Look into hunters' eyes

    Have you ever been face to face with a cat or a sheep? If you have,you probably noticed that cats narrow their eyes to vertical (垂直的) slits (狭缝),while sheep have horizontal pupils (瞳孔).

     Why is the difference?

    Scientists from the Universities of California Berkeley and Durham in Britain may have the answer. Their research, published recently in the journal Science Advances, suggested that pupils' shapes could tell whether an animal is a hunter or gets hunted.

    The researchers took a close look at the eyes of 214 land animals.The challenge was to see if they could find a relationship between an animal's role in the food chain and the pupils' shapes.

    They found a pattern. Species with pupils that are vertical slits are more likely to be small ambush predators (捕猎者) – creatures that lie in wait for their lunch.In contrast,those with horizontal pupils are more likely to be plant-eating prey (猎物) species.

    Evolution chose the arrangement for a good reason.For hunters such as household cats,it appears that vertical pupils not only improve their ability to keep track of moving objects like mice,but also maximize (使最大化) their ability to judge the distances of the animals they hunt.

    However, an interesting discovery from the study is that the slit pupils are mostly linked to hunters that are close to the ground. Therefore, bigger cats who actively hunt down their prey, like tigers and lions, don't have slit pupils.

    On the other hand, for plant-eating prey animals, horizontal pupils give them a wider field of vision.When stretched (伸展) horizontally,the pupils allow for more light to enter from the front, back, and sides. Meanwhile, they also limit the amount of light from the sun above so the animal can see the ground better.“ Once they do find a predator,they need to see where they are running,” said leading researcher Martin Banks,a UC Berkeley professor of optometry (视光学).“They have to see well enough out of the corner of their eye to run quickly and jump over things.”

    But what happens when they bend down to eat? Researchers checked this by watching prey animals in the Oakland Zoo in California, US. They believe that when goats lower their heads to eat,their eyes rotate (旋转) to keep their pupils horizontal.

    So it seems that the eyes are indeed the window to the soul!

    He was once referred to as the Picasso of poetry. Beloved by Chileans of all classes, he is one of the most widely read and respected poets in history. And this year is the 100th birthday of Pablo Neruda (1904-1973).

    Born with the name Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basolto, he was a tall, shy and lonely boy. He loved to read and started to write poetry when he was ten. The American poet Walt Whitman, whose framed picture Neruda later kept on his table, became a major influence on his work.

    However, his father did not like the idea of having a poet for a son and tried to discourage him from writing. To cover up the publication of his first poem, he took the pen name Pablo Neruda.

    In 1924 Neruda gained fame with his most widely read work “Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair''. Yet his rich experience as a diplomat and exile made him go beyond the theme of love. His work also reflected the political struggle of the left and development of South America. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.

    Neruda loved the sea which he saw as creative, destructive and forever moving. He found inspiration in the power and freedom of the waves and the seabirds on the coast. “I need the sea because it teaches me,” he wrote. “I move in the university of the waves.” He loved how the sea forever renewed itself, a renewal echoed in his work.

    Great white sharks! Just hearing that name makes many people's hair stand on end. In reality, these big fish have more to fear from us than we do from them. For many years, people killed countless great white sharks in the waters around the United States.

    But thanks to conservation (保护) efforts, great whites are making a comeback in the U.S. Two recent studies show that the population of these sharks is rising along the east and west coast.

    Why is the growing population of a killer fish something to celebrate? “When you fish too many of them, you start to lose balance in the environment,” says shark researcher Tobey Curtis. As the biggest killer, sharks help keep the populations of fish, seals, and other creatures they eat from growing too large.

    In spite of their importance, great white sharks had long been hunted for their meat and their fins (鳍). Then, in 1997, the U.S. government passed a law that didn't allow the hunting of great whites.

    Afterwards, the numbers of these sharks in the U.S. waters started to increase.

    The law wasn't the only thing that has helped great whites. Conservationists have also played a part in the sharks' comeback. The research group OCEARCH is using a method called tagging (加标签) to help change people's attitudes about great white. They let the public follow each shark as it travels the world's oceans. OCEARCH also gives each tagged shark a name to help people form a closer connection with the big fish.

    The group's most well-known shark is named Katharine. She was tagged last year near Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Since then, thousands of people have tracked Katharine's movements on Twitter and the OCEARCH website.

    This helps  people see sharks in a new way. Chris Fischer, the founder of OCEARCH believes learning to appreciate great whites will encourage people to do more to protect them.

    You might make a disgusted face when you notice that the person waiting in their car at the red light next to you is picking their nose,but admit it,you do it too.And while it might be the natural option when there isn't a box of tissues around,it can be bad for you.The main reasons people feel the need to pick their nose is to clear it of dried liquid,stop an itch（痒）,or just because it feels good.Boogers（鼻屎）form when dried liquid and cilia,the tiny hairs that line the nostrils（鼻孔）,trap the dust,dirt,and other things.When boogers build up in your nose,it can be uncomfortable,and sometimes just blowing into a tissue doesn't do the trick.

    Otolaryngologist Erich P.Voigt,MD,told Business Insider that picking your nose can cause injuries and bleeding within your nostrils.That's not terribly damaging,but when the bacteria from your hands get into your body,it can cause a cold and flu.So doctors strongly suggest not picking the nose.

    If dry winter air is causing the dirty liquid to harden in your nostrils,making you want to pick,consider damping the air at home,or taking a steam shower to soften things up in there.

    Children,who are most famous for having a finger up their nose,sometimes don't realize how much injury they're causing,and sometimes it.can lead to nose bleeds.

    So,next time you go to pick your nose,think about how many bacteria are on your hands and in your boogers, and maybe reach for a tissue instead.Even if you 're alone,and not waiting for the light to turn green,please,use a tissue.

    Photos of eight-year-old Wang Fuman, nicknamed by “Snowflake Boy” in Yun Nan, shared by his principal on Tuesday, showed the boy has a red face from the low temperatures and apparently did not wear enough clothes to keep warm. He also suffered from frostbite. He stood alone with his white hair and eyebrows while other classmates behind were clearly amused and laughing. The picture drew widespread attention around the whole world. Many netizens were sympathetic to the boy's difficulties, with many Mircoblog users giving comments under the report.

    Just after the report, a donation of 100,000 yuan was sent to his Primary School. Constantly, help still pours in for the Chinese boy. But the local authorities call on others to pay attention to other similar rural areas and give them timely aid. In China, there are still so many children just like Fuman living by himself with parents migrating to cities for lively hood.

    Boy's hair is completely FROZEN after he walked an hour to school on a harsh winter morning in rural (and there was no heating when he got there)

    The third-grade pupil in Yunnan, China, walks 2.8 miles to school every day. He braved minus nine degree weather yesterday morning to sit an exam. His hair and eyebrows had turned into icicles when he aimed at the school.

—Abstracted from Daily Post

    I have tears in my eyes reading this… Poor little soul doesn't even have a hat or gloves, and I can't imagine how cold he must have felt. But he did it! Wish the little boy all good things in life. Hope he become a brilliant adult and success in life and happiness.

—Mng.PL, Mauntius, 19 hours ago

    This kid is amazing. If I were him, I probably would have frozen to death. And this is why China will rule the world soon! He'll fight a war tomorrow for his motherland!!! Take note you poor snowflake students of the UK. If this happened in the UK, they would arrive to find the school closed. Our kids are too soft!!!

—Honest John, Birmingham, 18 hours ago

    He walked an hour in that weather and still got 99% for the math exam. Wow. With such an attitude and perseverance, I hope that he succeeds in life and gets all the good things that he deserves. Now he is not a snowflake.

—Lucial Cathey, Liverpool, 15 hours ago

    One cold day in winter, my wife and I were walking back home from the grocery store as usual when we suddenly decided to walk into a coffee shop.

    My wife ordered a coffee at the counter. Just then, I saw a young woman in her thirties helping with a rather weak Mexican woman into the shop. Maybe it was the gentleness of their difficult experiences or an unclear familiarity (熟悉) with the situation that drew my full attention. I immediately had a strong wish to do something for them. Unfortunately, before I could think of anything reasonable to say, they left the coffee shop without ordering anything!

    When my wife returned, I told her about the two women and said," I missed the chance to do something for them." Strangely enough, though, they came back into the same coffee shop five minutes later. Unbelievable!" This is my chance," I thought out loud as my wife shared some creative possibilities. The two women ordered, took their place card and left the counter.

    After quickly finishing our coffee, we walked up to the counter and asked the smiling cashier (出纳员),"What is your most popular dessert (甜点)?" Chocolate Cake," she answered. With a childlike feeling of happiness, my wife made an unusual order." Can I buy a chocolate cake for the two women who were here just before us? But don't tell them it is from us. Just give them this card," she said while taking out a smile card. The cashier couldn't believe it." Do you do this all the time?" she asked." Not all the time, but just whenever the heart calls for it," I answered with a natural smile.

    We, my wife and I, are people of middle income (收入). That night, we had planned to have our once-in-a-while dinner at a restaurant. But walking out of that coffee shop, both of us stood upright and said," Let's eat at home today." It's more filling (能填饱肚子的) to give a chocolate cake than to eat it.