Scientists say they have had a "conversation" with a whale. The scientists from the University of California, the Alaska Whale Foundation, and SETI (Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence) teamed up and spoke to a humpback whale (34) _____ is named Twain. Their conversation (35) _____ place after the scientists sent a "contact call" into the ocean off the coast of Alaska. Twain heard the call and responded. She swam to the research boat and chatted. SETI said it was the first ever communication between humans and humpback whales.
The scientists say their conversation with Twain was not a deep one. (36) _____ Professor Brenda McCowan said it was more like a series of greetings. Whales use contact calls to let (37)_____ whales know where they are. The scientists made the same call 36 times over a 20-minute period. Each time, Twain responded by calling back. She even matched the (38) _____ between each call the researchers made. Professor McCowan told the Business Insider website that her research could make it easier to talk to aliens. She said: "There are diverse intelligences on this planet. By studying them, we can better understand what an alien intelligence might be like because they are not going to be exactly like ours."

I volunteer for a netball organization - netball is a bit like basketball but usually played by women. I've never actually done it - it was offered as a sport at school, but I chose football, instead. I thought it would be interesting to know what netball is.
I do various jobs when I'm volunteering. Matches usually occur on Saturdays, so I arrive early to help check that the court is free of stones or rubbish. Then I prepare drinks and snacks for the players before collecting tickets when spectators start to arrive. There's nothing particularly hard to do, though sometimes I wouldn't mind having a bit more of a challenge-maybe to help sort out the matches themselves, like which teams are playing and when. I think I'd be good at that, but I'm not complaining. I enjoy everything I do!
The matches are great fun and I love watching people who are so good at what they do. I always go home feeling amazed. It doesn't matter to me which teams wins, which might sound like a strange thing to say, but the best team always wins on the day and you can't argue with that, even if the players feel blue about losing. Spectators do look upset sometimes when their team doesn't win, but you can understand that. You'd expect the players to behave well, but sometimes they show that they're annoyed, and that's a pity, because they're all nice people, really.
I'd encourage other people to be a volunteer. It's probably more interesting if you like the sport involved, but it doesn't matter because you'll learn a lot about yourself and other people, and make great friends. It's just nice to spend time with people from your town, outside school or college.

Remote work was rare a decade ago because the technology wasn't advanced enough. If your colleagues and business partners wanted to get in touch with you when you were out of the office, they couldn't email, text or direct message you. At that time, most employers would have balked at the idea of employees regularly working from home. One major concern most employers had for working remotely was a loss of productivity. But the pandemic showed that employees could work on their own. Prodoscore, for example, reported that remote workers' productivity increased 47 percent during the lockdown in March and April 2020, finding out that communication activities such as emailing, telephoning and chat messaging all climbed.
Other recent studies indicate that remote work options increase job satisfaction. In 2022, McKinsey surveyed 25,000 workers across a range of industries about their remote work experience. According to the study, seeking out flexible work environments is the third reason why people search for new jobs (better pay/hours and career opportunities are the others). Remote work is such a large priority for workers that 87 percent of the respondents said that when offered the chance to work remotely, they would take it.
“Ten years ago, remote employment basically meant a telemarketing or customer service position at below minimum wage,” said Samantha Lambert, director of human resources at Centific. “It was rarely connected with a full-time career. Now, technology affords us the ability to get the same job done, no matter where in the world we are.”
“The modern workforce is increasingly mobile, collaborative and dynamic, and comprises multi generations, all with different communication preferences,” said Stacey Epstein, chief marketing officer at Freshworks. “These workers span multiple industries. All of them represent unique challenges when it comes to staying connected while on the job.”
However, many companies continue to resist this work trend for various reasons. Some business owners may fear a lack of productivity in their employees, while others haven't invested in teleconferencing and telework tech to support remote workers. Still, some businesses are making the necessary investments to support remote work.