2 . Workers at the National Galleries of Scotland recently experienced quite a surprise after they X-rayed a painting by Vincent van Gogh. Hidden on the back of the painting Head of a Peasant Woman, which Van Gogh completed in 1885, was a self-portrait (自画像) of the Dutch painter. No one had ever found it.

The hidden self-portrait had been covered by glue and cardboard that had been attached to the back of the painting. “It was absolutely exciting,” Lesley Stevenson, the museum’s worker, said about the discovery. “We weren’t expecting much of the little painting when we performed the scans,” she said. But museum experts quickly changed their expectations when they looked at the X-rays. “We didn’t see much of the peasant woman, but we saw the lead white that Van Gogh used for his face showing up after the X-ray went through the cardboard,” she added.

Van Gogh painted Head of a Peasant Woman as part of a series of works focused on the working-class residents of Nuenen, a small farming community in the southern part of the Netherlands where he lived briefly in the 1880s. The woman in the painting is Gordina de Groot, a farm worker. She wears a white headpiece. In a letter that Van Gogh penned about the series in 1885 to Anton Kerssemakers, a friend, he described his excitement at his working-class subjects. “I’m working with great pleasure these days, for I would rather paint people than paint anything else,” he wrote.

Van Gogh also loved creating self-portraits, producing about 20 paintings of himself by the end of his life while he was living in Paris. Recreating his own image was a cheap way for him to practice portraiture as he didn’t have to spend money hiring models, according to a report.

Art historians at the National Galleries hope that the hidden self-portrait may help us understand the life of the artist. The museum is currently considering how to best remove the unwanted protective materials without harming the painting.

4 . A blind fish living within a Mexican cave system’s deep, enduring darkness still maintains some ability to sense light. As the cave fish no longer seem to rely on an internal daily cycle and some sleep very little, biologist Inca Stein-dal and her colleagues were keen to see if their bodies can still regulate cyclically through time. Most animals on Earth have an internal clock for this the circadian rhythm (昼夜节律) that uses light levels to make our bodies fit in with our planet’s day and night cycles. This rhythm is then used to cycle through different biological processes that can influence our behaviour, such as our hunger cycles.

The Mexican blind cave fish live in a complex of over 30 isolated caves, within which they have each independently adjusted to the dark.   Their bodies are extra sensitive to vibrations (震动), allowing them to sense changes in water currents for navigation (导航) in compensation for their limited or complete lack of sight. This adaptation occurred despite the fish from each cave evolving from the same species with fully functioning eyes. This ancestral group still lives in the surface waters in the El Albra region of Mexico and some parts of the Southwestern US.

Steindal and her team took tissue samples from the blind cave fish, from three isolated caves, and their surface relatives and tested the cells in different conditions. They detected the activation of several molecular (分子的) clock mechanisms when the cells were exposed to light, even in the cave fish cells. “Non-visual light detection is maintained at a fundamental cell-based level,” the researchers explain,although the cave fish cells did not respond as strongly as those cells from surface fish. While there were some similarities between the fish from the different caves compared to their surface relatives, there were also differences that confirm their biological clock changes each evolved independently of one another via different molecular mechanisms.

“We have provided proof that despite being blind, cells from the Mexican blind cave fish can detect light and make their clocks fit in with a light/dark cycle,” Steindal and her colleagues conclude. The team hopes these can help us learn more about the circadian rhythm and provide an easier way to study animal adaptations to dark environments.

5 . Electrically powered vertical-take-off-and-landing (eVTOL) aircraft—flying cars are an idea whose time has not quite yet come, but is fast approaching. Many firms are offering various designs. None of these, however, will be Jetson-like family flying cars. Pivotal, based in Silicon Valley, by contrast has crafted something that people can purchase and pilot themselves. Helix is a single-seat vehicle, so “flying motorbike” might be more accurate. From next year, many people will be able to order one for personal use, though they will not be able to take delivery until June.

Marcus Leng founded Pivotal in 2011, and some back-of-the-envelope calculations he made suggested that electric lift-off of a human-carrying craft, using motors powered by the lithium-ion batteries ought to work. He thus built a model and flew it in the garden of his house in Warkworth, Ontario.

Now, after ameliorating it, the firm thinks it has something marketable. The aircraft has, nevertheless, changed little in its fundamentals over the years. It has two pairs of wings and eight propellers (螺旋桨), making it slightly resemble a squashed “H” when seen in the sky from below. And there is no undercarriage. Instead, its belly is curved in a way similar to a humpback whale’s, so it rocks to stability after landing.

Pilot’s licence or not, buyers will still need some training to fly a Helix. Pivotal insists on this. For the same reason, the craft’s software will stop the pilot doing anything that does not fit its safety rules. And if, despite this, something does go wrong, it is fitted with a parachute（降落伞）.

The Helix’s top speed is a respectable 100 kph, but its range is only 30 km. And refueling it is a bit of a pain. Filling up from the mains takes four and a half hours, though a special high-power system similar to those employed for electric cars can bring that down to 75 minutes. While Helix still doesn’t compare to the flying car from the Jetsons, it could be a step forward.

Sugar, protein and fat: if you’re good at scanning those nutrition facts on food and drinks packages, it’s thanks in large part to Burkey Belser, who is a well-known American graphic designer (平面设计师). But his work extended far beyond groceries. If you’ve noticed the Drug Facts box on over-the-counter medicines seems to be like the food label, that’s because Belser designed it, as well. He also created the yellow Energy Guide box for home appliances.

Belser’s passion for design started at a young age. He studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and began a journey to become a graphic designer. His exceptional talent and skill quickly gained recognition, earning him numerous awards and accolades.

Belser’s work is seen on billions of products. The nutrition fact box has been copied around the world. Creating the official food information box was a complicated process, with input from business groups and health advocates, along with Food and Drug Administration( FDA) experts. The design team worked through 35 versions before the product came out, and it was a huge success. “ That is a masterpiece of information architecture, and quite a victory for social responsibility, ” commented one Italian designer.

The nutrition label reflects Americans’ evolving (演变) relationship with food, shifting from an emphasis on vitamins and minerals to addressing obesity (肥胖) and related conditions. Belser’s work not only made an impact within the industry but also played a crucial role in effectively communicating important messages to the public.

Speaking of his success, Belser said that luck had probably played a big role. But he added, “ I’d say the willingness to work hard sets the stage to take advantage of whatever luck comes your way.”

8 . On July 28, I retired from my position. After teaching for many years, I looked forward to kayaking (划独木舟) with my grandsons, seeing friends and traveling for leisure with my husband. But my body had other plans for me. A broken spine (脊椎) in my back took me down a path that upended my plans.

I have long had back pain. However, I pushed through the pain to do my work, which worsened my condition. Doctors urged an operation when increased disability meant I could not sit, stand or walk for a long time. But I wanted to see whether physical therapy (治疗) could create an easier option.

Indeed, hard work with a great physical therapist has let me improve my mobility, sitting and standing. But X-rays told a different story. My spine was unstable and bending. After careful consideration and a second opinion from another professional, I agreed to surgery yet in the near term. Needless to say, the past months have been tough and the way ahead will be even tougher. Kayaking with my grandsons in the peacefulness of the lake is all out of reach, for now.

When I met my physical therapist for the first time, I was a mess. He listened to me outline my history with tears and then calmly said, “You have to make friends with your body.” I have repeated that line to myself daily and worked to embrace my body. I have focused on gratitude. I’m grateful that I do not have a fatal disease. I’m grateful that the body I have remains alert to the world, loved by family and friends. I’m grateful that I am still myself.

I don’t know exactly how the future will play out. The surgeon assures me that I should be able to get in my kayak by summer. But I may have to make friends with a different body, one that is mine regardless of the shape.

9 . There are a lot of strategies for visiting a museum and avoiding “museum tiredness”. Consider what is mentioned below in planning.     1    

Regardless of a museum’s size, you’ll get tired quickly if you try to look closely at every object displayed. Likewise, most museums provide lots of information about the objects on view. So don’t try to read everything.     2     “Tombstone” labels are very brief and provide facts about the artist, their country etc. There may be a number, which the museum uses to register the object, usually according to when it became a part of the collection, and a credit line that indicates the donor. Object labels are placed next to many objects.     3     The approach used to write museum labels has been much debated among art historians and museum professionals.

    4     Ask for a map, or have museum staff suggest highlights in the collection or special exhibitions. Many museums have special tours, audioguides, or downloadable apps that point you to these objects.

Some people recommend setting a specific amount of time for your visit (1 or 2 hours).     5     In addition to benches in the galleries, most museums have a cafe, shop, sculpture courtyard or gardens where you can hang out and relax for a bit.

10 . Scientists have found a way to decode (解码) a stream of words in the brain using MRI scans and artificial intelligence. The system reconstructs the main point of what a person hears or imagines, rather than trying to copy each word, a team reports. “It’s getting at the ideas behind the words, the meaning, says Alexander Huth, an author of the study.

Previous efforts to decode language have relied on sensors placed directly on the surface of the brain. The sensors detect signals in areas involved in expressing words. But the Texas team’s approach is an attempt to “decode more freeform thought,” says Marcel Just, a professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University.

The new study came about as part of an effort to understand how the brain processes language. Researchers had three people spend up to 16 hours each in a functional MRI scanner, which detects signs of activity across the brain. Participants wore headphones that streamed audio from the Internet. Those streams of words produced activity all over the brain, not just in areas associated with speech and language. After participants listened to hours of stories in the scanner, the MRI data was sent to a computer. It learned to match specific patterns of brain activity with certain streams of words. Then came a paraphrased version of what a participant heard.

The MRI approach is currently slower and less accurate than an experimental communication system being developed for paralyzed people, where people get a sheet of electrical sensors implanted directly on the surface of the brain. With an MRI-based system, no one has to get surgery.

But future versions of MRI scans could raise moral questions. “What if you can read out the word that somebody is just thinking in their head? That’s potentially a harmful thing.” Huth says. This technology can’t really read minds uncontrollably, though. It only works when a participant is actively cooperating with scientists. Still, systems that decode language could someday support people who are unable to speak because of a brain injury or disease. They are also assisting scientists in understanding how the brain processes words and thoughts.