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The actor Ke Huy Quan has traveled an often-changing path on his way to America’s most important movie honors, the Academy Awards. The 51-year-old was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in the 2022 film, Everything Everywhere All at Once. Few Oscar nominees this year have gone as far to reach the Academy Awards as Quan. Born in Vietnam, he and his family fled that country in 1978...

An Italian ship in waters near Antarctica has sailed further south than any ship has done before. The ship was able to make it so far south because of an unusual lack of ice in the Antarctic.↳ The ship, called the Laura Bassi, made it into the Bay of Whales in the Ross Sea. The location was confirmed by Italy’s Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics. The Laura Bassi is carrying scientist...

This week, Google researchers published a paper describing results from an artificial intelligence (AI) tool built to create music. The tool, called MusicLM, is not the first AI music tool to launch. But the examples Google provides demonstrate musical creative ability based on a limited set of descriptive words. AI shows how complex computer systems have been trained to behave in human-like ways....

Educators say children’s behavior reached crisis levels after the pandemic shutdowns. Now, many schools are facing pressure from critics to rethink the ways they discipline students. In recent years, some schools have adopted policies intended to reduce suspensions and expulsions. Some experts say suspensions and expulsions hurt students’ ability to learn and largely affect minority stud...

The Carter Center said recently that only 13 human cases of Guinea worm disease were reported worldwide last year. That is a major drop from 3.5 million cases of infected people in 1986. These early numbers are expected to be confirmed in the coming months. Still, the Carter Center, founded by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Eleanor Rosalynn Carter, said the last part of the inter...

A University of Michigan student is one of the world’s top “speedcubers,” a person able to quickly solve a Rubik’s Cube. He also is a talented violinist. Stanley Chapel says the two activities work well together. He adds that he has equal interest in both. But the 21-year-old says the violin has helped him succeed in speedcubing. Chapel is studying violin performance at the university’s...

A green comet will appear again in Earth’s sky for the first time in 50,000 years. The American space agency NASA says the comet's last visit came during Neanderthal times. It will come within 42 million kilometers of Earth on Wednesday before continuing on its path, unlikely to return for millions of years. Discovered less than a year ago, this green comet can be observed in the northern night sk...

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for a total ban on what it calls industrially produced trans fatty acids worldwide in 2023. The health organization said the artificially produced form of fat is responsible for half a million early deaths each year. Products containing trans fat are commonly found in baked goods and cooking oils. In 2020, the WHO said more than 58 countries have intr...

A new government report says half of the mass attacks in the United States over the past few years started as personal, family, or workplace disputes. The attackers, the report found, were mostly men. The attackers often have a history of mental health issues, money problems or domestic violence. Their weapons of choice: guns. The report was released Wednesday by the U.S. Secret Service’s National...

That is the sound of ducks. Are you picturing these birds fishing or floating on a nice lake somewhere? A normal reaction to be sure -- but these ducks are different. They live on a grape grower’s land in South Africa. The Vergenoegd Löw Wine Estate is in Stellenbosch. And the ducks are employees of the winemaker. 那是鸭子的叫声。您是否在想象这些鸟儿在某处美丽的湖面上钓鱼或漂浮？可以肯定这是正常反...

Police in California are investigating the deadly mass shooting Saturday night in the city of Monterey Park, near Los Angeles. The gunman killed 10 people -- five women and five men -- in an attack at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, a dance school. The city has a majority Asian-American population and is known for its Lunar New Year’s celebration. Traditional dances and a parade had been planned f...

Designers are increasingly using different kinds of materials to produce products that do not harm the environment. Reused plastic bottles, wood, plant fiber, and even seaweed are being used in place of traditional materials for household goods and clothing. 设计师越来越多地使用不同种类的材料来生产对环境无害的产品。重复使用的塑料瓶、木材、植物纤维，甚至海藻都被用来代替传统的家居用品和服装材料。 Ni...

For many time-poor, health-conscious people, the must-have kitchen gadget at the moment is an air fryer. From top chefs to humble students, many are singing the praises of the device that seems to be flying off the shelves at shops and online. One British department store reported sales increased by 400% in 2021. But are they really the best thing since sliced bread, or is the hype all just h...

A huge 3D printer is working to create what is believed to be the first two-story home built with the technology in the United States. The home is currently taking shape in Houston, Texas. The 3D printing machine working on the project weighs more than 12 tons. The 3D printer is using concrete to produce the home, which will be about 371 square meters. Some parts of the home will also have wood el...

Scientists said this week that they used a high-powered laser to change the direction of lightning strikes for the first time. The laser was aimed at the sky atop Mount Santis in northeastern Switzerland. Lightning is a powerful electrical discharge between a cloud and the ground, within a cloud or between clouds. It kills thousands of people and causes billions of dollars of damage to communicati...

Sweden’s government has promised to remove the “red tape” that restricts dance in some public places. It recently considered a 10-year-old legal requirement for restaurants, bars, and clubs to get a government permit to offer dancing at such businesses. The permit costs about $67. A restaurant, bar, or club that permitted dancing without possession of such a document could lose its right to do bus...

The President of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc resigned Tuesday as an anti-corruption campaign spreads in the national government. The state-controlled Vietnam News agency reported the resignation took place during a meeting of the ruling Communist Party Central Committee. The agency said the meeting was held “to consider and give opinions on Comrade Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s wish to stop holding positions, q...

A new study has found that a lizard that once lived in forests has gone through genetic changes to survive in city environments. Researchers studied a lizard called the crested anole. The lizard’s official name is Anolis cristatellus. It is commonly found in the American territory of Puerto Rico. The team said it discovered the lizard had grown special scales that helped it climb more easily on sm...

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the number of people in the United States who speak a language other than English at home increased by three times between 1980 and 2019. About one in five people in America speak a second language at home. That is 68 million people. 美国人口普查局报告称，在 1980 年至 2019 年期间，美国人在家中使用非英语语言的人数增加了三倍。大约五分之一的美国人在家中使用第二语言...

A grilled cheese is a simple and well-loved sandwich. It is a favorite food of many American children. But food writer and professional cook Christopher Kimball urges people to add some Korean flavor into their next grilled cheese. He suggests throwing kimchi into the mix. The spicy fermented cabbage is a traditional Korean food. 烤奶酪是一种简单而深受喜爱的三明治。它是许多美国孩子最喜欢的食物。但...

Back in 2010, an international research team fitted tracking devices to birds they believed to be special – Arctic terns. And it turns out they were right, as described in US journal, PNAS. The Arctic tern has an extraordinary year-long migration from the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic Circle and back again. 早在 2010 年，一个国际研究团队就为他们认为很特别的鸟类——北极燕鸥安装了跟踪装置。事实证明他...

Our environments can affect the way we feel. This is not a new concept – after all, the traditional practice of feng shui has been with us for thousands of years. More recently, scientific research concluded that the design of healthcare environments could support patients in their recovery. Increasingly, however, it is our homes that are being seen as places we can improve our wellness. 我们的环...

Inflation has caused Argentinian artist Sergio Guillermo Diaz to create an unusual kind of art. He paints on money and sells it. With yearly inflation that likely neared 100 percent last year, Argentina’s 1,000-peso bill is worth around $5.60 officially and only $3.00 on private markets. Diaz, in a talk with Reuters in the northern city of Salta, said, "... it makes sense for me to paint on the la...

California has been hit with a series of powerful storms that began late last month. The storms have brought the state an extreme amount of rainfall. More than 17 people have died from the storms and over half of California’s 58 counties have been declared disaster areas, the governor said. There are even more storms expected in the coming days. California has also experienced a multi-year drought...

Messaging service WhatsApp has added support for a tool to help users stay online when governments block the internet. The company – owned by Facebook’s parent Meta – recently announced it would let users connect to WhatsApp through proxy servers. 消息服务 WhatsApp 增加了对一种工具的支持，以帮助用户在政府封锁互联网时保持在线。该公司由 Facebook 的母公司 Meta 所有，最近宣布将允许用户通过代理服务器连...