【推荐1】Scientists say they have used artificial intelligence (AI) to create music to represent the protein structure of the novel coronavirus.

Researchers used machine-learning methods to make the music, which may help them better understand the virus. The research team assigned musical notes to amino acids (氨基酸) that make up the so-called “spiked(刺突)” protein that infects human cells. Machine learning was then used to turn the protein and structural information into a nearly two-hour piece of classical music.

Markus Buehler of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) led the research team. Buehler told the Reuters news agency that turning the protein data into music let people gain a better understanding of something they cannot see. “You would need many different images, many different magnifications (放大) to see with your eyes, while your ears can pick up with just a couple of seconds of music,” he said.

The finished selection was uploaded to the music sharing website SoundCloud. Listeners of the early part of the piece described it with words such as “beautiful”, “interesting”, “calm” and “nature”. Buehler said this part of the music represents the ease at which the spiked protein enters the human cell, making the coronavirus highly infectious. He noted that the virus is very good at “tricking the cell to open the doors” to infect someone. As the virus then reproduces and the spiked protein attaches to more cells, the music becomes louder, faster and more intense. One SoundCloud user noted that this part could represent one of the first signs of the virus in humans, a high body temperature. Others described the more intense part of the music as “scary” and “sad”.

The researchers say a possible next step could be to use the musical method to design an antibody to attack the virus.

【推荐2】Your glasses may some day replace your smartphone, and some New Yorkers are ready for the switch. Some in the city can’t wait to try them on and use the maps and GPS that the futuristic eyewear is likely to include.

“I’d use it if I were hanging out with friends at 3 a. m. and going to the bar and wanted to see what was open,” said Walter Choo, 40, of Fort Greene.

The smartphone-like glasses will likely come out this year and cost between $250 and $600, the Times said, possibly including a variation of augmented reality, a technology already available on smartphones and tablets that overlays information onto the screen about one’s surroundings. So, for example, if you were walking down a street, indicators would pop up showing you the nearest coffee shop or directions could be plotted out and come into view right on the sidewalk in front of you.

“As far as a mainstream consumer product, this just isn’t something anybody needs,” said Sam Biddle, who writes for Gizmodo.com. “We’re accustomed to having one thing in our pocket to do all these things,” he added, “and the average consumer isn’t gonna be able to afford another device that’s hundreds and hundreds of dollars.” 9 to 5 Google publisher Seth Weintraub, who has been reporting on the smartphone-like glasses since last year, said he is confident that this type of wearable device will eventually be as common as smartphones.

“It’s just like smartphones 10 years ago,” Weintraub said. “A few people started getting emails on their phones, and people thought that was crazy. Same kind of thing. We see people bending their heads to look at their smartphones, and it’s unnatural,” he said. “There’s gonna be improvements to that, and this is a step there.”

【推荐3】Most online fraud (诈骗) involves identity theft passwords help. But many can be guessed. Newer phones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers often have strengthened security with fingerprint and facial recognition. But these can be imitated (模仿). That is why a new approach, behavioral biometrics (行为生物识别) is gaining ground.

It relies on the wealth of measurements made by today’s devices (设备). These include data from sensors that reveal how people hold their phones when using them, how they carry them and even the way they walk. Touchscreens, keyboards and mice can be monitored to show the distinctive ways in which someone’s fingers and hands move. These features can then be used to determine whether someone attempting to make a deal is likely to be the device’s habitual user.

“Behavioral biometrics make it possible to identify an individual’s unique motion fingerprint”, says John Whaley, head of Unifyid, a firm in Silicon Valley that is involved in the field. When coupled with information about a user’s finger pressure and speed on the touchscreen, as well as a device’s regular places of use—as revealed by its GPS unit—that user’s identity can be pretty well determined.

Used wisely, behavioral biometrics could be a great benefit. In fact, Unifyid and an unnamed car company are even developing a system that unlocks the doors of a vehicle once the pace of the driver, as measured by his phone, is recognized. Used unwisely, however, the system would become yet another electronic spy on people’s privacy, permitting complete strangers to monitor your every action, from the moment you reach for your phone in the morning, to when you throw it on the floor at night.

【推荐1】Most people will recognize Bill Clinton, ex-president of the United States. Bill Clinton is a very popular speech giver and regularly gives talks all over the world, to many different audiences. He is so effective at giving talks because he has a special quality which we call “charisma (魅力)”.

Nowadays,   psychologists   (心理学家)   are becoming very interested in charisma and want to describe its meaning in a better way. People often misunderstand what charisma is and think of it as a kind of fame, but it is not the same as fame. Charisma is a kind of magic and is relatively rare. A well-known American psychologist thinks that charismatic people are basically excellent communicators. However, they have other qualities such as self-confidence, eloquence (口才) and vision.

Charismatic personalities are able to draw people to them, and people feel happy in their company. There is a sense of “togetherness” when a charismatic person is with other people. A good example of this ability, some say, is the famous American, Oprah Winfrey. She is a highly-successful businesswoman and is probably best known as the presenter of a very popular talk show. Oprah is able to relate to audiences at her shows and they respond well to her. Her charismatic personality has made her one of the richest women in the world. She owns several houses and publishes her own magazines. Presently, she is presenting a new series of the Oprah Winfrey Show. She also runs a book club, which influences the nation’s reading habits and may be one of the reasons why people are reading more these days in the USA.

A woman who had extraordinary charisma was the film star, Marilyn Monroe. A beautiful woman and a talented (有天赋的) actress, she was always the centre of attention wherever she went.

Unlike fame, charisma doesn’t disappear over time. Even now, more than fifty years after her death, when young people see Monroe in her films, her charisma seems as fresh and powerful as ever.

【推荐2】High School Course Requirements for College Admissions

While admissions standards vary greatly from one school to another, nearly all colleges and universities will be looking to see that applicants have completed a standard core (核心) curriculum. As you choose classes in high school, these core courses should always be the most important. Students without these classes may be automatically disqualified for admission. In general, a typical high school core curriculum looks something like this.

English: 4 years

Foreign Language: 2 to 3 years

Math: 3 years

Science: 2 to 3 years including lab science

Social Studies and History: 2 to 3 years

Art: 1 year

Keep in mind that the required courses for admission differ from the recommended courses. At selective colleges and universities, additional years of math, science and language will be necessary for you to be a competitive applicant.

When colleges calculate your Grade Point Average (GPA) for admissions purposes, they will often ignore the GPA on your transcript (成绩单) and focus only on your grades in these core subject areas. Grades for physical education, music performance and other non-core courses are not as useful for predicting your level of college readiness as these core courses. This doesn't mean that electives aren't important. Colleges do want to see that you have a large variety of interests and experiences, but they simply don't provide a good window into an applicant's   ability to handle strict college courses.

Core course requirements vary from state to state, and many of the more selective colleges will want to see a strong high school academic record that goes well beyond the core. Advanced Placement, IB and Honors courses are a must to be competitive at the most selective colleges. In most cases, the strongest applicants to highly selective colleges will have four years of math (including calculus), four years of science and four years of a foreign language.

【推荐2】In January, 2021, the ice-making work on the ”Ice Ribbon“, a landmark venue for the Beijing Winter Olympics, was completed.

In the Winter Olympics, where races can be won or lost by a small time gap, tiny imperfections in the ice can make all the differences. ”It’s not just a hunk of ice like you’d normally think of, like ice cubes sitting in your freezer,“ told Kenneth Golden, a U. S. mathematician who studies the structures of ice. ”It’s a much more fascinating and complex substance than people would normally think.“

The first step for building any ice rink is to purify the water to remove dissolved solids like salts and minerals. Such impurities don’t fit in the regular hexagonal(六边形的)structure of ice that forms as water freezes. The purer the water, the more consistent the ice surface.

In addition to the need for excellence in the raw materials of ice-making, technology is also very important, As one of the most advanced technologies for winter sports venues, a carbon dioxide cooling technology has been applied on a large scale for the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. CO₂ , is not new when it comes to ice-making. However, it has been gradually replaced by the man-made refrigerant, like Freon.

With increasing attention toward climate change, the old refrigerant has come into use again. As an element of the atmosphere, CO₂, doesn’t damage the ozone layer. Although CO₂ is a greenhouse gas, its greenhouse effect is much lower than that of other synthetic refrigerants. The Winter Olympics venues adopted CO₂ instead of Freon as a refrigerant in ice-making, which will reduce carbon dioxide emissions greatly.

”We believe these technological innovations will bring Beijing 2022 to spectators all over the world in a more impressive way.“ told Gao Bo from the Media Operations Department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.