1 . Dogs may understand more than they show. Pet dogs’ brains displayed neural (神经的) signs of surprise when their owners showed them an unexpected toy. The findings, published March 22 in Current Biology, suggest that dogs create mental concepts of objects.

“Anyone who has ever interacted very much with a dog probably is not surprised to know that dogs understand what your speech is referring to, especially when it contains common objects,” says Ellen Lau, a neuroscientist at the University of Maryland in College Park. But some people may assume that this “understanding” is a simple reaction to the sound of the word.

Marianna Boros, a neuroscientist at Lorand University in Budapest, recruited 27 pet dogs and their owners. The team asked the owners to bring five familiar toys and other objects to the lab. Researchers stuck electrodes (电极) to the dogs’ heads and gave them two tasks: lie on the floor and stay awake.

Every so often, a dog would hear a recording of its owner saying things like, “Kun-Kun, look, the ball!” The dog’s owner was on the other side of a wall with a window covered by the curtains. Just after the recording played, the curtains were opened, showing the owner holding a toy — the ball or a different toy, such as a rope.

Just after seeing an unexpected object, an electrode monitoring (监测) brain activity picked up a larger-than-normal signal. This signal indicates surprise, the team says, and suggests that the dog had already formed a mental concept and expectation of the ball after hearing that word. In fact, the signal was especially strong for a mismatch involving words that the dogs knew very well. “That suggests that it is really about understanding and knowledge of the word,” Boros says.

2 . Are aliens trying to contact Earth? Six new mysterious blasts (爆炸) of radio energy are detected from deep space. While the source of the waves remains unknown, some suggest the mysterious bursts of energy could be a sign of alien life trying to contact us. The waves were detected by researchers from McGill University in Montreal.

The detection follows 11 previously recorded outbursts from the same location, called FRB121102. This is the only known repeater of fast radio bursts (FRBs). Despite there being a number of FRBs from the site, the origin of the bursts is an ongoing puzzle to researchers.

But the researchers say that the repeated outbursts imply that whatever is causing the radio bursts is not a one-time event, such as an explosion or collision. Instead, they say that flares (耀斑) from a young neutron star (中子星) are a promising candidate.

Previously when waves have been detected, astronomers have also asked SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) to take a closer look at whether they could be a message from aliens. But it is unclear whether the McGill researchers will ask SETI to help this time.

If there are any intelligent alien life forms out there, Stephen Hawking thinks we’re playing a dangerous game by trying to contact them. The physicist believes if aliens discovered Earth, they would likely want to conquer and colonize our planet.

”If aliens visit us, the outcome could be much like when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans, “he said in an interview.

But co-founder and former director of the SETI Institute, Jill Tarter, doesn’t think this will be the case. She argues any aliens who have managed to travel across the universe may be friendly and peaceful.

“The idea of a civilization which has managed to survive far longer than we have... and the fact that the technology remains an aggressive one, to me, doesn’t make sense,” she said.

3 . Richard Browning has been attracted by flight ever since his father took him into the hills to fly gliders (滑翔机). He has certainly been an adventurer. Richard took it upon himself to develop his own jet suit and began to experiment with some of his friends. He made quick progress. In 2017, he felt confident enough to start a company called Gravity Industries that could make jet suits. It took 15 months to develop the very first one.

Five very small jet engines are built into the jet suit. These are powered by kerosene (煤油). Two engines are located on the pilot’s arms and one is placed on the back. Each engine weighs less than two kilos and can produce 22 kilos of thrust (推力).

The pilot is able to control the direction and speed of the flight. He does this by small movements of the arms which require hours of practice. One wrong move and you could end up falling to the ground.

Richard is not only in charge of his company; he is also the chief test pilot. He has spent hours and hours perfecting the correct moves to create a perfect flight. He was able to enter the Guinness Book of World Records in 2017 when he became the fastest man in a jet suit and flew at 51 kilometres per hour. Since then, he has presented his jet suit at 60 events in 20 different countries around the world. More recently, he flew alongside Brighton Pier on the south coast of England at 136 kilometres per hour!

The objective of Richard’s company has been to build a suit which members of the public can buy. The first went on sale in a department store in 2018 for f 340, 000. If you want to jet around your own hometown, it’s time to start saving—or to work for Richard Browning.

4 . Even the most positive people have negative thoughts. It’s part of being human. But when negative thoughts become the norm, it isn’t healthy.     1    

Monitor your self-talk. We all have an ongoing dialogue running in our head, which affects how we view our life.     2     So, to promote realistic thinking, first you need to find out and listen to that inner voice. Being aware of those inner comments starts to help you take control of them.

Plant positive thoughts in your mind. Not every negative thought is “bad”. For example, “I feel stressed and upset about my job because there are so many new things I am learning, but overtime I’ll learn and it’ll get easier.” has a negative aspect, but it promotes a positive action. Therefore, it’s important to make the distinction between helpful thoughts and negative ones.

Challenge your unhelpful thoughts.     3     Continuing with the work example, do you really hate your job or are you just anxious about the new project that you’ve been assigned?

    4     Now that you’re clear which thought is not helpful, you can replace it with one that is. Using the example from above, a more positive thought might be, “Once I get started on the new project I’m sure I’ll do fine. It’s just the anticipation that I don’t like.”

Repeat. Realistic thinking doesn’t come easy, especially when you are also working on managing anxiety, depression, and other problems.     5    

5 . Rolland and Adeline are proud parents to nine beautiful children. Their youngest two, daughter Lanto, and son, Rindra, were both born with cleft lip (唇裂) conditions. In Madagascar, many families have never seen a cleft lip before, so it’s a condition often greeted with fear and misfortune in some rural communities.

However, the news of Lanto and Rindra’s cleft lip wasn’t much of a shock for Rolland and Adeline because Rolland’s cousin—a man in his fifties — had lived his entire adult life with an untreated cleft lip. Although seeing a relative with a cleft lip meant the family weren’t fearful of the condition, they knew the negative impact an untreated cleft lip can have on a person’s health and life. As all loving parents would, Rolland and Adeline wanted a better future for their children.

Rolland heard an advertisement on the radio about an Operation Smile surgical programme in Antsirabe, Madagascar. Finding out that Rindra and Lanto could have the cleft lip surgery they needed, for free, was a dream for the family. Unlike here in the UK, health services aren’t free in many parts of the world, and the costs of treatment — or even travelling to reach medical facilities — are out of reach for most families.

When Rolland and his children arrived at the patient village, they were surprised to see so many other families in the same position. After a thorough medical evaluation by medical volunteers, Lanto was found to be fit enough for surgery, and later got the new smile her parents had dreamed of for her. But, for younger brother Rindra, the journey to a new smile would take a little longer.

Operation Smile has provided hundreds of thousands of safe surgeries for children with cleft lip conditions worldwide. For more information about our work or to find out how you can help, visit www.operationsmile.org.

The 78th United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution (决议) on Friday, officially     1     (announce) the Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, as a UN floating holiday. Experts said the move shows the     2     (significance) influence of Chinese culture and will contribute     3     the promotion of the Global Civilization Initiative.

The Lunar New Year not only bears the ideas of peace and harmony     4     (value) by Chinese civilization but also carries the common values of humanity such as family harmony and harmonious coexistence between humans     5     nature.

The reason why the Lunar New Year can pass national borders and is increasingly welcomed by many countries     6     (lie) mainly in the rich cultural heritage of China and the driving force of globalization. As     7     world’s second-largest economy, China’s cultural elements have spread alongside its economic influence. In the trend of globalization, people’s interest in diverse cultures is     8     (gradual) increasing, and the Lunar New Year has become a major means for people     9     (communicate) and connect.

Therefore, the official recognition of the Chinese New Year as a UN holiday fully reflects an emphasis on the inheritance and innovation of civilization,     10     will promote exchanges and mutual learning among diverse world cultures and actively embody the UN’s values of diverse and inclusive cultural ideals.