Group6

(members:郭哲豪、陳柏均)   Science News: Life Website:  Michelle O’Malley seeks greener chemistry through elusive fungi | Science News Main idea   Michelle O'Malley, a chemical and biological engineer at the University of California, try to find the enzyme which can produce the new green energy. Supporting details   Michelle's team members find out the microorganisms which can digest certain plants in animals' poop The fungi along with the anaerobic bacteria can break down grass and other plants, releasing sugars and nutrients for the animals. Michelle's plan is to sweep aside nonrenewable petroleum and pursue a sustainable route to chemical and energy production that starts with agricultural leftover.   Evidence Michelle says, "Goats and sheep poop helps to watch the donation take place." Cellulose can be decomposed by enzymes to become glucose, which can supply energy to animals. Michelle says, "As we've really delved into the discovery of these anaerobic ...

Popular Science   (member:郭哲豪、陳柏均) website:  https://www.popsci.com/science/ What a century of rising seas can tell us about the next 30 years Main idea The impact of rising seas in the US and their solution to solve the problems of coastal communities. Supporting detail 1.         Nowadays, there are many areas in the US suffering from floods due to the rising seas.  2.         The speed of the rising seas is quicker than before, which causes more floods in the US. 3.         The government has started the program to help the coastal communities.  Evidence 1.         Glaciers react quickly to rising temperatures, says Thomas Frederikse, a sea-level expert at NASA’s Joint Propulsion Lab, and an author of the recent NOAA report, but they don’t hold much water overall.  2.         The A...

The science of ghosts (members:郭哲豪、陳柏均) (Link:  The science of ghosts | Science News for Students ) Main idea The article explains that supernatural things may not be real things, it usually is a kind of hallucination of people. Supporting details This article  explains when people find that they wake up but can't move, it's not a ghost pressing you but sleep paralysis in science.  It also explains when the senses of humans receive too little surrounding information, our brain will create more of reality. Therefore, it will lead to hallucination more than reality for us.  Last, the author tells that people only remember the things on which they want to focus. And that is why some people will take what they think are "abnormal things" in supernatural directions. Evidence Sleep paralysis “is like dreaming with your eyes open,” explains Baland Jalal, a neuroscientist who studied at the University of Cambridge in England. David Smailes, a psychologist in England at North...

 Like It or Not, Automation Is Coming (members:郭哲豪、陳柏均) (website:  Like It or Not, Automation Is Coming - Scientific American Blog Network ) The controversial issue  The issue discusses the impact of automation in the long term and short term. T he author’s position on this issue The author thinks that automation will replace labor, which will cause some people to lose their jobs, however, it also brings more employment opportunities than before. In conclusion, the author supports automation.   The author’s arguments 1. New technology will lower the costs of the traditional manufacturing methods. 2. New technologies often create jobs. 3. We can improve families and communities to higher standards of living b y automation . The evidence 1.      Robotic process automation (RPA) software is helping reduce administrative burdens by mimicking human actions and performing repetitive tasks, such as recording data. 2.      The...

 How color affects us? (members:郭哲豪、陳柏均) (website:  BBC Learning English - 6 Minute English / How color affects us ) Main idea The main idea is to introduce the impact of color on our mood. Connection First, when I go to IKEA, most of their furniture’s colors are light colors. Therefore, a fter listening to the 6-mins lecture, I realize that light colors can bring a feeling of relaxation, so they are great for use as furniture. Second,  c olors sometimes can show our mood such as “Green” can symbolize a feeling of envy and “Blue” can symbolize depression. But someone feels calm when they see green. Reflection As Karen Haller, a color psychologist and a color designer and consultant, said that the wavelengths of light cause different colors we see. Besides, we will have different reactions when they come through our eyes to the part of our brain called the hypothalamus.  Besides, when the person lives a hectic life often want a quiet sanctuary to come back to, so th...

(members:陳羿勳、楊杰恩)   Article： The science of ghosts website：  https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/ Articles browsed 1.The science of ghosts 2.A sense of touch could upgrade virtual reality, prosthetics and more 3.Future cars may offer personal sound zones — no earphones needed Main idea： Sometimes, people may feel that they encounter supernatural beings, but in fact, most of those are bogus. In some special cases, our brain messes up, adds, or ignores signals, which leads to hallucinations. So we don't need to be afraid of it: instead, we should think more about the principle behind it. Supporting details： 1. When you mishear the lyrics in a song, your brain filled in a meaning that wasn’t there. (And it will most likely continue to mishear those words even after you learn the right ones.) 2.  The brain’s picture of reality sometimes includes things that aren’t there. But it can also completely miss things that are there. This is called inattentional blindness....

(members:陳羿勳、楊杰恩)    Article：Nostalgia may have bona fide benefits in hard times, like the pandemic. Article browsed： 1. A single molecule may entice normally solitary locusts to form massive swarms. 2. A toxin behind mysterious eagle die-offs may have finally been found. Preface： Nowadays, nostalgia’s reputation is much improved. Social psychologists define the emotion — which Hofer saw as synonymous with “homesickness” — as a sentimental longing for meaningful events from one’s past. And research suggests that  nostalgia can help people cope  with  dementia ,  grief  and even the  disorientation  experienced by immigrants and refugees. Main idea： Nostalgia can help us be happier. Supporting details： 1. When the team drilled down on the role nostalgia plays, they found people who didn't indulge in those memories were the least happy 2. Nostalgia can help people cope with dementia, grief and even the disorientation experienced by immigrants a...

(members:陳羿勳、楊杰恩)   Article： What happens if you get diarrhea in space?   website： https://www.popsci.com/science/ Article browsed： Climate change is pumping more pollen into allergy season Future astronauts and space tourists could rock 3D printed ‘second skin’ Main idea： Astronauts encounter many problems in outer space as a result of microgravity there. Diarrhea is a common one. To prevent this from happening, some people are hired to make sure that astronauts are healthy. They monitor astronauts and try hard to read the tea leaves, so diarrhea wouldn't affect their performance. The history of pooping management gives us an interesting view of space traveling. Supporting details： Although people can't 'really' poop in space, the desire to the bathroom still hit them. Astronauts in ISS share one or two suction-powered toilets.   NASA flight surgeon Josef Schmid is who handles the poops problems.   In fact, even the healthiest astronauts might find t...

Is it possible that AI (Artificial Intelligence) could replace doctors and nurses in the future? From BBC Learning English: 6 minute English, link:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english （Group member 楊杰恩、陳奕勳） Main idea     In 2017, a team of researchers announced that they had invented an AI system that can analyse the photos of freckle and diagnose as  accurately as twenty-one leading dermatologists   whether it is cancerous or just a normal freckle, which re-open the debate of the replaceability of doctors. Connections     Although we don't have freckle problems, it is a thought-provoking question whether doctors will be replaced by machines. Even doctors, a traditionally high-qualification career, might lose jobs. We shouldn't take the alert too easy. Reflections     Even if the machine seems to be able to judge some conditions more accurately than some doctors, I think these judgments made by the machine...

Some people believe that human can be froze when meet some special situation, while some people disagree it. From Scientific American  website： https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/08/for-200000-this-lab-will-swap-your-bodys-blood-for-antifreeze/379074/ (members:陳羿勳、楊杰恩)   "Some people believe that human can be froze when meet some special situation, while some people disagree it." Controversial issue:     Whether human can be “preserved” and wait for the futuristic technology when facing some problems that cannot be solved now. The side author stands:     The author stands neither pros nor cons side; instead, she takes a skeptical attitude. She is not sure whether this technique will come in handy. Author's argument: More admit that cryonics has no guarantee, so the author can neither agree nor oppose the application of cryonics. The author doesn’t reveal her thoughts but make introduce the technique of cryonics. The technique of c...