It's common knowledge that sleep problems can be caused by things such as stress, anxiety, or even using a smartphone before bedtime. But recently, a team of researchers discovered that genes could also be a cause of sleepless nights.

    The scientists, from Rockefeller University in New York, US, found that delayed sleep phase disorder（DSPD，睡眠相位后移综合症）, a condition that affects one's sleeping patterns, is passed down via a mutated（突变的）gene. DSPD sufferers wake up later and go to bed later than the average person. To come to their conclusion, the team studied a 46-year-old woman who is only usually able to fall asleep at 2 or 3 in the morning. It was discovered that the woman's body produces the hormone that helps her sleep at night up to 7 hours later than regular sleepers. The scientists found this was caused by a mutation in one of the woman's genes, one that helps regulate the “body clock”.

    Some of the woman's family members were also found to share the same mutation—and the same sleeping problems –leading the scientists to believe that sleep troubles are passed down through the generations.

    However, having this mutation doesn't mean you automatically have sleep problems. The team also found two people who had the mutation but reported no problems with their sleep.

    But while this is an interesting discovery, it offers no help to those who can't fall asleep at night—although there are a few things you could try to help you sleep earlier.

    BBC journalist Michael Mosley produced a TV documentary in May in which he talked about his battle with insomnia（失眠）and the techniques he used. “I avoid social media for at least an hour before bed, I do mindfulness exercises, and if I wake up in the middle of the night, I read a book for an hour or so,” he wrote in an article for the Radio Times.

    Despite what so many people would love to believe，NASA hasn't discovered any evidence of past or present intelligent life on Mars. Therefore, when the Curiosity rover  (好奇号探测器)found something suspicious on the Red Planet's surface, they were not only surprised but also a little bit worried.

    The thin fragment (碎片)was suspicious enough to guarantee its own name, with NASA's Curiosity rover team calling it the “Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris，” named for where it was discovered. With no idea what it was or where it came from, the rover's handlers began to worry that it might actually be a piece of the rover itself，suggesting some unseen damage or other issue with the robot. Thankfully，those concerns seem to have been unfound.

    In a new update from NASA the object has now been identified as a natural piece of rock rather than a piece of any man-made craft or vehicle. The team analyzed the unusual object with a tool called the Chem Cam RMI. The instrument uses a laser (激光器)to sniff out the makeup of anything that is pointed at, and the results for this particular piece of debris revealed that it's actually just a very thin piece of rock.

    NASA describes the inspection: The planning day began with an interesting result from the previous plan's Chem Cam RMI analysis of a target that was referred to as “Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris”(PPFOD)，and supposed to be a piece of spacecraft debris fact. In fact it was found to be a very thin slice of rock, so we can all rest easy tonight. Curiosity has not begun to shed its skin!

    How this particularly thin sliver of rock got to where it is—and why it seems to be a different colour than the surrounding sand and debris—remains unexplained, but at least the rover isn't falling apart.

    Angel Garcia Crespo is a computer engineer at Carlos III University of Madrid in Spain. His group has invented a new way for deaf-blind people to “watch” TV. The idea for the technology grew out of previous work by his group. The team had already worked on making audiovisual(视听的) materials accessible to people with either vision or hearing disabilities. But the group wanted to help people with both challenges. So they asked some deaf-blind people what would help.

    In addition to relying on their sense of touch to communicate, deaf-blind people can also get and send information with a Braille line. The Braille system uses patterns of raised dots to stand for letters and numbers. A Braille line is an electronic machine with a changeable Braille display. Dots rise up or drop down based on the information sent to the machine.

    Now the new system changes TV signals to data a Braille line can use. “The key to the system is the possibility of using subtitles(字幕) to collect TV information, " Garcia Crespo explains. "Subtitles travel with the image(影像) and the audio in electromagnetic waves we don't see. But an electronic system can keep those waves."

    First, a computer program, or app, pulls out the subtitles and visual descriptions from the broadcast signal. The system then combines the information and changes both into data for Braille.

    Now another app gets to work, which sends the data out to people's Braille lines on demand. “This is done in real time, in less than a second, " Garcia Crespo says. This lets a deaf-blind person "watch" TV as it's broadcast. The system will work with various Braille lines, as long as there's a bluetooth connection available. Now, the system is only used in Europe, and it should soon be available in the US.

    According to the International Ecotourism Society, eco-travel is "responsible travel to natural areas that protects the environment, maintains the well-beings and involves education". Eco-travel is on the rise, as more and more people become conscious about their carbon footprint.

    Expert from Boundless Journeys, Matt Holmes, who works-on travel experiences towards conserving areas said, "As scientists and non-scientists learn more about how we human beings are impacting the planet, I think more people want to do what they can while still exploring the world. Our guests are definitely interested in that aspect of our journeys. Travelers can farm their own food in Italy, managing their use of water and using solar or wind power. They can also visit n family-run camp that cares for retired logging elephants in Myanmar, know a park entry fee goes to a conservation organization in Costa Rica, employ and train members of the local community or partner with a protection group. There are lots of options for seeking out greener holiday."

    Most people believe that eco-travel is expensive and it is true. Matt explained "Anti-poaching patrols (巡逻) need to be paid, solar energy equipment costs a lot to install, building with environmentally friendly, materials is more expensive and so on. The extra cost is necessary, as you're paying to minimize your footprint and protect the places you visit, which is exactly what eco-travel is about. The financial success and sustainability (可持续性) of an eco- focused operation doesn't come from thin air." The industry is trying to make eco-travel affordable and make it accessible to the common people.

    A few weeks ago, a 71-year-old man pulled his car to the roadside in Northwest Portland and stopped. He rolled down the window, turned off the engine and stared at a house.

    The place, distinguished by three gables, is partially hidden by hedges and trees. Most people who pass by would never notice it. And if they did give it a glance, they'd probably think it's a nice house in a nice neighborhood. Nothing more.

    The house, in the 2500 block of Northwest Westover Road, is known as the Bessie & Louis Tarpley House. Built in 1907, it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

    The current owner is Barbee Lyon, 79.

    He and his first wife took possession in 1975. When they divorced, he bought out her share.

    A retired lawyer, Lyon learned Louis Tarpley, the home's first owner, had also been a Portland lawyer. Setbacks in Tarpley's life led to the house auction(拍卖) in the late 1920s.

    "I'm only the fifth owner of the home," Lyon said.

    A previous owner was Frank Masco.

    He and his wife, Esther, and their nine children had lived across town in a tiny house needing constant repairs. In the mid-1950s, the elder Masco wanted to move to a bigger house and one closer to work. A docker (码头工人), he was on-call 24 hours a day and had to quickly get to the Willamette River docks.

    He found a home on Westover Road. At the time, many people wanted to live in new construction in the suburbs. The Westover house was offered at a deep discount.

    And later the family moved on several times, finally living in Vancouver.

    One Sunday in July 2019, Charley Masco drove to Portland for an appointment at a computer store. When it ended, he traveled the familiar route to Westover Road, pulled over and looked at that home.

    He decided to do something bold. He got out of his car and walked up the steps and rang the doorbell. He waited. No response. Nervous, he thought it was a mistake to do this and considered turning around and walking back to his car.

Barbee Lyon opened the door and saw a stranger.

    "I'm not selling anything," Masco said quickly. "I just want you to know I once lived here."

    Lyon opened the door wide.

    "Come in."

    And for the first time since 1966, Masco stepped into his childhood home.

    Every room looked as Masco had remembered it: The built-in china hutch in the dining room, the hanging lights above the table and, in the kitchen, a massive wood-burning stove where his mother used to cook family meals. It was as if he had walked into his own museum.

    Lyon told Masco he'd never done major structural remodeling, which meant Masco knew his way around the home.

    It was as if he had never left.

    There, on the top floor, was the window he and his siblings quietly opened to sneak out at night and return before their parents knew they were gone. The loft where friends daydreamed about the future. The living room – no TV ever allowed – where the family gathered to share music, play cards or just talk with each other.

    Then they all walked to the basement.

    In the far corner, Masco saw his father's old wooden workbench. And above it, baby food jars. Masco had forgotten about them.

    He explained that his father had nailed lids from the jars to a rafter, filling the glass with different size screws, nuts and bolts, and then screwing the jars back into the lids to give him easy access while working.

    Masco thought about his father, his mother and three of his siblings who have died. He thought about his father, tinkering in the basement, while his mother was in the kitchen preparing dinner.

    He thought about the 71-year-old man he was and the boy he had once been.

    Kruse, Lyon's wife, reached up and unscrewed a jar. She handed it to Masco, believing it belonged to this stranger.

    Masco thanked her.

    He clutched the small bottle to his chest.

    "My dad," he said quietly. "This is my dad."

Cattle manure(粪肥) has become one of the world's greatest environmental killers, but one Dutch artist is using chemistry to turn it into something that is both eco-friendly and valuable.

In recent years, scientists around the world have made great progress in their attempts to recycle cattle manure, including turning it into natural fertilizer, but Eindhoven designer Jalila Essaidi didn't think they were efficient enough to solve the global manure problem. So she started on her very own solution, one that approached animal waste as a valuable material that could be processed into useful products.

She started by separating the waste, with the dry manure used to get pure cellulose(纤维素) from the grass that cows eat. From the wet manure, she got acids used to create a natural liquid plastic which was used to make fiber that are later turned into fabric(material used for making clothes).

This new material was named Mestic, from mest, the Dutch word for manure. Essaidi claim that it has the same function as plastic from fossil fuels, but is bio-degradable(可生物降解的). Better yet, the degradability can be dealt with in the lab, making it possible to create materials that last for different periods of time depending on their purpose. "This is not the first time that scientists have been looking for ways to solve the manure problem, but it is the first time that manure is being considered as a valuable resource." the Dutch designer said.

Last year, Jalila Essaldi partnered with the city of Eindhoven to produce a fashion show using Mestic-based fabrics. Her Mestic collection was so impressive that clothing giant H&M awarded her the Global Change Award and a $1million prize. And cow manure is just the beginning of Jalila Essaldi's experiments with animal waste. "After cows, we'll deal with pigs and other animals," she said.