大脑植入物

耳蜗移植物为世界各地成千上万严重的老少耳聋患者的自然听力提供了有用的替代物，这些装置用电刺激耳蜗内的听觉神经，使众多使用它们的患者能在没有视觉线索的情况下(比如说电话上)进行交谈。但是对那些其神经末梢已经退化或听觉神经已经损坏的人来说，听力恢复的唯一希望就是接通听觉系统的后部。目前加州的研究人员正在努力做这项工作，他们正用直接插入脑的装置取代耳蜗移植物。     

用湖水降温

即使在7月里的一天，当纽约州伊萨卡镇的气温高达90华氏度而闷热异常时，邻近的卡尤加湖的深处湖水仍是冰凉刺骨的40华氏度。这一简单明了的事实提醒了康乃尔大学——该镇最大的经济实体——采取一项新颖的办法来解决它对于降温的能源需求。该大学已着手实施一项耗资5500万美元的工程，名     

成功还是失败？

遥远超新星或许在横跨宇宙的半路上，但它们已经在地球上引起了—场激烈的争论。两年前，天文学家们发现，这些叵星爆炸比预期的暗弱——两者差异的程度相当大，看来要用空间结构本身来解释。超新星反常的暗弱表明，宇宙的膨胀可能正在加速，而不是像宇宙学家一直认为的那样在减速。但是现在八位超新星观测人员担心，他们的引人注目的发现同其它某些有争议的     

Assessment of the effectiveness of the studio format in introductory undergraduate biology

Kansas State University converted its introductory biology course, previously taught as an audio-tutorial (A-T), to a studio format in 1997. We share with others information about the process involved and present assessment data for the studio format course that address 1) student exam performance in A-T and studio; 2) student course grades in A-T and studio; 3) student and instructor perceptions and attitudes for A-T and studio; 4) student performance in subsequent biology courses for A-T and studio; and 5) gains in student learning for the studio course and other traditional lecture/lab courses. Collectively, these measures demonstrate that the studio format is as effective as or more effective (for some measures) than the A-T approach and traditional approaches in providing an effective learning environment. We discuss the issues involved in comparing course formats.     

Documenting English syntactic development in face-to-face signed communication

The authors explored the face-to-face English competence of five students who were participating in a larger study of teachers' use of English-based signing. Using case studies, the authors report on the students' development of English-based signing at the beginning and end of their involvement in this 4-year study. Grammatical forms similar in English and American Sign Language (ASL) were initially more readily produced when tested for in English, and showed consistently higher attainment levels across all the students, than grammatical forms that are different in English and ASL. The authors found emerging English forms that could be documented (a) between prompted and imitated utterances and (b) within blocks of test items examining the same grammatical constructions. The authors conclude that teachers' concerted efforts to use English-based signing as a language of instruction enhance deaf students' English acquisition. Such signing helps build a bridge between native sign language and the development of English skills necessary for literacy.     

不可能性的定理

我们在通常谈话中说到某件事情不可能时，我们的意思常常并不是指它真的不可能，而是说我们还看不到有什么办法可以解决这件事情。以前许多人曾认为比空气重的机器飞起米是不可能的，而更早之前还有许多人认为比水重的机器要浮在水卜是不可能的。但人的智慧不断地克服了这些乍看起来似乎是不可能的事情。     

机械性出错

根据摩尔定律，计算机的运算速度和内存能力大约每18个月翻一番，据此所推今天的主流PC机性能可以大大超过以往的高档主机。如果你确实不想要正确答案的话，那就去相信上面的说法吧。对此我可不敢苟同。因为摩尔定律有一个