【推荐1】Every new parent knows that rocking can calm that uneasy baby when it's time to take a nap. But the benefits of gentle movement may go beyond the baby stage. Because two new studies show that rocking also helps grown-ups, both human and mouse, get a good night's sleep.

What should be no surprise is that movement can calm someone. Think of how many times you've fallen asleep on a train. But can motion really cause a nap, and make for a deeper sleep?

To find out, researchers invited 18 healthy volunteers for a sleepover. “So they came to the lab and slept one time on the motionless, normal bed. And one night where they got rocked.” said Aurore Perrault, a sleep researcher at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. “And what we find is that when compared to a motionless night, a whole night of rocking sleep has a beneficial effect not only on sleep beginning but also on sleep continuity.” Subjects who were rocked also did better on a memory test the next morning than the stiller sleepers.

In the second study, Kompotis, a student at the University of Lausanne, rocked a rack of mice. Whether rocking affects sleep in other species was never before discussed. So the main questions for our study were whether rocking affects sleep in mice and what is the possible system?"

Kompotis placed the mouse cages on a platform that moved from side to side. Though mice were rocked four times faster than their human counterparts-a frequency of one back-and-forth per second, or 1 Hertz, worked best-the results were strikingly similar. During rocking at 1 Hertz, time spent asleep increased, and mice fell asleep twice as fast as at still condition. However, additional studies could allow the researchers to identify a new aim for treating sleep disorders, including insomnia(失眠).

Until then, you might think about adding a little swing to your nighttime routine.

【推荐3】Rats and other animals need to be highly tuned to social signals from others so that can identify friends to cooperate with and enemies to avoid. To find out if this extends to non-living beings, Loleh Quinn at the University of California, San Diego, and her colleagues tested whether rats can detect social signals form robotic rats.

They housed eight adult rats with two types of robotic rat—one social and one asocial (不爱社交的)—for 5 our days. The robotic rats resembled a bigger version of a computer mouse with wheels to move around and colorful markings.

During the experiment, the social robot rat followed the living rats around, played with the same toys, and opened caged doors to let trapped rats escape. Meanwhile, the asocial robot simply moved forwards and backwards and side to side.

Next, the researchers trapped the robots in cages and gave the rats the opportunity to release them by pressing a button. Across 18 trials each, the living rats were 52 percent more likely on average to set the social robot free than the asocial one. This suggests that the rats perceived the social robot as a genuine social being. They may have bonded more with the social robot, because it displayed behaviours like communal (共同的) exploring and playing. “This could lead to the rats better remembering having freed it earlier, and wanting the robot to return the favour when they get trapped,” says Quinn.

The readiness of the rats to befriend the social robot was surprising given its plain design. The finding shows how sensitive rats are to social signals, even when they come from basic robots. Similarly, children tend to treat robots as if they are fellow beings, even when they display simple social signals. “We humans seem to be fascinated by robots, and it turns out other animals are too,” says Wiles.

【推荐1】We don’t know how different our life will be in the future. We can only try to imagine it. At first we think about human relationships. In the year 2050, we will use computers almost every day. We will be making new friends through the Internet even our husbands or wives will be met in this way. It will be much faster and easier for us. On the other hand, our relationships with people won’t be as important as they are today—we will feel a little lonely.

Computers will also help us in many other activities in 2050. For example, they will be used by the children at school to make their learning easier. In addition, there will be much more other machines which will play a similar role as computers, like robots which will do the housework for us.

Spending holidays will also be completely different. Travelling to other planets or to the moon will be available for everyone. Means of transport will, of course, change, too. We will be using solar-powered cars, which will be much more environmentally friendly.

We could expect that the faster technological progress would lead to a more polluted environment. But it isn’t true. We will pay more attention to the environment protection. Scientists will probably find cures for many dangerous diseases, like cancer or AIDS. Therefore, our surroundings as well as our health will be in better condition.

Although we can’t predict the exact changes which will be made in the world, we often think about them. We worry about our and our children’s future; we have expectations, hopes as well as fears. But I think we should be rather sanguine about our future. We should be happy and believe good things will happen.

【推荐2】What will man be like in the future—in 5,000 or even 50,000 years from now？We can only make guesses，of course，but we can be sure that he will be different from what he is today. For man is slowly changing all the time.

Let us take an obvious example. Man，even five hundred years ago，was shorter than he is today. Now，on average，men are about three inches taller. Five hundred years is a relatively short period of time，so we may assume that man will continue to grow taller. Again，in the modern world we use our brains a great deal. Even so，we still make use of only about 20% of the brain's capacity. As time goes on，however，we shall have to use our brains more and more，and eventually we shall need larger ones！This is likely to bring about a physical change to the head，in particular the forehead，will grow larger.

Nowadays our eyes are in constant use. In fact，we use them so much that very often they become weaker and we have to wear glasses. But over a very long period of time it is likely that man's eyes will grow stronger.

On the other hand，we tend to make less use of our arms and legs. These，as a result，are likely to grow weaker. At the same time，however，our fingers will grow more sensitive because they are used a great deal in modern life.

But what about hair？This will probably disappear from the body altogether in course of time because it does not serve a useful purpose any longer. In the future，then，both sexes are likely to be bald.

Perhaps all this gives the impression that future man will not be a very attractive creature to look at！This may well be true. All the same，in spite of all these changes，future man will still have a lot in common with use. He will still be a human being，with thoughts and emotions similar to our own.

【推荐3】The Haleakalā Movement, which has affected the Hawaiian people, involved many Hawaiian activists peacefully protesting(抗议) against the construction of the Daniel K. Solar Telescope atop Haleakalā. The top of Haleakalā is a very sacred piece of land to Hawaiians. The problem is the leveling out of Haleakalā to structurally support the base of the telescope. Hawaiians could not watch their sacred land atop their mountain destroyed.

The goal of the protesters was to stop the movement of the trucks hauling(拖拽)telescope parts to the top of Haleakalā. At each event, protesters would march on the crosswalk in front of the base yard entrance holding signs that read “Aloha „Āina” and “Kūʻē,” meaning Love the Land and Resist respectively. When the trucks started their engines, several protesters lay down in the driveway, with their arms linked together with PVC pipes. Twenty of them were arrested.

I, as a youth of this generation, am a part of those Hawaiians who stood against the construction of the telescope and the destruction of our sacred mountain. I experienced first-hand and through social media what happened at each protest. Each of the protests that I attended took place at the Maui Base yard, however, there were others that took place atop Haleakalā. Most of the protesters marching were of Maui roots, but there were other protesters that came from different islands to show their support for the natives‟ stand against the destruction of our sacred mountain.

Following all that I had experienced these days, I left with the understanding that the youth of our generation have a very important role. Our role is to learn from the mistakes of the present and guide the world down the right path allowing it to grow and prosper. We, as the seeds of the present, must grow to protect the history of the human race, but at the same time prevent ourselves from repeating the actions and decisions that may have once destroyed us in the past. We, the youth, are the key to the prosperity of the future.