Custom tattooed fish (纹身鱼) may be big sellers at markets, but an animal expert say it is a cruel and potentially lethal practice.

    In Laitai Flower and Fish Market near the Lufthansa Center in Beijing, four of over 20 fish stores sell marine ornamental fish that are tattooed using laser (激光) guns with beautiful images in order to make them more attractive to customers. Many people just love these kinds of fish, which gives them a unique visual impression. The price of these fish ranges from 50-100 yuan. Some customers are willing to pay an additional 100 yuan to have Chinese characters tattooed on to the fish. The most popular characters are “zhaocai” (attracting fortune) and “fu” (blessing). The color of tattooed fish won't fade away, and the fish can be cared for as regular fishes:

    But Ye Zhenjiang, a professor from the Ocean University of China, said “the practice would damage a fish's mackerel scale, which is its protective layer. Although I haven't done any research on the impact of the laser on mackerel scale, it is obvious that the mackerel scale may be infected or even destroyed under the exposure of laser,” Ye said. “It's like tattooing a human being's body, and it breaks the physiological balance of the fish and damages: the skin's protective surface, It may even cause death among fishes which have thin mackerel scale.”

    A specialist in aquatic(永生的) animal study surnamed Xu, from the Beijing Fisheries Research Institute, said, “We have no specific regulations to prevent fish from being tattooed. An official surnamed Bai from the Fishery Surveillance and Administration Bureau(FSAB), said there is no study showing that the laser threatened a fish's health. He said a regulation on small animal protection, to be passed in the near future, doesn't include regular aquatic animals. He said the institution is only responsible for aquatic animals that are on the verge of extinction. He said tattooed fish are mainly from south China's Guangdong province because Beijing does not have the laser technology to tattoo a fish.

    “It's too brutal to tattoo pictures or characters on fishes, even if it makes them more beautiful,” many tropical fish buyers told METRO yesterday. “We would never buy fish like that and we prefer them with natural beauty.”

    Remembering names is an important social skill. Here are some ways to master it.

Recite and repeat in conversation.

    When you hear a person's name, repeat it. Immediately say it to yourself several times without moving your lips. You could also repeat the name in a way that does not sound forced or artificial.

    Ask the other person to recite and repeat.

    You can let other people help you remember their names. After you've been introduced to someone, ask that person to spell the name mad pronounce it correctly for you. Most people will be pleased by the effort you're making to learn their names.

Admit you don't know.

    Admitting that you can't remember someone's name can actually make people relaxed. Most of them will feel sympathy if you say. “I'm working to remember names better. Yours is right on the tip of my tongue. What is it again?”

Use associations.

    Link each person yon meet with one thing you find interesting or unusual. For example，you could make a mental note: “Vicki Cheng—tall, black hair. ” To reinforce your associations, write them on a small card as soon as possible.

Limit the number of new names you learn at one time.

    When meeting a group of people, concentrate on remembering just two or three names. Free yourself from remembering every one. Few of the people in mass introductions expect you to remember their names. Another way is to limit yourself to learning just first names. Last names can come later.

Go early.

    Consider going early to conferences, parties and classes. Sometimes just a few people show upon time. That's fewer names for you to remember. And as more people arrive, you can hear them being introduced to others—an automatic review for you.

    I was never very neat, while my roommate Kate was extremely organized. Each of her objects had its place, but mine always hid somewhere. She even labeled(贴标签) everything. I always looked for everything. Over time, Kate got neater and I got messier. She would push my dirty clothing over, and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got tired of each other.

    War broke out one evening. Kate came into the room. Soon, I heard her screaming, “Take your shoes away! Why under my bed!” Deafened, I saw my shoes flying at me. I jumped to my feet and started yelling. She yelled back louder.

    The room was filled with anger. We could not have stayed together for a single minute without a phone call. Kate answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could tell right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she hung up, she quickly crawled(爬) under her covers, weeping. Obviously, that was something she should not go through alone. All of a sudden, a warm feeling of sympathy rose up in my heart,

    Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, made my bed, cleaned the socks and swept the floor, even on her side. I got so into my work that I even didn't noticed Kate had sat up. She was watching, her tears dried and her expression one of disbelief. Then, she reached out her hands to grasp mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me. “Thanks.”

    Kate and I stayed roommates for the rest of the year. We didn't always agree, but we learned the key to living together: giving in, cleaning up and holding on.

The World's Unusual Libraries

    Log Libraries

    Alex Johnson writes in his new book—Improbable Libraries,“ The very idea of a library is developing: many of these libraries operate on principles that differ mainly from the traditional libraries. Some, for example, have no membership or identification requirements, and some do not even request that the books be returned.” The oversized bird box in a park in Lowa is part of the Little Free Library Movement, which was established in Wisconsin in 2009.

Phone Booths

    This design from the firm, Stereotank, offers browsing shelter for passers-by. In the UK, a phone company's programme, allowing communities to take over their phone booth for £ 1— means that many have been changed into tiny local libraries. Meanwhile, a solar light has been set in a phone booth so that late night visitors can still read.

    Branches of Knowledge

    Didier Muller's libraries operate as hanging libraries: visitors can look through pages, taking any book they choose and exchanging it with their own. The equipment of hanging wooden houses is one of several art projects serving as a booklover's place.

    Soundproofed Pods

    Around the world, architects are designing buildings that bend bricks-and-mortar libraries into new forms. The Seikei University Library in Japan—the vision of Pritzker Prize winner Shigeru Ban—contains space-age soundproofed (隔音的) pods to encourage discussions between students.

    In this Pennsylvania city, Pittsburgh is shrinking but getting wealthier. Since 2000, its population has declined by 95,000 while its income per capita (人均) has shot up 24 percent. The trend is taking hold in many other cities, like Buffalo in New York, Providence in Rhode Island and New Orleans.

    Some of these areas have created more high-paying jobs in energy, health care or education. Others have managed to reshape their manufacturing (制造业) for a new economy. Higher-paying jobs have a greater effect because they create demand for additional services. “The story in Pittsburgh is very positive, and other areas are looking at it as an example of the transformation that might be possible,” said Guhan Venkatu, who wrote an economic history of the area called “Rust and Renewal” for the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

    Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh have helped bring tech jobs and innovation (革新) to the area by sponsoring tech centers that help graduates start companies without moving to Silicon Valley or San Francisco. This has helped keep Pittsburgh's educated young population growing even as the entire population in the city has dropped.

    Pittsburgh has more STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) jobs than other shrinking cities, about 80,000 or 7% of all jobs. STEM jobs add productivity and income growth to the area. Manufacturers of high-tech medical equipment in the Pittsburgh area also have doubled employment in the last 10 years.

    However, some experts question whether growing income per capita can really make up for a declining population. According to Patrick Adler, a researcher at the University of Toronto, population loss does matter if it means lower-skilled workers have fled because of a lack of opportunity. What's more, high-paying jobs in education and health care can disappear if the population declines too greatly. So it'd be wise to find ways to increase the population.

    Some colors people see late at night could cause signs of clinical (临床的) depression. That was the finding of a study that builds on earlier study findings. They show that individuals who live or work in low levels of light overnight can develop clinical depression. Doctors use the word "clinical depression" to describe severe form of depression. Signs may include loss of interest or pleasure in most activities, low energy levels and thoughts of death or suicide.

    In the new study American investigators designed an experiment that exposed hamsters (仓鼠) to different colors. The researchers chose hamsters because they are nocturnal which means they sleep during the day and are active at night.

    The animals were divided into four groups. One group of hamsters was kept in the dark during their night-time period. Another group was placed in front of a blue light a third group slept in front of a white light while a fourth was put in front of a red light.

    After four weeks the researchers noted how much sugary water the hamsters drank. They found that the most depressed animals drank the least amount of water.

    Randy Nelson heads the Department of Neuroscience at Ohio State University. He says animals that slept in blue and white light appeared to be the most depressed. "What we saw is that these animals didn't show any sleep uneasiness at all but they did mess up biological clock genes and they did show depressive sign while if they were in the dim (微弱) red light they did not."

    He notes that photosensitive (感光) cells in the eyes have little to do with eyesight. He says these cells send signals to the area of the brain that controls what has been called the natural sleep-wake cycle.

    He says there's a lot of blue in white light. This explains why the blue light and white light hamsters appear to be more depressed than the hamsters seeing red light or darkness.