1 . Activities Information

The Mile High Country Q & Brew

Mile High Station | 6:00-10:00 pm.

Hosted by Tennyson Center for Children, this country music experience will bring Coloradans together to help kids and families have a better life. Enjoy a show by rising country music star Adam Doleac paired with BBQ, drinks and more.

Information and tickets at qandbrew22.givesmart.com.

Monarch Ball Colorado 2022

ISTBANK Center | 6:00-10:00 p.m.

Join us at Butterfly Garden’s yearly party supporting invertebrate (无脊椎动物) protection. Take a magical walk through our Monarch Menagerie full of live monarch butterflies and enjoy a seated dinner, live music, and dancing!

Information and tickets at MonarchBallColorado.org.

Blue Hope Party Colorado

The Seawell Ballroom at the DCPA | 5:30 p.m.

Screen, Care, and Cure (治疗) are the three basics guiding the Colorectal Cancer Alliance’s work and are important to ending colorectal cancer (结直肠癌) in our lifetime. Join the Alliance at the Denver Bash and enjoy dinner, music and exciting games.

Information and tickets at ccalliance.org.

Boulderthon

Boulder, CO | Various start times

Run the Signature Boulder Marathon! Epic (宏大的) finish and After-Party Downtown. Named one of the best new marathons in Colorado. Experience the only course to enjoy wonderful views of the foothills and the first-ever finish line on the Peal Street Mall. Now in 2022: 5k, 10k, and Kids Run! Information and tickets at boulderthon.org.

5 . As we all know, insects can be remarkably agile (灵活的) in flight. This is really hard to build into flying robots, but MIT Assistant Professor Kevin Yufeng Chen has developed an insect-sized drone (无人机) that approaches insects’ agility.

Typically, drones require wide open spaces. “If we look at most drones today, they’re usually quite big,” says Chen. “Most of their applications involve flying outdoors. The question is: Can you create an insect-sized drone that can move around in very crowded and complex spaces?”

According to Chen, he overcame many problems when building the drone. The insect-sized drone requires a fundamentally different construction from a larger one. The large drone is usually powered by a motor, but the motor loses efficiency as you shrink it. So, Chen says, “For an insect-sized drone, you need to look for alternatives.” The principal alternative until now has been employing a small, rigid actuator (执行器) built from new materials. Chen designed a more agile tiny drone using soft actuators instead of hard ones.

Each actuator can beat nearly 500 times per second and weighs just 0.6 gram, approximately the mass of a large bee. It gives the drone insect-like agility. “You can hit it when it’s flying, and it can recover,” says Chen. “It can also turn over in the air.” The drone looks a bit like a tiny cassette tape with wings, though Chen is also working on a new one shaped like a dragonfly.

Chen says his drone can be useful in industry and agriculture. It can perform machinery inspections to ensure safety and function. Its potential applications include completing search-and-rescue missions following a disaster. “All those things can be very difficult for existing large-scale drones,” Chen explains.

6 . I have always loved the Arthurian legend (传奇), as there is something quite special about King Arthur, and of course Merlin, my favourite character from the stories.

Death of an Empire is the second volume in MK Hume’s “Merlin” series which details Merlin’s life from birth. Merlin travels across the Roman Empire in search of his father, a voyage of discovery to understand just who he was. Eventually Merlin gets involved in the fight against the Hun’s invasion (入侵) of Europe at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plain.

Serving under the General Flavius Aetius, Merlin builds a reputation by saving the lives of thousands of soldiers. When he finally reaches Rome, he saves many more. But a far deadlier conflict between Emperor Valentinian and Senator Petronius Maximus is around the corner and Merlin must use all his strength to carry out his work.

If I had to choose just one word to describe this novel, there would be no other choice than “immersive (身临其境的)”. There has clearly been a serious amount of research carried out by the author. Combined with the descriptive prose and imaginative story, the book really does attract you from almost the very start. The story really does feel like you are a part of it as Merlin travels across the Roman Empire.

The author does a great job of mixing the rich history with established Arthurian legend. The battle scene is handled very effectively. The author employs a very effective form to show the main fight and this not only adds a degree of tension and a good level of excitement but almost makes you feel like you are right there hearing about what happened.

Death of an Empire is a very fine novel, a wonderfully rich tale and a rewarding story.

7 . Exploring Wildlife Conservation in Kenya

Day 1: Nairobi, Kenya

Arrive at the airport in Nairobi, where our staff will be on hand to drive you to the hotel. Enjoy the rest of the day at leisure.

Accommodation: Tamarind Tree Hotel

Day 2: Lewa Wildlife Conservancy

A charter flight (包机) brings us to Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, a 62,000-acre grassland on the north of Mount Kenya. Considered a model in the conservation field, this healthy wildlife habitat is home to a number of rare species, including the giraffe, the Grevy’s zebra, and African wild dogs. Lewa and the neighboring Borana Conservancy also harbor roughly 15 percent of Kenya’s entire rhino population.

Accommodation: Elewana Lewa Safari Camp

Day 3: Amboseli National Park

Fly by private charter to Amboseli National Park, where vast grasslands are irrigated by underground runoff streams from Mount Kilimanjaro. These landscapes provide a habitat for hundreds of elephants, making the park one of the best places in Africa to spot these large creatures. The travel begins on the drive to Tortilis Camp, set within view of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Accommodation: Tortilis Camp

Day 4: Masai Mara National Reserve

At first light, head out to track the animals that crossed the area during the night. This area has one of the highest concentrations of large predators (捕食性动物) in all of Africa. Then watch large groups of hippos in the Mara River and crocodiles sunbathing on the shore.

Accommodation: Kichwa Tembo Camp

9 . Humans have a way of understanding others’ goals, desires and beliefs, a crucial skill that allows us to anticipate people’s actions. Taking bread out of the toaster? You’ll need a plate. Sweeping up leaves? You’ll grab the green trash can. This skill, often referred to as “theory of mind”, comes easily to us as humans, but for robots it still has a high mountain to conquer.

In a recent study, computer science researchers made the robot “watch” the human complete the task using a camera placed directly above the assembly(组装)area, looking down. To detect the parts operated by the human, the system used AprilTags, similar to QR codes, attached to the parts. Then, the system used machine learning to learn a person’s preference based on their orders of actions in the task. “Based on how a person performs the small assembly, the robot predicts what that person will do in the larger assembly,” said Nemlekar. “For example, if the robot sees that a person likes to start the small assembly with the easiest part, it will predict that they will start with the easiest part in the large assembly as well.”

In the researchers’ user study, their system was able to predict the actions that humans will take with around 82% accuracy. “We hope that our research can make it easier for people to show robots what they prefer,” said Nemlekar. “By helping each person in their preferred way, robots can reduce their work, save time and even build trust with them.”This technology could also be useful in industrial settings where workers are tasked with assembling products in large numbers, saving time and reducing the risk of injury or accidents. Additionally, it could help persons with disabilities to more easily assemble products and maintain independence.

“Our goal is not to replace humans on the factory floor. I expect similar findings in other applications as well,” said Nikolaidis. “A robot that can quickly learn our preferences can help us prepare a meal, rearrange furniture or do house repairs, having a significant impact on our daily lives.”

10 . Sam is not happy today. He doesn’t do well in his English test this time. Now he is sitting alone in his room.

Seeing this, his grandmother comes and talks to him to make him feel good. She sits down next to Sam and gives him a pencil. Sam looks at his grandmother and doesn’t take it. “Things like this are only for students who do well. I don’t do well!” Sam says.

Sam’s grandmother says, “It’s not a present for you. I want you to learn something from it. The pencil is just like you. It gets a painful sharpening(痛苦的削磨), just like how you get the pain of not doing well in your test.”

“But it will help you be a good student. See, all the good things coming from the pencil are from itself. And you too will find something good in yourself. Finally just as the pencil will make its mark (痕迹) on the paper, you will also leave your mark on anything you choose to do. Just ‘sharpen’ yourself and do well next time!”

Sam feels good right away. He plans to make a change as his grandmother says.