Every so often, mankind comes up with really good inventions that have changed our daily lives. However, the U.S. Patent Office has issued over 7. 5 million patents, and not all of them are quite so celebrated. Some good, some bad, and some crazy! The following lists some of the more unusual ideas that have come along.

    Snake Leash

    In 2002, a patent was issued for a snake-walking leash. There are at least two major problems with this idea.  1) Dog leashes fit securely between the head and shoulders. A snake does not have shoulders; so it might slither away. 2) Dogs are OK for public places because they are social animals, and people like them. Snakes are not OK for public places because they are not social, and some people are terrified of them.

    Stadium Helmet

    Americans are known for our love of sports. Unfortunately, good tickets to games are expensive, and some fans have to sit in the nosebleed sections. This invention, patented in 2000, is designed for these fans.  Featuring a built-in radio, binoculars(望远镜) , a cooling fan,  and a helmet for falling litter, this design transforms the stadium experience.

    Bacon Alarm Clock

    When you think about it, waking to the dreadful, blaring noise of an alarm clock is a terrible way to start the day. However; this clock could change that. You simply put a piece of frozen bacon in the alarm clock, set the alarm, and go to sleep. The clock gently wakes you up with the mouthwatering smell of bacon the next morning, just like waking up on a Sunday morning to the smell of Mom cooking breakfast. Who said there's no time to eat breakfast?

    Toilet Lock

    In 1969, a patent was issued for a really bad idea – the toilet seat lock. First of all, fishing for your keys when you have to go seems very unpleasant. Then there is the possibility of losing the key altogether. What about guests? Just think that you would have to ask permission for the bathroom. Of course, there is the ultimate question: Why would you lock it in the first place?

    Humana Bird Feeder

    People have always admired the gracefulness and beauty of birds, and bird watching is a popular hobby. Unfortunately, getting up close and personal is a challenge. That is, until now.  In 1999, a patent was issued for a helmet with birdfeeders attached to it. Although there may be a design flaw (缺陷) (turning the head to see the birds would probably frighten them), this invention could change the way of bird watching.

    A famous study was done in a school by a professor from a university. At the start of the school year, the teachers were given the names of five children. They were told that these five were the most excellent students in the class. But the fact was that these students were only average, and they were not the best students at all. Well, guess what? At the end of the year, all the five average students scored among the highest in the class.

    What made these average students change so much to become top students? The only difference was the change in their teachers' attitude. Because the teachers believed that these five kids were the top students, they expected (期望) more from them. And so these five average students began to believe and expect more from themselves. So they worked harder to do as well as they could.

    Do you know why? If you expect the best from people, they'll usually want to give you their best. A great leader said, “Treat (对待) a person just how he appears to be on the outside, and you'll make him even worse. But treat a person like he's already a success, and you'll help make him the best he can be.”

    Like the true story of 7-year-old Johnny, his teacher got so angry with him that one day she said, “Johnny, you're the naughtiest (最顽皮的) boy in this class. I'm sure you'll never change.” The next year Johnny had a new teacher. And on the first day of class, she met with Johnny after school and said, “Johnny, I've heard a lot about you! But do you know that I don't believe a word of it.” And every day after that, this new teacher treated Johnny as if he was one of the smartest students even when Johnny did naughty things. Later on, Johnny became a school leader. Because that's the power of our belief and attitude toward children.

    Upcoming Events of New York Chinese Cultural Center

    Ancient Chinese Arts Today: Fan Dance

    Sunday, October17, 2:00pm—3:00 pm, $15 per child

    New-York Historical Society Museum & Library

    Learn Chinese fan dancing with an instructor from NYCCC! This program is a part of Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion, an exhibition which examines the history of trade and immigration between China and the United States.

    Dragon Boat Festival

    Monday, October 18, 2:00pm —2:30pm

    Fresh Meadows Park

    Come and celebrate with us in the thousand-year-old tradition of Dragon Boat racing! Be part of the audience and the excitement of this celebration. FREE ADMISSION! Click here for more information. Dragon Boat Festival will be held in Fresh Meadows Park.

    Dance to China

    Sunday, October 24, 2 pm

    Spruce Street School Auditorium, 12 Spruce St, New York, NY 10038

    Join us in celebrating 43 years of preserving and continuing Chinese traditional dance. Students from NYCCC School of the Arts will be performing traditional Chinese dance, martial arts, and Beijing opera acrobatics. Cost is $15 for adults, $12 for teenagers and senior citizens, $10 for children under 12.

    NYCCC School of the Arts Open House

    Saturday, October 30, from 1:00pm —3:00 pm, $12 per child

    PS 124, Yung Wing School, 40 Division Street, New York, NY 10002

    Join us and see Chinese dance, kung fu, and acrobatic performances performed by our current students. Come and see our students' beautiful artwork on display and make some artwork yourselves during our hour of arts and crafts and face painting from 1—2 pm. The show will be from 2—3pm.

    British children generally learn how to ride a bike at a young age. I am an exception to that rule. It's not my dad's fault—he tried to teach me. I remember cycling around the neighborhood. To be honest, though, I never saw the appeal. One of my earliest memories is falling from my bike and into some spiny(多刺的) plants. I definitely didn't want to repeat that.

    So I stopped learning. My dad wasn't going to waste his time teaching someone who didn't want to be taught. Time passed and I accepted that I couldn't ride a bike. It never affected my life in high school because I lived close enough to walk.

    I never felt like I was missing out until I couldn't go on a bike ride with friends in Byron Bay because I was only confident that I could go on a flat surface in a generally straight line. So when the opportunity came up to bike the wall of Xi'an, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it and make up for missed time. So, with a friend who is very patient, I got on the bike. Instantly nothing came flooding back to me, I had absolutely no idea how to start! "Push off with one foot hard" was my instruction. It sounded simple enough but it just would not happen. Until something clicked and suddenly I was off, going in a straight line on a flat surface and managing to avoid the Chinese tourists who obviously found exaltation on my face.

    At 22 years old, I finally learnt how to ride a bike, and nothing can hold me back.

    Did you know that Albert Einstein could not speak until he was four years old, and did not read until he was seven? His parents and teachers worried about his rnental ability.

    Beethoven's music teacher said about him，"As a composer（作曲家）he is hopeless." What if this young boy believed it?

    When Thomas Edison was a young boy, his teachers said he was so stupid that he could never learn anything. He once said, I remember I used to never be able to get along at school. I was always at the foot of my class…My father thought I was stupid, and I almost decided that l was a stupid person. "What if young Thomas believed what may said about him?

    When the sculptor(雕刻家)Auguste Rodin was young; he had difficulty learning to read and write. Today, we may say he had a learning disability. His father said of him, "I have an idiot(白痴) for a son." His uncle agreed. "He's uneducable," he said. What if Rodin had doubted his ability?

    Walt Disney was once fired by a newspaper editor because he was thought to have no "good ideas". Enrico Caruso was told by one music teacher, "you can't sing. You have no voice at all." And an editor told Louisa May Alcott that she was unable to write anything that would have popular appeal.

    What if these people had listened and become discouraged? Where would our world be without the music of Beethoven, the art of Rodin or the ideas of Albert Einstein and Walt Disney? As Oscar Levant once said, "It's not what you are but what you don't become that hurts."

    You have great potential. When you believe in all you can be, rather than all you cannot become, you will find your place on earth.

Robins(知更鸟) are considered as a symbol of the festive season and are known for their lively, curious nature around humans. But even robins get road rage because they can become aggressive when there's noise, a new study shows.

Researchers from the UK found that the sound of traffic made rural robins—not urban robins—"more aggressive". The study was conducted by experts at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. Human activity has a colossal effect on wildlife, including on their social behavior," the team said in their paper.

For their study, the team investigated the behavior of male European robins living in urban parks and rural forests in Istanbul. They measured aggression towards another robin intruder, which wasn't a real robin but instead a model in the shape of an adult bird. The fake robin was equipped with a speaker, through which the team could play audio, and then attached to trees at the parks and forests. The audio consisted of recordings of robin songs, while additional traffic noise was added through another separate speaker nearby.

After recording the birds' behavior during interactions with the fake intruder, they found the urban robins typically displayed more physical aggression than rural robins. However, rural robins became more aggressive with the addition of traffic noise—possibly because they're less used to traffic noise than urban birds, which are already living in noisier habitats. What's more, physical displays of territoriality could increase because the traffic noise interferes with their birdsong. "In normally quiet surroundings, we found that additional traffic noise leads to rural robins becoming more aggressive," said Dr Caglar Akcay at ARU. "We believe this is because the noise is interfering with their communication."

Overall, by comparing urban and rural robin reactions, the study provides a valuable glimpse into how urban-living species adapt to "life in a noisy world". "Our results show that human-produced noise can have a range of effects on robins, depending on the habitat they live in," said Dr Akcay.