The pandemic has greatly changed the landscape of education. But that never 1 one brilliant girl's resolve to reach for the stars.
While most teens are tackling the challenges of middle school, Alena Wicker, has already2her high school diploma at the age of 12. And after learning in a long-term online program, she is 3 to attend Arizona State University this summer. There, she4 to major in both astronomical science and chemistry to 5 her dream of working at NASA where she hopes to 6 her extraordinary skills to build spacecraft after graduation. 7, she wanted to be an astronomer, but then she switched over to engineering 8 her love of building things.
Alena's space journey began with her early 9 for Lego (乐高), with which she's always played around since she was 4. So far, she's built10 of everything from the Taj Mahal to NASA rockets.
"She would 11 the Lego pieces by color and size," her mother McQuater said. "She was always 12 at her Lego pieces, and if you 13 her Lego pieces, it would be easy for her to put them together." Besides bringing her visions into reality, this genius had remarkable 14in other aspects of life.
Seeing the 15 of opportunities in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields for women, Alena wanted to make a change. With her mum's encouragement, Alena 16 a website to encourage other girls with 17 interests to focus on fields which had been 18 inaccessible to women.
Alena hopes to set an example for other girls—never let the long-established concept keep us from 19 the course of our life. "It doesn't matter what your age is or what you are planning to do," she said. "Go for it, and then 20it."
Participants in an online forum were asked whether space exploration was worthwhile. Here are some of the comments they posted:
Planet Girl 7.17 pm
Our world is damaged by war, hunger and poverty. Billions of people struggle just to survive from day to day. Meanwhile the US space agency has US $16 billion to play with every year. We must deal with the world's urgent problems. Space exploration is a luxury we cannot afford.
Dragon 7.18 pm
That $16 billion spent on space is nothing compared to the $370 billion spent on the military.
JJ 7.20 pm
Exploring space is investing in the future. Everyone knows we're running out of resources. There's massive over-population too. The solar system has heaps of resources we can use for mining, and maybe we can explore other planets. If we don't do it now, it might be too late.
Planet Girl 7.22 pm
We have to settle problems of over-population and resource consuming here on Earth, instead of chasing science fiction dreams. Otherwise we will just export our unsustainable lifestyle to another planet. We might consume the whole universe!!
JJ 7.23 pm
Space explorers rock! They know what they are in for, and they still do it anyway. That's what I call courage! We humans have always struggled to expand our horizons. We want to know what else is out there. Who knows, maybe we'll discover the solution to all our problems out there!
Switched-on 7.25 pm
Space exploration has had a huge effect on our lives. Want to talk to someone halfway around the world? Sure. Get the weather forecast? Coming right up. Check exactly where you are? Absolutely. It's all possible, thanks to satellite technology, global positioning systems, and the rest. If there was no space exploration, we'd be sitting around in the dark, not talking online!
Penny 7.50 pm
Satellites are launched by private companies — for profit. Planet Earth doesn't always benefit. Exploring remote planets certainly does not contribute to life on Earth.
The library of Pharaoh Ramesses II is said to have borne the inscription (碑文) "the house of healing for the soul". Dylan Thomas, an English writer, reportedly liked to relax by reading Agatha Christie's detective novels. As for the novelist Yiyun Li, it was War and Peace that helped her get through the toughest times; when she launched a virtual reading group of Leo Tolstoy's masterpiece in lockdown, 3,000 people signed up.
In recent years, a growing body of research has backed up the idea that books not only entertain, but also help us recover and grow. They offer companionship to the lonely, insight to the anxious, and release to those who feel trapped.
This feature has motivated Ann Cleeves to turn her attention to the old long-lasting bibliotherapy. She then co-sponsored such a program in northeast England, working with public health teams. Bibliotherapy is an approach using books and other forms of literature to improve a patient's mental health. A review of several studies found such programs have a long-term effect on people's well-being.
But Cleeves has a broader idea in mind. Writing for The Guardian, she described how reading and writing fiction helped her understand her own response and allowed her to escape into a different world. The reading coaches will match their patients with appropriate poetry and novels as well as non-fiction based on patients' condition, and will introduce them to librarians and other readers. After all, what's uplifting to one reader will seem twee (花哨的) to another and what one finds unpleasant may be reassuring to the next.
For Cleeves, it is happy to see people seek self-discovery in the world of books. Some may respond to children's classic The Secret Garden; others will recognize themselves in Toni Morrison's novels. An ancient idea has found fresh resonance (共鸣).
The world's clocks mark every passing second, minute and hour. But to humans, seconds of pain can feel like minutes, and hours spent at a party can end in a blink.
The brain can stretch or squeeze the feeling of time for many reasons, including pleasure, pain, fear and age. Although the science behind this "subjective time" is not fully understood, some research suggests that an additional factor might influence the subjective length of your life: your income.
Research already suggests that, on average, wealthy people live longer, biologically. Now, emerging work indicates that varied and novel experiences could create more "time codes" in the human brain as it processes memory formation. This, in turn, could mean that people who can afford to enjoy more vacations and hobbies, and who have more stimulating jobs, will recall having lived for a longer time on Earth.
"Even though time flies when you're having fun, when you look back on it, you can remember much more of this extended experience compared to a boring experience," says Jorgen Sugar, a postdoctoral student at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience. He's part of a team of scientists investigating these mental time codes.
The idea that novelty can affect the experience of time also seems to fit cultures that don't measure time using clocks—many cultures rely instead on celestial (天空的), cultural and seasonal events to mark the flow of time. "Our experience of time does vary according to circumstances, and also according to the kind of rhythm of activity we engage in," says Chris Sinha, a cognitive scientist working with Hunan University who has studied so called "event-based time" in Amazonian tribes and linguistic minority groups in China.
But other experts aren't convinced. According to Monica Capri, an economist with a background in neuro-economies at Claremont Graduate University, subjective time isn't well understood scientifically. Even if higher-paid jobs can lead to more new experiences, wealthy people aren't necessarily spending money that way. A millionaire, for instance, may spend money on a fancy watch, but this isn't likely to change their feeling of time the way a vacation or even a low-cost hike would, she says.
What's more, she says, there are many factors to consider in how the brain processes time. For instance, according to Adrian Bejan, a professor at Duke University, the novelty of fun experiences can simply wear off.
Still, researchers from many fields are eager to uncover the mysteries of memory and subjective time. According to Sugar, understanding how humans form and recall memories can affect many aspects of society, such as law, education and health care—and perhaps can even aid our understanding of ourselves. "The human brain is the most complex biological system we know," he says.
Expertise is what separates amateurs from true masters in almost any field. You might wonder whether experts are "born" or "made". Experts in the field prove that expertise is acquired through dedicated practice, but how exactly do people go about becoming experts?
People who become experts tend to get a body of knowledge that makes them one of the most informed individuals in their field. They also possess the skills that they need to determine when and how to utilize their knowledge. Recently, a popular idea has emerged that the key to becoming an expert is devoting at least 10,000 hours to the study and practice of a subject. In the study, researchers found that the most accomplished violinists at a music academy had spent an average 10,000 hours practicing their instruments. Pop psychology author Malcolm Gladwell coined the phrase "the ten-thousand-hour rule". Gladwell also suggested tech-entrepreneur Bill Gates had devoted 10,000 hours to practicing programming before he created Microsoft.
Anders Ericsson of the University of Florida, who is a world-renowned expert, has studied experts from all walks of life and pointed out the deficiency of "the ten-thousand-hour rule". Ericsson believes that what separates amateurs from experts is what is referred to as deliberate practice. Ordinary practice can help people become skilled at a task, but deliberate practice needs to improve other things, such as your current skill level, setting goals, and receiving training and instruction from a qualified teacher.
While Ericsson believes deliberate practice is the key to becoming an expert, not all researchers agree with his conclusion. Some recent studies have found deliberate practice isn't the only factor that explains the differences between the skilled and the unskilled. While psychologists are not sure exactly which factors might also play a role, personality traits, physical characteristics, and overall intelligence may matter as well.
Practice is essential for developing a skill, but becoming an expert requires constantly challenging yourself to do better, learn more, and acquire new knowledge and skills. Simply practicing the same skills over and over again will make you better in those areas, but it will not lead to true expertise.
On the morning of my Ph.D qualifying exam, I rolled out of the bed and got dressed. Next I did my make-up and put on my heels. I looked at myself in the mirror, feeling confident that I could face the members of my Ph.D committee and answer whatever questions they threw at me during my presentation. It's a strategy that I newly developed due to an unexpected inspiration from Lady Gaga.
As a student, I've always struggled with being confident at school. I especially feared to give presentations about my research. The breakthrough came during the month before my qualifying exam when I listened to Lady Gaga's new album titled Joanne. As a committed fan, I noticed that this album differed greatly compared with her past ones. She had quitted her usual dance-pop and tried country music for the first time, and her clothing had changed as well. Obviously, Lady Gaga was taking a huge professional risk. However, she was confident of the music she released, and the fresh image she adopted.
That got me thinking: Could I do something similar before I stepped on stage? My naturally shy and quiet personality was not exactly ideal for public speaking, so I thought about the features and the image I wanted my professional self to possess. I wore professional clothing and highlighted my features—bravery, grace, and self-assurance—through make-up.
When I walked into the exam room, I was pleased to discover that I had new-found confidence. Sure, I was still nervous, but I had an unfamiliar sense of calm as soon as I began my talk. I was able to reply to questions without the trembling voice, and I took ownership of the work I presented. Thanks to Lady Gaga, I now have a strategy that unlocks the key to my confidence.
