RP154 Science Fiction

 RP154 Science Fiction

What would happen if time travel became possible or if robots developed real intelligence? What if we discovered a new planet with a more advanced type of species?

These questions are the reason that science fiction exists. Science fiction takes possibilities like these and explores how human beings would react. Science fiction (sci-fi) is fiction that takes place in a world that is somewhat like ours, but changed in important ways. Those changes have to do with science and technology. But sci-fi is really interested in people, not just technology. It tries to show how people, as we are now, would behave in strange new situations.“The literature of ideas” is what science fiction is often called, because it goes beyond reality.

Science fiction is also called “the literature of change.” This is because it usually becomes popular in times of change. When big changes are happening in a society, writers often try to explore them. Sometimes the changes are too new or dangerous to write about. Science fiction writers, therefore, create metaphors. They use their imaginary technological changes to represent real social changes or problems. Science fiction was born in a time of change— the beginning of the Age of Reason in the West. People's beliefs were being challenged by new scientific theories and developments. Writers wanted to explore those changes. That era was when famous early sci-fi books like Gulliver's Travels were written.

Science fiction has been going strong since then. Some famous sci-fi writers are Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Phillip K. Dick, H. G. Wells, and Ursula K. Le Guin, though there are many more. If you like imagination and new ideas, sci-fi may be for you.

RP153 Unusual Taboos

 RP153 Unusual Taboos

All cultures have taboos—things that are not allowed. Many taboos come from religion and ancient traditions. What may be perfectly normal in one culture can be terribly offensive in another. Many taboos are about food and clothing.

Are you eating now? What time is it? In Portugal, you shouldn't eat oranges at night; in Cape Verde, they say the same thing about sweet potatoes. Some taboos are about what you shouldn't eat. In America, eating dog or horse meat is taboo, as is eating most insects. In other places, these foods are fine. Many people in India would never eat beef, but in most of the rest of the world, people raise cows for meat. The way people eat is also ruled by taboos. In China you can eat with your mouth open, whereas in Europe this is rude. In many parts of the world, eating with the left hand is taboo, because it is used for washing yourself.

Clothing taboos often show social status. Many cultures use colors to show rank. In ancient Rome, only senators could wear purple. Some taboos are about what skin people can show. In the past, to see a woman's ankle was taboo. Now, we have bikinis! In India, traditional saris show women's stomachs, but these clothes would be taboo in much of the Middle East. And in Tonga, it is illegal for a man to go without a shirt in public!

Understanding taboos helps us understand other cultures' histories, since most taboos come from the distant past. Learning about other cultures' taboos also helps us understand our own. After all, any one of our taboos could seem strange to a foreigner.

RP152 The Northern Lights

RP152 The Northern Lights

The beautiful northern lights sweep across the northern skies. Sometimes they look like blue or green smoke. Sometimes they look like a vast white scarf shaken out between the stars. They appear mysterious, as if from another world, and they have been inspiring mankind for centuries.

The Cree people called them the “Dance of the Spirits.” Some ancient Norse thought the lights were reflections off the shield of fallen ancient soldiers going to their paradise. Others thought they were oceans surrounded by fire. The red lights can also look like a breath of fire from a dragon. In fact, they may be a source of dragon myths. Red lights were often thought to predict wars. Some cultures hide when the northern lights are in the sky; others watch them with respect. Many Asian cultures believe children born under northern lights will be lucky, but some European cultures believed the opposite.

These mysterious lights that inspire our imaginations really do come from another world—they come from the sun. The northern lights—or “aurora borealis” their scientific name—result from solar wind connecting with particles high in Earth's atmosphere. This connection causes the particles to give off different substances. When there are storms on the sun, we see more auroras, because there's more solar wind. The different colors of the auroras are a result of different particles releasing different substances. All this activity can cause problems for radios and other electronic tools, though it creates unbelievable art in the sky.

The northern lights are still a source of inspiration for human beings. Photographers, painters, writers—they all try to capture the awe that these lights create. However, these lights are difficult to pin down on paper. You may just have to see them for yourself. 

RP151 Wired for Love

 RP151 Wired for Love?

In 2016, newspapers reported that a French woman had said something very strange. She was "engaged" to a robot and planned to marry it as soon as robot-human marriage became legal.

A strange story, yes. But in fact, people falling in love with non-human objects is nothing new. People have "married" the Eifel Tower, the Berlin Wall, and even the Statue of Liberty. In the past, these affairs were seen as strange and the people involved in them rather odd. Technology is now so advanced, however, that certain objects (such as computers and robots) can seem almost human. The question is no longer a joke. Could there be a future in which human-robot relationships not only exist, but are considered normal?

The fact is, over the past 20 years we have been interacting with technology in ever-more-intimate ways. The Tamagotchi craze of the 1990s had people giving up their lives to take care of tiny digital "pets." In the early 2000s, Sony's robot dog AIBO stole people's hearts. And in 2011, Apple's Siri gave iPhones voices and personalities. Nowadays, we often spend more time with our phones than we do with other people. Artificial intelligence will continue to simulate human personalities and behavior ever more accurately. And the barriers against falling in love with artificial humans may soon fall away altogether as a result. Indeed, surveys show that 30% of people feel they could fall in love with robots in the future. One scientist even predicts that human-robot marriages will be legal by 2050.

Technology is, of course, meant to make our lives easier. In this case, however, it seems the more advanced technology gets, the more complicated the situation might become. But then again, when was true love ever simple?

RP150 Save Our Seas

 RP150 Save Our Seas

In August 2000, people in the Australian seaside town of Cairns found something very unusual on their beach: a whale. It was sick, and had come out of the ocean. It soon died on the sand.

When vets looked inside the dead whale, they found six square meters of plastic. The animal had eaten plastic bags that humans had thrown into the sea. Another whale died in Terschelling, in the Netherlands, in 2013. It had swallowed plastic bags, rope, flowerpots, and even a spray bottle. Turtles eat plastic bags all the time, mistaking them for jellyfish.

In May 2003, a platypus was found near a river in Tasmania, an Australian island. A plastic bag was wrapped around its body. It survived, and was named Lucky by its rescuers. Sadly, many other platypuses are not so lucky.

Animals are dying because of our trash. Plastic bags are a particular problem, because they last such a long time. While paper bags break down in months, plastic bags take a minimum of 10 years! But they are light and cheap, and people use them every day without thinking.

Many countries have tried to manage the problem of plastic bags. Bangladesh was the first country to ban them, and others, including China, have adopted full or partial bans. Governments have asked people to use cloth bags at the supermarket instead.

We cannot solve this problem overnight. There is already too much plastic in our oceans. However, we can stop producing more. Plastic comes from natural gas and petrol, which are bad for the environment anyway. Both humans and animals will benefit if plastic bags are banned everywhere.

RP149 The Shakespeare of Rock & Roll

RP149 The Shakespeare of Rock & Roll

In 2016, a songwriter won the Nobel Prize in Literature for the first time. But this is only the latest victory for the man often called the greatest American poet of the 20th century. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Bob Dylan!

Born in Minnesota in 1941, Robert Zimmerman changed his name and moved to New York in 1961 to make a career in music. Originally a folk singer, he played social and political songs in coffee shops for small crowds. He was soon noticed by Columbia Records, and his first album, Bob Dylan, was released in 1962. Although his early records weren't very big sellers, Dylan quickly found success as a songwriter. His famous protest song "Blowin' in the Wind" was a hit for the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary in 1963. Since then, countless other artists have covered Dylan's songs.

In 1965, Dylan shocked the music world by switching from soft folk to hard rock. While some of his old fans were disappointed, many new fans were created. The single "Like a Rolling Stone" reached number two in the United States, making Dylan a star. A couple of years later he changed styles again, writing and playing quiet country songs. Now the rock fans were upset, but Dylan just kept moving forward. 1969's Nashville Skyline was his fastest-selling album yet!

The end of the 1960s did not bring an end to Dylan's success. Hits such as "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"(1973) kept him in the public eye, and 1975's Blood on the Tracks remains his best-selling album. More than 40 years later, he continues to record and perform around the world. In addition to his Nobel Prize, Dylan has won 12 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and the US presidential Medal of Freedom. The man who began his career by attacking the establishment is now very well established! 

RP148 Victorian Art

RP148 Victorian Art

From 1837 to 1901, Queen Victoria ruled England. She ruled while the British Empire became the most powerful, most modern, and wealthiest nation in the world. For this reason, many people of that era were very positive. They believed science could solve the world's problems. They believed their Empire was changing the world for the better. Their new wealth and positive outlook led to an explosion of new artwork, as people had time to make, think about, and consume art.

The Victorian Age gave us new styles of painting. One was called Pre-Raphaelite. The Pre-Raphaelites believed that after Raphael and Michelangelo, art became too controlled. They believed emotion and rich details were more important than reason and rules of composition. They thought paintings should explode with color and feeling. Their paintings were richly colored and very detailed. Dante Rossetti and William Holman Hunt are typical Pre-Raphaelite painters.

Romanticism was similar to the Pre-Raphaelite movement in that it valued emotion over reason. The Romanticists were fascinated by nature— the heroic and beautiful and the dark and diseased. They used scenes from the Middle Ages because they believed that was a darker, more passionate time than the popular Classical period. They focused on amazing individuals rather than social rules.

Another important development in Victorian art was the beginning of photography. Queen Victoria was the first monarch to have her photo taken. This new technology was being used for science and art. Many early photos are composed like paintings, while others explore the differences between the art forms.

The energy and emotions of the Victorian Age brought many positive changes. People pushed the boundaries of their art and technology and created new styles and new ideas. They still influence us today. 

RP147 The World's Oldest Sports

RP147 The World's Oldest Sports

Soccer, baseball, volleyball, and golf—humans love sports. We play old ones. We invent new ones. We cheer for our favorite players and cry over our losses. But how long have humans been playing sports for fun? Which sports are the oldest?

Cricket, the English sport, is among the oldest. There have been international cricket matches since 1844, but the game is much older than that. There are references to a sport called "creckett" as far back as the late 1500s, when it was a children's game. It became popular among adults in the 1600s. The rules were officially recorded in 1744.

Tennis is also quite old. It began in Europe. Experts believe it was played in monasteries for entertainment in the 1300s. It was first played with a wooden ball and with hands instead of racquets, but it evolved over time. It became popular among French kings between the 1500s and the 1800s. That was when it got the name "tennis" and when official rules were established.

But by far the oldest sport comes from the New World. It's called "ulama", and it comes from what is now Mexico. Ulama was played on a long, narrow court, with two teams of four or five people at each end. Teams serve the balls to each other, and then team members try to move the balls along the court until they score by hitting a ball past the other team's line. They can only hit the balls with their hips and thighs. Ulama is not common now, but it is still sometimes played today in parts of Mexico. It began as far back as 1,500 BC, which means ulama has been played for 3,500 years! 

RP146 A Mixed New World

RP146 A Mixed New World

It's morning in the not-too-distant future. You wake up. You shoot some virtual aliens in your kitchen while eating breakfast. Later, you take your virtual pet dinosaur out for a walk in the park. And when you get home, you realize you don't like the way you' ve decorated your apartment. easily fixed. With a few waves of your hand, your home now resembles a grand European palace. That's better. Welcome to the exciting world of mixed reality.

Defining exactly what mixed reality (MR) is can be tricky. Is it the same as virtual reality (VR)? What about "augmented reality"(AR)? How is MR different from that?

Basically, VR shuts out the real world and wraps the user completely in a virtual one. AR, on the other hand, takes the user's view of the real world and adds digital information to it. (An example of AR is the game Pokémon Go. You can see the creatures against a real-world background, but they can't interact with it.) MR is somewhere in between. As in AR, digital images are placed over the real world. But in MR, these images can interact with that world as if they themselves were real. Imagine that the Pokémon you were hunting could hide behind cars or climb up trees.

To make this possible, the real-world environment first has to be mapped using 3D cameras. This allows the virtual images to "know" where they are in it. The user, wearing a headset, can then see the two worlds— real and virtual— as one.

MR is set to become the technology of the near future. And the possible applications are truly vast. Everything from gaming to communications to medicine will be changed by MR. So get ready. Reality as we know it is about to get a full virtual makeover! 

RP145 Parasites

RP145 Parasites

You probably don't want to think about this, but our bodies are full of tiny animals. They live off us. They' re called parasites.

A parasite is a creature that depends on another creature, called the host, to live. The host, without knowing it, provides food and shelter for the parasite. Some parasites can be very dangerous, even deadly, while others are harmless.

There are many hundreds, even thousands, of types of parasites that can live on or in humans. One of the most common is the hookworm. Hookworms live in the intestines and suck blood. They sound frightening, but in fact, about 50 percent of people in the world have hookworms, and most of them feel nothing at all. Hookworms only become a serious problem when you have too many. Then they can cause people to feel sick and lose weight.

There's a harmless parasite called a tooth amoeba that lives in our mouths. They live in holes and cavities in our teeth and eat tiny bits of food left behind. Dust mites are also usually innocent. They live on our skin and actually eat dead skin. There are parasites that can live in our eyelashes and eyebrows. You might have them and never know it!

Tapeworms, on the other hand, are very dangerous. They can grow more than 30 feet long, and they live by eating the food the human host eats. They can kill their hosts by causing them to starve. River blindness, a terrible disease, is caused by a parasite that gets into our bodies through black fly bites. The infection these parasites cause can leave people blind.

We humans think we rule the world, but perhaps we should pay more attention to the microscopic creatures that affect us every day. 

RP144 What Are Carbon Offsets

RP144 What Are Carbon Offsets?

As the idea of global warming gains more acceptance in the world, scientists are scrambled for a way to stop it before it's too late. One of these ways is by using carbon offsets (also called carbon sharing).

Carbon offsets were designed to help countries comply with their obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. Under the Kyoto Protocol, countries agree to reduce their carbon emissions by a certain percent—carbon emissions are measured in tons of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases. But because these countries only have to reduce their total emissions, not every business or organization—or even every country—has to reduce their emissions by the same amount. They just have to reach the correct total reduction.

Some countries, companies, and organizations can reduce their carbon emissions more easily than others. Carbon offsets allow them to sell these reductions to other entities that are moving more slowly. So a country or company can buy carbon credits somewhere else. This prevents carbon from being emitted somewhere, but not by that particular entity.

Carbon offsets are controversial, because they allow polluters to avoid reducing their own carbon emissions. "I won't turn off my tap. I'll pay someone else £10 to pay someone else £2 to turn off their own tap," explain members of the environmental group Rising Tide, which opposes carbon offsets. Others, however, say that carbon offsets are a good way to reduce emissions overall while big countries figure out how to cut their own emissions without hurting their economies.

As the Kyoto Protocol is enforced and the world becomes more serious about greenhouse gas reductions, carbon offset programs will become widespread. Understanding this complex issue is very important if you want to stop global warming. Keep researching, and decide for yourself if selling carbon offsets will help or hurt us all. 

RP143 NEET

 RP143 NEET

The acronym NEET stands for" Not in Education, Employment, or Training. "NEET usually refers to people who have been out of work, school, and training for some time. NEET people often have negative psychological states. Some of these are causes of their NEET status; others are results.

Many young people become NEET because they don't have good job qualifications. In this slow economy, competition for jobs is fierce. Because they think they have poor qualifications, they may lack confidence. Without confidence, they may lose motivation and forget how to even set goals, let alone how to achieve them. Their NEET status can pull them into a vicious circle: the longer they are away from a job, the more difficult it is for them to find one and perform in it.

According to The Prince's Trust Youth Index 2010, many NEET youth feel more negative about the world than their peers. The 16~25-year-old people in the survey were less likely to feel happy or loved most of the time. They were far more likely to agree with statements like," My life has no direction," "I do not feel valued by those around me," "I have nothing to look forward to," and even "I have felt suicidal."

The obvious solution for NEETs is a better economy and more jobs. More importantly, we need to create a society where being out of work is not a source of shame. Life is about more than work. We human beings should remember that our lives are valuable for a huge variety of reasons. A paycheck shouldn't be the only one.

RP142 The Large Hadron Collider

 RP142 The Large Hadron Collider

In Switzerland, in a huge tunnel deep underground, is a giant scientific instrument. It's called the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It was built with the help of more than 10,000 scientists from over 100 different countries to help people learn more about how our world began.

The LHC was built to make different particles collide—crash into each other—at extremely high speeds. The LHC is so big (17 miles long) to allow the particles to build up as much speed as possible.

The particles this machine uses are called hadrons. They' re even smaller than atoms. Scientists believe that by smashing them into each other at high speeds, we can learn more about the Big Bang. The Big Bang is the name of a theory about how Earth was formed. The theory guesses that our part of the universe used to be only a few centimeters of hot space. Then, for some reason, this space began to expand and cool until it eventually became the vast, cold universe we now have. Scientists want to know why.

The LHC tries to recreate the Big Bang. It spins hadrons until they are moving at almost the speed of light. The great speed makes them very hot, like they would have been before the Big Bang. Then, when they collide, they produce a "soup" of other particles. Scientists are very curious about these other particles. They believe that studying the beginning of the universe can help them understand how the universe works now.

The LHC will also help scientists try to answer other questions, like "What is most of the universe made of?" and "What makes some things have weight?" We don't know if the LHC will actually provide answers, but for now, it's as close as we can get!

RP141 American Folk Art Traditions

RP141 American Folk Art Traditions

Folk art is different from fine art or high art. Folk means "of the people." It is art created by people who were not trained as artists. Folk art is often useful, rather than a piece to be admired. It can show what objects people used and valued in a particular time and place. Two objects that became American folk art are quilts and decoys.

A quilt is a large piece of fabric, usually meant to cover a bed. A typical type of American quilt is a piece quilt. Piece quilts are made by sewing different pieces of fabric into a pattern. Some patterns show stars; some show snowflakes. Some are simple, and some are very complex. Quilts were often made by women, either alone or in groups, and were often given as gifts. Beautiful, complex quilts were treasures that were passed down from parents to children in a family. African-Americans developed their own style of quilting, as did the Amish. African-American quilts sometimes tell stories, while Amish quilts are often plain and less colorful.

Another very typical American folk art object is the decoy. Decoys are objects made of wood that are painted and designed to look like ducks and other waterbirds. They were first used by Native Americans to attract live birds. The first English settlers learned the skill from the Native Americans. Though decoys were useful objects, some of them were painted very beautifully and realistically. Like most folk art, each decoy represents the region in which it was made. Decoys from different parts of America have different styles of carving and painting. They tell a story about their small part of the world, just as the quilts do. 

RP140 Bill Gates After Microsoft

 RP140 Bill Gates After Microsoft

Bill Gates is famous because of Microsoft, the incredibly successful computer company he founded. But what he has done since he left Microsoft may change the world even more.

Bill Gates's personal fortune was huge, and he thought he should give more of it to charity. Rather than give money to other charities, he and his wife decided to create their own. They created the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation(the Gates Foundation) in 1999. The Gates Foundation operates transparently, which means you can see how it spends its money.

The Gates Foundation has both global and American goals. In America, it wants to increase opportunities for education and access to technology. Around the rest of the world, it focuses on health care and poverty. The Gates Foundation uses business techniques to try to end poverty. It is sometimes criticized for these techniques. It invests its money in companies to earn more money, but critics say some companies it invests in at home actually cause problems in the countries they are trying to help.

The Gates Foundation also contributes to very important causes around the world. It supports medical organizations that provide vaccines to children, treat HIV/AIDS, and tackle problems like malaria and tuberculosis. It provides money for developing farming in poor countries, and helping after disasters like earthquakes. In the United States, the Gates Foundation works to get the Internet to public libraries, so everyone can use it. It also provides money for scholarships for poor students and supports projects to improve schools.

Bill Gates is one of the richest people in the world. It is only right for him to use some of his wealth to help other people. His foundation may help him use his money to make a serious impact on poverty and disease.

RP139 The Dancing Plants of Udon Thani

RP139 The Dancing Plants of Udon Thani

Yes, you read that right: plants that dance. It's true. I've seen them!

Udon Thani is a province in northeast Thailand. There are no big cities there and not as many tourist attractions as there are in other parts of the country. But there is one small plant nursery with one of the most amazing but little-known sights in the world: simple, green plants that look like common weeds.

These particular dancing plants are a hybrid of the Thani Gyrant and the Chinese Gyrant— the pure parents can't dance as well as their hybrid child. The scientific name of this type of plant is Codariocalyx motorius.

Let's go back to the dancing. Walk through the nursery, which is full of beautiful Thai orchids. Deep in the center of the nursery, surrounded by brighter, more eye-catching plants, is a row of these green weeds. These are the dancing plants. "Stand in front of them and sing," the nursery worker says.

At first it feels silly to sing to a plant. I sing quietly and shyly, and nothing happens. I think about leaving, but I make myself stay and sing longer. Slowly, the plants start opening and closing their little leaves. The longer and louder I sing, the more they move. When I stop, they stop. I test to see if my breath is making the leaves blow— nope. They' re moving because I'm making a sound. It's incredible to interact with a plant this way. It makes me think very deeply about the ways all living creatures are alive. Perhaps we' re more connected with the plant world than we think we are.

Why the plant dances is still mysterious— just another sign that we still have a lot to learn about our world. 

RP138 Sunscreen

 RP138 Sunscreen

Sunscreen or sunblock, SPF 15, SPF 60, UVA/UVB—sunscreen is covered with strange letters and numbers. Do you know how sunscreen really works?

First, let's define sunscreen. Sunscreen is different from sunblock: unlike sunblock, sunscreen allows some light to reach the skin. The ingredients in sunscreen filter some light, unlike those in sunblock, which block all of it. Some sunscreen ingredients absorb light and turn it into heat. Others bounce it off your skin. Different ingredients act on different kinds of light rays.

Let's move on to SPF. SPF stands for "sun protection factor" and tells you how much protection a sunscreen provides against UVB rays. The higher the SPF number, the more protection you get. Experts generally recommend SPF 15 or higher.

Most sunscreens don't protect against UVA rays. This is controversial: UVA rays don't cause sunburns, but they are linked to skin cancer. Many people feel safer blocking these rays, too, so they use broad-spectrum sunblock. On the other hand, sunscreen blocks UVB rays; however, we get vitamin D from UVB rays. Blocking too many of them can be unhealthy.

Choose your sun protection, and then use it correctly. Experts recommend putting sunscreen on 15-30 minutes before you go out into the sun. Some recommend reapplying sunscreen every hour or so after that. Others say you should reapply 30 minutes after going out into the sun, but then leave it alone unless you sweat or swim. An average adult in a swimsuit should use about an ounce of sunscreen for his or her whole body. About one-quarter to one-third of a teaspoon is enough for the face.

Using sunscreen correctly can be the difference between healthy or unhealthy skin. Think about what you want, and get the right sun protection for you.

RP137 Cyberbullying

RP137 Cyberbullying

With the Internet, our friends are nearby even when they aren't. Unfortunately, while the Internet allows us to stay close to our friends, it can also make us more vulnerable to our enemies.

Bullying has always been a problem in schools. Big kids pick on smaller kids; rich kids make fun of poor kids. But nowadays, kids are being bullied even at home, where they should be safe. Cyberbullying, which means bullying people over the Internet, is a serious and growing problem. And since the Internet is always on and always available, victims of cyberbullying can feel like nowhere is safe.

Cyberbullying often occurs on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Bullies post cruel comments on their victim's pages, or send them mocking or threatening messages. Rumors spread quickly online, so it can be hard for victims to defend themselves. Sometimes other people join in on the attacks. People seem to be more willing to join in attacks online than they would be in person. In the end, victims can feel as if their whole class or school has turned against them. It's a very lonely and frightening feeling.

Studies show that over half of US schoolkids have experienced bullying online. Just one in ten of them will tell his or her parents about it. And less than 20 percent of these incidents will be reported to the police.

Cyberbullying is very dangerous. There have been several instances of teenagers committing suicide because of it. It is also largely invisible, which makes it hard to identify and even harder to stop. Many countries have passed laws against cyberbullying. Whether these laws will help end this crime for good remains to be seen. 

RP136 Asperger's Syndrome

RP136 Asperger's Syndrome

Adam is very, very smart. He has an excellent memory and astonishes people with the information he can recall. But he didn't have many friends at school—he couldn't figure out how to have a conversation. When was it his turn to talk? When should he stop? What did it mean when people's faces changed expression? He couldn't understand these things.

Wendy has always hated loud sounds. Light also bothers her, and she only likes to wear very soft clothes. She loved learning about insects, animals, and medicine, but hated school, where she was bullied.

Wendy and Adam have Asperger's syndrome. It's a type of autism, a disorder that still hasn't been well understood. We don't know why some people develop it. We' re only now learning how to help people with autism and Asperger's interact with the world. Preventing the disorder—let alone curing it, which is controversial—is still far in the future.

People with Asperger's generally seem more normal than other autistic people. They learn well, can speak normally, and are usually very smart. Social interaction is their problem. It is hard for them to read body language and understand social rules, like when to talk. People with Asperger's may not understand small talk, but may ramble on about a particular interest whether or not their listeners care. How to move can also be a problem; they may not use normal eye contact, or they might require more space than other people. They may not seem emotional or affectionate.

People with Asperger's do feel, of course. They just show it differently. They think differently than most people, but they think deeply and carefully. Our challenge for the future will be to learn to understand each other, so we can use all of the different gifts different people are given.

 

RP135 Hold on to Your Pocket Money

RP135 Hold on to Your Pocket Money

One day, you'll need to learn how to save money, even if you don't have anything to save for right now. Get used to saving and budgeting now! Then you'll have money when you do want something expensive, and you'll be practicing for your future.

Tip one: Be clear about how much money you have coming in. Do you get your allowance weekly or monthly? Do you earn any other money? Total your money for the period you want to budget for.

Tip two: separate needs from wants. You need money for transportation; you want to have money left over for snacks and games. Then decide which of your wants should get priority and which ones you can let go.

Tip three: Make a budget! Once you know how much money you will have in a period of time. you can decide how to spend it. separate the money for your needs and don't touch it for anything else. Then add up how much your wants will cost. See if you can make your needs and wants add up to 90% or less of your total allowance.

Tip four: Put your savings— the 10% or more that you aren't spending each month— far away. Put them in a bank or somewhere that you can't reach easily. You' ll be less tempted to use them that way.

Tip five: Write your expenses down, at least until you can get used to what they are. This way you'll know where your money is going and what you need to do to hold on to it longer.

Tip six: Put a little bit away every day. Even if it's just change, get used to having something left over. You'll be surprised at how much change adds up over months.

 

RP134 Are You Addicted to the Internet

RP134 Are You Addicted to the Internet?

Internet addiction is a relatively new and controversial disorder. Though it is still not recognized as a specific disorder by all doctors, many people see the signs of Internet overuse in their lives and are trying to fight it.

Most compulsory Internet users are hooked on a few specific activities: online buying or gambling, online relationships (including social networking), computer games, and compulsory data searching. These are activities that many of us often perform. Some people, however, find them hard to stop. Their online activities may become more important than their real-life activities. They may allow relationships to die because they only spend time with Internet friends. They may be unable to stop playing computer games and ignore chores or family time. People often turn to the Internet for stress relief or to get away from their problems for a few minutes. However, some people may become too dependent on escaping into the Internet. The Internet becomes a destructive force in their lives.

To check for possible Internet addiction or compulsion, doctors will ask you a few key questions. They ask about whether spending time online is affecting your school or work performance. They ask if family or friends complain about your Internet use and if you form more new relationships online than offline. They ask if you worry that life without the Internet would be useless and boring, if you often stay online longer than you intended, or if you lie about how long you've been in front of the computer.

We use the Internet so much that when it becomes an unhealthy addiction, it can be hard to spot. Think carefully about how you use the Internet. Even useful tools can be dangerous. 

RP133 The Nazca Lines of Peru

RP133 The Nazca Lines of Peru

Flying over Southern Peru, you may look down to see a flat red land covered in white sketches of hummingbirds, fish, monkeys, dogs, and plants. They're simple line drawings, but they're huge. Some of the biggest are nearly 270 meters! Who made them? Why?

Experts believe the huge pictures, called NazcaLines, were built by the Nazca people of ancient Peru. They aren't certain when the lines were made but they estimate between 200 BC and AD 600.The drawings are so huge and beautiful that some people believe that the ancient Nazca people couldn't have made them. They believe the NazcaLines are clear signs that aliens or people from more advanced civilizations visited the Nazca people and helped them. There is no other evidence for this theory. Many other experts and scientists have experimented using the tools of the Nazca people, and they've shown that the Nazca really could have made the lines themselves.

The lines and drawings must have been hard to organize but relatively easy to make. The basic process was to clear away the red stones that covered the desert to show the white earth below. That's why, from far away, the lines look lighter than the land. This brings us to another question: why would the Nazca people build huge figures that could only be seen from the sky? Perhaps the drawings were for their gods, looking down from the sky. Other theories say that the lines pointed to stars and planets, or to sources of water. However, there is no complete agreement on the purpose of the lines.

As with many ancient monuments, we may never be able to say how or why, but we can still appreciate their beauty and marvel at the accomplishments of our ancestors.

 

RP132 Frida Kahlo's Paintings and Psychology

RP132 Frida Kahlo's Paintings and Psychology

The Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) lived a life of extraordinary suffering. She caught a disease called polio when she was only six. She was nearly killed in a bus accident when she was 18. The bus accident left her with long-lasting injuries that caused her great pain for the rest of her life. Because of these injuries, she was not able to have children. As a result, she suffered a painful miscarriage when she was 25.

The pain in Kahlo's body must have affected her paintings. Though she was an energetic, active, vibrant woman, the pain often made her feel alone. The majority of her paintings are self-portraits. Kahlo once said, "I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best." She must have felt that her unique pain separated her from other people. Kahlo often painted her face on the bodies of animals or other people. She painted her individual suffering, but she also used her face to represent pain in all beings.

However, Kahlo also lived a life of passion and fun. She played sports in school, wore colorful clothes, danced, studied, and loved. She was very proud of being Mexican and was politically active. These characteristics are represented in her paintings. She uses bold colors, including lots of reds. She also uses Mexican imagery, such as monkeys and parrots.

Frida Kahlo took her pain, combined it with her strong spirit, and turned it into art. Her paintings may make viewers uncomfortable with their honesty, but Kahlo wasn't the type of person to hold back. If she could suffer and grow, her paintings could make viewers feel and grow as well.

 

RP131 Fair Fashion

RP131 Fair Fashion

American Halle Butvin traveled to Uganda in 2006 on a study trip. She went there to learn about how young people could help build peace in the country after a long period of war. While she was there, however, she also saw how important new businesses could be to the process.

Butvin visited traditional markets and thought about how she could help the artisans who designed and made crafts to sell there. She wanted to help connect them to people in the United States so they could sell more products, earn more money, and improve their quality of life. She also wanted to help Ugandan women. In 2007 Butvin met the woman who would become her trainer. That was the beginning of the One Mango Tree company.

The company's purpose was to work with women artisans in Uganda creating bags, scarves, clothes, and jewelry to sell worldwide. The local artisans were trained and connected to markets. These women were not the only people the company helped; their children were also offered scholarships.

One Mango Tree was a unique idea when it first started out. Since that time, however, many other companies necklace have followed Halle Butvin's lead. Working with local artisans in poor and troubled regions, these "ethical fashion" brands connect people in many ways. The women who make the clothes can sell their products for more money than they would receive otherwise. They can also learn how to become their own bosses through business training programs. And the people who buy their products can wear them proudly, knowing that their purchases have had a positive effect on someone's life. 

RP130 Reusing Versus Recycling

RP130 Reusing Versus Recycling

Reusing and recycling may sound similar, but they are actually quite different. Recycling has become more and more popular around the world in the last 20 or 30 years, while people have reused materials throughout history. Nowadays, people are talking more about reusing as a better alternative to recycling.

So how is reusing different from recycling? Well, reusing something means that the object is still used for its original purpose. The goal of reusing is to help objects and materials lengthen their lives. If you had an old oven, for example, you could reuse it by giving it to someone else. Maybe that person could repair it or upgrade it, but still use it as an oven. Recycling it, on the other hand, means the oven is taken apart. Its parts are used in different ways in new objects. When you give away clothes for other people to wear, that is reusing them. Cutting clothes up into rags is recycling them.

More people are now focusing on reusing in addition to recycling. They say reusing should be our first step, before we think about recycling. Reusing uses less energy than recycling. It also causes less environmental damage, because recycling often means that materials must be broken down or melted in polluting factories. People also say reusing helps create communities and helps people think about how they might be able to share more.

Clearly, reusing and recycling will both be important as we all try to be less wasteful. But perhaps recycling less should actually be our new goal—as long as it means we are all reusing more! 

RP129 Say Hello to Our New Mechanical Friends

RP129 Say Hello to Our New Mechanical Friends

For years we've been hearing it. "The robots are coming! The robots are coming!" Well, the long wait is finally over. The robots are no longer coming; they're already here.

The robotics industry has changed economies and lifestyles around the world. One area in which these changes are particularly obvious is manufacturing. Industrial robots (those robot arms that assemble things in factories) are becoming increasingly capable. Nowadays, these robots can assemble large items like cars with very little input from human workers. They can also work 24 hours a day without ever making a mistake. It's no wonder that factory workers around the world are losing their jobs to robots.

Of course that's not what comes to mind when most of us think of robots. We imagine personal, human-like machines that can cook our food and do our laundry for us. Fortunately, they' re here as well!

Tech companies are fighting tooth and nail to achieve the first big success in personal robotics. Japan's Sharp Electronics is betting on simpler, more affordable robots. For this reason it has launched RoBoHon, a cute little robot that functions similarly to a smartphone. RoBoHon can understand simple voice commands. It also knows some pretty sweet dance moves, which it shows off whenever it receives a phone call.

Other companies are targeting the high-end market with technologically advanced personal robots. Two examples are Honda's ASIMO and Softbank's Pepper. ASIMO can run, jump, and climb stairs just like a human being. It also has sensitive hands that can perform delicate tasks like pouring a cup of coffee. Pepper, on the other hand, can sense and respond to human emotions. This could come in handy when dealing with people who have lost their livelihoods to robots! 

RP128 The Pygmalion Effect

RP128 The Pygmalion Effect

“You get what you expect.” That's the Pygmalion Effect, in a nutshell. Studies show that people tend to live up to—or down to—the expectations people place on them. Our reality really is influenced by the opinions and expectations of others. When other people expect us to be great, we are more likely to be great. When we aren't expected to perform well, we usually won't bother. It is amazing how affected we are by the labels people attach to us.

Many studies have demonstrated the Pygmalion Effect. One study, by Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson, randomly selected students in several classrooms. Teachers were told that these students were especially smart. The teachers, therefore, expected high performance from these students—and they got it! At the end of the year, the randomly selected students had increased their IQs and performed better overall than the rest, even though they were actually no better or smarter than the rest of the class. Their teachers had believed that they had great potential, and that had caused the potential to appear.

There is a downside to the Pygmalion Effect, of course. Just as we rise to meet high expectations, we may be knocked down by low expectations. Jane Elliott conducted a famous test on school children. She divided them by eye color—blue versus brown. One day, the blue-eyed group was praised while those with brown eyes were told they were inferior. The next day, the roles were reversed. Students took spelling tests on both days. Most students did very badly on the day they were made to feel “inferior.”

Labels can create reality. People who are expected to fail often fail; people who are labeled as winners generally win. If you want to get the best from yourself, expect it! 

RP127 Wild Tasmania

RP127 Wild Tasmania

Where can you find wombats, eagles, devils, and 10,000-year-old trees? It's an island that goes by many names: Van Diemen's Land, Dervon, and Tassie. Have you guessed Tasmania yet? If you haven't, don't feel bad. Tasmania is still pretty unknown, even though it's the 26th biggest island in the world.

Tasmania sits below Australia. It looks like a miniature Australia, turned upside down. It is a state of the country of Australia, but it is separated from the rest of the country by the Bass Strait.

Can it really be so far from the real world that devils live there? Well, the Tasmanian devil does. The Tasmanian devil is a marsupial—an animal with a pouch, like a kangaroo. It looks a little bit like a very small bear. It's called a devil because it has a frightening growl that scared early Tasmanians. These animals also tend to be very mean, which makes the name Tasmanian devil even more appropriate.

Tasmania is home to lots of unusual animals. There are wombats, which look like furry little pigs and live in burrows underground. There are wallabies, which look just like little kangaroos. And then there are birds and frogs of all shapes and sizes, and strange little mammals that lay eggs! Tasmania also has amazing flora, or plant life. It has huge temperate rain forests and huge eucalyptus forests. Some Tasmanian eucalyptus trees are some of the tallest in the world—more than 300 feet tall and still growing! Tasmania also has a tree called the Huon pine that lives to be very, very old. There are Huon pines in Tasmania from 2,000 to 10,000 years old!

Tasmania is truly unlike anywhere else.

 

RP126 Hikikomori

 RP126 Hikikomori

There may be more than a million of them, but you'd never know it. They' re hidden away, locked inside houses or rooms. They' re hikikomori, the invisible people of Japan.

Hikikomori (in Japanese, “withdrawing,” or “being confined”) are people, mostly men, who go to great lengths to pull out of society. In the West, this would be called extreme social phobia, or agoraphobia (fear of being outside). But the hikikomori situation is more widespread in Japan. It is also mostly ignored out of shame.

One boy walked into his family's kitchen when he was 14, shut the door, and refused to come out. The family eventually built another kitchen to use. Takeshi, 19, spent four years in his bedroom, listening to music and playing video games. Y. S. actually stayed in his room for over 13 years! He was tired of being bullied at school and couldn't take being out in the world anymore.

Bullying, breakups, or tests are often triggers that cause these young men to snap and become hikikomori. Dr. Henry Grubb, who has studied hikikomori, says the Japanese way of avoiding confrontation makes it worse. In the West, hikikomori would be treated as being mentally ill, whereas in Japan, they' re seen as a family problem. It's also common for Japanese mothers to serve their sons. Instead of making their boys do something difficult, like go outside, Japanese mothers may simply attend to their boys' needs. Then when schools don't pursue children who don't attend, it becomes very easy for a society to pretend the hikikomori don't exist.

But hikikomori cannot be served for the rest of their lives by aging parents. Groups like New Start are trying to get these boys out and teach them how to fend for themselves before it's too late.

RP125 False Friends

RP125 False Friends

A Frenchman walks into a restaurant in Egypt. He doesn't know what he wants to eat. “Can I see a menu?” he asks. The Egyptian waiter says, “Yes, menu,” but he just stands there. The Frenchman asks, “A menu, please?” The waiter says, “Yes, yes, we have menu.” Finally, the Frenchman stands up and leaves while the waiter tries to understand what happened.

What happened was a “false friend.” False friends are words that sound the same, but mean different things in different languages. In this case, in French, a menu is a list of food offered at a restaurant. In Arabic, menu means “food.” So the Frenchman wanted a list, while the poor waiter just wanted to make him understand that he was in a restaurant!

False friends can be very dangerous for language students. In Spanish, actual means “happening currently,” not “real,” as it does in English. To ask in Spanish if something is “actually happening” means “Is it happening now?” rather than “Is it really happening?” That's a big difference, especially if you're talking about a dangerous event!

Bra is a funny one. In English, a bra is a kind of underwear. But in Swedish, it means “a good song.” Imagine the looks you'd get if you walked into a department store in Sweden and asked for a bra!

Demand is another example. In Italian, demand simply means “request.” In English, it is more like a command— much more forceful. Imagine walking into a cafe in the United States and saying, “I demand a cup of coffee!” You might get hot coffee spilled all over your lap!

False friends aren't really your friends. Be very careful of words that sound just like words in your language. They may not mean what you think they do!

 

RP124 Free Running

RP124 Free Running

Running, urban, acrobatics, and tricks—do those words seem to go together? If so, you may be a free runner. Free runners have taken tricks that are usually performed with a prop (or at least a net) and moved them into their daily lives and into public view.

Free running is a way of interacting with the urban landscape in an unusual way. Free runners use the city as a gym. Instead of following the typical paths or doing typical movements, free runners use urban obstacles as props for acrobatic tricks. Free running is related to the French idea of parkour, but parkour is about efficiency, speed, and self-preservation, while free running is more about fun.

The free running environment contains high and low walls, stairs, ramps, bars and fences, arches, and doorways. Therefore, most free running moves are designed to use these elements. There are a variety of different vaults for getting over low walls. There are running techniques to help scale high walls and flips to get down off them. Dives, rolls, and twists help protect the body when landing. And, of course, there are tons of ways to make each move more difficult, more athletic, and more pleasing to watch.

All of these stunts are the reason free running competitions are often held within larger stunt competitions. There are more and more competitions dedicated solely to free running, however. There are free running clubs in many urban areas, and free running fans are now active in many of the world's cities. If you see urban obstacles you can jump over, climb, or duck under, then there are probably free runners in your city, too. 

RP123 The Ancient Art of the Brush

RP123 The Ancient Art of the Brush

Throughout its long history, writing has been a big deal in China. Since the earliest dynasties, the skills of reading and writing have been highly respected. In fact, they form an important part of the Chinese art world. Calligraphy, the art of writing with a brush, is almost as old as writing itself. And though this art form dates back thousands of years, it is still extremely popular today.

How did writing become so important in Chinese culture? The answer most likely lies way back in the Shang Dynasty (about 1600-1046 BC). That's when characters were first carved in bronze and used in religious events. This practice conveyed a spiritual aspect which gave writing authority in the eyes of ordinary people.

Calligraphy spread during the Han Dynasty, when the necessary tools and materials became more widely available. First there was the brush, made from bamboo and animal hair. Early ink, or lampblack, was made by burning pine wood and mixing it with water. Early forms of paper were invented around AD 105. Finally there was inkstone, a smooth piece of stone used for mixing ink. Together, these tools were known as the "four treasures of study" in ancient China.

Calligraphy has been popular in China for thousands of years. Some say that it's an even higher art form than painting. Though foreigners may not always get it, there's something truly special about calligraphy. Every written character has a strict stroke order. When viewing the results, you can trace the artist's process, reliving every stroke of his or her brush. This allows for an intimate connection between artist and audience.

Calligraphy is something that's best experienced by doing. Luckily, this ancient art is still widely practiced today. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and find yourself a teacher 

RP122 Plastic Surgery

RP122 Plastic Surgery

“A little nip and tuck.” “She's had some work done.” “Do you think those are real?” They' re all talking about plastic (also called “cosmetic”) surgery. This is surgery done for no medical reason, but only to make someone look better. Plastic surgery is becoming common in wealthy countries around the world, mostly among women. It is women, after all, who are still pushed to be beautiful above all else.

Surprisingly, plastic surgery first became common among men. After World War I, surgeons used plastic surgery to repair horrific war injuries. Nowadays, however, plastic surgery is sold to women as a way to feel better about themselves.

For some women, it works. Surgery helps them feel more confident. Others, however, discover that their real problems are inner, not outer. And the surgeries are serious and dangerous. Surgery is painful, and recovery takes time. It's hard to find information on how many people die from plastic surgery each year. The number is high, especially among patients who go to untrained doctors for cheap procedures. In addition to deaths that result from surgeries, some studies show that women who get breast implants are twice as likely to commit suicide as women who don't get implants.

Plastic surgery is a miracle for people with devastating injuries. But for normal, healthy people, plastic surgery often ends up making them look just like everyone else. Take a close look at many popular actresses. They' re all starting to look alike. They have the same shape, the same eyes, the same noses, and even the same breasts. Is that what we really want—a world where we all look the same? It would be better to see the beauty in many different forms.

 

RP121 Paying on the Go

RP121 Paying on the Go

Don't get too attached to your wallet. One day it will belong in a museum, along with everything in it. That's because credit cards and cash are being replaced by mobile payments made on smartphones.

Mobile payments are changing the way we shop, and they' re doing it quickly. There are now over 4.8 billion smartphone owners in the world. In the United States, 39% of smartphone users made at least one mobile payment in 2015. That's up from just 14% in 2014.

But what are mobile payments? Well, there are a few different types. First, they are everyday payments you can make on your smartphone. These would include opening up an Internet browser and buying a new pair of shoes. There are also “point-of-sale” payments and mobile wallet apps. These are for when you' re at Starbucks or McDonald's and want to pay with your smartphone. Various other apps can help you manage your money with your smartphone. Banking apps, for example, let you easily send money to friends and relatives, and are very popular.

Mobile payments are a potential game-changer. For example, just imagine if every store in the world used the same point-of-sale system. You could safely use your smartphone to buy things from anywhere on the planet. Vacation shopping would never be the same.

But let's not forget the one big disadvantage of this brave new world of mobile payments. It would make losing your phone even more of a nightmare! 

RP120 Board but Never Boring

RP120 Board but Never Boring

Board games have a history of over 5,000 years. They've been found in ancient Egyptian tombs, and are mentioned in documents from old Rome and China. They' re more popular now than ever before, though, with new games appearing alongside old favorites every year.

The variety of modern board games is a big part of their appeal. Some require players to move along a path of spaces as directed by rolls of dice. Some, like Dominion, are actually card games with no board. Others offer very different challenges. Most older board games, such as chess and go, are designed for two players. Many newer games, however, can be enjoyed by larger groups. In Scrabble, two to four players must create words from tiles showing individual letters and point values to finish it.

Monopoly allows up to eight players the chance to buy and sell property for play money. In Chinese checkers (which is actually from Germany), two to six people “jump” over their own and each other's pieces to move across the board. And in Trivial Pursuit, teams answer questions on different topics to try to finish first.

In recent years, a new generation of board games has become very popular. These “designer games” often feature themes such as the settling of land (Catan), building of cities (Citadels), and development of resources (Carcassonne). Social in nature, they are usually easy to learn and designed to keep all players in competition until the end.

Of course, any board game requires a place to play and people to play with. Having trouble with that? No problem! Many board game stores rent games and tables to players, who may be complete strangers until they sit down together. So give Super Mario a rest and try a face-to-face contest against other humans. You just might find it a lot more fun!

 

RP119 Our Little Green Friends

RP119 Our Little Green Friends

Many people use plants to improve the appearance of their homes. Plants have been shown to reduce stress and noise, and to help us focus on our work. But did you know that houseplants can also improve your health?

By the process of photosynthesis, plants take in carbon dioxide and give out oxygen. Of course, humans need oxygen to breathe. The oxygen given out by plants helps us to breathe more deeply, and stops us from feeling tired. Some plants can also absorb harmful chemicals from the air inside our houses.

Experts suggest placing one plant every nine square meters. The average American home measures 232 square meters, which means it should have around 25 plants. That may sound like a lot, but remember this is an investment in your health!

Some plants produce more oxygen than others. tropical plants produce the most, because their natural environment is the forest floor. They have adapted to survive even when they can't get much sunlight through the trees above them.

Forest ferns are among the best plants for the home. Not only do they produce oxygen, but they also absorb formaldehyde which can cause cancer. Ferns have no seeds or flowers, but they do have attractive leaves. The most beautiful option is the gerbera daisy, which is known to help people sleep. While most plants produce oxygen during the day, these brightly-colored flowers work right through the night.

Money plants, spider plants, and snake plants (sometimes called "mother-in-law's tongue") also make good houseplants. However, the leaves of money plants can be dangerous if eaten by small children or pets, so be careful! 

RP118 Is It a Fair Trade

RP118 Is It a Fair Trade?

You may have noticed a “fair trade” label on a product you bought recently. More and more companies are joining the fair trade movement and showing it on their packaging. But what exactly is fair trade?

Fair trade is a social movement designed to create better trading conditions for farmers, artists, and other producers in developing countries. Fair trade businesses also promote sustainable farming and production methods. They see trade between developing and developed nations as a way to help solve problems like poverty. To do this, they follow different, more compassionate principles than most other businesses.

Fair trade businesses pay more than current market prices for goods. They believe the low prices most buyers pay are unfair to sellers. Higher prices allow the producers selling goods to earn more, invest more, and expand their businesses if they want to. In addition, fair trade companies try to avoid working with middlemen. They connect sellers directly with their buyers. This means that sellers don't have to pay a third person to help them reach a market. Many fair trade businesses also use and promote environmentally friendly practices. They may provide credit to sellers who want to grow their businesses. And of course, fair trade means that no slave or child labor can be used at any point.

Of course, fair trade has a few problems of its own. Research shows the poorest fair trade sellers aren't earning any more money now than they did before. It's also hard to make sure that fair trade practices are actually being followed, and sometimes people cheat. So is fair trade really fair? For now, it seems, the consumer doesn't have a final answer. 

RP117 The Eye in the Sky

 RP117 The Eye in the Sky

How cool would it be to have a flying robot? What's the first thing you would do with it? Maybe send it into battle, or use it to spy on your neighbors? Well, this is not just a fantasy anymore. Drones are remote-controlled flying robots, and they are getting more popular every day. But is this a good thing for society?

The popularity of drones has exploded in recent years as technology has improved and gotten cheaper. A standard drone with a high-quality camera and four helicopter propellers now sells online for just a few hundred US dollars. Drones are extremely useful for making videos because their cameras link directly to phones or tablets. Nowadays, anyone can get professional-looking fly-by shots from unique angles.

But could this cause problems? Because drones are so affordable, it means that anyone can send a robot flying around the neighborhood. People might be surprised to find a camera floating outside their window. This should be a huge concern for people who care about their privacy.

Many governments also invest in drones, but for very different reasons. The United States uses military drones for spying. Its most powerful drones, however, are Predator drones, which can fly higher than 15,000 meters at over 300 kilometers per hour. And no, they don't just take pretty videos. A predator drone can hold 360 kilograms worth of bombs, enough to completely destroy an enemy camp. The soldier controlling the drone sits safely away from the action, so it's impossible to know for sure who is getting killed. Innocent people might be in danger.

Drones are a very new technology and people are still exploring their possible uses. Maybe someday you' ll come up with a new cool way to use your own remote-controlled robot.

*The MQ-9 Reaper (Predator B), a kind of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by the American government

RP116 He's a Hit—Everywhere!

RP116 He's a Hit—Everywhere!

Ichiro Suzuki, often called "Ichiro" for short, has a great job. Some might say that as a professional baseball player, he has the greatest job in the world. He plays a game he loves, breaks records, and has millions of fans. But this superstar has worked very hard to get where he is today.

Ichiro started playing with a toy ball and bat when he was just three years old. At seven he joined his first baseball team, and the real practice began. He and his dad, who was a tough coach, practiced some pitching and fielding. But they would mostly work on batting. Ichiro hit pitch after pitch after pitch, working hard to become the best batter he could.

By the time he was 12, Ichiro had decided that he wanted to be a professional baseball player. That meant the game had to become more work and less fun. With his father, Ichiro did difficult exercises to make himself stronger since he wasn't naturally big or muscular. "I'm not a big guy," he once said," and hopefully kids can look at me and see that I'm not muscular and not physically imposing, that I'm just a regular guy. So if somebody with a regular body can get into the record books, kids can look at that. That would make me happy."

Following an outstanding high school baseball career, Ichiro was drafted into the Japanese Pacific League. He spent nine very successful seasons there before joining his first American team, the Seattle Mariners, in 2001. He has remained in the US major leagues since then, winning many awards and setting numerous batting records. Ichiro's hard work has definitely paid off, but he still works as hard as ever to be the best.

 

RP115 Class and Accent

 RP115 Class and Accent

The words and ideas you express are important, of course, but nearly as important is the way you sound when you express them. Indeed, there are still people in the world who will judge your accent before they even consider your words. You may even have your own biases.

There are a few distinct accents in the United States. People from the South are said to drawl, speaking slowly and stretching their vowels out. Some people find this accent reassuring; others think it sounds unintelligent. One accent from Southern California, with very rounded vowels, has been mocked in TV and movies as the dumbs accent in America. New York and Boston accents can sound decisive or rude, depending on the listener.

In England, accents have always been very important. Even these days, children with undesirable accents are sent to elocution lessons, where they are taught how to speak like the upper classes. Many studies show how people respond to accents. Scottish accents are seen as reassuring. People with accents from the Midlands of England are seen as untrustworthy and may suffer career discrimination as a result. People from Liverpool are thought to sound “unpleasant,” while people from Ireland, apparently, sound “sexy.”

In many countries, people with city accents may be seen as smarter, wealthier, and more accomplished than people who clearly sound like they are from the countryside.

Your accent, of course, reveals nothing but where you grew up—not your intelligence, not your trustworthiness, and not your value. Being able to use different accents in different situations may help people avoid prejudice, but it would be better for all of us to recognize our own irrational biases and fight against them.

RP114 K2

RP114 K2

K2, Qomolangma's dangerous little sister, is the highest peak in the Karakoram Mountain Range of Pakistan. At 8,611 meters, it is the second highest mountain in the world. In addition to being the second highest mountain, K2 also has the second highest fatality rate among mountains over 8,000 meters. K2 is deadly. It is nicknamed Savage Mountain because of its fearsome weather. K2 is so dangerous that it has never been climbed in winter.

K2 is a rocky mountain up to the 6,000-meter point. After that, it is covered in snow. It rises very steeply on all sides, making it stand out dramatically in its mountain range. Its steepness, of course, adds to its great difficulty. Anyone attempting to climb K2 must truly climb; this is not a mountain you can hike up.

Who has actually climbed K2? Far fewer people than have tried, that's for sure. The first people known to summit, or reach the top of K2, were Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni. They stood on top of the Savage Mountain on July 31, 1954. This was the fifth serious attempt to climb the mountain, though teams had been trying since 1902!

The next group to summit K2 didn't make it to the top until August 9, 1977. As of today, 302 people have reached the top of K2. However, 31 of those people died on the descent. A total of 80 people have died trying to climb K2, meaning that about 26% of those who attempt K2 never make it back. They are killed by avalanches, rock falls, falling, cold and exhaustion, or they disappear into snowstorms. Mountain climbing is a dangerous sport, and K2 is one of its greatest challenges. Despite its cruelty, there is something about this great mountain that keeps drawing people to it. 

RP113 Fighting for Animals—a Brief History

 RP113 Fighting for Animals—a Brief History

The idea of animals having rights may seem new, but it's actually very old. Teachers in ancient Greece debated with their students about eating meat and using animals for work. In the Roman Empire, writers like Cicero, Virgil, and Plutarch argued that eating animals was cruel and unnecessary. The first laws protecting animals were written in India around 240 BC.

The modern Western animal rights movement began in the late 18th century, and quickly gained support. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) was founded in England in 1824. Elsewhere, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was founded in 1866. These organizations worked to prevent animals' suffering and pain. They protested against circuses and farms that treat their animals badly. They also fought against laboratories which perform painful or deadly experiments on animals. In 1966, the US Congress passed the Animal Welfare Act to help protect animals in labs. Since then, many other countries have passed similar laws.

The animal liberation movement began in the 1970s. It argued that animals should have the same rights as people and should not be used for meat, fur, or labor. Animal rights organizations promote vegetarianism and show people how painful fur-making and factory farming really are. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is one of the best-known groups in this movement. Others, like the Animal Liberation Front, believe that helping animals is more important than following the law. Not everyone agrees with their methods. In recent years, organizations like Sea Shepherd, which focuses on protecting ocean life, have made animal rights a more wide-ranging issue. The fight goes on, but victories are being won. Apes were given basic rights in New Zealand in 1999, and German law has recognized animal rights since 2002.

RP112 You Are What You Eat

 RP112 You Are What You Eat

Ancient medical traditions often focus on food. After all, what we put into our body must affect how our body feels. But what about our minds? Does what we eat affect how we feel and think? Recent research says yes.

Different foods affect different hormones in our brains. Fruits and vegetables generally increase hormones that make us calm. Foods with a lot of protein, on the other hand, increase hormones that make us alert. But junk food— fatty, salty, sugary food without much nutrition— has a negative effect. It can make us tired and stressed. Different ingredients in junk food have different effects. One very important and unhealthy ingredient in junk food is trans fat.

Trans fats are types of fat often found in junk food. Doctors have been studying the effects of trans fats recently, and the results aren't good. Trans fats seem to be linked to poor memory and depression.

An American study found that people remembered fewer words from a list after eating trans fats than before. Meanwhile, a study in Spain found that eating a lot of trans fats caused people to become depressed.

Doctors don't fully understand why these things happen. Trans fats seem to slow down our normal brain function, making us forgetful. They also appear to lower serotonin, our body's mood-balancing chemical, making us sad, angry, or even violent.

But the bad news about junk food is good news about healthy food. Eating well, it seems, can make us happier. So if you' re feeling blue, don't reach for a bag of potato chips. They may make you feel good for the moment, but bad in the long run.

RP111 Self-Generated Energy

 RP111 Self-Generated Energy

Imagine a world without batteries or chargers. What if you could power your electronic devices just by moving around? It's not as crazy as it sounds. Movement creates energy, and people move all the time. The trick is to collect that energy and direct it.

The idea of creating energy with movement isn't new. Many objects in the past and the present are charged with cranks: radios, flashlights, or even phone chargers. You turn the crank for a certain amount of time, and enough energy is created to power the device. The newest idea is a bit different and a bit more difficult. Instead of using a specific movement—turning a crank—the idea is to catch and use the energy we create with our regular movements in our daily life.

One way to get this energy is with an "energy harvester" designed by Max Donelan. The device fits behind your knee and connects to the leg muscles. When you walk and move your knee, the movement turns small gears, which send energy to a generator. The energy could then be used to charge batteries or even power artificial joints!

Another object uses energy from walking in a different way. The E-bag is a snack cooler. You swing the bag as you carry it. The handle collects the energy from the swinging motion and uses it to cool the food inside.

Some objects have to be moved to be used. It makes sense to use the energy from moving them to power them, right? That's the idea behind a new kinetic mouse. Moving the mouse keeps it powered!

Self-generated and kinetic energy uses are still being developed. As people try to be cleaner and greener, we can expect to see more objects that depend on our bodies for power.

RP110 Postmodern Architecture

 RP110 Postmodern Architecture

Postmodern architecture began as a reaction against modernist architecture. Modernist architecture was very formal, functional, and often plain. Postmodern architecture is seen as a return to cleverness and fun. Postmodern buildings have parts that are only for decoration, rather than being strictly useful. Many postmodern buildings take architectural styles from the past and use them in new, interesting, or funny ways. For example, the Sony Building in New York is a skyscraper with an elaborate top that looks like an old bookcase. There was no need for that kind of decoration, but it is beautiful and funny. Postmodern architecture values decoration and function.

What we call postmodern architecture began in the United States in the 1960s. One early, important figure was Robert Venturi. His Vanna Venturi House is a classic postmodern building. Venturi built a gabled roof— that is, a roof that forms a peak in the center— on that house, but the peak is split in the middle. So the functional gabled roof, which was designed to allow rain and snow to run down the side, is turned into art instead.

Charles Moore is another famous postmodern architect. One well-known work of his is the Piazza d’ Italia in New Orleans. His Piazza d’ Italia uses many old Italian-style posts, but they aren't made of traditional materials. Some of them, in fact, are made using jets of water

In the late 1980s, a type of architecture called Deconstructivism developed out of the postmodern movement. This style takes apart buildings and tries to separate elements usually found together. It is a very unusual, striking style.

Postmodernism in all its forms is alive and inspiring. It is still a main influence on architects around the world.

RP109 The Challenger Tragedy

 RP109 The Challenger Tragedy

On January 28, 1986, thousands of people watched the launch of the Challenger space shuttle on television. Many were students in classrooms, like I was.

Challenger stood on the launch pad. Rocket boosters underneath it lit up, and Challenger shot up into the blue sky. We students watched. Then, just over a minute after takeoff, Challenger broke apart. Streams of smoke spilled from it, and the shuttle fell in pieces into the ocean.

People experienced a tragedy that day, and at NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration), experts wanted to learn what went wrong.

Challenger had minor problems from the start, but the disaster was caused by something called an O-ring. The O-ring was supposed to protect Challenger from the hot gas of a rocket booster. But the cold weather on the morning of the launch stopped the O-ring from working. Gases and flames burned through one fuel tank as the shuttle lifted off. Strong winds helped the flames. A fuel tank and a rocket booster collided. The fuel exploded and tore Challenger apart.

Bad mechanics and bad weather both contributed, but humans could have stopped this disaster. NASA investigators learned that engineers knew the O-ring was flawed. It should have been redesigned, but its flaws weren't reported. Instead, the flaws were accepted. Investigators found that engineers only told the O-ring designer about its problems, not their NASA managers. This was against the rules, but the safety culture at NASA discouraged talking about problems.

The Challenger disaster teaches us to speak up. Problems must be faced, not avoided, even if talking about them is unpopular. When people are afraid to say anything but "yes," terrible accidents can happen. NASA's new regulations are designed to prevent that. Let's hope we've learned our lesson from Challenger.

RP108 Hachiko

 RP108 Hachiko

Hachiko, an Akita, was born in 1923. When he was two months old, he went to live with Hidesaburo Ueno, a professor at the University of Tokyo. Hachiko and the professor lived in the Shibuya district of Tokyo. The professor commuted to his job on the train.

Hachiko would watch the professor leave the house every day. And every day at 4:00 p.m., Hachiko would greet the professor at the Shibuya train station, and they would walk home together. Life was wonderful for the young dog until May 21, 1925, when the professor didn't show up.

Professor Ueno had suffered a stroke at work. He died without ever coming back to his house. Hachiko, of course, didn't know this. He waited and waited, and then walked home alone. He came back to the station the next day. He came back the day after that. He came back at 4:00 p.m. every day until he died nine years later.

Hachiko wasn't abandoned. He was taken in by a new family, but Hachiko didn't want a new family. He escaped from the house and ran back to his old home. Eventually, Hachiko understood that the professor didn't live at the old house anymore, but nothing could stop the loyal dog from waiting for his master at the train station, day in and day out.

People began to recognize the big, golden dog at Shibuya Station. The station master put out food for him. One day, a former student of Professor Ueno's spotted him. He followed Hachiko and learned his story. This student began writing articles about Hachiko. Soon, loyal Hachiko was famous throughout Japan. Though Hachiko himself has passed on, you can still see him at Shibuya Station: a statue of him was erected there to honor his great heart.

RP107 Internet Gossip Websites

 RP107 Internet Gossip Websites

Gossip has existed as long as humans have lived together. We have always gossiped about our friends and family, but we will even sometimes gossip about people we have never met. Recently, the Internet has become a home for thousands of celebrity gossip websites— websites that constantly update readers about the actions of their favorite (or least favorite) celebrities. Through these websites, rumors can be spread to millions of people almost instantly. Often, this gossip is unkind. Often, it can also be untrue. Whether it is true or not, information that spreads so far and so fast can be very damaging to a celebrity's career.

Because of this, many celebrities hate these websites. They say the websites invade their privacy. Some celebrities have sued the websites or writers of the sites. Many of these lawsuits have been successful, meaning the websites have been forced to correct false stories or pay money to celebrities.

But other celebrities encourage gossip websites. They believe “all publicity is good publicity.” Some of them even work with the paparazzi— photographers who follow celebrities— to make sure the paparazzi will know where they are and take pictures of them. They feel they must remain in the public eye in order to remain popular. In this way, some celebrities and gossip websites form a cycle. The celebrities feed the paparazzi by posing for photos. Then, the paparazzi feed the photos to gossip websites, and the gossip websites feed the photos to consumers. Consumers see the photos and then want even more information about the celebrities.

This, of course, means the celebrities will continue to pose and the paparazzi will continue to take photos. But in the end, it isn't the paparazzi or celebrities who are the reason for these websites. We average human beings and our hunger for gossip are the reason these websites still exist.

RP106 We' re Animals Too, After All

 RP106 We' re Animals Too, After All

Animals symbolize many different things. In proverbs, they can represent people, our characteristics, or other elements of our lives.

“Don't count your chickens before they' re hatched.” uses chickens to represent opportunities. It reminds us not to be too sure of something that we don't have yet. The hen may have laid ten eggs, but until they hatch she doesn't know how many chickens there are. “A bird in hand is worth two in the bush” means what we have is more valuable than what we desire. It tells people who always want more out of life to be satisfied with what is already theirs. On the other hand,“ The early bird catches the worm.” This proverb warns us that good things will pass us by if we' re too lazy to go after them.

Sometimes, however, we just have to give up on people. “A leopard can't change his spots” means that although a person's behavior may change, his character won't. We all know someone like that, don't we?

Sayings about animals can also include people, or compare us with other creatures. If you “hear it from the horse's mouth,” you get information from someone directly involved in a situation. To “have a tiger by the tail” means you have done something bad to someone who can do something worse to you! And if you are “drawn like a moth to a flame,” you' re hopelessly attracted to something— or someone— dangerous. Anyone who's fallen in love should appreciate that!

By using animals, proverbs can teach us lessons in a subtle, indirect way. Animal proverbs also remind us that people are part of the natural world. We may think we' re special, but these sayings show us that we often behave in the same ways as other beings.

RP105 Steve Jobs

 RP105 Steve Jobs

Take a quick look around you. Is someone typing on a Mac? Listening to an iPod? Calling on an iPhone? Using an iPad? Do you buy music from iTunes? Have you seen Toy Story 3 or any other movie by Pixar? Amazingly, we have one person to thank for all of these innovations: Steve Jobs.

Steven Paul Jobs was born in California in 1955 and adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs. He became interested in computers in high school, going to after-school lectures at the computer company Hewlett-Packard. He enrolled at Reed College in Oregon. Though he went to a variety of classes, he never graduated. Instead, he moved back to California and began working at Atari, the video game company. He also started working on his own computer projects with Steve Wozniak.

Jobs and Wozniak, along with Ronald Wayne, founded Apple (named after Jobs's favorite fruit) in 1976. Apple changed the way people thought about computers; the company made them small, easy to use, and accessible to normal people. The Macintosh computer was launched in 1984, but sales slowed in 1985, and Jobs was pushed out of his own company.

After leaving Apple, Jobs founded NeXT, Inc. The company decided to develop both computer hardware and software. In 1986, he bought the company that would end up being called Pixar. It paired with Disney to make computer-animated movies. The first was Toy Story, a huge success.

In 1996, Apple bought NeXT, and Jobs returned to his original company. He cut programs and jobs, but he also helped make Apple products more beloved than ever. Apple has been on a roll ever since, creating elegant, fast, user-friendly products that reflect the vision of Steve Jobs.

RP104 Who Stole My Money?

 RP104 Who Stole My Money?

I remember when a can of Coke was 25 cents. My parents could buy candy for a penny! Today you might pay a dollar for a soda, and nothing costs a penny. So what happened?

Inflation, that's what. Inflation is often called "too many dollars chasing too few goods." It's when prices in a country rise across the board. If your favorite snack gets a bit more expensive, that's not inflation. But when the price of your snack, bread, sugar, gasoline, and many other things all rise at the same time, that's inflation. Inflation means your money buys less than it used to.

Experts have different views on why and how inflation happens. One reason for inflation is an increase in the supply of money. Generally, when the supply of something goes up, the demand for it goes down. In other words, its value goes down. So when there is a lot of money circulating, each piece of money becomes less valuable.

Another cause of inflation is a rise in production costs. This means it costs more money to make a particular product. The price of a candy bar may go up if the nuts in it are suddenly more expensive or if the workers making it are paid higher wages.

Higher taxes can also cause inflation. When items are taxed, people who produce goods don't want to see their profits go down. Instead, they raise their prices. This is called "transferring the burden to the consumer." It means that producers make the same in profits, and the people buying the products are the ones who suffer.

Inflation is complicated. Track the prices of some goods you are interested in, and see if you can understand why they've changed over time.