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So Many “Earths“ The Milky Way(银河)contains billions of Earth-sized planets that could support life. That’ s the finding of a new study. It draws on data that came from NASA’ s top planet-hunting telescope. A mechanical failure recently put that Kepler space telescope out of service. Kepler had played a big role in creating a census of planets orbiting some 170, 000 stars. Its data have been helping astronomers predict how common planets are in our galaxy. The telescope focused on hunting planets that might have conditions similar to those on Earth. The authors of a study, published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, conclude that between 14 and 30 out of every 100 stars, with a mass and temperature similar to the Sun, may host a planet that could support life as we know it. Such a planet would have a diameter at least as large as Earth’ s, but no more than twice that big. The planet also would have to orbit in a star’ s habitable zone. That’ s where the surface temperature would allow any water to exist as a liquid. The new estimate of how many planets might fit these conditions comes from studying more than 42, 000 stars and identifying suitable worlds orbiting them. The scientists used those numbers to extrapolate(推算)to the rest of the stars that the telescope could not see. The estimate is rough, the authors admit. If applied to the solar system, it would define as habitable a zone starting as close to the Sun as Venus and running to as far away as Mars. Neither planet is Earthlike(although either might have been in the distant past). Using tighter limits, the researchers estimate that between 4 and 8 out of every 100 sunlike stars could host an Earth-sized world. These are ones that would take 200 to 400 days to complete a yearly orbit. Four out of every 100 sunlike stars doesn’ t sound like a big number. It would mean, however, that the Milky Way could host more than a billion Earth-sized planets with a chance for life.

A. the extra heat B. rapid exaggeration of impacts C. the exposed ground D. recorded history E. a very long time F. previously published studies

Climate Change; The Long Reach 1 Earth is warming. Sea levels are rising. There’ s more carbon in the air, and Arctic ice is melting faster than at any time in recorded history. Scientists who study the environment to better gauge(评估)Earth’ s future climate now argue that these changes may not reverse for a very long time. 2 People burn fossil fuels like coal and oil for energy. That burning releases carbon dioxide, a colorless gas. In the air, this gas traps heat at Earth’s surface. And the more carbon dioxide released, the more the planet warms. If current consumption of fossil fuels doesn’ t slow, the long-term climate impacts could last thousands of years—and be more severe than scientists had been expecting. Climatologist Richard Zeebe of the University of Hawaii at Manoa offers this conclusion in a new paper. 3 Most climate-change studies look at what’ s going to happen in the next century or so. During that time, changes in the planet’ s environment could nudge(推动)global warming even higher. For example, snow and ice reflect sunlight back into space. But as these melt, sunlight can now reach—and warm—the exposed ground. This extra heat raises the air temperature even more, causing even more snow to melt. This type of rapid exaggeration of impacts is called a “fast feedback“. 4 Zeebe says it’ s important to look at fast feedbacks. However, he adds, they’ re limited. From a climate change perspective, “ This century is the most important time for the next few generations, “ he told Science News. “But the world is not ending in 2100. “ For this new study, Zeebe now focuses on “slow feedbacks“. While fast feedback events unfold over decades or centuries, slow feedbacks can take thousands of years. Melting of continental ice sheets and the migration of plant life—as they relocate to more comfortable areas—are two examples of slow feedbacks. 5 Zeebe gathered information from previously published studies investigating how such processes played out over thousands of years during past dramatic changes in climate. Then he came up with a forecast for the future that accounts for both slow and fast feedback processes. Climate forecasts that use only fast feedbacks predict a 4.5 degree Celsius(8.1 degree Fahrenheit)change by the year 3000. But slow feedbacks added another 1.5° C—for a 6°C total increase, Zeebe reports. He also found that slow feedback events will cause global warming to persist for thousands of years after people run out of fossil fuels to burn. A. Fast Feedbacks B. A Prediction of Future Climate Change C. Rising of Sea Levels D. Slow Feedbacks E. Impact of Burning Fossil Fuels F. Unpredictability of Feedback Processes

Approaches to Understanding Intelligences It pays to be smart, but we are not all smart in the same way. You may be a talented musician, but you might not be a good reader. Each of us is different. Psychologists disagree about what is intelligence and what are talents or personal abilities. Psychologists have two different views on intelligence. Some believe there is one general intelligence. Others believe there are many different intelligences. Some psychologists say there is one type of intelligence that can be measured with IQ tests. These psychologists support their view with research that concludes that people who do well on one kind of test for mental ability do well on other tests. They do well on tests using words, numbers, or pictures. They do well on individual or group tests, and written or oral tests. Those who do poorly on one test, do the same on all tests. Studies of the brain show that there is a biological basis for general intelligence. The brains of intelligent people use less energy during problem solving. The brain waves of people with higher intelligence show a quicker reaction. Some researchers conclude that differences in intelligence result from differences in the speed and effectiveness of information processing by the brain. Howard Gardner, a psychologist at the Harvard School of Education, has four children. He believes that all children are different and shouldn’ t be tested by one intelligence test. Although Gardner believes general intelligence exists, he doesn’ t think it tells much about the talents of a person outside of formal schooling. He thinks that the human mind has different intelligences. These intelligences allow us to solve the kinds of problems we are presented with in life. Each of us has different abilities within these intelligences. Gardner believes that the purpose of school should be to encourage development of all of our intelligences. Gardner says that his theory is based on biology. For example, when one part of the brain is injured, other parts of the brain still work. People who cannot talk because of brain damage can still sing. So, there is not just one intelligence to lose. Gardner has identified 8 different kinds of intelligence:linguistic, mathematical, spatial, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, body-kinesthetic(身体动觉的), and naturalistic.

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Eye-tracker Lets You Drag and Drop Files with a Glance Bored of using a mouse? Soon you’ 11 be able to change stuff on your computer screen—and then move it directly onto your smartphone or tablet(平板电脑)—with nothing more than a glance. A system called EyeDrop uses a head-mounted eye tracker that simultaneously records your field of view so it knows where you are looking on the screen. Gazing at an object—a photo, say—and then pressing a key, selects that object. It can then be moved from the screen to a tablet or smartphone just by glancing at the second device, as long as the two are connected wirelessly. “The beauty of using gaze to support this is that our eyes naturally focus on content that we want to acquire, “ says Jayson Turner, who developed the system with colleagues at Lancaster University, UK. Turner believes EyeDrop would be useful to transfer an interactive map or contact information from a public display to your smartphone or tablet for sharing photos. A button needs to be used to select the object you are looking at otherwise you end up with the “ Midas touch“(点石成金)effect, whereby everything you look at gets selected by your gaze, says Turner. “Imagine if your mouse clicked on everything it pointed at, “ he says. Christian Holz, a researcher in human-computer interaction at Yahoo Labs in Sunnyvale, California, says the system is a nice take on getting round this fundamental problem of using gaze-tracking to interact. “EyeDrop solves this in a slick(灵巧的)way by combining it with input on the touch devices we carry with us most of the time anyway and using touch input as a clutching mechanism, “ he says, “ This now allows users to seamlessly(无缝地)interact across devices far and close in a very natural manner. “ While current eye-trackers are rather bulky, mainstream consumer devices are not too far away. Swedish firm Tobii is developing gaze-tracking technology that can be installed in laptops and tablets and is expected to be available to buy next year. And the Google Glass headset is expected to include eye-tracking in the future. Turner says he has also looked at how content can be cut and pasted or drag-and-dropped using a mix of gaze and taps on a touchscreen. The system was presented at the Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia in Sweden, last week.

The Mir Space Station The Russian Mir Space Station, which came down in 2001 at last after 15 years of pioneering the concept of long-term human space flight, is remembered for its accomplishments in the human space flight history. It can be credited with many firsts in space. During Mir’s lifetime, Russia spent about US $4.2 billion to build and maintain the station. The Soviet Union launched Mir, which was designed to last from three to five years, on February 20, 1986, and housed 104 astronauts over 12 years and seven months, most of whom were not Russian. In fact, it became the first international space station by playing host to 162 people from 11 countries. From 1995 through 1998, seven astronauts from the United States took turns living on Mir for up to six months each. They were among the 37 Americans who visited the station during nine stopovers by space shuttles. The more than 400 million the United States provided Russian for the visits not only kept Mir operating, but also gave the Americans and their partners in the international station project valuable experience in long-term flight and multinational operations. A debate continues over Mir’ s contributions to science. During its existence, Mir was the laboratory for 23, 000 experiments and carried scientific equipment, estimated to be worth $ 80 million, from many nations. Experiments on Mir are credited with a range of findings, from the first solid measurement of the ration of heavy helium(ft, )atoms in space to how to grow wheat in space. But for those favouring human space exploration, Mir showed that people could live and work in space long enough for a trip to Mars. The longest single stay in space is the 437. 7 days that Russian astronaut Valery Polyakov spent on Mir from 1994 to 1995. And Sergie Avdeyev accumulated 747. 6 days in space in three trips to the space station. The longest American stay was that of Shannon Lucid, who spent 188 days aboard Mir in 1996. Despite the many firsts Mir accomplished, 1997 was a bad year out of 15 for Mir. In 1997, an oxygen generator caught fire. Later, the main computer system broke down, causing the station to drift several times and there were power failures. Most of these problems were repaired, with American help and suppliers, but Mir’ s reputation as a space station was ruined. Mir’ s setbacks are nothing, though, when we compare them with its accomplishments. Mir was a tremendous success, which will be remembered as a milestone in space exploration and the space station that showed long-term human habitation in space was possible. But it’ s time to move on to the next generation. The International Space Station being built will be better, but it owes a great debt to Mir.

The Day a Language Died When Carlos Westez died at the age of 76, a language died, too. Westez, more commonly known as Red Thunder Cloud, was the last speaker of the Native American language, Catawba. Anyone who wants to hear various songs of the Catawba can contact the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D. C. , where, back in the 1940s, Red Thunder Cloud recorded a series of songs for future generations.【B1】______ They are all that is left of the Catawba language. The language that people used to speak is gone forever. We are all aware of the damage that modern industry can do to the world’ s ecology(生态). However, few people are aware of the impact that widely spoken languages have on other languages and ways of life. English has spread all over the world. Chinese, Spanish, Russian, and Hindi have become powerful languages, as well.【B2】______When this happens, hundreds of languages that are spoken by only a few people die out. Scholars believe there are about 6, 000 languages around the world, but more than half of them could die out within the next 100 years. There are many examples. Araki is a native language of the island of Vanuatu, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is spoken by only a few older adults, so like Catawba, Araki will soon disappear. Many languages of Ethiopia will have the same fate because each one has only a few speakers.【B3】______In the Americas, 100 languages, each of which has fewer than 300 speakers, also are dying out. Red Thunder Cloud was one of the first to recognize the threat of language death and to try to do something about it. He was not actually born into the Catawba tribe, and the language was not his mother tongue.【B4】______The songs he sang for the Smithsonian Institution helped to make Native American music popular. Now he is gone, and the language is dead. What does it mean when a language disappears? When a plant or insect or animal species dies, it is easy to understand what we’ ve lost and to appreciate what this means for the balance of the natural world. However, language is only a product of the mind. To be the last remaining speaker of a language, like Red Thunder Cloud, must be a lonely destiny, almost as strange and terrible as being the last surviving member of a dying species.【B5】______ A. Some people might want to try to learn some of these songs by heart. B. Papua New Guinea is an extremely rich source of different languages, but more than 100 of them are in danger of extinction(灭绝). C. However, he was a frequent visitor to the Catawba reservation in South Carolina, where he learned the language. D. These languages don’t have many native speakers. E. For the rest of us, when a language dies, we lose the possibility of a unique way of seeing and describing the world. F. As these languages become more powerful, their use as tools of business and culture increases.

Underground Coal Fires Coal burning deep underground in China, India and Indonesia is threatening the environment and human life, scientists have warned. These large-scale【C1】______blazes(火焰)cause the ground temperature to heat up and kill surrounding vegetation, produce greenhouse gases and can【C2】______ ignite(点燃)forest fires, a group of scientists told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Denver. The resulting【C3】______of poisonous elements like mercury can also pollute local water sources and soils, they warned. “Coal fires are a global disaster, “ said Associate Professor Glenn Stracher of East Georgia College in Swainsboro, USA. But【C4】______few people know about them. Coal can heat up on its own, and eventually catch fire and burn, if there is a continuous oxygen supply. The heat produced is not caused to【C5】______and under the right combinations of sunlight and oxygen, can trigger spontaneous(自发的)catching fire and burning. This can occur underground, in coal stockpiles, abandoned mines or even as coal is transported.【C6】______fires in China consume up to 200 million tons of coal per year, delegates were told. In【C7】______, the U. S. economy consumes about one billion tons of coal annually, said Stracher, 【C8】______analysis of the likely impact of coal fires has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Coal Ecology.【C9】______underway, coal fires can burn for decades, even centuries. In the process, they release large【C10】______of greenhouse gases, poisonous fumes and black particles into the atmosphere. The members of the panel discussed the【C11】______these fires may be having on global and regional climate change, and agreed that the underground nature of the fires makes them difficult to【C12】______. Ultimately, the remote sensing and other techniques should allow scientists to【C13】______how much carbon dioxide these fires are emitting(释放). One suggested【C14】______of containing the fires was presented by Gary Colaizzi, of the engineering firm Goodson, which has developed a heat-resistant grout (灌浆), which is designed to be pumped into the coal fire to【C15】______the oxygen supply.

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