Read the text below to answer the question.

Parker Solar Probe: How Nasa is trying to 'touch' the Sun

   Nasa is all set to launch one of the most ambitious missions in its history. It's sending a satellite called the Parker Solar Probe into the Sun's outer atmosphere, or corona. Scheduled for launch on Saturday, the spacecraft promises to crack some longstanding mysteries about our star's behaviour.

(Adapted from: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-environment-45113552).

Read the text below to answer the question.

How octopuses ‘taste’ things by touching

   Octopus arms have minds of their own. Each of these eight supple yet powerful limbs can explore the seafloor in search of prey, snatching crabs from hiding spots without direction from the octopus’ brain. But how each arm can tell what it’s grasping has remained a mystery.

   Now, researchers have identified specialized cells not seen in other animals that allow octopuses to “taste” with their arms. Embedded in the suckers, these cells enable the arms to do double duty of touch and taste by detecting chemicals produced by many aquatic creatures. This may help an arm quickly distinguish food from rocks or poisonous prey, Harvard University molecular biologist Nicholas Bellono and his colleagues report online October 29 in Cell.

   The findings provide another clue about the unique evolutionary path octopuses have taken toward intelligence. Instead of being concentrated in the brain, two-thirds of the nerve cells in an octopus are distributed among the arms, allowing the flexible appendages to operate semiindependently.

(Adapted from: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/octopus-taste-touch-arm-suckers). 

                                           Dr. Dweck’s research into growth mindset

                                                         changed education forever

Over 30 years ago, Carol Dweck and her colleagues became interested in students' attitudes about failure. They noticed that some students rebounded while other students seemed devastated by even the smallest setbacks. After studying the behavior of thousands of children, Dr. Dweck coined the terms fixed mindset and growth mindset to describe the underlying beliefs people have about learning and intelligence. When students believe they can get smarter, they understand that effort makes them stronger. Therefore they put in extra time and effort, and that leads to higher achievement.

Recent advances in neuroscience have shown us that the brain is far more malleable than we ever knew. Research on brain plasticity has shown how connectivity between neurons can change with experience. With practice, neural networks grow new connections, strengthen existing ones, and build insulation that speeds transmission of impulses. These neuroscientific discoveries have shown us that we can increase our neural growth by the actions we take, such as using good strategies, asking questions, practicing, and following good nutrition and sleep habits. […]

So the researchers asked, “Can we change mindsets? And if so, how?” This began a series of interventions and studies that prove we can indeed change a person’s mindset from fixed to growth, and when we do, it leads to increased motivation and achievement. For example, 7th graders who were taught that intelligence is malleable and shown how the brain grows with effort showed a clear increase in math grades.

In addition to teaching kids about malleable intelligence, researchers started noticing that teacher practice has a big impact on student mindset, and the feedback that teachers give their students can either encourage a child to choose a challenge and increase achievement or look for an easy way out. For example, studies on different kinds of praise have shown that telling children they are smart encourages a fixed mindset, whereas praising hard work and effort cultivates a growth mindset. When students have a growth mindset, they take on challenges and learn from them, therefore increasing their abilities and achievement. […].

Source: https://www.mindsetworks.com/science/.Access:02/12/2019)

Australia fires: What's being done to fight the flames?

Large parts of Australia __________ (devastate) by the worst wildfires the country __________ (see) in decades, with huge blazes tearing through bush, woodland and national parks. Record-breaking temperatures and months of drought __________ (help) the fires burn an estimated 10 million hectares (100,000 sq km) of land since 1 July.

Bushfire conditions EASED over the weekend, giving fire crews a period of temporary respite. But authorities __________ (say) the huge fires will persist until there is substantial rainfall. More hot weather is __________ (expect) next week and the risk was far from over, they said. Thousands of firefighters are still battling blazes across large swathes of Australia - ranging in size from small fires to infernos burning across hectares of land. Entire towns have been engulfed and residents across several states have lost their homes. At least 28 people have died.

State and federal authorities have been working together to try to stem the spread. While they have managed to contain some within a matter of days, the biggest blazes have been burning for months.

At least 3,700 firefighters are on the ground at any one time across the country during the worst periods, according to the country's state fire services. Most are in the worst-hit states of New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria. When fires have been at their worst, about 2,700 firefighters have been battling the blazes at any one time in NSW alone. Ben Shepherd, of the NSW Rural Fire Service, said his colleagues had dealt with 4.2m hectares of burning land this season, compared with the typical 300,000 hectares. "It's been an incredibly long campaign," he said.

Fire crews across the country have been joined by 3,000 army, navy and air force reservists who are assisting with search and rescue and clean-up efforts. Further support coming from the US, Canada, and New Zealand, who have sent additional teams and equipment to help.

                                         (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-51008051 )

Read the text and answer the questions.

What if there was a way to take the things you need without paying for them, and doing it in a way that supports your moral beliefs?

Welcome to the freegan movement.

Basically, the modus operandi is to buck the conventional economy and engage in minimal consumption of resources. This is done by living off of consumer waste – cast-off clothes, restaurant and supermarket trash, street finds – as the New York Times describes them, freegans are “scavengers of the developed world.”

The movement, which has been gaining strength since the mid-1990s, grew out of the antiglobalization and environmental movements. It is a way to boycott, an “economic system where the profit motive has eclipsed ethical considerations and where massively complex systems of productions ensure that all the products we buy will have detrimental impacts most of which we may never even consider,” according to freegan.info, the online hub for all things freegan.

The word freegan is a mashup of the words “free” and “vegan.” Taking the ethos of veganism a step further, freegans go beyond advocating for animals and stand against the industrial economy in general, seeing at its core the abuse of humans, animals and the environment.

Of all the strategies practiced by freegans, the movement probably garners the most attention for the act of dumpster diving; rummaging through garbage in pursuit of usable items. Few places are off-limits – retailers, offices, restaurants, schools, supermarkets, and any other facility that throws out useful items is game.

Freegans, however, aren’t solely dependent on urban scavenging. There is a growing network of places where people can give away, take, share and trade items, like Freecycle and the free section of Craigslist. In addition, there are events like, "Really, Really, Free Markets" and “Freemeets.” In these meet-ups, rather than tossing perfectly good stuff into the waste stream, people can bring the thing they no longer want and share it instead.

Perhaps the best things in life are free, after all.

(Adapted text from: https://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/responsibleliving/stories/what-is-the-freegan-movement)

(Text 2) NASA are to dough where no man has gone before - by baking chocolate chip cookies in space.

A cargo ship bound for the International Space Station (ISS) took off from the US on Saturday with a special space oven and ingredients on board.

NASA are to dough where no man has gone before - by sending astronauts an oven so they can bake chocolate chip cookies in space

Astronauts on the ISS now hope to test the impact heat and zero gravity have on the shape and consistency of cookies.

The experiment is being dubbed the first instance of baking in space.

The dough was provided by Hilton's Double Tree hotel

chain.

And they reckon the "landmark microgravity experiment" could make long-duration space travel "more hospitable".

The Cygnus capsule was also loaded with other unusual equipment, including sports car parts and a vest to protect against radiation.

ISS astronauts will test the safety vest to gauge its comfort, while Italian carmaker Lamborghini has sent up samples of carbon fibre used in its sports cars to examine the effects of direct space exposure.

They are said to be precursors for trips to the Moon and Mars.

The capsule also contains the equipment needed to complete a series of spacewalks this month to fix a key particle physics detector, as well as a range of research equipment and crew supplies.

The shipment, weighing about 8,200lb (3,700kg), is expected to reach the ISS on Monday.

As questões de 31 a 35 foram formuladas e serão respondidas em português. As demais questões foram formuladas e serão respondidas em inglês.