Scientists have identified two minerals never before seen on Earth in a meteorite (陨石) weighing 15.2 metric tons. The minerals came from a 70-gram slice of the meteorite, which was discovered in Somalia in 2020, according to a news release from the University of Alberta.
Chris Herd, the curator (馆长) of the university’s meteorite collection, received samples of the space rock so he could classify it. As he was examining them, something unusual caught his eye—some parts of the samples weren’t identifiable by a microscope. He then turned to Andrew Locock, head of the university’s Electron Microprobe Laboratory, since Locock has experience of describing new minerals.
“The very first day he did some analyses, and he found two new minerals in there,” Herd said in a statement. “That’s extraordinary. Most of the time it takes a lot more work than that to say there’s a new mineral.”
One mineral’s name: elaliite, comes from the space object itself, which is called the “EI Ali” meteorite since it was found near the, town of EI Ali in central Somalia. Herd named the second one elkinstantonite after Lindy Elkins-Tanton, an outstanding professor in that university’s School of Earth and Space Exploration and the principal investigator of NASA’s upcoming Psyche mission. “Lindy has done a lot of work on how the cores of planets form,” Herd said. “It makes sense to name a mineral after her.”
Locock’s work went perfectly smooth for a reason. Similar minerals had been synthetically (合成地) created before, and therefore, he was able to match the composition of the newly discovered minerals with their human-made counterparts, according to the University of Alberta release. “It’s just accidental that a researcher will find a mineral in a meteorite that hasn’t been known before, and then that the same compound (化合物) has been created previously by materials scientists,” said Alan Rubin,a meteorite researcher.
Meanwhile, the researchers are still analyzing the minerals to find out what the conditions were in the meteorite when the space rock formed.
1. What did Chris Herd do after he found something unusual?| A．He sought external support. | B．He weighed the meteorite again. |
| C．He carefully preserved the samples. | D．He examined the rock with a microscope. |
| A．The weight and volume of the meteorite. |
| B．The significant value of minerals in the meteorite. |
| C．Locock’s quick identification of two new minerals. |
| D．Locock’s professional analyses of the rock samples. |
| A．To indicate the place where the meteorite was found. |
| B．To show the major component of the meteorite. |
| C．To remind people of who discovered the rock. |
| D．To honor Lindy’s contributions to science. |
| A．The existence of similar artificial minerals. |
| B．The regular composition of the new minerals, |
| C．His rare ability to create new materials in labs. |
| D．His extensive cooperation with materials scientists. |
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【推荐1】While the Mars and the moon are currently the hottest destinations for outer space exploration. Mercury (水星) might be another exciting choice. The inner planet Mercury is extremely difficult to see with the naked eye. It is “the innermost and smallest terrestrial planet in solar system.” noted the BBC.
The European-Japanese BepiColombo spacecraft was successfully launched on Oct 20, marking the start of its seven-year trip to Mercury, the Guardian reported.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has described the journey as one of the most complex interplanetary missions ever undertaken. Mercury is located just 58 million kilometers away from the sun. It follows a tight path to make one revolution (公转) around the sun, completing a full orbit every 88 days. Therefore, in order to get into Mercury’s orbit, BepiColombo has to stand the extremely strong gravity of the sun. In order to solve the problem, BepiColombo will use special flybys (近天体探测飞行) to get into Mercury’s orbit.
According to ESA, Mercury’s temperature ranges from 450℃ on the sunward side to minus 180℃ on the dark side. In order to study the planet, the spacecraft “is going from one to the other over a few tens of minutes... our instruments have to operate around room temperature,” according to Suzanne Imber of the University of Leicester, UK. BepiColombo has been coated with temperature-resistant layers to keep it safe.
If everything goes as planned, BepiColombo will travel through or solar system at 60 kilometers per second and reach Mercury in late December 2025. It will then split into two probes that will travel in different directions.
“What this lets you do is look at the space environment around Mercury from two different directions at exactly the same time,” US planetary scientist Nancy Chabot told National Public Radio.
1. According to text, Mercury is ________.| A．easily accessible | B．well visible | C．rarely explored | D．extremely cold |
| A．To change the orbit. | B．To escape the pull of the sun. |
| C．To accelerate the spacecraft. | D．To resist the high temperature. |
| A．Extreme temperatures will be a challenge. |
| B．We can use gravitational forces to change direction. |
| C．We may get clearer pictures of Mercury’s revolution. |
| D．BepiColombo is likely to land on Mercury in the near future. |
| A．The journey to Mercury. | B．The mystery of Mercury. |
| C．The environment around Mercury. | D．The life on Mercury. |
【推荐2】Hayley Arceneaux managed to live after bone cancer (癌症). So she isn’t afraid of a little space travel. This fall, she will be on SpaceX’s first private flight to circle Earth. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital chose Arceneaux for the honor (荣誉). She was a patient before she got a job at St. Jude last spring. Arceneaux will join three other people on the flight. She will be the medical officer. At 29 years old, she will be the youngest American to go into space. Arceneaux will also be the first person in space with an artificial (人造的) body part. When she was 10, Arceneaux was given an artificial knee at St. Jude.
The SpaceX flight will circle Earth. It will last two to four days. Billionaire Jared Isaacman paid for the flight. He raised money for St. Jude, which researches childhood cancers. Isaacman asked St. Jude to pick one person. Without telling its workers, leaders at the center chose from a group of workers who were also former patients.
When Arceneaux was home in Tennessee, the call came out of the blue. Her answer was “Yes! Yes! Please!” .But she also checked with her family members. Her brother and sister-in-law work in the space industry. They told her space travel is safe.
Arceneaux is a life long space fan. She is also a risk-taker.
“My fight against cancer really prepared me for space travel,” she said. “It made me strong.” .She can’t wait to show kids with cancer that “the sky is not the limit (界限) anymore.”. She thinks it will “mean so much to these kids to see a former cancer patient in space. ”.
Isaacman, 38, is also a risk-taker. He will lead the spaceflight.
He set out to raise $200 million for St. Jude. He said he would provide 50% of the money.
“It’s not all ... about getting people excited to travel in space someday,” Isaacman said. “It’s also ... about an encouraging message of what we can achieve here on Earth.”
1. What did St.Jude offer to Arceneaux?| A．A chance to travel in space. | B．Free medical treatment. |
| C．A round-the-world trip. | D．An artificial arm. |
| A．Proud. | B．Angry. | C．Upset | D．Excited. |
| A．It would be supported by her family. |
| B．It would encourage kids with cancer. |
| C．It would be bad for her health. |
| D．It would cost a lot of money. |
| A．Adventurous and caring. | B．Friendly and hopeful. |
| C．Helpful and strict. | D．Honest and kind. |
【推荐3】The moon's permanently shadowed areas, nearly 384,000 kilometers away from home, are the closest water source outside the earth. The craters have been dark since billions of years ago. But now with student-developed technologies, more about them can be discovered.
Through the competitive Breakthrough, Innovative and Came-changing(BIG) Idea Challenge and the Space Grant project, NASA has awarded nearly $1 million to eight university teams. They will build sample lunar payloads and demonstrate innovative ways to study the moon's darkest areas.
“It's an exciting time for NASA and students across the country,” said Drew J. Hope, Program Manager of Game Changing Development program. “Thanks to our partnership with the Office of STEM Engagement, this is the most money NASA has awarded in a student challenge directly connected to Artemis.”
The chosen teams will work out ways to gather data in and around the craters, generate wireless power for future infrastructure, and enable autonomous mobility even in the most extreme environments, The research results could benefit NASA's Artemis program and be used to study the moon ahead of a human landing in 2024 or help establish a sustained presence by 2028. Each team will receive different amounts of grants, based on the concept and budget they propose. They will develop and test the technologies in simulated environments with the awards during the following 10 months, showing they are prepared for a possible lunar mission as early as 2023. Then in November 2020, a panel of NASA and industry experts will examine the team's research and development results at a face-to-face design review.
“One of the most exciting things about this challenge is that several of the concepts, if proven to be viable as a result of these awards, could eventually be integrated and operated together on the surface of the moon, “according to Chad Rowe, Acting Manager of Space Grant Project. “These students are part of the Artemis generation and they are helping fulfill NASA's mission needs today, while developing relevant hands-on experience that will prepare them for aerospace careers after graduation.”
1. What can we know from Paragraph 1?| A．The moon can't serve as a water source for us. |
| B．Some students are working in NASA. |
| C．The moon is the only water source outside the earth. |
| D．We can explore more about the moon. |
| A．Because they stood out in a challenge and a project. |
| B．Because they demonstrated technologies to study the moon. |
| C．Because they explored the mystery of space. |
| D．Because they challenged NASA's Artemis program. |
| A．The way to create WIFI on the moon for future use. |
| B．The way to ensure autonomous mobility can be used in space. |
| C．The way to examine the research and results face-to-face. |
| D．The way to collect information and statistics of the moon. |
| A．They can land on the moon. |
| B．They can get money while doing the job. |
| C．They can gain experience for their future careers. |
| D．They can work in NASA after graduation. |
【推荐1】Of the many memorable things about Stephen Hawking, perhaps the most memorable of all was his conversation. The disease that confined him to a wheelchair also stopped him talking, so instead a computer produced what became a world-famous voice.
It was, though, a laborious process. Hawking had to move a muscle in his cheek to control a computer that helped him build up sentences, word by word, struggling to produce about ten words a minute. A better way to communicate would be to read the brain of a paralyzed (瘫痪的) person directly and then translate those readings into speech. And a study published in Nature this week, by Edward Chang, a neurosurgeon at the University of California, San Francisco, describes just such a technique. Speaking requires the precise control of almost 100 muscles in the lips, jaw, tongue and throat to produce the characteristic breaths and sounds that make up sentences. By measuring the brain signals that control these throat muscles, Dr Chang has been able to use a computer to produce speech accurately.
The volunteers for Dr Chang’s study were five people with epilepsy (癫痫) who had electrodes (电极) put into their brains as part of their treatment. He and his colleagues used these electrodes to record the volunteers’ brain activity while those volunteers spoke several hundred sentences out loud. Specifically, the researchers tracked activity in parts of the brain responsible for controlling the muscles of the throat.
To transform those signals into speech they did two things. First, they trained a computer program to recognize what the signals meant. They did this by feeding the program with output from the electrodes and with representations of the shapes the throat adopts when speaking the test sentences — data known from decades of study of voices. Then, when the program had learned the relevant associations, they used it to translate electrode signals into throat movements, and thus into sound.
Restoring speech is a more complex task than moving bodies — but sufficiently similar in principle to give hope to those now in a position similar to that once endured by the late Dr Hawking.
1. What is the problem of the traditional method for the speechless to produce sentences?| A．It is incredible. | B．It is time-consuming. |
| C．It is impractical. | D．It is unrecognizable. |
| A．By learning representation of the test sentences. |
| B．By translating electrode signals into sound directly. |
| C．By feeding the program with output from the electrodes. |
| D．By integrating brain signals, throat movement, and sound. |
| A．Approving. | B．Doubtful. | C．Unclear. | D．Dismissive. |
| A．How to produce artificial speech. | B．How to interpret brain signals. |
| C．How to give voice to the speechless. | D．How to ease human conversation. |
Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina have been working on creating and manufacturing living tissue since 2003．This process is called biofabrication (生物制造) . It requires special printing equipment and a special kind of ink.
Traditional printers require ink to produce an image or design on a piece of paper. For their three-D printer, the South Carolina researchers prepare complex nutritious solutions they call bio-inks. Bio-inks are made of proteins and glucose (葡萄糖) , which normally provides energy for most cells of the body. The researchers also add living cells taken from the animal that will receive the new, printed tissue. The bio-inks are then added to a device that researchers call the Palmetto bio-printer.
Sarah Grace Dennis is one of the researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina. She says new technology, like the Palmetto bio-printer, is a great help to the biofabrication process.
The bio-inks are placed in three dispensers (分配器) , containers, inside the printer. Lasers control both the position of the printing surface and the places where the bio-ink is released.
Michael Yost is a leader of the research team. He says the printing process is fully automated— machine-operated. He says that the Palmetto bio-printer makes it possible to create complex tissue types.
The researchers say bio-printing is still experimental. But they hope in a few years they may be able to print tissue to replace damaged human organs.
But there are still some problems which need to be solved. Some scientists worry about how to get blood to the replacement tissue. The flow of blood is important to keep the printed tissue alive.
Michael Yost hopes that more people will believe in the benefits of biofabrication.
“Tissue biofabrication is a reality, and it is a reality now, and if you come here and you get to see it. You will get to see it. You can’t touch it, but you will see it and think this is real. And this is really human.”
1. What can we know about the bio-inks?
| A．They are the necessities of bio-printing. |
| B．They only contain proteins and glucose. |
| C．They can be placed in the traditional printers. |
| D．They are available in our local drugstores. |
| A．Researchers can’t find enough living cells of animals to make the bio-inks. |
| B．The price of the bio-printer is too high and most people can’t afford it. |
| C．Scientists have some difficulty in getting the blood to the replacement tissue. |
| D．People are worried about the safety of the biofabrication process. |
| A．the Palmetto bio-printer can workwithout power |
| B．the Palmetto bio-printer has been used to treat the patients |
| C．the Palmetto bio-printer can only be found in the United States |
| D．the Palmetto bio-printer will have a bright future in medical use |
| A．the three-D printer and its working principles |
| B．the bio-inks and their use in bio-printing |
| C．the spread use of the bio-printer in the USA |
| D．the growing demand for biofabrication |
【推荐3】Humans have been keeping animals as pets for tens of thousands of years, but Dr Jean-Loup Rault, an animal scientist at the University of Melbourne in Australia, believes new companions are coming: robot pets.
“Technology is moving very fast,” Rault told ABC News, “The Tamagotchi in the early 1990s was really the first robotic pet, and now Sony and other big companies have improved them a lot.”
This may not sit well with pet lovers. After all, who would choose a plastic toy over a lovely puppy? But Rault argues that the robotic kind has a lot going for it: “You don’t have to feed it, you don’t have to walk it, it won’t make a mess in your house, and you can go on a holiday without feeling guilty.” The technology also benefits those who are allergic to pets, short on space, or fearful of real animals.
It’s not clear whether robot pets can replace real ones. But studies do suggest that we can bond with these smart machines. People give their cars names and kids give their toy animals life stories. It’s the same with robots. When Sony stopped its repair service for its robot dog Aibo in March 2014, owners in Japan held funerals.
As an animal welfare researcher, Rault is concerned about how robotic pets could affect our attitudes towards live animals. “If we become used to a robotic companion that doesn’t need food, water or exercises, perhaps it will change how humans care about other living beings,” he said.
So are dogs and cats a thing of the past, as Rault predicts? For those who grew up with living and breathing pets, the mechanical kind might not do. But for our next generation who are in constant touch with smart technology, a future in which lovely pets needn’t have a heartbeat might not be a far-fetched dream.
1. What does the underlined phrase “sit well with” means?| A．be refused by | B．be beneficial to |
| C．make a difference to | D．receive support from |
a. They are plastic and feel smooth.
b. Owners needn’t worry about them when going out.
c. They can help cure allergies(过敏).
d. They save space and costs.
| A．ab | B．bc |
| C．bd | D．cd |
| A．Sony is the first company to produce robot pets Aibo. |
| B．People can develop strong bond(联系、关系) with their robot pets. |
| C．Rault thinks robot pets still have a long way to go. |
| D．Robot toys may help people care more about living beings. |
| A．the advantages of robot toys | B．the popularity of robot pets |
| C．living pets are dying out. | D．robot pets are coming. |
【推荐1】A robot created by Washington State University (WSU) scientists could help elderly people with dementia and other limitations live independently in their own homes.
The Robot Activity Support System, or RAS, uses sensors (传感器) equipped in a WSU smart home to determine where its residents are, what they are doing and when they need assistance with daily activities. It navigates (定位) through rooms and around obstacles to find people on its own, provides video instruction on how to do simple tasks and can even lead its owners to objects like their medication or a snack in the kitchen.
“RAS combines the convenience of a mobile robot with the activity detection technology of a WSU smart home to provide assistance in the moment, as the need for help is detected,” said Bryan Minor, a postdoctoral researcher in the WSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Currently, about 50 percent adults over the age of 85 need assistance with everyday activities such as preparing meals and taking medication and the annual cost for this assistance in the US is nearby $2 trillion. With the number of adults over 85 expected to triple by 2050, researchers hope that technologies like RAS and the WSU smart home will relieve some of the financial pressure on the healthcare system by making it easier for older adults to live alone.
RAS is the first robot researchers have tried to apply to their smart home environment. They recently published a study in the journal Cognitive Systems Research that shown how RAS could make life easier for older adults struggling to live independently.
“While we are still in an early stage of development, our initial results with RAS have been promising,” Minor said. “The next step in the research will be to test RAS’s performance with a group of older adults to get a better data of what video reminders and other performances they have regarding the robot.”
1. What plays a key role in RAS serving the elderly?| A．Sensors | B．Videos. | C．Signal lights | D．Head size |
| A．It is the first robot used in daily life. | B．Its function remains to be tested. |
| C．It can locate people and do any task. | D．It can cook for owners on its own. |
| A．Doubtful | B．Negative | C．Optimistic | D．Uncertain |
| A．Elderly People Leave the Nursing Home. |
| B．Smart Home Tests First Elder Care Robot |
| C．RAS, the First Robot to Make Home Smart. |
| D．Older Adults Have Benefited from RAS a Lot. |
【推荐2】Plant-based leathers have the potential to revolutionize the fashion industry. Now, MycoWorks, a California based biotech company, has created a new eco-friendly, vegetal leather derived from mushrooms. The leather turns mycelium (菌丝体)—threads from the root structure of mushrooms—into a material that imitates the look and feel of an animal-based leather.
“It’s the first time that a company has been able to produce a vegetal product which is matching or even exceeding the quality and durability of a natural one. It’s a super achievement,” Patrick Thomas, former Hermés CEO and a member of MycoWorks board of directors, said in a statement.
MycoWorks creates this special material by using engineered mycelium cells. As the cells grow into 3D structures, they become densely intertwined (交织的), eventually forming a tough material, called Fine Mycelium, which has the strength, durability and performance of the traditional leather. The result differs from other vegetal leathers made with mushrooms. Most mushroom leathers are made from compressed solid foam that mycelium forms naturally, but without engineering, they lack the same look and feel as an animal-based leather.
Fine Mycelium can grow in trays (托盘). These trays can be designed to fit a designer’s exact specifications, avoiding any waste. After Fine Mycelium is harvested, it is tanned (鞣色) and finished to look and feel like an animal leather.
Last year, luxury fashion brand Hermés debuted their Victoria bag, which featured MycoWork’s Fine Mycelium material. Other companies, including Adidas with their Mylo-made Stan Smith shoes and Lululemon with their mushroom-based yoga products, have also jumped on the eco-friendly trend.
The use of plant-based leathers comes during a time when scientists and innovators are trying to come up with solutions for the climate crisis and animal agriculture. Environmentally, manufacturing animal-based leathers creates havoc because of deforestation and methane emissions connected to the animals raised for leathers.
However, some experts criticize the new mushroom-based leather because it is currently only available as a rare item. For the material to be a truly sustainable option and make a major impact, it would need to be more accessible. They question whether the company can provide designers with enough material to create their products.
1. What is special about MycoWorks’ new leather?| A．It is the first to be made from mycelium. |
| B．It is an eco-friendly and vegetal produce. |
| C．It is the first-ever mushroom-based leather. |
| D．It is comparable with the animal-based leather. |
| A．MycoWorks has been partly financed by Hermés. |
| B．MycoWorks’ new leather has made a high fashion debut. |
| C．Trays are needed when designers deal with Fine Mycelium. |
| D．3D technology is used when MycoWorks creates its new leather. |
| A．Chaos. | B．Harmony. |
| C．Evolution. | D．Fortune. |
| A．The price of the new leather. | B．The supply of the new leather. |
| C．The quality of the new leather. | D．The durability of the new leather. |
【推荐3】It’s not often an athlete receives a personal best and then leaves the track with a sense of disappointment.But after Karsten Warholm ran the second-fastest 400m hurdles (跨栏) in history earlier this year, the man couldn’t help but think what could have been.
The 24-year-old dragged his trailing (落后) leg on the final hurdle in Stockholm in August to finish in a world-leading 46.87 seconds—0.09 seconds shy of Kevin Young’s world record, a mark he has moved ever closer to throughout his career.Young’s world record, set at the Barcelona Olympics, has stood for 28 years, the longest-standing record in men’s track running.
“Being really happy and really disappointed at the same time—it’s a strange feeling,” Warholm says as he reflects on his season.“I was really, really happy of course with the race in itself.But stumbling (绊倒) into the last hurdle and just looking at the time, knowing that most likely I spoiled my chance of a world record right there.I think I’ve never felt that way before.”
Young recently said he feels it’s “about time” his record is broken, and a glance at the all-time list suggests he might not have to wait much longer.Warholm has run four of the 10 fastest times in the event’s history, while his two closest competitors, Rai Benjamin and Abderrahmane Samba, make up the only other athletes to ever run under 47 seconds.
Between those three, the race for the world record is very much on.“This is going to be really, really tough competition,” says Warholm, who took the world title last year.“I think in 400m hurdles we are in for a real treat because everybody wants this right now.I think it’s going to be like the moon race between the United States and Russia – it’s going to be crazy.”
It will take more big leaps than small steps to win in hurdles’ version of the Space Race, but as with any contest—athletic or cosmic (宇宙的)—it is competition that helps boost progress.“It’s really important to have competition, somebody pushing you and somebody keeping you on your toes, I really like that,” Warholm adds.“I’m thankful for my competitors – even though I want to beat them, of course.”
1. What can be inferred form paragraph 2?| A．Warholm felt too shy to meet Kevin Young. |
| B．Kevin set a world record of 46.87 seconds in hurdling. |
| C．Warholm failed the race totally because of his injured leg. |
| D．Warholm’s race fell 0.09 seconds short of Kevin’s record. |
| A．Having mixed feelings is usual for athletes. |
| B．Being second in the race made him cheerful. |
| C．The race made him happy but not setting the record discouraged him. |
| D．The race strengthened his determination to outperform himself and others. |
| A．To show the competition was very tough. |
| B．To show their great achievement. |
| C．To show people’s admiration to them. |
| D．To show nobody could do better than them. |
| A．competition and progress cannot coexist. |
| B．the competition made athletes do mad things |
| C．athletes need to sacrifice everything to win the race |
| D．the hurdle race is as competitive as the moon race |
