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Science has a lot of uses. It can uncover laws of nature, cure diseases, make bombs, and help bridges to stand up. Indeed science is so good at what it does that there's always a temptation(诱惑) to drag it into problems where it may not be helpful. David Brooks, author of The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character,and Achievement, appears to be the latest in a long line of writers who have failed to resist the temptation.

        Brooks gained fame for several books. His latest book The Social Animal, however, is more ambitious and serious than his earlier books. It is an attempt to deal with a set of weighty topics. The book focuses on big questions: What has science revealed about human nature? What are the sources of character? And why are some people happy and successful while others aren't?

        To answer these questions, Brooks surveys a wide range of disciplines（学科）. Considering this, you might expect the book to be a dry recitation of facts. But Brooks has structured his book in an unorthodox(非常规的), and perhaps unfortunate, way. Instead of introducing scientific theories, he tells a story, within which he tries to make his points, perhaps in order to keep the reader's attention.So as Harold and Erica, the hero and heroine in his story, live through childhood, we hear about the science of child development and as they begin to date we hear about the theory of sexual attraction. Brooks carries this through to the death of one of his characters.

On the whole, Brooks's story is acceptable if uninspired. As one would expect, his writing is mostly clear and, to be fair, some chapters stand out above the rest. I enjoyed, for instance, the chapter in which Harold discovers how to think on his own. While Harold and Erica are certainly not strong or memorable characters, the more serious problems with The Social Animal lie elsewhere. These problems partly involve Brooks's attempt to translate his tale into science.

    Last year my summer holiday was spoiled by my bringing along a modern convenience that was too convenient for my own good: the iPad. Instead of looking at nature, I checked my e-mail. Instead of paddling a small boat, I followed my Twitter feed（推特简讯）. Instead of reading great novels, I stuck to reading four newspapers each morning. I was behaving as if I were still in the office. My body was on vacation, but my head wasn't.

    So this year I made up my mind to try something different: withdrawal from the Internet. I knew it wouldn't be easy, since I'm bad at self-control. But I was determined. I started by giving the iPad to my wife.

    The cellphone signal at our house was worse than in the past, making my at tempts at cheating an experience in frustration （沮丧）. I was trapped, forced to go through with my plan. Largely breaking away from e-mail, Twitter and my favorite newspaper websites, I had few ways to connect to the world except for the radio—and how much radio can one listen to, really? I had to do what Ihad planned to do all along: read books.

    This experience has had a happy ending. With determination and the strong support of my wife, I won in my vacation struggle against the Internet, realizing finally that it was I, not the iPad, that was the problem. I knew I had won when we passed a Star bucks and my wife asked if I wanted to stop to use the Wi-Fi.“I don't need it,” I said．

    However, as we return to post-vacation life, a harder test begins: Can I continue when I'mback at work?

    There are times when the need to know what's being said right now is great. I have no intention of giving up my convenience completely. But I hope to resist the temptation to check my e-mail every five minutes, which leads to checking my Twitter feed and a website or two.

    I think a vacation is supposed to help you rest your brain to become more productive. Here I hope this one worked.

A mother's love

    I'm a New York City firefighter. Every day, I see terror— sometimes even death. But the day I found Scarlett was different. That day I saw life. And love.

    We were responding to a call about a burning garage. Outside, I heard the sound of cats crying. I couldn't stop — I would have to look for the cats after the fire was put out.

    It took a long time to finally bring the big fire under control, but we did it. No one inside was hurt.

    At that point I was free to investigate the cat noises. There was still a lot of smoke and heat coming from the building. I followed the meowing(猫叫) to a spot on the sidewalk near the front of the garage. There, crying and huddled(挤作一团) together, were five terrified kittens. They must have been inside the building, as their fur was badly singed(烫烧).

    I left the five kittens in a box on a neighbor's porch(门廊).

    I wanted to find the mother. It was obvious that she had gone into the burning garage and carried out all of her babies, one by one —unbelievable.

    We finally found her. She was badly burnt: her eyes were blistered (起水泡), her paws(爪子) were blackened, and her fur was singed all over. You could even see her reddened skin beneath the burned fur. She could barely move. I picked her up, and she relaxed in my arms as much as her pain would allow. Sensing her trust, I shed a tear. I was determined to save this brave little cat and her family.

    The vet told me they would observe the kittens and their mother overnight, but they weren't optimistic about the mother's changes.

    About a week later, I found out she was going to live. One of the technicians suggested we name her Scarlett, because of her reddened skin.

    Knowing what Scarlett endured(忍受) for her kittens, it melted my heart to see her reunited with them. She touched each of them again, nose to nose, to make sure they were all safe. She had risked her life five separate times — and it had paid off. All of her babies had survived.

    As a firefighter, I see heroism(英雄事迹) every day. But what Scarlett showed me that day was the kind of bravery that can only come from a mother's love.

Uncivilized behavior by passengers unacceptable

    For the first time, airline passengers have been blacklisted for uncivilized behavior. Their names will remain on the blacklist for one or two years, according to an announcement by the China Air Transport Association on Saturday. The blacklisting means they will not be able to travel by air until their names are removed from the list.

    Blacklisting passengers who disobey the rules for traveling by air and so place their own interests before everything else, including safety, has long been overdue (迟到的，延迟的).

    There have been frequent reports of passengers making a scene when their flight was delayed or when they believed that they were not treated as they should be on a flight.

    Yet it is natural for some flights to be delayed because of reasons such as bad weather or mechanical problems that need to be solved. However, some passengers seem to take it for granted that their flight must take off at the time stated on their ticket, and they even assume that the members of the cabin crew are simply there to do their bidding(吩咐).

    They forget that they should behave themselves in the first place and that respect is reciprocal (互相给与的).There is no reason for them to be respected when they do not show enough respect for others.

    Observing rules can never be over-emphasized when it comes to flight safety. No one has the right to disregard the rules for any reason. Of course, airlines should provide quality services to meet the needs of passengers. Yet, even if passengers are not satisfied with the service provided, there is still no reason for them to flout the rules that are designed for the safety of all.

    The blacklisting of these three passengers should serve for others to know they have to toe the line (顺从集体).

    It used to be a matter of fact when Peter Pan-a character from James Matthew Harrie's 1911 book-said: “All children, except one, grow up.”

    But this “fact” doesn't seem to apply to today's world anymore.

    According to the NPD Group, a US market research company, sales of toys to adults in the UK increased by more than 20 percent in 2016, three times the pace of the children's toy market itself. These toys varied from puzzles and Lego building sets to vehicle models and action figures. And more than half of the sales came from millennials-people born between the 1980s and 2000s.

    “Adults of the 21st century are channeling their inner child, one toy at a time,” commented website Koreaboo. This is also why these adults are sometimes looked to as “kidults”.

    According to Frederique Tutt, an analyst at NPD, the motivation of these grown-ups is to escape the stress of today's fast-paced world. They are driven toward the more immediate pleasures brought by toys than those brought by, say, getting a promotion, which is far less easy to achieve.

    “It reminds me of the playful side of life,” Rob Willner, a 25-year-old PhD student in the UK, told The Telegraph when talking about his love for Lego, which he said brings him both comfort and pleasure.

    Despite this, some social scientists see the trend as disturbing. To Frank Furendi, a professor at the University of Kent in the UK, the fact that so many adults are seeking “the excitement of youth” is the evidence that “adulthood has got nothing attractive about it anymore”, he told The New York Times. “That's actually quite sad.”

    But scientists are probably just worrying too much. According to Canadian comic book artist Todd McFarlane, collecting toys could simply be a way for people to express their individuality. “It's just pop culture stuff. It's stuff that says, ‘I like a little of this and I like a little of that',” he told ABC News. “It's no big deal.”

    So now that over 100 years have passed since Peter Pan, perhaps it's time to introduce a new “fact”, as stated in the tagline(标语) of the UK fashion brand KIDULT: “Growing old is mandatory (被迫的), but growing up is optional.”

With the clicking of walking sticks and determined steps, a long line of walking group along the winding road is a fantastic sight. Almost each of the walkers is using some kind of fitness tracker. A few Fitbits, some Xiaomi wrist bands (手环), a couple of phone apps and some other pedometers (计步器) — and all, they say, are counting their steps.

    Fitness trackers are in. Sales figures for 2016 released by Internet Data Center (IDC) indicated 25% market growth compared to the previous year, with Fitbit taking the lion's share, followed by the brand Xiaomi.

    However, the wearables market has had a rollercoaster ride in recent months. Jawbone, once a popular fitness tracker brand, announced that it is leaving the consumer market. Microsoft has removed its Fitness Band on its online store although it is still available on retail (零售) giant Amazon. Fitbit remains a key brand name at the heart of the fitness tracker revolution. But it is recently reported to be cutting down on workers, and its founder James Park said it experienced “softer than expected” sales recently.

    Counting steps is probably the most common use of wearable devices (可穿戴设备), but recently experts have questioned whether the golden goal of walking 10,000 steps a day is actually worthwhile, and a US study concluded that health trackers did not aid weight loss.

Analyst Ben Wood from CCS Insight used to wear a fitness tracker on either wrist. Now, however, his concern is about users'experience — these devices don't tell you anything new after a while. There are also battery problems and many of the older and cheaper varieties aren't waterproof (防水的).

    Easter (复活节) is still a great day for worship (崇拜), randy in baskets and running around the yard finding eggs, but every year it gets quite a bit worse for bunnies (兔子).

    And no, not because the kids like to pull their ears. The culprit is climate change, and some researchers found that rising temperatures arc having harmful effects on at least five species of rabbit in the US.

    Take the Lower Keys March rabbit, for instance. An endangered species that lives in the Lower Florida Keys, this species of cottontail is a great swimmer—it lives on the islands!—but it is already severely affected by development and now by rising levels. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, an ocean level rise of only 0.6 meters will send these guys jumping to higher ground and a 0.9-meter rise would wipe out their habitat (栖息地) completely.

    The snowshoe hare, on the other hand, has a color issue. Most of these rabbits change their fur color from white in the wintertime to brown in the summer, each designed to give them better cover from  predators (捕食者). As the number of days with snow decreases all across the country, however, more and more bunnies arc being left in white fur during brown dirt days of both fall and spring, making them an easier mark for predators. Researchers know that the color change is controlled by the number of hours of sunlight, but whether the rabbit will be able to adapt quick enough to survive is a big question. The National Wildlife Federation has reported that hunters have noticed their numbers are already markedly down.

    American pikas or rock rabbits, a relative of rabbits and hares, might be the firs' of these species to go extinct due to climate change. About 7-8 inches long, pikas live high in the cool, damp mountains west of the Rocky Mountains. As global temperatures rise, they would naturally migrate (迁徙) to higher ground - but they already occupy (占据) the mountaintops. They can't go any higher. The National Wildlife Federation reports that they might not be able to stand the new temperatures as their habitat beats up.

    The volcano rabbit has the same problem. These rabbits live on the slopes of volcanoes in Mexico, and recent studies have shown that the lower range of their habitat has already shifted upward about 700 meters, but there are not suitable plants for them to move higher, so they are stuck in the middle. Scientists are concerned about their populations.

    Native to the US, pygmy rabbits weigh less than 1 pound and live in the American West. They are believed to be the smallest rabbits in the world. Their habitats have been destroyed by development. Several populations, such as the Columbia Basin pygmy, almost went extinct and were saved by zoo breeding programs. Pygmy rabbits also rely on winter cover by digging tunnels through the snow to escape predators, but lesser snowfall is leaving them exposed.

    All of this gives new meaning to dressing up in a giant bunny costume (服装) this Easter.

    If doctors want to test you for something, they'll usually take a blood or urine sample. But wouldn't it be much more convenient if they just asked you to breathe through a special instrument?

    In fact, your breath can say a lot about you. In traditional Chinese medicine, doctors draw a conclusion about the health state of a patient based on the smell of his or her breath; trained dogs and rats can identify the smells of the breaths of people suffering from certain cancers; traffic police also monitor drivers' alcohol consumption by testing their breaths.

    Just like blood and urine, your breath contains lots of “metabolites” —the waste chemicals that the body produces, which vary from person to person. They are like personal health fingerprints, which is why scientists sometimes call them “breathprints”, according to Science Daily.

    Compared to blood or urine testing, breath testing takes only seconds instead of hours, and it requires neither a needle nor a container to hold the body fluids(液). This means the test can be taken frequently to better detect early signs of diseases and monitor the progress of a medical treatment.

    On the other hand, as an identifier, you might think that breaths are not as reliable as fingerprints since they might change based on what you eat. However, researchers in Zurich, Switzerland mapped 11 healthy volunteers' chemical patterns by having them breathe through a special instrument, and they found that each pattern was unique and the patterns didn't change much throughout the day, reported BBC.

    “Our goal is to develop breath analysis to the point where it becomes competitive with the established analysis of blood and urine,” said Malcolm Kohler, professor at the University Hospital Zurich.

    I first began experiencing anxiety and depression at the age of 14, after being bullied (欺凌) at school for years. While at first anxiety and depression would come and go, it eventually became a constant part of my life.

    I was so eager to find the solution to overcoming my anxiety and depression that I tried everything from when I was in college to graduate school: mood-changing medication, special teas, yoga, anything I read about in books, and advice given by doctors. Despite this, I still felt I hadn't even come close to managing the problem.

    But one afternoon, my eyes fell upon an article in a magazine I was reading that talked about how dogs were able to help people with anxiety and depression. The very next day, I decided to get a dog—a corgi. When I brought my little corgi, Buddy, home. I didn't realize how much he would change my life. It didn't happen right away, however.

    Once the “puppy excitement” went away, my anxiety and depression came back as usual. One morning, I woke up with those familiar feeling again. I didn't want to get out of bed. I turned to pull the covers back over my head and give up. That's when I saw Buddy.

    Buddy started jumping all over me, licking my face, letting me know that it was time to go outside. It was as if he were saying, “There's no time to be sad; the world is amazing!” And for the first time in my life, my life was changing. I really was a new person. This was my new beginning.

    It's been more than a year since that day, and I've never spent another morning unable to get out of bed. I've not cried myself to sleep or spent my days stuck with fear and regret. Sure, I still have days when I feel sad or anxious. But with Buddy, my best friend, by my side, I've finally learned how to manage these feelings and emotions.

    With smart technology increasingly influencing all aspects of our lives, it is only a matter of time before someone invents “smart” shoes—ones that can be made based on personal needs. Called “ShiftWear”, the sneakers are the brainchild of a team of businessmen, and engineers led by New York-based designer David Coel.

    The adaptable shoes can be customized by using a smart phone app. Shoe owners will have the option of selecting a design from a variety of HD pattern by famous artists or creating one themselves. The company's founders imagine a marketplace where artists can not only share but also sell their designs to others. Despite being electronic, the designs are clearly visible even in the brightest sunlight. What's even cooler is that by switching on a backlight, users can even show off their designs in the dark!

    According to Coel, the sneakers will keep their charge “forever” if only images are displayed. Though they will need periodic recharging, active users have nothing to worry about. That's because the shoes are equipped with special walk-n-charge technology that powers the shoes—with every step. Inactive users also have options of charging the sneakers without using wires.

    The bottom part of the shoes is covered with Kevler fibers, a kind of strong material, reducing normal wear and tear. Even better? They are completely waterproof (not let water through) and can even be thrown into an ordinary laundry machine for a quick wash! The company predicts that the shoes will range the price from $150 to $1000 depending on the size of the E-panels where the designs are displayed.

    This is not the first time that electronics and shoes have combined. Lithuania-based iShuh Technology has come up with a similar concept that connects e-reader panels to a smart phone app via the Bluetooth. Whether these smart shoes become as popular as our smart devices remains to be seen, though they surely are attractive.

    If you are ever in Connecticut, you need to be sure to take the family to Lake Compounce Theme Park. The park lies in Bristol, Connecticut. It has been opened since 1846 and is known as America's oldest park.

    In October, they open the park for an event called Haunted Graveyard which is open at night. The rates are $ 34.99 for regular tickets, $ 25.99 for kids and $17.99 for those over the age of 60. If you go before 5: 00 p. m., you only pay $17.99.Kids under the age of three are free and parking is $8.00.

    The rides at the theme park are so much fun. The ride liked by all is the Boomerang with the top speed of over 45 miles per hour. The drop on this ride is 125 feet. Another popular ride is the Pirate Ship. These two rides are great for thrill seekers because you actually feel as if you were falling out of your seat.

    The park also has plenty of water rides for those who love water fun, such as water guns and water slides. Lights Out is a fast water slide that is all in the dark. It goes around what looks like a lighthouse. Besides the rides, the park also has fun shows for the whole family. They have a great show and a cool circus. There are also some great places to eat at the park.

    You can stop at the entrance to get a map first. You won't be able to visit the whole park in a day so you should have your family choose what you want to and have fun!

    New study shows that when teachers participate in a training program focused on prosocial(亲社 会的)classroom behavior,their students are better able to control their emotions, and that children who can regulate emotions are more likely to be academically successful.

    For the study, which appears in Prevention Science , researchers looked at more than 100 teachers and 1,817 students from kindergarten to third grade to see if teachers could support students' emotional and behavioral growth through the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management (IYTCM) program.

    The program uses videos and training sessions, along with role-playing and coaching, to help teachers learn management skills such as using behavior-specific praise, building positive relationships with students, and considering how to reduce poor behavior. Teachers in the training group increased interactions with students by 64 percent compared with 53 percent for teachers in the control group without the training.

    "Emotional regulation is the ability to recognize what behavior is appropriate in the present situation, says Wendy Reinke, professor in the College of Education at the University of Missouri. "For example, a student might have dificulty controlling the feeling of anger if he or she becomes annoyed with another student But under this program, the teacher encourages them to move to a different spot in the classroom, effectively teaching them that sometimes stepping away and taking a break is a good way to calm down and manage that feeling."

    After one school year of using the program in classrooms, students improved their social ability and ability to regulate their emotions. These improvements resulted in an increase in the tests for students in Incredible Years classrooms vs. students in control classrooms. And this classroom management approach can help reduce the risk for struggling learners early on, which could help prevent more accumulative support needs in a child's future.

  One reaction to all the concern about tropical deforestation (森林砍伐) is a blank stare (迷惑的眼神) that asks the question, "Since I don't live there, what does it have to do with me?"

The answer is that your way of life, wherever you live in the world, is tied to the tropics (热带地区) in many ways. If you live in a house, wash your hair, eat fruits and vegetables, drink soda, or drive a car, you can be certain that you are affected by the loss of tropical forests.

Biologically, we are losing the richest regions on earth when, each minute, a piece of tropical forest, the size of ten city blocks, disappears. As many as five million species of plants, animals, and insects (40 to 50 percent of all living things) live there, and are being lost faster than they can be found and described. Their loss is immeasurable (不可估量的) .

Take rubber for example. For many uses, only natural rubber from trees will do. Synthetics are not good enough. Today over half the world's commercial rubber is produced in Malaysia and Indonesia, while the Amazon's rubber industry produces much of the world's four million tons. And rubber is an important material in making gloves, balloons, footwear (鞋类) and many sporting goods. Thousands of other tropical plants are valuable for their industrial use.

Many scientists strongly believe that deforestation contributes to the greenhouse effect ― or heat of the earth from increased carbon dioxide (二氧化碳) in the atmosphere. As we destroy forests, we lose their ability to change carbon dioxide into oxygen．

Carbon dioxide levels could double within the next half-century, warming the earth by as much as 4.5 degrees. The result? A partial melt-down of polar ice caps, raising sea levels as much as 24 feet; even 15 feet could threaten anyone living within 35miles of the coast. Unbelievable? Maybe. But scientists warn that by the time we realize the serious effects of tropical deforestation, it will be 20 years too late.

Can tropical deforestation affect our everyday lives? Now, you should have got the answer.

We may think we're a culture that gets rid of our worn technology at the first sight of something shiny and new, but a new study shows that we keep using our old devices (装置) well after they go out of style. That's bad news for the environment — and our wallets — as these outdated devices consume much more energy than the newer ones that do the same things.

To figure out how much power these devices are using, Callie Babbitt and her colleagues at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York tracked the environmental costs for each product throughout its life — from when its minerals are mined to when we stop using the device. This method provided a readout for how home energy use has evolved since the early 1990s. Devices were grouped by generation — Desktop computers, basic mobile phones, and box-set TVs defined 1992. Digital cameras arrived on the scene in 1997. And MP3 players, smart phones, and LCD TVs entered homes in 2002, before tablets and e-readers showed up in 2007.

As we accumulated more devices, however, we didn't throw out our old ones. "The living-room television is replaced and gets planted in the kids' room, and suddenly one day, you have a TV in every room of the house," said one researcher. The average number of electronic devices rose from four per household in 1992 to 13 in 2007. We're not just keeping these old devices — we continue to use them. According to the analysis of Babbitt's team, old desktop monitors and box TVs with cathode ray tubes are the worst devices with their energy consumption and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions (排放) more than doubling during the 1992 to 2007 window.

So what's the solution (解决方案)? The team's data only went up to 2007, but the researchers also explored what would happen if consumers replaced old products with new electronics that serve more than one function, such as a tablet for word processing and TV viewing. They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on tablets instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.

When Carnevali's son started at St Mary primary school in London, he was alarmed to find that pupils were sometimes kept indoors at break times, despite a large playground.

The reason was the nearby six-lane road, which has up to 100, 000 vehicles thundering past the school each day. As evidence mounted about the impact of gas waste on children's health, the headteacher restricted time outside. Carnevali and other parents decided to take action. Within months they had crowdfunded almost £100, 000, and last month a 126-metre "living wall" of 12, 000 plants was installed (安装) as part of a clean-air initiative at the school. They hope the wall will transform one of London's most polluted schools into one of its greenest.

St Mary's living wall is one of many being installed around the country by local authorities and private developers. Tennis fans may have noticed two enormous living walls placed on both sides of the giant outdoor screen at this year's Wimbledon championships.

"Demand is definitely growing. It's being mainly driven by local authorities, but also a greater awareness in the private sector of the need for sustainable architecture." According to Benz Kotzen of the Green Roofs and Living Walls Centre at the University of Greenwich, "We need every tool to try to improve things, and there just isn't enough capacity in urban environments to create green infrastructure at ground level."

Living walls range from simple wire structures to support climbing plants to complicated modular systems, using soil and solar-powered irrigation (灌溉). The cost ranges from £200 to £800 per square metre. Living walls will die if they're not maintained regularly, but the challenge is that it must be done at height.

Not everyone is a fan of the trend towards vertical 垂直的) gardens.

"They're not a solution, except for the wealthy," said Mick Crawley, professor of plant ecology at Imperial College London. "There are much cheaper and more effective ways of improving air quality. Local authorities struggling to pay for essential services will be better advised to plant trees."

In the fight against the novel coronavirus, scientific progress has proven to be an important factor in helping win the war against this deadly disease. Thanks to the efforts of scientists and researchers in China, major medical and technological breakthroughs have been made, bringing us closer to victory.

Since Chinese scientists discovered the genetic structure of the novel coronavirus, researchers both in China and around the world have been working tirelessly. Not only have they been working toward developing a vaccine (疫苗) to prevent the spread of the virus, but they are also searching for potential medications to treat and save people who are already infected.

One medical breakthrough involves using plasma (血浆). According to The New York Times, people who have recovered from the disease have certain proteins in their plasma. When the plasma is injected into a sick patient, the proteins in the recovered patient's plasma can help the ill patient fight the disease.

The China National Biotec Group, a company that researches and develops medicines, recently announced that this plasma treatment was able to reduce inflammation (炎症) in 10 critically ill patients.

In addition to medicines, artificial intelligence and big data are also being used to help fight against the spread of the novel coronavirus. Thermal scanners, facial recognition technology and robots have all been used to keep people safe and find people who seem likely to be infected by the virus.

"Facial recognition and the real name registration system will help us track down those who have potentially been exposed to the virus and effectively control the spreading of the virus," Zeng Yixin, deputy director of the National Health Commission, told reporters. Zeng continued, "This high level of technology was not available during the SARS outbreak in 2003. So we believe the technological development is on our side in battling this disease. "

These new advancements in technology and medicine have been important contributors in helping to stop the novel coronavirus. With continued efforts, we will turn out victorious.

Frankly, I appreciate myself very much. Yes, I admit I'm in many aspects not as good as other people, but I don't think I'm always not good. When I find what I've done or written is okay, I'll remain pleased with myself for quite a few days, and if I receive praise for it, I'll even become so excited as to add a few words to reward myself.

True, I'm not modest at all. People may call me conceited (自负的). But I think otherwise.

I appreciate other people. I appreciate anything good. Isn't it unfair to forget appreciating myself while appreciating others?

We Chinese generally tend to be modest, and we take pride in being so. For example, a Chinese man will call his own wife zhuojing, meaning "my humble wife", and his own writings zhuozuo, meaning "my poor writings". But if you call his wife a "rustic (乡村的) woman" or his writings "trash", he would, I'm sure, declare he would make a clean break with you angrily. As a matter of fact, there is probably no difference at all between what is said by him and you.

I don't think it's wrong of you to freely praise yourself if you're really worthy of praise. As we know, there is an old Chinese saying disparaging (蔑视) a melon seller, named Lao Wang, who keeps praising his own goods. Well, why can't he praise his melons if they are really sweet and juicy?

Lao Wang sells melons for a living. How could he carry on business if he, by imitating the affectations (装模作样) of us intellectuals, were to show false modesty about his melons? He would sure enough die of starvation.

Self-appreciation is therefore a key to professional dedication and enjoyment of work. Needless to say, the same is true of those who make a living with their pen. One will lose confidence in writing when he stops admiring his own essays.

On the evening of April 8, Dunhuang Academy and Huawei jointly launched a brand-new technology-driven tour experience at the Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟). Using Huawei's newly-released Hetu AI platform, coupled with the output of the Digital Dunhuang project, visitors to the Mogao Grottoes can enjoy a fantasy experience prior to entering the attraction.

Zhao Shengliang, director of the Dunhuang Academy, said that it has been cooperating with Huawei since March 2019. Using Huawei's latest Hetu technology, visitors are able to see the detailed contents of the Dunhuang Art Murals (壁画) outside the caves, through their Huawei mobile phones. This will reduce the time tourists spend inside the cave, aiding the protection of the cultural relics, while at the same time helping to increase the amount of information visitors can obtain. It is also considered to be a new way of promoting Dunhuang Art.

The Dunhuang Academy has used digital technology to preserve the research and exploration of Dunhuang Grottoes since the early 1990s. It has collected a wealth of data and has realized the goal of sharing of digital Dunhuang globally. It has played an important role in the protection and research of cultural site, as well as promoting the development and progress of related work.

The Huawei Hetu platform unites Dunhuang's study findings, high-resolution images of the site's murals and virtual, three-dimensional models with the real Mogao Grottoes. It has not only re-created the real tour of the scenic spot, but also developed a new way of digitally experiencing the grottoes. When people visit the site, they not only have the experience of seeing the real grottoes, but they can appreciate the admirable artworks more clearly and in greater detail.

In the future, Dunhuang Academy will continue to cooperate with Huawei to create more colorful virtual content to enrich the experience of Mogao Art on the platform, helping people around the world get to know Dunhuang Art better.

Polar bear mothers invest a huge amount into their cubs (幼兽), isolating themselves in dens (兽穴) dug with great effort into piles of snow to provide care through the unforgiving conditions of Arctic winter. It's little wonder that the bears are hesitant to leave when disturbed, even when oil drilling equipment is in operation nearby.

"We found that bears wouldn't abandon their dens even with vehicles driving right overhead," says Wesley Larson, who worked his way from office assistant to a graduate student position with Utah's Brigham Young University, monitoring polar bears on Alaska's North Slope.

Scientists have recorded an increase in human-wildlife conflict in the area, as offshore pack ice has decreased, forcing the bear population to create their dens closer to petrol industry activity. With increased industry interest in oil and gas leasing (租赁) in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, strong evidence to help support and carry out protective measures for the species has never been more important.

Wildlife managers in Alaska depend on a rule that industrial activity and research cannot take place within 1. 6 km of a den with newborn babies in it. Working with 15 years of monitoring records, and 30 years of notes concerning interactions between the industry and the bears, Larson and colleagues were able to confirm that the regulation was sufficient, but that more needed to be done to actively locate dens. He explains that with entrances quickly covered by snow and dens closed-up until spring, they are effectively undetectable to the naked eye.

"While technology such as forward-looking infrared cameras can be used to try to pick up a heat signature inside the den, it only works when conditions are perfect, and they rarely are in Arctic winter," says Larson. He is now consulting on a project using radar technology to identify dens and ensure protection for the animals symbolic of the Arctic.

Moms try so hard to make sure that their children are healthy. And this means that they try and avoid foods that have too much sugar or artificial ingredients (人工添加剂). Sugary drinks can be one of the main items that moms avoid, and that is because they are bad for their children's teeth and health.

A new study, however, is showing that a sugary drink in the morning may not be so bad after all, at least not for girls. According to Medical Xpress, consuming sugary drinks before class has been shown to improve math scores, but only in girls. It has little impact on boys.

This was shown through a study that was published in the journal Health Economics. It found that sugary drinks had a direct impact on the behavior and math scores of children in preschool. It seems a little early to be offering the children sugary drinks, but let's find out what they discovered.

To complete the study, researchers looked at more than 450 children, and the children in the study were given a sugary drink or an artificially sweetened (人工加糖的) drink and then they collected data before and after they had drunk it. When it came to boys and their behavior, they found that one sugary drink did seem to have a "relaxing" effect on them at first, but it didn't last long and then they were more restless. The sugary drink did not result in any difference in a girl's behavior. They then looked at math scores, and it showed that consuming a sugary drink had a negative impact on boys' math scores, but it had a positive impact on the math scores of the girls.

"There are still a lot of schools that sell and hand out sugary drinks to students, and while this may seem to benefit girls, it could be making things more difficult for young boys," says one of the researchers.