When you choose to send one of our free E-cards, you save paper and give friends and family the opportunity to enjoy the wonder of nature.

    Celebrate the beauty of our natural world and send an E-card to friends and family who care about protecting our planet. Feel free to set your E-card to arrive on any day you please.

    Looking for something to do besides sending an E-card?

    Check out our Everyday Environmentalist page with eco-tips on how to live greener, and become an e-member of our free global online community or calculate(计算) your carbon footprint. You can even upload your photos to our site and your photo may be featured in an E-card next year!

    You carry a 1.3 kg mass of fatty material in your head that controls everything you will ever do. This fantastic control center lets you think, learn, create, and feel emotions. It also controls everything your body does. What is this amazing machine? It's your brain — a structure so amazing that the famous scientist James Watson called it ＂the most complex thing we have yet discovered in our universe＂.

    Imagine your kitten jumped onto the kitchen counter, and was about to step onto a hot stove. You would have only seconds to act. In situations like this, your brain reads the signals from your eyes and quickly calculates when, where and at what speed you need to run to save her. Then it tells your muscles to move. No computer can match your brain's great ability to download, process, and react to the flood of information from your eyes, ears and other sensory organs.

    If a bee lands on your foot, sensory neurons(神经元) in your skin send this information to your brain at a speed of more than 240 kilometers per hour. Your brain then uses motor neurons to send a message back to your foot: Shake the bee off quickly! Motor neurons can send this information at more than 320 kilometers per hour!

    Your brain contains about 100 billion tiny cells: neurons — it would take you more than 3,000 years if you tried to count them all. Whenever you dream, laugh, think, see or move, tiny chemical and electrical signals are racing between these neurons along billions of tiny neuron pathways. Believe it or not, the activity in your brain never stops. Countless messages fly around inside it every second, like a super-fast game of table tennis. Your neurons create and send more messages than all the phones in the entire world. And although a single neuron generates only a tiny amount of electricity, all your neurons together can generate enough electricity to power a light bulb.

    NASA might be famous for sending rockets up to space quickly. But it will be more famous for making your next holiday come more quickly.

    The space agency is working on a new plane, which could solve the problems of supersonic(超音速的) flight and vastly increase the speed of journeys abroad. If successful, the plane would be able to fly between New York and London in just three hours. And it would reduce the time spent flying other journeys by a half, since it could be used more broadly. Until now, the problem with such planes has been the sonic boom(声爆), made famous by the original Concorde. That happens when a plane reaches supersonic speeds.

    It is a thunderous noise that upsets people on the ground— disturbing animals and even causing physical problems to materials and houses underneath. It was that effect that led Congress to ban such planes from being used over the US land, a decision that in turn was responsible for Concorde's failing to be commercially used.

    In view of the problem, the space agency has developed a new technology and tried it out in wind tunnels, and now believes that it could be put to commercial use. That plane will fly as high as 55,000 feet—far higher than normal planes—and make a sound of only 60 decibels. That's far less than 90 decibels thrown out by normal planes, and is roughly in line with a car on the motorway or a busy restaurant.

    “As long as we can get endorsement from the general public, the plane will probably be something that's acceptable,” said Peter Coen, project manager for NASA's commercial supersonic research team, in a new Bloomberg report. “If we get approved, we will have the full-sized version of the plane tried out and the plane will be put into use.”

    Leaving Hanoi on a fiercely hot summer day,after an hour by air,Luang Prabang gradually appears below our airplane wings.From a few hundred meters above,my first impression of this UNESCO-listed heritage（遗产）is an area of green land and mountains,surrounded by snaking rivers.

    Encircled by mountains,the former royal capital of Luang Prabang is more than just the country's picture-perfect showpiece.

    Travelers will be attracted to Luang Prabang by the city's timeless peacefulness with its shiny Buddhist temples, French colonial architecture and friendly people.

    Tourists visiting Luang Prabang shouldn't miss the chance to see one of the most sacred（神圣的）Lao traditions, tak bat,or the Buddhist almsgiving ritual（仪式）,which dates back to the 14th century.

    As the sun rises in Luang Prabang,hundreds of Buddhist monks depart from their temples to gather their daily offerings,which most commonly are rice,fresh fruit and traditional sweet snacks.The daily alms gathering begins on the main street before spreading to all the side streets.

    Our group of six got out of our comfy beds at 5 am to join other local residents and tourists to offer alms to the monks.We kneeled by the roadside in front of the 3 Nagas Hotel on the main street with big baskets of steamed sticky rice,waiting quietly until monks of all ages passed by to accept our gifts.

    The daily ritual gives you a wonderful opportunity to experience an ancient Lao tradition.However,there are some strict rules if you wish to join the event.

    Firstly,shoulders,chests and legs must be covered in modest clothing as a mark of respect.You should also remain a suitable distance from the monks.Photographs may be taken,but from a distance and never use a camera flash.The ritual has to be performed in silence.Talking to or touching the monks at any time,even when making an offering,is not allowed.

    Another must-do morning activity is to visit the local market,where you can see the generosity that Mother Nature offers this dreamy land.While walking through the morning market,located within a long and narrow hamlet,I was excited to see all kinds of products from the nearby river and jungle: some ill-fated squirrels lying next to fresh bamboo shoots,different kinds of wild mushrooms and vegetables displayed on banana leaves and giant river catfish in baskets.

    Although Luang Prabang is small,there are many things to see here.Active travelers can get up close and personal with Laos' gentle giants at the elephant conservation camp or take in some scenes of riverside life with a cruise or kayak excursion on the rivers.Two waterfalls that are perfect for picnicking in the foothills nearby,and classes are available in traditional crafts.

    Here are some of the strangest aviation(航空)ideas in recent history.

    Double-Decker Seating

    In 2015, Airbus filed a patent for a design for a double-decker cabin seating arrangement. Passengers would sit on top of the other, with upper-tier passengers climbing steps or a small ladder to reach their seats. While the design does have some advantages, the idea of climbing a ladder during flight seems unreliable.

    Separated Cabins

    This patent was awarded to Airbus. Rather than waiting for a flight to arrive and be cleaned,passengers could simply board a ready cabin, which would be moved into the plane's body as soon as it was ready. When the plane reached its destination, the cabin would be separated again. Different cabins with different kinds of seating or levels of comfort could be used for flights of different lengths or destinations.

    Windowless Cockpits(驾驶舱)

    For ideal design, airplane noses should be long and pointy. But there's the whole "pilots have to fit in the cockpit" problem. Well, what if the cockpit didn't have to go in the nose of the plane? That's part of the thinking behind this Airbus patent application* which suggests replacing the plane's window with a digital viewing surface. Without a window, there's no reason the cockpit needs to go in the front of the plane —it could go in the middle of the plane, or even in the tail.

    Nap Straps (睡眠吊带)

    Airbus is not the only company in the strange patent contest. Boeing's got its own patent, Nap Straps. With this invention, passengers looking for a nap can find an "upright sleep system^" beneath their seat. In action, the whole thing is somewhat like a traction device for someone who's been in a terrible accident.

Target Car Seat Trade-in Event

Frequently Asked Questions:

·What is the car seat trade-in program?

Guests who trade in their old car seats will receive a 20 percent off coupon toward a new car seat.

·What type of car seat qualifies for a trade-in?

Target will accept and recycle all types of car seats, including: baby car seats, car seat bases, as well as car seats that are damaged. Guests will receive a 20 percent off coupon for trading in any one of these items.

·Where do I bring my old car seat to trade in?

Car seats can be traded in at any of the Target stores. Target will have drop-off boxes for guests' unwanted car seats located near Guest Services.

·How do I redeem(兑现) the coupon offer?

Coupons can be applied to both in-store and online purchases and are valid(有效的) until May 31.

·What does Target do with the car seats that are traded in?

Materials from the old car seats will be recycled by Target's partner, Waste Management, to create new products such as plastic plates, plastic buckets and construction materials such as steel beams and carpet padding.

·Is this the first time Target has had car seat trade-in program?

Target introduced its first car seat trade-in program in April 2016. Since the program launched, more than 789, 000 car seats, or 11. 98 million pounds of car seats, have been recycled.