For many years, Bruce Bexler dreamed of going to the lands no human had explored and discovered rare, unknown species. That might sound like an impossible dream, but Bexler turned it into a reality.
In December 2015, he, together with a team of Australian and American scientists, adventured into a rain forest on the island of New Guinea. They were the first people ever to enter the region. “As we were dropped on the ground by helicopter, we found no trails anywhere; it was really hard to get around,” Bexler says.
Within minutes of landing, the team spotted a black chicken-like bird. The scientists soon determined that the creature was a type of honeyeater-the first new bird species to be sighted on New Guinea in 60 years. The honeyeater wasn't the only surprise for them. They discovered more than 40 previously unknown plant and animal species. “We were like kids in a candy store?' Bexler recalls. “Everywhere we looked, we saw amazing things we had never seen before.”
The new found species didn't shy away from the scientists. Two long-nosed echidnas even let the visitors pick them up and take them back to camp to study them. Bexler thinks the animals weren't scared because they had never seen humans before. He explains, “This area gives scientists a place where they can study the behaviours of animals that have not yet learned to be afraid of people.”
Bexler and his team did not have enough time to study the area completely. “We just scratched the surface, Bexler says. “Anyone who goes there will come back with a mystery.”
For some people, music is no fun at all. About four percent of the population is what scientists call "amusic. " People who are amusic are born without the ability to recognize or reproduce musical notes (音调). Amusic people often cannot tell the difference between two songs. Amusics can only hear the difference between two notes if they are very far apart on the musical scale.
As a result, songs sound like noise to an amusic. Many amusics compare the sound of music to pieces of metal hitting each other. Life can be hard for amusics. Their inability to enjoy music set them apart from others. It can be difficult for other people to identify with their condition. In fact, most people cannot begin to grasp what it feels like to be amusic. Just going to a restaurant or a shopping mall can be uncomfortable or even painful. That is why many amusics intentionally stay away from places where there is music. However, this can result in withdrawal and social isolation. "I used to hate parties, " says Margaret, a seventy-year-old woman who only recently discovered that she was amusic. By studying people like Margaret, scientists are finally learning how to identify this unusual condition.
Scientists say that the brains of amusics are different from the brains of people who can appreciate music. The difference is complex, and it doesn't involve defective hearing. Amusics can understand other nonmusical sounds well. They also have no problems understanding ordinary speech. Scientists compare amusics to people who just can't see certain colors.
Many amusics are happy when their condition is finally diagnosed (诊断). For years, Margaret felt embarrassed about her problem with music. Now she knows that she is not alone. There is a name for her condition. That makes it easier for her to explain. "When people invite me to a concert, I just say, ‘No thanks, I'm amusic, '" says Margaret. "I just wish I had learned to say that when I was seventeen and not seventy. "
As a young girl growing up in France, Sarah Toumi dreamed of becoming a leader who could make the world a better place. Her passion to help others was awakened when, from the age of nine, she accompanied her Tunisian father to his birthplace in the east of the country during holidays. There she organized homework clubs and activities for children.
Toumi witnessed first-hand the destructive effect of desertification ( 沙漠化). "Within 10 years rich farmers became worse off, and in 10 years from now they will be poor. I wanted to stop the Sahara Desert in its tracks. " A decrease in average rainfall and an increase in the severity of droughts have led to an estimated 75 percent of Tunisia's agricultural lands being threatened by desertification.
Toumi recognized that farming practices needed to change. She is confident that small land areas can bring large returns if farmers are able to adapt by planting sustainable crops, using new technologies for water treatment and focusing on natural products and fertilizers rather than chemicals.
In 2012, Toumi consolidated (巩固) her dream of fighting the desert. She moved to Tunisia, and set up a programme named Acacias for All to put her sustainable farming philosophy (理念) into action. "I want to show young people in rural areas that they can create opportunities where they are. Nobody is better able to understand the impact of desertification and climate change than somebody who is living with no access to water. "
By September 2016, more than 130, 000 acacia trees had been planted on 20 pilot farms, with farmers recording a 60 percent survival rate. Toumi estimates that some 3 million acacia trees are needed to protect Tunisia's farmland. She expects to plant 1 million trees by 2018. In the next couple of years, Toumi hopes to extend the programme to Algeria and Morocco.
Overly technical language in science articles doesn't just muddy the waters for non-experts—it can alienate readers, potentially shutting them out from scientific discussion and knowledge. That's the conclusion of a study published in the Journal of Language and Social Psychology, and it applies to general-interest articles just as much as to scientific papers.
"When we have a hard time conceptualizing information, we become really scared of it," says lead author Hillary Shulman, a communication researcher. Scientists can create "unnecessary barriers" with words, she says. The study involved 650 members of the general public who read paragraphs on three cutting-edge topics: self-driving cars, robotic surgery and 3D bio-printing. The members are divided into two groups: for the experimental group, the paragraphs were loaded with jargon terms (行业术语), such as "remote ergonomic console"; for the control group, the paragraphs were written with words that are familiar to most readers, such as "separate control panel".
After reading the passages, the study participants rated their experience in a series of questionnaires. Those who read jargon-filled paragraphs were more likely to say that they had difficulty understanding the language and the information. They were also significantly more likely to say that they weren't good at science, and less likely to say that they would seek out information on the topic in the future. Some of the participants who read the jargon- heavy text received links to definitions of technical terms, but that didn't reduce their frustrations or enhance their feelings of understanding.
Scientists can learn to cut back on their use of technical language when talking to people who are not researchers, says Ayelet Baram-Tsabari, a science-communication researcher. She co-authored a January study showing that scientists with media training can write articles that are just as engaging as pieces written by professional journalists. "Avoiding jargon is a fundamental part of that, but it's not the whole story," she says. To really connect with the public, she recommends that scientists tell a story that's relevant to the audience. Members of the public aren't the only ones who can be turned off by jargon, Shulman says. Students can be, too. "I teach a class with 400 undergrads," she says. "When you're training people, you can introduce jargon with a little more sensitivity. You're trying to invite them into the environment. "
Of course, technical words still have an important function in science. Shulman's paper is itself heavily loaded with terms such as "metacognition" and "self-schema". "The irony of that is not lost on me," she says. "When it comes to scientific literature, you can't get anything published unless it's full of jargon. Scientists want to speak to other scientists in the most precise way possible. "
