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1、Captain Cook Arrow Legend(库克船长弓箭的传说)It was a great legend while it lasted, but DNA testing has finally ended a two-century-old story of the Hawaiian arrow carved from the bone of British explorer Captain James Cook who died in the Sandwich Islands in 1779.“There is no Cook in the Australian Museum,
2、museum collection manager Jude Philip said not long ago in announcing the DNA evidence that the arrow was not made of Cooks bone. But that will not stop the museum from continuing to display the arrow in its exhibition, “Uncovered: Treasures of the Australian Museum, which does include a feather cap
3、e presented to Cook by Hawaiian King Kalaniopuu in 1778.Cook was one of Britains great explorers and is credited with discovering the “Great South Land, now Australia, in 1770. He was clubbed to death in the Sandwich Islands, now Hawaii.The legend of Cooks arrow began in 1824 when Hawaiian King Kame
4、hameha on his deathbed gave the arrow to William Adams, a London surgeon and relative of Cooks wife, saying it was made of Cooks bone after the fatal fight with islanders.In the 1890s the arrow was given to the Australian Museum and the legend continued until it came face-to-face with science.DNA te
5、sting by laboratories in Australia and New Zealand revealed the arrow was not made of Cooks bone but was more likely made of animal bone, said Philp.However, Cooks fans refuse to give up hope that one Cook legend will prove true and that part of his remains will still be uncovered, as they say there
6、 is evidence not all of Cooks body was buried at sea in 1779. “On this occasion technology has won, said Cliff Thornton, president of the Captain Cook Society, in a statement from Britain. “But I am sure that one of these days one of the Cook legends will prove to be true and it will happen one day.
7、Avalanche and Its Safety(雪崩和安全问题)An avalanche is a sudden and rapid flow of snow, often mixed with air and water, down a mountainside. Avalanches are among the biggest dangers in the mountains for both life and property.All avalanches are caused by an over-burden of material, typically snowpack, tha
8、t is too massive and unstable for the slope that supports it. Determining the critical load, the amount of over-burden which is likely to cause an avalanche, is a plex task involving the evaluation of a numberof factors.Terrain slopes flatter than 25 degrees or steeper than 60 degrees typically have
9、 a low risk of avalanche. Snow does not gather significantly on steep slopes; also, snow does not flow easily on flat slopes. Human-triggered avalanches have the greatest incidence when the snows angle of rest is between 35 and 45 degrees; the critical angle, the angle at which the human incidence o
10、f avalanches is greatest, is 38 degrees. The rule of thumb is : A slope that is flat enough to hold snow but steep enough to ski has the potential to generate an avalanche, regardless of the angle. Additionally, avalanche risk increases with use; that is , the more a slope is disturbed by skiers, th
11、d more likely it is that an avalanche will occur.Due to the plexity of the subject, winter travelling in the backcountry is never 100% safe. Good avalanche safety is a continuous process, including route selection and examination of the snowpack, weather conditions, and human factors. Several well-k
12、nown good habits can also reduce the risk. If local authorities issue avalanche risk reports, they should be considered and all warnings should be paid attention to. Never follow in the tracks of others without your own evaluations; snow conditions are almost certain to have changed since they were
13、made. Observe the terrain and note obvious avalanche paths where plants are missing or damaged. Avoid traveling below others who might trigger an avalanche.Giant Structures(巨型建筑)It is an impossible task to select the most amazing wonders of the modern world since every year more wonderfulconstructio
14、ns appear.Here are three giant structures which are worthy of our admiration although they may have been surpassed by some more recent wonders.The Petronas Twin TowerThe petronas Towers were the tallest buildings in the world when they were pleted in 1999.With a height of 452 metres;the tall twin ow
15、ers,like two thin pencils,dominate the city of Kuala Lumpur.At the 41 flool,the towers are linked by a bridge,symbolizing a gateway to the city.The American architect Cesar Pelli designed the skyscrapers.Constructed of high-strength concrete,the building provides around 1800 square metres of office
16、space on every floor.And it has a shopping centre and a concert hall at the base.Other features of this impressive building include double-deckder lifts, and glass and steel sunshades.The Millau BridgeThe Millau Bridge was opened in 2004 in the Tarn Valley, in southern France. At the time it was bui
17、lt, it was the worlds highest bridge, reaching over 340m at the highest point. The bridge is described as one of the most amazingly beautiful bridge in the world. It was built to relieve Millaus congestion problems. The congestion was then caused by traffic passing from Paris to Barcelona in Spain.
18、The bridge was built to withstand the most extreme seismic and climatic conditions. Besides, it is guaranteed for 120 years!The Itaipu DamThe Itaipu hydroelectric power plant is one of the largest constructions of its kind in the world. It consists of a series of dams across the River Parana, which
19、forms a natural border between Brazil and Paraguay. Started in 1975 and taking 16 years to plete, the construction was carried out as a joint project between the two countries. The dam is well-known for both its electricity output and its size. In 1995 it produced 78% of Paraguays and 25% of Brazils
20、 energy needs. In its construction, the amount of iron and steel used was equivalent to over 300 Eiffel Towers. It is a truly amazing wonder of engineering.Animals “Sixth Sense(动物的第六感)A tsunami was triggered by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean in December, 2004. It killed tens of thousands of peopl
21、e in Asia and East Africa. Wild animals, however, seem to have escaped that terrible tsunami. This phenomenon adds weight to notions that they possess a “sixth sense for disasters, experts said.Sri Lankan wildlife officials have said the giant waves that killed over 24000 people along the Indian Oce
22、an islands coast clearly missed wild beasts, with no dead animals found.“No elephants are dead, not even a dead rabbit. I think animals can sense disaster. They have a sixth sense. They know when things are happening, H.D. Ratnayake, deputy director of Sri Lankas Wildlife Department, said about one
23、month after the tsunami attack. The waves washed floodwaters up to 2 miles inland at Yala National Park in the ravaged southeast, Sri Lankas biggest wildlife reserve and home to hundreds of wild elephants and several leopards.“There has been a lot of apparent evidence about dogs barking or birds mig
24、rating before volcanic eruptions or earthquakes. But it has not been proven, said Matthew van lierop, an animal behavior specialist at Johannesburg Zoo.“There have been no specific studies because you cant really test it in a lab or field setting, he told Reuters. Other authorities concurred with th
25、is assessment.“Wildlife seem to be able to pick up certain phenomenon, especially birds there are many reports of birds detecting impending disasters, said Clive Walker, who has written several books on African wildlife.Animals certainly rely on the known senses such as smell or hearing to avoid dan
26、ger such as predators.The notion of an animal “sixth sense or some other mythical power is an enduring one which the evidence on Sri Lankas ravaged coast is likely to add to.The Romans saw owls as omens of impending disaster and many ancient cultures viewed elephants as sacred animals endowed with s
27、pecial powers or attributes.Singing Alarms Could Save the Blind(警报器救盲人)If you cannot see, you may not be able to find your way out of a burning building and that could be fatal. A pany in Leeds could change all that with directional sound alarms capalbe of guiding you to the exit.Sound Alert, a pany
28、 run by the University of Leeds, is installing the alarms in a residential home for blind people in Sommerset and a resource centre for the blind in Cumbria. The alarms produce a wide range of frequencies that enable the brain to determine where the sound is ing from.Deborah Withington of Sound Aler
29、t says that the alarms use most of the frequencies that can be heard by humans. “It is a burst of white noise that people say sounds like static on the radio, she says. “Its life-saving potential is great.She conducted an experiment in which people were filmed by thermal-imaging cameras trying to fi
30、nd their way out of a large smoke-filled room. It took them nearly four minutes to find the door without a sound alarm, but only 15 seconds with one.Withington studies how the brain processes sounds at the university. She says that the source of a wide band of frequencies can be pinpointed more easi
31、ly than the source of a narrow band. Alarms based on the same concept have already been installed on emergency vehicles.The alarms will also include rising or falling frequencies to indicate whether people should go up or down stairs. They were developed with the aid of a large grant from British Nu
32、clear Fuels.Car Thieves Could Be Stopped Remotely(远程制止偷车贼)Speeding off in a stolen car, the thief thinks he has got a great catch. But he is in a nasty surprise. The car is fitted with a remote immobilizer, and a radio signal from a control center miles away will ensure that once the thief switches
33、the engine off, he will not be able to start it again.For now, such devices are only available for fleets of trucks and specialist vehicles used on construction sites. But remote immobilization technology could soon start to trickle down to ordinary cars, and should be available to ordinary cars in
34、the UK in two months.The idea goes like this. A control box fitted to the car incorporates a miniature cellphone, a microprocessor and memory, and a GPS satellite positioning receiver. If the car is stolen, a coded cellphone signal will tell the unit to block the vehicles engine management system an
35、d prevent the engine being restarted.There are even plans for immobilizers that shut down vehicles on the move, though there are fears over the safety implications of such a system.In the UK, an array of technical fixes is already making life harder for car thieves. “The pattern of vehicles crime ha
36、s changed, says Martyn Rand all of Thatcham, a security research organization based in Berkshire that is funded in part by the motor insurance industry.He says it would only take him a few minutes to teach a novice how to steal a car, using a bare minimum of tools. But only if the car is more than 1
37、0 years old.Modern cars are a far tougher proposition, as their engine management puter will not allow them to start unless they receive a unique ID code beamed out by the ignition key. In the UK, technologies like this have helped achieve a 31 per cent drop in vehicle-related crime since 1997.But d
38、etermined criminals are still managing to find other ways to steal cars. Often by getting hold of the owners keys in a burglary. In 2000, 12 per cent of vehicles stolen in the UK were taken by using the owners keys, which doubles the previous years figure.Remote-controlled immobilization system woul
39、d put a major new obstacle in the criminals way by making such thefts pointless. A group that includes Thatcham, the police, insurance panies and security technology firms have developed standards for a system that could go on the market sooner than the customer expects.An Intelligent Car(智能汽车)Drivi
40、ng needs sharp eyes, keen ears, quick brain, and coordination between hands and the brain. Many human drivers have all these and can control a fast-moving car. But how does an intelligent car control itself?There is a virtual driver in the smart car. This virtual driver has “eyes, “brains, “hands an
41、d “feet, too. The minicameras on each side of the car are his “eyes, which observe the road conditions ahead of it. They watch the traffic to the cars left and right. There is also a highly automatic driving system in the car. It is the built-in puter, which is the virtual drivers “brain. His “brain
42、 calculates the speeds of other moving cars near it and analyzes their positions. Basing on this information, it chooses the right path for the intelligent car, and gives instructions to the “hands and “feet to act accordingly. In this way, the virtual driver controls his car.What is the virtual dri
43、vers best advantage? He reacts quickly. The minicameras are sending images continuously to the “brain. It pletes the processing of the images within 100 milliseconds. However, the worlds best driver at least needs one second to react. Besides, when he takes action, he needs one more second.The virtu
44、al driver is really wonderful. He can reduce the accident rate considerably on expressways. In this case, can we let him have the wheel at any time and in amy place? Experts warn that we cannot do that just yet. His ability to recognize things is still limited . He can now only drive an intelligent
45、car on expressways.Why India Needs Its Dying Vultures(印度为什么需要濒临灭亡的秃鹰)The vultures in question may look ugly and threatening, but the sudden sharp decline in three species of Indias vultures is producing alarm rather than celebration. and it presents the world with a new kind of environmental problem
46、. The dramatic decline in vulture numbers is causing widespread disruption to people living in the Same areas as thebirds. It is also causing serious public health problems across the Indian sub-continentWhile4their reputation and appearance may be unpleasant to many Indians. vultures have long play
47、ed a very important role in keeping towns and villages all over India clean. It isbecausethey feed on dead cows. In India. cows are sacred animals and are traditionally left in the open when they die in their thousands upon thousands every year. The disappearance of the vultures has led to an explos
48、ion in the numbers of wild dogs feeding on the remains of these dead animals. There are fears that rabies mayincrease as a resultAnd this terrifying disease may ultimately affect humans in the region, since wild dogs are its main carriersRabies could also spread to other animal species, causing an e
49、ven greater problem in thefutureThe need for action is urgent , so an emergency project has been launched tofinda solution to this serious vulture problem. Scientists are trying to identify the disease causing the birds deaths and, if possible, develop a cure. Large-scale vulture deaths were first noticed at the end of the 1980s in India. A population survey at that time showed that the
