SM Card Cutter

Change regular SM cards to smaller SIM cards.

    Did you know you can cut a regular size phone SIM card to a smaller size SM card and it will still work?This tool will help you do it.Just stick a SIM card in it,press it down like a stapler(订书机).A perfectly shaped smaller SIM is there.I've used it many times when swapping SIMs from one phone to another.

03/7/17-Mark Frauenfelder

Profi Cheese Slicer

    Uses a thin wire to slice up to medium-hard cheeses in four inch sections.

    I may own every cheese slicer ever made.I prefer a wire type cheese cutter so I can cut slices that work well on a piece of bread and sandwich.

    This cheese slicer is great for both tasks.It even has adjustable tension on the two cutting wires.A point of information: I did break a wire cutting a very hard piece of cheese with black pepper.Good news,the wire is replaceable,and I was able to purchase new wires to fix it.Maybe best to use on softer cheeses.Lessons learned.But, highly recommended for every other use except for those extremely hard cheeses.

03/6/17-Kent Bames

Ash Bucket(桶子）

Bucket with lid keeps your fireplace(壁炉）clear of ashes.

    I purchased this ash bucket recommended by my friend and have found it invaluable.Previously I had an old bucket that got left outside and usually filled up with rain and became a mess to clean.This ash bucket has a raised bottom and thermal insulation(隔热层）to prevent any accidental hot coals in your ash to damage your floor or cause a fire.You can store this bucket indoors since the lid is nice and tight.

03/3/17-Seth Wilson

A warm drink of milk before bed has long been the best choice for those wanting a good night's sleep. But now a study has found it really does help people nod off—if it is milked from a cow at night.

    Researchers have discovered that “night milk” contains more melatonin(褪黑激素), which has been proven to help people feel sleepy and reduce anxiety.

    The study, by researchers from Seoul, South Korea, involved mice being fed with dried milk powder made from cows milked both during the day and at night.

    Those given night milk, which contained 10 times the amount of melatonin, were less active and less anxious than those fed with the milk collected during daytime, according to the study published in The Journal of Medicinal Food.

    Night milk quickened the start of sleep and caused the mice to sleep longer.

    While the effect of cow's milk harvested at different time has not been tested on humans up to now, taking melatonin drugs has been suggested to those who are struggling to fall asleep at night.

    Previous studies have also indicated that milk can be excellent for helping sleep because of the calcium content, which helps people to relax.

    Milk is also sugar-free and additive-free with nutritionists recommending skimmed milk as the best choice before bed as it is the least fattening. The more fat you take in before bedtime, the greater burden you will put on your body at night.

D

    Adults understand what it feels like to be flooded with objects. Why do we often assume that more is more when it comes to kids and their belongings? The good news is that I can help my own kids learn earlier than I did how to live more with less.

    I found the pre-holidays a good time to encourage young children to donate less-used things, and it worked. Because of our efforts, our daughter Georgia did decide to donate a large bag of toys to a little girl whose mother was unable to pay for her holiday due to illness. She chose to sell a few larger objects that were less often used when we promised to put the money into her school fund(基金）(our kindergarten daughter is serious about becoming a doctor)

    For weeks, I've been thinking of bigger, deeper questions: How do we make it a habit for them? And how do we train ourselves to help them live with, need, and use less? Yesterday, I sat with my son, Shepherd, determined to test my own theory on this. I decided to play with him with only one toy for as long as it would keep his interest. I expected that one toy would keep his attention for about five minutes, ten minutes, max. I chose a red rubber ball-simple, universally available. We passed it, he tried to put it in his mouth, he tried bouncing it, rolling it, sitting on it, throwing it. It was totally, completely enough for him. Before I knew it an hour had passed and it was time to move on to lunch.

    We both became absorbed in the simplicity of playing together. He had my full attention and I had his. My little experiment to find joy in a single object worked for both of us.

    With about 100,000 sea animals being choked or injured by plastic every year, the danger produced by the billions of pieces of plastics in our oceans is well-known. However,    given that most of the micro-plastics measure less than 0.5mm, collecting them is a challenge.

    Now, some Dutch environmentalists have created a floating park to catch plastic waste before it reaches the open seas and breaks down. The large floating park is the result of a five-year effort of the Wageningen University and Research, WHIM Architecture, and etc. The team's leader said, "We began by developing a 'plastic fisher(渔船). Fitted with two folding arms with extension of several feet into the water, it uses a net to catch bottles, and any other garbage that floats past."

    The portable equipment took a year and a half to be perfect. It was then placed at the edge of the harbor to collect the urban garbage accumulated in the Meuse, a major European river, which rises in France and passes through Belgium and the Netherlands before it goes into the North Sea. Since Rotterdam's NieuweWaterweg canal links the river the North Sea, it's the ideal place to catch the "fresh" plastic waste before it disappears into the open waters and breaks down.

    The waste collected by the "plastic fisher" was then made into some hexagonal (六边的) floats which were connected to create the floating park. Some of the blocks are open to visitors, while others house various types of plants and even trees for nesting birds. The underside of the floats provides a suitable environment for sea creatures like fish. The environmentalists say the blocks can also be used to build sports areas and public walkways.

    The floating park has achieved great success. The team has launched a similar project in Indonesia to deal with local pollution. They worked with the local government and colleges which have given great support. And the team wants to spread their idea to some other places. When more and more people have better understanding of the project, more countries worldwide will know the advantages of the project and try similar outstanding approaches.

Volunteer Chances for Teens

    About Learning Buddies

    Learning Buddies is an education program for K-5 students at the Beacon Hill, Columbia, Douglass-Truth, New Holly and West Seattle Library branches (分馆). Teen volunteers and kids read together, learn math and play educational games with support from librarians.

    If you are a high school student who enjoys math, reading and helping kids succeed in school, please consider volunteering as a Learning Buddy. You will get service learning experience and earn(获得) community service hours for school.

Learning Buddies teaches kids once a week. Volunteer chances are offered at the following Library branches, October through December and March through May.

    Beacon Hill Branch: Tuesday, 4:15 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.

    Columbia Branch: Thursday, 4:15p.m. to 5:45 p.m

    Douglass-Truth Branch: Tuesday, 4:15 p.m.to 5:45 p.m.

    New-Holly Branch: Tuesday, 4:15 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.

    West Seattle Branch: Tuesday, 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

    Become a Learning Buddy

    High school students must be at least 14 years old and live close to a Library branch that offers the Learning Buddies program.

    You can ask for a volunteer application (申请书) and attend an interview at one of the following Library branches at least one month before the fall or spring Learning Buddies series.

    Beacon Hill Branch: call the Teen Services Librarian at 206-684-4711.

    Columbia Branch: call the Teen Services Librarian at 206-386- 1908.

    Douglass-Truth Branch: call Services Librarian at 206-684-4704.

    New-Holly Branch: call the Supervising Librarian at 206-386- 1905.

    West Seattle Branch: call the Teen Services Librarian at 206-684-7444.

Researchers believe they have found evidence for a hidden ocean on Mimas, one of Saturn's major moons. This makes Mimas a target for learning more about the origins of life in our solar system. 

Saturn has 146 moons orbiting it. The biggest is larger than the planet Mercury; the smallest is roughly the size of a sports field on the Earth. Mimas, which was first discovered in 1789, is one of the major moons and is about 250 miles wide. 

Experts used to think Mimas was mostly made out of solid ice and rock. In 2014, astronomers noticed its orbit around Saturn was moving unsteadily. A shaky orbit can be caused either by a core shaped like a rugby ball or a huge liquid ocean beneath the surface. At first, lots of astronomers argued against the suggestion that Mimas had an ocean because there is no sign of it on the surface. 

To investigate more thoroughly, researchers looked at images taken by Cassini, a NASA spacecraft sent to study Satun. The images showed that the moon's orbit around Saturn drifted by about six miles over 13 years. The team's calculations found that the only way Mimas could move in this way is if it had a hidden ocean under the surface. They think the ocean formed when the moon's core warmed up and melted some of the ice. 

Mimas is just one of many moons that scientists think could have oceans below the surface Ganymede, which orbits Jupiter and is the largest moon in the solar system, has more water in its ocean than all of the oceans on the Earth. Titan, another of Saturn's moons, is believed to have a salty ocean beneath the surface. 

Space agencies want to study these oceans because they might be home to living organisms. However, the ocean on Mimas might not be old enough for life to have emerged there yet. It took hundreds of millions of years for life to develop on the Earth and the ocean on Mimas is relatively young;it is less than 25 million years old.