Yours,

Li Hua

5 . Robots can deliver food on a college campus and hit a hole in one on the golf course, but even the most advanced robot can’t perform basic social interactions that are vital to everyday human life.

MIT researchers have now added certain social interactions to a framework for robotics, enabling machines to understand what it means to help or hinder (阻碍) one another, and to learn to perform these social behaviors on their own. In a simulated (模拟的) environment, a robot watches its companion, guesses what task it wants to accomplish, and then helps or hinders the other robot based on its own goals. The researchers also showed that their model creates realistic and predictable social interactions. When they showed videos of these simulated robots interacting with one another to humans, the human viewers mostly agreed with the model about what type of social behavior was occurring.

Equipping robots with social skills could lead to smoother and more positive human-robot interactions. For instance, a robot in a nursing home could use these abilities to help create a more caring environment for elderly individuals. The new model may also enable scientists to measure social interactions quantitatively (数量上), which could help psychologists study autism (自闭症) or analyze the effects of antidepressants (抗抑郁药).

“Robots will live in our world soon enough and they really need to learn how to communicate with us on human terms. They need to understand when it is time for them to help and when it is time for them to see what they can do to prevent something from happening. This is very early work and we are barely scratching the surface, but I feel like this is the first very serious attempt for understanding what it means for humans and machines to interact socially,” says Boris Katz, leading research scientist.

6 . Chen Guanghui is a guardian for black-necked cranes (黑颈鹤) in the Dashanbao Black-necked Crane National Nature Reserve of Zhaotong city, in southwest China’s Yunnan Province. Whistling is the secret language Chen uses to communicate with the black-necked cranes, a type of migratory bird under first-class protection in China. She says different whistles signal different things. When she whistles in an increasing tone, she tries to tell the cranes: ask your companions to come back for lunch, and they would chirp (吱喳叫) to spread the message right away.

Living near the Dashanbao Nature Reserve, a major winter habitat for the rare species, Chen started to take care of them in 2003, a mission she took over from her mother, whose devotion dates back to the 1990s.

“In the first few days, I remembered they ran away as soon as I approached them. I was very upset and asked my mom to come back, and I was worried they would starve,” says Chen. “I initially tried everything, even singing folk songs to attract them, but failed. Later, I used special whistles and gradually formed close bond with the cranes.”

“I treat them as if they were my own children, and I’m always concerned about them, especially during snowy days when they can’t get food. I feel uncomfortable and anxious when I hear them chirp and usually rush to prepare corn for them.” It’s never been an easy job, and Chen has sustained quite a few injuries over the years, even falling into frozen marsh (沼泽) while trying to save a trapped crane in 2008. However, she never gave up. With love and responsibility, she has persisted in caring for the cranes for about 20 years.

Thanks to the joint protection efforts of Chen and staff members at the nature reserve, now more than 1,900 black-necked cranes overwinter in the area each season every year, up from about 300 when the nature reserve was established.

7 . Manfred Steiner had a successful and productive career as a doctor, helping generations of medical students learn about hematology (血液学). But all along, he felt that he should be doing something else: studying physics. At age 89, he has finally fulfilled that dream, earning his Ph. D. in physics from Brown University.

“I always had this dream: Someday I would like to become a physicist,” Steiner said.

Steiner was a teenager when World War II ended. By then, he was fascinated with physics. On the advice of his family, he decided to pursue a medical career instead. But during his studies, physics still tugged at him.

“When I was a medical student in the early 1950s, I used to slip into the physical institute, which was very close to the medical school,” he said, “and listen to some talks there because I was so interested in quantum physics (量子物理学), the new stuff at that time.”

It was only after Steiner retired from his career in medicine in 2000 that he was able to officially occupy himself with quantum physics. He started taking classes at MIT. He had to do a lot of physics classes at MIT before being allowed to start graduate studies. He transferred to Brown, to minimize his commute (通勤).

Steiner worked slowly — he’s a grandfather who likes to spend time with his family, and health issues have been a concern — but the credits kept piling up. “You know, it took a long time,” he said. “There were medical problems in between that were very serious. But fortunately, I’m here now and I’ve overcome these problems.”

Despite fulfilling a long-held dream of becoming a physicist, Steiner says he doesn’t regret spending most of his life in academic medicine. He also has some advice to offer: “All the young people, if they have a dream, follow that dream. Don’t give up on it.” If it doesn’t work out, he said, they can go into something else. “But first, follow your dream.”

A slow train in Southwest China boasting its own study room has attracted much attention from netizen. The train No 5609/5610,     1     runs between Chongqing and Xiushan county, is a public-welfare “slow train”.

In some carriages, some seats have been replaced with desks and chairs next to the windows to transform it into a “study carriage” for passengers     2     need. The Chinese characters “Yu Yue” appear on the train, which translates to “traveling and reading     3     (happy).” Other inspirational     4     (slogan) can be seen throughout the converted carriages.

In addition to No 5609/5610, other “slow trains” have been upgraded with “study carriages”. Students from nearby schools often take the train between school and home. The trains are their “school buses” and many passengers use their travel time     5     (complete) homework.

On train No Z150, which runs between Guiyang and Beijing, a     6     (transform) “book bar” carriage has been welcomed by college students. There are nearly 400 universities and colleges in the cities along the line,     7     (make) train No Z150 the first choice for most students on those campuses.

Since 2015, the train’s dining car     8     (be) open for free at night to provide returning students with a lending library, free tea and other services. These small measures by the railway department are     9     welcome comfort for passengers in need of a     10     (relax) place to continue their studies.