【推荐1】In July 2017, the American Space Agency（NASA）admitted to not having enough financial means to send man on Mars for the purpose of exploring it. The news had the effect of a bomb after five years of communication and development for this space exploration project. And yet, a few months before this announcement, the two houses of the US Congress voted a law to guide future NASA tasks. Among these tasks was an inhabited trip to Mars in 2033.

In the meantime, NASA is focusing on the Mars 2020 mission by building its rover （漫游者）, which will be equipped with a series of new scientific instruments. This new machine will also look a lot like Curiosity which landed on the red planet in 2012. The mission Mars 2020 aims to assess the livability of the planet and possibly identify potential tracks of life yesterday and today.

At a recent press conference, former US astronaut Tom Jones announced that NASA’s current budget could not solve some technical problems for 25 years. Thus, it postpones the first inhabited mission of the agency to Mars in 2043. The subject concerned mainly mentioned many damages that will affect the body of astronauts.

Indeed, the trip to Mars could be completed in nine months by considering the current technologies and the moment when the planets are closer to each other. However, periods of weightlessness that are too long may, in particular, cause a lack of calcium. In fact, it influences the bones of astronauts. In addition, this can lead to significant damage of vision.

A quarter of a century is needed to develop new technologies to solve these problems. For example, there is the question of developing nuclear propulsion（推进）systems. Indeed, it could reduce travel times. Finally, there is also the idea of designing something to allow astronauts to hibernate（冬眠） during the trip!

【推荐2】Thanks to the progress of artificial intelligence(AI), robots have won against human players in a number of games, such as chess, Go game and even mahjong. And now, AI-powered robots are showing their talent in professional curling(冰壶).

Recently, a robot team named Curly has drawn much attention as it successfully beat two South Korean national curling teams. Researchers from Korea University in South Korea, and the Berlin Institute of Technology in Germany developed the robot.

Curling is a challenging sport that requires a mix of precision and strategy. In the game, a player called the “thrower” gently slides the stone and releases it before a boundary called the “hogline”. The stone slides down to the target, known as the “house”. An opposing team does the same, so both teams accumulate stones in the same house. At the end of the round, the team with a stone closest to the center of the target gets a point.

This requires the players to figure out the force and angle needed to slide a heavy stone in order to land it in the house or make it into another position. Players also have to form a strategy to prevent the opponent from getting their stones closest to the center of the house. And apparently, Curly has made progress in mastering these skills.

Curly is a team of two robots: One is responsible for observing the position of the stones at the scoring end, while the other does the throwing. But how was this robot programmed to achieve this?

Researchers built a simulation(模拟) of a curling game for the robots to play around. In the simulation, the researchers approximated the physics of the real world as best as they could, considering various conditions, such as the ice surface and the positions of stones. Then, there is curling strategy. The robots were trained in different situations to deal with various throws. The researchers found that Curly adapted to many variables(变量) of the game the same way a person would.

This shows that a robot can observe the real world and act accordingly in a precise and strategic manner, which is a sign of a promising future for the ever-expanding use of AI.

【推荐3】Japanese technology giant Toshiba has built a huge “clean” factory farm where it is growing various types of lettuce (莴苣) leaves without sunlight or soil for sale in its new healthcare business.

Located in a disused 21,000-square-foot electronics factory in Yokosuka, Toshiba announces to have created a perfect “bacteria-free” environment where it will grow three million bags of lettuce a year.

Completely cut off from conditions outside the temperature controlled tank, lettuce inspectors wear full body suits while making notes on the quality and growth of the leaves on their iPads in order to prevent the air around the plants becoming contaminated.

Each plant is given man-made lighting to trick it into believing it is exposed to sunlight, while vitamin and nutrients are put directly into its roots, meaning the lettuce does not need soil.

Toshiba’s new high-tech farm may produce the world’s highest quality lettuce. The final product will be free of any form of bacteria or insect life before being placed into sealed (密封的) bags, which should ensure the product has a longer shelf life than other lettuces.

The gardening technique aims to have a bacteria amount of no more than 1/1000th-much lower than that found in normal gardening soil.

Toshiba aims to harvest three million bags of leaf lettuce, baby leaf greens, cabbages and other kinds of vegetables every year-with each bag likely to cost people £1.

The most important thing in organic vegetables, the lettuce requires no pesticides (杀虫剂) but is expected to have a similar shelf to plants that have been heavily treated with chemicals.

The lettuce factory is no marketing trick by Toshiba, however. Instead it represents the company’s latest attempt to expand its technology-led business.

There are already plans for the technology giant to build similar factories around the world over the coming years and it will also be selling the high tech equipment that allows factories to produce similar products of exceptionally high quality.

【推荐2】In America, when the eighth graders leave the middle school, they are often worried about moving to the high school. It is a hard time for them, but it can be an exciting one as well. To make it easier, students need to get familiar with their school.

Even though they’ve done this already in the middle school, it’s still important to find where their classrooms are. Most schools take students to the high school for a visit at the end of their eighth grade year. And, most schools also have a freshman (新生) speech for parents and students before the first year begins. Sometimes the main office will give away a map of the school. This can help students and parents to find different place.

One way to know your high school more and make new friends is to join a club or play a sport. Schools often offer chances to join different clubs and sports. If you are not interested in sports, there are clubs for any interest, such as drama, dance, chess, photography，community service, etc. These clubs allow students from different grades. By joining an activity, students can find new friendships, not to mention improving their chances in future college applications (申请). The school office will have a list of activities offered at the school and information on how to join them.

【推荐3】Ian Mercer doesn’t set an alarm clock. The former Microsoft senior manager doesn’t check the weather, either. He doesn’t turn on lights, water the yard, or adjust the thermostat ( 恒温器 ). He doesn’t open the curtains, answer the phone, or call his children for dinner. There’s something unique about Ian’s home. He has programmed it to do all these things for him.

Ian doesn’t live in a typical home or have a typical lifestyle. He spent over a decade designing the systems that feature in his unique home. He bought a home automation software package and then improved it.

Now there are 79 sensors and monitors, and 48 light switches in his home. Lights turn on automatically in rooms with people in them. Even being out, Ian can also control his home remotely using voice commands or his phone in any location. That is only the beginning of what this home has been programmed to do.

It connects with online calendars, caller ID, online weather services, online address books, and email, among other things, to get Ian through his day. For example, if there is a meeting in Ian’s calendar, it will wake him up, open his bedroom curtains, start and set his shower to his desired temperature. It also informs Ian about traffic conditions.

There is plenty more this home has been programmed to do. It keeps him updated on his favourite sports teams and scores. It even monitors online activity to check that Ian’s children are doing their homework. The “dinner’s ready” command stops operation of their computers and TVs. This is easier than asking his children to shut them down.

Ian’s home is unique. Most homes are not this smart, but soon more homes will be technologically advanced.