“Dreams may be more important than sleep. We all need to dream” some scientists say. Dreams take up about one quarter of our sleeping time. People have several dreams each night.

    Dreams are like short films. They are usually in color. Some dreams are like old films. They come up over and over again. That may be the dreamer worrying about something. Dreaming may be a way of trying to find an answer.

    Some people get new ideas about their work from dreams. They may have been thinking about their work all day. These thoughts can carry over into dreams.

    Too much dreaming can be harmful. The more we sleep, the longer we dream. The mind is still at work when we dream. That is why we may have a long sleep and still tired after waking up.

Would it surprise you to learn that, like animals, trees can communicate with each other and pass on their wealth to the next generation—their young trees?

    Suzanne Simard, forest ecologist(生态学家) at the University of British Columbia, explains how trees are much more complex(复杂的) than most of us ever imagined. Although Charles Darwin(达尔文) thought that trees are competing for survival of the fittest, Simard and her team have made a new discovery and showed just how wrong he was. In fact, the opposite is true: trees survive through their group work and support, passing around necessary nutrition(营养) such as nitrogen(氮) and carbon "depending on who needs it".

    Nitrogen(氮) and carbon are shared through miles of underground fungi (真菌) networks. This makes sure that all trees in the forest ecological system give and receive just the right amount to keep them all healthy. This system works in a very similar way to the networks of neurons (神经元) in our brains, and when one tree is destroyed, it influences all.

    Simard talks about "Mother trees". These are usually the largest, oldest plants that on which all other trees depend. These "Mother trees" are connected to all the other trees in the forest by this network of fungi, and may manage the resources of the whole trees and plants in the forest. She explains how these trees pass on the wealth to the next generation, transporting important resources to young trees so they may continue to grow. When humans cut down "Mother trees" without paying attention to these highly complex "tree societies" of the networks on which they feed, we are reducing the chances to save the whole forest.

    "We didn't take any notice of it," Simard says sadly. "Mother trees" move nutrition into the young trees before dying, but we never give them chance. If we could put across the message to the forestry industry, we could make a huge difference towards our environmental protection efforts for the future.

    Humans have learnt many things from nature. These things have helped us in our daily life. The latest thing is self-repairing clothing.

    Scientists have developed a special way for clothing to repair rips and tears by itself, without the need for sewing. It works with materials such as cotton, linen and wool. The scientists are from the Naval Research Office and Pennsylvania State University in the USA. Scientists Dr Walter Dressick and Dr Melik Demirel looked at how a squid can cling on to things so well. The research team found a protein in the rings of teeth that cover the suckers on a squid. The protein is similar to the one found in the silk that spiders use to make spider webs. It is very strong and elastic.

    The new protein has been developed as part of a coating, which is put on clothes. When the coating is dipped in water, the area around the rip or tear joins together in less than a minute. This could help clothes last longer and save money for us. It could also be useful for military and survival clothes. People like soldiers and mountaineers would be safer if they had clothes that could be repaired quickly and easily. Professor Demirel spoke about the invention. He said," The coatings are thin, less than a micron, so they wouldn't be noticed in everyday wear." Then he added, "Even thin, they increase the overall strength of the material. For the first time, we are making self-healing textiles."

    Are you angry by the noise of your alarm clock every morning? Still feel sleepy after getting up? Now, you can say goodbye to that annoying alarm clock, you needn't hear its unpleasant noise every morning.

    The Glow pillow (发光枕)can wake you up with soft LED lights. The lights produce the brightness over 40 minutes just like the sunrise.

The pillow is taking the place of the traditional alarm clock. It was designed (设计)by Eosin McNally and Ian Walton to be against the pressures of a"24 hour "lifestyle.

    The pillow uses a kind of LED material below the surface. It wakes the user up with light. The material can also show the time on the pillow's surface, and it is perfect for those who sleep with their heads completely buried(埋)face down into the pillow. 40 minutes before the pre-set(预设)alarm time, the pillow begins to glow and gently brings the user out of sleep. The natural waking process helps to set "body clock" and makes people build a healthy sleep-and-wake habit slowly.