CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: Can narcissists learn empathy? Yes, according to the latest research.

Credit: © lunamarina / Fotolia

Stock image of a narcissistic young man looking in a mirror. Scientists 

that narcissists can learn to feel empathy for another person's suffering.

There are character development ideas in this research.  

"If we encourage narcissists to consider the situation from 

their teammate or friend's point of view, they are likely to 

respond in a much more considerate or sympathetic way."

The stories most people enjoy either in print or on film usually involve a lead character who grows and learns through their experiences in the story. So you create a character who is very taken with him or herself, a man or woman who struggles with interpersonal relationships, who has a difficult time appreciating what is happening to those around them.

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Can a narcissistic person change and learn to feel empathy for others?  According to this research report out of  the University of Surrey and the University of Southampton, in certain circumstances with certain types of narcissists, the answer is yes, with the right focus, people with narcissistic tendencies can feel empathy for another person's suffering.

Researchers investigated whether narcissists can elicit empathy for another person's suffering. It has been well documented that narcissists lack empathy, but why is that the case, and do they have the capacity to change that behavior? New research suggests that with the right focus, people with narcissistic tendencies can feel empathy for another person's suffering.

Characterizing narcissism
When we think of narcissism most of us can all think of a colleague, friend, or former significant other that would fit the description; "A bit full of themselves, self-centered, and don't seem too concerned about the effects they have on other people," says lead researcher, Erica Hepper. This lack of empathy has a detrimental effect on interpersonal relationships, social bonding and prosocial behavior.

For the purposes of this research, the researchers focused on individuals who exhibit subclinical narcissism, rather than a clinical diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). Dr. Hepper explains that this distinction was made because "people high in subclinical narcissism are psychologically healthy and well-adjusted, often even very successful, whereas people with NPD are inflexible and volatile, and don't manage day-to-day life well." Subclinical narcissism is also more common, and the number of people exhibiting narcissistic traits in our society continues to increase. The participants were broken down into two categories, 'low narcissists' and 'high narcissists,' which identifies participants as being less narcissistic or more narcissistic than the average person.

Results of the research
The researchers examined whether narcissists are capable of empathizing with another person in distress by having participants read a vignette describing a recent relationship break-up. Regardless of how mild or severe the scenario was, high-narcissists did not show empathy for the subject. The results pinpoint the role of narcissism as driven by its maladaptive components such as entitlement, exploitativeness and exhibitionism. Furthermore, narcissists lacked empathy even when the scenario was relatively severe (i.e., the subject was overwhelmed with depression).

The researchers then tested whether narcissists are capable of showing empathy when they are instructed to take the perspective of the target person. Female participants were shown a 10-minute documentary describing a woman's experience with domestic violence. Participants were prompted to "imagine how she feels" while watching the video. Low-narcissists were unaffected by the cognitive-perspective taking, implying they were already taking the woman's perspective. High-narcissists reported significantly higher empathy for the woman in the video when they had been instructed to take her perspective, versus not being prompted with that suggestion.

Lastly, the researchers tested whether narcissists can be moved emotionally and physiologically. Previous studies have shown that increases in heart rate reliably indicate empathetic response to another's emotions or suffering. High-narcissists had a significantly lower heart rate when exposed to a target character's distress, illustrating that their lack of empathy is also physiological. However, perspective-taking led high-narcissists to respond to another's distress with the same level of autonomic arousal as low-narcissists.

The findings suggest that narcissists do have the capacity to empathize with other people's needs given the right conditions. "If we encourage narcissists to consider the situation from their teammate or friend's point of view, they are likely to respond in a much more considerate or sympathetic way," Dr. Hepper says. This is an encouraging result and suggests that relatively anti-social members of society can be empathetic, which would improve their long-term relationships.

Dr. Hepper is extending this research to on-line social interactions and ongoing relationships, in an effort to observe whether narcissists can respond in an empathetic way when speaking with someone who is distressed, or with existing friends and romantic partners.

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Story Source: Materials provided by Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Erica G. Hepper, Claire M. Hart, and Constantine Sedikides. Moving Narcissus: Can Narcissists Be Empathic? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, May 30, 2014

SCIFI: How to bake a working robot in your home kitchen. Really.

Credit: Courtesy of the researchers

Before-and-after stills from the video "An End-to-End Approach to 

Making Self-Folded 3D Surface Shapes by Uniform Heating." 

The left image shows the self-folding sheet for a humanoid shape, 

while the right image shows the completed self-folded humanoid shape.

I can't cook.  Don't pretend to know how.  But, given the recipe to bake an actual working robot in the oven of my home kitchen?  I'm into it.  You may feel that the eggheads at MIT rarely come up with anything useful, and perhaps they rarely do, but bake a robot?  One that could walk the dog or make the bed?  Or better yet, clean the cat's box?  Wowzers, Batman.  How cool would this be?

The story:

New algorithms and electronic components could enable printable robots that self-assemble when heated. Printable robots — those that can be assembled from parts produced by 3-D printers — have long been a topic of research in Computer Science labs at MIT. Now researchers introduce a

Printable robots -- those that can be assembled from parts produced by 3-D printers -- have long been a topic of research in the lab of Daniela Rus, the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT.

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At this year's IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Rus' group and its collaborators introduce a new wrinkle on the idea: bakable robots.

In two new papers, the researchers demonstrate the promise of printable robotic components that, when heated, automatically fold into prescribed three-dimensional configurations.

One paper describes a system that takes a digital specification of a 3-D shape -- such as a computer-aided design, or CAD, file -- and generates the 2-D patterns that would enable a piece of plastic to reproduce it through self-folding.

The other paper explains how to build electrical components from self-folding laser-cut materials. The researchers present designs for resistors, inductors, and capacitors, as well as sensors and actuators -- the electromechanical "muscles" that enable robots' movements.

"We have this big dream of the hardware compiler, where you can specify, 'I want a robot that will play with my cat,' or 'I want a robot that will clean the floor,' and from this high-level specification, you actually generate a working device," Rus says. "So far, we have tackled some subproblems in the space, and one of the subproblems is this end-to-end system where you have a picture, and at the other end, you have an object that realizes that picture. And the same mathematical models and principles that we use in this pipeline we also use to create these folded electronics."

Both papers build on previous research that Rus did in collaboration with Erik Demaine, another professor of computer science and engineering at MIT. This work explored how origami could be adapted to create reconfigurable robots.

All the angles
The key difference in the new work, explains Shuhei Miyashita, a postdoc in Rus' lab and one of her co-authors on both papers, is a technique for precisely controlling the angles at which a heated sheet folds. Miyashita sandwiches a sheet of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) between two films of a rigid polyester riddled with slits of different widths. When heated, the PVC contracts, and the slits close. Where edges of the polyester film press up against each other, they deform the PVC.

Imagine, for instance, a slit in the top polyester film and another parallel to it in the bottom film. But suppose, too, that the slit in the top film is narrower than that on the bottom. As the PVC contracts, the edges of the top slit will press against each other, but there will still be a gap between the edges of the bottom slit. The entire sheet will then bend downward until the bottom edges meet as well. The final angle is a function of the difference in the widths of the top and bottom slits.

But producing the pattern of slits is not as simple as just overlaying them on an origami crease pattern and adjusting the widths accordingly, Rus says. "You're doing this really complicated global control that moves every edge in the system at the same time," she says. "You want to design those edges in such a way that the result of composing all these motions, which actually interfere with each other, leads to the correct geometric structure."

Researchers describe using a polyester coated with aluminum to create foldable electronic components. Miyashita designed those components by hand, since it was necessary to prescribe not just their geometric properties but also their electrical properties. The sensor Miyashita designed looks kind of like a small accordion. Each of the accordion folds contains a separate resistor, and when the folds are compressed, the total resistance changes proportionally, with a measurable effect on a current passing through the sensor.

The actuator -- which would enable a robot to move -- is a foldable coil, which would need to be augmented with a pair of iron cylinders that could be magnetized by an electrical current. Aluminum isn't a good enough conductor to yield an actuator that exerts much force, but a copper-coated polyester should do the trick.

To see the bakable robot in action:  The bakable robot

Okay, so the take and bake model is a few years off. But one day in the not-too-distant future?  Pop'n Fresh Robots in your dairy case.

*  *  *  *  *

Story Source:  Materials provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, written by Larry Hardesty. "New printable robots could self-assemble when heated." ScienceDaily

CRIME: Breakthrough uncovers fingerprints on ATM receipts

Source:  www.nides.cz

The Hot Print System is a new development to automatically and 

consistently develop fingerprints on thermal paper such as till receipts.

In the real world as in fiction, it's getting harder and harder to be a successful bad guy.  Admittedly, many if not most criminals are, to be polite, dolts, and, according to other research released in the past year, opportunists rather than thoughtful.  Still, technology is making it harder for both the opportunists and the meticulous.  For example ~

A new technology in the fight against theft and fraud, developed by Dr John Bond OBE from the University of Leicester's Department of Chemistry, uses a specially tailored UV light source to visualize fingerprints not possible to see on 'thermal paper' using any other technique, specifically the paper used for receipts and statements from ATMs.

Historically, the process of visualizing fingerprints on thermal paper has been impossible, as the solvent used in the chemical treatment can color the dye and turn the whole paper black, making thermal paper a 'problem surface' from which to recover fingerprints.

The Hot Print System
Several years ago, Dr Bond reported a method of fingerprint recovery from thermal paper by applying heat to the paper. This has been developed into commercial equipment, manufactured in the UK and sold worldwide as the Hot Print System (HPS). However, the HPS manufacturer recently reported that the properties of thermal paper seemed to vary between countries, particularly in the US and China, which led Dr Bond to invent this latest crime-fighting technique.

According to Dr Bond, "This new technology offers a new way of easily looking for fingerprints on an increasing source of paperwork that criminals are likely to handle when committing a variety of offences.

Actual fingerprint recovered on

thermal paper by the Hot Print

System technology.

"When I started researching fingerprint recovery from thermal paper, I didn't realize that not all thermal papers are the same. In this latest development the light source provides non-invasive examination of thermal paper and can be carried out very quickly with the minimum of training to locate fingerprints. The HPS can then be used to develop the fingerprint to enable capture as a digital image.  If development with the HPS is faint, the light source can be used to illuminate faint prints to enhance digital capture. This latest technology therefore complements my other work in this area and the HPS.

"Techniques like this are preferred by the police as they offer quick and easy examination of forensic items for fingerprints. Like all this work, the bottom line is helping the police to lock up the bad guys."

The device was recently presented at the Forensics Europe Expo, an adjunct to the Counter Terrorism Expo, which took place 29 -- 30 April, Olympia, London.

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Dr Bond also presented at the Expo on a second device, used for storing a used firearm shell in a sterile container that ensures minimal contact with the outer surface of the casing, which is where extraneous DNA or fingerprints would be picked up under normal circumstances.

Dr Bond explained: "Current recovery and storage methods invariably mean there is frictional contact with the packaging that can smudge or remove any material present which, as we know, is only in small amounts to start with so anything that better preserves this evidence is to be welcomed.

"This invention is a natural extension to look at all aspects of evidence recovery, storage and processing rather than just focusing on evidence processing. Having done the job for 20 years, you get an appreciation for the whole process and where the weaknesses are; this is often not appreciated by researchers who just focus on the processing part."

The technology could lead to better retention of DNA and fingerprint material from crime scenes involving the discharge of a firearm.

*  *  *  *  *

Story Source:  Materials provided by University of Leicester. "Breakthrough technology uncovers fingerprints on ATM bills and receipts." ScienceDaily.

ROMANCE: People tend to choose a spouse with similar DNA

Source: short-sharp-shock.blogspot.com

I find this result fascinating.  People tend to choose partners with similar DNA?  How do we do this?  Is it smell?  Appearance?  Some psychic connection?

Scientists already knew that people tend to marry others who have similar characteristics, including religion, age, race, income, body type and education, among others. Scientists now show that people also are more likely to pick mates who have similar DNA.  As the researchers state, "Individuals are more genetically similar to their spouses than they are to randomly selected individuals from the same population."

Thinks about this: if you've had a bad relationship that left you scarred, and that person was genetically similar to you, what does that tell you about yourself?  Do you also have the traits that led to the situation?  There is much to consider in this finding, something writers might consider in their personal lives and their fiction.

In the new study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists show that people also are more likely to pick mates who have similar DNA. While characteristics such as race, body type and even education have genetic components, this is the first study to look at similarities across the entire genome.

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"It's well known that people marry folks who are like them," said Benjamin Domingue, lead author of the paper and a research associate at CU-Boulder's Institute of Behavioral Science. "But there's been a question about whether we mate at random with respect to genetics."

For the study, Domingue and his colleagues, including CU-Boulder Associate Professor Jason Boardman, used genomic data collected by the Health and Retirement Study, which is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging.

The researchers examined the genomes of 825 non-Hispanic white American couples. They looked specifically at single-nucleotide polymorphisms, which are places in their DNA that are known to commonly differ among humans.

The researchers found that there were fewer differences in the DNA between married people than between two randomly selected individuals. In all, the researchers estimated genetic similarity between individuals using 1.7 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms in each person's genome.

The researchers compared the magnitude of the genetic similarity between married people to the magnitude of the better-studied phenomenon of people with similar educations marrying, known as educational assortative mating. They found that the preference for a genetically similar spouse, known as genetic assortative mating, is about a third of the strength of educational assortative mating.

The findings could have implications for statistical models now used by scientists to understand genetic differences between human populations because such models often assume random mating.

The study also forms a foundation for future research that could explore whether similar results are found between married people of other races, whether people also choose genetically similar friends, and whether there are instances when people prefer mates whose DNA is actually more different rather than more similar.

*  *  *  *  *

Story Source: Materials provided by University of Colorado at Boulder. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Benjamin W. Domingue, Jason Fletcher, Dalton Conley, and Jason D. Boardman. Genetic and educational assortative mating among US adults. PNAS, May 19, 2014

CRIME: fMRI Brain scans: Far better than the polygraph

From the trailer for the movie, "Meet the Parents",
starring Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller. 

fMRI brain scans are 99 percent accurate in identifying 

when a person is lying in response to questions.

If conventional lie detector machines, polygraphs, have been endlessly debunked and shown not to provide admissible nor even valid evidence, then the 21st Century tool of choice for reading the minds of witnesses and suspected criminals may be the brain scanner. More specifically, the kind of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) that can seemingly probe our inner selves and reveal the flow of blood in the different regions of the brain that light up when we lie.

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In England and Wales, there have been legal experiments undertaken at the pre-charge stage using both conventional polygraphs with suspected criminals of low risk who have volunteered to be assessed using these technologies. The benefits for the police being that they might accelerate the charging process or more quickly dismiss a suspect for which evidence is scant and the questioning during an fMRI brain scan does not point to guilt. Research suggests that fMRI is 99 percent accurate in identifying when a person is lying in responding to questions.

Researchers point out that the use of fMRI in a legal context "is potentially groundbreaking," they note that it might be possible for witness testimony to be validated by fMRI. It could even be used to detect juror bias in a trial.

"The assistance to the defense that could be provided by neuroscientific evidence could further balance the equality of arms in an adversarial justice system," the team suggests. "There [now] needs to be consideration of how the results of neuroscientific analysis will be presented to the jury.

Science is moving at a great speed and these techniques are likely to become more refined and advanced in the future. As such, due regard must be paid to both the due process rights of defendants and the impact of this evidence on the adversarial notion of our criminal justice system.

"Indeed, for the sake of our adversarial criminal justice system, it is important for the law to keep up," the team concludes.

*  *  *  *  *

Story Source: Materials provided by Inderscience. Edward Johnston, Daniel Jasinski. Neuroscientific evidence: a criminal justice dream, or an adversarial nightmare? International Journal of Liability and Scientific Enquiry, 2013

Favored by God in warfare? How WWI sowed seeds for future international conflicts

World War I -- the “war to end all wars” -- in fact sowed seeds for future international conflicts in a way that has been largely overlooked: through religion, says a historian and author. Widespread belief in the supernatural was a driving force during the war and helped mold all three of the major religions -- Christianity, Judaism and Islam -- paving the way for modern views of religion and violence, he said.

World War I -- the "war to end all wars" -- in fact sowed seeds for future international conflicts in a way that has been largely overlooked: through religion, says a Baylor University historian and author.

As the 100th anniversary of the war's beginning approaches, Philip Jenkins, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of History at Baylor, says that attitudes prevalent then have influenced how global powers see each other today, often viewing themselves as favored by God.

Recommended reading
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During World War I, which began on July 28, 1914, Germany saw itself as a religious force on a "messianic mission," while Russia saw itself not just as "a" Christian state, but as "the" Christian state, Jenkins said in a recent interview with Interfaith Voices, a public radio religion news magazine. Jenkins is the author of "The Great and Holy War: How World War I Became a Religious Crusade."

Those seeing the war as a religious crusade were "not just elite thinkers or a few crazy bishops and pastors . . . Religion dominated propaganda messages and the way people thought about the war, wrote about the war, made films about the war," Jenkins said. "Religion was part of the air they breathed . . . The enemy was an evil satanic foe."

He noted that angels and the Virgin Mary were reported as appearing regularly on battlefields, and the apocalypse was on the minds of many during the war, in which more than 9 million soldiers were killed.

"If you don't see this, and if you don't treat it seriously the way people of the time did, you're not going to get a sense of what people really were fighting about" and why they stayed in a "long, horrendous war" that initially was expected to last only a few months, Jenkins said in the interview.
Widespread belief in the supernatural was a driving force during the war and helped mold all three of the major religions -- Christianity, Judaism and Islam -- paving the way for modern views of religion and violence, he said.

"Jihads and holy wars broke out after the war across the world, and most of that movement came out of World War I," Jenkins said.

The notion of being part of a holy war "cast a very long shadow" into the 1920s, the 1930s and even into the 1940s, when popular secular movements such Nazism, fascism and communism used similar rhetoric, he said.

But if Germany saw itself as fighting a holy war in World War I, they had to ask themselves why they lost, Jenkins said.

"Their answer was that the devil's agents were among them. That goes a long way to explaining the vicious and homicidal anti-Semitism."

Jenkins is co-director of the Program on Historical Studies of Religion in Baylor's Institute for Studies of Religion. He also is the author of "Laying Down the Sword" and "Jesus Wars: How Four Patriarchs, Three Queens and Two Emperors Decided What Christians Would Believe for the Next 1,500 Years."

*  *  *  *  *

Story Source: Materials provided by Baylor University."Favored by God in warfare? How WWI sowed seeds for future international conflicts." ScienceDaily.

Were our ancestors stoners? Could be. Or not.

Unlike most modern humans, the prehistoric people of Europe did not use mind-altering substances simply for their hedonistic pleasure. At least, that is the theory of Elisa Guerra-Doce of the Universidad de Valladolid in Spain based on her research.

The use of alcohol and plant drugs -- such as opium poppies and hallucinogenic mushrooms -- was highly regulated and went hand-in-hand with the belief system and sacred burial rituals of many preindustrial societies.

Guerra-Doce contends that their use was an integral part of prehistoric beliefs, and that these substances were believed to aid in communication with the spiritual world. Guerra-Doce's research appears in Springer's Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory.

Despite the fact that the consumption of these substances is as ancient as human society itself, it is only fairly recently that researchers have started to look into the historical and cultural contexts in which mind-altering products were used in Europe.

Guerra-Doce systematically documented the cultural significance of consuming inebriating substances in these cultures.  In the research, four different types of archaeological documents were examined:

• the macrofossil remains of the leaves, fruits or seeds of psychoactive plants; 
• residues suggestive of alcoholic beverages; 
• psychoactive alkaloids found in archaeological artifacts and skeletal remains from prehistoric times; and 
• artistic depictions of mood-altering plant species and drinking scenes.

These remnants include bits of the opium poppy in the teeth of a male adult in a Neolithic site in Spain, charred Cannabis seeds in bowls found in Romania, traces of barley beer on several ceramic vessels recovered in Iberia, and abstract designs in the Italian Alps that depict the ritual use of hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Because Guerra-Doce mainly found traces of sensory-altering products in tombs and ceremonial places, she believes such substances are strongly linked to ritual usage. They were consumed in order to alter the usual state of consciousness, or even to achieve a trance state.

The details of the rituals are still unclear, but the hypothesis is that the substances were either used in the course of mortuary rites, to provide sustenance for the deceased in their journey into the afterlife, or as a kind of tribute to the underworld deities.

She adds that the right to use such substances may have been highly regulated given that they were a means to connect with the spirit world, and therefore played a sacred role among prehistoric European societies.

"Far from being consumed for hedonistic purposes, drug plants and alcoholic drinks had a sacred role among prehistoric societies," says Guerra-Doce. "It is not surprising that most of the evidence derives from both elite burials and restricted ceremonial sites, suggesting the possibility that the consumption of mind-altering products was socially controlled in prehistoric Europe."

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Story Source: Elisa Guerra-Doce. The Origins of Inebriation: Archaeological Evidence of the Consumption of Fermented Beverages and Drugs in Prehistoric Eurasia. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 2014

The World’s Most Connected Man

【Unlocking Word Meanings】

　今日の単語・フレーズ

Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article. 

1. wearable [WAIR-uh-buh l] (adj.) – referring to something that is suitable to wear

Example: Google glass is one of the latest wearable devices.

2. real-time [REE-uh l tahym] (n.) – the actual time during which an activity occurs

Example: The news program broadcasts updates on the search and rescue operation for the missing plane in real-time.

3. plethora [PLETH-er-uh] (n.) – overabundance of something

Example: A plethora of reviews have been written about the latest gadget.

4. numerous [NOO-mer-uh s, NYOO-] (adj.) – having great quantity or number

Example: Numerous models of the new phone are now available in the market.

5. start-up [STAHRT-uhp] (adj.) – describes something that has just begun or started

Example: The start-up company will celebrate its second anniversary.

【Article】

　ニュース記事

Read the text below.

A 45-year-old man from Denver uses various forms of wearable gadgets and applications to monitor his own body and everything he does. Labeled as “the most connected human” in the world, Chris Dancy utilizes 700 systems simultaneously. To gather information about himself and his surroundings in real-time, he uses a range of sensors and monitoring devices connected to his own body. For him, body and mind can be hacked the same way people hack computers and any type of data. He said that whenever he touches something, he makes sure that he can acquire information from it – information which he can track, search, visualize, and share with others. To help him track all information he needs, Dancy wears a plethora of gadgets including Pebble smartwatch, a Google Glass, a BodyMedia arm band, and a Blue heart rate monitor. He also makes use of numerous devices in his house to collect data about his sleep. Furthermore, Dancy also collects information about his dogs by using Tagg, an application that helps people monitor their pets’ activities. Dancy’s connected lifestyle has helped him know himself better than anyone else. He became more aware of simple activities in his life such as eating, drinking, sleeping, and waking up. This habitual monitoring has even allowed him to lose 100 pounds (45kg). Both major and start-up companies all over the world have also begun to seek Dancy’s help in developing smarter products. He gives advice and spends time creating good solutions for businesses.

【Viewpoint Discussion】

　ディスカッションテーマ

Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.  

Discussion A

         Would you be willing to follow Dancy’s way of monitoring his body and the environment? Why or why not?

         Do you agree that mind and body can be hacked the same way people hack computers? Why or why not?

Discussion B

         How important is information in this day and age? Explain.

         Why do we need to be aware about our own selves?

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Anti-Social App Lets You Avoid People

【Unlocking Word Meanings】

　今日の単語・フレーズ

Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article. 

1. antithesis [an-TITH-uh-seez] (n.) – the equal but complete opposite of something

Example: Insecurity is the antithesis of self-confidence.

2. run into [ruhn IN-too] (idiom) – to briefly meet someone accidentally or unexpectedly

Example: He was a little uncomfortable when he ran into his boss in the bar.

3. geolocation [jee-uh-loh-KEY-shuh n] (n.) – the way of locating a person or a device through information provided on the Internet

Example: The app’s geolocation identifies where the user’s friends are. 

4. vicinity [vi-SIN-i-tee] (n.) – the area that surrounds a particular place

Example: He just drove away when he couldn’t find a parking space in the vicinity.

5. operating system [OP-uh-rey-ting SIS-tuh m] (n.) – the program controls the computer and its functions

Example: The computer was completely useless because its operating system was malfunctioning.

【Article】

　ニュース記事

Read the text below.

A new app designed to help users avoid unwanted encounters with other people has been recently released in the Apple App Store. Created by programmers Brian Moore [BRAHY-uh n mohr] and Chris Baker [kris BEY-ker], ‘Cloak’ can be considered as the antithesis of social networking sites. The main function of this app is to keep users from running into people. Cloak is the latest among Baker’s anti-social applications. He is well-known for developing software that helps users avoid people in a fun way, such as the plugin ‘Rather.’ With Cloak, users will have the chance to completely avoid people they do not want to see in real life. The app uses geolocation that allows the user to see if any of the people they want to avoid are within the user’s vicinity. It also displays the photos of the user’s friends on a map. Those who the user does not want to bump into will be flagged. However, the app only works if the people the user wants to avoid are dedicated users of certain social networking sites, particularly those that trace the users’ geolocation. This is because Cloak uses this information to constantly keep track of each person’s location. According to Baker, anti-social applications are necessary because they let users avoid people who they do not want to meet. The need for anti-social apps also increases as the social media becomes more crowded. Cloak is currently available only to Apple devices. However, the creators plan to expand it to other operating systems if the app proves to be successful. They are also planning to add more features to the app in the future.

【Viewpoint Discussion】

　ディスカッションテーマ

Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.  

Discussion A

         Would you use the Cloak app? Why or why not?

         What do you think are disadvantages of using anti-social applications?

Discussion B

         What are the good ways and bad ways in which social networking sites have changed the way people treat their friends?

         Why do you think some people are obsessed with making lots of online friends they don’t know in real life?

この記事が気に入りましたか？

Universal Studios to Build a Theme Park in Beijing

【Unlocking Word Meanings】

　今日の単語・フレーズ

Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article. 

1. establish [ih-STAB-lish] (v.) – to build or set up something

Example: A new amusement park was established near the city.

2. demolition [dem-uh-LISH-uhn, dee-muh-] (n.) – the act of destructing or demolishing something

Example: The government announced the demolition of the buildings.

3. advertisement [ad-ver-TAHYZ-muhnt, ad-VUR-tis-muhnt, -tiz-] (n.) – a paid public announcement

Example: I saw my favorite actor’s clothing advertisement yesterday.

4. expand [ik-SPAND] (v.) – to increase or spread the scope

Example: The company expanded its services to all parts of Asia.

5. feature [FEE-cher] (v.) – to include or to be composed of something

Example: The roller coaster features a 5400-feet track that goes around the whole theme park.

【Article】

　ニュース記事

Read the text below.

Universal Studios plans to build its third Hollywood movie-themed park in Asia. In partnership with Beijing Tourism Group, Universal Studios is set to establish another theme park in Beijing. This new Hollywood movie-inspired theme park will be located in the south of Tongzou [TAWNG-JOH] District, covering over 51 acres of land. The facility will be made available to public by 2018. This project is backed by the country’s National Development and Reform Commission, which has filed an application to start the project. According to reports, demolition of buildings has already started in Tongzou in preparation for the theme park’s construction by the last quarter of the year. Universal Studios will be the one responsible for the branding, intellectual property, technology, and management of the theme park. According to reports, the company also posted advertisements to hire Mandarin-speaking Chinese staff. The Beijing Tourism Group, on the other hand, will provide the land to establish the theme park. This local tourism group will also invest an unspecified amount to start the project. According to the news, Beijing’s local government would like to create a monorail that will connect the theme park to China’s capital city. Aside from Universal Studios, Disney also plans to expand in China. The Walt Disney Company will be opening a $4.4-billion resort in Shanghai. News reports say the resort will feature a theme park, two hotels, and transportation hubs. This will be the first Disney Resort in mainland China and second only to Hong Kong Disneyland.

【Viewpoint Discussion】

　ディスカッションテーマ

Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.  

Discussion A

         Would you go to Universal Studios Beijing? Why or why not?

         What do you think would be the impact of this new theme park to China?

Discussion B

         Why do you think many companies expand their businesses abroad?

         What are the positive effects of globalization?

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