1 . Have you ever imagined an insect-inspired robot, which weighs less than a gram, could one day help out in surgery (外科手术)?

Scientists have designed this small, “insect-bot” called mCLARI that can control and even change its body shape as it travels in different environments to fit through gaps. It’s 2 centimeters long, weighs less than 0.97 grams and can travel at a speed of 6 centimeters per second.It’s the smaller, faster replacement to CLARI, which was designed by the same team.

“Because of the robot’s small size and ability to change shape, we expect usage of this technology in four important areas,” the lead author Kaushik Jayaram said. These include disaster (灾害) response , check on high-value objects, environmental monitoring and medical treatment.

“In the long term, we hope such robots will be used more widely in moving through human bodies and performing surgeries that can’t be easily done at present,” Jayaram said. With mCLARI, Jayaram’s team is moving closer to creating robots that can fit in different environments—just like the insects they’re inspired by.

The mCLARI robot has four legs and can move in narrow spaces by changing between running forward and side-to-side and can use different speeds in human bodies. Its legs are joined to its body through joints (关节), which enables mCLARI to change its body shape based on the environment it is in. For example, its legs can be lengthened up to 50% in certain spaces.

As follow-up work, the scientists want to give mCLARI more power and sensing ability while helping the surgeries. “We are also excited about understanding the effect of shape change on improving functions of robots,” Jayaram said. “And this is sure a great one-step forward of the technology. The robot will have entered the market by 2025 and will bring greater benefits to mankind, especially in medical treatment.”

Zhang Pihe, a Bai woman from Dali, is introducing the Bai culture to visitors who come to Hequn Village in Sangzhi County, Hunan Province．People watch how she     1    (skillful) folds and rolls (卷) the cloth —     2     important step in the traditional tie-dyeing (扎染) of the Bai ethnic group．

Up to now, a great many visitors     3    (attract)to the village．With     4    (it) rich Bai culture, Hequn Village becomes well-known far and wide．

About 700 years ago, some Bai people came to Hequn Village from Dali．After that, they were too busy making a living away from their homes     5    (learn)the Bai culture．As a result, nowadays many parts of the Bai culture are disappearing．For example, the Bai-style dance,     6     has more than 80 types of moves, is being lost．

Brought up and deeply influenced by the Bai culture, Zhang hopes she can help protect and pass it down．So when she moved to Hequn Village, she started her lifelon g career．“I hope to take advantage of the traditional cultural resources of the Bai ethnic group to help the     7    (develop)of our villages,” said Zhang．

On her arrival, Zhang set up the Bai tie-dyeing room,     8    (buy)tools and began training villagers in tie-dyeing skills．    9     a cultural advisor to the Bai cultural projects, Zhang also gave local women lessons on the music and dance of the Bai ethnic group,     10    (teach) them each movement with great patience．

“I have more confidence in spreading our Bai culture,” said Zhang．

Every October, my neighbor Ollie and I would enter the Halloween costume contest (服装比赛) in our neighborhood park．And each year the theme was different, such as “Superheroes” or “Far m Animals”．But this year’s theme was not so specific．It was just “Be Creative”．

Walking home along the road lined with tall trees, the two of us had a heated discussion about what “Be Creative” meant．We looked back on the themes we had really enjoyed．For “Superheroes”, we made costumes of Super-Force Flying Eagle．And for “Farm Animals”, we were dressed as a cow and a horse．Ollie even put a pair of wings for the horse, saying that he’d love to see a “flying horse” eating grass with a cow on the farm．

“Now that’s the creative spirit we need for this challenge!” I said．“Maybe, since we don’t know exactly what we want to be yet, we should start by choosing some cool costume-making materials.”

Just at that moment, a falling golden leaf happened to have landed on Ollie’s shoulder．“I’ve got it!” Ollie said joyfully, picking up some fallen leaves from the ground．“We can make costumes out of leaves and pretend to be trees．I can ensure, no one will be a tree as great as me.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” I said．“I like your creative idea and I have just got a perfect way to be another tree.”

We filled up two bags with different kinds of leaves: Ollie’s grandma, Abuela, an experienced tailor (裁缝), helped us with tons of excellent costume-making supplies and we started to work．When we were done, we each tried on the self-designed costumes and they were really wonderful．On the morning of the contest, we got up early and spent hours making preparations．We arrived at the park early and waited for our turn nervously and eagerly．

The big time came for us to go onto the stage．

5 . As we all know, swimming is great fun. But it often comes with _________. Drowning (溺水)is a real possibility even for the most _________ swimmers. However, this dangerous situation can be changed with watchful eyes. This summer in Florida, two young men helped to _________ one drowning death.

Griffin Emerson, a 6-year-old child, swam in an apartment block’s pool. He enjoyed the pool’s _________ area. But he began to _________ toward the deeper part slowly, struggling to keep his head above water.

All that came about as no one else, including his mother, seemed to _________ him. Griffin’s frightening _________ in the water happened over the course of a full minute, ending up with the child going down to the _________ of the pool.

However, one young man, Noah, did find Griffin in the pool. He told his friend Weston to call 911 at once. And Noah _________ to jump into the pool to ____________ the 6-year-old.

Noah made it to Griffin, caught him and ____________ him to the surface and then to the side of the pool. Before the emergency services’ arrival, Noah and Weston tried their best to ____________ life-saving steps. ____________, a few minutes later, Griffin recovered his breath.

Griffin’s mother was ____________ to Noah and Weston for their heroic actions. But the two young men thought it was no big deal and hoped that this act of kindness would be ____________.

6 . Here are some ways you can change your inner thoughts to stop stress having an effect on your mental and physical health.

Exercise can be used as a tool to enable you to deal with stress. The feel-good chemicals released(释放)by the brain when you exercise give a sense of well-being and calm.     1     You can then face any trouble in your life with more confidence.

    2     You can keep a diary to write down your thoughts and record successes you are thankful for. This will make sure the positive things are more important in your mind. This can remind you that whatever stress there is, good things are still happening to you and you’re still progressing and succeeding in life.

Having some people who support you helps you to feel calm. When you meet with difficulties, there are people who will have your back. You feel much less stressed when you have friends and family on your side. Build your support network by giving to others when they need you.    3    

Tiredness, the inability to think straight and sleep deprivation (缺乏) make you feel stressed. Improving sleep quality itself does a lot in reducing stress.     4     You can also try practicing breathing and relaxation. Keep your bedroom as a cool and calm place.

Make sure you are giving yourself some time in your week.    5     Schedule “me time” and time to practice self-care. Spare time to do what you enjoy and find fun. It’s necessary to help you feel strong and able to deal with stress.

7 . A new study, led by Dr. Rebecca Stone, has shown that children as young as four years old eat 79% more calories when they are bored, compared to when they are in a normal mood (情绪) .

The researchers have explored the behaviors that make children more likely to eat when they experience negative emotions. Often when children experience bad emotions such as boredom or sadness, caring adults will use food to soothe them. However, this behavior, known as emotional feeding, appears to increase the possibility of children eating more when they are in low spirits. As time passes, too many calories intake will have a significant effect on children’s health both mentally and physically.

Dr. Stone stresses that the experience of boredom is important in the development of children’s sense of self and creativity, so she does not recommend that children should avoid being bored. Instead, she suggests children learn to experience boredom without turning to food. She also suggests that parents turn their children’s attention away from food when they feel bored, or restructure the home food environment to make it less likely that children turn to food in response to being bored.

While there do appear to be individual differences between children in terms of their eating when bored, it is helpful to know that the feeding practices that adults use around food might shape the likelihood of this happening. Although it is attractive to use food as a tool to help children, emotional feeding might lead to greater emotional eating in the future. It is important for parents and caregivers to be aware that this short-term fix could create future problems.

It is hoped that, on the original basis of the study, the team will deeply explore other negative mood states in children and offer advice and support for families to find more effective ways to manage challenges around children eating behavior.

9 . UC Berkeley Youth Summer Camps

UC Berkeley Youth Summer Camps will provide a wide variety of one-week outdoor experiences and activities for young people on summer camps 2024. Here are four best summer camps.

Afternoon Adventures Camp offers many adventurous activities around the Berkeley Marina. Campers must be aged 8-10 to sign up. They will explore the ocean plants and join in other activities such as doing outdoor exploration, playing outdoor group games and going skateboarding. This camp provides an opportunity for younger campers to develop lasting friendship through outdoor games.

Blue Camp grew from the idea that all children need opportunities to take part in regular physical activities to support their mental health. This camp for children aged 7-12 includes art trainings, swimming lessons, free play and group games to create a fun and well-rounded camp experience. The camp is made up of three age groups to ensure safety.

Eco Adventures Camp allows campers to have the chance to explore various environments around Berkeley. Campers will practice observing through their senses and record their findings while they use scientific methods to explore various creatures of the Bay Area.

Discovery Camp is designed specifically with the 10-12 year-old in mind, with challenging new ways to explore the Bay Area. Activities may include hikes(徒步旅行)to regional waterfalls, cycling to a beach picnic lunch and rock climbing. The full day course covers a series of regional adventures, often with several stops in a day. All campers can enjoy the bus service to and from the campsites.