Science & Environment

Solar-powered sea slug harnesses stolen plant genes - life - 24 November 2008 Video: Watch a sea slug eat algae to nab some of its chloroplasts, and the genes that keep them functioning It's the ultimate form of solar power: eat a plant, become photosynthetic. Now researchers have found how one animal does just that. Elysia chlorotica is a lurid green sea slug, with a gelatinous leaf-shaped body, that lives along the Atlantic seaboard of the US. What sets it apart from most other sea slugs is its ability to run on solar power. Mary Rumpho of the University of Maine, is an expert on E. chlorotica and has now discovered how the sea slug gets this ability: it photosynthesises with genes "stolen" from the algae it eats. NOVA - Official Website Can Wind Turbines Make You Sick? Residents living in the shadows of wind turbines say the sound is making them sick. But so far the science isn't there. From NOVA Next | Jun 27, 2018

takeielts.britishcouncil You will need to read quickly and efficiently, and manage your time You will be asked to read three different passages and respond to related questions in your IELTS Reading test. The content of the Reading test is different for IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training tests. Details of each version are given below. The IELTS Reading test is designed to assess a wide range of reading skills, including how well you read for the general sense of a passageread for the main ideasread for detailunderstand inferences and implied meaningrecognise a writer’s opinions, attitudes and purposefollow the development of an argument Wallpaper Camera Wraps Around Any Surface What if you could wrap a camera around your car (or tank) for a 360-degree view or encircle a streetlight to boost security? You might even use it as wallpaper to check out what’s happening in the room next door. This idea may have taken a step closer with a new thin flexible sheet camera design by researchers at Columbia University. While they are still working on prototypes, they say they have overcome several obstacles that have tripped up previous efforts and hope to have a real camera soon. 11 Bizarre Sources For Alternative Energy “We are exploring ways to capture visual information in unconventional ways,” said Shree Nayar, a professor of computer science at Columbia.

takeielts.britishcouncil You will be allowed 1 hour to complete two tasks in the IELTS General Training Writing test. The two parts of this practice Writing test are presented on two separate web pages. Make sure you move swiftly from one page to the next so that your practice is as realistic as possible. If you prefer to work offline, download the test paper. In the actual test you will do your writing in an answer booklet. Nonverbal Communication for Human-Robot Interaction: Henny Admoni Robotics has already improved lives by taking over dull, dirty, and dangerous jobs, freeing people for safer, more skillful pursuits. For instance, autonomous mechanical arms weld cars in factories, and autonomous vacuum cleaners keep floors clean in millions of homes. However, most currently deployed robotic devices operate primarily without human interaction, and are typically incapable of understanding natural human communication. As robotic hardware costs decrease and computational power increases, robotics research is moving from these autonomous but isolated systems to individualized personal robots. Robots at home can help elderly or disabled users with daily tasks, such as preparing a meal or getting dressed, which can increase independence and quality of life. Robots for manufacturing can act as intelligent third hands, improving efficiency and job safety for workers.

Six Amazing Websites that Make Your Writing Stronger Long writing activities are not very frequently done in class. I tend to think that my students are like me; I need the right kind of atmosphere. Writing requires time, silence and lots of inspiration. Ideally, at this time of the year, I would probably wish to be sitting next to a fireplace with the most perfect instagrammable snow falling outside my window while drinking a nice cup of coffee waiting for inspiration to strike. Unfortunately, there isn’t any snow where I live so I’ll have to make do with a bit of rain and some reddish trees.

Bellies full of microplastic rob baby fish of their basic instincts Larval European perch that has ingested microplastic particles (light-colored spheres on bottom side). Photo by Oona Lönnstedt When exposed to microplastics, baby fish stop eating natural food and prefer consuming the pollutant, according to a report from ecologists at Uppsala University in Sweden. The dietary switch derails the basic instincts of the fish, the researchers found, elevating the likelihood of being caught by predators. Man rescued after being lost in IKEA for 12 days – Luxembourg Wurst ARLON, Belgium — A disoriented shopper was rescued on Thursday after being lost for nearly two weeks in an IKEA store near the Luxembourg border. Late last month, Michael Parrish, 33, entered the premises for a “quick stop” to purchase an inexpensive lamp for his infant son’s bedroom and 100 lime-green napkins requested by his wife, he says. However, after more than an hour of unsuccessfully searching for the cash registers, he knew he was in trouble.

3-D Fractals Offer Clues to Complex Systems If you came across an animal in the wild and wanted to learn more about it, there are a few things you might do: You might watch what it eats, poke it to see how it reacts, and even dissect it if you got the chance. Mathematicians are not so different from naturalists. Rather than studying organisms, they study equations and shapes using their own techniques. takeielts.britishcouncil Follow this Listening test advice, and make sure you understand how to respond to 'completion' type questions. You will be given time to read through the questions before you listen. You will hear each recording of the Listening test only once. As you listen, write your answers on the question paper. At the end of the test, you will have 10 minutes to transfer your answers to the answer sheet in pencil.

audio et texte en anglais sur le tabac (laura et philippe) Tobacco by Claire Powell and Dave Collett What’s in a cigarette? Why Do We Count? The abacus is a tool, just like the calculator is a tool. Your smartphone’s calculator app — that’s a tool, too. But are numbers themselves a tool?