was petting my violin. The boy had messy hair and a thin face, his oversized coat seemingly filled with something. At first glance, I found a new pair of shoes missing. It seemed that he was surely a thief.

Then, I saw his eyes full of fear and despair. My anger was immediately replaced by a smile. I asked, “Are you Mr. Ram’s nephew, Michael? I’m his housekeeper. Two days ago, I heard his nephew living in the countryside will come. It must be you. You’re really like him!”

Hearing my words, the boy was first astonished, but then quickly said, “Has my uncle gone out? I think I’d better first go out for a walk and visit him again in a while.”

I nodded and asked the boy who was preparing to put down the violin, “Do you like to play the violin so much?”

“Yes, but I’m so poor that I can’t afford it,” the boy replied.

“Then, I give this violin to you.” The boy looked at me questioningly, but he picked up the violin. Going out to the living room, he suddenly saw on the wall my huge color photo I performed in the Sydney Opera House. He trembled(颤抖) for a moment and ran out without looking back.

I was sure that the boy had understood what happened because no one would decorate the living room with the housekeeper’s photo.

A few years later, at a music competition of senior high school students in Melbourne, I was invited to judge the final. Finally, a violin player called Merritt won the first prize with his strength!

After the award, Merritt ran to me holding a violin box, excited, asked, “Mr. Brian, do you still know me? You have given me a violin, which I have been treasuring until today! Today, I can give back this violin to you without regret…” It turned out that he was “Mr. Ram’s nephew Michael”!

Tears welled up in my eyes.

【推荐2】Over a four-year period, Swiss researchers have developed a machine that can keep human livers (肝)alive outside of the body for one week.

Livers are among the most commonly transplanted (移植)human organs. Current technology can only keep human livers alive for up to 24 hours. It is reported that, in 2017, about 8.000 liver transplants were performed in the U.S., of which 360 used livers from living givers In addition, about 11,500 people were registered on a waiting list to receive a liver transplant. Keeping livers alive and functioning for longer periods could greatly improve the chances of survival for patients.

The researchers say the purpose of their “Liver4Life” machine is to perform what they call liver perfusion (灌注)operations outside of the human body. Perfusion is the process by which blood or other liquids are pumped through organs and tissue. The machine keeps the liver at the right temperature and moves it in a way that would be natural in the body. Using a pump to fill the liver with blood acting like a human heart, the machine also provides oxygen to the organ, controls red blood cell levels and removes waste.

The research team began their experiments with livers from pigs. After repeated testing and engineering development, they succeeded in getting the pig livers to survive for seven days with support only provided from the Liver4Life machine. They also discovered the system can work to repair damaged livers. The team is now planning its next step to transplant machine-treated organs into patients.

Pierre-Alain Clavien. leader of the research said in a statement. “This technology will greatly increase the number of livers available for transplant, improving the chances of survival for patients. The success of this unique machine opens the way for many new applications in transplantation and cancer medicine.”

【推荐3】Living gratefully has a huge transforming power, not just when something wonderful or special happens, but every day no matter what is happening.

I’ve recently been involved with two people whose lives were challenged by bad luck. I have seen how grateful living had the power to keep one of them going and how it’s beginning to lift the other. One was a friend and the other is my sister.

My friend seemed to be in good health when she received a deadly diagnosis: a disease with no effective treatment. She had all the emotions that a tragedy brings, but she also had a powerful response to despair (绝望) that gave her “the happiness that doesn’t depend on what happens.” She wrote online daily, honestly sharing the details of her situation.

She wrote that even though it was difficult to move, this gave her more time to notice small things. She was grateful not only for the love and help of family and friends, but also for time to see the sun rise and watch the birds in her yard. No opportunity for gratefulness was wasted.

She taught that gratefulness is not a false cheerfulness. It’s taking every opportunity to celebrate the blessings of small things. We can be grateful for the challenges that help us develop sympathy for each other. Life is a precious gift.

She repeatedly blogged that she was happier than she had ever been.

When she wrote about “the worst day”, she ended with “life is still a lovely gift.” She died later that day.

Her message, however, changed my sister’s life. My sister’s health was getting worse and worse, though nothing life-threatening. She did have a very painful knee. Her life was in danger from her defeated spirit. She was bed-bound (卧床不起), getting weaker and weaker. Fearful, angry and depressed, she felt out of options for recovery.

I read my sister a few of my friend’s messages. I was careful not to say, “Why can’t you be more like her?” Instead, I let the words do their work. I’m grateful to say that an attitude of gratitude began to replace her anger and fear. I believe this helped her to heal.

We can’t be grateful for all that happens, but we can practice gratefulness for life itself, for all we can learn to deal with, for all the ways we can help each other grow and heal.