Questões de Inglês

Paralyzed Rats Take 1,000 Steps,

Orchestrated by Computer

Controlled by software, paralyzed rats walk and
climb stairs.
[5] It’s a strange sight: a paralyzed rat walking on its
hind legs in a precise cadence, all controlled by a
computer.
“It is a little bit Frankenstein,” says Gregoire
Courtine, a neuroscientist at the École
[10] Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne, Switzerland,
who in a paper published yesterday in Science
Translational Medicine describes his efforts to use
electronics to restore fluid, realistic movements to
paralyzed animals.
[15] The study is part of a wider effort to help paralyzed
people walk again by zapping their spinal cords
with electrical pulses. These signals can replace
commands normally sent out by the brain, but which
are interrupted when the spinal cord is injured.
[20] This spring, doctors and researchers from the
University of Louisville and the University of
California, Los Angeles, said four men who had
been paralyzed for years were able to regain
movement in their legs, hips, ankles, and toes, and
[25] even stand using an implanted device that
stimulated their spinal cords, a technique called
epidural stimulation. Though the movements
achieved were modest—and fall short of allowing
the men to walk on their own—the technology let
[30] them exercise their legs, which seemed to restore
some movement.

His team hopes to test its ideas in a human volunteer
next year. “The idea is to use this in the
rehabilitation room,” Courtine says, citing evidence
[35] that exercising the spinal cord and legs may partly
restore severed connections to the brain.
Epidural stimulation technology is still a long way
from allowing paralyzed people to walk on their
own, though. Hunter Peckham, a bioengineer at
[40] Case Western Reserve University, says that patients
want to control their own movements, which means
that future versions of these systems must strike a
balance between automated routines and
movements picked by the user.
[45] Courtine says his group is working on developing
a brain-machine interface, such as electrodes
implanted in the motor cortex of the brain to record
intended movements, that might eventually allow
patients to control a spinal stimulator, and the
[50] movement of their legs, using their own thoughts.

By Courtney Humphries, Technology Review published by MIT, September 25, 2014

Adapted from http://www.technologyreview.com/news/ 531051/paralyzed-rats-take-1000-steps-orchestrated-bycomputer/

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Water for Our Future

Fresh water is arguably the world’s most precious resource. Yet in all corners of the globe, shortages and inadequate access to sanitation persist. Rivers are fragmented by dams, choked by chemicals, threatened by climate change, depleted by irresponsible businesses and industries that don’t manage water wisely, and polluted by toxic runoff from cities, factories and farms. We can’t solve these challenges alone, and thankfully, we don’t have to. Although there are many millions of miles of water on the earth, it is thought that most of this total is salt water or ice, and therefore not usable for human needs. Also, we cannot use more than one-third of the water that falls from the sky. The other two-either disappears back into the air, or is used by plants, of flows into the sea or under the ground. Indeed, some of the places where man formerly obtained fresh, clear water are disappearing. Along the coastline of the United States, humans have used so much of their natural supply of water that sea water is very slowly taking the place of the clear water as it is used. This loss of good water cannot continue. More and more people are demanding more and more clean water every year. It has been figured that the modern city family uses six times more water today than yesterday’s farm family did, when wells were the main source of water. Where will we get the water that our increasing population requires just to stay alive? What can we do about our water supply? The only answer is that we must learn to reuse water and the main difficulty to do so at present is the problem of water pollution. We are being attacked on all sides by water pollution of all types from all kinds of sources. The time has now come for man to make his environment his friend, not his enemy. Water is a local issue, but addressing water resource management challenges requires global solidarity as well as regional, national and local actions. Something must be done, and must be done on a large scale. However, one great problem of the crisis is that decisions must be made today, before the need has become generally apparent, to prevent adverse effects that are projected to occur in a more or less distant future. There is wide spread agreement that humanity should start securing and improving its water resources in order to adequately deal with the other environmental problems that may arise.

(Adapted from: The North American Regional Process event for the 7th World Water Forum, Karin Krchnak, Director Freshwater Program, May, 2014, Washington, DC)

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Water for Our Future

Fresh water is arguably the world’s most precious resource. Yet in all corners of the globe, shortages and inadequate access to sanitation persist. Rivers are fragmented by dams, choked by chemicals, threatened by climate change, depleted by irresponsible businesses and industries that don’t manage water wisely, and polluted by toxic runoff from cities, factories and farms. We can’t solve these challenges alone, and thankfully, we don’t have to. Although there are many millions of miles of water on the earth, it is thought that most of this total is salt water or ice, and therefore not usable for human needs. Also, we cannot use more than one-third of the water that falls from the sky. The other two-either disappears back into the air, or is used by plants, of flows into the sea or under the ground. Indeed, some of the places where man formerly obtained fresh, clear water are disappearing. Along the coastline of the United States, humans have used so much of their natural supply of water that sea water is very slowly taking the place of the clear water as it is used. This loss of good water cannot continue. More and more people are demanding more and more clean water every year. It has been figured that the modern city family uses six times more water today than yesterday’s farm family did, when wells were the main source of water. Where will we get the water that our increasing population requires just to stay alive? What can we do about our water supply? The only answer is that we must learn to reuse water and the main difficulty to do so at present is the problem of water pollution. We are being attacked on all sides by water pollution of all types from all kinds of sources. The time has now come for man to make his environment his friend, not his enemy. Water is a local issue, but addressing water resource management challenges requires global solidarity as well as regional, national and local actions. Something must be done, and must be done on a large scale. However, one great problem of the crisis is that decisions must be made today, before the need has become generally apparent, to prevent adverse effects that are projected to occur in a more or less distant future. There is wide spread agreement that humanity should start securing and improving its water resources in order to adequately deal with the other environmental problems that may arise.

(Adapted from: The North American Regional Process event for the 7th World Water Forum, Karin Krchnak, Director Freshwater Program, May, 2014, Washington, DC)

Instrução: a questão refere-se ao texto abaixo:

Water for Our Future

Fresh water is arguably the world’s most precious resource. Yet in all corners of the globe, shortages and inadequate access to sanitation persist. Rivers are fragmented by dams, choked by chemicals, threatened by climate change, depleted by irresponsible businesses and industries that don’t manage water wisely, and polluted by toxic runoff from cities, factories and farms. We can’t solve these challenges alone, and thankfully, we don’t have to. Although there are many millions of miles of water on the earth, it is thought that most of this total is salt water or ice, and therefore not usable for human needs. Also, we cannot use more than one-third of the water that falls from the sky. The other two-either disappears back into the air, or is used by plants, of flows into the sea or under the ground. Indeed, some of the places where man formerly obtained fresh, clear water are disappearing. Along the coastline of the United States, humans have used so much of their natural supply of water that sea water is very slowly taking the place of the clear water as it is used. This loss of good water cannot continue. More and more people are demanding more and more clean water every year. It has been figured that the modern city family uses six times more water today than yesterday’s farm family did, when wells were the main source of water. Where will we get the water that our increasing population requires just to stay alive? What can we do about our water supply? The only answer is that we must learn to reuse water and the main difficulty to do so at present is the problem of water pollution. We are being attacked on all sides by water pollution of all types from all kinds of sources. The time has now come for man to make his environment his friend, not his enemy. Water is a local issue, but addressing water resource management challenges requires global solidarity as well as regional, national and local actions. Something must be done, and must be done on a large scale. However, one great problem of the crisis is that decisions must be made today, before the need has become generally apparent, to prevent adverse effects that are projected to occur in a more or less distant future. There is wide spread agreement that humanity should start securing and improving its water resources in order to adequately deal with the other environmental problems that may arise.

(Adapted from: The North American Regional Process event for the 7th World Water Forum, Karin Krchnak, Director Freshwater Program, May, 2014, Washington, DC)

Instrução: a questão refere-se ao texto abaixo:

Water for Our Future

Fresh water is arguably the world’s most precious resource. Yet in all corners of the globe, shortages and inadequate access to sanitation persist. Rivers are fragmented by dams, choked by chemicals, threatened by climate change, depleted by irresponsible businesses and industries that don’t manage water wisely, and polluted by toxic runoff from cities, factories and farms. We can’t solve these challenges alone, and thankfully, we don’t have to. Although there are many millions of miles of water on the earth, it is thought that most of this total is salt water or ice, and therefore not usable for human needs. Also, we cannot use more than one-third of the water that falls from the sky. The other two-either disappears back into the air, or is used by plants, of flows into the sea or under the ground. Indeed, some of the places where man formerly obtained fresh, clear water are disappearing. Along the coastline of the United States, humans have used so much of their natural supply of water that sea water is very slowly taking the place of the clear water as it is used. This loss of good water cannot continue. More and more people are demanding more and more clean water every year. It has been figured that the modern city family uses six times more water today than yesterday’s farm family did, when wells were the main source of water. Where will we get the water that our increasing population requires just to stay alive? What can we do about our water supply? The only answer is that we must learn to reuse water and the main difficulty to do so at present is the problem of water pollution. We are being attacked on all sides by water pollution of all types from all kinds of sources. The time has now come for man to make his environment his friend, not his enemy. Water is a local issue, but addressing water resource management challenges requires global solidarity as well as regional, national and local actions. Something must be done, and must be done on a large scale. However, one great problem of the crisis is that decisions must be made today, before the need has become generally apparent, to prevent adverse effects that are projected to occur in a more or less distant future. There is wide spread agreement that humanity should start securing and improving its water resources in order to adequately deal with the other environmental problems that may arise.

(Adapted from: The North American Regional Process event for the 7th World Water Forum, Karin Krchnak, Director Freshwater Program, May, 2014, Washington, DC)

Cycling

What's the furthest you have ever cycled? Perhaps you cycle to school or to work, or maybe at most a short cycling trip with friends? How would you feel about spending months on the road travelling solo from the UK to China, by bike?

For British cyclist Pete Jones, camping rough and cycling long distances through inhospitable terrain are second nature. Mr Jones is currently undertaking a mammoth trip across the Eurasian continent from Britain to China.

Pete Jones is no stranger to China. But he says many people there are puzzled by his passion for cycling, asking why he would choose to cycle when he can afford a car. Indeed, while there are an estimated 400 million bicycles in China, where it has long been the preferred form of transport, rapid economic growth has fuelled an explosive expansion in car ownership.
Edward Genochio, another British cyclist who completed a 41,000km trip to China and back, said one of his aims was to "promote cycling as a safe, sustainable and environmentally benign means of getting about". In the UK, the last few years have seen a rise in the number of people choosing two wheels over four, with some estimates saying the number of people cycling to work has almost doubled in the last five years. Politicians also see cycling as a way to boost their eco-credentials, with people such as London mayor Boris Johnson often riding to work under his own steam. But we may have to wait some time before we see him emulating Pete Jones in attempting to cycle all the way to China!

Fonte: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/...