Robert Ballard was born in 1942. From an early age, he loved the sea. Ballard grew up in Southern California. He spent his free time at the beach near his home. He enjoyed fishing and swimming. He even learned to dive.

When Ballard wasn’t at the ocean, he loved reading about it. At age 10, he read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a book which describes the undersea adventures of Captain Nemo. Ballard decided he wanted to be like Captain Nemo when he grew up. His parents helped him follow his dream.

Ballard was a hardworking student. He spent many years learning all he could about the ocean. By the age of 28, he was an expert. In 1970, he took a job as a scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts. There he studied underwater mountain of the Atlantic Ocean. He came up with ways to predict volcanoes (火山) under the oceans. Working with other scientists, Ballard also found previously (以前) unknown sea animals. These animals lived far below the ocean’s surface, where scientists had believed no animals could live.

By the 1980s, Ballard’s interests changed. He developed unmanned vehicles to explore the ocean bottom. His first find, the well-known ship Titanic, made Ballard famous. He was not happy with just one big find, however. He looked for and found other well-known ships. One was the German battleship Bismarck. Another was the U. S. S. Yorktown, an aircraft carrier(航空母舰) that sank during World War Ⅱ.

Today Robert Ballard is still an underwater explorer. He also heads an organization that encourages students to learn about science. Ballard hopes that some of the students will follow in his footsteps. After all, the world’s huge oceans are mostly unknown. Who knows what remains to be discovered under the sea?

Because of a lack of trained lifeguards to watch over swimming pools, a team of scientists from Germany has developed an underwater robot to help lifeguards in rescuing (救援) swimmers in emergencies.

According to scientists, there are some typical postures that you can use to recognize when someone is in danger. The robot has been tested in a variety of settings including indoor pools and open water. If swimmers’ movements are consistent with drowning (溺亡), the information of the drowning person will be sent out, which is stored in a docking station on the pool floor, and it will be released by a signal from the monitoring cameras. Once the robot receives the signal and reaches its destination, it will carry the endangered person to the surface. What’s more, the robot is designed with a set of moving parts to keep the lifeless person from sliding down as the robot surfaces.

When the robot is tested at lakes and other outdoor settings, drones (无人机) took on the task of the monitoring cameras. For rescues in swimming lakes where the visibility is limited, the underwater vehicle must be equipped with acoustic sensors (声音传感器). Sound wave echoes can be used to determine people’s positions so precisely that the robot can autonomously head for the target person and pick them up. When the robot is informed of an emergency (紧急情况), a signal will warn the team immediately.

“The current system is 90 centimeters long, 50 centimeters high, and 50 centimeters wide and looks like an underwater submersible that might be used for exploring ship wrecks. The central innovation (创新)of the system is the side folding wings that fix lifeless people on a stretcher without injuring them. To bring them to the surface of the water, balloons are filled with a total of 15 to 20 kilos of buoyancy (浮力).

The research team are still doing research on the robot, aiming to make future versions smaller, lighter and less expensive. At present, a patent has already been filed for the aquatic robot. In modified versions, it can take on further tasks—such as offshore and dam wall (坝墙)inspections or being used to monitor the health of fish in fish farms.

Books offer a fantastic escape from the real world when reality comes to be a little too hard to handle. Children seem to agree on this point, especially during the lockdown due to the pandemic (疫情). A new report on the reading habits of more than 1 million children found that they read longer books, especially during school closures.

The What Kids Are Reading Report by Renaissance Learning found that 1,135,860 UK and Irish students read 23,660,983 books, according to the BBC. The report also found that these same children read more during the lockdown, deciding to read more challenging books.

“During the lockdown overall, pupils were tending to read longer books of greater difficulty and with greater comprehension,” said University of Dundee professor Keith Topping, the author of the report.” Having more time to read gave children the chance to immerse (使沉浸) themselves in literature. Schools should encourage more reading time now that they are open again.”

So what books have children been reading while staying at home? One in seven children turned to a book they had read before. Obviously, many popular books and novels became more popular than ever. For example, J. K. Rowling’s books came up a staggering (惊人的) 36 times, as more children picked up the Harry Potter series.

Apart from popular books, 46 percent of children started to read new books. Jill Murphy, author of The Worst Witch and the Large Family picture books, was a new entrant (新成员) on this year’s Favourite Books lists too .

New data from the National Literacy Trust (NLT) found that 60 percent of children said reading made them feel better during the lockdown, while 32 percent said reading helped them feel better about not seeing friends or family, according to The Guardian.

“Half of the children agreed that reading improved their psychological wellbeing (幸福) and encouraged them to dream about the future, offering a source of calm, escapism (逃避现实) and relaxation,” Christina Clark from the NLT told the BBC.

“Having more time to read and the increased autonomy (自主权) of book choice, along with the opportunity to read for its own interest,” Clark added, “were key reasons why more young people are enjoying being immersed in stories”.