The design theory behind a pair of tiny robots may one day find its way into environmental monitoring, as well as search and-rescue tasks. Modeled after a water strider (水黾), an insect, the two robots each weigh in at 8 and 55 milligrams, and may mark the smallest, lightest, and fastest fully functional micro-robots in the world, according to Washington State University (WSU).
Developed by a team of WSU researchers, the robots’ tininess largely relies on a material known as a shape memory alloy (合金). Although shape memory alloys change form when heated, they can “remember” their original shapes and return to them after cooling. Because of this, the two micro-robots do not require standard motors, and they use light and small ones instead of bulky moving parts.
Both the robots’ motors are each made up of two shape memory alloys, allowing them to move their fins as fast as 40 times a second while also lifting over 150 times their weight. “They’re very technologically sound. The development of the very lightweight robots opens up new possibilities in micro-robotics,” said Conor Trygstad, a material engineering PhD student and study lead author. “Although the robots are impressive when compared to other robots, the pair still fall behind their biological relatives’,” Trygstad said. They can currently move at a speed of about six millimeters a second; a water strider, by comparison, speeds along at about a meter per second. For now, the robots also require wired (连线的) power sources, thus seriously preventing any real-world applications for the moment.
Going forward, however, the team plans to copy other small insect species while also creating a new water strider robot which can move at a higher speed. Depending on using small batteries could also greatly increase the robots’ areas of use, If the breakthrough designs continue improving, similar micro-robots could one day be employed to monitor hard-to-reachor dangerous environments.
1. What is the inspiration for the two robots?| A．A special monitor. | B．The lightest micro robot. |
| C．An insect species. | D．A search-and rescue task |
| A．Cheap. | B．Huge. | C．Cool | D．Fast. |
| A．Both robots can identify sound. | B．Both robots need wireless power sources. |
| C．Both robots work better than water striders. | D．Both robots have weaknesses besides strengths. |
| A．Robots Are Saving Environment | B．Shape Memory Alloys Are The Key |
| C．Human Beings Learn From Animals | D．Two Micro robots Can Play A Big Part |
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【推荐1】It’s raining microchips. One day, they could float gently through the air while gathering environmental data, land on the ground and then disappear when their work is done. That’s the future a team of engineers see for what they’re calling “microflier”, a tiny winged microchip with designs inspired by nature.
The accomplishment belongs to a team of scientists at the Northwestern University in Illinois, who developed the microflier, a flying microchip that spins like a helicopter. It is the size of a grain of sand but with small wings and an aerodynamic design that allows it to fall in a controlled manner thanks to its barely visible propellers. The engineers used nature’s “manual” to get their inspiration for the microflier, analyzing the behavior of various types of wind-spread seeds.
How does that work? Instead of using a motor or engine, the tiny flying microchip uses the power of the wind to catch a flight, spinning through the ground at low speed. It is a stable flight, and the microflier can stay in the air for a long time, which is why it could prove to be useful for a variety of applications.
While nature has designed seeds with very sophisticated aerodynamics, the Northwestern team claims its microflier is better, as it is even smaller and its structure allows it to fall with more stable paths and at slower speeds than equivalent seeds from plants or trees.
The engineers built the flying structure to be used for purposes such as population monitoring, pollution monitoring, disease tracking and so on. And while this might look like a simple, limited device right now, researchers see its potential for becoming a highly functional electronic device. The microflier can be equipped with really sophisticated technology, such as tiny sensors, antennas for wireless communication, or embedded memory for data storage.
1. What gave scientists the inspiration for the microflier?| A．Helicopters. | B．Flying birds. | C．Falling seeds. | D．Raindrops. |
| A．By using electricity. | B．By using wind power. |
| C．By using an engine. | D．By using solar energy. |
| A．It produces less noise. | B．It carries more weight. |
| C．It can fly in any direction. | D．It can stay longer in the air. |
| A．Microflier’s working principle. | B．Microflier’s development process. |
| C．Microflier’s potential applications. | D．Microflier’s accomplished tasks. |
【推荐2】Kelydra Welcker has always loved the Ohio River, which flows by her hometown, Parkersburg. With a father who is a chemist and a mother who is a biologist, it seemed natural for Kelydra to learn how the world worked by doing scientific experiments.
At the age of six, Kelydra joined the Ohio River Cleanup campaign and came to realize how polluted the river was, which led her to set up her own lab later and study the chemicals in the river water. Kelydra was 15 when news broke about a chemical called C8, also known as APFO, in her town’s water supply that might cause cancer. She wondered what she could do to help.
Through repeated experiments, Kelydra created an inexpensive, reliable test for people in her town to measure the amount of APFO in water that they use at home. However, she didn’t just want to measure the problem—she wanted to solve it, so she continued to work on a way to remove APFO from the water.
Kelydra finally succeeded by using a device called an electrolytic cell (电解池), consisting of a dry cell battery and two electrodes (电极). Where did Kelydra get the high-quality electrodes for her experiment? They were her dad’s car wipers—minus the rubber attachments! Electrically charged, one of the electrodes became a stick that attracted the APFO in the polluted water. Then, Kelydra removed the stick and washed it off.
Using her invention, Kelydra developed a system people could use to treat their household drinking water. The system is being used by people in her community, and she hopes that it will be used more widely.
Kelydra went to college to study chemistry. “I hope to expand my horizons. I’m now looking at another chemical that may cause health problems.” She adds, “Technology helped create our problems and technology can help solve them. I want to be part of that effort.”
1. What can we learn about Kelydra from the first two paragraphs?| A．She had a scientific mind. | B．She enjoyed exploring nature. |
| C．She followed her parents’ path. | D．She wanted to practice medicine. |
| A．Content. | B．Determined. | C．Grateful. | D．Relieved. |
| A．To show the practical challenge. | B．To question Kelydra’s invention. |
| C．To illustrate Kelydra’s creativity. | D．To explain the chemical principles. |
| A．Teach chemistry in school. | B．Create new water treatments. |
| C．Promote the application of chemicals. | D．Address health issues through technology. |
【推荐3】Japan has long been known for both its strong traditions and being on the cutting edge of technology, and this new inn combining the classic Japanese surroundings with high-tech slippers and furniture is a perfect reflection of this.
Nissan Motor Co. developed a system in which slippers park themselves at the entrance of the traditional inn, called “ProPilot Park Ryokan,” waiting for guests to use them upon arrival. When guests have finished using them, the slippers will drive themselves back to their original position. Each slipper features two tiny wheels, a motor, and sensors to drive it across the wooden floor.
The same technology features in Nissan’s all-battery electric Leaf car. High-tech sensors and cameras allow the vehicle to safely back into parking spaces without any input from the driver. Four cameras and 12 sensors assess the vehicle’s surroundings. ProPilot Park handles the accelerator, braking and steering (转向) input when the car is parking. Drivers operate the system with the press of a button, which they must hold down the entire time. Lifting a finger off the button will result in the car stopping immediately.
The inn, located in the resort town of Hakone, about 75 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, is currently most famous for its view of Mount Fuji. However, the new self-driving slippers, released by Nissan in March, is the unique feature of the high-tech inn.
“The self-parking slippers are meant to raise awareness of automated driving technologies, and their potential, non-driving applications,” Nissan spokesman Nick Maxfield said in a statement.
In addition to the slippers, office chairs, floor cushions and traditional low tables in the inn also wheel themselves back into place after use.
1. What is the typical feature of the slippers?| A．They are eco-friendly. | B．They are automatic. |
| C．They are recyclable. | D．They are rechargeable. |
| A．By pressing a button. | B．By using the brake of the car. |
| C．By removing the finger from the button. | D．By handling the accelerator. |
| A．To attract more customers. |
| B．To advertise the Nissan Motor Co. |
| C．To lessen work load of the workers. |
| D．To promote non-driving technologies. |
| A．It uses robots to serve the guests. |
| B．It is famous for its good service. |
| C．It is a combination of tradition and modem. |
| D．It is known for its beautiful decoration. |
【推荐1】Osa is an athletic yet stubborn 62-pound German shepherd(德国牧羊犬). The six-year-old dog has mastered the art of sniffing(嗅) out cancer and is key to a research project that has the potential to change oncology(肿瘤学).
Osa is part of an ambitious effort launched five years ago at the University of Pennsylvania that aims to develop one of the most powerful scent-detection machines in the world: the canine nose. She is able to distinguish between blood samples taken from cancer patients and their healthy peers simply by sniffing them.
In fact,Osa is one of five cancer-detection dogs trained by Annmarie DeAngelo and her co-workers at the university’s Penn Vet Working Dog Center. The most important goal is to develop an “electronic sniffer” that can approach the cancer-sniffing superpowers of Osa and her partners. Osa arrived at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center from a breeder at two months of age. Ever since, she has taken training. The process is demanding,challenging and repeated until the dog has mastered the most essential task of all. Finally, she has succeeded in sniffing out cancer. To transform Osa’s remarkable abilities into an electronic nose, researchers use a similar approach to train the machine.
An electronic nose prototype(雏形)has been built, and it’s successful in sniffing out cancer 90 to 95 per cent of the time. That team has also correctly detected different types of cancer, and is building a cancer-detecting device for the National Institutes of Health. One objective is to be able to distinguish between early- and late-stage cancer.“It would be incredible to identify people at an early stage and really have an impact on saving lives,”says a researcher.“The dogs have been able to detect that. With that ability, a blood test could be sent to a central lab, or ideally performed in a doctor’s office, making some hidden cancers a thing of the past. We expect that the cancer-sniffer device will be complete in a short time.”
1. What can we learn about Osa from the first two paragraphs?| A．She used to be a strong German dog. |
| B．She was hard to deal with in the research. |
| C．She uses her nose to know the presence of cancer. |
| D．She can change the development of the oncology. |
| A．Strict. | B．Complex. | C．Unstable. | D．Endless. |
| A．Blood tests will be more difficult in the future. |
| B．There will be more dogs used for detecting cancer. |
| C．Distinguishing cancers is important in early experiments. |
| D．Hidden cancers may be detected by an electronic nose soon. |
| A．The Results of a Study on Special Dogs |
| B．The Importance of Dogs in Detecting Cancers |
| C．The Approaches to Distinguishing Cancers |
| D．The Problem of Having a Cancer Blood Test |
【推荐2】The ability to regrow or recreate missing body parts sounds more like part of a science fiction story than reality. But researchers are finding evidence that regrowing human body parts may be possible someday in the future with improvements in technology. They imagine using 3D-printing to make a kidney for someone in need of a replacement. They also talk about possibly using bioelectricity(生物电流)to cause cells to build new tissue and organs.
These ideas and others were discussed earlier this month at the World Science Festival in New York City. The presentation was called “Forever Young: The Promise of Human Regeneration.” Scientists talked about the future of regenerative medicine, which combines the body’s ability to heal itself with progress in biomedical engineering.
Dany Spencer Adams is a research professor at Tufts University in Massachusetts. He said that researchers have found that bioelectrical signals(生物电信号)can lead to cellular processes in frog tadpoles. He said such signals may someday start the formation of nerves, muscles and other body parts. “This is the cells themselves using electricity to communicate,” he said. In an experiment, a frog re-grew one of its legs in six months. But scientists first had to make changes in the characteristics of the animal’s cells.
Researchers say they have a lot more work to do before the process can be used on human beings. They have to learn which bioelectric signals can influence the formation of which organs. Adams says “it’s better to regenerate that organ so that you don’t have issues of the immune system attacking, the way we do now with transplants. The hope is that we’ll be able to help the body create a better replacement—really, a perfect replacement, for the person of exactly what they’ve lost.”
Jonathan Butcher is a professor and biomedical engineer at Cornell University in New York. He and other researchers have combined mechanical engineering with developmental biology to create working heart valves from 3D-printed tissue. Children may get the most help from engineered organs or partial organs that can grow as the child does.
1. How did researchers prove that bioelectrical signals can lead to cellular processes?| A．By giving examples. | B．By doing experiments. |
| C．By explaining statistical data. | D．By stating argument. |
| A．To do much more research. |
| B．To do a series of experiments based on their theory. |
| C．To make changes in the characteristics of the animal’s cells. |
| D．To learn which bioelectric signals can influence the formation of which organs. |
| A．Looking for Missing Body Parts. | B．Re-Growing Human Body Parts. |
| C．Improvements in Technology. | D．Progress in Biomedical Engineering. |
| A．A history book. | B．A fiction book. |
| C．A science magazine. | D．An art magazine. |
【推荐3】When emergency workers arrive at an old firehouse in New York City, the way they greet each other is not what you might expect. These first responders say," Ni Hao! " "Ni Hao" means "hello" in Mandarin Chinese.
First responders are the first emergency workers to arrive at a fire, traffic accident or other emergency. Some first responders are fire fighters, while others can be Emergency Medical Technicians.
In Brooklyn, New York, over 20 first responders are studying Mandarin Chinese for about two hours a week. The class is the first of its kind. It is offered by the New York City Fire Department Foundation.
The U. S. Census Bureau recently reported that some New York neighborhoods are made up mostly of immigrants. Some people have predicted that the Chinese community is likely to become New York's largest immigrant group. They think the city will have the largest Chinese community outside of Asia.
The Census Bureau also found that almost 200 languages are spoken in the city. So, knowing different languages is important, especially if you are a first responder.
Lieutenant(中尉,少尉) Steve Lee is president of the Fire Department's Phoenix Society. He says that first responders must be able to communicate quickly and effectively when an emergency happens. He explains that first responders enter neighborhoods and communities to assist regardless of where they are from. Many times first responders do not speak the same language as the people they are called to help. He adds that it is vital, or very important, that first responders are able to communicate with the people calling for help.
Without help from homeowners and others, Lee adds, discovering exactly where a fire is burning can be a real problem. First responders need to ask questions such as "What building? What address? What apartment?" And the most important question," Is there anybody left in the building and where?"
1. Who are first responders according to Paragraph 2?| A．People first learning the disaster. | B．Persons leading the emergency rescue. |
| C．Rescuers first reaching the disaster | D．People first find the disaster. |
| A．To show respect to the Chinese immigrants. |
| B．To learn about Chinese cultures much better. |
| C．To meet the rapid growth of Chinese population. |
| D．To find a better job in Chinese community. |
| A．The place where the fire occurs. | B．The people trapped in the fire. |
| C．The language to communicate. | D．The distance covered to the fire. |
| A．Mandarin Being a Must for Emergency Workers |
| B．New York's Emergency Crews Learning Mandarin |
| C．Language Problem Disturbing First Responders' Work |
| D．Importance of Languages Used in Emergency Rescue |
