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　　Scientists from the Max Plank Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tubingen, Germany, have presented the first experimental evidence that people do end up walking in circles if lost in unfamiliar areas．The study, published in the journal Current Biology, examined the tracks of people who walked for several hours in the Sahara desert in Tunisia and in the Bienwald forest in Germany．Researchers Jan Souman and Marc Ernst said the scientists used the global positioning system(GPS)to record these paths．The results showed that the walkers were only able to keep a straight line when the sun or moon was visible．As soon as the sun disappeared behind some clouds, people started to walk in circles without even noticing it．

　　Souman said one explanation offered in the past for people walking in circles was that most people have one leg longer or stronger than the other, which would produce a systematic bias(偏差)in one direction．To test this．the researchers asked people to walk straight while blindfolded which removed the effects of vision．They found that these circles were rarely in a systematic direction, with the same person sometimes switching to the left and sometimes to the right．

　　“Most of the participants in the study walked in circles, sometimes in extremely small ones．Walking in circles is therefore not caused by differences in leg length or strength, but more likely the result of increasing uncertainty about where straight ahead is,”said Souman,“Small random errors(随机性误差)in the various sensory signals that provide information about walking direction add up over time, making what a person perceives to be straight ahead drift away from the true straight ahead direction．”

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　　The findings of a new survey have American professors talking about the good old days－when A's were a lot tougher to earn．

　　Sites like RateMyProfessors．com make it easy for students to find a class taught by a professor who is known as an“easy grader”．A recent survey by Kaplan Test Prep found that 46 percent of the more than 1,200 students polled admitted to using the site for just such a purpose．

　　“Our research shows that many of today's college students are looking at multiple factors when picking out courses：overall teacher quality that will result in a good learning experience, but also instructors who don't like to award a lot of C's and D's,”said Jeff Olson, vice president of research at Kaplan Test Prep．

　　“While it makes sense that students would choose kinder graders, it also helps explain the recent popularity of grade inflation(膨胀)．”

　　Grade inflation is seen by many professors as poisoning the learning environment．Some, like former Duke University professor Stuart Rojstaczer, are righting it head-on．

　　On his website, Gradelnflation.com, he releases an annual list of schools where grade inflation is the worst．

　　This year, he decided to name the schools where grades were inflated the least．He praised, for example, Princeton University, as well as Purdue University, where the average GPA has remained around 2.8 for over 30 years．

　　“Purdue doesn't even seem to know that grade inflation exists in the US,”Rojstaczer says．“Ignorance is bliss(极大的幸福)．”

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　　“There's no other way to describe it, it's the moment of a lifetime,”said Bigelow at the awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday．She has become the first female ever to win a Best Director Oscar．

　　Bigelow was up against the top-selling film of all time, Avatar．But Bigelow's smallbudget film, The Hurt Locker, swept the awards with six trophies(奖杯), including Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Sound Mixing and the big one：Best Picture．

　　Many Hollywood insiders are calling this year's awards the“Indie Oscars”, with smaller films taking the other top awards．This was due in large part to outstanding individual performances：Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart(Best Actor)and Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side(Best Actress)．But all eyes were on Bigelow, as her movie The Hurt Locker beat Avatar to the major awards．This was sweetened by the fact Avatar's director, James Cameron, is her ex-husband．

　　Bigelow was only the fourth female ever to be nominated(提名)for Best Director．She followed in the footsteps of Lina Wurtmuller, for Seven Beauties(1976); Jane Campion, The Piano(1993);and Sophia Coppola, Lost in Translation(2003)．

　　Bigelow played down the important occasion last week, telling CBS,“There's really no difference between what I do and what a male filmmaker might do．I mean we all try to make our days, we all try to give the best performances we can, we try to make our budget, we try to make the best movie we possibly can．So in that sense it's very similar．On the other hand, I think the journey for women, no matter what field it is－politics, business, film －it's a long journey．”

　　Ironically Bigelow's filmography is filled with action movies that are low on female leads and high on guns and steel．Her films such as Point Break and The Hurt Locker focus on the fears of men．

　　And is there an entertaining end to the story of Bigelow's victory?She won on International Women's Day．

　　It is, after all, Hollywood．

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　　Welcome to London's River Marathon and our online Entry section．You can fill in an Entry Form and the closing date for Race entries is 6th September．

Here you can learn something about our service such as towage(拖船)．

　　A tow-down service from Ham, Richmond and Putney to the Start is being run from early Race day morning and timed to have your boat available for collection when you arrive at Registration．To take advantage of this service, boats must be launched by 18.00 hours on Friday and the cost is 70.00 per boat．If required, Towage and Crane Assistance must be requested via the entry maintenance facility; we will be in touch with full details on receipt of a request．

There are also a number of ways to enjoy the Race without necessarily getting into a sweat．Camping/Roast BBQ/Party：

　　As usual, we will be operating our very successful campsite at Thames Young Mariners in Riverside Drive, just a few minutes walk from the Race Finish．The 14th Richmond Sea Scouts will once again organize and host this very popular service．

　　The Friday night BBQ party will include a delicious roast and the entertainment will be provided by our regular blues band．

　　On Saturday evening the bar will be open．

ShuttleBus：

　　The ShuttleBus service has become an integral part of Race Day．In the morning of this year's Race, it will take crews and spectator boat passengers from the Holiday Inn Hotel, Thames Ditton, the campsite and Finish area to the Start in time for registration and boarding．

　　The service starts at 08.00 hours．Later, we will be running buses from the party area at the Finish(Ham Street car park)at 22.30 hours to the Start, calling at Waterloo and Liverpool Street stations．

Passenger Boat：

　　With its good visibility, low freeboard, licensed bar and friendly cooperative crew．The Viscount makes the ideal viewing platform for The Great River Race．The boat will be leaving Masthouse Terrace Pier at 11.45 hours with boarding starting from 11.15 hours．Light lunches will be available on board．

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　　When I was young, I went looking for gold in California．I never found enough to make me rich．But I did discover a beautiful part of the country．It was called“the Stanislau”．The Stanislau was like Heaven on Earth．It had bright green hills and deep forests where soft winds touched the trees．

　　Other men, also looking for gold, had reached the Stanislau hills of California many years before I did．They had built a town in the valley with sidewalks and stores, banks and schools．They had also built pretty little houses for their families．

　　At first, they found a lot of gold in the Stanislau hills．But their good luck did not last．After a few years, the gold disappeared．By the time I reached the Stanislau, all the people were gone, too．

　　Grass now grew in the streets．And the little houses were covered by wild rose bushes．Only the sound of insects filled the air as I walked through the empty town that summer day so long ago．Then, I realized I was not alone after all．

　　A man was smiling at me as he stood in front of one of the little houses．This house was not covered by wild rose bushes．A nice little garden in front of the house was full of blue and yellow flowers．White curtains hung from the windows and floated in the soft summer wind．

　　Still smiling, the man opened the door of his house and signed to me．I went inside and could not believe my eyes．I had been living for weeks in rough mining camps with other gold miners．We slept on the hard ground, ate canned beans from cold metal plates and spent our days in the difficult search for gold．

　　Here in this little house, my spirit seemed to come to life again．

　　I saw a bright rug on the shining wooden floor．Pictures hung all around the room．And on little tables there were seashells, books and china vases full of flowers．A woman had made this house into a home．

　　The pleasure I felt in my heart must have shown on my face．The man read my thoughts．“Yes,”he smiled,“it is all her work．Everything in this room has felt the touch of her hand．”

　　One of the pictures on the wall was not hanging straight．He noticed it and went to fix it．He stepped back several times to make sure the picture was really straight．Then he gave it a gentle touch with his hand．

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　　Is a mouse that can speak acceptable?How about a dog with human hands or feet?Scientists, the people with the know-how to make such things happen, are now thinking about whether such experiments are morally right or not．

　　On Nov．10, Britain's Academy of Medical Sciences launched a study on the use of animals with human materials in scientific research．The work is expected to take at least a year, but its leaders hope it will lead to guidelines for scientists in Britain and around the world on how far they can go mixing human genes into animals in search of ways to fight human diseases．

　　“Do these constructs(构想)challenge our idea of what it is to be human?”asked Martin Bobrow, a professor of medical genetics at Cambridge University and chair of a 14-member group looking into the issue．“It is important that we consider these questions now so that appropriate boundaries are recognized．”

　　Using human material in animals is not new．Scientists have already created monkeys that have a human form of the Huntingdon's gene so they can study how the disease develops; and mice with livers(肝)made from human cells are being used to study the effects of new drugs．

　　However, scientists say the technology to put ever greater amounts of human genetic material into animals is spreading quickly around the world－raising the possibility that some scientists in some places may want to go further than is morally acceptable．

　　Last year in Britain there was a lively debate over new laws allowing the creation of human-animal embryos(胚胎)for experiments．On one side of the debate were religious groups, who claimed that such science interferes with nature．Opposing them were scientists who pointed out that such experiments were vital to research cures for diseases．

　　The experts will publish reports after the end of the study, in which they will give definitions(定义)for animal embryos with human genes or cells, look at safety and animal welfare issues, and consider the right legal framework to work within．

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　　About six years ago I was eating lunch in a restaurant in New York City when a woman and a young boy sat down at the next table, I couldn't help overhearing parts of their conversation．At one point the woman asked,“So, how have you been?”And the boy－who could not have been more than seven or eight years old－replied．“Frankly, I've been feeling a little depressed lately．”

　　This incident stuck in my mind because it confirmed(确认)my growing belief that children are changing．As far as I can remember, my friends and I didn't find out we were“depressed”, that is, in low spirits, until we were in high school．

　　Undoubtedly a change in children has increased steadily in recent years．Children don't seem childlike anymore．Children speak more like adults, dress more like adults and behave more like adults than they used to．

　　Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say, but it certainly is different．Childhood as it once was no longer exists．Why?

　　Human development is depended not only on born biological states, but also on patterns of gaining social knowledge．Movement from one social role to another usually involves learning the secrets of the new social positions．Children have always been taught adult secrets, but slowly and in stages; traditionally, we tell sixth graders things we keep hidden from fifth graders．

　　In the last 30 years, however, a secret-revelation(揭示)machine has been equipped in 98 percent of American homes．It is called television．Television passes information to all viewers alike, whether they are children or adults．Unable to resist the temptation(诱惑), many children turn their attention from printed texts to the less challenging, more attractive moving pictures．

　　Communication through print, as a matter of fact, allows for a great deal of control over the social information which children will gain．Children must read simple books before they can read complex materials．

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　　A 17-year-old boy, caught sending text messages in class, was recently sent to the vice principal's office at Millwood High School in Halifax, Nova Scotia．The vice principal, Steve Gallagher, told the boy he needed to focus on the teacher, not his cellphone．The boy listened politely and nodded, and that's when Mr．Gallagher noticed the student's fingers moving on his lap．He was texting while being scolded for texting．“It was a subconscious act,”says Mr．Gallagher, who took the phone away．“Young people today are connected socially from the moment they open their eyes in the morning until they close their eyes at night．It's compulsive．”

　　A study this year by psychology students at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga．, found that the more time young people spend on Facebook, the more likely they are to have lower grades and weaker study habits．Heavy Facebook users show signs of being more sociable, but they are also more likely to be anxious, hostile or depressed．(Doctors, meanwhile, are now blaming addictions to ‘night texting' for disturbing the sleep patterns of teens．)

　　Almost a quarter of today's teens check Facebook more than 10 times a day, according to a 2009 survey by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit group that monitors media's impact on families．Will these young people get rid of this habit once they enter the work force, or will employers come to see texting and ‘social-network checking' as accepted parts of the workday?

　　Think back．When today's older workers were in their 20s, they might have taken a break on the job to call friends and make after-work plans．In those earlier eras, companies discouraged non-business-related calls, and someone who made personal calls all day risked being fired．It was impossible to imagine the constant back-and-forth texting that defines interactions among young people today．

　　Educators are also being asked by parents, students and educational strategists to reconsider their rules．“In past generations, students got in trouble for passing notes in class．Now students are adept at texting with their phones still in their pockets,”says 40-year-old Mr．Gallagher, the vice principal,“and they're able to communicate with someone one floor down and three rows over．Students are just fundamentally different today．They will take suspensions rather than give up their phones．”

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　　China has become an increasingly appealing market for Hollywood films, so it was inevitable that Academy Award-winning director James Cameron would touch down in Beijing Wednesday to promote his latest big-budget movie, Avatar．

　　During his 20-hour stay in the city, he shared with local media and some lucky fans details of his new film and shared his insights on China's growing film industry．

　　Having toured numerous countries for the promotion of Avatar since the film globally premiered on December 10, Cameron said he anticipated the visit to China for some time and apologized for his hoarse and tired voice．

　　“It is so sad for a director not being able to shout,”he joked at the beginning of the press conference Wednesday afternoon, announcing that the 3D science fiction film will open in China on January 4．

　　Cameron collected 360 million yuan(US＄52.7 million)at the box office in China with his blockbuster Titanic in 1998, a record that held for ten years until it was broken by Transformers in 2008．

　　Considering that another computer-generated, live action flick, 2012, has sold more movie tickets in China than in the US, the director said he is positive about Avatar's performance in China．

　　“Our partner here, the China Film Group, has given us great confidence,”he explained, saying that the number of 3D screens has grown from 500 to 600 in the past month, a never-seen-before growth in Chinese mainland．

　　China is second only to the US as the country with the most 3D screens．Cameron said the screening of Avatar in China has specific importance as a test of future 3D film development．

　　“I'm very interested in the 3D film market in China．I cannot predict the box office results here, but I look forward to the test results．”