2 . It’s not new for labs to use robots. But earlier robots usually stayed in one place.

The UL robot, which scientists at the University of Liverpool (UL) have developed, is the opposite of that. The 1.75-meter robot is similar in size to a human. Though it weighs much more than most people, it’s able to easily move about in the same sort of space as humans do.

It uses a special laser system called LIDAR to guide itself—even in the dark. Once it’s close to a work station, it can move into a more exact position through its touch sensors. With one long arm which can turn in almost any direction, the robot is able to use several different kinds of lab equipment to run its own experiments. Some of the equipment has been changed slightly to make it easier for the robot, but basically and most impressively, it’s the same equipment a human would use. The robot was built and programmed by Benjamin Burger, a PhD student at the university, who says it took a lot of effort to program the robot so that it can do things without making mistakes.

Over the next 8 days, the robot ran 688 experiments, always choosing its next experiment based on the results of the last one.

Andrew Cooper, who led the program says, “The robot ran for 172 hours, stopping for only a couple of hours each day to recharge its batteries. To do the same amount of work would have taken a human several months. It isn’t cheap—it cost around $125,000 and took years to program. But the scientists compare that to the cost of other laboratory equipment which they say can also be quite expensive. The fact that the robot can be used for many different purposes is a huge advantage. It is meant to help scientists, rather than replace them, and it frees up time for the human researchers to think creatively.”

3 . When most high school students complain about having to wake up extra early，they're usually referring to a swim practice before class or the last minute study before a test. But that was never the case for Corey Patrick，who woke up at 4：30 every morning last year in order to arrive on time at Tarrant High School in Alabama.

Patrick had attended Tarrant City Schools since his fourth grade，but things got difficult when his family moved to a town 14 miles away. Even though his family didn't have any forms of transportation，Patrick didn't want to miss out on his senior year with friends，so he woke up at 4：30 every morning in order to make it to a 5：41 a．m.bus that would help him get to Tarrant on time.And just as he had done every other school day of the year，Patrick got up one morning to start the journey from his home to his high school; the only obvious difference that morning was that he was wearing his graduation gown (毕业礼服)，which made that day's bus driver，DeJuanna Beasley, take some photos of him. She then shared them online with these words，“You tell me this isn't determination.He got on my bus to go to his graduation，and no one was with him.Sometimes it's all in what you want out of life.I was so proud of this young man.”

That was soon shared by many people online，and it caught the attention of radio host Rickey Smiley，who surprised Patrick by giving him a car later. Smiley confirmed that he would make sure that Patrick received help with getting his driver's license. A GoFundMe was also created for Patrick，which has raised over $20,000. And Patrick has got a scholarship (奖学金) to Jacksonville University，where he plans to study computer science.

4 . Devon Gallagher, a college graduate from Philadelphia, wants the world to know exactly where she’s been while she’s on her worldwide vacation in a special way. The traveler, who was born with a bone disease, had her right leg amputated (截肢) at the age of four. Although the amputation caused inconvenience for Gallagher early on, she now sees it as nothing short of inspiration for living her best life.

To spread that message. Gallagher has gone to social media, where she shares photos of her travels across the world, but instead of simply using a geo-tag(地理位置标签), she writes her location on her artificial leg before taking a picture.

Now she has been taking pictures across the Continent, which show her cycling over the canal in Amsterdam relaxing on a wall overlooking the city of Barcelona, posing with a waffle in Brussels, taking in the beautiful Parthenon temple in Athens and enjoying a river ride in Budapest, all with the well-known locations written on her artificial leg.

“I get a new leg every two years and I can choose the design on it. One day I had a sudden thought to get a chalk-board,” Gallagher said. “My mum and grandmother didn’t like the idea, but my friends thought it was great and told me to go for it, so I did.”

Gallagher said people often stare when she’s writing on her leg, but once she shares the photos, she receives only positive feedback(反馈), “My leg hasn’t stopped me from doing anything I’ve wanted to do,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s my determination to prove to myself that I can do it, anyway, I’ve been able to keep up with people at my age and lead a pretty great life.”

Gallagher shows us that you should never let anything stand in the way of your dreams. And if life gives you an artificial leg, make art.