A new high tech mirror，designed specifically for cancer patients，will only become reflective when a user smiles into it.The plug-in device，which exactly looks like a tablet，comes equipped with a mirror，a built-in camera，and a smart material triggered(触发)by some software.Facial recognition technology captures the face and instructs the surface of the mirror to change when a smile is detected.It can hang on a wall or sit on a table，much like a conventional mirror.Unlike a regular mirror，however，the price is currently standing at a surprising $2000—$3000.

After witnessing a close family member struggle through cancer treatments，Turkish industrial designer Berk Ilhan decided to focus his work primarily on products that would cultivate joy and benefit cancer patients directly.

“She told me in the first days after her diagnosis，it was difficult for her to look in the mirror and acknowledge she had cancer.”he said.“Our facial expressions affect how we feel.If we flex(绷紧)our facial muscles to smile，our brains think that something good happened and as a result，we feel happiness.”

After earning his master’s degree at the School of Visual Arts in New York，Ilhan spent several weeks visiting cancer hospitals in Turkey，speaking to both patients and doctors.He spent two years designing and developing the mirror.The idea behind it is that smiling，even when forced，can make us feel better，according to research known as the facial feedback hypothesis.Laughter is linked to improved immune system function，and some researchers claim it can even increase our lifespans.

Ilhan is currently producing the mirror in limited quantities at the previously mentioned price.The product，however，will soon be launching a campaign in which Ilhan hopes to raise enough funds to bring the price down to $500.He also intends to donate the mirror to hospitals when it is financially possible to do so.

As cultural symbols go, the American car is quite young. The Model T Ford was built at the Piquette Plant in Michigan a century ago, with the first rolling off the assembly line（装配线） on September 27, 1908. Only eleven cars were produced the next month. But eventually Henry Ford would build fifteen million of them.

Modern America was born on the road, behind a wheel. The car shaped some of the most lasting aspects of American culture: the roadside diner, the billboard, the motel, even the hamburger. For most of the last century, the car represented what it meant to be American—going forward at high speed to find new worlds. The road novel, the road movie, these are the most typical American ideas, born of abundant petrol, cheap cars and a never-ending interstate highway system, the largest public works project in history.

In 1928 Herbert Hoover imagined an America with “a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage.” Since then, this society has moved onward, never looking back, as the car transformed America from a farm-based society into an industrial

The cars that drove the American Dream have helped to create a global ecological disaster. In America the demand for oil has grown by 22 percent since 1990.

The problems of excessive（过度的）energy consumption, climate change and population growth have been described in a book by the American writer Thomas L. Friedman. He fears the worst, but hopes for the best.

Friedman points out that the green economy（经济）is a chance to keep American strength. “The ability to design, build and export green technologies for producing clean water, clean air and healthy and abundant food is going to be the currency of power in the new century.”

Scientists have designed a tiny, shape-shifting “spider-robot” that can passively use its body as it navigates its environment. The robot is a pioneer that could one day perform surgery or hunt for survivors in a disaster zone, its inventors say.

The robot, mCLARI, is 0.8 inch long, weighs less than 0.03 ounces and can scurry at a maximum speed of 2.4 inches per second, according to the research. The tiny robot is the smaller, faster successor to CLARI, which was designed by the same team. It also passively changes its shape in multiple dimensions to fit through gaps.

“In the long term, we believe such robots to be effective at navigating through human bodies and performing automated surgery such as clearing blocks in blood or removing a tumor (肿瘤). Because of the robot’s small size and the ability to shape change, we foresee applications of this technology in the following four major domains of socioeconomic importance.” Study lead author Kaushik Jayaram, a mechanical engineering professor at the University of Colorado, told Live Science in an email. These include disaster response, high-value possession inspection, environmental monitoring and precision medicine.

With mCLARI, Jayaram’s team is inching closer to creating robots that can navigate complex environments — just like the organic creatures they’re inspired by. mCLARI robot has four leg modules that can move in two different dimensions. The robot can move in tight spaces by switching between running forward and side-to-side and can adopt multiple poses and rushing speeds. Its legs fasten to its body through passive joints, which enables mCLARI to alter its body shape based on the environment it encounters. For instance, its legs can stretch up to 50% in certain spaces.

As follow-up work, the scientists want to give mCLARI more power and sensing ability. “We are also excited about understanding the effect of shape change on enhancing motion ability,” Jayaram said.