I went to the Tsavo National Park in northern Kenya for a film. We set off early for a distant water hole. A huge elephant covered with dry mud, drank calmly and deeply. He might have traveled 50 km to reach the water. He wasn't going to hurry now. We thought he'd drink a while and rest in the shade, and then drink again. What actually happened was that he drank deeply and stepped away. Then he suddenly fell down. Within minutes he was dead.

    We called animal doctor Jeremiah Poghon immediately. He removed the head of a poisonous arrow (箭) from the elephant's body, and let out over 100 liters of drug—the result of the elephant's meeting with a poacher (偷猎者) months before.

    Today's poacher fires an arrow, covered with poison, into the body of an elephant. If the poacher is lucky, the elephant might die in an hour or two; if not, he might have to follow the elephant for days before it dies. Often the arrow head fails to kill the elephant at once—it doesn't mean the poison won't finally kill the elephant, but it will be a slow death.

    Living in Tsavo through these times, I could see the results of poaching from time to time. When I think about the death of that elephant, what stays with me is the great silence after the shocking sound of his body hitting the ground. I couldn't escape the feeling that with the death of such a large animal, the world seemed to be a poorer and emptier place.

    Everybody should have some level of first aid ability, because accidents and medical emergencies can happen anywhere at any time. St John First Aid courses give you the knowledge and confidence to provide effective first aid whenever it's needed.

First Aid Level 1

    Ideal(理想的) for anyone who wants to learn basic first aid or needs to renew their first aid qualification. Courses can be held at St John or your workplace.

Fee: $162(includes GST)

Duration(持续时间): Eight hours

First Aid Level 2

    Includes all course content from First Aid Level One, plus an additional half day. Ideal for special first aiders, health and safety managers and anyone who needs a first aid qualification.

Fee: $235(includes GST)

Duration: 12 hours

Pre-Hospital Emergency Care (PHEC)

    Advanced training for first aiders who already hold unit standards 6400 and 6402. Ideal for people who require advanced first aid skills or a pre-hospital emergency care (PHEC) qualification for their work.

Fee: $635(includes GST)

Duration: Three days

Child First Aid

    Ideal for parents, grandparents and other family caregivers. A recognized qualification for childcare workers.

Fee: $65(includes GST)

Duration: Four hours

Outdoor First Aid

    First aid response for accidents and medical emergencies in the wilderness. For groups of eight or more.

Duration: One to two days depending on experience

Sports First Aid

    First aid response for common sporting injuries and medical emergencies. Includes ACC injury prevention advice.

Duration: Eight hours.

    In 1972, a social worker named Sanjit "Bunker " Roy founded Barefoot College in Tilonia, Rajasthan. Today the college trains women from villages for six months to build and maintain solar panels and other instruments. Barefoot College also offers education to the younger generation both during the day and at its solar bridge schools that meet by lamp light at night.

    The philosophy of the Barefoot College is largely inspired by the principles of Gandhi, starting with quality beyond social classes, sex or religion. As a matter of fact, women are favorably regarded as an underserved population that is necessary to bringing villages together. Another central principle of the college is self-reliance, teaching students to support and think for themselves.

    After the colleges female students have completed their half a year of training, they return to their villages villages, where they wait for solar panel parts to arrive from the college. Once they have all the pieces they need ,they construct the panels and begin collecting solar energy. For each village, the college also provides solar lamps. Villagers can, in addition, order parts for other solar-powered devices, such as water heaters and cooking stoves. Once assembled(组装）, they and the lamps are powered by the solar panels.

    The effect on the villages is huge. Before the solar panels and lamps arrived, villagers had only candles to light their homes. This prevented adults from doing serious work at night, and it made studying difficult for children as well. As for physicians, they have difficulty treating patients and performing operations at night because they had to rely on flashlights.

    Now there is power for not only the electrical appliances that the college provides but also devices like televisions, radios and computers. For the first time, the villagers can even connect to the world through the Internet.

    Hawaii, 2nd Edition

    Original price: $ 22.95

    Sale price: $ 20.95

    Summary: Hawaii is one of the world's premier vacation destinations, and this practical and fact- packed book shows why. Like other Traveler guides, it's a treasure of special features - walking and driving tours, in-depth Hawaiian history, a sample of the best of each island's activities, plus a selection of hotels and restaurants in every price range.

    Be the Pack Leader

    Original price: $ 25.95

    Sale price: $ 18.95

    Summary: Bestselling author Cesar Millan takes principles of dog psychology a step further, showing you how to develop the calm energy of a successful leader and use it to improve your dog's life and your own life. With practical tips and techniques, Cesar helps you understand and read your dog's energy as well as your own energy so that you can take your connection with your dog to the next level.

    Celebrate Hanukkah

    Original price: $ 15.85

    Sale price: $7.85

    Summary: The US astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman brought a menorah(烛台) and a dreidel (陀螺)on his Space Shuttle mission in 1993. Hoffman observed the traditional spinning of the dreidel, but wisely left the menorah unlit in several thousand liters of rocket fuel. Also included is the author's sure-to-please potato pancakes' recipe.

    A New Perspective of Earth

    Original price: $26.85

    Sale price: $ 20.85

    Summary: The author Benjamin Grant describes a unique collection of satellite images of the earth that offer an unexpected look at humanity. More than 200 images of industry, agriculture, architecture and nature highlight incredible patterns while also revealing a deeper story about human influence. This extraordinary photographic journey around our planet captures the sense of wonder gained from a new, aerial point and creates a perspective of the earth as it has never been seen before.

    Why do we dream? It's a question researchers have been studying for years. Now new research suggests that some dreams may result from the brain's effort to keep learning, even as we sleep.

In a study in Boston,100 volunteers were trained for an hour on a maze(迷宫). They tried to find their way through the difficult puzzle as quickly as possible. Then half of the volunteers were allowed to sleep for 90 minutes. The other half stayed awake, reading or relaxing. The ones who slept were asked to describe their dreams when they woke up.

    After the rest, the volunteers were asked again to solve the maze. Those who hadn't slept showed no improvement or did even worse after the break. Sleepers who didn't report any maze­related dreams did better but showed only a little improvement. However, four nap­takers who reported dreaming about the maze showed a surprising improvement. They scored 10 times higher after sleeping and dreaming about the maze.

    Even though the number of dreamers was small, the researchers noted that the gap in learning between the dreamers and non­dreamers was so wide that the finding was significant(有意义的).

The dreamers had all performed poorly on the test before dreaming about it. That suggests that struggling with a task might be the trigger that leads the sleeping brain to focus on it and work on how to deal with it.

    "It's almost as if your brain is going through everything that happened today," Dr Stickgold, a scientist at Harvard Medical School, said. "The things you're obsessed(迷住) with are the ones that your brain forces you to continue to do with."

The Boy Made it!

    One Sunday, Nicholas, a teenager, went skiing at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine. In the early afternoon, when he was planning to go home, a fierce snowstorm swept into the area. Unable to see far, he accidentally turned off the path. Before he knew it, Nicholas was lost, all alone! He didn't have food, water, a phone, or other supplies. He was getting colder by the minute.

    Nicholas had no idea where he was. He tried not to panic. He thought about all of the survival shows he had watched on TV. It was time to put the tips he had learned to use.
    He decided to stop skiing. There was a better chance of someone finding him if he stayed put. The first thing he did was to find shelter from the freezing wind and snow. If he didn't, his body temperature would get very low, which could quickly kill him.
    Using his skis, Nicholas built a snow cave. He gathered a huge mass of snow and dug out a hole in the middle. Then he piled branches on top of himself, like a blanket, to stay as warm as he could.
    By that evening, Nicholas was really hungry. He ate snow and drank water from a nearby stream so that his body wouldn't lose too much water. Not knowing how much longer he could last, Nicholas did the only thing he could—he huddled(蜷缩) in his cave and slept.
    The next day, Nicholas went out to look for help, but he couldn't find anyone. He followed his tracks and returned to the snow cave, because without shelter, he could die that night. On Tuesday, Nicholas went out again to find help. He had walked for about a mile when a volunteer searcher found him. After two days stuck in the snow, Nicholas was saved.
    Nicholas might not have survived this snowstorm had it not been for TV. He had often watched Grylls' survival show Man vs. Wild. That's where he learned the tips that saved his life. In each episode(一期节目) of Man vs. Wild. Grylls is abandoned in a wild area and has to find his way out.
    When Grylls heard about Nicholas' amazing deeds, he was super impressed that Nicholas had made it since he knew better than anyone how hard Nicholas had to work to stay alive.