Researchers have discovered the first Earth-sized planet. It was first marked by NASA's Kepler telescope(望远镜) so it's called Kepler-186f. It lies about 500 light years from Earth and goes around its star. The planet is the right distance from its star for water: not too close or not too far. Water is one important condition that scientists guess is necessary for life. So it could have water and possible life. It's called a true Earth cousin.

"This planet is an Earth cousin, not an Earth twin," said Barclay, who is among a team of scientists reporting on the discovery in the magazine Science this week.

"It's very exciting to find a planet similar to the Earth," Barclay said, "It's not easy work because things change as we get more measurements."

Scientists don't know anything about the air of Kepler-186f, but it will be a task for future telescopes which can study for chemicals that have something to do with life.

    "It's possible for life to live in this planet, but that doesn't mean there is life in it," Barclay said.

So far, scientists have found nearly 1,800 planets in the universe.

"The past year has seen a lot of progress in the search for Earth-like planets. Kepler-186f is very important because it is the first planet that is the same temperature and is almost the same size as Earth," scientist David Charbonneau wrote in an email.

    Today some people call Amsterdam the "City of Bicycles" because it is a city which is flat and convenient（方便）for bicycles.

    In the 1960s, a group of cycling fans1an idea . They believed that it would be better for everybody if only bicycles were allowed in the city centre. They were2that this would help to save energy, reduce pollution and provide free public transport. The group painted hundreds of bicycles3and placed them in public places around Amsterdam for people to use.4was allowed to take them and use them for short journeys, whether he was a local or a foreigner, Wherever someone finished a journey, they would5the bike there for someone else to use. The problem was that it didn't work-thieves took all the bicycles6 weeks!

    7,more than thirty years later, the "white bike" is back in town-this time with a computer chip(芯片)to8 its every move! To take a bicycle, you have to put a special card inside. The new "White bike" is not white any more but is an unusual9with bright colours. The bikes are parked at special parking places and people who want to use them have to take them to another place that has enough room.

    There is already less traffic in central Amsterdam, 10 both locals and tourists have been using the white bikes. Thanks to the good ideas of lots of people, like the cycling fans in the 1960s, many people around the world have been enjoying city centre streets without cars for many years.

    Some days, don't you think, "Wouldn't it be nice if the laundry would just do itself?” Self-cleaning clothes may sound crazy. But Australian researchers have found a way to make something like this possible!

    A team at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, found a way to put special nanostructures (纳米结构) into clothing, which can then clean the clothes. When sunlight hits the nanostructures, they break down the dirt and stains (污渍) that don't belong on your clothes.

    The nanostructures don't break down the actual clothing because cotton and the other clothing materials are too strong to be broken down. According to CNN, the researchers cover the clothing in a solution made of silver and copper (铜) nanostructures. All it takes is 40 minutes of sunlight and your clothes will look as good as new.

    So if you spill on yourself during lunch, you can step outside for a walk, and it will be clean by the time you go inside. It not only makes your life easier, but it can also be good for the environment.

    According to the US Department of Energy, the average load of laundry uses about 25 gallons (about 94 liters) of water. Water is a very important resource, so using less of it to wash clothesis better for the environment. But one of the scientists at RMIT University knows more needs to be done.

    “There's more work to do before we can start throwing out our washing machines,” said Dr Rajesh Ramanathan, “but this is a strong foundation .”

    So what's the next step? Ramanathan wants to either start selling the solution by itself or convincing clothing makers to treat the clothing with the solution while clothes are being made.

    Do animals have a culture? What do we mean by "culture?" Lately social scientists have begun to ask if culture is found just in humans, or if some animals have a culture too. When we speak of culture, we mean a way of life a group of people have in common. Culture includes the beliefs and attitudes we learn. It is the patterns of behavior that help people to live together. It is also the patterns of behavior that make one group of people different from another group.

    Our culture lets us make up for having lost out strength, claws, long teeth, and other defenses. Instead we use tools, cooperate with one another, and communicate with language. But these aspects of human behavior, or "culture," can also be found in the lives of certain animals. Animals can make tools, for example. We used to think that the ability to use tools was the dividing line between human beings and other animals. Lately, however, we have found that this is not the case. Chimpanzees(非洲小猩猩) can not only use tools but actually make tools themselves. Animals can also share knowledge with each other and use their own language to communicate. So it may be important for us to know that the line dividing us from animals is not as clear as we used to think.

    A 22-year old British student has invented a mobile fridge that could save millions of lives across the world.

    Will Broadway's "Isobar" has been designed to keep vaccines(疫苗) at the ideal temperature while they are being sent in developing countries. And Will doesn't plan to make money from his creation. His purpose is to get vaccines to people who need them, which is why he won't be trying to get a patent(专利). Will's Isobar has won him the James Dyson Award that challenges young people to "design something that solves a problem".

    Present methods of transporting vaccines can lead to the vaccines freezing(冻住) before reaching their places in developing countries, but the Isobar keeps a temperature of 2 to 8 degrees for 30 days.

    Will's invention is expected to save the lives of 1.5 million people across the world, a number he says is "amazing". Having now finished college education, he is making an effort to take the Isobar into production. "I would be hands-on, all the way through it, knowing that it works," he says. "It's amazing to just give it a go, even in my back yard, and see the potential(潜能) of the technology."

    The product has been designed to transport vaccines, but already Will sees the possibility of other medical uses in the developing world and beyond. "Blood donations, organ transplants(器官移植)- if they get trapped in traffic, you still use cold bags that really aren't good enough for a long time," he says.

    There is also a possible, non-medical use of the Isobar. "It would be a great thing to take on a five-day trip where you have no power," he says. But he insists vaccine transportation is the primary function(功能) of his invention.