The behaviour of a building's users may be at least as important as its design when it comes to energy use, according to new research from the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC). The UK promises to reduce its carbon emissions (排放）by 80 percent by 2050, part of which will be achieved by all new homes being zero-carbon by 2016. But this report shows that sustainable building design on its own — though extremely important- is not enough to achieve such reductions: the behaviour of the people using the building has to change too.

    The study suggests that the ways that people use and live in their homes have been largely ignored by existing efforts to improve energy efficiency (效率)，whichinstead focus on architectural and technological developments.

     ‘Technology is going to assist but it is not going to do everything,'explains Katy Janda, a UKERC senior researcher，‘consumption patterns of building users can defeat the most careful design. 'In other words，old habits die hard, even in the best-designed eco-home.

    Another part of the problem is information. Households and bill-payers don't have the knowledge they need to change their energy-use habits. Without specific information，it's hard to estimate the costs and benefits of making different choices. Feedback (反馈） facilities, like smart meters and energy monitors，could help bridge this information gap by helping people see how changing their behaviour directly affects their energy use; some studies have shown that households can achieve up to 15 percent energy savings using smart meters.

    Social science research has added a further dimension (方面），suggesting that individuals'behaviour in the home can be personal and cannot be predicted 一 whether people throw open their windows rather than turn down the thermostat (恒温器) , for example. Janda argues that education is the key. She calls for a focused programme to teach people about buildings and their own behaviour in them.

    Most nations have at least one type of food that people from other countries think is unusual or unethical（不道德的）to eat. In France, people eat horse meat and frog legs. In South Korea and parts of China, restaurants serve dog meat. And in Australia, it's common to cook kangaroo meat on the barbecue and use emu（鸸鹋）eggs to make pancakes.

    The kangaroo and emu are native to Australia. Both animals are important to the national image of Australia and appear on the Australian coat of arms. They're also central figures in the history of the indigenous（土生土长的）Australian Aboriginals（土著人）. However, Aboriginal tribes still hunt these animals for their meat, fur and fat.

    Today, Australian people continue to eat these animals. One of the reasons people eat kangaroo meat is that it's high in protein and low in fat, so eating kangaroo is a good option for anyone on a diet. It's also cheaper to eat kangaroo meat than other red meats. Because of this, a lot of university students choose to buy kangaroo meat. BBC News also reported that Australian scientists believe that eating kangaroo meat is good for the environment--kangaroos have different digestive systems than cows and sheep, meaning they produce less methane（甲烷），the second biggest contributor to global warming.

    While emu meat is high in iron and vitamin C, most people don't think it tastes good. For this reason, they prefer emu eggs. One egg is large enough to make seven omelettes（煎蛋）. And while it's illegal to collect emu eggs from the wild, they can be bought from emu farms. Rather than cracking the beautiful dark shell, it's better to drain it by putting a small hole at each end and blowing. Afterwards, you can even carve a design into the eggshell.

    Several months ago, I attended the opening event for a new children's literacy (读写能力) campaign at the Burbank Library in California. The campaign is called Marvel Comics Close- Up, aimed at using comic books to encourage kids to read. Disney and Marvel donated 210,000 books to libraries and schools across the country.

    Stars from Disney XD participated. They read Spider-Man comic books to 70 kids from Boys & Girls Clubs in southern California. The stars included Drake Bell (Ultimate Spider-Man), Dylan Riley Snyder (Kickin' it), Olivia Holt (Kickin' It) and Coie Jenson (Crash & Bernstein).

    Drake Bell said that the Marvel reading campaign is aimed at kids who are bored with books, believing comic books are the answer for kids who say they'd rather play video games. “Comic books really get you into the story,” he told TFK(Time For Kids). “They are not just words or pictures on a page.”

    Dylan Riley Snyder knows from his experiences that comic books have the power to inspire kids' imagination. His mom was a teacher and she used comic books to interest students who thought they weren't interested in reading. Dylan attended these classes. He would read the comic books and draw the characters along with the students. “It was a great way for these kids to start to enjoy reading,” Dylan said. “That's how I got interested in reading too. Now I can share my love for comic books with others through the Marvel Comics Close-Up program.”

    David Levine is the Vice President of Disney XD Worldwide. He said great stories and great characters, like Spider-Man and The Avengers, were key to making reading fun. “Reading can encourage you to explore new things and take you to all sorts of exciting places,” he told TFK.

    Exhibitions in the British Museum

    Hokusai: beyond the Great Wave

    Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) is widely regarded as one of Japan's most famous and influential artists.He produced works of astonishing quality right up until his death at the age of 90.This new exhibition will lead you on an artistic journey through the last 30 years of Hokusai's life—a time when he produced some of his most memorable masterpieces.

    25 May—13 August 2017

    Room 35

    Adults￡12,Members/under 16s free

    Places of the mind: British watercolour landscapes 1850-1950

    Drawn from the British Museum's rich collection,this is the first exhibition devoted to landscape drawings and watercolours by British artists in the Victorian and modern eras—two halves of very different centuries.

    23 February—27 August 2017

    Room 90

    Free, just drop in

    Scythians: warriors of ancient Siberia

    This major exhibition explores the story of the Scythians—nomadic tribes and masters of mounted warfare, who flourished between 900 and 200 BC. Their encounters with the Greeks, Assyrians and Persians were written into history but for centuries all trace of their culture was lost—buried beneath the ice.

    14 September 2017—14 January 2018

    Room 30

    Adults￡16.50,Members/under 16s free

    Politics and paradise: Indian popular prints from the Moscatelli Gift

    This display is part of the Museum's contribution to the India-UK Year of Culture 2017.It looks at the popular print culture of India from the 1880s until the 1950s.

    19 July—3 September 2017

    Room 90a

    Free,just drop in

    Wolves travel shorter distances and move slower during snowfall events, according to new research by University of Alberta biologists. The effects were most pronounced at night, when wolves hunt, and behaviour returned to normal within a day. Wolf tracks across snow in northeastern Alberta.

    "Our findings suggest that there is something about actively falling snow that causes wolves to slow down," said Amanda Droghini, a former MSc student in the Department of Biological Science and lead author on the study. "We don't know the exact mechanism behind that. It's unlikely that they were staying still because they were feasting on a recent kill. Instead, active precipitation(降雪量)might affect wolves' hunting abilities. Like rain, snow clears the air column of scent molecules. So, maybe falling snow makes it harder for wolves to detect the smell of prey."

    Over the course of two winters, the researchers used remote cameras to disclose snowfall events and estimate snow depth. To study wolf movement, they collected telemetry(测距仪) data from 17 wolves to calculate travel speed and duration, as well as resting periods. It is the first study to examine how large flesh-eating animals respond to snowfall events.

    With the effects of climate change on precipitation in the north forest region uncertain, it is difficult to predict the implications for wolf populations. Studies such as these increase our understanding of how large mammals react to normal snowfall events, but the type and amount of winter precipitation will likely have an impact on animal behavior and the energetic cost of movement.

    "Winter is already challenging for many wildlife species because moving through snow requires more energy. Snow can also make it harder for animals to access food resources," said Droghini, who conducted the research under the supervision of Professor Stan Boutin, Alberta Biodiversity Conservation Chair.

    "Anything that increases those costs, such as increased rain-on-snow events, could lead to lacking in nutrition, poor body condition, and even starvation as animals are unable to make up for those additional costs. That is one of the worst-case scenarios(设想)but, in truth, we know very little about potential changes to precipitation patterns and how wildlife will respond to those changes."

    D. Mike Miles hadn't had a stable job in years. He bounced around from temporary agency to temporary agency, never sure when his last day would be. Sometimes, he lost a job with less than a day's notice. This was not due to a poor work ethic (职业道德) - from arriving early to staying late, Miles said he did everything he could to leave good impressions on employers in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the US. But because Miles had a criminal record, he was always cut loose when it was time to let staff go.

    "It was like walking on eggshells. You just never knew when you'd be gone," he said.

    After his release from prison in 2007, Miles struggled to find stability – both mentally and financially. During this time, he lived in his mother's house and she helped him raise his daughter. When his mom passed away two years later, Miles said he became more determined than ever to create a healthy environment for his family.

    "I'm all she has, and she's all I have," he said. "I had to build a whole new relationship with my daughter, while building a whole new life for myself."

    It wasn't until October 2015, nearly a decade after he got out of prison, that a cousin told Miles about a food company that hires people who have difficulty finding jobs.

    Hoping this would clear up what felt like a thick cloud of uncertainty over his future, Miles submitted an application. He got an interview and soon after that, began his new job. His work involves everything from food production to maintenance (保存), not to mention it pays a livable wage of $15 an hour. He said it's the best job he's ever had.

    Miles' story is rare in Lancaster, where the poverty rate is around 30 percent – about double the national average. This figure annoyed Charlie Crystle, the co-founder and CEO of the company that gave Miles his job.

    Crystle said he wanted to inspire other companies and entrepreneurs (企业家) to rethink their current practices and ignite(引发)conversations about minimum wage and employment opportunities for everyone, including ex-offenders (有犯罪前科的人).

    Beyond providing employment and livable wages, the company also helps employees deal with the many challenges of reentry into society. This means anything from helping them find housing and health benefits to changing their schedules.

    Miles is now saving for a house. "It doesn't have to be a big house," he said. "I just want to be stable."