Like many thickly populated urban neighborhoods, Lincoln Park also has rats. A lot of rats. “Every night when I walk down the sidewalk, I see rats, ” says 36-year-oId Kelly McGee, who has come to accept this aspect of city living. “It's an urban area; I don't know what else we can expect.”

McGee lives just down the block from the old Children's Memorial Hospital, which is about to be torn down as part of a massive redevelopment project. “Construction all over the city often disturbs rats that are living underground,” says Lincoln Park's City Council representative, Alderman Michele Smith. “Every developer has to do active rat reduction on site, ”Smith says. Already, there are poisonous and inviting food boxes all around the old hospital complex. But the developer of the hospital site still warned residents in a recent community meeting that when digging begins later this month, the rat problem could be awful.

Victoria Thomas, who lives a few miles north of Lincoln Park in Chicago's Lake View neighborhood, says she tried everything from underground fencing to poison traps to wipe out rats, but nothing worked until she got some cats. From the first day she got the cats, Thomas says the rats started to disappear.

“The cats will kill off a great deal of the initial population of the rats, ”says Paul Nickerson, who manages the Cats at Work program for Tree House Humane Society. “And through spreading their pheromones, a chemical produced by an animal, the cats will keep other rats from filling their absence.” Nickerson says that is what makes the cat program so successful in keeping rats away for the long term. ” The rats are far from stupid. They smell the cats' pheromones so they'll stay out of the cats' territory(领域).”

    After Smith highlighted the program in a recent newsletter, Nickerson and Tree House Humane Society have been getting lots of calls from people seeking their own cat colonies. That means a lot more wild cats that might otherwise be killed out of pity will be cared for while doing something that they love: hunting rats.

    Enjoying a musical performance no longer requires a costly ticket or a trip to a theater. These days, musicians are performing in private homes,at haircutting shops,at airports...even on ferry boats.

    Musicians like house concerts. At music clubs, they often have to perform over loud conversation or deal with people who have had too much alcohol.People at house concerts are more focused on listening to the music.

    Just a few hours before the Bombadils started singing at the O' Hair Salon,Lindsay was cutting hair and Tamera was doing facials.Then,they moved chairs and microphones to create a small performance space.The Bombadils made music in the front part of the hair salon,near the hair dryers and make-up table.

    "This is our first show at a hair salon,"Sarah Frank of the Bombadils told concertgoers at last week's performance.Frank said she and band members Luke Fraser and Kaitlyn Raitz had a great time "interacting" with the audience.

    Concerts in people's homes, or small businesses such as O' Hair's,are becoming more popular,musicians say. "There is a more relaxed atmosphere,"said Domenic Cicala,a musician who opened up his O' Hair Salon to concerts. "People really get to know the artists."

    At house concerts,people get time before and after concerts to meet the performers.Often,the hosts or guests will provide food and drink.

    "People really like listening to music in the living room of a friend,"said Matt Hart,with Aubrey Zoli making up Local Strangers,a folk-rock group based in Seattle.At many such concerts,the musicians do not need microphones. Yet,every word of their songs can be heard.

A typical school day in the UK starts around 8:30 am. This is often even earlier elsewhere in the world, with students sitting down to their first lesson at 7:30 am in the US. The average teenager ideally needs eight to nine hours' sleep each night, but in reality a lot of teenagers struggle to get this much. A lot of the problems arise because our sleep patterns are not fixed, and they change as we grow.

So a later school start time could help to solve this problem, by ensuring to get their eight plus hours of sleep and react properly to their body's natural rhythms (规律). There has been a general shift over the past 25 years to shorten the school day. This is not at the cost of teaching time (which has remained constant) but at the cost of natural breaks, which has led to reduced lunch time and lesson breaks.

Later start times could help teens' grades and health. This is mainly because it makes the management of children easier. Supervising (监管) hundreds of children “playing” requires effective staffing (人员配备). And there is always the fear that behavior worsens during breaks. So the theory goes that having them in class and strictly supervised must be better.

    But this means that students barely have enough time to absorb what they were doing in maths before suddenly they are thrust into ancient history. And teaching staff also transit from one class to another, with hardly a rest or time to refocus.

    Clearly rethinking the school day could benefit everyone involved. Anyway, it could also lead to better achievement in teenagers and less of a struggle for parents in the mornings. For teachers, it could also mean a less stressful day all around and what could be better than that?

The Youngest Skier To The South Pole

    On Friday December 9th, a 16-year-old skier, Ameba Hempleman-Adams reached the South Pole with her father after skiing 97 miles and spending 17 nights on the ice. On the final day they skied 14 miles and afterwards Ameba said she felt “elated and tired" on reaching the South Pole.

    “The biggest challenges were the freezing cold and eating only dried food. The best bit has been experiencing what Dad does on expeditions(探险).It's the first time I've been on a difficult long journey with him and now I know what it's like. The trip brought me closer to Dad, but I also had to put up with his snoring(鼾声)which was terrible.', She added, “Would I do it again? I'm not sure. I'll have to think about that after a few nights' sleep! At times it's been really hard: I've got aching shoulders, and my back's been sore from pulling my sledge(雪橇), I've got blisters(水泡)on my feet from the boots and I've got a cold burn on my nose from my sunglasses. ______”.

    She said the most extraordinary part of the trip had been the breathtaking scenery and the sense of isolation in the Antarctic landscape.“ I've really missed my friends while I've been away and want to thank them for all their messages of support.”

    Friends and relatives who posted comments on Ameba's expedition website paid tribute(致敬)to her positive attitude which , they said ,would be an inspiration to others.

    Her father, David, said “Ameba has done amazing well. I'm proud of her. She showed real determination. She was tough and she pulled her sledge the whole way. It was a special experience to share those 97 miles with her.”

    The market for products designed specifically for older adults could reach $30 billion by next year, and startups (初创公司) want in on the action. What they sometimes lack is feedback from the people who they hope will use their products. So Brookdale, the country's largest owner of retirement communication, has been inviting a few select entrepreneurs just to move in for a few days, show off their products and hear what the residents have to say.

    That's what brought Dayle Rodriguez, 28, all the way from England to the dining room of Brookdale South Bay in Torrance, California. Rodriguez is the community and marketing manager for a company called Sentab. The startup's product, Sentab TV, enables older adults who may not be comfortable with computers to access email, video chat and social media using just their televisions and a remote control.

    "It's nothing new, it's nothing too complicated and it's natural because lots of people have TV remotes." says Rodriguez.

    But none of that is the topic of conversation in the Brookdale dining room. Instead, Rodriguez solicits residents' advice on what he should get on his cheeseburger and how he should spend the afternoon. Playing cards was on the agenda, as well as learning to play mahjong(麻将).

    Rodriguez says it's important that residents here don't feel like he's selling them something. "I've had more feedback in a passive approach." he says. "Playing pool, playing cards, having dinner, having lunch, all work better than going through a survey of questions. When they get to know me and to trust me, knowing for sure I'm not selling them something—there'll be more honest feedback from them."

    Rodriguez is just the seventh entrepreneur to move into one of Brookdale's 1,100 senior living communities. Other new products in the program have included a kind of full-body blow dryer and specially designed clothing that allows people with disabilities to dress and undress themselves.

    "First and foremost, the residents love it." says Smith. "It also provides Brookdale the opportunity to learn about and experience new technologies quickly and inexpensively and to make sure that we understand what residents want and need."

    Mary Lou Busch, 93, agreed to try the Sentab system. She tells Rodriguez that it might be good for someone, but not for her.

    "I have the computer and FaceTime, which I talk with my family on." she explains. She also has an iPad and a smart phone. "So I do pretty much everything I need to do."

    Rodriguez takes it pretty well.

    "I'm not going to lie to you, I would've liked a more positive response." he says. But "if people don't need it or want it, it's up to us to change, adapt it or make it more useful."

    To be fair, if Rodriguez had wanted feedback from some more technophobic (害怕技术的) seniors, he might have ended up in the wrong Brookdale community. This one is located in the heart of Southern California's aerospace corridor. Many residents have backgrounds in engineering, business and academic circles.

    But Rodriguez says he's still learning something important by moving into this Brookdale community: "People are more tech-skilled than we thought."

    And besides, where else would he learn to play mahjong?

As part of our mission to inspire the next generation of scientists, inventors and engineers, the Science Museum Group (SMG) has launched an exciting new online game—Total Darkness.

Over the last year we have been developing Total Darkness with the aim of creating an experience that can have a positive impact on people's attitudes towards STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths), as well as having a focus on self-reflection, rather than asking players to recall specific facts or concepts.

Total Darkness is a digital storytelling experience which encourages young people to recognise how the skills they use every day relate to STEM and can help them develop their confidence in science thinking. The game invites the player to solve a mysterious power cut in their hometown. The game puts players in control, allowing their choices and decisions to guide them through the story.

As the player navigates through the darkened streets of the town, equipped only with a torch, they will face various challenges. Using their curiosity, communication skills and creative problem solving, they will discover new theories about what might have caused the blackout(停电；断电). But with every step their torch fades, and the player must solve the mystery before the battery runs out.

The player's choices and actions throughout the game will score them curiosity, creativity or communication points. At the end, the skills the player has used will be revealed along with their science style, showing how they could put their skills into action in the real world.

Total Darkness is aimed at 8-15 year-olds—an important stage in teens' science development. Research shows that as teens make the step between primary and secondary, many move away from an interest in science as other influences have a stronger pull in their lives.

Total Darkness is a free online game playable on smartphone, tablet and desktop. Play now at totaldarkness.sciencemuseum.org.uk.