How Netflix Became So Popular
We've all heard the phrase "Netflix and chill", which means "watch Netflix and hang out". Why not "Amazon Prime and chill?" There are many other websites and apps (allow) people to watch TV shows and movies. Similarly to Netflix, many streaming services offer original programs and movies. So what made Netflix have the impact it has society?
In the past few years, Netflix 3 (grow) exponentially in popularity, leaving other streaming services and regular television in the dust. Netflix was created in 1997, (original) as a way to send rental DVDs to people. In 2007, Netflix began offering streaming television shows and movies online. But it wasn't until 2013 that Netflix began offering original programming, enabling viewers to watch whole season of TV all at once.
Viewers are satisfied with Netflix's many different options for TV shows. One of the (big) appeals of Netflix was it would release all seasons of any old TV shows, something that Amazon Prime wouldn't do. In addition, Netflix releases monthly statements about which series and movies (remove) from the service. But other sites can remove full series without any notice.
While other services might have their (succeed), Netflix seems likely to continue its reign over the TV world and (become) more popular than regular TV in the next few years. Netflix has discovered what people like to watch and how they like to watch it, and if they keep on this path, television might be a thing of the past.
Scientists spent the past 10 years studying life in the oceans. This month, they released the results of their work.
People often say that there are plenty of fish in the sea. But until recently, not even scientists knew how many creatures lived in the world's oceans. Ten years ago, a group of scientists decided to find it out.
"We announced that we would try to conduct the first-ever worldwide census of marine life," the project's co-founder, Jesse Ausubel, told TFK. "It was daring, and people responded. "Over the next 10 years, more than 2, 700 scientists from 80 countries worked together to track, count and study sea species. In a report this month, they shared what they learned.
Decades of Discovery
Scientists began by exploring the seas. Along the way, they discovered many new species. "We found life everywhere we looked, "says census scientists Patricia Miloslavich. "We have given 1, 200 new names to science."
One name belongs to a type of furry white crab that spends its life at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. The unusual creature lives in a world of total darkness. Another new species, a nine-pound lobster, was found in the Indian Ocean, near Africa. "It is surprising that an animal of that size would remain to be discovered." says Ausubel.
Scientists also did research on land. They read through old records, including scientific papers, books, seafood—restaurant menus and fishermen's journals. Their goal: to find out which sea creatures lived where in the past.
Snapshot of the sea
After ten years of investigation, scientists found that the oceans are teeming with life. They counted 250, 000 marine species. They have an estimate of how many more species are waiting to be found: a whopping 750, 000. "Most of these will be small," says Ausubel, "There won't be any more giant lobsters."
The researchers learned which underwater areas have the most species. The seas around Australia and Japan have as many as 33, 000 forms of life. (The average marine area has about 10, 000 species.) These "hot spots" for biodiversity need special attention and protection, says Miloslavich.
The accurate picture of ocean life will help scientists notice changes. "Things will be different in 10, 20, 30 years," says Ausubel. "Knowing what's there now will be helpful. "
The census gives us a better understanding of the challenges facing our oceans. Many of the problems, including overfishing, habitat destruction and pollution, stem from(起源于) human behaviour.
Environmentalists are working to set up protected areas in the sea, much like the parks that conserve 12% of our land. "We need to show concern for the ocean, "says Miloslavich.
It may not be quite old enough to be the world's oldest living organism—that "honor" goes to the bristlecone pine tree (aged 5, 000 years)—but, at 4, 000 years of age, Leiopathes glaberrima, a deep-water coral species, does set the record for being the oldest animal living under the sea.
Located on the floor of the Pacific Ocean, off Hawaii, the 3 meters tall, (extremely) long-lived "black coral" could have some valuable clues about past incidents of climate change; specifically, it could better scientists' understanding of how oceans draw down carbon dioxide—and of ocean acidification in general. Brendan Roark of Texas University, who led a research expedition in 2006 to study the corals' climate records, presented his findings at the recent AAAS meeting.
How long they can live is anybody's guess, Roark told Science's Erik Stokstad and his colleagues used radiocarbon dating to determine the coral's age. What this suggests, he said, is that the harvesting of deep-water coral for jewelry should be completely banned; because the corals grow at such an anemic(贫血的) rate, any level of harvesting would likely wipe out the remaining specimens—those not yet affected by ocean acidification.
Roark believes it could be possible to reconstruct records of subsurface temperature variability and ocean circulation changes, which would provide some insight on climate change incidents and help predict future effects. By comparison, that ocean quahog clam we mentioned a while back—aged 405 years—seems almost sprightly.
Scientists Create Speech from Brain Signals
Scientists have found a way to use brain signals to make a computer speak the words a person is trying to say. Some illnesses or injuries can cause people to lose the ability to speak. , but they are slow. One method allows a person to "type" by moving their eyes from letter to letter to spell out words. The top speed with this method is about 10 words per minute. Normal human speech is about 150 words per minute.
Much recent research has focused on a direct connection between someone's brain and a computer. . For many BCIs, people have wires attached to their brains. This allows scientists to track the electrical signals in the brain and connect them to computers.
Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) decided to focus on the muscles people were trying to use when they spoke. . Epilepsy (癫痫) is a condition where unusual electrical activity in the brain can cause problems with a person's control of their body or senses.
There are about 100 muscles used for speaking. The scientists knew roughly what the shape of the mouth would have to be to make each sound. This allowed them to figure out how the brain signals controlled the speaking muscles. With that information they could "decode" the brain signals to find out how the person was moving their mouth. . The scientists were surprised at how close to real speech the computer speech was.
, the muscles used to make each sound are the same for everyone. That will make it easier for a system like this to help many people.
A. These people could speak normally
B. This is called a "Brain Computer Interface" (BCI)
C. There are some ways for these people to communicate
D. The UCSF's scientists worked with a group of five people with epilepsy
E. There's much to learn before a system like this could be used in everyday life
F. One important discovery is that though each person's brain signals are different
G. Then the scientists were able to create computer speech sounds based on the position of the speaking muscles
1）垃圾分类的好处；
2）讲座具体时间和地点；
3）邀请居民参加。
注意：1）词数80个左右；
2）开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数;
3）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
参考词汇：垃圾分类garbage classification
Dear sir or madam,
I'm writing this letter to call on attention to the community lecture concerning garbage classification.
……
Yours,
Hongqi Community
