1 . If you’re homeless and looking for a temporary shelter in Hawaii’s capital, expect a visit from a robotic police dog that will scan your eyes to make sure you don’t have a fever. That’s just one of the ways public safety agencies are starting to use Spot, a new robot that runs around with quick movement.

The police officials experimenting with the four-legged machines say they’re just another tool to keep emergency responders out of harm’s way as they search for dangers.

Joseph O’Neal, an officer of the Honolulu Police Department, said the robot has protected officers, shelter staff and residents by scanning body temperatures between mealtimes at a shelter where homeless people could quarantine (隔离) and get tested for COVID-19. The robot is also used to remotely interview individuals who have tested positive.

The company that makes the robots, Boston Dynamics, says it’s trying to do a good job of explaining to the public and its customers what Spot can and cannot do. “One of the most difficult tasks is accurately explaining the state of the technology to people who have never had personal experience with it,” said Michael Perry, vice president of the company.

There are roughly 500 Spot robots now in the wild. Perry said they’re commonly used by companies to check dangerous areas. Spot is also used to monitor construction sites, mines and factories, equipped with whatever sensor is needed for the job.

It’s still mostly controlled by humans, though all they have to do is tell it which direction to go and it can climb stairs or cross over rough areas. It can also operate autonomously, but only if it’s already memorized a road and there aren’t too many surprise obstacles (障碍). “The first value that most people see in the robot is taking a person out of a dangerous situation,” Perry said.

2 . Recently we celebrated my grandmother’s 90th birthday. Family members traveled to my hometown to visit her. This was the first time in many years that I had seen so many of them. Though this was an opportunity to see family, many people did not make it. Honestly, living far from hometown, I had missed many family gatherings. But this one made me realize how much I was really missing.

It seemed strange when I was looking at the faces, realizing whom they were and greeting them with open arms. After chatting for a while, we caught up on each other’s news. Several relatives suggested having a family reunion soon if everyone wasn’t so busy. But my grandmother’s generation was much busier, yet still found time to gather. They understood the importance of visiting one another. They knew time is flying and that those you care about most won’t be here forever.

Today, we focus on our careers and raising our kids. Our extended family isn’t the center it once was. Besides, we keep in touch on social media. But what we really miss are the potato salad, the moments of laughter and sudden bursts of excitement when we hug someone we haven’t seen for over 10 years. Although the next get-together is always a year or so away, people aren’t goods and everyone has an expiration (到期) date.

I left my grandmother’s party with a much better sense of who I am and where I come from. I spent valuable time with people who contributed to who I am today. I had forgotten how much I love them and I was reminded how much I am loved.

3 . Commercial airlines alone contribute around 3% of total global carbon emissions. But the industry is actively looking for green solutions in the form of sustainable jet fuel, and in one case, that fuel may have had a previous life as your household food waste. In a study released this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers detail a method of transforming food waste into sustainable jet fuel that can be used in existing engines.

Biomass (生物质), such as manure (粪便) and food waste, can be transformed into bio-fuels, which are renewable liquid fuels made from organic matter. Derek Vardon, a senior research engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), says that their fuel worked as a mixture of 90% conventional petrol jet fuel and 10% alternative jet fuel required by the industry currently. They also show they could push it to a 70/30 mixture, which will be possible in real world with more time and testing.

Major airline companies are eager to get involved in sustainable aviation fuel because some sustainable solutions, such as battery-operated commercial planes, just aren’t possible yet with current battery technology. A battery-powered plane would be too heavy to fly long distances, so fuel that works in the same way as the fuel we have is a simpler way to trade out emission-heavy fossil fuels.

Vardon says that because the wet waste used in the process would normally go to a landfill (垃圾填埋场) and break down to release greenhouse gases, the process of making and using sustainable aviation fuel could actually have a negative carbon footprint when scaled up.

Commercial airlines are on board to find an affordable and sustainable solution to the carbon-intensive process of air travel. Airlines are looking to hit aggressive sustainability goals by 2050, including decreasing net carbon dioxide emissions by 50%.

5 . Last Monday, to prepare a picnic, I decided to go into a superstore which was on my way home.

I parked my car in the big parking lot and went into the superstore. It was a huge one, ______ onto 2 stories and 200,000+ square feet. After 45 minutes of shopping to just get some tomatoes, cheese and 3 toothpicks, I arrived at the cashier line, thoughtful and a bit ______ by the time I spent to get 3 ______. I wondered why I did not go to a small local store.

After 15 minutes of waiting in the line, the woman in front of me called me, “Hey... you have only 3 articles? Come and take my ______ . I have way more articles than you!”

It wasn’t the first time it happened to me. But her intention was ______, as well as was her smile (she did not wear any mask, so I could see it). Not knowing what else to do, I accepted her______. We chatted a bit waiting for the customers ahead of us to finish — she was incredibly______. Then I thanked her, giving her back my brightest smile (although I was wearing a mask...).

______ my car, I rethought about that good moment, and realized that she ______ my day. In the meantime, I wondered how to ______ it back to her. No ______ it was quite impossible, so I considered how to pay it forward to someone else.

While driving, I realized that she saved me 10 minutes. And ______ I was driving at 70 mph, I reduced my speed to 55 mph. My fuel ______ dramatically dropped down by 35%.

______, I relost part of the 10 minutes that the woman offered me, but it was a way to ______ her and do a small thing for the environment.

7 . It can be hard to be enthusiastic about your job after you’ve been at it for a while. This doesn’t necessarily mean you need a new job. There are so many different things you can try to help make your present job feel a little more exciting.

Change your routine.     1     The first thing in the morning for you to do is to check your emails. Do you think you really need to do so? Is there a reason why teams always meet at a certain time? Start by questioning the way you’ve gotten used to doing things.     2    

Don’t be serious with yourself. It’s important to take your work seriously, but that doesn’t mean you have to take yourself too seriously. Happiness matters.     3     So, allow yourself to have some laughs and some fun with friends at work from time to time.

Take a vacation. Just because you feel bored at work, that doesn’t mean you aren’t also super busy and maybe even stressed. Routine tasks can be both dull and stressful. Stress and tension can affect feelings.     4     Maybe you’d feel less bored at work after having a bit of time to relax yourself.

    5     A really effective way to add a little freshness to your life is to devote yourself to learning something new every day. It doesn’t have to be something big, or something hard. You could just watch a Ted Talk video about a topic that interests you, for example. It doesn’t even have to relate directly to your job. Just learning one new thing each day should help bring a little excitement to your routine.

Technology and Life

“Father of hybrid rice”, Yuan Longping died of illness at 13:07 p.m. in     1     hospital in Changsha of Hunan province.

He    2     (cultivate) the world's first high-yielding hybrid rice strain in 1973,     3     was later grown on a large scale in China and other countries to substantially raise output. Yuan once said he had two dreams ：one is to enjoy the cool under the rice crops taller than men and the other is that hybrid rice could    4     (grow) all over the world    5     (help) solve the global food scarcity(短缺). Everyone knows that he is the Savior(救世主),     6     he said he is an old farmer who has grown rice all     7     (him) life, and he would keep working unless he could no longer see or walk.

On September 19, 2020, Yuan Longping sent his best     8     (wish) to the youth and shared his eight-- word     9     (success) experience: knowledge, sweat, inspiration and opportunity. “Knowledge is the foundation. Sweat is the practice,” he said. “Inspiration is a spark of thought. Everyone has a spark of thought so don't give it up.” He also said “Chance favors the     10     (prepare) mind!” in English.

Our best way to mourn is to cherish every grain in the bowl and every day without starvation.