Ireland，Japan，Chinascientists share the 2015 Nobel Prize for medicine．WilliamCampbell，Satoshi Omuraand Tu Youyou jointly won the prize for their work against diseases，theaward-giving body said on Monday．

Tu Youyou, a scientist at the China Academy of Chinese MedicalSciences, has no postgraduate degree. She has never studied or done researchabroad. She is neither a member of the Chi­nese Academy of Sciences nor theChinese Academy of Engineering. However, the 81-year-old phar­macologist hasbecome the first scientist on the Chinese mainland to win a Lasker Award, themedical prize of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation.

The Lasker Awards have existed since 1945. Tu was presented the2011 Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award on September 23. She discovered adrug called artemisinin . The drug is now widely used against malaria .

Tu and her colleagues joined a government project to find a newmalaria drug in the late 1960s during the "cultural revolution"(1966-76).  They made 380 herbal extractsfrom 200 potential recipes. The recipes came from traditional Chinese medicalbooks. The team then tested them on malaria-infected mice.  Finally Tu became interested in an extract ofthe plant qinghao, or sweet wormwood .

According to an ancient Chinese medicine book, qinghao was onceused to treat malaria. However, the extract they made in the lab didn't workwell. Maybe, thought Tu, the effective ingredient in qinghao was destroyed byhigh temperatures. Therefore, Tu tried to make the extract with an ether whichhas a much lower boiling point than water.

In 1971, after more than 190 failures, Tu finally got an extractthat was 100 percent effective against the malaria para­sites .The extract wascalled qinghaosu, later renamed artemisinin.

According to a statement on the Lasker Foundation website,during the past four decades, Tu's drug has saved millions of lives. It isespecially important for children in the poorest and least developed parts ofthe world. However, not many people knew of the scientist until she won theLasker Award this month.

Lasker Awards are known as "America's Nobels" for thereason that in the last two decades, 28 Lasker Prize winners have gone on toreceive the Nobel Prize, and 80 since 1945, according to Xinhua News Agency.

" The discovery of artemisinin is a gift to mankind fromtraditional Chinese medicine," Tu said when she received the a-ward."Continuous exploration and development of traditional medicine will,without doubt, bring more medicines to the world.

    The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) (儿科学) just released its updated guidelines for children's media use.

    The recommendations reflect what all parents know: children need less screen time, which indicates that they desperately need more free time to develop their imagination, a sense of wonder and discover their passion and purpose.

    Our children are over-stimulated, over-scheduled and under pressure to perform academically and beyond school. This weakens their ability to build creative thinking skills essential to self-discovery. Creativity occurs when kids have time for curiosity and exploration. With children spending up to eight hours a day on media devices and additional hours engaging in scheduled activities, opportunities for growth disappear.

    What we are not so sure about is how to get our kids to want the free, screenless time which we know will benefit them. It may sound counter-intuitive (违背直觉的) but today's kids need coaching to experience and discover the benefits of free time.

What came to parents easily a few decades ago has become a challenge for our generation. It's not that yesterday's parents knew more about child development; they simply had fewer choices. Boredom and relaxation were an inescapable part of daily life. Today, they mean, "I'm a bad parent and not doing enough to get my kid ahead."

    Recently, I had an eye-opening revelation while watching my 11-year-old daughter play in a softball game. I have six children and have attended dozens of such game. I know the drill—or thought I did. Families settled in for the day with lawn chairs, cold drinks and cousins. These brothers and sisters would gradually chat with each other. Games of catch and hide-and-seek began, and friendships were formed then. At crucial moments, the newfound friends turned their attention to the field to cheer on their teams.

    But that wasn't happening. Though there were at least 15 children by the sidelines (球场边线), I didn't hear any of them. They sat in silence using their individual tablets (平板电脑). Even with the score tied in the final inning (垒球比赛的一局), not a single child watched the game or spoke to each other. The situation was strange and revealing: Kids have more planned activities and passive entertainment at their fingertips than ever before, but less free time to dream, imagine and focus on what they truly love.

I understand that making time for "nothing" is difficult in a world where we are constantly worried our kids will fall behind if they aren't good at academics. But I refuse to sit back and watch this loss of childhood. We are taking back childhood. Imagination needs time and space to blossom.

If your kids are like mine, asking them to imagine will at the beginning be difficult. That's because they haven't developed the skills and muscle memory to make it second nature. I hope the AAP guidelines prompt all of us to set needed screen time limits for our children. Personally, I am practicing strategies to "develop imagination" in my children. Imagination, like a sport, requires practice, training, motivational speeches, rewards and extreme patience.

    I've learned that you have to make the choice if you want to get anywhere. If you just let other people decide what is going to happen for you, then all your goals and dreams may never be achieved.

    Everyone always says that studying abroad in college can change your life. I made the decision to experience it for myself during my junior year. I chose to study in the Dominican Republic. As it got closer to the deadline, an advisor told me I had received a scholarship from an alumni (校友) family foundation.

    During my first semester in the country I fell in love. I was becoming bilingual (双语的) but also learning so much about a new culture. I had begun working with a local grassroots organization, taking part in a project supporting an underdeveloped community just outside the city. My main role was to become aware of the issues facing populations such as these and support community education. I was in no way ready to leave this new life. I felt as if I needed more time to get what I wanted.

    As the next semester began, I realized again that I needed to take a chance. I got involved with a local boarding school for girls living in poverty. I first approached the head of the school to volunteer to teach music classes, asking for money from my college church. I could have never predicted the results of this small action. Another volunteer and I were able to put together a benefit (义演) to show off what the students had learned. We invited community members, friends and other students from local universities to support the girls. We also sold art that the students themselves had created to increase the funding (资助) of the arts program. I felt good when I left, knowing that I had laid the foundation for a good cause and bettered the lives of young girls.

    There will always be people that think they know what is best for you, but you ultimately know what you want in life. My time in the Dominican Republic changed my life by giving me the realization of how fortunate I am and the fact that there is always a chance to give back. You have to go after anything and everything you desire or there may be a missed opportunity. My trip to Santo Domingo taught me to take advantage of new possibilities.

    Blue Note Jazz Festival 2018

    Jul 1-30, 2018

    Location:

    Several locations in New York

    The Blue Note Jazz Festival in New York City is the city's most popular jazz festival and focuses on bringing big-name artists to small crowds and up-and-coming acts to the public. The event takes over 15 places across the city and includes 150 world-class performers. Past artists include Questlove, Michael Bolton and Aretha Franklin.

    Grant Park Music Festival 2018

    Jun 14-Aug 19, 2018

    Location:

    Jay Pritzker Pavilion, South Shore Cultural Center, & Harris Theater for Music and Dance | 201 East Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois

    Listening to classical music is said to improve your intelligence. Whether that's true or not, the Grant Park Music Festival will provide you with free, classical music, and you'd be smart to attend. The music at these concerts will leave you begging for more. It's free to attend, so come and enjoy some great music with your family and friends.

    Lake Park Friends Wonderful Wednesdays 2018

    Jun 21 – Jun 26, 2018

    Location:

    Lake Park | Milwaukee, Wisconsin

    Energy is way too contained(被抑制的)in an indoor music venue(场所). Let that energy go where it wants through a series of outdoor concerts with Lake Park Friends Wonderful Wednesdays. Wednesday is no longer the most boring day of the week. This time, there's something fun to do. A list of live music acts has made the middle of the week something too look forward to.

    YouthCUE Festival of Youth Choirs(合唱队)2018

    Aug 10- Aug 22 2018

    Location:

    Washing to National Cathedral | 3101 Wisconsin Ave NW Washing ton, DC

    YouthCUE Festival of Youth Choirs in Washington gives students the rare opportunity to perform in the Washington National Cathedral, a famous historic place. The festival is a showcase of student choirs from all over the country, accompanied(伴奏)by musicians from the local professional orchestra(管弦乐队).

    I was so fortunate today to be able to offer my love and help to an older lady at my local supermarket. I saw her standing there. I felt quite strange about such a situation.

    What was she looking at? As I looked, I found it was a "Shredded Pork Bun Meal Kit", which is a service that sends customers food ingredients and recipes for them to prepare their own fresh meals. "That's new," I thought. Then I watched as the lady began to dig into her handbag and tried to pull out one of the biggest magnifying glasses (放大镜) I had never seen in my whole life! "Oh, she can't read it," I realized.

    So I stood there and continued watching her. The voice in my mind often asks me to do the right thing. It told me to help her. But I argued back saying, "No. I won't offer help. It will only embarrass her and she is OK now anyway. She has the world's biggest magnifying glass to help her！"

    And I stood there longer. But the voice came back, "Help her, Nicole. Don't be embarrassed. Just do it. Offer your help." So I did it. I read and explained all the things that were included in that box. I read out the ingredients, the instructions on how to cook it and so on.

    She didn't end up buying it, but she was still quite grateful. I walked away knowing that I had helped her and made the right choice. Mostly, I had reminded her that people in this world still care about the old.

    She was seen. She was loved. And she mattered so much that a complete stranger took time to help her. And that stranger was me, a person who argued and didn't want to do so in the beginning.

    So grateful I am when I choose to listen to the voice in my heart. It is because of love. Love is all that ever really matters. I also get happiness through helping her.

    It doesn't matter when or how much a person sleeps, but everyone needs some rest to stay alive. That's what all doctors thought, until they heard about AI Herpin. AI Herpin, it was said, never slept, Could this be true? The doctors decided to see this strange man themselves.

    AI Herpin was 90 years old when the doctors came to his home in New Jersey. They thought for sure that he got some sleep of some kind. So they stayed with him and watched every movement he made. But they were surprised. Though they watched him hour after hour and day after day, they never saw Herpin sleeping, In fact, he did not even own a bed. He never needed one.

    The only rest that Herpin sometimes got was sitting in a comfortable chair and reading newspapers. The doctors were puzzled by this strange continuous sleeplessness. They found only one answer that might explain his condition. Herpin remembered some talk about his mother having been injured several days before he was born. But that was all. Was this the real reason? No one could be sure.

    Herpin died at the age of 94.