A new study focused on birds examines how the movements of rivers in the Amazon have contributed to that area’s exceptional biological diversity. The research team, led by the American Museum of Natural History, found that as small river systems change over time, they spur the evolution of new species. The findings also reveal previously unknown bird species in the Amazon that are only found in small areas next to these dynamic river systems, putting them at high risk of extinction.

The lowland rainforests of the Amazon River basin harbor(藏匿) more diversity than any other ecosystem on the planet. It is also a globally important biome(生物群落)containing about 18 percent of all trees on Earth and carrying more fresh water than the next seven largest river basins combined. Researchers have long wondered and hotly debated how the Amazon’s rich biodiversity arose and accumulated.

“Early evolutionary biologists like Alfred Russel Wallace noticed that many species of primates and birds differ across opposite riverbanks in the Amazon,” said the study’s lead author Lukas Musher.“ Moreover, accumulating geological evidence has suggested that these rivers are highly dynamic, moving around the South American landscape over relatively short time periods, on the order of thousands or tens of thousands of years.”

To investigate how the movement of rivers across the landscape has influenced the accumulation of bird species in the Amazon, the researchers sequenced the genomes(基因组)of six species of Amazonian birds.

Because these rivers move around the landscape at different time scales, their movements can have varying outcomes for bird species: when river rearrangements occur quickly, populations of birds on each side can combine before they’ve had time to differ; when river changes happen slowly, species have a longer time to diverge from one another.

A group of researchers have developed a new material which is soft but very strong. It can be worn and washed like ordinary clothing and could finally turn sports clothes into smart “wearables”.

The so-called “carbon nanotube threads” (碳纳米管线) can be used to measure heart rate to test heart conditions. But instead of having to be stuck on the skin, they can be fixed on a T-shirt and worn like usual athletic wear. The researchers say the threads can comfortably move with the wearer, and be washed and worn repeatedly without breaking down.

Though going into production for customers is still a long way off, the material could finally help replace some medical facilities, such as the heart-rate monitoring machines and watches, in addition to other possible uses. For the latest study, researchers worked with a rope-maker to make the threads together into a material similar to ordinary thread that could be sewn (缝纫) into athletic clothes. The resulting “smart” shirt provides “soft, wearable, dry sensors for continuous” heart-rate monitoring, the study states. With some improvement, the clothes with these carbon nanotube threads could be able to track other human body life signs, according to the researchers.

The “smart” shirts aren’t entirely without wires (电线), however. One example shows the nanotube in the shirt feeding testing results to wires on the bottom that transmit the information through Bluetooth technology to a computer.

“The threadlike material — thin enough to run through a sewing machine — is not only soft and comfortable to the touch, but also so strong that you can build a powerline out of it,” said Dewy, a member of the research team. “Nothing else behaves like this promising material.”

Many people think that communication is the source of most of their work-related conflicts but they'd be wrong. In a work context, more conflicts come from structural relationships and personal differences than communication itself.

Organizations create job descriptions, specialized work groups, and authority relationships, all with the intent to improve coordination (协调). But in doing so, they separate people and create the potential for conflicts. For instance, departments within organizations have diverse goals. Purchasing is concerned with the timely acquisition of materials and supplies at low prices; quality control's attention is focused on improving quality and ensuring that the organization's products meet standard…When groups within an organization seek diverse ends, there is increased potential for conflicts.

Have you ever met people to whom you took an immediate disliking? Most of the opinions they expressed, you disagreed with. Even insignificant characteristics-the way they cocked their head when they talked or smirked when they smiled-annoyed you. We've all met people like that, and many of us have to work with people like this.

Today's organizations are increasingly diverse in terms of age, gender and race. So, not surprisingly, employees differ on the importance they place on general values such as responsibility, equality and ambition. They also differ on job-related values such as the importance of family over work or freedom against authority. These differences often surface in work-related interactions and create significant interpersonal conflicts.

The above doesn't mean that communication can't be a source of conflicts. It can. Differing word connotations, insufficient exchange of information, poor listening skills, and the like, create conflicts. But the belief that “we can deal with our differences if we just communicate more” is not necessarily true. The evidence actually shows that the potential for conflicts increases when there is too much communication as well as when there's too little.

So when you're trying to manage conflicts, take a thoughtful look at their source. It's more likely that the conflict is coming from work-related requirements, personality differences, or dissimilar values, it is from poor communication. And that might influence the actions you take to resolve the conflict.

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