Here is an astonishing and significant fact: Mental work alone can't make us tire. It sounds absurd. But a years ago, scientists tried to find out how long the human brain could labor without reaching a stage of fatigue (疲劳). To the amazement of these scientists, they discovered that blood passing through the brain, when it is active, shows no fatigue at all! If we took a drop of blood from a day laborer, we would find it full of fatigue toxins(毒素) and fatigue products. But if we took blood from the brain of an Albert Einstein, it would show no fatigue toxins at the end of the day.

    So far as the brain is concerned, it can work as well and swiftly at the end of eight or even twelve hours of effort as at the beginning. The brain is totally tireless. So what makes us tired?

    Some scientists declare that most of our fatigue comes from our mental and emotional(情绪的) attitudes. One of England's most outstanding scientists, J.A. Hadfield, says, “The greater part of the fatigue from which we suffer is of mental origin. In fact, fatigue of purely physical origin is rare.” Dr. Brill, a famous American scientist, goes even further. He declares, “One hundred percent of the fatigue of sitting worker in good health is due to emotional problems.”

What kinds of emotions make sitting workers tired? Joy? Satisfaction? No! A feeling of being bored, anger, anxiety, tenseness, worry, a feeling of not being appreciated—those are the emotions that tire sitting workers. Hard work by itself seldom causes fatigue. We get tired because our emotions produce nervousness in the body.

    “Soon, you're going to have to move out!” cried my neighbor upon seeing the largest tomato plant known to mankind, or at least known in my neighborhood.

    One tiny 9-inch plant, bought for $1.25 in the spring, has already taken over much of my rose bed, covering much of other plants, and is well on its way to the front door.

    Roses require a good deal of care, and if it weren't for the pleasure they give, it wouldn't be worth the work. As it is, I have a garden full of sweet-smelling roses for most of the year. bushes must be pruned(剪枝) in early spring, leaving ugly woody branches until the new growth appears a few weeks later. It was the space available(可用的) in the garden that led me into planting just one little tomato plant. A big mistake.

    Soil conditions made just perfect for roses turn out to be even more perfect for tomatoes. The daily watering coupled with full sun and regular fertilizing(施肥) have turned the little plant into a tall bush. The cage I placed around it as the plant grew has long since disappeared under the thick leaves.

    Now the task I face in harvesting the fruit is twofold; First, I have to find the red ones among the leaves, which means I almost have to stand on my head, and once found I have to reach down and under, pick the tomatoes and withdraw(缩回) my full fist without dropping the prize so dearly won. I found two full-blown white roses completely hidden as I picked tomatoes in June, but they were weak and the leaves already yellow for lack of light.

    Here I am faced with a painful small decision: To tear up a wonderful and productive tomato plant that offers up between ten and twenty ripe sweet tomatoes each day or say goodbye to several expensive and treasured roses. Like Scarlett in Gone With the Wind, I'll think about that tomorrow.

    Winning literary competitions doesn't always lead to fame. But having a few such wins to boast about does you no harm when approaching editors or agents, so if you have dreams of a writing career, these could be the place to begin. Below is a list of the most interesting competitions. Bear in mind that contests with smaller prizes attract fewer entries and are therefore easier to win.

    Wundor Editions Poetry Competition

    Wundor Editions are looking for creative writers to enter their latest poetry contest. If you happen to be 16 or over, send in a poem on any subject running to as many words as you think you can get away with before the judge's eyes glaze over (兴趣丧失).

    Closing: Nov.30. Prize: £ 500. Entry Fee: £ 10.

    Manning's Pit Poetry Competition

    It doesn't sound very attractive but it seems Manning's Pit is something of a beauty spot with more than its share of wildlife. But it's now under threat. This contest aims of raise funds to help save it. Your task is to write a poem of up to 40 lines about Manning's Pit or a similar treasured and threatened piece of countryside near a town or village.

    Closing: Nov.30. Prizes: £ 100, £ 30, £ 20. Entry Fe: £ 3.

    Commonwealth (英联邦) Short Story Competition

    This contest from Commonwealth Writers is for unpublished short fiction of between 2,000 and 5,000 words aimed at adults. But you have to be a citizen of a Commonwealth country. You can write your story in English, Bengali, Chinese, Portuguese, Samoan, Tamil, Kiswahili or Malay.

    Closing: No.1. Prize: £ 5,000. Entry Fee: £ 25.

    Southword Fiction Chapbook Competition

    To enter this international contest from the Munster Literature Centre in Cork, Ireland you should submit 10,000 to 15,000 words of fiction in the form of a collection of short stories. Stories can have been published previously in web or print journals, but not in a stand-alone publication by the author.

    Closing: Oct.31. Prizes: Best International Entry and Best Irish Entry. Entry Fee: £ 5 for one, £ 10 for six.

    In recent years, terms like "going green" and "eco-friendly" have become buzz words on talk shows, commercials and product packaging. The term "eco-friendly" has been used for so many different products and practices.

    Eco-friendly Car Race

    Can you imagine a car racer is so eco-friendly that its tyres are made from potatoes, its body is created from hemp (大麻) and rapeseed oil and it runs on fuel made from wheat and sugar beet (甜菜)? The one-seater racing car called Eco One is built by experts from Warwick University, who hope that Eco One will be adopted by the automotive industry. It is sold at $ 51,000.

    Pollution-sensitive Dress

    Don't be caught outside unaware of pollution levels in the air. The pollution-sensitive EPA Dress by Stephanie Sandstrom notices pollution in the air accordingly. This dress ­ which is actually quite pretty ­ looks like you pull it from the bottom of the dirty laundry pile when the air is dirty. It might protect your health by advising you to stay indoors for the day, but it won't do you any favor if you're meeting with clients.

    Eco-friendly Umbrella

    Traditional umbrellas come with a fixed surface. Although it is changeable, you cannot replace it easily. This eco-friendly design is more flexible. It is actually only an umbrella skeleton(骨架)without any surface, which can be folded, so you can put anything such as newspapers, plastic bags or whatever you want to serve as the protecting surface.

    Eco-friendly Moss (苔藓) Carpet

    It is said that walking on fresh grass increases your blood circulation. The Moss Carpet, created by Nguyen La Chanh, looks at getting the grass to your feet. The mat includes ball moss, island moss and forest moss. The humidity (湿度) of the bathroom ensures that it grows well. And that's why you need to place it there and not anywhere else.

Liu Yexi has taken Douyin by storm. As of Nov 17, the virtual idol, who performed on the social media platform on Oct 31, had only released two short videos but attracted over 5 million followers. 

Different from other virtual idols, Liu is defined as a "virtual beauty vlogger". In her first video, Liu is doing makeup with an eye brush while dressed in a traditional Chinese costume. 

When she turns around, the onlookers are terrified, except one boy. Then Liu slightly brushes the boy's eyes, allowing him to see the fantasy world in her own eyes. The internet users marveled(使...惊叹) at its storyline, science-fiction elements and special visual effects with cyberpunk style. Liang Zikang, the CEO of the production team, told China Newsweek that the team spent two months making the video. 

Liu's instant popularity online further reflects that the virtual idol industry in China has been booming. There are over 32,400 virtual idols that have opened accounts on video-sharing platform Bilibili in the past year, seeing a year-on-year rise of 40 percent, Chen Rui, the CEO of Bilibili, said in a speech. 

"Compared with real idols and stars, the virtual ones seem to be more approachable for fans," Shine News noted. Additionally, these virtual web celebrities(名人) won't have scandals(丑闻). 

As more young people are fascinated by these virtual figures, their commercial(商业的) value has been on the rise. Generally, they earn money by online concerts, livestreaming and related products. For example, Luo Tianyi, a well-known virtual singer, cooperated with livestreamer Li Jiaqi to promote goods in 2020. 

Therefore, some people are wondering whether they will replace real humans. "These socalled virtual idols have real human teams to back them up and control them. They are not really virtual." Ding Daoshi, an independent analyst in the internet sector, told the Global Times. The real virtual idol will come when artificial intelligence achieves a new level of selflearning and self-training and then interacts with others, he added.

The following four famous paintings—from Jan van Eyck's portrait to Pablo Picasso's masterpiece—have stood the test of time.

The Arnolfini Portrait

The Arnolfini Portrait of Jan van Eyck, an oil painting on wood produced in 1434, in which a man and a woman hold hands with a window behind him and a bed behind her, is undoubtedly one of the masterpieces in the National Gallery, London. This painting is as visually interesting as it is famed. It is also an informative document on fifteenth-century society with Jan van Eyck's heavy use of symbolism—while husbands went out to engage in business, wives concerned themselves with domestic duties.

The Starry Night

Vincent van Gogh painted The Starry Night, oil on canvas(画布), and a moderately abstract landscape painting of an impressive night sky over a small hillside village, during his 12-month stay at the mental hospital near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France between 1889 and 1890. When the Museum of Modern Art in New York City purchased the painting from a private collector in 1941, it was not well known, but it has since become one of Vincent van Gogh's most famous works.

The Harvesters

The Harvesters is an oil painting on wood completed by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in 1565. It depicts(描绘) the harvest time which most commonly occurred within the months of August and September. Nicolaes Jonghelinck, a merchant banker and art collector from Antwerp, commissioned this painting. The painting has been at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City since 1919.

Guernica

Guernica, a large black-and-white oil painting, was painted by the Cubist Spanish painter, Pablo Picasso in 1937. The title "Guernica" refers to the city that was bombed during the war. The painting depicts the horrors of war and as a result, it has come to be an anti-war symbol and a reminder of the tragedies of war. Today, the painting is housed at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid.