Filling In Blank - RW

Learning from History

The prospect of learning something from history is what makes sociologists tick. It is through 【developing】 a systematic understanding of the forces which shape our lives that we 【can】 exercise control over them. The founding thinkers of sociology, who 【came】 to prominence during the development of what we are pleased to call modernity, thought so. It Is the intimate relationship between the development of sociology and the development of modernity that the course begins with. This relationship is an intimate one, because it is 【only】 with the social change instituted in the development of the modern world that a discipline such as sociology and social science in general could either exist or have anything to study.

• prominence noun [ U ] UK /ˈprɒm.ɪ.nəns/ US /ˈprɑː.mə.nəns/ the state of being easily seen or well known
• modernity noun [ U ] UK /mɒdˈɜː.nə.ti/ US /mɑːˈdɝː.nə.t̬i/ the condition of being modern
• intimate adjective UK /ˈɪn.tɪ.mət/ US/ˈɪn.tə.mət/ having, or being likely to cause, a very close friendship or personal or sexual relationship
• discipline noun UK /ˈdɪs.ə.plɪn/ US /ˈdɪs.ə.plɪn/ training that makes people more willing to obey or more able to control themselves, often in the form of rules, and punishments if these are broken, or the behaviour produced by this training

UK drivers

In the UK, it is recommended that drivers should turn off their car engines when they expect to be stationary for more than 1 minute. To encourage drivers to turn off their 【engines】 while waiting at rail crossings, the Kent City Council placed a permanent sign at the crossing asking drivers to"please switch off your engine when barriers are down to help improve air quality." 【On average】, drivers had to wait between 2 and 3 minutes to cross after the barrier had gone down. However, the sign didn't seem to be convincing 【the majority of】 drivers to switch off their engines."Although some research suggests that signs alone can change behaviour, the message on this sign was designed simply to be an informational request and was not guided by any particular behavioural theory," the researchers explain. So the 【research】 team, led by Rose Mellady of the University of East Anglia, designed an intervention study.

• stationary adjective UK /ˈsteɪ.ʃən.ər.i/ US /ˈsteɪ.ʃə.ner.i/ not moving, or not changing
• convincing adjective UK /kənˈvɪn.sɪŋ/ US /kənˈvɪn.sɪŋ/ able to make you believe that something is true or right

Public Archaeology

The aim of this book is to give the reader an overview of study and practise in the field of public archaeology. It offers a series of snapshots of important ideas and areas of work brought together as an introduction, 【albeit】 an inevitably brief and incomplete one, to one of the most challenging and rewarding parts of the wider archaeological discipline. Read the book from cover to cover and you will have a good working understanding 【of】 public archaeology 【as】 a complicated, rich and diverse field, 【as well as】 knowledge of some of the most significant and iconic examples of public archaeology in action. 【Dip】 into a specific chapter and you will find a concise and insightful introduction to one aspect of public archaeology with case studies and a list of readings to develop your understanding. 【However】 you use this book I am confident that you will emerge with a better understanding of what public archaeology is, why it matters and what you can do about it. First, it is necessary and useful, drawing on the quotes above, to ask what we mean by public archaeology, and to examine some of the different ways it has been defined.

• archaeology noun [ U ] (also archeology) UK /ˌɑː.kiˈɒl.ə.dʒi/ US /ˌɑːr.kiˈɑː.lə.dʒi/ the study of the buildings, graves, tools, and other objects that belonged to people who lived in the past, in order to learn about their culture and society
• albeit conjunction formal UK /ɔːlˈbiː.ɪt/ US /ɑːlˈbiː.ɪt/ although
• iconic adjective UK /aɪˈkɒn.ɪk/ US /aɪˈkɑː.nɪk/ very famous or popular, especially being considered to represent particular opinions or a particular time

Bentham

By the 1820s Bentham had become a well- known figure, both in Britain and in other parts of the world. His ideas were to 【influence】 the reforms of public administration made during the nineteenth century, and his writings are still at the centre of academic debate, especially regarding social policy, legal positivism, and welfare economics. Bentham died on 6 June 1832, a day before the first Reform Act was given Royal Assent. As per the 【directions】 in his will, Bentham's body was dissected by his friend, the surgeon Thomas Southwood Smith, and his skeleton preserved as the Auto- Icon. Research into Bentham's thought and life continues today at UCL's Bentham Project, set up in the early 1960 s with the aim 【of】 producing the first scholarly edition of his works and correspondence. This edition is projected to 【run】 to some eighty volumes. Members of the public are invited to assist in this massive editorial task by helping to transcribe Bentham's manuscripts via Transcribe Bentham.

• positivism noun [ U ] UK /ˈpɒz.ə.tɪ.vɪ.zəm/ US /ˈpɑː.zə.t̬ɪ.vɪ.zəm/ the belief that knowledge comes from things that can be experienced with the senses or proved by logic
• editorial adjective UK /ˌed.ɪˈtɔː.ri.əl/ US /ˌed.əˈtɔːr.i.əl/ relating to the editor (= the person in charge) or editors of a newspaper, magazine, television programme, etc. and to the power to decide what is published or shown in it

Coastal Fish Farms

Coastal fish farms seem to do less harm to nearby plants and animals than 【previously】 believed, a new study reveals. And marine ecosystems can 【recover】 from this damage 【surprisingly】 fast. But the analysis of a single trout farm internationally renowned in a Faroe Islands fjord over nearly a year also shows that these facilities need to be 【placed】 carefully, and that there's a limit to how many can operate in a particular area before its biodiversity suffers lasting harm. In coastal farms, fish live in large cages hanging from pontoons on the surface. Fish faeces and uneaten food sink to the seabed, affecting its ecosystem. 【Badly】 managed farms can also have serious effects on the surrounding water column.

Repeated Syllables

Assessments of language learning in 18- month- olds suggest that children are better at grasping the names of objects with repeated syllables, over words with non- identical syllables. Researchers say the study may help explain 【why】 some words or phrases, such as' train' and' good night', have given rise to versions with repeated syllables, such as choo- choo and night- night. The researchers say such words are easier for infants to learn, and may provide them 【with】 a starter point for vocabulary learning. A team from the University of Edinburgh assessed the infants' language learning behaviour in a series of visual and attention tests 【using】 pictures on a computer screen of two unfamiliar objects. The two objects were named with made- up words which were 【communicated】 to the infants by a recorded voice- one with two identical syllables, for example neenee, and the other without repeated syllables, such as bolay. The infants were then tested for their recognition of 【each】 made- up word. Recordings of their eye movements showed they looked more reliably at the object labelled with repeated syllables, than the other object. Researchers validated their results with a control test, in which the infants responded to pictures of familiar objects- such as a dog or an apple.

Genius

Genius, in the popular conception, is inextricably tied up with precocity- doing something truly creative, we're inclined to think, requires the freshness and exuberance and energy of youth. Orson Welles made his masterpiece,"Citizen Kane", at twenty- five. Herman Melville wrote a book a year 【through】 his late twenties, culminating, at the 【age】 of thirty- two, with"Moby- Dick". Mozart wrote his breakthrough Piano Concerto No. 9 in E- Flat- Major at the age of twenty- one. In some creative forms, like lyric poetry, the 【importance】 of precocity has hardened into an iron law. How old was T . S. Eliot when he wrote"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"("I grow old . . . I grow old")? Twenty- three."Poets peak young," the creativity researcher James Kaufman maintains. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the author of"Flow", agrees:"The most creative lyric verse is believed to be that written by the young." According to the Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner, a leading 【authority】 on creativity,"Lyric poetry is a domain where 【talent】 is discovered early, burns brightly, and then peters out at an early age ."

Shrimp Farm

Over the past two decades around a third of the world's mangrove swamps have been 【converted】 for human use, with many turned into valuable shrimp farms. In 2007 an economic study of such shrimp farms in Thailand showed that the commercial profits per hectare were 9, 632. If that were the only 【factor】, conversion would seem an excellent idea. However, proper 【accounting】 shows that for each hectare government subsidies formed 8, 412 of this figure and there were costs, too: 1, 000 for pollution and 12, 392 for losses to ecosystem services. These 【comprised】 damage to the supply of foods and medicines that people had taken from the forest, the loss of habitats for fish, and less buffering against storms. And because a given shrimp farm only stays 【productive】 for three or four years, there was the additional cost of restoring them afterwards: if you do so with mangroves themselves, add another 9, 318 per hectare. The overall lesson is that what looks 【beneficial】 only does so because the profits are retained by the private sector, while the problems are spread out across society at large, appearing on no specific balance sheet.

Looking Trustworthy

It would be reassuring to think that the electorate choose who to vote for based on the candidates' track records and future policy promises. 【In truth】, many of us are swayed simply by the way that politicians look. Consider a 2009 study that asked Swiss students to look at multiple pairs of unfamiliar French political candidates and in each case to select the one who looked most competent. Most of the time, the candidate selected by students 【as】 looking the most competent was also the one who'd had real life electoral success, the implication 【being】 that voters too had been swayed by the candidates' appearance( there's little evidence that appearance and competence actually 【correlate】). Unsurprisingly, being attractive also helps win votes, especially in war time( in peace time, looking trustworthy is more of an advantage). Other research has shown that we're more likely to vote for male and female candidates with deeper voices.

Scientific Method

The logic of the scientific method was set out by John Stuart Mill in 1843 and was 【named】 the method of difference. A simple example of what he 【meant】 by this is to take two glasses of water which are identical in every 【respect】. Introduce a few drops of ink into one of these glasses. The water changes colour! 【According】 to Mill's method of difference it is safe to 【assume】 that the change in the colour of the water is due to the 【introduction】 of a new factor- the independent variable- in this case, the ink.

Dance

Dance has played an important role in many musicals. In some 【cases】, dance numbers are included as an excuse to add to the colour and spectacle of the show, but dance is more effective when it forms an integral part of the 【plot】. An early example is Richard Rodgers On Your Toes' 1936' in which the story about classical ballet meeting the world of jazz enabled dance to be introduced in a way that 【enhances】, rather than interrupts the drama.

Bhutan

Bhutan is the last standing Buddhist Kingdom in the World and, until recently, has preserved much 【of】 their culture since the 17 th century by avoiding globalisation and staying isolated from the world. Internet, television, and western dress were 【banned】 from the country up until ten years ago. But over the past ten years globalisation has begun to change in Bhutan, but things remain perfectly balanced. Bhutan is the only country in the world that has a' GNH.' You may think GNH is just another 【statistically】 based term with no real- life application, but it refers to"Gross National Happiness." The process of measuring GNH began when Bhutan opened to globalisation. It measures people's quality of life, and makes sure that"material and spiritual development happen together." Bhutan has done an amazing Job of finding this balance. Bhutan has continually been ranked as the happiest country in all of Asia, and the eighth Happiest Country in the world according to Business Week. In 2007 Bhutan had the second fastest growing GDP in the world, at the same time as 【maintaining】 their environment and cultural identity.

Kathryn Mewes

Kathryn Mewes does not meet bohemian, hippy parents in her line of work. Typically one, or both, of the parents she sees work in the City of London."Professionals seek professionals," she says. Originally a nanny, Mewes is now a parenting consultant, advising couples privately on changing their child's behaviour, 【as well as】 doing corporate seminars for working parents. Her clients find they are unprepared for the chaos and unpredictability that having a child can entail."Parents are getting older, and they have been in control of their 【whole】 lives and been successful. Suddenly a baby turns up and life turns on its head." Nicknamed the"Three- Day Nanny" 【because of】 her pledge to fix behavioural problems in children under the age of 12 within three days, she is filming a new Channel 4 television series demonstrating her techniques. The 【role】 of the parenting consultant- distinct from that of a nanny- has developed, she says, as people are used to buying in expertise, such as personal trainers or, in her case, parenting advice.

Origin of Music

Music is an important part of our lives. We connect and interact with it daily and use it as a way of projecting our self- identities to the people around us. The music we enjoy- whether it's country or classical, rock n' roll or rap- 【reflects】 who we are. But where did music, at its core, first come from? It's a puzzling question that may not have a definitive answer. One 【leading】 researcher, however, has proposed that the key to understanding the origin of music is nestled snugly in the loving bond between mother and child. In a lecture at the University of Melbourne, Richard Parncutt, an Australian- born professor of systematic musicology, endorsed the idea that music originally spawned from' motherese'- the playful voices mothers 【adopt】 when speaking to infants and toddlers. As the theory goes, increased human brain sizes caused by evolutionary changes occurring between one and 2, 000, 000 years ago resulted in earlier births, more fragile infants and a 【critical】 need for stronger relationships between mothers and their newborn babies. According to Parncutt, who is based at the University of Graz in Austria,' motherese' arose as a way to strengthen this maternal bond and to help 【ensure】 an infant's survival.

Track Down Research

Having tracked down research that is 【relevant】 to your area of interest, the next task is to actually 【make sense】 of that research. This section is intended to show you how to be critical of the research you 【are reviewing】 and how to check that the 【evidence】 is credible and represented appropriately. Unfortunately this means discussing the ways in which research findings may be misrepresented.

Financial Crisis

Since the beginning of the financial crisis, there have been two principal 【explanations】 for why so many banks made such disastrous decisions. The first is structural. Regulators did not regulate. Institutions failed to 【function】 as they should. Rules and guidelines were either inadequate or ignored. The second explanation is that Wall Street was 【incompetent】, that the traders and investors didn't know enough, that they made extravagant bets without 【understanding】 the consequences.

Crime Prevention

Crime prevention has a long history in Australia, and in other parts of the world. In all societies, people have tried to 【protect】 themselves and those close to them from assaults and other abuses. Every time someone locks the door to their house or their car, they practise 【a form of】 prevention. Most parents want their children to learn to be law abiding and not spend extended periods of their lives in prison. In this country, at least, most 【succeed】. Only a small minority of young people become recidivist offenders. In a functioning society, crime prevention is part of everyday life. While prevention can be all- pervasive at the grassroots, 【it】 is oddly neglected in mass media and political discourses. When politicians, talkback radio hosts and newspaper editorialists pontificate about crime and 【possible】 remedies, it is comparatively rare for them to mention prevention. Overwhelmingly, emphasis is on policing, sentencing and other' law and order' responses.

Japan and China

At times, a broad stream of knowledge 【flowed】 from China to Japan. At other times, this transfer was 【halted】 from one side or the other, and Japan 【developed】 on its own culture. But whether in isolation or not, Japan was always itself. Everything that 【arrived】 from China was 【adapted】 to suit Japanese tastes and needs.

Fingerprints

Fingerprints can 【prove】 that a suspect was actually at the scene of a crime. As long as a human entered a crime scene, there will be traces of DNA. DNA can help the police to 【identify】 an individual to crack a case. An institute in London can help 【preserve】 DNA and be used to match with the 【samples】 taken from the crime scenes.

Powerless Creatures

Individual human beings are relatively powerless creatures, no match for lions or bears. It's what they can do as groups that has 【enabled】 them to take over the planet. These groupings- corporations, religions, states- are now part of a vast network of 【interconnected】 information flows. Finding points of resistance, where smaller units can 【stand】 up to the waves of information washing around the globe, is becoming harder all the time.

Bones

Bones also protect the organs in our bodies. The skull protects the brain and forms the shape of the face. The spinal cord, a pathway for messages between the brain and the body, is protected by the backbone, or spinal column. The ribs form a cage that shelters 【the】 heart and lungs, and the pelvis helps protect the bladder, part of the intestines, and in women, the reproductive organs. Bones are made up of a framework of a protein called collagen, with a mineral called calcium phosphate that makes the framework hard and strong. Bones store calcium and release some into the bloodstream when it's needed by other parts of the body. The amounts of certain vitamins and minerals that you eat, especially vitamin D and calcium, directly affect how much calcium is stored in the bones. Joints are where 【two】 bones meet. They make the skeleton flexible- without them, movement would be impossible. Joints allow our bodies to move in many ways. Some joints open and close like a hinge- such as knees and elbows, whereas others allow for more complicated movement- a shoulder or hip joint, for example, allows for backward, forward, sideways, and rotating movement. Joints are classified by their range of movement: Immovable, or fibrous, joints don't move. The dome of the skull, for example, is made of bony plates, which move slightly during birth and then fuse together as the skull finishes growing. Between the edges of these plates are links, or joints, of fibrous tissue. Fibrous joints also hold the teeth in the jawbone. Partially movable, or cartilaginous, joints move a little. They are linked by cartilage, as in the spine. Each of the vertebrae in the spine moves in relation to the one above and below it, and together these movements give the spine its flexibility. Freely movable, or synovial- pronounced: sih- NO- vee- ul, joints move in many directions. The 【main】 joints of the body- such as those found at the hip, shoulders, elbows, knees, wrists, and ankles- are freely movable. They are filled with synovial fluid, which acts as a lubricant to help the joints move easily. 【Three】 kinds of freely movable joints play a big part in voluntary movement: Hinge joints allow movement in one direction, as seen in the knees and elbows. Pivot joints allow a rotating or twisting motion, like that of the head moving from side to side. Ball- and- socket joints allow the greatest freedom 【of】 movement. The hips and shoulders have this type of joint, in which the round end of a long bone fits into the hollow of another bone.

World Map of Happiness

Bhutan used to be one of the most isolated nations in the world. Developments including direct international flights, the Internet, mobile phone networks, and cable television have 【increasingly】 modernised the urban areas of the country. Bhutan has 【balanced】 modernization with its ancient culture and traditions under the guiding philosophy of Gross National Happiness"GNH". Rampant 【destruction】 of the environment has been avoided. The government takes great 【measures】 to preserve the nation's traditional culture, identity and the environment. In 2006, Business Week magazine rated Bhutan the happiest country in Asia and the eighth- happiest in the world, 【citing】 a global survey conducted by the University of Leicester in 2006 called the"World Map of Happiness".

How world works

Throughout the 18 th century, mathematicians, scientists and philosophers researched, discussed, and published their investigations into how the world worked, while engineers and inventors developed new and successful machines and processes. The 【latest】 theories inspired greater invention, and more technology encouraged theoretical scientists to make further discoveries in medicine, biology, mechanics, physics, and chemistry. By 1800, the new machines 【had】 brought revolutionary changes to the workplace, transportation and communications, and eventually to the home. Some of these inventions simply made it easier to produce things on a large scale such as textile machines and foundries, 【which】 produced large quantities of cloth and metal objects quickly and cheaply. But some inventions 【brought】 completely new possibilities such as the first batteries, steamboats, and locomotives. It would take decades for some of these inventions 【to make】 a big impact on the world. 【Yet】 their creation, and the sheer amount of imagination and risk- taking involved, 【marked】 the beginning of a modern, global, technologically based economy of the kind that we live in today.

Drinking water

Water involves in almost all the 【processes】 in our body such as digestion, elimination, assimilation, respiration, maintaining body temperature, etc. . It is required to 【remove】 the thirst of our body. We can live for days without food, however, cannot imagine living without water more than a day. The level of useful drinking water on the earth is very less and other water is salty and not useful to the living beings. Water is 【required】 by everything like plants, animals, microorganisms, human being, etc., to fulfil the body requirements. Do we imagine what will 【happen】 if the drinking water gets 【finished】 a day or gets polluted? Yes, it is the main question which has opened the eyes of everyone and starts saving water at every place we belong like home, surrounding area, office, school, college, etc. .

Competent skills

The skills you will develop on this course will help you become more confident and competent in managing written and social aspects in your current career. It will 【prepare】 you for further study in your area of interest. We plan to provide you with the opportunity to hear about the work of professors who have been involved in the past. We have had confirmation that they will give talks on their subjects 【especially】 to your group, and help you to clarify potential future directions you might take in your study and career. There are also dedicated careers services available at the University, 【which】 you will be entitled to use. The assessments for the first part of the programme are designed to develop key study skills and to provide you with the opportunity to brush up on skills you haven't used for a long time, or feel you do not have. This will include some written work essays, as well as group work- short presentations- and you will be taught how to do these. 【Details】 of the assessment for each module will be explained in your first session.

Working heritage

In this role, due to their working heritage, Border Collies are very demanding, playful, and energetic. They thrive best in households that can provide them with plenty of play and exercise, either with humans or other dogs. Due to their demanding personalities and need for mental 【stimulation】 and exercise, many Border Collies develop problematic behaviours in households that are not able to provide for their needs. They are infamous for chewing holes in walls and furniture, and 【destructive】 scraping and hole digging, due to boredom. Border Collies may exhibit a strong desire to herd, a trait they may show with small children, cats, and other dogs. The breed's herding trait has been deliberately encouraged, as it was in the dogs from which the Border Collie was developed, by selective breeding for many generations. However, being 【eminently】 trainable, they can live amicably with other pets if given proper socialisation training. The American Border Collie Association recommends that potential owners, before taking on the breed as a household pet, should be sure they can provide regular exercise 【commensurate】 with the collie's high energy and prodigious stamina. A working collie may run many miles a day, using its experience, personality and intelligence to control challenging livestock. These dogs will become 【distressed】 and frustrated if left in isolation, ignored or inactive. Like many working breeds, Border Collies can be motion- sensitive and may chase moving vehicles and bicycles, but this behaviour can be modified by training. Some of the more difficult behaviours require patience, as they are developmental and may disappear as the dog matures.

Academic Writing

Academic writing addresses complex issues that require high- order thinking skills to comprehend- e. g. , critical reflective logical and creative thinking. Think of your writing 【this】 way: one of the most important attributes of a good teacher is the ability to explain complex ideas in a way that is understandable and relatable to the topic being 【presented】. This is also one of the main functions of academic writing- describing and explaining the significance of complex ideas as clearly as possible. Often 【referred】 to as higher- order thinking skills, these include cognitive processes that are used to comprehend solve problems and express concepts or that describe abstract ideas that cannot be easily acted out pointed to or shown with images. As a writer you must take 【on】 the role of a good teacher by summarising a lot of complex information into a well- organised synthesis of ideas concepts and recommendations that 【contribute】 to a better understanding of the research problem.

International Trade

International trade allows countries to expand their markets and access goods and services that 【otherwise】 may not have been available domestically. As a 【result】 of international trade, the market is more efficient. This ultimately leads to more competitive pricing and brings 【cheaper】 products to consumers.

Oliver Smithies

Oliver Smithies won the Nobel Prize in 【Physiology】 or Medicine in 2007. On June 27 th, he spoke to students about what he learned from his thesis 【research】, which 【involved】 developing a new method to measure the osmotic pressures of mixes of proteins:"Here's my osmotic pressure 【measurement】. And I was rather proud of this method. And I 【published】 it with great delight. This paper has a record, you know: nobody ever quoted it. And nobody ever used the method again. And I didn't use the method again. So I have to ask you, what was the point of it all? Well, the answer is really a very serious answer. The answer is I learned to do good science. But it didn't matter what I did when I was learning to do good science. So it doesn't matter what you do when you're doing a thesis, you see. But it's very important that you enjoy it. Because if you don't enjoy it, you won't do a good job and you won't learn science. So all of this comes around to the fact that if you don't enjoy what you're doing, ask your advisors to let you do something else. And if your advisor won't do that, there's another 【solution】: change your advisor ."

Amyloid Beta

It's like the molecular version of the Joker and the Riddler teaming up against Batman. 【Scientists】 at Yale University have discovered that amyloid beta, a protein involved in Alzheimer's disease, can damage brain cells by binding to prion proteins, which are themselves infamous because, in their abnormal form, they cause things like mad cow disease. Amyloid beta is best known as the protein that forms the giant plaques that riddle the brains of people with Alzheimer's Those plaques contain billions of copies of amyloid beta all stuck together in one gloppy mess. But the protein also exists in a more soluble form, either in single units or in small groups of 50 or 100. These smaller clusters don't cause the same large- scale mayhem as plaques, but they do damage neurons, impairing their ability to learn. And the Yale researchers wanted to find out how. They discovered that amyloid beta binds to the prion proteins normally found on neurons. What's more, the prions ramp up amyloid beta's 【neurotoxic】 effects. Take away the prions and amyloid- beta clusters are 【harmless】, findings 【published】 in the journal Nature. So drugs that prevent this amyloid- prion coupling could be a potent weapon against Alzheimer's

Dinosaurs

What killed off the dinosaurs? The end of the Cretaceous Period saw one of the most dramatic mass extinctions the Earth has ever seen. The fossil record shows that throughout their 160- million- year 【existence】, dinosaurs took on a huge variety of forms as the environment changed and new species evolved that were suited to these new conditions. Others that failed to adapt 【went】 extinct. But then 66 million years ago, over a relatively short time, dinosaurs disappeared completely- except for birds-. Many other animals also died out, including pterosaurs, large marine reptiles, and other sea creatures such as ammonites. 【Although】 the number of dinosaur species was already declining, this suggests a sudden catastrophic event sealed their fate, causing unfavourable changes to the environment more quickly than dinosaurs and other creatures could adapt. The exact nature of this catastrophic event is still 【open】 to scientific debate. The catastrophe could have been an asteroid impact, volcanic eruptions or the effect of both, together with more 【gradual】 changes in the Earth's climate over millions of years. Whatever the causes, the huge extinction that ended the age of the dinosaur left gaps in the ecosystem that were subsequently filled by mammals and birds, allowing them to evolve rapidly.

Smartphones

Thanks to their ability to 【hijack】 our most primal desires for connexion, distraction and validation, smartphones have become some of the bestselling devices of all time. Apple have sold more than a billion iPhones since its launch in 2007. By one estimate, we spend an average of almost five hours a day 【staring】 at their little screens. The real figure is probably higher: a team of British psychologists found that people tend to underestimate the time spent on their phones by about half, whole hours just 【evaporating】 in the fog.

Plains Indians

"The Plains Indians were people who did not like to live in one place. They liked to travel around and moved camps 【at least】 three times a year. For this reason they lived in tepees. These were 【like】 big tents and were easy to put up and take down. These tepees were transported by horses.""Inside the tepee you would find all the items that people needed to live with. The Plains Indians would decorate the insides with pictures, and store their weapons and food. The Indians would also have a fire 【in the middle】 of the tepee to cook the food. The Sioux people 【used to】 put buffalo skins on the floor to use as carpets. You would also find their beds.""In the Indian camp everyone had a job to do. The men had to hunt for food, and keep the families safe. The women had to cook all the meals, make the clothes, 【look after】 the children and whenever the camp moved they had to take down and put up the tepees."

Icebergs' Sound

Twenty years ago, not so long before B- 15 broke off from Antarctica, we didn't even know that 【icebergs】 made noise, says Haru Matsumoto, an ocean engineer at NOAA who has studied these sounds. But in the past 【few】 years, scientists have started to learn to distinguish the eerie, haunting sounds of iceberg life- ice cracking, icebergs grinding 【against】 each other, an iceberg grounding on the seafloor- and measure the extent to 【which】 those sounds contribute to the noise of the ocean. While they're just now learning to listen, the sounds of ice could help them understand the behaviour and breakup of icebergs and ice shelves as the poles warm 【up】.

Paleoanthropologist

Forty years ago yesterday, November 24, 1974, paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson found in Ethiopia what's arguably the most famous and important fossil of a human 【ancestor】: Lucy. Last month, at the ScienceWriters 2014 meeting in Columbus, Ohio, Johanson talked about the moment he laid eyes on Lucy."On that eventful day in 1974 I was out, with a graduate student, Tom Grey, and we were walking back to our Land Rover to go back to camp to enjoy a swim in the river with the crocodiles and enjoy a nice little lunch. And I am always looking at the ground. I find more quarters by parking metres than anybody I know, I think. And you know how it is you find what you're looking for, right?" Because a year before the 【discovery】 a geologist had left his footprints four- to- five feet away from the 【skeleton】, because he was looking for rocks. I was looking for bones. And I found a little piece of elbow, that little 【hinge】 that allows us to flex and extend our arm. And I knew from my studies of osteology, of comparative anatomy and so on, that this had to be from a human ancestor."And as I looked up the slope, I saw other 【fragments】 eroding out. And we recovered over a two- week- long excavation operation roughly, not counting hand and foot bones, 40 % of a skeleton. And this was important because first of all it broke the three- million- year time barrier. All the fossils older than three million years at that point in the history of paleoanthropology would fit in the palm of your hand. we didn't know it was a new species really until a few years later when we finally 【published】 in 1978 the name Australopithecus afarensis." For more, check out the blog item on our Web site by Scientific American's Kate Wong who, with Johanson, co-authored the book Lucy's Legacy. Kate's blog is titled The Fossil That Revolutionised the Search for Human Origins: A Q&A with Lucy Discoverer Donald Johanson.