If you’re a pasta (面食) lover, then you know there’re fat noodles, round noodles, shells, and many, many more. Some of these pastas, like ordinary spaghetti, pack easily into small box or package. But others require much larger boxes or bags because of their hard 3D shapes.
Now a team of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and Zhejiang University has figured out a way that pasta can be packed flat, like sticks of gum in a package, and still form fancy 3D shapes once cooked.
Lining Yao who leads the “Morphing Matter Lab” says the team admires flat-pack furniture sold by IKEA that comes tightly packed in a box, but then can be built into a large piece of furniture which takes up a much greater amount of space.
To bring the flat-pack idea to the pasta world, the researchers used computers to help them plan their groove (凹槽) patterns and stamped grooves in the pasta. “The groove side expands less than the smooth side, leading the pasta to change into shape,” explains Teng Zhang, one of the researchers. But knowing where to make them is the trick. By doing that, the researchers are able to fix the shape of the pasta in the end.
Professor Yao has also worked to make noodles fold before, by adding something special that could be eaten to the surface of the pasta. This time, though, the pasta is made with just the right amount of flour and water, and the only things affecting the shape are the grooves.
The new pasta tastes just like ordinary pasta once it is cooked. Meanwhile, this method does not affect the pasta production speed and preservation time. The team hopes their new method will help us in two ways. Like flat-pack furniture, it should take up less space when it’s being transported, which is much easier on the environment. The pasta should also require much less packaging, meaning far less plastic waste.
1. What do we know about pastas from Paragraph 1?A.They come in different shapes. | B.They are not easy to transport. |
C.They need to be packed strictly. | D.They are only kept in large boxes. |
A.The ways of cooking the pasta. | B.The style of gum in a package. |
C.The furniture design from IKEA. | D.The 3D shapes after it’s cooked. |
A.By applying the computer apps. | B.By making grooves in right spots. |
C.By adding the right amount of four. | D.By coating it with something special. |
A.To produce it more easily. | B.To get it more tasty. |
C.To keep it longer. | D.To make it greener. |
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【推荐1】Wood has many great characteristics that make it the perfect building material. It is cheap,durable(耐用的),easily available,and most importantly,environmentally sustainable. The one thing it is not,is transparent(透明的). Now thanks to a team of scientists at Stockholm's KTH Royal Institute of Technology,the material may even be able to add that feature to its already impressive list.
Lead researcher Dr. Lars Berglund said he was inspired to create the transparent wood after learning how Japanese researchers had developed a see-through paper for use in flexible display screens for electronic devices. The team began by pulling out the wood's lignin(木质素). The lignin-free wood was then dipped into a polymer(聚合物)and baked at a temperature of 158F for four hours. The result was a hybrid product that was not only stronger and lighter than the original wood but also,almost transparent. The researchers were able to adjust the level of transparency by varying the amount of the polymer injected and also by changing the thickness of the wood.
While scientists have previously created a see-through wood for small-scale applications like computer chips, he transparent wood is the first one being considered for large scale applications. The researchers, who revealed their findings in Biomacromolecules on April 11, picture using the transparent wood in buildings to allow for more natural light, or to create windows that let in the desired amount of light without sacrificing privacy.
Wood that allows light to pass through could lead to a brighter future for homes and buildings. Berglund also thinks the wood could play a significant role in the design of solar panels. The semi-transparent material would be able to keep light longer and give it more time to interact with the conductor, thus resulting in better solar efficiency. Additionally, substituting the currently used glass with this new product would help solar energy manufacturers improve their carbon footprint and lower the cost. They are now experimenting with ways to scale up the manufacturing process so that the transparent material is cost-effective to make and easy to use.
1. What does the underlined part "that feature" in Paragraph 1 refer to?A.Cheapness. | B.Durability. | C.Sustainability. | D.Transparency. |
A.Dip the wood into a polymer. |
B.Reduce the amount of the polymer. |
C.Make the wood lignin-free. |
D.Bake the wood for some time. |
A.Berglund got the idea of transparent wood while making paper. |
B.Varying the amount of the polymer changes the wood's hardness. |
C.The cost of making the transparent wood still needs to be cut down. |
D.The transparent wood would be used only for homes and buildings. |
A.The bright future of the transparent wood. |
B.The wood's role in the design of solar panels. |
C.The disadvantages of the currently used glass. |
D.Solar energy manufacturers' carbon footprint. |
【推荐2】Imagine a cat that does not need someone to clean up after it keeps an older people company and helps them remember to take their medicine. That is the shared dream of the toy maker Hasbro and scientists at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The researchers received a $ 3-million-dollar from the National Science Foundation for a special project. They want to find ways to add artificial intelligence, or AI, to Hasbro’s “Joy for All” robotic cat.
The cat has already been for sale for two years. Though priced at over 1,000 dollars, it sold quite well. It was meant to act as a “companion”(陪伴) for older people. Now the project is aimed at developing additional abilities for the cat. Researchers are working to decide which activities older adults may need the most. They hope to make the cat perform a small number of activities very well. Such activities include finding lost objects and reminding the older people to take medicine or visit their doctor. They also want to keep the cost down to just a few hundred dollars.
It is an idea that has appealed (有吸引力) to Jeanne Elliott. Her 93-year-old mother Mary Derr lives with her in South Kingstown. Derr has dementia (痴呆). The Joy for All cat that Elliot bought this year has become a true companion for Derr. The cat stays with Derr and keeps her relaxed while Elliott is at work. Elliot said a robotic cat that helps her mother to remember to take her medicine and be careful when she walks would be greater.
The researchers are trying to learn how the improved cats will complete helpful activities and how they will communicate. They say that they do not want a talking cat, however. Instead they are trying to design a cat that can move its head in a special way to successfully communicate its message. In the end, they hope to create an exchange between the human and the cat in which the human feels the cat needs them. By doing so, the researchers hope they can even help prevent feelings of loneliness and sadness among elderly people.
1. What’s the purpose of the project?A.To reduce the pain of the elderly. |
B.To increase the sales of a medicine. |
C.To help make the robotic cat smarter. |
D.To invent a robotic cat for the elderly. |
A.It will be on sale in two years. |
B.It may be cheaper in the future. |
C.Its abilities will be made simpler for the elderly. |
D.It can tell the activities that older adults need the most. |
A.The cat gives much help to the elderly. |
B.The cat works well to talk with the patient. |
C.The cat can make the dementia patient less painful. |
D.The cat should be designed to satisfy patients’ need. |
A.Each family can afford such a cat in the future. |
B.A talking cat is quite popular among the elderly. |
C.Feelings of sadness among the elderly are unavoidable. |
D.The feeling of being needed is important to the elderly. |
【推荐3】Scientists have designed a tiny, shape-shifting “spider-robot” that can passively use its body as it navigates its environment. The robot is a pioneer that could one day perform surgery or hunt for survivors in a disaster zone, its inventors say.
The robot, mCLARI, is 0.8 inch long, weighs less than 0.03 ounces and can scurry at a maximum speed of 2.4 inches per second, according to the research. The tiny robot is the smaller, faster successor to CLARI, which was designed by the same team. It also passively changes its shape in multiple dimensions to fit through gaps.
“In the long term, we believe such robots to be effective at navigating through human bodies and performing automated surgery such as clearing blocks in blood or removing a tumor (肿瘤). Because of the robot’s small size and the ability to shape change, we foresee applications of this technology in the following four major domains of socioeconomic importance.” Study lead author Kaushik Jayaram, a mechanical engineering professor at the University of Colorado, told Live Science in an email. These include disaster response, high-value possession inspection, environmental monitoring and precision medicine.
With mCLARI, Jayaram’s team is inching closer to creating robots that can navigate complex environments — just like the organic creatures they’re inspired by. mCLARI robot has four leg modules that can move in two different dimensions. The robot can move in tight spaces by switching between running forward and side-to-side and can adopt multiple poses and rushing speeds. Its legs fasten to its body through passive joints, which enables mCLARI to alter its body shape based on the environment it encounters. For instance, its legs can stretch up to 50% in certain spaces.
As follow-up work, the scientists want to give mCLARI more power and sensing ability. “We are also excited about understanding the effect of shape change on enhancing motion ability,” Jayaram said.
1. Why does the author use numbers to describe mCLARI?A.To illustrate its importance. |
B.To explain its high speed. |
C.To show its beautiful shape. |
D.To highlight its advancement. |
A.Move. | B.Change. | C.Transform. | D.Leap. |
A.Replacing doctors. |
B.Helping out in surgery. |
C.Predicting natural disasters. |
D.Evaluating family property. |
A.Unclear. | B.Demanding. | C.Promising. | D.Dismissive. |
【推荐1】The United Nations predicts worldwide temperatures over the next five years may at times rise to more than 1.5 degrees Centigrade above pre-industrial levels. The U.N.’s World Meteorological(气象的) Organization, WMO, said the prediction suggests continued warming could present a challenge to climate change goals set in the 2015 Paris Agreement,which seeks to limit world temperature rises through major cuts in human-caused greenhouse gases.
The WMO said there was a 20 percent chance that the yearly average temperature will rise above 1.5 Celsius higher than the pre-industrial average levels in at least one year.The report identifies 1850-1900 as the pre-industrial period.That does not mean that the average would be crossing the long-term target of 1.S Celsius that scientists have set as the limit for avoiding catastrophic(灾难性的) climate change.
Temperatures over the last five years have been the warmest on record, the WMO reported. Temperatures over the next five years are very likely to be within the range of 0.91 to 1.59Celsius above pre-industrial levels, it predicted. Southern Africa and Australia, where fires last year destroyed millions of hectares(公顷),will probably be drier than usual through 2024, the report said. Africa’s Sahel region is likely be wetter, while Europe should see more storms.
Maxx Dilley, the WMO’s director of climate services, told the Associated Press the predictions are worrisome. “It shows how close we’re getting to what the Paris Agreement is trying to prevent,” he said.Still,Dilley added that it would not be impossible for countries to reach the target set in Paris,of keeping global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius,by the end of the century. Petteri Taalas, the WMO Secretary-General, added, “While COVID-19 has caused a severe international health and economic crisis, failure to cope with climate change may threaten human well-being, ecosystems and economies for centuries.”
1. According to WMO,the continued warming isA.in an alarming trend. | B.Out of control. |
C.Naturally developing. | D.Far from worry. |
A.Temperatures will have a sudden rise. |
B.People in Africa should get more help. |
C.Fires in Australia will last over 5 years. |
D.Our living environment is getting worse. |
A.Carefree. | B.Objective. | C.Indifferent. | D.Scared. |
A.Global impact of Climate change. |
B.The most serious challenge we face. |
C.UN predicts more rising temperatures. |
D.How do we cope with continued warming. |
【推荐2】Thinking small, being engaging, and having a sense of humor don’t hurt. Those are a few of the traits of successful science crowdfunding efforts that emerge from a recent study that examined nearly 400 campaigns. But having a large network and some promotional skills may be more crucial.
Crowdfunding, raising money for a project through online appeals, has taken off in recent years for everything from making movies to producing water-saving gadgets. Scientists have tried to tap Internet donors, too, with mixed success. Some raised more than twice their goals, but others have fallen short of reaching even modest targets.
To determine what separates science crowdfunding triumphs from failures, a team led by science communications scholar Mike Schafer of the University of Zurich examined the content of the webpages for 371 recent campaigns.
Four traits stood out for those that achieved their goals, the researchers report in Public Understanding of Science. For one, they use a crowdfunding platform that specializes in raising money for science, and not just any kind of project. Although sites like Kickstarter take all comers, platforms such as Experiment. com and Petridish org only present scientific projects. For another, they present the project with a funny video because good visuals and a sense of humor improved success. Most of them engage with potential donors, since projects that answered questions from interested donors fared better. And they target a small amount of money. The projects included in the study raised $4000 on average, with 30% receiving less than $1000. The more money a project sought, the lower the chance it reached its goal, the researchers found.
Other factors may also significantly influence a project’s success, most notably, the size of a scientist's personal and professional networks, and how much a researcher promotes a project on their own. Those two factors are by far more critical than the content on the page. Crowdfunding can be part of researchers’ efforts to reach the public, and people give because “they feel a connection to the person” who is doing the fundraising—not necessarily to the science.
1. What do we learn about the scientists trying to raise money online for their projects?A.They did not raise much due to modest targets. |
B.Not all of them achieved their anticipated goals. |
C.They made use of mixed fundraising strategies. |
D.Most of them put movies online for the purpose. |
A.To create attractive content for science websites. |
B.To help scientists to launch innovative projects. |
C.To identify reasons for their different outcomes. |
D.To separate science projects from general ones. |
A.The potential benefit to future generations. |
B.Its originality in addressing financial issues. |
C.The value of the proposed project. |
D.Its interaction with prospective donors. |
A.They should be small to be successful. |
B.They should be assessed with great care. |
C.They should be based on actual needs. |
D.They should be ambitious to gain notice. |
【推荐3】eXp Realty is one of the world's fastest-growing and most successful real estate (房地产) companies. It has become famous not for investing in actual real estate, but for focusing on
virtual reality offices that allow its agents and brokers (中间商)to interact and socialize from anywhere around the globe.
Glenn Sanford, eXp Realty's founder and CEO, founded the company a decade ago, soon after the real estate market collapse of 2007. He couldn't afford to buy or rent office space. What's more important, he figured that focusing on a system that allowed his team to work remotely would help the company avoid possible real estate crises in the future. So eXp Realty relied on services like Google Docs, project management solutions like Trello, and communications app Slack to help its workforce work together in virtual reality. "The virtual campus is a big part of our growth engine. If we were limited to actual offices, the growth we've had simply wouldn't be possible," Scott Petronis, chief technology officer of eXp Realty said.
Having a virtual campus in the virtual world rather than in the real one apparently has several major advantages. For the most important one, eXp Realty can hire whatever talent they like, no matter where they are. As long as they have Internet connection, they can interact with their colleagues and the company management like avatars (虚拟人)because they can walk around the campus, enter various virtual facilities, and interact with each other. While the main focus is on work and brainstorming, eXp Realty is constantly adding fun stuff as well, like riding on a virtual lake and enjoying a drink at the bar.
At the beginning of 2018, eXp Realty had around 6,500 brokers, but till today that number has increased to over 12,000. They are operating in 300 markets across the US and Canada. If that isn't enough to convince you, the company was recently listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market, with first-day market capitalization of over $1 billion. But it doesn't own or lease any more physical space than what is required by law.
1. What do we know about eXp Realty?A.It relies much on technology. |
B.It was founded by accident. |
C.It's famous for its large offices. |
D.It's a branch company of Google. |
A.He could work closely with famous online services. |
B.He is quite professional in the field of information technology. |
C.Virtual offices can enable him to avoid potential real estate crises. |
D.The starting base for the virtual real estate market was low at that time. |
A.Agents and brokers can communicate timely. |
B.It helps attract talents regardless of their location. |
C.Companies can cooperate with high-tech avatars. |
D.Employees can have a relaxing work environment. |
A.is really a success |
B.has some illegal businesses |
C.is expanding its business worldwide |
D.has poor performance in the stock market |
A.Why Does Real Estate Industry Grow So Quickly? |
B.Billion Dollar Real Estate Company一eXp Realty |
C.Virtual Reality Office Vs. Physical Office Space |
D.What Can Virtual Reality Do to Our Business? |