In the 1600's when the Spanish moved into what later was to become the southwestern United States, they came across the ancestors of the modern-day Pueblo, Hopi, and Zuni peoples. These ancestors, known variously as the basket makers, the Ancient ones, had lived in the area for at least 2000 years. They were an advanced agricultura people who used irrigation to help grow their drops.

    The Anasazi lived in houses constructed of earth and wood. Anasazi houses were originally built underground and were entered from the roof. But around the year 700 A. D., the Anasazi began to build their homes above ground and join them together into multistoried complexes, which the Spanish called villages. Separate underground rooms in these villages—known as kivas or holy places—were set aside for religious ceremonies. Each kiva had a fireplace and a hole that was believed to lead to the underworld. The largest villages had five stories and more than 800 rooms.

    The Anasazi family was ruled by women. The sacred objects of the family were under the control of the oldest female, but the actual ceremonies were conducted by her brother or son. Women owned the rooms in the village and the crops, once they were harvested. While still growing, crops belonged to the men who, in contrast to most other Native American groups, planted them. The women made baskets and pottery; the men wove cloth and made jewelry.

    Each village had two chiefs. The village chief dealt with land arguments and religious affairs. The war chief led the men in fighting during occasional conflicts that broke out with neithboring villages and directed the men in commnity building projects. The political and social organization of the Anasazi made it almost impossible for outer groups to conquer them.

    One of my all time favorite holiday destinations is the Gold Coast. With its beautiful beaches, mountain hinterland and theme parks, the variety from one location to another is fantastic! And it's also important that it's like a playground for my children.

    The Gold Coast certainly offers something for every member of our family. We all love heading down to the beach for an early morning swim or surf. The beaches feature some of the softest golden sand and pumping waves, making them ideal for surfing. Safety is important especially when I'm out with the kids, and I feel better knowing that lifeguards are continually on patrol（巡逻）. The long coast also offer the perfect setting for a leisurely walk at sunset-a favorite activity of mine.

    Then, of course, there's the bargain-hunting in the city's center. For shopping goers there are amazing shopping centers boutiques and the usual chain stores. I always pick up loads of goodies at Pacific Fair.

    The Gold Coast is popular for its theme parks-Sea World, Wamer Bros Movie World and Dream World. The seal and dolphin presentations at Sea World keep both children and adults on the edge of their seats as the sea creatures go through a series of complicated jumps, flips and rolls. It's great entertainment and an educational window to the underwater world for the kids. Our kids also enjoy meeting the characters at Movie World and watching how real movies are made.

    Night-time is equally fun, as we usually set off to find the best local restaurants and cafes. The mix of cultures and influences has given the Gold Coast a wide variety of choices, including modem Australian, Italian, Asian and seafood, although sometimes nothing beats fish and chips!

    A visit to the Gold Coast in the Sunshine State is worthwhile and fun.

    Paul and Jason were brothers who lived and worked on neighboring farms. For 35 years they farmed side by side, sharing machinery and goods as needed, without a single problem.

    However, one autumn, things changed. It began with a tiny disagreement about a horse, which grew into a major difference. The difference led to angry words, followed by weeks of silence between the two brothers.

One morning there was a knock on Paul's door. He opened it and saw a builder holding his toolbox. "I'm looking for a few days' work." the builder said. "Are there any jobs here I could help with?"

"Yes," answered Paul, extremely pleased to see the builder. "I do have a job for you. Look at that farm across the creek(小溪).That's my brother's farm. That creek used to be a grass field, but last week my brother dug a path from the river and made the creek. But I'll go him one better. See that pile of wood? I want you to build me a fence, two meters tall, so 1 won't need to see him anymore."

The builder said thoughtfully. "I think I understand the situation and I'll be able to do a job that pleases you."

    Paul had business in town that day and left the builder to his work. When he returned, the builder had just finished his job. Paul was shocked. Instead of a fence there was a bridge, stretching from one side of the creek to the other.

As Paul stood on the bridge, staring in amazement, his younger brother Jason, came across, and took Paul's hand. "You are a good man to have built this bridge after all I've done," said Jason.

Then, Paul, with tears in his eyes, said to the builder who was packing his bag to go, "Thank you so much. Please stay. I have much more for you to do."

"I'd love to." the builder said quietly, "but, I have many more bridges to build."

    A large body of research has been developed in recent years to explain many aspects of willpower. Most of the researchers exploring self-control do so with an obvious goal in mind: How can willpower be strengthened? If willpower is truly a limited resource, as the research suggests, what can be done to make it stay strong?

    Avoiding temptation (诱惑) is an effective method for maintaining self-control, which is called the "out of sight, out of mind" principle. One recent study, for instance, found office workers less attracted to candy in the desk drawer than that on top of their desks, in plain sight.

    The research suggesting that we possess a limited reservoir of self-control raises a troubling question. When we face too many temptations, are we to fail? Not necessarily. Researchers don't believe that one's willpower is ever completely exhausted. Rather, people appear to hold some willpower in reserve, saved for future demands. The right motivation allows us to tap into those reserves, allowing us to carry on even when our self-control strength has been run down. High motivation might help overcome weakened willpower-at least to a point.

    Willpower may also be made less vulnerable (脆弱) to being exhausted in the first place.

    Researchers who study self-control often describe it as being like a muscle that gets tired with heavy use. But there is another aspect to the muscle comparison, they say. While muscles become exhausted by exercise in the short term, they are strengthened by regular exercise in the long term. Similarly, regular practices of self-control may improve willpower strength.

    The evidence from willpower-exhaustion studies also suggests that making a list of resolutions on New Year's Eve is the worst possible approach. Being exhausted in one area can reduce willpower in other areas, so it makes more sense to focus on a single goal at a time. In other words, don't try to quit smoking, adopt a healthy diet and start a new exercise plan at the same time. Taking goals one by one is a better approach. Once a good habit is in place, Baumeister says, you'll no longer need to draw on your willpower to maintain the behavior. Eventually healthy habits will become routine, and won't require making decisions at all.

    When something goes wrong, it can be very satisfying to say, "Well, it's so-and-so's fault." or "I know I'm late, but it's not my fault; the car broke down." It is probably not your fault, but once you form the habit of blaming somebody or something else for a bad situation, you are a loser. You have no power and could do nothing that helps change the situation. However, you can have great power over what happens to you if you stop focusing on whom to blame and start focusing on how to remedy the situation. This is the winner's key to success.

    Winners are great at overcoming problems. For example, if you were late because your car broke down, maybe you need to have your car examined more regularly. Or, you might start to carry along with you the useful phone numbers, so you could call for help when in need. For another example, if your colleague causes you problems on the job for lack of responsibility or ability, find ways of dealing with his irresponsibility or inability rather than simply blame the person. Ask to work with a different person, or don't rely on this person. You should accept that the person is not reliable and find creative ways to work successfully regardless of how your colleague fails to do his job well.

    This is what being a winner is all about—creatively using your skills and talents so that you are successful no matter what happens. Winners don't have fewer problems in their lives; they have just as many difficult situations to face as anybody else. They are just better at seeing those problems as challenges and opportunities to develop their own talents. So, stop focusing on "whose fault it is." Once you are confident about your power over bad situations, problems are just stepping stones for success.

Researchers say they've used cutting-edge gravitational wave research to cast new light on a mystery—a 2000-year-old computer,the Antikythera mechanism found in shipwreck. 

Well over a century after its discovery,researchers at the University of Glasgow say they've used statistical modeling techniques,originally designed to analyze gravitational waves —ripples in spacetime caused by major events in the universe such as two black holes combining —to suggest that the Antikythera mechanism was likely used to track the Greek lunar year. In short,it's a fascinating collision between modern-day science and the mysteries of an ancient artifact. 

In a 2021 paper,researchers found that previously discovered and regularly spaced holes in a "calendar ring"were marked to describe the "motions of the sun,moon,and all five planets known in ancient Greeks and how they were displayed at the front as an ancient Greek universe. "Now,in a new study published in the Official Journal of the British Horological Institute,University of Glasgow gravitational wave researcher Graham Woan and research associate Joseph Bayley suggest that the ring was likely perforated (打孔)with 354 holes, which happens to be the number of days in a lunar year. 

The team used statistical models derived from gravitational wave research,a large-scale physics experiment designed to measure ripples in spacetime millions of light-years from Earth and Bayesian analysis,a technique using probability to quantify uncertainty based on incomplete data,to calculate the likely number of holes in the mechanism using the positions of the surviving holes and the placement of the ring's surviving six fragments. 

Surprisingly,the inspiration for the study came from a YouTuber Chris Budiselic,who has been attempting to physically recreate the ancient mechanism and investigating ways to determine just how many holes it contained. 

"It's a neat symmetry that we've adapted techniques we use to study the universe today to understand more about a mechanism that helped people keep track of the heavens nearly two millennia ago,"Woan said. 

"We hope that our findings about the Antikythera mechanism,although less supernaturally spectacular than those made by Indiana Jones,will help deepen our understanding of how this remarkable device was made and used by the Greeks,"Woan sadded.