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1、Avalanche and Its SafetyAn 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, that is too
2、 massive and unstable for the slope that supports it. Determining the critical load, the amount of over-burden which is likely an avalanche, is a complex task involving the evaluation of a number of factors. Terrain slopes flatter than 25 degrees or steeper than 60 degrees typically have a low risk
3、of avalanche. Snow does not gather significantly on steep slopes; also, snow does not flow easily on fiat slopes. Human-triggered avalanches have the greatest incidence when the snows angle of rest1 is between 35 and 45 degrees; the critical angle, the angle at which the human incidence of avalanche
4、s is greatest, is 38 degrees. The rule of thumb2 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. Additionally3, avalanche risk increases with use ; that is, the more a slope is disturbed by skiers, the more lik
5、ely it is that an avalanche will occur. Due to the complexity of the subject, winter travelling in the backcountry4 is never 100% safe. Good avalanche safety is a continuous process , including route selection and examination to the snowpack, weather conditions , and human factors. Several well-know
6、n 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 mad
7、e. Observe the terrain and note obvious avalanche paths where plants are moiising or damaged. Avoid traveling below others who might trigger an avalanche.Giant StructuresIt is an impossible task to select the most amazing wonders of the modem world since every year more_wonderful_constructions appea
8、r. 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 TowersThe Petronas Towers were the tallest buildings in the world when they were completed in 1999. With a_height_of 452 metres, the tall twin tow
9、ers, like two thin pencils, dominate the city of Kuala Lumpur. At the 41st floor, 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 1，800 square metres
10、of office 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-decker lifts, and glass and steel sunshades.The MiUau BridgeThe Millau Bridge was opened in 2004 in the Tam Valley，in southern France._At_the time it
11、 was built，it was the worlds highest bridge,_reaching_over 340m at the highest point. The bridge is described as one of the most amazingly beautiful bridges in the world. It was built to_relieve_Millaus congestion problems. The congestion was then caused by traffic passing from Paris to Barcelona in
12、 Spain. 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
13、,_which_forms a natural border between Brazil and Paraguay. Started in 1975 and taking 16 years to complete, 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
14、% of Brazils_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”A tsunami was triggered by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean in December, 2004. It killed tens of thousands of
15、people in Asia and East Africa. Wild animals, however, seem to have escaped that terrible tsunami. This phenomenon adds weight to notions that I they possess a “sixth sense” for disasters, experts said. Sri Lankan wildlife officials have said the giant waves that killed over 24,000 people along the
16、Indian Ocean islands coast clearly missed wild beasts, with no dead animals found. “No elephants are dead, not even 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
17、about one 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 o
18、r birds migrating 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 setting2,” he told Reuters. Other authorities con
19、curred with this 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 hea
20、ring to avoid danger such as predators. The notion of an animal “sixth sense”-or some other mythical power-is an enduring one3 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 a
21、nimals endowed with special powers or attributes.Singing Alarms Could Save the BlindIf you cannot see, you may not be able to find your way out of a burning building - and that could be fatal. A company in Leeds could change all that with directional sound alarms capable if guiding you to the exit.S
22、ound Alert, a company 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 coming from.Deborah W
23、ithington of Sound Alert says that the alarms use most of the frequencies that can be heard by humans. “Its 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 thermalimaging
24、 cameras trying to find 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
25、 pinpointed more easily 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
26、grant from British Nuclear Fuels.Car Thieves could Be Stopped Remotely 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 thi
27、ef switches 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 ord
28、inary cars in the UK in two months. The idea goes like this. A control box fitted to the carincorporates 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 manage
29、ment system and 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 v
30、ehicles crime has changed,” says Martyn Randall 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 c
31、ar is more than 10 years old. Modern cars are a far tougher proposition, as their engine management computer 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 c
32、rime since 1997. But determined 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 using the owners keys double the previous years figure. Remote-controlled immobilization
33、 system would put a major new obstacle in the criminals way by making such thefts pointless. A group that includes Thatcham, the police, insurance companies and security technology firms have developed standards for a system that could goon the market sooner than the customer expects.An intelligent
34、carDriving 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”，“
35、hands” and “feet”，too. The mini-cameras on each side of the car are his “eyes,” which observe the road and 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 computer, which is the virtual drivers
36、“brain. ” His “brain” 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 cars, and gives instructions to the “hands”and “feets”to act accordingly. In this way, the virtual driver controls his car.
37、What is the virtual drivers best advantage? He reacts quickly. The mini-cameras are sending images continuously to the “brain”. It completes the processing of the images within 100 milliseconds. However, the worlds best drier at least needs one second to react. Besides, when he takes action, he need
38、s one more second.The virtual driver is really wonderful. He can reduce the accident rate considerably on expressway. In this case. Can we let him have the wheel at any time and in any place? Experts warn that we cannot do that just yet. His ability to recognize things is still limited. He can now o
39、nly drive an intelligent car on expressways.Wonder Webs Spider webs are more than homes, and they are ingenious traps. And the worlds best web spinner may be the Golden Orb Weaver spider. The female Orb Weaver spins a web of fibers thin enough to be invisible to insect prey, yet tough enough to snar
40、e a flying bird without breaking. The secret of the webs strength? A type of super-resilient silk called dragline. When the female spider is ready to weave the webs spokes and frame, she uses her legs to draw the airy thread out through a hollow nozzle in her belly. Dragline is not sticky, so the sp
41、ider can race back and forth along it to spin the webs trademark spiral. Unlike some spiders that weave a new web every day, a Golden Orb Weaver reuses her handiwork until it falls apart, sometimes not for two years. The silky thread is five times stronger than steel by weight and absorbs the force
42、of an impact three times better than Kevlar, a high-strength human-made material used in bullet-proof vests. And thanks to its high tensile strength, or the ability to resist breaking under the pulling force called tension, a single strand can stretch up to 40 percent longer than its original length
43、 and snap back as well as new. No human-made fiber even comes close . It is no wonder manufacturers are clamoring for spider silk. In the consumer pipeline: High-performance fabrics for athletes and stockings that never run. Think parachute cords and suspension bridge cables. A steady supply of spid
44、er silk would be worth billions of dollars but how to produce it? Harvesting silk on spider farms does not work because the territorial arthropods have a tendency to devour their neighbors. Now, scientists at the biotechnology company Nexia are spinning artificial silk modeled after Golden Orb dragl
45、ine. The first step: extract silk-making genes from the spiders. Next, implant the genes into goat egg cells. The nanny goats that grow from the eggs secrete dragline silk proteins in their milk . “The young goats pass on the silk-making gene without any help from us,” says Nexia president Jeffrey T
46、urner. Nexia is still perfecting the spinning process, but they hope artificial spider silk will soon be snagging customers as fast as the real thing snags bugs.Chicken Soup for the Soul：Comfort Food Fights LonelinesMashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, may be bad for your arteries but according to
47、a study in Psychological Science, theyre good for your heart and emotionsThe study focuses on “comfort food” and how it makes people feel For me personally ,food has always played a big role in my family,” says Jordan Troisi, a graduate student at the University of Buffalo, and lead author on the st
48、udyThe study came out of the research program of his coauthor Shira GabrielIt has looked at non-human things that may affect human emotionsSome people reduce loneliness by bonding with their favorite TV show, building virtual relationships with a pop song singer or looking at pictures of loved onesTroisi and Gabriel wondered if comfort food could have the same effect by making people think of their nearest and dearest. In one experiment, in order to make participants feel lonely, the researchers had them write for six minutes about a fight with someo