6 . Baidu, a Chinese search engine and artificial intelligence firm, announced its latest electric autonomous driving vehicle, Apollo RT6, on Thursday. The new vehicle is a fully electric vehicle with a steering wheel (方向盘) that can be removed when not required. It will cost ¥250,000 per unit.

“The steering-wheel-free design allows more space for extra seating or other additions and the massive cost reduction will enable us to put tens of thousands of autonomous vehicles into operation across China,” Robin Li, co-founder and CEO of Baidu, said at the firm's Baidu World Conference Thursday. “We are moving towards a future where taking a robotaxi will be half the cost of taking a taxi today.”

Baidu already runs Apollo Go and Apollo Moon, taxi services using self-driving robotaxis with safety staff seated in the driver or passenger seat. They have been in operation in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, although the service is limited to specific areas. The new vehicle will soon join those robotaxis.

The RT6 has reached the industry's Level 4 out of five possible levels of technology. That means its systems can operate without a driver but must be pre-loaded with a detailed map, thus limiting the areas where the vehicles can operate. Lower levels of self-driving technology have been available for decades. For example, many Level-3 vehicles allow hands-free highway driving. Other kinds of self-driving robot vehicles are already widely used in factories warehouses and other tightly controlled settings.

Compared to previous generations where the technology was mainly used on conventional vehicles, the Apollo RT6 was designed specifically with fully autonomous driving in mind.

Baidu is best known for its search engine and online advertising services, but in recent years it has invested heavily in autonomous driving and artificial intelligence technology, including automated personal assistants and AI chips.

7 . Which is more important for parents, making more money to give the kids a better life or spending more time with them? It is a problem for parents and it is not easy to decide. A new study shows that today’s parents are spending more time with their children than parents in the past. According to the study, today’s college-educated mothers spend about 21.2 hours a week taking care of their children. But women with less education spend about 15.9 hours. Before 1995, it was only 12 hours.

Dads are spending more time on ball games. Before 1995, fathers with college educations only spent about 4.5 hours a week playing with their children. Today, it increases to 9.6 hours a week. For fathers with high school education, the time goes up from 3.7 hours to 6.8.

These days, parents don’t care more about the cleaning or the cooking. They are trying their best to spend time with their families. As for the kids, they don’t mind how much time their parents spend with them. They just want to enjoy the time their parents do be with them.

So, take part in the kids’ activities when you are with them, such as helping with homework or playing soccer with them.

8 . Thanksgiving isn’t just a holiday in the US. Some other countries have their own versions of Thanksgiving.

Brazil

Legend has it that Joaquim Nabuco, Brazil’s first ambassador (大使) to the US, enjoyed the American holiday so much that he persuaded his government to set up a similar day of thanks. Dia de Acao de Gracas is also celebrated every year on the fourth Thursday of November to give thanks for the fall harvest. The Brazilian holiday ends with a colorful and noisy carnival(狂欢节) and parade.

Japan

Japan’s version of the holiday, called “Kinro Kansha no Hi” or Labor Thanksgiving Day, is observed on November 23. It originated from an ancient rice harvest festival called Niiname-sai. Later, the holiday’s purpose was to celebrate the rights of workers. Today, Labor Thanksgiving Day is mainly observed with small acts of community service. Children often mark the occasion by handing out thank-you notes to firefighters, police officers, and other frontline workers.

Canada

Thanksgiving in Canada is a low-key affair with no big parades or retail sales. The holiday mainly focuses on families and friends getting together for a meal. While many parts of the country get the day off, it is an optional (可选择的) holiday in Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador. As a result, the celebrations often take place the weekend before the holiday.

Ghana

Ghana celebrates its version of Thanksgiving in August or September. As the story goes, the Ga settlers arrived in Ghana in the 16th century after facing lots of hardships during their travels across Africa. They celebrated their first harvest in Ghana with a feast, and a tradition was born. Before the festival, there is a month-long ban on noise, especially drumming. Similar to Thanksgiving, Homowo is a festival of food.

9 . In school, kids are told to drink water in class.     1     And we’re reminded by experts that water will help us have glowing skin and regulate our weight. But how much should we actually be drinking to make the body function properly?

For many years, people have followed the unofficial advice of drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day, known as the “8×8 rule”. It’s said that this seems to have partly come from the guidance that was published almost 80 years ago. In 1945, the US Food and Nutrition Board of National Research Council advised drinking one millilitre (毫升) of liquid for every recommended calorie of food. This is equal to around two litres of water a day, or eight glasses per person.     2     Weight, age and activity level all affect how much water someone should drink.

    3     It’s not that important, according to Dr Stanley Goldfarb from the University of PennsyIvania. He said that our body is very good at hydration (水合) control. That is to say, it tells us when we are in a state of lack of water. Firstly, there is “the thirst system”, which tells us to go drinking because our body water content is slightly reduced. And secondly, we have the kidney (肾) system which helps to keep water and kicks in well before we really sense any thirst.

There are, of course, undeniable benefits to drinking water.     4     It also contains essential nutrients like calcium and magnesium, which are important for bone strength.

So, next time you feel thirsty, reach for a glass of water, but otherwise, don’t worry about it!     5    

10 . It’s OK to do a little comfort shopping, especially in these tough times.     1    . Here are a few ways to start controlling that stress-spending and start saving a little smarter—today.

Make a budget. Don’t just think about it in your head. You have to write it down. If it’s not written down, then it’s not a budget. Once you’ve taken into account the necessities like food, shelter and savings, don’t forget to put aside some money for fun. Whether your fun budget is $5 a week or $50 a week, it’s important to set that money aside. Money is not just meant to be responsible with.     2    .

Before you reach for the fun-budget money, make sure that what you are buying is a love, a thing that will bring you lasting joy.     3    . Likes are short-term joy. It means you’ll forget these things in less than a year. Wants are just instant satisfaction and you’re not going to be interested in such things even a day later.

Sound familiar? We have all purchased some wants — whether it’s a T-shirt or a bag that are now gathering dust in the closet,     4    , because not only you’re spending money that you don’t have, but you’re actually making your life less enjoyable.

    5    . It’s a muscle that you just need to practise by creating a saving account that is disconnected from your mobile phone. So it isn’t convenient to stress-spend that hard-earned money.