【推荐3】Like any doctor, Jacques Fellay wants to give his patients the best care. Hidden inside our bodies are genetic (基因的) markers that can tell him which patients could probably have diseases such as AIDS and provide early treatments. However, there are worries for Fellay: they contain sensitive details that could lead to embarrassment, discrimination or even worse.

A new kind of encryption, fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) (全同态加密), is making it possible for data users to run multiple operations on genetic data without seeing the contents. This can help end big data’s privacy problem, and Fellay’s patients can be some of the first to benefit.

In 1978, the concept of homomorphic encryption (HE) was firstly proposed. According to it, one could encrypt and share data with others, who could analyze and perform calculations on the data with no idea what it means. After getting the data back, the data user could simply arrive at the result using the secret key and it will make total sense.

In 2009, Craig Gentry firstly provided a workable FHE program. Like HE, it rests on a mathematical idea called a homomorphism, which mostly relies on using algebra (代数) to map data from one form to another without changing its underlying structure. However, it supports multiple operations on encrypted data, rather than only one calculation in HE.

Later, Gentry went on to work at IBM, which now has complicated FHE tools to run encrypted data. In the medical field, for example, it detected signs of COVID-19 infection by applying FHE to analyze the encrypted CT scans of more than 1, 500 people’s lungs. In a paper published in October 2021, the team used FHE to collect data from multiple sources and predicted the effect of cancer treatments or the process of HIV infection, as in Fellay’s case.

Workable, but still slow: calculations on the FHE-encrypted data could take millions of times longer than those on raw data. But, as Goldwasser says, “If you believe that security is not a plus, but it’s a must,” she says, “then in some sense there is no overhead.”

【推荐2】A good teacher is more than just someone who can pass on knowledge. As the Times Education Supplement has found, the qualities that make a great educator are being intelligent, concerned and maverick.

Earlier this year, the UK magazine did a survey of 1,200 educators across the globe to find education's favorite 50 fictional teachers. As it turned out, Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter series, finished at the top of the poll.

The secret to Dumbledore's greatness came from the fact that he “was never proud or vain; he could find something to value in anyone, however unimportant they seemed”. Elphias Doge, a Ministry of Magic jurist in Harry Potter, said of the professor after his death. He added that there was "no doubt that he was the most inspiring and the best loved of all Hogwarts headmasters."

Another beloved teacher who made the list is John Keating in the film Dead Poets Society, who inspired students through poetry. “Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are necessary to sustain life,” he told students. “But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.” He also encouraged his students to look at things differently when they thought they knew something. “Even though it may seem silly, or wrong, you must try,” he advised.

As Mark Goldberg, the author of Keep Good Teachers, said, the key characteristics of these great fictional teachers are qualities of "willingness to put in the necessary time, a love for the age group they teach, and an in-depth wisdom."

【推荐3】It’s been almost a year since our third and last child graduated from stakes high school. Looking back, I can see now that there were some parenting mistakes we could have avoided. I share them so that you don’t have to repeat them.

I wish I had dealt with peer pressure better. During the senior year, it seems like every conversation I had at a school meeting ended up being about college. It made me anxious to see my kids’ classmates applying part of my brain kicked in with “Oh yeah? My kid has better scores than yours he could get in anywhere yours can!” I probably passed some of that stress to my kids, who didn’t need to deal with my anxieties on top of their own. Everyone has their own path. It doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing --- the only person that matters is your son or daughter.

I also worried about their social lives. It made me anxious that my kids didn’t seem to have the common teen interest in school dances or parties but preferred to have a few friends over for a movie sometimes. I can now say this: worrying about their social lives was a total waste of time and energy. I should simply have enjoyed them being at home. They saved their focus for things like Physics and History. And they are doing just fine in college.

I simply thought teenagers would go to bed when they were tired. I didn’t realize the addictive(上瘾的) power of video games or texting. My daughter slept with her phone in her bed for at least two years. If I could do it again, every kid would have been required to leave the phone in the kitchen before bed.

I’m proud to say that today we have three college students who are well-prepared young adults in spite of every parenting mistake I made in high school to delay(推迟) that.