Last year, Claire Noble-Randall woke up at 5:30 am every morning. She had to catch two buses to arrive in time for first-period chemistry at Ingraham High School in Seattle, US.

    Ingraham starts at 8 am, but Noble-Randall often didn't go to sleep until after midnight. “It was really hard not to fall asleep in class,” she said.

Her mom solved the problem this year when she discovered that other parents had hired a private city tour bus to take their children to the school.

    “Now, she leaves the house at a much more reasonable time 7:10 in the morning…to catch the little tour bug at 7:23 am,” said her mother, Noelle Noble.

    That may be one way to help students get more sleep. But more than 3,300 people have signed an online petition (请愿) looking for a better solution from the Seattle school district. Those who have signed the petition want all high schools and middle schools to start no earlier than 8:30 am. Most of Seattle's high schools and middle schools start at 8 am or earlier.

    Later start times for teenagers is an idea that some parents around the nation, have wanted for years. They've provided plenty of scientific evidence that teenagers tend to be night owls and delayed start times improve their health, mood, attention, and, in some cases, learning.

    But attempts to delay start times for teenagers haven't worked. Coaches don't want late dismissals (放学) cutting into sports practices; community groups don't want to wait longer for gyms and fields and before- and after-school programs don't want to change their schedules.

    This time, however, they've got Seattle School Board. President Sharon Peaslee on their side. She herself is the mother of two high school students. Peaslee hopes other board members will pass her plan calling on the district to find a way to make the changes.

    The health of millions could be at risk because supplies of medicinal plants are being used up. These plants are used to make traditional medicine, including drugs to fight cancer. “The loss of medicinal plants is a quiet disaster,” says Sara Oldfield, secretary general of the NGO Botanic Gardens Conservation International.

    Most people worldwide rely on herbal (药草制的) medicines which are got mostly from wild plants. But some 15,000 of the 50,000 medicinal species are under threat of dying out, according to report from the international conservation group Plantlife. Shortages have been reported in China, India, Kenya, Nepal, Tanzania and Uganda.

    Over-harvesting does the most harm, though pollution and competition from invasive species (入侵物种) and habitat destruction all contribute. Businessmen generally harvest medicinal plants, not caring about sustainability (可持续性),” the Plantlife report says, “damage is serious partly because they have no idea about it, but it is mainly because such collection is unorganized”. Medicinal trees at risk include the Himalayan yew (紫衫) and the African cherry, which are used to treat some cancers.

    The solution, says the report's author, Alan Hamilton, is to encourage local people to protect these plants. Ten projects studied by Plantlife in India, Pakistan, China, Nepal, Uganda and Kenya showed this method can succeed. In Uganda, the project has kept a sustainable supply of low-cost cancer treatments, and in China a public-run medicinal plant project has been created for the first time.”

    “Improving health, earning an income and keeping cultural traditions are important in encouraging people to protect medicinal plants,” says Hamilton, “You have to pay attention to what people are interested in.”

Ghillean Prance, the former director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London, agrees that medicinal plants are in need of protection. “Not nearly enough is being done,” he told New Scientist. “We are destroying the very plants that are of most use to us.”

    You may need to give first aid. First aid is defined as the emergency care given to a sick or injured person. The goals of first aid are to prevent death and to prevent injuries from becoming worse.

    Each emergency condition is different. However, the following rules apply to any kind of emergency.

    Be aware of your limitations. Do not try to do more than you are able to. Nor should you do things if you are unfamiliar with them. Do what you can under the conditions at the time.

    Stay calm. Acting calmly will help the victim feel safe.

    Take a quick look to see if the victim is bleeding, and if there is a pulse.

    Keep the victim lying down and do not move him or her. You could make an injury worse if you move the victim.

    Take necessary emergency steps.

    Call for help or ask someone to make the EMS system (急救系统) start.

    Do not remove clothing unless you have to. If clothing must be removed, tear the clothes along the seams(线缝).

    Keep the victim warm. Cover the victim with a blanket. Coats and sweaters can be used if a blanket can not be found.

    Reassure (使…安心) the victim. Explain what is happening and that help has been called.

    Do not give the victim any food or fruits.

    Keep the bystanders (旁观者) away from the victim. Bystanders want to have a look, offer advice, and say something about the victim's condition. The victim may believe that the condition is worse than it really is.

    Food festivals are a common occurrence in the UK and take place in all sorts of places and at all sorts of times. Whatever your taste, there's a food festival to match -no matter how specialized.

    Meatopia

    This three-day, London-based festival takes place at the end of August and is a meat lover's paradise. In addition to a range of meat products, from burgers to steaks, attendees can listen to live music, watch butchery shows, and attend informal meat-based workshops.

    Vegfest

    If you prefer a festival that will help you meet your five a day, then Vegfest fest is for you. This vegan-friendly event takes place several times a year. Here you can enjoy a wide selection of freshly prepared vegetables, learn cooking tips and hear talks on nutrition to help you make the most of your plant-based search.

    The Marmalade Festival

    Held in Cumbria, this festival has been running for 13 years. It includes a competition to find the best homemade marmalade. There are thousands of entries from over 30 different countries across the globe.

    The Ginger (姜) and spice Festival

    The Ginger and spice Festival, held in Market Drayton, celebrates its town's historic connection to Robert Clive, who returned from India with ginger. Because of this, they specialize in baking gingerbread, but also sell a range of spices from mild to hot.

    The National Honey show

    It started in 1921 and is the largest event of its kind. This three-day event attracts over 2000 participants to their traditional competition and offers lectures and workshops on beekeeping and, of course, that syrupy golden honey.

    While people's tastes are different from each other, the UK has something to offer most people. From large-scale festivities, to the smaller gatherings, one thing is certain: people are passionate about their food. And while some of the products on offer might be strange to someone, when food is given that much attention, it's unlikely to leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth.

    At first, Michael Surrell didn't see the black smoke or flames shooting from the windows of his neighbors' home. Then they got a call from one of his daughters: "The house next door is on fire!" He went over and saw three women crying madly on their porch (门廊).

    "The baby's in the second floor!" one of the women cried. Though the fire department had been called, Surrell, then 64, bravely ran inside. "The baby" was Tiara Roberts, the woman's granddaughter and a playmate of Surrell's three youngest kids.

Entering the burning house was like "running into a bucket of black paint," Surrell says. The thick smoke caused him to stumble blindly around, burned his eyes, and made it impossible to breathe. The conditions would have been dangerous for anyone, but for Surrell, who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(慢性阻塞性肺病), they were life-threatening.

    Taking a deep breath, he moved around in the overwhelming darkness. Because the house had a similar layout to his, he found the stairs and made it to the second floor. Then he heard a soft but clear moan. Still unable to see, Surrell fell to his knees on the hot wood floor. He crawled toward the sound, feeling around for any sign of the girl. Finally, he touched something. A shoe, then an ankle. He pulled Tiara toward him, scooped her into his arms and stood. Turning, he fought through the smoke and ran blindly into the blackness…

    Surrell woke up in the hospital a couple of days later and spent over a week in the hospital. Tiara was released from the hospital after a few days. The fire worsened Surrell's pulmonary condition, and he feels the effects even two years later. As a result, he takes extra medication that helps open his airways. "It's a small price to pay," he says. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I wouldn't give it a second thought."

    Almost every second of every day an older adult falls in the United States. That's approximately 29 million falls per year and nearly 27, 000 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    Still in the stating stage, the Active Pelvis Orthosis (APO) system in Switzerland wants to make a lightweight, wearable exoskeleton (外骨骼) that could detect signs of balance loss and assist with balance recovery to keep the elderly wearer from falling, only when needed.

    Other exoskeletons, either in development or on the market today, assist with movement and make heavy objects feel lighter. Mobility-impaired people can walk again. But none of these devices predict what the wearer is going to do next and take measures to correct an unsteady move.

    The 3 kilogram (6.7 pound) exoskeleton was built entirely from scratch by the research team and is designed to be worn on the lower half of the body. A waistband connects to two movable carbon fiber braces (支架), each one positioned on the outer side of a leg. Tiny motors and so-called "adaptive oscillators" (适配振荡器) in the computer circuits use a special process to detect the, wearer's unique paces. That part takes just a few minutes.

    While wearing the exoskeleton, a person may feel the braces and the motors pushing slightly on their legs. If their paces go against normal, the motors create a force in the braces that cause them to stiffen up and push a little more strongly against the legs, which provides stability.

    In the next three years, the APO hopes to develop something that is commercially available.