Transport company Uber has announced a new service that could make it cheaper for people in the US to travel to and from the airport and other popular places.

It's called Uber Shuttle — and it's really just a bus service offered by the company.

"Whether you're a traveler, sports fan, or concertgoer, get ready because Uber Shuttle is arriving soon," said Uber's Anthony le Roux when the news was announced in the middle of May.

Uber users will be able to book up to five seats on a shuttle service to big events and airports from a central place.

It might be useful if you're at a big, out-of-town concert and there aren't enough regular Ubers or taxis, for example.

Uber's shuttles will have between 14 and 55 seats, and people will be able to book up to a week before they travel.

The company says the cost of the shuttle will be "a fraction" of the price of a regular Uber.

In one example Uber gave during the announcement, the price of the shuttle was about one-third of the price of a regular Uber.

The shuttle, which has previously been tested in India, will be available in some US cities this summer to help people travel to and from events.

As for airports, Uber has not yet said which ones the shuttle will be available at.

When it is available, users will see the shuttle as an option in their apps, and they'll be able to rate and tip shuttle drivers just like regular Uber car drivers.

Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

Uber Announces Shuttle Bus Service

If robots do take over the world, this one probably won't be the leader.

Less than 5.8 centimeters tall — a little shorter than a lighter — it has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's smallest humanoid robot.

Humanoid robots look and act like humans. For the Guinness record, they must be able to move their shoulders, elbows, knees and hips, and also be able to walk.

Made by a Japanese student named Mitsuya Tatsuhiko, this one is less than half the size of the previous holder of the world record, which was made by students from Hong Kong.

Tatsuhiko is a postgraduate student at Nagoya Institute of Technology, where he researches crawler robots. Crawler robots don't look like humans, however, and they're used to inspect places that are hard to get to.

Tatsuhiko has been interested in robots since he was a child.

According to Guinness World Records, he built his first humanoid robot when he was 10.

He didn't spend as much time making them during high school, but he has returned to his passion as he has gotten older.

It took him a few tries to get his record-breaking robot right, and he worked hard to make it as small as he could.

He applied for the record with his third attempt while he was in the fourth year of his degree. He said he was very happy to have broken the record.

Tatsuhiko hopes to work with robots when he finishes university, but he'll also keep making them at home as a hobby.

Japanese Student Makes Smallest Humanoid Robot

People have been building boats for at least 10,000 years, making them one of the oldest types of transportation. They're a big part of history, which is why there are many expressions about boats.

If you have the same problems or are in the same situation as someone else, you can say you are "in the same boat." This expression comes from the fact that people on the same boat are all affected if the boat gets into trouble while at sea.

For example, if your friend told you they had lost their job, and you had also lost your job, you could say "Looks like we're in the same boat — I lost my job too!"

If a person is doing something too much or in an extreme way, you can say they are "going overboard" with it. This expression comes from the 1600s when boats were mostly made of wooden boards, and going overboard meant falling into the water.

So if your friend kept calling the same company to ask for a job, you could say, "Don't go overboard! If you keep calling them they won't hire you."

If someone misses out on something, especially because they were late or too slow, you can say they have "missed the boat." This expression refers to being late to board a boat that departed at a specific time.

So your friend might say, "I just want to make sure I'm the first person they call when they're hiring. I don't want to miss the boat!"

'Go Overboard' with These Boating Expressions

On the Italian island of Budelli, visitors like to look at a place called Spiaggia Rosa, a beautiful beach where the sand is pink.

But those visitors can only look — they can't touch the sand.

That's because the authorities want to preserve the beach. In the past, people have been seen taking the sand home with them.

Anyone who breaks the rules will be punished, as a Brazilian influencer has found out.

The travel influencer, who has more than 35,000 Instagram followers, took videos of herself walking on the beach and posted them online.

Italian websites said the woman had taken a boat to the beach so she could walk on the sand.

Tourists can visit the island and walk on a path behind the beach, but no one has been allowed on the sand or in the water around it since the 1990s.

Italians weren't happy when the influencer's videos were seen online.

While she had already left the island, the authorities were able to find her in Dubai, where she lives, and they fined her almost $2,000.

About $300 of the fine was for walking on the beach, and the rest was for using a boat that wasn't allowed to travel to the island.

Authorities say there are signs telling people they cannot enter the area.

No one lives on the island, which is just north of the large island of Sardinia.

However, a man whose boat broke down nearby lived on the island for more than 30 years until he was told to leave in 2021.