1 . ChatGPT, designed by OpenAI to carry on conversations just like humans, has become a viral excitement. The AI-powered tool went from zero to a million users in just five days! Its ability to provide in-depth answers to user questions has even drawn the attention of distinguished technology companies.

The intelligent robot understands what the user says or types and then responds in a way that makes sense. Its vast body of knowledge has been gathered from the internet and archived books. It is further trained by humans. This makes ChatGPT a useful tool for researching almost any topic.

“We have a lot of information on the internet, but you normally have to Google it, then read it and then do something with it,” says Ricardo, chief science officer and co-founder of AI company Erudit. “Now you’ll have this resource that can process the whole internet and all of the information it contains for you to answer your question.”

ChatGPT cannot think on its own. It depends on the information that it has been trained on. As a result, the AI tool works well for things that have accurate data available. However, when unsure, ChatGPT can get creative and flow out incorrect responses. OpenAI cautions users to check the information no matter how logical it sounds. Also, ChatGPT has only been trained with information till 2021. Hence, it cannot be relied upon for anything that happened after that.

Experts believe ChatGPT has limitless potential to solve real-world problems. It can translate long texts into different languages, create content on almost any topic, and even summarize books.

However, ChatGPT has received mixed reactions from educators. Some believe it could serve as a valuable tool to help build literacy skills in the classroom. It could also be used to teach students difficult science or math concepts. But other educators think ChatGPT will encourage students to cheat. They fear this will prevent them from building critical thinking and problem-solving skills. As a result, many districts are starting to ban its use in schools.

2 . Museums can be overwhelming. With thousands of pieces there, how do you know which to focus on? And once you see a piece you like, how do you interact with it? Here is some advice on how to have a meaningful connection when you look at art.

Get up close and personal.    1     Therefore, take your time to observe qualities about a work that may not come through on a computer screen. That includes its look and the feel of its surface, the marks made by the brush and the path your eyes take when viewing the work.

Stand back. Next, take a few steps back, stand in the center — and observe what’s happening in the big picture. What’s going on in the piece?     2     What are they doing? How are they related?

Look at it from an angle. Then try looking at an artwork from its sides, because you might catch something you might not have seen straight on. If it’s something like The Ambassadors by Holbein at The National Gallery in London, and if you stand to the side, you’ll see something that from front on looks very different.     3     That’s called anamorphic art.

Move your body. If you’re looking at a painting, you can take a finger to the air and trace the outline of the figure or the movement of the brushstrokes.     4     This can help you see and feel what it might be like to make this artwork from the artist’s perspective.

Consider the subject of the art. That can have a profound effect on how you feel about the work and perhaps you can learn something from it. Take the example of Andrew Wyeth’s famous painting, Christina’s World, which depicts (描绘) a girl with a muscle disease crawling across a field to get to her home in the distance. The painting personifies (体现) determination.    5    

3 . The UK, Finland, Germany, and Sweden are consistently the top performers in European tech ecosystems. These countries also have the largest economies in Europe.       1     Well, let’s find out now.

    2     Even more amazing? This country is home to many basic scientific principles. The world’s first steam engines, electric motors, the internet, and the jet engine are all inventions of this country. The UK government and its businesses have been spending billions of dollars on research and development to drive innovation in Biotech.

Finland is second in digital life overall, and first in cashless payment. This is because the internet plays a vital role in Finland’s digital life. High-speed internet access and freedom of speech make the Finnish ecosystem more sustainable, with good internet access and mobile coverage in remote areas.       3    

Since the beginning, Germany’s industry has supported scientific research. German society and economy take pride in their research-development efforts.     4     Mercedes, BMW, and Volkswagen are some examples.

Sweden is a leader in technological innovation, with remarkable achievements in web development and mobile apps. For years, Ericsson and other large tech companies dominated the market.     5     Other Swedish companies like Spotify, Torrent, and Skype are now leading the charge.

Above are some European countries with the most advanced technological and digital expertise. As we know, the race for technological progress between countries is never over.

5 . Daniel Brush, an astonishing worker in gold, jewels and steel died on November 2022, aged 75. Students from a jewellery school once came to Brush’s studio, a loft in mid-Manhattan, awed to be meeting a figure who, to them, was a worker of miracles.

For 45 years in that loft, he had pursued his calling. His wife Olivia was the only company. He produced hundreds of objects of all sorts, most of them exquisite and many astonishingly small. Rather than use electricity, he laboured alone in a forest of antique machines and when tools frustrated him he made his own, displaying them in cupboards as art in themselves.

Above all else, he worked in gold. His obsession took fire when at 13 he saw an Etruscan gold bowl in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The ancient technique of applying gold beads as fine as sand-grains to a curved gold surface without solder (焊接), was stunning, but so was the lightness of spirit.

He resolved then that he would make such a bowl, and gold became the study of his life. Simply to watch it melt, turn to red-hot and white-hot, then glow purple, was magical. To hold pure gold grain and let it move slowly through his fingers restored his calm of spirit. His chief motivation, he said, was to understand the material and, through that, himself. He wondered why his heart had beaten so fast in the museum that day. Gold in particular had a message for him. His contact with this glorious metal might focus all his attention and help him to hear it.

He developed delicate craftsmanship, with each object virtually a museum piece. For Daniel Brush, he loved the idea that one might take a piece made by Brush out of a pocket, let its beauty pass from mind to mind, and smile. That too was what its maker was after.

6 . What is heritage? The word can be difficult to define. Heritage is always something that is passed down by families or other groups for many years.    1     It can also be the customs, traditions, and values shared by groups of people. One way to think about heritage is to break it down into three groups. These are the tangible(有形的), the natural, and the intangible.

    2     It can include many human-made objects that hold cultural value. Some examples are national monuments and works of art. Many ancient sites are also part of this group. On a smaller scale, a family home can be part of an individual’s heritage.

Many parts of the natural world are also important to cultural heritage. This can include bodies of water, plant life, landforms and more. One example is the Nile River.    3     Efforts to protect natural heritage are key in many cultures.

The intangible group includes any part of cultural heritage that you can’t feel through touch. Maybe you’ve read about forms of dance, like Flamenco dancing. You might know about the music of Mariachi Bands or holidays like Eid. These are all examples of intangible heritage.     4    

Exploring your own heritage can be fun. It can help you learn about yourself, your family, and your ancestors. But it’s also important to learn about the heritage of others.     5     It can also lead you to find things you may have in common with others!

9 . Are you interested in robot-science? What do you think robots are capable of? Let’s have a review of world-leading technology gathered at the World Robot Conference (WRC) 2022.

Technology in agriculture

A fruit-picking robot attracted visitors’ attention. With the help of various sensors and an AI system, the robot can collect fruit according to its ripeness, quality and size. The robot first locates the fruit and then uses sensors to decide whether it is ripe, with a robotic arm picking the fruit gently. The fruit is then categorized, ending up in a basket according to its size. It is said that more robotic technology will be used in agriculture in the future, including robots for daily inspection and weeding.

Robots fighting Covid-19

Medical staff conducting nucleic acid tests often find their work toilsome, especially under the summer heat. A nucleic acid test robot developed by Tsinghua University and a Chinese biotech company was presented at the WRC. It looks like a vending machine, but the robot can collect throat swabs (拭子), process samples, as well as produce and upload the results within 45 minutes. The whole process will not require the involvement of humans or laboratories.

Inventions of the youth

Those visiting the exhibit also witnessed the intelligence of a new generation. Wang Zirun, a junior student at the school, designed a three-dimensional parking facility model. Since there are usually too few parking spaces in older residential areas, Wang’s work aims to fit more cars into current parking spots. The facility works like a sky wheel with six parking spots. When cars need to be picked up, the facility rotates steadily, placing the car on the ground.

10 . It takes a lot of hard work and determination to achieve big goals. Many times, people must persevere in spite of obstacles to realize their dreams. Collette Divitto is a talented baker who managed to do just that. She used her bright personality, determination, and talent to become an entrepreneur.

Collette Divitto was born in Boston. Like many others, after graduating from college, she wanted to get a job. She went to many job interviews, but she kept getting rejected. Many employers said she was “not the right fit”. Divitto believed she was being rejected so often in that she was born with Down syndrome, which is a genetic disorder related to a person’s chromosomes. People with Down syndrome often have intellectual or physical disabilities.

Facing many job rejections, Divitto felt discouraged and hurt. She felt she wanted to open her own business and be her own boss. She thought about her hobbies and passions. Divitto knew she loved baking. She would always create delicious recipes to share with her family and friends. One of these recipes was for a chocolate chip cookie rolled in cinnamon sugar. Her mom tasted the cookies and urged her to write down the recipe to make them again. Divitto began baking and selling her chocolate cookies locally, calling her business “Collettey’s Cookies”. She took her cookies to a local grocery store named Golden Goose Market. Immediately after tasting the cookies, the market decided to sell Devitto’s cookies. Golden Goose Market became Divitto’s first client. Eventually, a television station shared the story of Divitto’s ccokie business. Her story went viral!

Divitto didn’t just create Collectey’s Cookies to sell delicious baked goods. She has a great ambition to expand her business so that she can hire as many people as possible. Currently, many of her employees have disabilities. Divitto also wants non-disabled business owners to see the strengths and talents of people with disabilities. The majority of disabled people who can work cannot find paying jobs. Even when they do get jobs, they are often paid less than the minimum wage. Divitto wants to change these statistics. She wants to make sure people with disabilities get jobs that pay fairly.