Pte Speaking

Speaking:
Read Aloud:
1: Computers
Even though our computers are now better than 15 years ago, they still
malfunction between 11 and 20 percent of the time, a new study concludes. The
researchers behind the study therefore find that there are major gains to be
achieved for society by rethinking the systems and involving users more in their
development.
2: MAROON-X
Using the MAROON-X instrument on the Gemini-North Telescope, the team
was able to identifyand measure the abundance of 11 chemical elements in the
atmosphere of the planet. Those include rock-forming elements whose
abundances are not even known for giant planets in the Solar System such as
Jupiter or Saturn.
3: Random Number
A new form of random number generator for encryption, created at Linköping
University in Sweden, has the potential to make digital information exchange
safer, more cost-effective, andenvironmentally friendly. The researchers
involved in the study believe that this innovative technology could open up
possibilities for a novel form of quantum communication.
4: Specific Tasks
A team of researchers has announced the creation of a novel composite material
with the ability toalter its properties based on temperature changes, allowing it to
execute specific tasks. These materials are expected to be incorporated into the
next wave of self-governing robotics that can engage with the surrounding
environment.
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5: New Analysis
The new analysis of frailties within the UK's food system has been led by researchers from the
University of York and Anglia Ruskin University and is published in the journal Sustainability. In the
study, civil unrest is classified as over 30,000 people in the UK suffering violent injury in one year
through events such as demonstrations and violent looting.
6: Evolutionary
A new study has provided valuable insights into the Roosmalens' dwarf porcupine, a neotropical
species that has been poorly understood until now. This research, conducted after 22 years of
limited knowledge, reveals important information about its distribution, evolutionary relationships,
and potential risks to its conservation.
7: Groundbreaking
A groundbreaking study on recent evolutionary changes in natural populations has been
conducted by a team of international researchers. The study utilized a vast genomic dataset, one
of the largest ever assembled for animals in their natural habitat, which included almost 4,000
Darwin's finches.
8: Study Published
A recent study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE suggests that dog-assisted
interventions can effectively reduce stress levels in children, regardless of whether they have
special needs or not. The study, conducted by Kerstin Meints and colleagues from the University
of Lincoln, UK, measured salivary cortisol levels to determine the impact of these interventions.
9: Achieved Restoration
Scientists have achieved the restoration of impaired brain function in mice models of stroke by
utilizing small molecules, which may hold promise as a potential therapy for stroke recovery in the
future. Tadeusz Wieloch explains that the treatment has demonstrated the ability to partially
restore communication between nerve cells in significant areas of the brain that are affected by
stroke.
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10: Mental Health
In recent years in the UK we have seen an increase in mental health problems among young
people, so there has been an increased focus on how to support students. Here we have found
concerning evidence that students may have a higher risk of depression and anxiety than their
peers of the same age who are not in higher education.
11: Agricultural Problems

One of the complex agricultural problems is the issue of food waste. Food waste refers to the
discarding of edible food at various stages of the food supply chain, from production to
consumption. This not only represents a significant loss of resources but also has environmental
implications, such as greenhouse gas emissions from decomposing food waste in landfills.
12: Promoting Urban

Urban forests play a crucial role in promoting urban sustainability and resilience. They contribute
to climate change mitigation by sequestering carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. Urban
forests also help manage stormwater runoff by absorbing and filtering rainwater, reducing the risk
of flooding. Furthermore, these green spaces provide social and psychological benefits, such as
stress reduction and improved mental well-being.
13: Supermassive Black

According to a recent study, a star located near the supermassive black hole at the center of the
Milky Way Galaxy has been determined to have originated from outside the Galaxy. This
discovery marks the first instance of a star from another galaxy being identified in close proximity
to a supermassive black hole.
14: Communication
A recent study has revealed the significance of communication and expertise in organizations and
their impact on group performance. The researchers investigated the process of individuals joining
communication networks and how selection procedures affect group performance. The findings
indicate that individuals who communicate more during training are more likely to be selected as a
central member of the network.
15: Experience Moderate
Individuals who suffer from concussions often experience moderate to severe headaches in the
weeks following the injury. However, a recent study has discovered that a combination of two
commonly used anti-nausea medications, administered intravenously in the emergency room, may
provide more effective relief for these headaches compared to a placebo.
16: Scientists
Scientists have recently rediscovered and managed to cultivate Rhabdamoeba marina, a rare
marine amoeba that has been documented in only two instances over the past hundred years. By
studying this cultured strain, they conducted a thorough examination of its genetic sequence,
unveiling the amoeba's phylogenetic position for the first time.
17: Quantum Physicists

Quantum physicists show that imperfect timekeeping places a fundamental limit to quantum
computers and their applications. The team claims that even tiny timing errors add up to place a
significant impact on any large-scale algorithm, posing another problem that must eventually be
solved if quantum computers are to fulfill the lofty aspirations that society has for them.
18: Maternal Homework

Different types of maternal homework assistance have a different impact on the child's way of
completing school assignments in grades 2 to 4 of elementary school, according to a new study.
Although all homework assistance presumably aims at helping the child, not all types of homework
assistance lead to equally positive outcomes.
19: Geologically Speaking

While life on Earth is relatively new, geologically speaking, the ingredients that combined to form it
might be much older than once thought. The simplest amino acid, carbamic acid, could have
formed alongside stars or planets within interstellar ices. The findings could be used to train deep
space instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope to search for prebiotic molecules in
distant, star-forming regions of the universe.
20: Bioinspired
Chemists have developed a bioinspired supramolecular approach to convert photo-switchable
molecules from their stable state into metastable one with low-energy red light. Their work enables
fast, highly selective, and efficient switching, providing new tools for energy storage, activation of
drugs with light, and sensing applications.
21: Adolescence
Many mental health problems emerge during adolescence. Among these are disorders such as
depression and anxiety, which manifest as 'internalizing' symptoms, including low mood and
worrying. Other conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) manifest as
'externalizing' symptoms, such as impulsive behavior.
22: Mimic Genuine

The concept that a placebo or sham treatment can mimic genuine treatment effects is well-
established in science. While researchers have closely monitored this phenomenon, it has been
typically catalogued separately from the in-depth analyses of the actual treatment outcomes. What
sets our study apart is that we have brought together these two datasets-subjective beliefs and
objective treatment measures.
23: Love Celebrating

People love celebrating Christmas for plenty of reasons, but one of the best things about the
holiday is getting together with loved ones to do fun Christmas activities. Telling the newest
Christmas jokes, sharing funny Christmas memes and even solving clever Christmas riddles bring
out the holiday humor. You’re busting a gut before you know it!
24: Affects Communities

Income inequality is a significant social issue that affects communities worldwide. The gap
between the rich and the poor continues to widen, leading to social unrest and economic
instability. To address this issue, governments can implement policies that promote equitable
distribution of resources and opportunities.
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25: Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting is a popular dietary trend that involves alternating periods of fasting and eating.
Proponents claim that it can lead to weight loss, improved insulin sensitivity, and other health
benefits. However, there are also potential risks such as nutrient deficiencies and eating disorders.
It is important to consult with a healthcare professional before starting any fasting regimen.
26: Social Value

The Social Value of Offsets (SVO) is an economic framework that will help policymakers calculate
how much carbon should be stored in temporary offsets to make it equivalent to a permanent CO2
emission. Using the SVO metric the researchers estimate that an offset sequestering one ton of
carbon for 50 years is equivalent to between 0.3 to 0.5 tons permanently locked away.
27: Psychology’s
The study across three countries led by the Department of Psychology's Dr Paul Hanel discovered
people who prioritized achievement over enjoyment were less happy on the next day. Whereas
those who aimed for freedom said they had a 13% increase in well-being, recording better sleep
quality and life satisfaction.
28: Time Hiding

Relatives of starfish, brittle stars spend most of their time hiding under rocks and crevices in the
ocean or burrowing in the sand. These shy marine creatures have no brain to speak of-just nerve
cords running down each of their five wiggly arms, which join to form a nerve ring near their
mouth.
29: Riding Sea

Melting of glaciers, rising sea levels, extreme heat waves: the consequences of climate change
are more visible than ever, and the scientific community has confirmed that humans are
responsible. Yet studies show that a third of the population still doubts or disputes these facts. The
cause is disinformation spread by certain vested interests.
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30: Great Age
At this great age, putting a date on finds is very challenging and we used luminescence dating to
do this. These new dating methods have far reaching implications-allowing us to date much further
back in time, to piece together sites that give us a glimpse into human evolution.
31: Northwestern University

Now, Northwestern University chemists have developed a new catalyst that quickly, cleanly and
completely breaks down Nylon-6 in a matter of minutes-without generating harmful byproducts.
Even better: The process does not require toxic solvents, expensive materials or extreme
conditions, making it practical for everyday applications.
32: Scientific Consensus

Although scientific consensus on human responsibility-reaffirmed by the sixth report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)-has been in place for decades, a third of the
population still doubts or disputes it. This phenomenon can be explained by the disinformation
spread by certain companies and lobbies over the last 50 years.
33: Analyzed Pellets

When researchers analyzed pellets made from recycled plastic gathered in 13 countries, they
discovered numerous harmful substances, such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals. As a result,
the scientists concluded that recycled plastics are unsuitable for many applications and pose a
challenge to the establishment of a circular economy.
34: Beach Ball

An endlessly rotating beach ball, a program that crashes without saving data or systems that
require illogical procedures or simply do not work. Unfortunately, struggling with computers is still
a familiar situation for most of us. Tearing your hair out over computers that do not work remains
very common among users, according to new Danish research.
35: Southern Africa

Numerous fossil sites in southern Africa preserve distinctive three-toed footprints that have been
named Trisauropodiscus. For many years, researchers have debated what animals might have left
these tracks, as well as precisely how many different species (technically called ichnospecies) of
Trisauropodiscus there are.
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36: Greenhouse Gases
Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from human activity traps heat
within the climate system, warming air, the land surface, the oceans, and melting polar ice.
Oceans do by far the most work, absorbing more than 90 per cent of the excess human-generated
heat accumulated in the Earth's climate system, moderating atmospheric temperature rises.
37: Cooperative Behavior

Individuals that tended to engage in cooperative behavior within their group were more likely to
interact with bonobos in the other group that had the same tendency. This cooperation doesn’t
appear to be solely motivated by immediate reciprocation, the researchers say. For instance,
during the study, only 14 percent of bonobos that shared food with a partner in the other group
had the deed reciprocated.
38: Food Diets

Recent trends in raw food diets overlook the fact that some vegetables are more nutritious when
cooked. Cooking methods like steaming or roasting can enhance the availability of essential
nutrients in vegetables such as asparagus, mushrooms, and spinach. This process releases
important vitamins and antioxidants, which are sometimes trapped within the vegetables’ cell
walls.
39: Birds
Most birds can bend their wings at the wrist, pulling arched wings close to their bodies to navigate
their way through dense vegetation like branches. But hummingbird wings aren’t as flexible.
Because the wings stick straight out from a hummingbird’s body, getting through tight spaces
requires some tricky maneuvering.
40: Vigorously
Normally, heat is what gets evaporation going, causing water molecules in the liquid to jostle more
vigorously. That extra energy can break some of the bonds between molecules in the liquid,
allowing molecules to escape as water vapor. Based on how much heat goes in, scientists can
calculate the amount of evaporation expected.
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41: Demonstrates
A recent study demonstrates that strawberries, consumed daily for 12 weeks, can improve
memory, and reduce depressive symptoms in middle-aged, overweight adults. This improvement
is attributed to the anti-inflammatory effects of anthocyanins in strawberries, highlighting the fruit’s
role in cognitive health.
42: University of Sydney

A study from UCL and the University of Sydney shows that substituting just a few minutes of daily
sitting with moderate exercise can greatly benefit heart health. It also showed the benefit of light
activity, standing, and sleeping compared with sitting. This finding, part of research involving more
than 15,000 individuals, underscores the significant health impact of even small changes in daily
physical activity.
43: Novel Approach

A novel approach has been developed that enables researchers to track gene expression during
the development of bacterial communities over time and space. Using this cutting-edge technique,
scientists have demonstrated for the first time that bacteria collaborate and exchange nutrients
across generations when they form communities.
44: Numerous Challenges

Societies face numerous challenges, including inequality, discrimination, and social injustice. It's
important to recognize these issues and work towards building a more equitable and
compassionate society. By raising awareness, supporting marginalized communities, and
advocating for social justice, we can work towards creating a better future for all.
45: Work and Personal

Work and personal lives underwent enormous disruption during the pandemic, with people
working from home experiencing increased loneliness and a range of mental health issues. Under
normal circumstances, the younger generations of workers need additional support from their
managers and that was exacerbated during the pandemic, when we saw that relative newcomers
to the workforce did not cope as well under the pressures of remote working.
46: Japanese
Japanese researchers at Nagoya University have uncovered new aspects of the interaction
between mast seeding plants like bamboo and field mice. Their study reveals that mice behavior,
influenced by species, environment, and season, plays a crucial role in seed dispersal and forest
ecosystem health, challenging existing theories about seed storage and consumption.
47: Poor Diet

Increasing levels of obesity, poor diet, and increased sedentary behavior are driving a rapid rise in
the number of cases of type 2 diabetes worldwide. In 2021, 537 million adults were estimated to
have diabetes worldwide, with an increasing number diagnosed at younger ages.
48: Alzheimer’s
Some 160,000 people have some form of dementia in Sweden, Alzheimer's disease being the
most common, a figure that is rising with our life expectancy. At the same time, many new
diagnostic methods and early-intervention therapies have been developed in recent years, which
foregrounds the need to identify more risk factors for the disease.
49: Genomic Imprinting

In mice, there is some evidence that an unusual phenomenon in mammals called genomic
imprinting impacts parenting behavior. Mammals inherit two copies of each gene-one from each
parent-and usually, each copy is expressed equally in the cell. With imprinted genes, however,
only one copy is expressed, either the one inherited from the father or the mother.
50: Commonly-Held
Contrary to the commonly-held view, the brain does not have the ability to rewire itself to
compensate for the loss of sight, an amputation or stroke, for example, say scientists. The
researchers argue that the notion that the brain, in response to injury or deficit, can reorganize
itself and repurpose particular regions for new functions, is fundamentally flawed-despite being
commonly cited in scientific textbooks.
51: Cambridge Scientists
Cambridge scientists have shown that placing physical constraints on an artificially-intelligent
system-in much the same way that the human brain has to develop and operate within physical
and biological constraints allows it to develop features of the brains of complex organisms in order
to solve tasks.
52: Chemical
Scientists have discovered a way that bacteria in the gut can control genes in our cells. Their work
shows that chemical messages from bacteria can alter chemical markers throughout the human
genome. The signal chemicals are made when bacteria digest fruits and vegetables. By
communicating in this way, the bacteria may help to fight infections and to prevent cancer.
53: Pavlov Proposed

Pavlov proposed over a century ago that the sight, smell and taste of food are important for
regulating digestion. More recent studies in the 1970s and 1980s have also suggested that the
taste of food may restrain how fast we eat, but it's been impossible to study the relevant brain
activity during eating because the brain cells that control this process are located deep in the
brainstem.
54: Co-authored
A recent study, co-authored by a researcher from Tulane University, has found evidence
suggesting that violence was a prevalent aspect of life within ancient hunter-gatherer communities.
The study examined skeletal remains dating back 10,000 years from burial sites in northern Chile,
specifically looking for signs of trauma. These findings provide insights into the historical
prevalence of violence among early human societies.
55: Grizzly Bears

The internal clocks of grizzly bears appear to keep ticking through hibernation, according to a
genetic study. This persistence highlights the strong role of circadian rhythms in the metabolism of
many organisms including humans. The genetic study confirmed observational evidence that
bears' energy production still waxes and wanes in a daily pattern even as they slumber for several
months without eating.
56: Demographic and Social
A person's demographic and social background can influence their attendance at cultural venues
and events. Household composition, in particular, plays a significant role in shaping cultural
preferences. For instance, families with young children are more likely to visit theme parks and
amusement centers, while single individuals may be more inclined to attend concerts and art
galleries.
57: Maintaining Overall

While vitamins are essential for maintaining overall health and well-being, excessive or inadequate
intake may have adverse effects. Research suggests that certain vitamins, such as vitamin D and
vitamin E, may play a role in reducing the risk of mortality from specific causes, such as
cardiovascular disease or cancer.
58: Negative Outcomes

Research has shown that excessive job hours, such as working long hours or overtime, can lead
to negative outcomes, including increased stress levels, fatigue, and decreased job satisfaction.
Additionally, long work hours have been associated with adverse health effects, such as increased
risk of cardiovascular disease and mental health issues.
59: Library Requires

Building a personal library requires careful consideration and a discerning eye for selecting literary
works that resonate with one's intellectual curiosity. Beyond being a physical manifestation of
one's intellectual journey, personal libraries serve as a sanctuary for intellectual stimulation and
contemplation. They offer a haven for deep reading, critical thinking, and the exploration of new
ideas.
60: Standing Still

Basically, when we are standing still, our bodies are constantly making adjustments in order to
keep us stable. For example, if someone bumps into us when we are standing in line, our legs
make a wide range of movements that we are not even necessarily aware of in order to keep us
upright.
61: Chronic Diseases
The pursuit of wellness has gained increasing attention in recent years due to its potential benefits
for preventing chronic diseases, promoting longevity, and improving quality of life. However,
achieving optimal wellness requires a holistic approach that considers the unique needs and
circumstances of each individual. Wellness interventions and programs should be tailored to the
specific needs of individuals and communities.
62: Intricate System

Plants possess an intricate system of roots that extends far beyond what meets the eye. These
underground networks serve a crucial purpose in absorbing water and nutrients from the soil. This
remarkable feature enables plants to thrive in demanding environments like deserts. Mesquite
trees, for example, have tap roots that can delve over 50 yards deep in search of water.
63: Development
The development of a baby's senses begins in the womb, with hearing being one of the earliest to
emerge. Parents have been known to play music to their unborn babies, hoping to stimulate their
cognitive development. Recent research shows that babies can even start hearing adult speech as
early as 10 weeks before birth, providing them with an early exposure to the sounds and rhythms
of their family's language.
64: Humanities and Social

At our institution, we recognize the importance of research in the humanities and social sciences.
We are committed to advancing knowledge in these fields through rigorous research and analysis.
Our research agenda is driven by the pursuit of new insights that can benefit society both locally
and globally. We offer a wide range of programs in the humanities and social sciences.
65: Semesters or Quarters

University terms are typically divided into semesters or quarters, with each term lasting several
months. The academic calendar may also include summer sessions or intersessions, which offer
additional opportunities for students to take courses and accelerate their degree progress.
University terms are structured to provide students with a clear timeline for completing their
coursework and earning their degrees.
66: Automatically and Quite
Your nervous system allows you to think, move and feel. But there’s a whole other part of the
nervous system that is largely outside of your control, operating automatically and quite
independently from your conscious mind-and it keeps you alive.
67: Night’s Sleep

Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule is crucial for a good night's sleep in autumn when daylight
hours are shorter and the body's internal clock can be disrupted. Going to bed and waking up at
the same time each day helps regulate your circadian rhythm, allowing your body to anticipate
when it's time to sleep and when it's time to wake, promoting deeper and more restful sleep.
68: Undergone Peer

The first research study that has undergone peer review has been released, demonstrating the
successful transplantation of genetically modified pig kidneys into a human who was brain-dead.
These kidneys replaced the original kidneys of the recipient and were of clinical-grade quality. The
success of this transplant shows that xenotransplantation could be a solution to the global
shortage of organs for transplant.
69: Molecular Processes

A susceptibility to gain weight may be written into molecular processes of human cells, a new
study indicates. The proof-of-concept study with a set of 22 twins found an epigenetic signature in
buccal or cheek cells appearing only for the twins who were obese compared to their thinner
siblings.
70: Winter Season

During the winter season, various eye issues can arise due to harsh weather conditions. Excess
tearing and watery eyes, often caused by cold air and icy winds can lead to eye redness and
inflammation. This can often be due to dry eyes from the combination of entering and exiting the
cold weather and rooms that have been heated with central heating.
71: Enemies Including
Your body is at war; your immune system is in endless battle against a host of enemies including
bacteria, viruses, parasites and, more often than you would like or are aware, cancer cells.
Thankfully, your white blood cells are "cut-throat killer cells" patrolling the body, ready to engulf,
entrap or dissolve unwanted visitors.
72: Physical Health

As the nights draw in and the days turn a little gloomy, the winter months can often have an impact
on our mental and physical health. With that in mind, a trip to sunnier climates might be exactly
what you need to give your wellbeing a boost.
73: Existentialism
Existentialism is a philosophical movement that explores the nature of human existence and the
individual's struggle to find meaning in a chaotic and absurd world. It emphasizes personal
freedom, responsibility, and the importance of subjective experience. Existentialist thinkers like
Jean-Paul Sartre and Friedrich Nietzsche delve into concepts such as authenticity, anxiety, and
the inevitability of death.
74: Grey Zone

The researchers concluded that millions of people around the world may have inhabited a "grey
zone" between living and dying, in which they have had an out-of-body experience. People often
wake up profoundly changed, no longer fearing death and resolved to live a better life.
75: Perfect Pitch

Songbirds do indeed have perfect pitch. A scientific study has shown that various songbirds,
including zebra finches and white-throated sparrows, are much better at determining,
distinguishing and remembering isolated pitches than human beings or rats. Even when human
subjects were provided with a second sound for comparison, they were far less skilled at
determining its pitch than songbirds.
76: Sadness and Distress
There is a big difference between sadness and distress. Feeling a bit sad or angry is normal in
your day to day life, and can be triggered by a range of different things. However, if you are feeling
increasingly angry, frustrated, helpless or confused then you may be suffering from something
which requires a professional to step in.
77: Death Experiences

These days it seems near death experiences are a common phenomenon. The research team
named above, which studied hundreds of cases to narrow down the medical definition, discovered
that around fifteen per cent of people who have been resuscitated from a coma after cardiac arrest
have had these experiences.
78: Music Play

Early experiences with music play a role in human beings. Most babies have perfect pitch, and this
is usually preserved if they are given music lessons at an early age. Speaking a tonal language
such as Mandarin-where words can have different meanings depending on tone and pitch-also
help to develop perfect pitch.
79: Auditory Imagery

Like the science of yawns, the reason for earworms is fascinating. They are a form of auditory
imagery where we perceive tone in the brain in the absence of actually hearing it. “The auditory
cortex is located in the temporal lobe of the brain,” says Samata Sharma, MD, director of addiction
consult psychiatry at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, who has published research on
this topic.
80: Year
Scientists have made a significant finding regarding the connection between the Sun's magnetic
field and its sunspot cycle. This discovery allows for the prediction of the timing of the peak in solar
activity. Their research suggests that solar cycle 25, which is currently ongoing, is approaching its
maximum intensity and is expected to happen within a year.
81: Emotional Strength
How can you be prepared for what’s ahead in life, good or bad? Building emotional strength can
help you learn how to be confident in handling its twists and turns. But emotional strength doesn’t
mean pushing aside or suppressing negative feelings or emotions; instead, it means
acknowledging them and finding healthy ways to process and respond to them.
82: Domesticated Robots

Domesticated rabbits come in all sizes and colors, including tiny Netherland Dwarfs, floppy-eared
French lops, Flemish Giants, and fluffy Angoras. These breeds belong to Europe's only rabbit
species, originally limited to the Iberian Peninsula and Southern France and used for meat and fur
since the last Ice Age, culminating in domestication about 1,500 years ago.
83: Plague Pandemic

The Second Plague Pandemic of the mid-14th century, also known as the Black Death, killed 30-
60 percent of the European population and profoundly changed the course of European history.
New research suggests that this plague, potentially through resulting changes in diet and hygiene,
may also be associated with a shift in the composition of the human oral microbiome toward one
that contributes to chronic diseases in modern-day humans.
84: Playful Nature

Cats are popular pets around the world. They are known for their playful nature, soft fur, and
independent personalities. Many people enjoy having cats as companions, as they can provide
comfort and entertainment. However, it is important to take care of cats properly by providing them
with food, water, and regular veterinary check-ups.
85: Puzzles
You may have heard that puzzles and other brain games sharpen your mind-boosting memory,
attention span, thinking speed, creativity and problem-solving skills-and that may or may not be
true. (Scientists can’t agree). But we do know that they’re loads of fun and a great way to stay
engaged and entertained.
86: Incredible Price
The natural world is an incredible place. There are soaring mountains and rolling sand dunes,
spectacular beaches and shimmering lakes, steaming geysers and bubbling volcanoes-and so
much more. Although it’s all truly dazzling, there are a few destinations and sights around the
world that stand out from the rest. And the most significant of all are the seven natural wonders of
the world.
87: Space Sciences India

Scientists at the Center of Excellence in Space Sciences India located at IISER Kolkata have
made a significant finding regarding the connection between the Sun's magnetic field and its
sunspot cycle. This discovery allows for the prediction of the timing of the peak in solar activity.
Their research suggests that solar cycle 25 is approaching its maximum intensity and is expected
to happen within a year.
88: Long Considered

Long considered myth, freakishly large rogue waves are very real and can split apart ships and
even damage oil rigs. Using 700 years' worth of wave data from more than a billion waves,
scientists at the University of Copenhagen and University of Victoria have used artificial
intelligence to find a formula for how to predict the occurrence of these maritime monsters.
Repeat Sentence:
1. The annual fee collected is not refundable under any circumstance.
2. You are not sure that you can skip the sessions for Wednesday.
3. We will change the classroom because this one is too small.
4. This program is running in partnership with a number of departments.
5. Car park permits can be obtained at the student service center.
6. Your abstract should contain the empirical evidence of your research.
7. Teachers can also help students to select their future career pathway.
8. Economic recovery can't be sustained unless more jobs are created.
9. There were lots of tourists wandering on the busy street.
10. Students are asked to circle the words on this list that they recognize.
11. You need to complete the application form before next Friday.
12. Air pollution in our country has risen above an acceptable level.
13. Students’ papers should be about a current social issue.
14. The high price is a major hindrance to potential buyers.
15. He used to work at night and sleep during the day.
16. Each student has been given their own email address by the school.
17. The key findings seem to contradict our initial hypothesis.
18. Parents should set a good example to their children.

19. The family business is now run as a cooperative.
20. Please use the button below if you want to reserve a computer.
21. The teaching of history should not be limited to dates and figures.
22. An inquiry was set up to determine the cause of the accident.
23. The project modules are specified as modules of the control system.
24. In the future, pay increases will be related to productivity.
25. The bus by the building goes directly to the central bus station.
26. We often ask our students to get access to all sorts of services.
27. The signal will be converted into digital code by the computer.
28. He is a hard worker and a skilled gardener who is about to retire.
29. There are lots of opportunities to meet people in this course.
30. We know that dolphins use sound to communicate with each other.
31. They are collecting information in preparation for the future talk.
32. Eventually, the new regulations will work to our advantage.
33. He had been carrying on his business until he retired last year.
34. This course introduces you to the study of teaching as a profession.
35. She had the advantage of a good education over others.
36. The capacity to listen to colleagues is often considered a great skill.
37. Our degree is built to prepare you for your career at sea.
38. Thousands of people paid good money to watch the band perform.
39. You may let us know what projects interest you the most.
40. The students will have enough time to ask questions after the talk.
41. An office assistant is to help the attorney organize all of his case files.
42. This meeting has been hosted by a motivational speaker.
43. Our business is built on the network of alumni, friends and partners.
44. He looked at me in confusion and did not answer the question.
45. The money was distributed among schools in this rural area.
46. He had worked in the theatre for many years, starting at the bottom.
47. We offer databases and educational resources to students of all ages.
48. Sleep is believed to play a critical role in storing memories.
49. I have established a good working relationship with my boss.
50. Our priority is to educate people about the dangers of drugs.
51. The government took another step on the road to political reform.
52. I will check the map to make sure we are going the right way.
53. For the past three years they have been leading totally separate lives.
54. Eating a healthy breakfast can provide energy throughout the day.
55. I was granted permission to visit the palace last week.
56. The team has made some minor changes to the new program.
57. Several universities in our city have rigid rules about student conduct.
58. The professor ran over her notes before giving the lecture.
59. We need to develop a coordinated approach to the problem.
60. The bibliography needs to be removed prior to the publication.
61. It may be said that the teacher has done his very best to help him.
62. Many modern cities now require their citizens to sort the garbage.
63. He has failed to win a seat on the board of the company.
64. You should include some examples in your essay to get a high mark.
65. The analysis is related to gender equality and the aging issue.
66. We believe that finances should never be a barrier to university.
67. The bus right out in the front will take you to the station.
68. Our research group needs to find sponsorships for the expedition.
69. The organisms were forced to adapt in order to survive.
70. He studies in particular the fishes of the Indian Ocean.
71. In the plant, skilled workers who perform key jobs form into groups.
72. The new system is the focus of controversy among the public.
73. We have worked together to promote a healthy research culture.
74. The paper has the potential to transform life science.
75. You can apply for multiple scholarships in one simple application.
76. There have been many complaints from members of the public.
77. Her house was only a few doors down from her daughter's apartment.
78. The Italian cheese has been exported to many different countries.
79. He made the joke on purpose, knowing it would annoy her.
80. The trip promises to be a great mixture of the ancient and modern.
81. We all hope that this film will be a commercial success.
82. They had faced one difficulty after another with great determination.
83. All of our tutors have more than two years of teaching experience.
84. The object is to gather as great a diversity of genetic material as possible.
85. Most supermarkets in this country sell a range of organic products.
86. The first assignment is due on the fourteenth of September.
87. Regular servicing can guarantee the smooth operation of the engine.
88. The eyesight can be corrected in minutes by the use of a laser.
89. All the arrangements are now in place for the group's visit.
90. She has failed to complete her degree in international business.
91. The committee was in the process of formulating a plan.
92. Students can borrow this book for a maximum of one day.
93. The new manager brings a great wealth of experience to the job.
94. Most schools are unwilling to cut down on staff in order to cut costs.
95. The patients were observed over a period of several months.
96. Have you talked to your parents about the problems you're having?
97. The young professor amazed us by his knowledge of history.
98. He hoped they would not feel disappointed if they were not invited.
99. These services are available for those experiencing academic concerns.
100. A moderate earthquake struck the United States early on Saturday.
Describe Image:
1: Composition of Air
2: Payroll and Tax
3: Tax Average
4: Teacher’s Career
5: New Home Price
6: Layers of Earth
7: Population
8: Energy Consumption
9: Posture
10: Floor Plan
11: Cycle of Tomato
12: Gender
13: Growing Population
14: Australian Population Groups
15: Garden Survey
16: Educational Levels
17: Outdoors Breakfast
18: Environmental Disaster
19: New Student Enrollment
20: Households Income
21: Screen Time
22: Smart Home Survey
23: Quiet Quitting
24: UK House Prices
25: Pedalcyclist
26: Renewable Electricity
27: Internet User Gender Gap
28: Forecast Growth
29: Beach View
30: Destination Countries
31: CO2 and Temperature
32: Annual Returns
33: Energy Consumption
34: Freeze Dates
35: Exploratory Data Analysis
36: Mobile Students
Re-tell Lecture:
1: Drinking Water on Mars

There is a lot of water on Mars and there once was a lot of surface flowing water. You don’t see it
because most of it is mixed with the soil which we call regolith on Mars. So, the Martian soil can
be anywhere from as little as one percent in some very dry desert-like areas to as much as 60
percent water. So, one strategy for getting water when you're on Mars is to break up the regolith
which would take something like a jackhammer because it's very cold, it’s very frozen. If you can
imagine making a frozen brick or a chunk of ice that’s mostly soil and maybe half water and half
soil that’s what you would be dealing with. So, you need to break this up, put it in an oven. As it
heats up it turns to steam. You run it through a distillation tube and you have pure drinking water
that comes out the other end. There is a much easier way to get water on Mars. In this country
we have developed industrial dehumidifiers. And they're very simple machines that simply blow
the air in a room or a building across a mineral called zeolite. Zeolite is very common on Earth,
it’s very common on Mars. And zeolite is kind of like a sponge. It absorbs water like crazy. Takes
the humidity right out of the air. Then you squeeze it and out, comes the water.
2: Best Thoughts
The primary obstacle to good thinking is not a cramped desk or an uninteresting horizon. It is,
first and foremost, anxiety. Often the most profound thoughts we need to grapple with have a
potentially disturbing character. As these potential implications start to come vaguely into view,
our inner censor, motivated by a desire for calm rather than growth, gets alarmed. A vigilant part
of the self gets agitated; it distracts us, it makes us feel tired or gives us a strong need to go
online. Skillfully, it confuses and muddles our train of thought. It blocks the progress we were
starting to make towards ideas that - though important and interesting - also presented marked
threats to short-term inner peace. It’s in this context that the shower emerges as so helpful to the
way our minds work and earns the right to be honored as one of the best places on earth in
which to do any kind of serious reflection. Amidst the crashing water and the steam and with a
few minutes of respite before the day starts, the mind is no longer on guard. We're not supposed
to be doing much inside our heads; we’re mainly occupied with trying to soap our backs and
properly rinse our hair. The ideas that have been half-forming at the back of our minds, ideas
about what the true purpose of our lives might be and what we should do next, keep up their
steady inward pressure - but now there is a lot less to stop them reaching full consciousness.
We're not meant to be thinking and so - at last - we can think freely and courageously.
3: Doing Hard Things
How do I learn to enjoy and embrace difficult things and have it be an integrated part of my life?
So, there are two things that really helped me do that. Number one is more of a mindset shift and
it's more inner work. And number two is more of a practical, strategic thing that you do to
yourself. Okay, so number one is to operate from an abundance mindset rather than a scarcity
mindset. If you’re constantly telling yourself, ah, I have to go read books to get smarter. Oh, I
have to go read a book now. Obviously, you're not gonna have a good time while you're doing it.
But if you identify as somebody who enjoys reading books, it’s something that you like doing, it’s
just a part of who you are, then you’re way more likely to actually follow through with doing it.
This next tip is a little bit more practical and a little less theoretical. And that is to utilize habit-
bunching. And that is when you pair an already existing habit that you are used to doing with one
that you're trying to work on. So for instance, I'm a sucker for a great cup of coffee. I have one in
the morning and one in the early afternoon. I really enjoy the taste of coffee and I look forward to
it every single time.
Do I have an addiction? Yes, but I can leverage this filthy habit of mine into working on another
habit. A great one to pair with a coffee addiction is reading. And that’s exactly how I started
reading more books. Every single morning next to my coffee maker, I placed the book that I
wanted to read next to it so that when I made my coffee, I knew to pick up the book and I could
only drink the coffee if I was reading the book the entire time I was drinking it. Done.
4: Hibernation
The behaviors inherent in hibernation, like going five weeks without sleep, or dropping to near-
freezing body temperatures would be potentially fatal to non-hibernating species like us. To find
out how hibernators are able to do this, researchers turned their attention to those animal's
genomes. So far, they’ve discovered that hibernation is controlled by genes that turn off and on
in unique patterns throughout the year, fine-tuning the hibernator’s physiology and behavior. For
example, ground squirrel, bear and dwarf lemur studies have revealed that these animals are
able to turn on the genes that control fat metabolism precisely when they need to use their fat
stores as fuel to survive long periods of fasting. And the genes in question are present in all
mammals, which means that researchers could study hibernating mammals to see how their
unique control of physiology might help humans. Understanding how hibernators deal with
reduced blood flow could lead to better treatments for protecting the brain during a stroke.
Figuring out how these animals avoid muscle deterioration might improve the lives of bedridden
patients. And studying how hibernating animals control their weight with ease could illuminate the
relationship between metabolism and weight gain in humans.
5: Aphasia
Language is an essential part of our lives that we often take for granted. With it, we can
communicate our thoughts and feelings, lose ourselves in novels, send text messages, and greet
friends. It’s hard to imagine being unable to turn thoughts into words. But if the delicate web of
language networks in your brain became disrupted by stroke, illness, or trauma, you could find
yourself truly at a loss for words. This disorder, called aphasia, can impair all aspects of
communication. People who have aphasia remain as intelligent as ever. They know what they
want to say but can't always get their words to come out correctly. They may unintentionally use
substitutions called paraphasias, switching related words, like saying ‘dog’ for ‘cat’, or words that
sound similar, such as ‘house’ for ‘horse’. Sometimes, their words may even be unrecognizable.
6: Power of Simple Word

We all know the scene: Dorothy closes her eyes, and repeats the Good Witch's mantra, "No
coordinates exist like one’s domicile, no coordinates exist like one’s domicile, no coordinates
exist like one’s domicile.” Only Dorothy doesn't say that. She says five one-syllable words,
“There’s no place like home.” Each a word you probably learned in your first year of speaking,
each perfectly concise. It’s not that L. Frank Baum didn’t have a thesaurus. It’s that in most cases
$10 words fail. When it comes to words, bigger isn’t always better. Ten-dollar words are rendered
worthless if they're not understood. That's not to say every piece of literature should be written at
a fourth- grade reading level, but it is important to know your audience. If you're a novelist, your
audience is probably expecting 300 pages of vivid descriptors. At the very least, they're
expecting you won't use the same 50 words to fill those pages. But most of us don’t have the
luxury of a captive audience. We're competing against a whole world of distractions and we're
fighting for space in an attention span that continues to shrink across generations. So, get to the
point already.
7: Memorizing while Sleeping

In a 2007 study, for example, a group of neuroscientists had people learn the locations of a
bunch of different objects while it smelled like roses, then made it smell like roses again while
they were asleep. When they woke up, the subjects were better at remembering where the
objects were, compared to when they did the same task without any smells. The researchers
proposed that when the subjects smelled roses while they slept, that boosted the memory
consolidation process because their brains associated the smell with the memories of the object
locations. Basically, the smell acted as a cue to their brains to reactivate those memories,
strengthening the connections between the neurons that stored them. And stronger connections
meant they had an easier time recalling the memories when they woke up. That 2007 study was
small, but later studies that tested the idea found similar results.
8: Inflation and deflation
So, why doesn’t the Fed just decide to print infinite hundred-dollar bills to make everyone happy
and rich? Well, because then the bills wouldn't be worth anything. Think about the purpose of
currency, which is to be exchanged for goods and services. If the total amount of currency in
circulation increases faster than the total value of goods and services in the economy, then each
individual piece will be able to buy a smaller portion of those things than before. This is called
inflation. On the other hand, if the money supply remains the same, while more goods and
services are produced, each dollar's value would increase in a process known as deflation. So,
which is worse? Too much inflation means that the money in your wallet today will be worth less
tomorrow, making you want to spend it right away. So, while this would stimulate business, it
would also encourage overconsumption, or hoarding commodities, like food and fuel, raising their
prices and leading to consumer shortages and even more inflation. But deflation would make
people want to hold onto their money, and a decrease in consumer spending would reduce
business profits, leading to more unemployment and a further decrease in spending, causing the
economy to keep shrinking. So, most economists believe that while too much of either is
dangerous, a small, consistent amount of inflation is necessary to encourage economic growth.
9: Water that Dissolves

We make our countertops with quartz, our clothes with cotton, our windows with glass, and our
streets with asphalt because water can’t dissolve these materials. They're made mostly of
molecules with no charged parts. It would be silly to build, say, windows with something that can
dissolve in water, like sugar... unless you're going to eat them. And lots of the substances that
water does dissolve, like washable markers, are things we engineered so that they can be
washed away. We've also engineered versions that aren't dissolvable in water for when we don’t
want them to be washed away. By making sure water dissolves what we want it to and only what
we want it to. We've been able to adapt a life to a world in which water dissolves so much stuff.
We humans also literally adapted to a world in which water dissolves so much stuff. The outer
layer of our skin is built in a way that makes it uncharged and therefore undissolvable. And the
membrane surrounding each of the cells inside us has a similar undissolvable layer. The only
reason we humans exist at all on this watery planet or that trees, fish, bacteria, or anything else
exists is that we evolved barriers that could keep water from dissolving us into goo. Any life forms
that didn't were simply dead in the water.
10: Startre’s Theory
How do we know that there are other subjects in the world? And how do we know ourselves as
selves? Sartre thinks that, in order to answer these two questions, we need to think about the
way that others structure our experiences through the scene that he calls the look. So, imagine
you're in a park and you're alone and you're walking along. You're seeing grass, you’re seeing
benches, et cetera. And then suddenly you see another person walking. Now for Sartre, the other
person is fundamentally different from the other things that you have encountered so far in the
park. They're different from the grass, the benches, the trees, because they appear to you as a
center of their own experience. Sartre says in seeing the other person, I feel the world stolen
away from me. It’s almost as if there is a sink hole of being. Because as much as I like to think of
myself as the organizing center of the world, as it turns out, there’s somebody else who is the
center of their own world, and this, he thinks is a fundamentally threatening experience. So, our
first encounters with others for start are fundamentally the site of conflict. It's not a warm, fuzzy
feeling of being together.
11: Apple Cider Vinegar

But lowering your blood sugar after a meal is just about the only benefit of drinking apple cider
vinegar. Research does suggest that acetic acid can slow down the accumulation of body fat and
prevent metabolic disorders in mice and rats. But there’s little evidence that it has the same effect
on humans. In one weight-loss experiment, 30 volunteers drank two tablespoons of either apple
cider vinegar, malt vinegar, or a placebo drink, twice a day, for two months straight, and none of
them lost weight. In an older study with a similar design, participants did lose weight, but only
about a third of a pound each week, which McDonald says isn’t much. But if not for weight loss,
what about using cider vinegar to whiten your teeth? I caution people against that. That's because
cider vinegar is an acid. In fact, most brands have a pH between 2 and 3, which is similar to
stomach acid, so swishing it around in your mouth can over time wear down the enamel around
your teeth, leaving them feeling rough to the touch and more susceptible to cavities and decay.
12: Poor Posture
Your posture, the way you hold your body when you're sitting or standing, is the foundation for
every movement your body makes, and can determine how well your body adapts to the stresses
on it. These stresses can be things like carrying weight, or sitting in an awkward position. And
the big one we all experience all day, every day: gravity. If your posture isn’t optimal, your
muscles have to work harder to keep you upright and balanced. Some muscles will become tight
and inflexible. Others will be inhibited. Over time, these dysfunctional adaptations impair your
body's ability to deal with the forces on it. Poor posture inflicts extra wear and tear on your joints
and ligaments, increases the likelihood of accidents, and makes some organs, like your lungs,
less efficient. Researchers have linked poor posture to scoliosis, tension headaches, and back
pain, though it isn’t the exclusive cause of any of them. Posture can even influence your
emotional state and your sensitivity to pain. So, there are a lot of reasons to aim for good
posture.
13: Prescriptive and Descriptive

Most of us learn to speak at such an early age that we don’t even remember it. We form our
spoken repertoire through unconscious habits, not memorized rules. And because speech also
uses mood and intonation for meaning, its structure is often more flexible, adapting to the needs
of speakers and listeners. This could mean avoiding complex clauses that are hard to parse in
real time, making changes to avoid awkward pronunciation, or removing sounds to make speech
faster. The linguistic approach that tries to understand and map such differences without dictating
correct ones is known as descriptivism. Rather than deciding how language should be used, it
describes how people actually use it, and tracks the innovations they come up with in the process.
But while the debate between prescriptivism and descriptivism continues, the two are not
mutually exclusive. At its best, prescriptivism is useful for informing people about the most
common established patterns at a given point in time. This is important, not only for formal
contexts, but it also makes communication easier between non-native speakers from different
backgrounds.
Descriptivism, on the other hand, gives us insight into how our minds work and the instinctive
ways in which we structure our view of the world. Ultimately, grammar is best thought of as a set
of linguistic habits that are constantly being negotiated and reinvented by the entire group of
language users.
14: Pain
Say you're at the beach, and you get sand in your eyes. How do you know the sand is there?
You obviously can’t see it, but if you are a normal, healthy human, you can feel it, that sensation
of extreme discomfort, also known as pain. Now, pain makes you do something, in this case,
rinse your eyes until the sand is gone. And how do you know the sand is gone? Exactly because
there’s no more pain. There are people who don't feel pain. Now, that might sound cool, but it’s
not. If you can’t feel pain, you could get hurt, or even hurt yourself and never know it. Pain is your
body’s early warning system. It protects you from the world around you, and from yourself. As we
grow, we install pain detectors in most areas of our body. These detectors are specialized nerve
cells called nociceptors that stretch from your spinal cord to your skin, your muscles, your joints,
your teeth and some of your internal organs. Just like all nerve cells, they conduct electrical
signals, sending information from wherever they're located back to your brain. But, unlike other
nerve cells, nociceptors only fire if something happens that could cause or is causing damage.
So, gently touch the tip of a needle. You'll feel the metal, and those are your regular nerve cells.
But you won't feel any pain. Now, the harder you push against the needle, the closer you get to
the nociceptor threshold. Push hard enough, and you’ll cross that threshold and the nociceptors
fire, telling your body to stop doing whatever you're doing.
15: Route Planning of Airlines

Airlines can make a lot of money by flying to the right places. British Airways, for example, long-
ago cemented themselves as the leader on the London Heathrow to New York JKF route, and
flying between these two airports now earns them over $1 billion per year. That's more than any
airline makes on any other route in the world. Conversely, though, airlines can lose a lot of money
by flying to the wrong places. American Airlines, for example, recently cancelled their Chicago to
Beijing flight as it was loosing them tens of millions of dollars per year. Now, the fact that this
route failed might be puzzling considering it flew between the world’s fiftieth and the world seventh
largest city. Even more, they were flying the 787-8 Dreamliner, the smallest plane they could on
this route. Nonetheless, it was truly a financial disaster. The airline said that, in terms of annual
revenue, the route was $ 80 million away from their target. The truth is that deciding where to fly
is a lot more complicated than pairing up the largest cities. It’s an art that people spend their
whole lives mastering and the difference between an airline that’s good at route planning and one
that’s bad. This can be the difference between a profitable airline and a defunct one.
16: Problem with Over-achievement
In other words, over-achievers are trying to solve a range of psychological problems through
material or worldly means. And this is why their efforts must, in a deep sense, always be
doomed to failure - even when it appears to most of the world as if over-achievers are
succeeding beyond measure. Because success is the moment when over-achievers are likely to
notice the doomed nature of their ambitions, it is a particularly troubling and dangerous
eventuality. Depression may set in just after the company is sold; the star will fall into a crisis
just after they finally gain worldwide recognition. At exactly the point when their work is
acclaimed or finds its audience, over-achievers are at risk of severe breakdown. So long as they
are merely running, they can forget to notice that their goal is misaligned with their true inner
ambition. They must wait for success to reveal the fateful nature of their life’s quest.
17: Stress and Memory

Facts you read, hear, or study become memories through a process with three main steps. First
comes acquisition: the moment you encounter a new piece of information. Each sensory
experience activates a unique set of brain areas. In order to become lasting memories, these
sensory experiences have to be consolidated by the hippocampus, influenced by the amygdala,
which emphasizes experiences associated with strong emotions. The hippocampus then encodes
memories, probably by strengthening synaptic connections stimulated during the original sensory
experience. Once memory has been encoded, it can be remembered or retrieved later. Memories
are stored all over the brain, and it's likely the prefrontal cortex that signals for their retrieval. So
how does stress affect each of these stages? In the first two stages, moderate stress can actually
help experiences enter your memory. Your brain responds to stressful stimuli by releasing
hormones known as corticosteroids, which activate a process of threat-detection and threat-
response in the amygdala. The amygdala prompts your hippocampus to consolidate the stress-
inducing experience into a memory. Meanwhile, the flood of corticosteroids from stress stimulates
your hippocampus, also prompting memory consolidation. But even though some stress can be
helpful, extreme and chronic stress can have the opposite effect.
18: Learning and Performance
What I’ve learned is that the most effective people and teams in any domain do something we
can all emulate. They go through life deliberately alternating between two zones: the learning
zone and the performance zone. The learning zone is when our goal is to improve. Then we do
activities designed for improvement, concentrating on what we haven't mastered yet, which
means we have to expect to make mistakes, knowing that we will learn from them. That is very
different from what we do when we’re in our performance zone, which is when our goal is to do
something as best as we can, to execute. Then we concentrate on what we have already
mastered and we try to minimize mistakes. Both of these zones should be part of our lives, but
being clear about when we want to be in each of them, with what goal, focus and expectations,
helps us better perform and better improve. The performance zone maximizes our immediate
performance, while the learning zone maximizes our growth and our future performance. The
reason many of us don’t improve much despite our hard work is that we tend to spend almost all
of our time in the performance zone. This hinders our growth, and ironically, over the long term,
also our performance.
19: Camel Fat

You see, camels are one of the only animals in the world that store all their fat in one spot. And
that’s useful for keeping cool in a hot climate because heat can escape faster from the rest of
their body, which helps them maintain a lower body temperature. Compare that to other
mammals, like humans, who store fat all over, making it a lot harder to stay cool. Today, camels
still use the fat in their humps as a food reserve, but they're not the only ones. In extreme
circumstances, the Turkana tribe in Kenya, for example will eat camel fat to survive. They suffer a
lot from periods of extreme drought, and I have seen these people, they've been very, very short
on food, and this is difficult to believe, but it's true, slit open the top of a camel's hump, take out
the fat for their own consumption, and then put the top of the hump back on again. But don’t
worry, the camel makes a full recovery and instances are rare. But this practice has started to
generate some buzz around camel fat as a new superfood. Turns out, camel fat is loaded with
fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals.
20: Alopecia Areata
Hair loss can be a sensitive topic for a lot of people. While certain life events and old age can lead
to hair loss, sometimes it can be caused by a health condition. One such condition is alopecia
areata. Alopecia areata is a condition that can cause your hair to fall out more than normal. The
average person can pretty easily lose up to around 100 pieces of hair a day from their scalp with
most of that growing back. Alopecia areata is when that hair loss gets more significant and you
have trouble getting that hair to grow back. The amount of hair that falls out varies from person to
person, but it can be anything from small, rather unnoticeable patches, to greater amounts of hair
loss as the patches increase in size and connect with each other. We often think of this as hair
loss relating to what's on top of your head, but this condition can also include hair loss in places
like your eyebrows and eyelashes, as well as your face and other parts of your body. According to
the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, this condition is fairly common, affecting as many as 6.8
million Americans with a lifetime risk of 2.1%. While there is no cure, symptoms can come and go.
It might develop slowly, then go away for a few years before coming back. Alopecia areata can
lead to alopecia totalis, where you lose all of the hair on your scalp, or alopecia universalis, where
you have total hair loss. Generally, when and if your hair ever does grow back, it might fall out
again later on. It often first shows up with children, but can begin in any age group.
21: Diplomas
1.2 trillion dollars of debts for diplomas make it abundantly obvious that higher education is a
consumer product you can buy. All of us talk about education just as the economists do now, as
an investment that you make to improve the human stock by training them for work. As an
investment you make to sort and classify people so that employers can hire them more easily.
The U.S. News & World Report ranks colleges just as the consumer report rates washing
machines. The language is peppered with barbarisms. Teachers are called “service providers,”
students are called “consumers.” Sociology and Shakespeare and soccer and science, all of
these are “content.” Student debt is profitable. Only not on you. Your debt fattens the profit of the
student loan industry. The two 800-pound gorillas of which - Sallie Mae and Navient - posted last
year a combined profit of 1.2 billion dollars. And just like home mortgages, student loans can be
bundled and packaged and sliced and diced, and sold on Wall Street. And colleges and
universities that invest in these securitized loans profit twice. Once from your tuition, and then
again from the interest on debt. With all that money to be made, are we surprised that some in
the higher education business have begun to engage in false advertising, in bait and switch in
exploiting the very ignorance that they pretend to educate.
22: Computer Vision Syndrome
Instead of real eye damage, you might experience eye discomfort. Like blurry vision, dry eyes,
watery eyes, and tired eyes. These symptoms even have a name, it's called computer vision
syndrome. I know my eyes feel heavy after a long day of staring, but a doctor isn't going to worry
about my long-term health. So don't be scared by that really intense name. Still, my eyes are
irritated and it's annoying. We likely experience computer vision syndrome because we blink less
when we stare at a screen. According to optometrist Allison Bozung from the University of Iowa
“blink rate slow is pretty significantly in some studies up to about two-thirds, so about 67% slower
or less blinking”. And it's not easy to consciously blink more. I'm very aware of that. You'll
probably look a little bit crazy if you try. So instead, use eye drops to keep your eyeballs moist.
Make sure they are for that purpose and not for redness relief. Take breaks too. Most doctors
recommend the 20-20-20 rule, 20-20-20 rule. 20-20-20 rule. which says that for every 20 minutes
that you're on a computer or staring at a screen take 20 seconds to stare at something 20 feet
away. It requires more energy to focus at a near target, than it does to focus at a distance target.
23: Adulthood
We know that more than half of Americans are married or are living with or dating their future
partner by 30. We know that the brain caps off its second and last growth spurt in your 20s as it
rewires itself for adulthood, which means that whatever it is you want to change about yourself,
now is the time to change it. We know that personality changes more during your 20s than at any
other time in life, and we know that female fertility peaks at age 28, and things get tricky after age
35. So, your 20s are the time to educate yourself about your body and your options. So, when we
think about child development, we all know that the first five years are a critical period for
language and attachment in the brain. It's a time when your ordinary, day-to-day life has an
inordinate impact on who you will become. But what we hear less about is that there's such a
thing as adult development, and our 20s are that critical period of adult development. But this isn't
what twenty somethings are hearing. Newspapers talk about the changing timetable of
adulthood. Researchers call the 20s an extended adolescence. Journalists coin silly nick names
for twenty somethings like "twixters" and "kidults." It's true! As a culture, we have trivialized what
is actually the defining decade of adulthood.
24: Oldest Person
In 1997, a French woman named Jeanne Calment passed away after 122 years and 164 days on
this Earth, making her the oldest known person in history. Her age was so astounding that a
millionaire pledged $1 million to anyone who could break her record. But in reality, living to this
age or beyond is a feat that very few, maybe even no humans, are likely to accomplish. Human
bodies just aren't built for extreme aging. Our capacity is set at about 90 years. But what does
aging really mean and how does it counteract the body's efforts to stay alive? We know intuitively
what it means to age. For some, it means growing up, while for others, it's growing old. Yet
finding a strict scientific definition of aging is a challenge. What we can say is that aging occurs
when intrinsic processes and interactions with the environment, like sunlight, and toxins in the air,
water, and our diets, cause changes in the structure and function of the body's molecules and
cells.
Those changes in turn drive their decline, and subsequently, the failure of the whole organism.
The exact mechanisms of aging are poorly understood. But recently, scientists have identified
nine physiological traits, ranging from genetic changes to alterations in a cell's regenerative ability
that play a central role.
25: Disease Prevention

In 2015 I traveled to Columbia to prepare for the first ever prevention study in Alzheimer's
disease. A simple blood test could detect the mutation. If the study is successful, patients could
be identified and treated before the onset of symptoms. But what about the rest of the world with
Alzheimer's disease do the different genetic and environmental risks, what about patients like my
friend David? Today's technologies, smart phones wearables, online patient communities and
online assessment tools can be used to gather data in an unprecedented global scale. With
enough data, we can begin to understand the emerging genetics and this disease much the way
Dr. Lopera did in Columbia. When that happens, we can begin to understand your risk for
Alzheimer's disease. The biological pathways that are the most important in you and most
importantly, when to begin treatment. Now it's the time that patients, family members, physicians,
scientists and drug developers all have a role to play in defeating Alzheimer's disease.
26: Digital Detox
You could argue this kind of digital detox would be beneficial. We'd take our eyes off our screens
then strike up real-life conversations with each other. We've discovered that our smartphones
can actually make phone calls. We bring back fax machines and start making notes by hand.
Well, maybe not fax machines and hey, we'd still have TV to entertain us, the world would not fall
apart. In fact, with almost 4 billion people having no access to the Internet worldwide, half of
humanity wouldn't notice a difference in the short term. But not you, mighty internet user. You
would notice right away. If the internet suddenly flatlined, social media users would start calling
each other on the phone overloading the working telecommunication systems, unless cell phone
towers and telephone lines were also shut down. Then you'd go back to writing letters and
sending them via post. Forget about Wireless file transfers with no Wi-Fi. You'd have to use a
physical cable to connect to computers or a CD. Remember this? Now think about the economy
with financial data generally stored on a server, banking services largely depend on the Internet.
E-transfers would be impossible. Your credit card and debit card would become a useless piece
of plastic.
27: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

The good news is that there's treatment for anxiety, and that you don't have to suffer. Remember,
this isn't about weakness. It's about changing brain patterns and research shows that our brains
have the ability to reorganize and form new connections all throughout our lives. A good first step
is to do the basics. Eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly and get plenty of sleep, as your mind is
part of your body. It might also help to try meditation. Instead of our heart rate rising and our body
tensing, with mindfulness and breathing we can slow down the fight-or-flight response and
improve how we feel in the moment. Cognitive behavioral therapy, a form of talk therapy, can also
be fantastic. In it, you learn to identify upsetting thoughts and determine whether they're realistic.
Over time, cognitive behavioral therapy can rebuild those neural pathways that tamp down the
anxiety response. Medication can also give relief, in both the short-term and the long-term. In the
short-term, anti-anxiety drugs can down-regulate the threat-detection mechanisms that are going
into overdrive. Studies have shown that both long-term medications and cognitive behavioral
therapy can reduce that over-reactivity of the amygdala we see in anxiety disorders. High blood
pressure and diabetes, they can be treated or managed over time. And the same is true for an
anxiety disorder too.
28: Mechanical and Biological Thinking
Now typically, when we think about business, we use what I call "mechanical thinking." We set
goals, we analyze problems, we construct, and we adhere to plans, and more than anything else,
we stress efficiency and short-term performance. Now, don't get me wrong — this is a splendidly
practical and effective way of addressing relatively simple challenges in relatively stable
environments. It's the way that Bob — and probably many of us, me included — process most
business problems we're faced with every day. In fact, it was a pretty good mental model for
business — overall — until about the mid-1980s, when the conjunction of globalization and a
revolution in technology and telecommunications made business far more dynamic and
unpredictable. But what about those more dynamic and unpredictable situations that we now
increasingly face? I think in addition to the mechanical thinking, we now need to master the art of
biological thinking, as embodied by our six principles. In other words, we need to think more
modestly and subtly about when and how we can shape, rather than control, unpredictable and
complex situations.
29: Elation and Depression

What is bipolar disorder? The word bipolar means two extremes. For the many millions
experiencing bipolar disorder around the world, life is split between two different realities —
elation and depression. Although there are many variations of bipolar disorder, let's consider a
couple. Type 1 has extreme highs alongside the lows, while Type 2 involves briefer, less extreme
periods of elation interspersed with long periods of depression. For someone seesawing
between emotional states, it can feel impossible to find the balance necessary to lead a healthy
life. Type I's extreme highs are known as manic episodes, and they can make a person range
from feeling irritable to invincible. But these euphoric episodes exceed ordinary feelings of joy,
causing troubling symptoms like racing thoughts, sleeplessness, rapid speech, impulsive
actions, and risky behaviors. Without treatment, these episodes become more frequent, intense,
and take longer to subside.
30: Fat Talk
If you actually want to make a difference, you have to do something. And we've learned there are
three keyways: The first is we have to educate for body confidence. We have to help our
teenagers develop strategies to overcome image-related pressures and build their self-esteem.
Now the good news is that there are many programs out there available to do this. The bad news
is that most of them don't work. I was shocked to learn that many well-meaning programs are
inadvertently actually making the situation worse. So, we need to make damn sure that the
programs that our kids are receiving are not only having a positive impact but having a lasting
impact as well. And the research shows that the best programs address six key areas: The first is
the influence of family, friends and relationships. The second is media and celebrity culture, then
how to handle teasing and bullying, the way we compete and compare with one another based
on looks, talking about appearance — some people call this "body talk" or "fat talk" — and finally,
the foundations of respecting and looking after yourself. These six things are crucial starting
points for anyone serious about delivering body-confidence education that works. An education is
critical, but tackling this problem is going to require each and every one of us to step up and be
better role models for the women and girls in our own lives. Challenging the status quo of how
women are seen and talked about in our own circles.
31: Adenosine
There's evidence that caffeine's effects on adenosine and dopamine receptors can have long-
term benefits, too, reducing the risk of diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and some types of
cancer. Caffeine can also ramp up the body's ability to burn fat. In fact, some sports
organizations think that caffeine gives athletes an unfair advantage and have placed limits on its
consumption. From 1972 until 2004, Olympic athletes had to stay below a certain blood-caffeine
concentration to compete. Of course, not all of caffeine's effects are so helpful. It might make you
feel better and more alert, but it can also raise your heart rate and blood pressure, cause
increased urination or diarrhea, and contribute to insomnia and anxiety. Plus, the foods and
beverages caffeine is found in have their own impacts on your body that have to be taken into
account. Your brain can adapt to regular consumption of caffeine. If your adenosine receptors are
perpetually clogged, your body will manufacture extra ones. That way, even with caffeine around,
adenosine can still do its job of signaling the brain to power down. That's why you may find you
need to consume more and more caffeine to feel as alert. There are more and more adenosine
receptors to block.
32: Reporting Process
How, as a journalist, do you ask the questions that yield this type of narrative? You have to know
what to ask of whom. First you need to understand that every piece of journalism requires a
trifecta of sourcing. If you picture the reporting process as depicted by a triangle, one side will be
official sources, another side will be overview sources, and a third side will be unofficial sources.
All three components are necessary in every well-reported piece. The first side has official
sources. Those are the people with titles and expertise, who own the company; are spokespeople
for the movement. They tell you the numbers, and the answers to how much, how many, where,
when, and who. A second side of the triangle includes overview sources: academics, consultants,
authors, who are not directly connected as stakeholders, but have knowledge of the big picture.
Yet it is the third side of the trifecta — unofficial sources — who hold the power of the individual's
insight. This is where you can find the why, giving consequence on the event, trend, phase, or
idea and what it means on a soul level to someone affected by it. So how do you mine for the
gems, identifying what is compelling from what is chatter? You ask surprising questions. To
achieve the complicated, fragile human connection, you regard the stories of every subject as
sacred. Realize that an anecdote is oxygen that breathes life into a grey story of exposition, facts
and data.
33: CO2
Carbon dioxide, or C02, is the main greenhouse gas in climate change. So how does C02 get
into our atmosphere? Well, carbon is part of a cycle. It starts with the sun, which heats the
Earth's surface with more energy in one hour than the whole world uses in a year. Plants, which
are kind of like biological chefs take that sunlight, and then suck in some C02 from the air, mix
them together, and BAM! They create a stored form of energy, in the form of carbohydrates such
as glucose and sucrose. The process is called photosynthesis. When animals like us eat those
plants our stomachs convert that food back into energy for our own growth. Greenhouse gases
are a byproduct of this process, and are released through waste. If those plants die, they
decompose, and tiny microorganisms break down those carbohydrates and again, release
greenhouse gases as a byproduct. As you see, energy originates from the sun. It is then
transferred as it moves through the food chain. But sometimes, carbon-based organisms like
plants or animals get stuck in the earth. When this happens, they're compressed under tons of
pressure, and turned into carbon-based fossil fuels like oil, coal or natural gas.
34: Cartoonists
Cartoonists are like sponges; they soak up people, places, mannerisms, clothing, and behavior.
Sometimes they might jot them down in a little black book that they carry around with them. Other
times, it is just soaked up into the cartoonist's brain only to be squeezed out later when she is
sitting at her drawing table. Not only does a cartoonist have to be aware of what she is seeing
visually, but she has to listen to herself think. In other words, take the incoming information and
select it, shape it, and then use it for a cartoon. Now that you have an idea, or something you
think could be good for a cartoon, it's time to shape it. A cartoon is like a staged play. A cartoonist
is playwright, director, stage designer, choreographer, and costume designer. A cartoon has
characters, a set, dialogue, even if one line, and a backstory. The characters must be dressed to
fit the idea, speak in a way that is natural and forwards the idea or gives the punchline. Nothing
should be in the cartoon that is not absolutely necessary for the advancement of the idea. The
image and words have to dance together in a way that makes sense. It could be a graceful
dance, or an awkward dance, if that is part of the humor or idea. And then the execution. Some
cartoonists sketch the idea with pencil then ink it with pen using a light box. Others visualize the
image in their head and draw directly on the paper in pen.
35: Bales Production

In 1790, about 3,000 bales of cotton were produced in America each year. A bale was equal to
about 500 pounds. By 1801, with the spread of the cotton gin, cotton production grew to 100
thousand bales a year. After the destructions of the War of 1812, production reached 400
thousand bales a year. As America was expanding through the land acquired in the Louisiana
Purchase of 1803, yearly production exploded to four million bales. Cotton was king. It exceeded
the value of all other American products combined, about three fifths of America's economic
output. But instead of reducing the need for labor, the cotton gin propelled it, as more slaves
were needed to plant and harvest king cotton. The cotton gin and the demand of Northern and
English factories re-charted the course of American slavery. In 1790, America's first official
census counted nearly 700 thousand slaves. By 1810, two years after the slave trade was
banned in America, the number had shot up to more than one million. During the next 50 years,
that number exploded to nearly four million slaves in 1860, the eve of the Civil War.
36: Loyal Customers
The modern fantasy about wow, business is changing so quickly, you've got to keep morphing
and changing, updating your brand, getting a new visual identity. All of those things, they're just
bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. Don't do them. Why? It's because you interrupt habit. So rather than a
consumer thinking about, oh, wow, I am loyal to, let's say, Tide. I'm loyal to Tide detergent. I
really should buy it. It's actually that person's subconscious saying, you know, the most
comfortable thing to do, the thing we... in your subconscious are most confident of is that thing
that worked for us before. So please, please, please don't think about buying something else.
Tide's been around for 76 years, and it has what we call cumulative advantage. Cumulative
advantage is what you increasingly build as the customer becomes more and more comfortable
with using your product or service. Each time they use it and get the benefits they wish; you get
more cumulative advantage that causes the subconscious to say I'm totally comfortable with this
and I would be uncomfortable if we did something else. That's the win of cumulative advantage.
37: Light vs Dark Mode

I think light mode is far better with respect to being able to comfortably read and use digital device
for a long period of time and I think there are enough studies to back that up. There are indeed a
bunch of studies to back this up. The consensus is that our eyes are roughly 26 percent worse at
reading when it comes to dark mode. The biggest scientific factors for this, are focus, light scatter,
and contrast. Let's use a camera lens to explain the first one. Focusing is largely affected by how
much light is coming into our eyes and how we focus that light. If a lot of light is coming in like
when using light modes, eye pupils contract allowing less light in, creating a wide depth of field,
meaning everything is in focus. If this is inverted, less light coming in, that causes our pupils to
dilate and that creates a shallower plain of focus, meaning our eyes have to put more efforts into
focusing on individual objects. When it comes to reading, you want everything to be in focus. You
need that light background for the pupil to work appropriately to minimize amount of light coming
in. It also increases your depth of the focus; the eye just works better more comfortably.
38: AI Doctors
The doctor-patient relationship is a founding principle of healthcare and medicine. The first step is
to eliminate keyboards and computer screens and clinical encounters. Some doctors in the West
can spend up to twice as many hours on medical paperwork than with their patients. In the years
ahead, we should be able to eliminate the data clerk functions of clinician. These are mutually
hated as much by patients as by doctors and clinician. Al tools such as speech recognition
technology that are now commonplace in homes could be used in clinical settings for capturing
data and notes, allowing doctors to concentrate on people. We have a problem with accuracy and
efficiency. Trained on a huge resource of medical data, the power of Al learning can read some
images more accurately than humans. Whether it's a pattern like a scan or a slide, or a prediction,
Al can really rev up the accuracy. And that is important for a better diagnosis, better treatments,
better outcomes, lower cost. Powerful machines can interpret scans 150 times faster than
radiologists and can work 24 hours a day. Al can even suggest a diagnosis. Many conditions
could be Al-diagnosed. And so, the time that a doctor comes into play is very specific to important
diagnoses.
39: Moon Rocks

Unlike the Moon — our dead, rocky companion — the Earth is alive, pulsing with creative and
destructive forces that power its geological metabolism. Lunar rocks brought back by the Apollo
astronauts all date back to about the age of the Solar System. Moon rocks are forever. Earth
rocks, on the other hand, face the perils of a living lithosphere. All will suffer ruination, through
some combination of mutilation, compression, folding, tearing, scorching and baking. Thus, the
volumes of Earth history are incomplete and disheveled. The library is vast and magnificent —
but decrepit. And it was this tattered complexity in the rock record that obscured its meaning until
relatively recently. Nature provided no card catalog for geologists — this would have to be
invented. Five thousand years after the Sumerians learned to record their thoughts on clay
tablets, the Earth's volumes remained inscrutable to humans. We were geologically illiterate,
unaware of the antiquity of our own planet and ignorant of our connection to deep time. It wasn't
until the turn of the 19th century that our blinders were removed.
40: Rich Capitalists
Today, I have come to share the secrets of our success, because rich capitalists like me have
never been richer. So, the question is, how do we do it? How do we manage to grab an ever-
increasing share of the economic pie every year? Is it that rich people are smarter than we were
30 years ago? Is it that we're working harder than we once did? Are we taller, better looking?
Sadly, no. It all comes down to just one thing: economics. Because, here's the dirty secret. There
was a time in which the economics profession worked in the public interest for everyone, but in
the neoliberal era, today, they work only for big corporations and billionaires, and that is creating
a little bit of a problem. We could choose to enact economic policies that raise taxes on the rich,
regulate powerful corporations or raise wages for workers. We have done it before. But
neoliberal economists would warn that all of these policies would be a terrible mistake, because
raising taxes always kills economic growth, and any form of government regulation is inefficient,
and raising wages always kills jobs.
41: Skill Mastering

There are many theories that attempt to quantify the number of hours, days, and even years of
practice that it takes to master a skill. While we don't yet have a magic number, we do know that
mastery isn't simply about the amount of hours of practice. It's also the quality and effectiveness
of that practice. Effective practice is consistent, intensely focused, and targets content or
weaknesses that lie at the edge of one's current abilities. So, if effective practice is the key, how
can we get the most out of our practice time? Try these tips: Focus on the task at hand. Minimize
potential distractions by turning off the computer or TV and putting your cell phone on airplane
mode. In one study, researchers observed 260 students studying. On average, those students
were able to stay on task for only six minutes at a time. Laptops, smartphones, and particularly
Facebook were the root of most distractions. Start out slowly or in slow-motion. Coordination is
built with repetitions, whether correct or incorrect. If you gradually increase the speed of the
quality repetitions, you have a better chance of doing them correctly. Next, frequent repetitions
with allotted breaks are common practice habits of elite performers. Studies have shown that
many top athletes, musicians, and dancers spend 50-60 hours per week on activities related to
their craft. Many divide their time used for effective practice into multiple daily practice sessions
of limited duration. And finally, practice in your brain in vivid detail.
42: Climate Solutions
For too long, discussions about climate change have been about sacrifice. I am here to tell you
that climate solutions actually make a better city and a better quality of life for everyone. This is
only the first of five lessons we have learned on our journey to become an emission-free city. And
I think these lessons can be applied almost anywhere. So, I like to share them. So, lesson
number one, confronting climate change is about creating better cities and better quality of life for
everyone, including those kids in the kindergarten, that don't have to share their days with noisy
excavators. The second lesson is about being ambitious. In 2015, the city council set a target of
reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 95 percent by 2030 without purchasing any carbon
offsets. So, aiming for real reductions. Commitment to this goal changed our mindset. If we were
going to reach this target, every department had to get active, figure out measures and finding
out how to implement them. So, second lesson, be ambitious. A target measured in years, not
decades, provides no excuse for inaction.
43: First Law of Thermodynamics

This phenomenon of conservation is explained by what we call the first law of thermodynamics,
sometimes referred to as the law of energy conservation. The law states, energy cannot be
created or destroyed. Energy can be described as the ability to do work, where work is the
movement of matter when a force is applied to it. A closed system is a system in which no matter
or energy is allowed to enter or leave. The first law of thermodynamics tells us that the amount of
energy within an ecosystem is constant. It doesn't change. An open system, on the other hand,
allows stuff to come in and go out. Since most systems are not closed, the laws of energy
conservation can be rephrased to say that the change in the internal energy of the system is
equal to the difference between the amount of energy coming in, minus the amount of energy
going out. In other words, the amount of energy in the system can change but only if it comes
from another system or goes to another system. At any rate, systems, whether they're open or
closed, do not create or destroy energy. Rather, energy can enter from one system and leave to
another.
44: Decreasing Cost
We know from history that every major industrial disruption has followed the same shape and
exponential curve, with new technologies being adopted very slowly at first, but then a doubling
rate kicking in consistently until the overall transformation happens very quickly in the end. It's a
movie we've seen many times before, whether from horses to cars, from valves to transistors, or
landlines to mobile phones. And we understand how it works. Initially, the cost of technology is
high but as we learn through volume adoption, the cost goes down and adoption goes up. Best
example right now would be electric batteries, consistently coming down in cost by 20% a year
for the last 10 years. And as the volume of adoption grows, especially with electric vehicle sales
growing, we can be confident that the costs of that technology will continue to go down, driving
that exponential growth. We set these exponential goals because we believe in the power of
human innovation. Engineers love these goals. They stretch targets. It's what they live for.
45: Perceptions
Is there an external reality? Of course, there's an external reality. The world exists. It's just that
we don't see it. At least, we don't see it as it is. In fact, we can never it as it is! In fact, it's even
useful to not see it as it is. And the reason is because it goes back to really Berkeley, who tells us
we have no direct access to that physical world other than through our senses. And because our
senses conflate multiple aspects of that world, we can never know whether our perceptions are in
any way accurate. And so, this has always been a very deep question. It's not so much "Do we
see the world in the way it really is?" but 'I Do we actually even see it accurately?". And the
answer is no, we don't. So, if we remember that the information that's coming on to your eye or
onto your skin or into your ears is inherently meaningless (because it could mean anything) then it
means that we need another kind of data in order to be able to generate behaviors that are
useful. And that data is necessarily historical, which means that the functional structure of your
brain is really a physical manifestation of your past interactions with the world, and it's a physical,
active interaction. It's not passive, receiving data like a Facebook broadcast; it's an active
engagement with that world.
46: Detoxification Diets
Plans called "detoxification diets" either promote or restrict certain foods to provide specific
nutrients in high quantities. These can be useful for addressing some nutritional problems, but
they're far too specific to be used as general cure-alls. For example, for a person with low vitamin
A, a juice diet might be helpful. But for someone high in vitamin A, juicing could be disastrous.
And regardless of personal nutrition, maintaining a juice diet over multiple weeks is likely to
compromise the immune system due to a lack of essential fats and proteins. Therein lies the
problem with all these fast-moving diets — whether you're cutting calories or food groups,
extreme diets are a shock to your system. There are well-established rates of healthy weight loss
motivated by both diet and exercise that account for genetic and medical differences. And staying
on those timelines requires a dietary lifestyle that's sustainable. In fact, some of the worst side
effects of extreme diets are rarely discussed since so few people stick with them, it also bears
mentioning that many societies have unhealthy relationships with weight. and people are often
pressured to diet for reasons other than health or happiness. So rather than trying to lose weight
fast, we should all be taking our time to figure out what the healthiest lifestyle is for ourselves.
47: Human Face

Last week we talked about how people recognize objects and really how well people recognize
objects, given how difficult the problem is, given how objects can be seen in all different sorts of
illumination, in different positions, in different angles. And yet we are able to extract that
information, we are able to take the visual stuff out there, interpret it in a way that allows us to
recognize all the different things that we can see in our environment. Today we're gonna kind of
carry on looking at that, but we gonna look at what's really a special class of objects. That's the
human face. So, we gonna look at how we recognize human faces and how we do it quite as well
as we do. We're really expert at recognizing faces. So again, we can think about how do we take
that visual information and how do we transform it into a form which allows us to put a name to a
face, and to do all the other clever things that we can do with faces. So, I'm gonna start off again
by just pointing out that it's a hard problem. Face recognition is a hard problem, and it's a clever
thing we do. If you think about all the different types of faces you can recognize, and all the
different types of information you can get from the face, you kind of start to appreciate how well
we can do face recognition.
48: School of Fish
How do schools of fish swim in harmony? And how do the tiny cells in your brain give rise to the
complex thoughts, memories, and consciousness that are you? Oddly enough, those questions
have the same general answer: emergence, or the spontaneous creation of sophisticated
behaviors and functions from large groups of simple elements. Like many animals, fish stick
together in groups, but that's not just because they enjoy each other's company. It's a matter of
survival. Schools of fish exhibit complex swarming behaviors that help them evade hungry
predators, while a lone fish is quickly singled out as easy prey. So, which brilliant fish leader is
the one in charge? Actually, no one is, and everyone is. So, what does that mean? While the
school of fish is elegantly twisting, turning, and dodging sharks in what looks like deliberate
coordination, each individual fish is actually just following two basic rules that have nothing to do
with the shark: one, stay close, but not too close to your neighbor, and two, keep swimming. As
individuals, the fish are focused on the minutiae of these local interactions, but if enough fish join
the group, something remarkable happens. The movement of individual fish is eclipsed by an
entirely new entity: the school, which has its own unique set of behaviors. The school isn't
controlled by any single fish. It simply emerges if you have enough fish following the right set of
local rules. It's like an accident that happens over and over again, allowing fish all across the
ocean to reliably avoid predation.
49: Entrepreneurship
At some point in your life — maybe even now — you might wonder whether freelancing is right
for you. You'll need a few things to be successful. First, you'll need a skill that's in demand. This
can be as universal as driving a car to as specialized as neurosurgery, and it can be in pretty
much any field. The more people who want your skill, and the fewer people who have it, the more
you can charge for your services. Next, you'll need to transform yourself into an entrepreneur.
Before freelancers can do any work, they have to find it. That takes marketing your services,
negotiating contracts, building a network of satisfied clients, and a whole set of administrative
skills like project management, time management, and accounting. And thirdly, if you can afford
it, it's probably a good idea to budget for some benefits for yourself and maybe your family.
Freelancers don't automatically get perks that some salaried jobs offer, like paid vacation or sick
leave, life insurance, college tuition, or retirement plans.
50: The Tenet
I think a good learning environment must have, I think, the tenet, that brave failure is preferable to
timid success. By which I mean, I think our minds are great and powerful things. And I think that
to have courage inform our thinking, and to be able to go out, perhaps pass where we may be
comfortable. To go in to the unknown between human beings and see where that takes us. To
not stay safe in our own position, but to make it safe for other people to be able to share. I think
that that's where we get to new ideas. I think that's where we get to brave ideas. I think that's
where we get to solutions we might not otherwise have found. So, fostering an environment that
where people can be brave, and where ideas don't always have to be pristine.
51: Better Listener

So, what can we do to become better listeners? At its core, listening in a one-on-one
conversation is about taking an interest in another person and making them feel understood.
There's no universally agreed upon definition of high-quality listening, but some recurring
features include attentiveness, conveying understanding, and showing a positive intention
towards the speaker. This doesn't mean you can simply go through the motions. Researchers
have found that merely smiling and nodding at set intervals doesn't quite work. However, there is
something slightly performative about listening in that it's important to show you're doing it. So, in
addition to actively attending to a speaker's words, good listeners also use questions and body
language that indicate their understanding and their desire to understand. This might feel
awkward at first, and what's most effective might depend on your relationship with the speaker.
But with time and practice you can internalize these basic behaviors.
52: Virtuous Conduct

Glaucon breaks all good things into three classes. The first kinds, we desire for their own sake,
like the experience of harmless pleasure. The second, we want only for the value they bring,
though they may be onerous, like exercise or medicine. The third class comprises things we
desire for their own sake and the value they offer, like knowledge and health. Glaucon argues
that justice belongs to the second class of good: it's a burden that nevertheless brings rewards.
The only reason anyone conducts themselves virtuously, he reasons, is due to external
influences. So, it's appearing not actually being virtuous that matters. Socrates, as written by
Plato, disagrees, countering that justice belongs to the third class of good, offering both extrinsic
and intrinsic benefits. Socrates argues that the human soul has three parts: reason, spirit, and
appetite. Reason guides an individual to truth and knowledge, and is influenced by either spirit or
appetite. Spirit is righteous, ambitious, and the source of bold action, while appetite consists of
baser, bodily desires. To Socrates, the philosopher is led by reason, and their spirit keeps their
appetite in check, making them the most just and the happiest. Even without consequences for
self- serving wrongdoings, they wouldn't commit them.
53: Easier Returns
I kept thinking: Why does the item have to be returned to the retailer in the first place? What if
there was another way, a win-win for everyone? What if when a person is trying to return
something, it could go to the next shopper who wants it, and not the retailer? What if, instead of a
return, they could do what I call a "green turn"? Consumers could use an app to take pictures of
the item and verify the condition while returning it. Artificial intelligence systems could then sort
these clothes by condition — mint condition or slightly used — and direct it to the next
appropriate person. Mint-condition clothes could automatically go to the next buyer, while slightly
used clothes could be marked down and offered online again. The retailer can decide the
business rules on the number of times a particular item can be resold. All that the consumer
would need to do is obtain a mobile code, take it to the nearest shipping place to be packed and
shipped, and off it goes from one buyer to the next, not the landfill. Now you will ask, "Would
people really go through all this trouble?" I think they would if they had incentives, like loyalty
points or cash back. Let's call it "green cash." There would be a whole new opportunity to make
money from this new customer base looking to buy these returns. This system would make a fun
thing like shopping a spiritual experience that helps save our planet.
54: GNH
Back in the 1970s, our fourth king famously pronounced that for Bhutan, Gross National
Happiness is more important than Gross National Product. Ever since, all development in Bhutan
is driven by GNH, a pioneering vision that aims to improve the happiness and well-being of our
people. But that's easier said than done, especially when you are one of the smallest economies
in the world. Our entire GDP is less than two billion dollars. I know that some of you here are
worth more — individually than the entire economy of my country. So, our economy is small, but
here is where it gets interesting. Education is completely free. All citizens are guaranteed free
school education, and those that work hard are given free college education. Healthcare is also
completely free. Medical consultation, medical treatment, medicines: they are all provided by the
state. We manage this because we use our limited resources very carefully, and because we stay
faithful to the core mission of GNH, which is development with values. Our economy is small, and
we must strengthen it. Economic growth is important, but that economic growth must not come
from undermining our unique culture or our pristine environment.
55: Adapt
hy do we get used to everyday things? Well as human beings, we have limited brain power. And
so, our brains encode the everyday things we do into habits, so we can free up space to learn
new things. It's a process called habituation and it's one of the most basic ways, as humans, we
learn. Now, habituation isn't always bad. Remember learning to drive? I sure do. Your hands
clenched at 10 and 2 on the wheel, looking at every single object out there — the cars, the lights,
the pedestrians. It's a nerve-wracking experience. So much so, that I couldn't even talk to anyone
else in the car and I couldn't even listen to music. But then something interesting happened. As
the weeks went by, driving became easier and easier. You habituated it. It started to become fun
and second nature. And then, you could talk to your friends again and listen to music. So, there's
a good reason why our brains habituate things. If we didn't, we'd notice every little detail, all the
time. It would be exhausting, and we'd have no time to learn about new things. But sometimes,
habituation isn't good. If it stops us from noticing the problems that are around us, well, that's
bad. And if it stops us from noticing and fixing those problems, well, then that's really bad.
56: Blame Target

So, target of blame seems to be why these folks can become so difficult. If you're the target of
blame, your life may be ruined by one of these folks, and that's what people need to become
aware of. So, the target of blame: each of these five high-conflict personalities tends to zero in
generally on one person. It could change over time, but they see that person as the cause of all
their problems. And so, they want to control that person, or eliminate that person, or destroy or
humiliate that person. It's a fixation on one person. And all of their life problems they emotionally
focus on that person. So, you don't want to be one of those folks. How to avoid being a target of
blame? First of all, if you see warning signs of this behavior, don't get too close to such a person.
You may be a friend, but don't be the closest friend. You may be a co-worker, but don't be the
closest co-worker. Because what seems to happen is the people, they get really close to are the
ones that are most at-risk of becoming their targets of blame. But it could be anybody. They tend
to target intimate others and people in authority. So, this could be boyfriends, girlfriends,
husbands, wives, parents, children, co-workers, neighbors they get close to. It also could be
police, could be a government agency, or government official, could be their boss, could be the
company owner. So, they tend to focus on intimate others, and, or people in authority.
57: Volatiles
First, let's talk about how smell works. From coffee to stinky trash, the substances around us give
off volatiles, which you can think of as tiny smell molecules. We breathe in these smell molecules,
which then stimulate the olfactory sensory neurons that sit high in the nose. Each of these
neurons contains an odor receptor on its surface. Once the odor receptors are triggered by these
smell molecules, the neurons send information about them to the brain. Here's what I think is so
cool. The brain not only categorizes that information as a particular odor, it may also begin to
associate feelings like pleasure or disgust and other moods and emotions with that odor for future
reference. For example, you sniff bacon. You eat it. Your taste buds get salt, and then your body
gets a whack of fat, which is an energy source. So, the brain loves it and attaches a positive label
to it. The next time you smell bacon, a sensation associated with pleasure arises.
58: Friendship Formation

People make friends with other people when they spend casual time together. This is how our
ancestors formed their relationships, because humans lived in small, close-knit communities in
which options for making friends were limited, so we just formed good relationships with the
people who were around us. This is why it is so easy to form new friendships in school and
university. Society locks you and your peers in a building for several years. You share similar
activities but more importantly: similar schedules. Overlapping and fluctuating social circles form,
naturally giving you regular face time and shared experiences with many different people. Time
to find others with similar world views or senses of humor. Proximity can be more important than
similar interests. One study found that in student dormitories, the distance between rooms was
the strongest friendship predictor — living closer together meant a higher chance of becoming
friends. Another study showed that being physically present in a class a lot, without saying a
word, makes others more sympathetic to you. So, the most important principle of making friends
is to regularly spend time with people in the real world. This alone can make it happen
automatically and trumps all other advice.
59: Categorical Imperative
So, in the process, I learn all these incredibly wonderful theories that the smartest people who
have ever lived have developed over the last 2,500 years that help us make better decisions and
become better people. For example, I learned about Immanuel Kant and the categorical
imperative. So, Kant says, when we're about to do something, we must design a rule or a maxim
that we will to be universal. Meaning, we must imagine, what if everyone did what we're about to
do, what would happen to the world? Would it be 0K or would it get all screwed up? So, the
maxim I'm designing here is something like, anytime two people are in any kind of negotiation,
one of them can drag into the negotiation an entirely unrelated global calamity and tell the other
person that they shouldn't care about whatever they care about, because they should care about
that instead. That world would suck, right? Like, your sister borrows five dollars from you, you ask
for it back, she says, "How dare you care about five dollars when the polar ice caps are melting?"
No one wants to live in this world, right? Kant also says that you should treat people as ends in
themselves, and not a means to an end, meaning, you shouldn't use people to get what you
want. Well, that's what I was doing.
60: Self-Honesty
As Emerson once put it, 'In the minds of geniuses, we find — once more — our own neglected
thoughts.' It is almost certain that people who have devoted themselves to self-honesty and self-
observation have an above average chance of meeting with in comprehension, irritation,
censorship or boredom when they attempt to share the data from their own minds frankly in
company. Their thoughts (it might be on politics or architecture, family life or sexuality) will sound
more threatening, more intense, oblique or tender than is allowed. That feels lonely, if one is in
the mood to frame things like this. There are simply fewer people at large committed to self-
honesty and self-observation — and therefore up for exchanging notes on what it's truly like to be
alive. Yet there is one resource that is exceptionally well suited to address the feelings of
disconnection liable to be felt by the emotionally intelligent: art. Works of art are humanity's
secret diary: records of all that could not be said in regular social contexts, but which have found
a home in the more intimate, honest communication that can take place between an art-work and
its audience.
61: Linguistic Text Analysis
According to the literature on reality monitoring, stories based on imagined experiences are
qualitatively different from those based on real experiences. This suggests that creating a false
story about a personal topic takes work and results in a different pattern of language use. A
technology known as linguistic text analysis has helped to identify four such common patterns in
the subconscious language of deception. First, liars reference themselves less, when making
deceptive statements. They write or talk more about others, often using the third person to
distance and disassociate themselves from their lie, which sounds more false: "Absolutely no
party took place at this house," or "l didn't host a party here." Second, liars tend to be more
negative, because on a subconscious level, they feel guilty about lying. For example, a liar might
say something like, "Sorry, my stupid phone battery died. I hate that thing." Third, liars typically
explain events in simple terms since our brains struggle to build a complex lie. Judgment and
evaluation are complex things for our brains to compute. As a U.S. President once famously
insisted: "l did not have sexual relations with that woman." And finally, even though liars keep
descriptions simple, they tend to use longer and more convoluted sentence structure, inserting
unnecessary words and irrelevant but factual sounding details in order to pad the lie.
62: Ancient Language

So, the idea I'd like to propose today is this: one of the most effective ways of building strong
fundamentals in students and preparing them for the future, ironically enough is by looking to the
past through the teaching of Latin. Latin will help students think more logically, communicate
more effectively and have a more comprehensive understanding of the world around them, no
matter how technologically advanced that world may become. To begin with, let's address a
common misconception that Latin is a dead language spoken by ancient European 2000 years
ago, holding no relevance whatsoever for people living in the 21st century. There's even an old
poem that expresses the point of view. Latin is a language, as dead as dead can be. First it killed
the Romans and now it's killing me. Now students may feel this way sometimes but the this
simply is not true, the reality is that Latin never died, and never came to a crashing end with a
death of a single tragic figure. It's simply evolved gradually over time and developed into the
other languages. Moreover, classic Latin is still very much alive and well in government, art,
religion, literature, medicine, law and science. It's not a dead language. It's an eternal language.
63: Learn from Failure
But if I were to ask you a similar question: "What percentage of the population do you think is
capable of truly mastering calculus, or understanding organic chemistry, or...or being able to
contribute to .to cancer research?" A lot of you might say, "Well, with a great education system,
maybe 20, 30 percent." But what if that estimate is just based on your own experience in a non-
mastery framework, your own experience with yourself or observing your peers, where you're
being pushed at this set pace through classes, accumulating all these gaps? Even when you got
that the a ... 95 percent, what was that five percent you missed? And it keeps accumulating—all
the way you get to an advanced class, all of a sudden you hit a wall and say, "I'm not meant to be
a cancer researcher; not meant to be a physicist; not meant to be a mathematician." I suspect
that that actually is the case, but if you were allowed to be operating in a mastery framework, if
you were allowed to really take agency over your learning, and when you get something wrong,
embrace it — view that failure as a moment of learning — that number of, of, the percent that
could really master calculus or understand organic chemistry, is actually a lot closer to 100
percent. And this isn't even just a "nice to have." I think it's a social imperative.
64: Hydrogenotrophs
So, we had the idea, can we take some of these NASA-type ideas and apply them to our carbon
problem here on Earth? Could we cultivate these NASA-type microbes in order to make
valuable products here on Earth? And we started a company to do it. And in that company, we
discovered that these hydrogenotrophs — which I'll actually call nature's supercharged carbon
recyclers — we found that they are a powerful class of microbes that had been largely
overlooked and understudied, and that they could make some really valuable products. So, we
began cultivating these products, these microbes, in our lab. We found that we can make
essential amino acids from carbon dioxide using these microbes. And we even made a protein-
rich meal that has an amino acid profile similar to what you might find in some animal proteins.
We began cultivating them even further, and we found that we can make oil. Oils are used to
manufacture many products. We made an oil that was similar to a citrus oil, which can be used
for flavoring and for fragrances, but it also can be used as a biodegradable cleaner or even as a
jet fuel. And we made an oil that's similar to palm oil. Palm oil is used to manufacture a wide
range of consumer and industrial goods.

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11: Agricultural Problems

12: Promoting Urban

13: Supermassive Black

17: Quantum Physicists

18: Maternal Homework

19: Geologically Speaking

22: Mimic Genuine

23: Love Celebrating

24: Affects Communities

26: Social Value

28: Time Hiding

29: Riding Sea

31: Northwestern University

32: Scientific Consensus

33: Analyzed Pellets

34: Beach Ball

35: Southern Africa

37: Cooperative Behavior

38: Food Diets

42: University of Sydney

43: Novel Approach

44: Numerous Challenges

45: Work and Personal

47: Poor Diet

49: Genomic Imprinting

53: Pavlov Proposed

55: Grizzly Bears

57: Maintaining Overall

58: Negative Outcomes

59: Library Requires

60: Standing Still

62: Intricate System

64: Humanities and Social

65: Semesters or Quarters

67: Night’s Sleep

68: Undergone Peer

69: Molecular Processes

70: Winter Season

72: Physical Health

74: Grey Zone

75: Perfect Pitch

77: Death Experiences

78: Music Play

79: Auditory Imagery

82: Domesticated Robots

83: Plague Pandemic

84: Playful Nature

87: Space Sciences India

88: Long Considered

3. We will change the classroom because this one is too small.

4. This program is running in partnership with a number of departments.

5. Car park permits can be obtained at the student service center.

6. Your abstract should contain the empirical evidence of your research.

8. Economic recovery can't be sustained unless more jobs are created.

9. There were lots of tourists wandering on the busy street.

13. Students’ papers should be about a current social issue.

14. The high price is a major hindrance to potential buyers.

15. He used to work at night and sleep during the day.

17. The key findings seem to contradict our initial hypothesis.

18. Parents should set a good example to their children.

22. An inquiry was set up to determine the cause of the accident.

24. In the future, pay increases will be related to productivity.