3 . People are always living with technology nowadays. Here comes a smart home, which is controlled by the touch of a button.     1     This acts like a remote control to activate household systems and monitor inside temperatures. If done successfully, a smart home system will be integrated so seamlessly that a household will appear to run itself.

Home automation is designed to introduce efficiency to a home.     2     An efficient smart home uses sensors to prevent over watering of outdoor gardens and control room temperatures, all of which can reduce expenses. In addition to cost savings, home automation often provides a sense of security to homeowners.

Families with children or elderly adults in the home may be reassured by some safeguards in smart home security, like fire alarms that alert the appropriate agencies in the event of a problem. Lighting activation runs on timers, which can be a life saver if an oven is left on when someone leaves the home.     3    

Home automation is not just for safety, however.     4     With a centralized control unit, a person does not have to leave the couch to turn down the blinds or even order groceries, which can be automated.

    5     Such a home becomes dependent on technology for routine tasks. If something goes wrong with the central automation unit, it is not just one appliance at risk as malfunctions can disrupt systems that are vital to running a home. As a result, for all people, a home can become a place of technical faults that repeatedly require repair.

The audience     1     (attract) by 100-year-old Florence Chia-ying Yeh, a famous Chinese poetry scholar, showing at Nankai University on October 15, 2023 during an international symposium (研讨会) on teaching Chinese poetry. She delivered a lecture on Chinese poetry and shared her reasons for making     2     decision to live in Tianjin’s Nankai District.

When Yeh concluded her speech, the audience stood up, applauding her for her tireless efforts     3     (promote) Chinese poetry around the world. “I have devoted myself to teaching and sincerely hope to transmit (传递) the beauty of both the logic and emotion     4     (find) in ancient poetry to the younger generation,” Yeh said. She explained that after teaching in varieties of places outside the Chinese mainland, she     5     (eventual) chose to settle in Nankai University in the 1980s.

During the last three years, Yeh has taught Chinese poetry on social media platforms,     6     (win) widespread appreciation for her dedication. On September 5, 2023, a rebroadcast of one of Yeh’s lectures on Nankai University’s account on a social media platform, was watched by     7     (million) of people.

For 80 years, Yeh has been engaged     8     educating the younger generation about ancient Chinese poetry. She has developed a unique set of teaching methods and concepts     9     are still contributing to China’s     10     (culture) development in the current wave of the wider spreading of Chinese culture.

9 . Imagine a flying dragon using water to put out a fire. Thanks to a team of researchers, this new kind of “beast” may soon join firefighter teams around the world.

The blueprint of this new and different firefighter robot, called the Dragon Firefighter, has been published in Frontiers in Robotics and AI. And as it has been published as Open Science, roboticists around the world may freely use the plans to build their own Dragon Firefighters, for the benefit of all. “We here present the first type of a four-meter-long, remotely controllable flying fire hose (消防水管) robot, engineered to safely and efficiently put out fires in buildings by directly approaching the fire sources,” says Yuichi Ambe, an assistant professor at Osaka University.

The Dragon Firefighter’s fire hose is driven upward by eight controllable jets of water from its center and head. The fire hose can change shape and move towards flames, operated by a control unit in a wheeled cart (手推车) behind. The cart is connected through a supply tube to a fire truck with a water reservoir of 14,000 liters. The fire hose’s tip contains an imaging camera, which helps to find the location of the fire.

The Dragon Firefighter successfully put out the ceremonial flame at the opening ceremony of the World Robot Summit 2020 (WRS2020), consisting of fireballs lit by another robot, at a distance of four meters. Besides detailing its design, the present study also discusses lessons learned during this first demonstration of the Dragon Firefighter’s abilities, as well as explaining further improvements made since.

Other improvements detailed in the study include better waterproofing, a nozzle (喷嘴) unit capable of handling a wider range of net forces and an improved mechanism for channeling water flow. But further developments are in the pipeline.

“We estimate that it’ll take about 10 more years to use our robot in real-world firefighting scenes,” says Ambe. “It’s worth the effort. Despite some advancements, we’re not satisfied. The primary challenge will be to extend its reach to beyond 10 meters. Developing effective firefighting strategies tailored to this robot’s unique capabilities will also be a critical aspect of further development. But we’ll surely make it.”