2 . All human languages use vowels and consonants to express ideas. Most primates (灵长类) communicate almost using vowel-like calls, but non-human great apes, like chimpanzees, produce consonant-like sounds to varying degrees, This raises the question of where consonants came from, says Adriano Lameira at the University of Warwick. To find it out, he studied existing literature to see how common consonants are among the great apes.

He found that orangutans (猩猩), which spend most of their time in the trees: produce a greater number and variety of consonant sounds than gorillas and chimpanzees living. on the ground. “Orangutans have rich sounds like kiss sounds, scrapes and clicks.” says Lameira. hey typically use these sounds while building nests or commencing with their young.

Lameira thinks that living in the trees may explain that Great apes are experts at processing protected foods. Like nuts, which often requires tools. While living in trees however, orangutans must always use at least one arm to maintain stability. They have therefore developed more complex control of their lips, tongues and jaws, allowing them to use their mouths as a “fifth limb” orangutans can peel oranges just with lips, for example.

This advanced motor skill enables orangutans make consonant-like sounds, argues Lameira. This could mean, that our early ancestors developed consonant sounds while hanging around in the trees, too. “ There’s a growing sense that our dependency on trees was much larger and deeper than we think,” says Lameira.

The link between feeding and sounds doesn’t apply to smaller tree-living primates like monkeys, argues Lameira, because their size and tails make them more stable on branches and they eat differently

“This is an interesting assumption worth testing,” says Chris Petkov at Newcastle University, though he questions some aspects. As humans aren’t tree living, there must be other reasons why consonants remain, which could be tested by characterising consonant-like sounds more systematically across species, he says.

Yours,

Li Hua

4 . If you seek happiness, then you need to know what happiness is for you. I don’t believe there is one universal definition of happiness. Happiness is a very subjective emotion, according to me. Put two people in identical situation: same amount of money, life experiences, etc. and you can be pretty sure that they both wouldn’t feel equally happy or equally sad. I believe this is so because there are two kinds of happiness. There is one kind of happiness, which is kind of universal and then there is the other kind, which is very individual to each one of us. It is this kind of happiness that I find more interesting.

The second kind of happiness that I talk about comes from our expectations out of our lives, which vary from person to person. For example, a person who expects a lot out of his or her life may find that happiness is hard to find. They are constantly in search of these things in life, which always seem to elude (逃避) them. Those things may be money or fame or power or any of the other pursuits (追求) that humans have, but it would be likely that such people are less likely to be happy, if their goals are not met. In most cases, even after their goals are met, they don’t find happiness, because they seek more—new goals, new wish lists, and it’s a seemingly never-ending process for them!

On the other hand, a person who takes life as it comes along and makes the best of each day is more likely to be happy every day. They have no pressure or goals to occupy their minds and they can achieve happiness from the simple pleasures of everyday life, finding love, making time for the family and kids, seeing their kids grow, etc. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have any expectations at all. You should keep those expectations reasonable and manageable.

5 . Scientists say they have developed a system that uses machine learning to predict when and where lightning will strike. Researchers report the system is able to predict lightning strikes up to 30 minutes before they happen within a 30-kilometer area. Lightning is a strong burst of electricity in the atmosphere. Since it carries an extremely powerful electrical charge, it can cause very deadly results. European researchers have estimated that between 6,000 and 24,000 people are killed by lightning worldwide each year. For this reason, climate scientists have long sought to develop methods to predict lightning.

The system tested in the experiments uses a combination of data from weather stations and machine learning methods. The researchers developed a prediction model that was trained to recognize weather conditions that were likely to cause lightning.

The model was created with data collected over a 12-year period from 12 Swiss weather stations in cities and mountain areas. The data, related to four main surface conditions: air pressure, air temperature, relative humidity (湿度) and wind speed, was placed into a unique machine learning algorithm (算法), which compared it to records of lightning strikes. Researchers say the algorithm was then able to learn the conditions under which lightning happens.

The researchers test-ran the system several times. They found that the system made predictions that proved correct almost 80 percent of the time. “It can now be used anywhere,” the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology said in a statement.

The researchers plan to keep developing the technology in partnership with a European effort that aims to create a lightning protection program. The effort is called the European Laser Lightning Rod project. Scientists working on the project are experimenting with a laser technology that could someday control lightning activity, transferring lightning charges from clouds to the ground. They hope that such technology can one day be used as protection against lightning strikes. Possible uses could be at stations, airports or places where large crowds gather.

6 . It was decades ago now, but it’s still one of the most memorable conversations of my life. On a long, slow train heading north, with nothing to do but watch the rain, the man sitting opposite began trying to talk to me. Like most young women who have learned the hard way to be careful of strangers, I was unfriendly. But curiosity took over when he said that he was just bored, and liked talking.

So that’s what we did for hours and hours as the man turned out to be quite talkative. When the train finally pulled in, we didn’t change numbers. However, I still think about it sometimes on long, boring journeys, before getting a phone out and scrolling silently like everyone else. It’s a rare person who can cheerfully break the social rule about not talking to strangers without any ill intention, but life would be more interesting if more of us knew how to do it.

And that’s why I can’t be as cynical as I probably should be about “Tube Chat” campaign launched to encourage Britons to talk to each other. All anyone is being asked to do is to start a conversation they wouldn’t otherwise have had — maybe with a friend from whom they’ve been apart or a neighbor they don’t know.

Obviously, it takes more than a bit of small talk over garden fences to unite strangers together. More people live alone than did so a generation ago, and the rise in freelancing (自由职业) means more of us work alone too. We socialize increasingly through screens, sending texts instead of bothering to call.

It’s true that the “Tube Chat” campaign of a few years back failed in its attempts to make Londoners talk to each other on public transport. But even city people who would normally die rather than make eye contact with strangers still happily gather in large numbers by the Thames for the New Year’s Eve fireworks. They would get a far better view at home on television — it’s not really about the fireworks, but about being part of something communal (公共的).

There’s no guarantee (保证) that this latest campaign to reconnect will succeed wherever others have failed. But if there ever a moment to stop social disbelief it may start a fire to warm a world that sometimes feels cold. Wherever my train friend is now, I hope he’s still talking.

7 . Temperatures in the Norwegian capital regularly drop to -10℃ during winter. _______in the harsh winter without wearing a coat, a boy wrapped his arms around himself on a bus stop bench.

It's a _______ scene, but the actions of the ordinary people who witnessed the _______ of 11-year old Johanne are both joyous and inspiring.

A young woman sitting next to the boy noticed him rubbing his arms. She immediately asked him: “Don't you have a _______?” “No, someone stole it,” he replied. She _______and learned he was on a school trip and was told to meet his teacher at the bus stop. She asked him the name of his school and where he was from as she _______ draped (披上) her own coat around his shoulders.

Later, another woman gave him her scarf and then _______him in her large overcoat. Throughout the day, more and more people _______to give him gloves and even the coats off their backs as they waited for their bus.

_______, Johanne's experience was an experiment by Norwegian charity SOS Children's Villages. Carried out by a ________ camera, it was part of their winter campaign to gather ________ of much-needed coats and blankets to help Syrian children through the winter. Many of the refugees have left their homes ________winter clothing.

“People should care as much about children in Syria as they are ________ about this boy,” Synne Ronning, the information head of SOS Children's Villages Norway, told The Local. She also ________that the child was a volunteer who was never in any danger during the ________.