There are many scientific breakthroughs made by women in the Antarctic. Here are four landmarks in Antarctica and the female pioneers they're named after.
Jones Terrace
The ice-free terrace in eastern Antarctica's Victoria Land bears Jones' name. In 1969, geochemist Lois M. Jones led the first all-female research team from the U. S. to work in Antarctica. Jones and her team studied chemical weathering in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, an ice-free area of Antarctica. Through chemical analyses of rocks they had collected, Jones and her team discovered many geochemical characteristics of the valley's ice-covered lakes.
Mount Fiennes
8,202-foot-high Mount Fiennes, located on Antarctica's largest island — Alexander Island — is named after Ginny Fiennes. She established and maintained 80-foot-tall radio towers in the Antarctic with her colleagues. In 1985, Fiennes became the first female invited to join the Antarctic Club, a British supper club open to individuals who have spent extended time in the Antarctic region.
Francis Peak
The 3,727-foot-tall peak on Antarctica's Adelaide Island is named after Dame Jane Francis, who is the first female director of the British Antarctic Survey, the national polar research institute of the UK. Her collection of fossils on Seymour Island helped conclude in a 2021 paper that Antarctica's abundant plant fossils indicate the continent once had a much warmer climate than it currently does.
Peden Cliffs
Peden Cliffs near Antarctica's Marie Byrd Land are proof of the labor of Irene Peden. She was the first American female scientist to both live and work in the Antarctic, where she used radio waves to study ice sheets. Peden and her team determined how very low frequency radio wave spread over long polar distances by measuring pathways in the ice. They also used varying radio wave frequencies to measure the thickness of Antarctica's ice sheets.
Canadian author Alice Munro, a master of the contemporary short story, passed away on May 13, 2024, at 92.
Munro's texts featured depictions of everyday but decisive events, pulling vast themes out of ordinary settings. Her characters often mirrored her own rural Ontario lifestyle. In an interview after winning the Nobel Prize, she said that living in a small town gave her the freedom to write. "I don't think I could have been so brave if I had been living in a city, competing with people on what can be called a generally higher cultural level," she said. "As far as I knew, at least for a while, I was the only person I knew who wrote stories."
Munro's first short story was published when she was 37, a college dropout squeezing in writing time around her children's naps. By the time she was in her 60s, she had become one of the most celebrated short-story writers in the world. Throughout her long career, she hardly ever failed to wow readers and critics with her quietly powerful language. In reviewing her last collection, Dear Life, NPR critic Alan Cheuse wrote "A Munro story gives us so much life within the bounds of a single tale that it nourishes (滋养) us almost as much as a novel does."
In a literary culture that tends to celebrate novels over shorter fiction, Munro has been a constant advocate for the power of the short story. In the interview, Munro emphasized the significance of her win not for herself, but for her art form: "I really hope this would make people see the short story as an important art, not just something you play around with until you get a novel written."
When asked "Do you want young women to be inspired by your books and feel inspired to write?" Munro replied, "I don't care about that. I want people to find not so much inspiration as great joy. I want them to think of my books as related to their own lives in ways."
Handwriting notes in class might seem old-fashioned as digital technology affects nearly every aspect of learning. But a recent study in Frontiers in Psychology suggests that taking notes with pen and paper is still the best way to learn, especially for young children.
The new research builds on a 2014 study that suggested people may type notes quickly, without thinking much about what they're writing-but writing by hand is slower and makes them actively pay attention to and process the incoming information. This conscious action of building on existing knowledge can make it easier for students to stay engaged and grasp new concepts.
To understand specific brain-activity differences during the two note-taking approaches, the authors of the new study sewed 256 electrodes (电极) into a hairnet. These sensors let the scientists record 36 students' brain activity as they wrote or typed words displayed on a screen. When students wrote by hand, the sensors picked up widespread brain connectivity throughout visual regions that receive and process sensory information, and the motor cortex (运动皮层) that helps the brain use environmental inputs to inform a person's next action. Typing, however, resulted in minimal activity in these brain regions.
Vanderbilt University educational neuroscientist Sophia Vinci-Booher says the recent study highlights the clear tie between physical actions and concept understanding, "As you're writing a word, you're taking this continuous understanding of something and using motor system to create it." That creation then affects the visual system, where it's processed again-strengthening the connection between an action and the words associated with it.
Vinci-Booher notes that the new findings don't mean technology is always a disadvantage in the classroom. Digital devices can be more efficient for writing essays and offer more equal access to educational resources. However, there's a growing trend of relying on digital devices to perform cognitive (认知的) tasks, such as taking photos instead of memorizing information. Yadurshana Sivashankar, an researcher at the University of Waterloo says, "If we're not actively using these areas, then they are going to become worse over time, whether it's memory or motor skills."
The more scientists investigate the microbes (微生物) living inside us, the more they learn about the surprising impact of the tiny organisms on how we look, act, think, and feel. Are our health and well-being really driven by the bacteria, viruses and fungi that live in our intestines (肠), in our lungs, on our skin, on our eyeballs? What a weird concept — that the bugs we carry around appear to be essential to establishing the basic nature of who we are.
The effects of the microbiome, the microorganisms that exist in human body, can be profound and can start incredibly early. In a study, scientists showed that something supposedly as natural as a child's character might be related to the bacteria in an infant's digestive system; the more Bifidobacterium (双歧杆菌) there are, the sunnier the baby is. This observation, from the University of Turku in Finland, is based on an analysis of samples from 301 babies. Those with the highest proportion of Bifidobacterium organisms at two months old were more likely to exhibit a trait the researchers called "positive emotionality" at six months old.
Microbiome science is still relatively young. Most studies so far have been initial and small-scale, involving only a dozen or so mice or humans. Scientists have found associations between the microbiome and disease but can't yet draw clear cause-and-effect conclusions about our extensive collection of microorganisms and their effects on us as hosts. Still, the collection itself is mind-boggling — it's now thought to be around 38 trillion microbes for a typical young adult male, slightly more than the number of actual human cells. And the prospects for putting that collection to use are more than promising.
In the not-too-distant future, according to the most enthusiastic researchers, it might be a routine for us to take a dose of healthy microbes in various forms. Hopefully, with the help of new medical advances, we will be able to achieve our full potential by functioning at peak levels internally and externally.
On a large scale, making the world a better place can seem challenging. As a leader, your perspectives and ideas can directly impact your community for the better. Here are some ways to make an impact and grow your leadership through emotional intelligence.
Being able to provide a safe space through deep listening creates trust, which lays the foundation for meaningful relationships and fruitful partnerships. As a result, people are more likely to share openly and honestly. Empathy and listening will increase the quality of your relationships and skyrocket your results.
Making a positive impact can also be as simple as taking the time to acknowledge and inspire someone into action. Taking time to acknowledge someone by letting them know you see their efforts and talents. An example of what this could sound like is, "Wow! I am blown away by your project. What I see possible for you is to share with the rest of the team how to do it too."
Get involved with your already existing communities and networking circles. Start by connecting with your peers and ask them about causes they're already involved in. There is almost no limit to the impact you can create contributing to a cause that matters to you and your peers. With a little time, you can make a big difference.
Sharing your knowledge and strengths is another essential skill. When you share with others, you're teaching them something special about you and your journey. Imagine what would be possible if your community was in the mode of cooperation and contribution. This approach creates new ideas and opportunities. .
A. Show your kindness and respect to others.
B. This informs them that they are appreciated.
C. As your conversation continues, ask what is needed.
D. Support your friends and colleagues by listening actively.
E. When you are in contribution to others, you make a positive impact.
F. As a leader, you have your own unique set of strengths and knowledge.
G. One person may not change the world, but you can make a positive impact daily.
At one night in July 2020 in Reykjavik, Halli was wandering around the city's main street with his wife and two kids. During their walk, his three-year-old son was 1 and wanted a drink from the corner store. But Halli soon discovered he couldn't help with the 2 request: A 20-centimetre step 3 his access to the store.
The barrier was all too 4 . Born with muscular dystrophy (肌肉萎缩), which causes progressive 5 and loss of muscle, Halli, now 46, has been using a wheelchair since he was 25.
As he 6 his wife and children outside the shop, he recalls, "I thought about how very strange it is that we always 7 families in this way."
Living all over the world as a creative director and digital designer, Halli had 8 first hand how different cities consider and plan for accessibility, from ramps (坡道) and sidewalks to public transportation. He decided to start with a project to make Iceland wheelchair 9 .
Ramp Up Reykjavik launched as a non-profit in 2021 with a 10 to build 100 ramps within 1 year. Unlike temporary solutions in other cities, these ramps are 11 structures that match the beauty of buildings.
With the help of government funding and other sponsors, the Ramp Up team finished ahead of schedule and has 12 its scope to all of Iceland. In three short years, Hali has become a 13 in his hometown. Halli is proud that Ramp Up has 14 others to act. "Equal access to society is 15 not something that is a reality yet," says Hali. But as he's learned, change starts with just one person.
When discussing global education systems, Finland stands out for (it) high-ranking performance in international assessments and holistic (全面的) approach to education. The Finnish curriculum prioritizes essential life skills such as (creative), cooperation, critical thinking, and communication. Additionally, Finnish schools (emphasis) social and emotional skills like empathy and self-confidence, ensuring students are well-rounded and prepared for real-world challenges.
Finland's education system values cooperation competition, fostering a cooperative learning environment students learn from and support each other. Meanwhile, Finnish teachers enjoy freedom to design their course, which allows them (tailor) their teaching methods to meet their students' unique needs. This trust in teachers, combined with the cooperative learning environment, (promote) innovation, continuous improvement, and collective responsibility for student success.
, to imitate Finland's success requires careful consideration of contextual factors and systemic differences. Finland's model shows that comprehensive education, (profession) trust, and cooperation are key to (secure) long-term student success.
The Secret of Flowers
Anna worked with her mother in their vegetable garden every day. This was how they made their living. Anna helped her mother tend the garden, so the vegetables would be healthy and ready for the market. Anna often pretended the plants she tended were beautiful roses, like Mrs. Brown's prize flowers.
The only person in the village who made money selling flowers was Mrs. Brown. She grew roses and sold them to flower shops in the city. Every year she joined the City Rose Festival. People thought that Mrs. Brown used magic to grow her roses. How else could she win first prize twenty years in a row?
Anna loved to tend flowers. Moreover, she often dreamed about growing her own roses and winning first prize in the festival. With the prize money, she would also be able to lighten the burden at home. However, roses were too expensive for her to start.
One day, Anna visited Mrs. Brown to see her flowers. Mrs. Brown was whispering to her roses when she arrived. "Spying on me again!" Mrs. Brown frowned.
"I only came to see your flowers, Mrs. Brown." Anna took a deep breath. "I wish I could grow beautiful roses and win a prize at the festival like you."
"I have experience passed down from generations." Mrs. Brown laughed. "Stick to vegetables, child. Leave flowers to those who know the secret of flowers."
Mrs. Brown returned to her gardening, ignoring the sad look on Anna's face. Then she pulled up a dried-up rose, and threw it over the fence. "A plant in bad condition. Unworthy of my time," Mrs. Brown mumbled.
Anna smiled, as she had an idea. She bowed farewell to Mrs. Brown and went out the garden gate. Mrs. Brown was busy minding her prize roses. Anna quickly bent over and grabbed the abandoned rose before rushing home. She remembered a quiet spot behind the cottage. It was the perfect place for her little rose to grow. Now, she had a chance for the festival.
Anna planted the rose in her garden and tended it carefully.
On festival morning, Mrs. Brown passed by and saw the beautiful rose.
