If you are sitting, please stand up. Move your legs. Touch your toes if you can. Do anything but sit. New research shows that if you cut down on the time you spend sitting, you might live longer. Sitting less than three hours a day might extend your life by two years. Cutting television time to less than two hours a day can add one point four years to life.

    The human body is designed to move. The fact is just the opposite. Modern lifestyles and office jobs rarely give us the chance to move around. We sit while we're eating; we sit in the car; we sit while we are watching TV. And most of us sit for many hours at work. Sitting is something we do all the time. On average, Americans sit for four and a half to five hours a day. But that does not make sitting good for us.

    Though you may exercise often, that does not mean you can sit for the rest of your waking hours. We can't throw away physical activity. It is extremely important. Even if you exercise for 30 minutes a day, what goes on in the other 23 and a half hours a day is also very important.

    Changes are coming to some offices, especially in the design of desks. A “standing desk” lets people stand while they work. Another new design is called the “treadmill desk”. It is an exercise machine that lets you walk slowly in one place. Even some U.S. schools begin to experiment with desks that are part bicycle to keep children moving.

    Many companies may not buy a standing desk for everybody. However, they may get five standing desks or a treadmill desk for their employees and put them in a certain place where people can go for an hour a day to answer their emails or talk on the phone. Experts suggest some other activities: take a walk at lunchtime; walk to the offices and talk directly instead of emailing colleagues. All these activities may help you live longer.

    I really love my job because I enjoy working with small children and like the challenges and awards from the job. I also think my work is important. There was a time when I thought I would never have that sort of career.

    I wasn't an excellent student because I didn't do much schoolwork. In my final term I started thinking what I might do and found I didn't have much to offer. I just accepted that I wasn't the type to have a career.

    I then found myself a job, looking after two little girls. It wasn't too bad at first. But the problems began when I agreed to live in, so that I would be there if my boss had to go out for business in the evening. We agreed that if I had to work extra hours one week, she'd give me time off the next. But unfortunately, it didn't often work out. I was getting extremely tired and fed up, because I had too many late nights and early mornings with the children.

    One Sunday, I was in the park with the children, and met Megan who used to go to school with me. I told her about my situation. She suggested that I should do a course and get a qualification if I wanted to work with children. I didn't think I would be accepted because I didn't take many exams in school. She persuaded me to phone the local college and they were really helpful. My experience counted for a lot and I got on a part-time course. I had to leave my job with the family, and got work helping out at a kindergarten.

    Now I've got a full-time job there. I shall always be thankful to Megan. I wish I had known earlier that you could have a career, even if you aren't top of the class at school.

    Being mistreated at work can out their negative emotions on loved ones at home. But a new study suggests that getting more exercise and sleep may help people better pope with them by, leaving them at work where they belong.

    Previous research shows that employees who are looked down on or insulted by colleagues are likely, go express their frustrations and behave angrily toward people outside of work, says study co-author Shannon Taylor, a management professor at the University of Central Florida's College of Business.

    The new study backs up this idea, but offers a bit of good news as well: Employees who averaged more than 10.500, steps a day or burned at least 2, 100 calories were less likely to mistreat their cohabitants than those who averaged fewer steps of burned fewer calories.

    The findings also revealed that when employees felt they had a bad night's sleep because of work issues, they, were more likely to be grouchy at home. “When you're tired, you're either less able or less motivated to regulate yourself” says co-author Larissa Barber, a professor of psychology at Northern Illinois University.

    Physical activity seems to counterbalance poor sleepy, Barber says, because it promotes healthy brain functions needed to properly regulate emotions and behaviors. “This study suggests that high amounts of exercise can be at least one way to improve the situations brought by sleep troubles that lead to negative behaviors at home,” she says.

    Barber acknowledges that finding time to work out and get a full night's sleep can be difficult when work pressure is mounting, and that often, job stress can be directly related to sleep quality. But, she says, making the effort to burn some extra calories and blow off some steam can be worth it. It's not only good for you, says Taylor,/ but it can benefit the people you live with as well.

    From July to October every year, about a quarter of the world's blue whales feed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. But the whales currently face a major threat in their favorite feeding area. Ships carrying cargo （货物）sail in the same area at the same time. All too often, the whales' paths and the ships' travel lines overlap (重叠), and a ship will hit a whale.

    According to a new study, these ship strikes have become a serious threat to the overall population of the world's blue whales. Only about 10,000 of the creatures still exist worldwide. Blue whales are the largest known animals ever to live on Earth. Even so, if hit by a container ship, a blue whale will likely die from its injuries.

    In 2007 alone, large ships killed five blue whales in the waters off San Francisco and Los Angeles, California. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says that because there are so few whales already, losing three to five from the California whale population every year is a significant loss. "The estimated population of blue whales in this part of the Pacific is 2,500", says Sean Hastings, a NOAA analyst. "So every whale counts toward this species moving off the endangered-species list."

    Now, marine scientists must figure out how to protect the whales from the giant container ships. One very simple program is already under way in the Santa Barbara Channel, a waterway that separates mainland California from the nearby Channel Islands.

    The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary has asked large container ships passing through the area to voluntarily slow down. Sailing slower will allow the ships crew （船员）more time to change course before hitting a whale.

    Several of the world's largest shipping lines are set to participate in the new program. For every ship that passes through the Santa Barbara Channel at or below the reduced speed of 12 knots （海里/小时）, the company that owns the ship will be paid $2,500.

Singapore researchers say they have developed a form of electronic skin that can create a sense of touch. They hope their invention will give people with prosthetic hands (假肢手) the ability to identify different objects.

The skin device measures 1 square centimeter. The system contains 100 small sensors that attempt to recreate things like texture (质地), temperature and even pain. The researchers call the device Asynchronous Coded Electronic Skin, or ACES, which can process information faster than humans' nervous system. Machine learning methods trained the device to recognize 20 to 30 different textures. It can even correctly read Braille letters most of the time, the researchers say.

The system does not require the users' movement to work. Humans need to slide to feel texture. But in this case the skin, with just a single touch, is able to detect textures of different roughness.

A demonstration showed that the device could identify the difference between a soft ball and a solid plastic one. "When you lose your sense of touch, you essentially become numb and prosthetic users face that problem, " said Benjamin Tee, leader of the research team. "So by recreating an artificial version of the skin, for their prosthetic devices, they can hold a hand and feel the warmth and feel that it is soft."

Tee said his idea for the device came from the movie Star Wars, when character Luke Skywalker loses his right hand and it is replaced with a robotic one. In the film, the new hand is able to experience touch sensations just like the real one.

The artificial skin technology is still going through experiments and development. But Tee said there had already been a lot of interest in the system, especially from the medical community. Tee said similar inventions that his team has developed include see-through skin that can repair itself when torn and a material for wearable electronic devices that gives off light.

Summer reading

Finding Junie Kim

by Ellen Oh

Middle schooler Junie Kim is facing bullying (欺凌) at school, but she keeps quiet. Then, for a school project, Junie interviews her grandparents, who grew up in Korea during wartime in the 1950s. In their story of struggle, Junie finds the courage to speak up. The book will encourage any kid who has ever been in Junie's shoes.

Simon B. Rhymin'

by Dwayne Reed

Simon is starting fifth grade and wants everyone to call him Notorious D. O. G. because he wants to be a famous rapper (说唱歌手). But he's shy about using his voice to express his thoughts. When a teacher asks the class to give a talk, Simon must face his fears. Simon B. Rhymin' is a great book that will give confidence to readers who are going through similar struggles.

A Shot in the Arm!

by Don Brown

A Shot in the Arm! is a novel about the history of vaccines (疫苗). Readers learn how vaccines have been used throughout history to fight disease. The author also introduces people around the world who helped with the development of vaccines. A Shot in the Arm! is an exciting read that uses colorful drawings to pull the reader in.

The One Thing You'd Save

by Linda Sue Park

If your house were on fire, what one thing would you save? Writer Linda Sue Park explores different answers to this question in poems that show the different voices of a middle school class. Some choose baseball cards or toy animals. One picks a sweater that was passed down for generations. The book is illustrated (给……作插图) with black-and-white art. Readers of all ages will like this book. It helps you realize what matters most.