Questões de Inglês

How computers will soon get under our skin

By Steve Connor, Science Editor

12 August 2011

 

It may soon be possible to wear your computer or mobile phone under your sleeve, with the invention of an ultra-thin and flexible electronic circuit that can be stuck to the skin like a temporary tattoo. The device, which is almost invisible, can perform just as well as more conventional electronic machines but without the need for wires or bulky power supplies, scientists said. The development could mark a new era in consumer electronics. The technology could be used for applications ranging from medical diagnosis to covert military operations.

The “epidermal electronic system” relies on a highly flexible electrical circuit composed of snake-like conducting channels that can bend and stretch without affecting performance. The circuit is about the size of a postage stamp, is thinner than a human hair and sticks to the skin by natural electrostatic forces rather than glue. “We think this could be an important conceptual advance in wearable electronics, to achieve something that is almost unnoticeable to the wearer.  The technology can connect you to the physical world and the cyberworld in a very natural way that feels comfortable,” said Professor Todd Coleman of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who led the research team. 

A simple stick-on circuit can monitor a person’s heart rate and muscle movements as well as conventional medical monitors, but with the benefit of being weightless and almost completely undetectable. Scientists said it may also be possible to build a circuit for detecting throat movements  around the larynx in order to transmit the informationwirelessly as a way of recording a person’s speech, even if they are not making any discernible sounds. 

Tests have already shown that such a system can be used to control a voice-activated computer game, and one suggestion is that a stick-on voicebox circuit could be used in covert police operations where it might be too dangerous to speak into a radio transmitter. “The blurring of electronics and biology is really the key point here,” said Yonggang Huang, professor of engineering at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. “All established forms of electronics are hard, rigid. Biology is soft, elastic. It’s two different worlds. This is a way to truly integrate them.” 

Engineers have built test circuits mounted on a thin, rubbery substrate that adheres to the skin. The circuits have included sensors, light-emitting diodes, transistors, radio frequency capacitors, wireless antennas, conductive coils and solar cells. “We threw everything in our bag of tricks on to that platform, and then added a few other new ideas on top of those, to show that we could make it work,” said John Rogers, professor of engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a lead author of the study, published in the journal Science. 

(www.independent.co.uk. Adaptado.)

In the last paragraph, an example of what a “bag of tricks” contains is

How computers will soon get under our skin

By Steve Connor, Science Editor

12 August 2011

 

It may soon be possible to wear your computer or mobile phone under your sleeve, with the invention of an ultra-thin and flexible electronic circuit that can be stuck to the skin like a temporary tattoo. The device, which is almost invisible, can perform just as well as more conventional electronic machines but without the need for wires or bulky power supplies, scientists said. The development could mark a new era in consumer electronics. The technology could be used for applications ranging from medical diagnosis to covert military operations.

The “epidermal electronic system” relies on a highly flexible electrical circuit composed of snake-like conducting channels that can bend and stretch without affecting performance. The circuit is about the size of a postage stamp, is thinner than a human hair and sticks to the skin by natural electrostatic forces rather than glue. “We think this could be an important conceptual advance in wearable electronics, to achieve something that is almost unnoticeable to the wearer.  The technology can connect you to the physical world and the cyberworld in a very natural way that feels comfortable,” said Professor Todd Coleman of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who led the research team. 

A simple stick-on circuit can monitor a person’s heart rate and muscle movements as well as conventional medical monitors, but with the benefit of being weightless and almost completely undetectable. Scientists said it may also be possible to build a circuit for detecting throat movements  around the larynx in order to transmit the informationwirelessly as a way of recording a person’s speech, even if they are not making any discernible sounds. 

Tests have already shown that such a system can be used to control a voice-activated computer game, and one suggestion is that a stick-on voicebox circuit could be used in covert police operations where it might be too dangerous to speak into a radio transmitter. “The blurring of electronics and biology is really the key point here,” said Yonggang Huang, professor of engineering at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. “All established forms of electronics are hard, rigid. Biology is soft, elastic. It’s two different worlds. This is a way to truly integrate them.” 

Engineers have built test circuits mounted on a thin, rubbery substrate that adheres to the skin. The circuits have included sensors, light-emitting diodes, transistors, radio frequency capacitors, wireless antennas, conductive coils and solar cells. “We threw everything in our bag of tricks on to that platform, and then added a few other new ideas on top of those, to show that we could make it work,” said John Rogers, professor of engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a lead author of the study, published in the journal Science. 

(www.independent.co.uk. Adaptado.)

O trecho do quarto parágrafo – All established forms of electronics are hard, rigid. Biology is soft, elastic. – pode ser reescrito, sem alteração de sentido, como

Information please... towards a world

science information network

By Yuri I. Litukhi

The UNESCO Courier

 

SCIENTISTS form an international community whose common 

bond, science itself, leads them to see beyond national boundaries 

[3]  and sectarian attitudes. When a scientist makes a discovery, he 

wants to tell, not just his fellow countrymen, but the world. 

Similarly, when he seeks information, he wants to be provided with it as quickly as possible,

[6]  regardless of whether its source is inside or outside his own country.

Today, no one scientist or engineer can hope to keep up to date with the avalanche of technical 

articles, books and abstracts which threaten to engulf even the most conscientious researcher

[9]  At the beginning of the 19th century, a solution to the increasing number of specialized reviews

was found in the form of the abstract journal. But since then both abstract journals and 

periodicals have proliferated at an astounding rate so that each year the scientist and technical

[12]  expert must confront some 50,000 scientific and technical journals, publishing almost two million 

articles written by some 750,000 authors in as many as 50 languages. 

This "information explosion" is both exciting and frustrating. On the one hand, scientists are

[15]  eager to share in the knowledge and ideas of their colleagues. On the other, they have neither 

the time nor the resources to sift through a heap of publications to unearth those items which fall

within their field of interest.

[18]  And when the scientist does gain access to the material he wants, linguistic and other barriers 

often prevent him from putting it to good use. The resultant wastage and loss are staggering: for 

every thousand new ideas in science, only three or four are ever put to practical use.

[21]  To reduce these information gaps and frustrations, an intergovernmental cooperative venture

called UNISIST [United Nations International Scientific Information System] has been set up

under Unesco auspices. It is designed to stimulate the creation of national and international

[24]  information systems in the social, natural and exact sciences. Its beginnings go back to a 

January 1967 meeting between the International Council on Scientific Unions (ICSU) and 

Unesco at which it was decided to work towards a world scientific information system.

 

Disponível em: Acesso em: 23 jul. 2011. Imagem:. Acesso em: 23 jul. 2011. 

A expressão “information explosion” (linha 14) está relacionada ao fato de que:

Information please... towards a world

science information network

By Yuri I. Litukhi

The UNESCO Courier

 

SCIENTISTS form an international community whose common 

bond, science itself, leads them to see beyond national boundaries 

[3]  and sectarian attitudes. When a scientist makes a discovery, he 

wants to tell, not just his fellow countrymen, but the world. 

Similarly, when he seeks information, he wants to be provided with it as quickly as possible,

[6]  regardless of whether its source is inside or outside his own country.

Today, no one scientist or engineer can hope to keep up to date with the avalanche of technical 

articles, books and abstracts which threaten to engulf even the most conscientious researcher

[9]  At the beginning of the 19th century, a solution to the increasing number of specialized reviews

was found in the form of the abstract journal. But since then both abstract journals and 

periodicals have proliferated at an astounding rate so that each year the scientist and technical

[12]  expert must confront some 50,000 scientific and technical journals, publishing almost two million 

articles written by some 750,000 authors in as many as 50 languages. 

This "information explosion" is both exciting and frustrating. On the one hand, scientists are

[15]  eager to share in the knowledge and ideas of their colleagues. On the other, they have neither 

the time nor the resources to sift through a heap of publications to unearth those items which fall

within their field of interest.

[18]  And when the scientist does gain access to the material he wants, linguistic and other barriers 

often prevent him from putting it to good use. The resultant wastage and loss are staggering: for 

every thousand new ideas in science, only three or four are ever put to practical use.

[21]  To reduce these information gaps and frustrations, an intergovernmental cooperative venture

called UNISIST [United Nations International Scientific Information System] has been set up

under Unesco auspices. It is designed to stimulate the creation of national and international

[24]  information systems in the social, natural and exact sciences. Its beginnings go back to a 

January 1967 meeting between the International Council on Scientific Unions (ICSU) and 

Unesco at which it was decided to work towards a world scientific information system.

 

Disponível em: Acesso em: 23 jul. 2011. Imagem:. Acesso em: 23 jul. 2011. 

Em relação às publicações, cientistas ou engenheiros atualmente têm que lidar com

Fake Plastic Trees

 

A green plastic watering can

For a fake Chinese rubber plant

In the fake plastic earth

 

That she bought from a rubber man

In a town full of rubber plans

To get rid of itself 

 

It wears her out, it wears her out

It wears her out, it wears her out

 

She lives with a broken man

A cracked polystyrene man

Who just crumbles and burns 

 

He used to do surgery 

For girls in the eighties 

But gravity always wins 

 

And it wears him out, it wears him out 

It wears him out, it wears him out 

 

She looks like the real thing

She tastes like the real thing 

My fake plastic love 

 

But I can't help the feeling

I could blow through the ceiling

If I just turn and run

 

And it wears me out, it wears me out

It wears me out, it wears me out

 

And if I could be who you wanted 

If I could be who you wanted

All the time, all the time 

 

Disponível em: http://www.vagalume.com.br/radiohead/fake-plastic-trees-traducao.html#ixzz1M52t55xa 

 

O verbo frasal wear out é utilizado na letra da música para expressar

I recently found out that we could save 4 million kids’ lives in the next 5 years. How? With 2 new vaccines that could drastically reduce child deaths in poor countries from 2 diseases, which cause pneumonia and diarrhoea.

However, it’s one thing having these vaccines available; it’s another getting them safely to the places where they are needed. That’s where you come in. In a few weeks world leaders are meeting to decide how much they will pledge to support the roll out of these vaccines in developing countries.

You can help protect children for a lifetime by adding your name to our petition.

Nearly 1 out of 3 child deaths is caused by these two diseases. But they don’t only kill, they also make children ill. Fewer sick kids means more time in school, less strain on health services, and healthier future generations. […]

 

 

Segundo Stuart McWilliam, entre outros benefícios, a redução da diarreia e da pneumonia possibilita