“A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with asmart phone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website” is the definitionof “selfie” in the Oxford English Dictionary. In fact, it wasn't even in thedictionary until August of last year. It earned its place there because peopleare now so obsessed with (对……痴迷) selfies ─ wetake them when we try on a new hat, play with our pets or when we meet a friendwhom we haven't seen in a while.

But is there any scientific explanation for this obsession?Well, you should probably ask James Kilner, a neuroscientist(神经系统科学家) atUniversity College London.

Through our lifetime we become experts at recognizing andinterpreting other people's faces and facial expressions. In contrast,according to Kilner, we have a very poor understanding of our own faces sincewe have little experience of looking at them ─ we just feel them most of thetime.

This has been proved in previous studies, according to the BBC.

Kilner found that most people chose the more attractive picture.This suggests that we tend to think of ourselves as better-looking than weactually are. To further test how we actually perceive our own faces,Kilner carried out another study. He showed people different versions of theirown portrait ─ the original, one that had been edited to look less attractiveand one that was made more attractive ─ and asked them to pick the versionwhich they thought looked most like them. They chose the more attractiveversion.

But what does it say about selfies? Well, isn't that obvious?Selfies give us the power to create a photograph ─ by taking it from variousangles, with different poses, using filters (滤色镜) and so on ─that better matches our expectations with our actual faces.

“You suddenly have control in a way that you don't have innon-virtual(非虚拟的)interactions," Kilner told the Canada-based CTV News. Selfies allow you“to keep taking pictures until you manage to take one you're happy with”, heexplained.

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

    UBC Professor Simard explains how trees are much more complex than most of us ever imagined .Although Charles Darwin thought that trees are competing for survival of the fittest, Simard shows just how wrong he was. In fact, the opposite is true: trees survive through their co-operation and support, passing around necessary nutrition “depending on who needs it”.

    Nitrogen（氮） and carbon are shared through miles of underground fungi（真菌） networks, making sure that all trees in the forest ecological system give and receive just the right amount to keep them all healthy. This hidden 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 affects all.

    Simard talks about “mother trees”, usually the largest and oldest plants on which all other trees depend .She explains how dying trees pass on the wealth to the next generation, transporting important minerals to young trees so they may continue to grow .When humans cut down “mother trees” with no awareness of these highly complex “tree societies” or the networks on which they feed, we are reducing the chances of survival for the entire forest.

    “We didn't take any notice of it .” Simard says sadly. “Dying 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.

    People in developed countries are increasingly suffering from illnesses resulting from overeating. While starvation and hunger are still big problems in many poor countries in the world, more than 25 percent of the population in America and other western countries are obese. This doesn't just mean you are a little bit fat. It means you are more than 20 kilos overweight.

    Dr. John Colon from Ohio State University says the problem is only going to get worse.” As more women have gone out to work, you find that parents in general have less time to spend on preparing food. That's not just cooking, but also planning what to eat, doing the shopping and buying the fresh food. Families, therefore, increasingly rely on ready-made and frozen meals, which tends to be high in fat and contain a lot of additives(materials added to food to improve its taste) and sugar. The other thing is that parents seem to feel guilty about not spending so much time with their kids, so they tend to give more quickly to children's demands for things like sweets and chocolate.”

    Ben Brown. Who is a British Member of Parliament, blames the big food companies. He wants to ban any food advertising that is aimed at children. "The problem is that these companies spend millions of pounds selling food to children. It's all crisps (薯片) in the shape of dinosaurs and chocolate in the shape of Mickey Mouse. I meanwhat's going to be more fun to an sight-year-old —an ice cream with a free toy or an apple?"

    One food company thinks it has an answer to this: it has invented cheese-flavored cabbage and chocolate-flavored carrots. It developed the "Whacky Veg" with money donated by a cancer research charity, which found that a diet containing lots of fruit and vegetables helps reduce cancer. However, today's sweet-toothed kids need to be bribed(贿赂)into a healthy diet, and will only cat their greens if they taste different.

    It is true that summer is hot. But here is something to make your day easier. Are you prepared? Meet the new AirFreez— an alternative to traditional Air Conditioners that cools you just the same!

    How does it work?

    It is surprisingly easy to set up! You just need to plug it into a socket(插座)OR any USB port (it uses so little energy that it can even run off of a phone or laptop battery).

    Once you have done that, simply fill it with 20oz/0. 6L of cold tap water.

    Now just press the power button and the instant cool air is here!

    What is so special about this little box?

    It is no larger than a lunchbox. It can be powered by a pocket solar panel（电池板）or battery pack and you probably have the world's first and most portable AC unit.

    Bad sleepers are putting the AirFreez next to their beds at night. The relaxing blow of cool, clean air, the comforting soft night light and the quiet create the perfect sleeping conditions!

    The price is just amazing. Most AC units cost at least $ 300+ AND you have to pay more to cover the expensive electricity bills each month. AirFreez costs less than $ 100 (actually $ 53 if you buy more than one here).

    Top Tips:

    To make your air even cooler—add a bottle of cold tap water from your refrigerator or even ice!

    For a beautiful relaxing atmosphere—add a few drops of fragrant oils to the water!

When it comes to helping students learn and mature, there are several ways to increase their well-being. Although your children may be succeeding in the classroom, there are a few things that you still can do.

Encouraging physical activity is the first thing you can do. More and more children do not participate in sports after school. It's important for you to encourage mobility with sports played after class. You should find sports equipment, basketball courts and play areas where kids can increase their well-being. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Secondly, you can provide proper nutrition for your children. It's important for your children to receive proper nutrition both inside and outside of the home. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}You'd better make it a point to provide enough nutrition for their proper development and growth.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Many parents fail to stop children from using smartphones and computers. There are some institutions that even encourage too much screen time as a way to teach children or keep them entertained. You should help the children remain excited without sitting in front of a screen throughout the day.

Last but not least, monitoring bullying(欺凌) is also an essential part. Bullying continues to remain a common problem in some schools, making it important that the environment that your children grow in holds a high standard.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

It's important to examine the school life as a whole to determine what factors are missing. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}You may determine how well they adjust to the world around them and succeed in life.

A. You should provide kids with fresh food.

B. Besides, you'd better limit their screen time.

C. It will encourage children to focus on their study.

D. In addition, try your best to give them more freedom.

E. This will reduce the risk of health conditions that include obesity.

F. You can advise teachers to keep a practice of looking for bullying.

G. Parents play a significant role in children's growth and well-being.

I didn't go to Santiago, Chile to look for friendship. In fact, Chile was not even on my wish list.

A mid-life crisis woman, I got a chance to study abroad. I only wanted to learn about global business, taste South American cuisine, and check "study abroad" off my wish list.

On the fifth day, I joined a group for a neighborhood work project aided by the anti-poverty (扶贫) organization. Our tasks were to build a water tower and paint the community center. Upon arrival, I couldn't believe my eyes. It was like a scene out of a horrible film. That moment redefined poverty for me because I had never seen such terrible living conditions. As advised, I showed no signs of the motional battle going on inside me.

Just as I was about to start work on painting, a request came through for a few volunteers to help Nadia, a local resident who volunteered to cook for us. I raised my hand to help because I wanted spend time with the people of the neighborhood despite my shortage of Spanish speaking skills.

Nadia had a sincere smile but not overly friendly. Even without speaking each other's language we started to learn about one another. We chatted about our children, our upbringing, shared picture of our family, struggled to instruct each other to communicate in the other's language, and laugh many times.

After we fed everybody and the dishes were washed, my day was over. But I found myself hesitant to leave. It was as if I had known her my entire life. I had not predicted the unselfishness heart I would encounter, and it was moving.

As we were waiting for the car to pick us up, Nadia showed me her plants that are well-maintains. I could see that despite the hard conditions she was passionate about life. She made me long to be stronger person. She showed me that poverty was external, but happiness was internal. I was seeking to give 100 percent for a well-intentioned cause, but I left receiving 200 percent from her.