A billionaire has recently made one of the biggest charitable（慈善的）donations to a university in China's history. Chen Tianqiao donated $115 million to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) to help advanced brain research. The donation will be spent deepening the understanding of how the brain works. Chen has been interested in brain research, believing it can shape the industries such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality. However, this huge donation has caused heated discussions among Chinese scholars and internet users alike.

    Many criticized him for choosing to give money to a foreign university rather than home institutes for brain research, which are developing fast and are on track to catch up with the US in just a few years. Rao Yi, a biologist at Peking University, even said the donation was a typical mistake.

    Others, however, support his choice. They believe Caltech is a more reasonable choice compared with Chinese research institutions. Caltech has a long history and has taken a leading position in biology, and therefore it produces more efficient results. In addition, the results of the research benefit not only the American people, but also the rest of the world.

    A similar controversial case started two years ago when Pan Shiyi, chairman of SOHO China, donated $15 million to Harvard University to help disadvantaged Chinese students.

    Many believe that China is still behind in the management and use of donated money, and that as a result, Chinese charity donators are looking abroad. In comparison, Western countries like the US, which have a long history of donating money, have well-developed systems that use money efficiently. They can also provide full access for donors who want to track the use of the money. To get more donations, Chinese universities should be braver and more honest. They need self-reflection, rather than envy.

    It is quite natural for all of us to want to preserve and protect the foods we purchase. With that in mind, we always think that the best way to do that is by putting them in our refrigerators. However, the following foods should never be placed in the fridge.

    Bananas

    Bananas should never be placed inside the refrigerator because they keep nutrients better outside the fridge. Bananas are better kept on the counter until they ripen. The cold temperatures actually slow down the ripening process of the bananas, while the wetness and darkness of the fridge will only lead to rotting.

    Potatoes

    Potatoes should be placed in a cool, dry and dark space. The cold temperature of the fridge can turn starch (淀粉) into sugar more rapidly. It is also recommended that potatoes be removed from plastic or paper bags they may have been placed in. Also, keep them unwashed, as well in an uncovered cardboard box.

    Garlic(大蒜)

    Placing garlic in your refrigerator will actually cause it to shoot. The garlic will also rotten and even rubbery. Moreover, inside your fridge, the look of the garlic will rarely change. This means you won't be able to tell if it's any good until you finally slice it open.

    Onions(洋葱)

    Placing your onions inside your refrigerator will eventually end up turning them rotten and soft. Unpeeled onions should be kept out of plastic bags and fridge. One of the reasons for this is because unpeeled onions require and need air exposure for maximum life. If you have peeled (剥皮) an onion though, then you should keep it in the fridge, in a covered container.

    No one is sure how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids near Cairo. But a new study suggests they used a little rock 'n' roll. Long ago builders could have attached wooden poles to the stones and rolled them across the sand, the scientists say.

    "Technically, I think what they're proposing is possible." physicist Daniel Bonn said.

    People have long puzzled over how the Egyptians moved such huge rocks. And there's no obvious answer. On average, each of the two million big stones weighed about as much as a large pickup truck. The Egyptians somehow moved the stone blocks to the pyramid site from about one kilometer away.

    The most popular view is that Egyptian workers slid the blocks along smooth paths. Many scientists suspect workers first would have put the blocks on sleds. Then they would have dragged them along paths. To make the work easier, workers may have lubricated the paths either with wet clay or with the fat from cattle. Bonn has now tested this idea by building small sleds and dragging heavy objects over sand.

    Evidence from the sand supports this idea. Researchers found small amounts of fat, as well as a large amount of stone and the remains of paths.

    However, phyficmt Josepn West thought there might have been a simpler way, who led the new study. West said, "I was inspired while watching a television program showing how sleds might have helped with pyramid construction. I thought, "Why don't they just try rolling the things?" A square could be turned into a rough sort of wheel by attaching wooden poles to its sides, he realized. That, he noted, should make a block of stone "a lot easier to roll than a square".

    So he tried it.

    He and his students tied some poles to each of four sides of a 30-kilogram stone block. That action turned the block into somewhat a wheel. Then they placed the block on the ground.

    They wrapped one end of a rope around the block and pulled. The researchers found they could easily roll the block along different kinds of paths. They calculated that rolling the block required about as much force as moving it along a slippery path.

    West hasn't tested his idea on larger blocks, but he thinks rolling has clear advantages over sliding. At least, workers wouldn't have needed to carry cattle fat or water to smooth the paths.

    Do you love Beats headphones, True Religion jeans, and UGG shoes? These are some of the most popular brands(品牌) around. They are also expensive. But some experts say they are not much better than cheaper brands.

    For example, Jim Wilcox works for Consumer Reports. He tested all kinds of headphones. He says that $80 Koss Pro headphones provide basically the same quality and comfort as Beats. So why do people pay twice or even 10 times as much for the hottest brands?

    Experts say because it's fashionable, and expensive brands send a message. Brands say "I belong" or "I can afford it."

    Some people think that expensive brand names are worth the price. They say that some designer clothes are really of top quality and that they last longer than cheaper brands. Some teenagers choose to wear popular brands because these brands make them feel good about themselves.

    Alexandra Allam, 17, likes to buy brand-name products. "I'd rather spend the extra money getting something I know I'll be satisfied with." she says. Her friend Emmy Swan agrees, saying "As long as you can afford it, it seems reasonable to buy what you want." But not all teenagers agree. "Spending hundreds of dollars for designer is stupid and unreasonable," says Daniel Steinbrecher, 16. "It's fake（假的）happiness."

    People who are against wearing expensive brand names say that many designer brands aren't any better. "It's wasteful to buy things just because they are popular." says Edmund Williams, 15. "You'll feel better if you buy things because you like them. If you have extra money to spend, it would be better to give it to people in need."

    An international group of coffee experts has considered Ethiopia's coffee as the best in the world. Coffee is a top export of the country. But at home, it is seen as national pride. Ethiopians feel good about their coffee, and enjoying a drink with friends is a long tradition.

    International coffee experts travel the world to find the best coffee. They keep returning to Ethiopia. Some people say the climate produces quality beans. Morton Wenner is a coffee importer. He said, “Ethiopia has different ancient types of coffee. They are planted in places with perfect soil, perfect altitude, and climates that are really suitable for coffee processing, such as drying and things like that.”

    Finding the best quality beans is often an issue of taste. The process is known as cupping — tasting and comparing coffee from different roasted beans, grading and then pricing them.

    But before international experts come to taste, coffee beans are studied in small coffee laboratories. Helen Assefa, a lab technician, describes the process, “When the coffee comes to the lab, we assess its quality first by recording the details. Then we weigh the wetness level and screen the beans for analysis. After that we polish the coffee beans and taste the samples. At the end we check for imperfect beans.”

    Ethiopia is making big profits on its coffee reputation by exporting coffee to more than 120 countries. The country has an export income of more than $840 million a year. But not all the best coffee leaves Ethiopia. Forty percent of the coffee grown in the country stays there. It remains an important part of everyday life at work, at home and at ceremonies just to celebrate that special cup.

The urgency and importance of Covid-19 over (he past year have driven almost everything else from most leaders5 minds. But since the vaccine is kicking in, Britain's government is once again beginning to think about the things that will matter later. Next week, it is expected to publish a 'plan for growth" to boost productivity, with innovation at its centre.

The world may be on the point of a technological boom with life sciences, at which Britain excels. Innovation is crucial to productivity, but on this front Britain's performance has lagged behind its competitors' in recent years. Its low spending on Research and Development (R&D) argues for a boost. Those who attributed the financial failure in the 1970s to the insufficiency of research funds may regard this as a threat to economic growth. Promoting innovation can quickly (um into an exercise in picking winners - or, as is more often the case, losers.

A second danger is that policy agendas get mixed up. The government has promised to "level up" poorer areas of the country, so deprived towns arc campaigning for more money for their universities. But trying to boost innovation by sending money to weak institutions is likely to make our leading universities lose their advantages, thus producing average ideas that could have been remarkable. Britain's research-funding system has always been elitist(精英主义的). It should stay that way.

The government's first move in boosting innovation was the announcement of a plan for an Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA). ARlA's purpose is to fund high-risk, high-reward research. But money is not all that mailers. The successful translation of life science research into treatments during the pandemic suggests some inexpensive measures that can also make a difference.

One is to speed up governmental processes. The rapidity with which Britain's medical regulator moved during the pandemic is one reason why the vaccine rollout is racing through the population. Urgency is not unique lo pandemics. Getting things done quickly can make an investment worthwhile and determine where a businessman chooses as a base.

Another useful measure the government should use is its unique ability to overcome barriers. At the beginning of the pandemic. Covid-19 researchers were unable to gain access to different strands of health service data. The government eased restrictions on existing data and allowed researchers to ask people who had tested positive tor Covid-19 to join trials. Both were crucial to the effort.

A last principle is the value of connections between the government and the private sector. Kate Bingham, a venture capitalist who led the vaccine-purchase effort, understood how to deal with drug companies. Many of the civil servants working with her had commercial experience. The governments closeness to business during the pandemic has been criticized. But without it, the vaccine effort would not have succeeded.

Innovation took human beings from caves to computers. Good education, a welcoming immigration policy and a friendly business environment will do most to tend it. But a new sensible principles can help keep the flame burning.