Tu Youyou, 84, honored with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Oct 5, 2015. She was the first Chinese citizen to win a Nobel Prize in science for her work in helping to create an anti-malaria(疟疾) medicine. In 1967, Communist leader Mao Zedong decided there was an urgent national need to find a cure for malaria. At the time, malaria spread by mosquitoes was killing Chinese soldiers fighting Americans in the jungles of northern Vietnam. A secret research unit was formed to find a cure f or the illness. Tw o years later, Tu Youyou was instructed to become the new head of Mission 523. Researchers in Mission523 pored over ancient books to find historical methods of fighting malaria. When she started her search for an anti-malarial drug, over 240,000 compounds(化合物) around the world had already been tested, without any success.Finally, the team found a brief reference to one substance, sweet wormwood（青蒿）, which had been used to treat malaria in China around 400 AD. The team isolated one active compound in wormwood, artemisinin（青蒿素）, which appeared to battle malaria-friendly parasites（寄生虫）. The team then tested extracts（提取物） of the compound but nothing was effective until Tu Youyou returned to the original ancient text. After another careful reading, she improved the drug recipe one final time, heating the extract without allowing it to reach boiling point.

After the drug showed promising results in mice and monkeys, Tu volunteered to be the first human recipient of the new drug. “As the head of the research group, I had the responsibility.” she explained.

    When I recently revealed to my friends, colleagues, and family members that I would be moving my family to Israel, the reactions were numerous and varied. Some people said it was an expected thing while others asked: Why now? What will you do?

    For me, making the move to Israel is the fulfillment of a dream that has lasted for my 47 years of life. I have always known that Israel is my home. Over the years Israel has been in my heart, but I have found a number of reasons to put off making it my permanent residence: kids, the economy, education… you name an excuse, and at some point I have probably used it.

    Truthfully, I believe that I was always just a little bit scared. And of course I still am, with the fear factor that is reported by the press surrounding the Israeli military and economy. However, it has come to the point when I have realized that for over 2000 years we have longed for this land, and that for 47 years I have denied the opportunity to make it my home. I am finally ready to fully grasp this opportunity.

    Over the years, I have always loved visiting Israel. I have traveled there with my family, and enjoyed introducing thousands of travelers to the country. I have come to love all of these things about Israel as a tourist because I get to love my home. And as far as waiting for the “perfect” condition under which to make aliyah, I believe the time is now!

    I have been asked many times if I am nervous about moving to Israel. Before I answer, I remember that we have overcome the Greeks, the Romans, the Russian killings, Hitler and the Holocaust(大屠杀)，and the armies of seven countries.

    How can I not feel confident that I , and my family, will overcome any difficulties that may come our way? I am not worrying, complaining, crying, or fearing as I prepare to make aliyah. I am proud and excited to say that I am fulfilling a 47-year-old dream: I am going home.

    Here's a selection of festivals for tourists to the United States in summer.

San Francisco Silent Film Festival

    Films at this odd cinematic event have a variety of musical accompaniments, including piano and violin. It includes some classic silent movies. If you want to see them all, you can buy a festival pass.

May 29 to June 1; www.silent film.org

Union Street Festival

    This popular street fair stretches out over six blocks of the city, in the fashionable shopping area of Union Street. This year, there's beer, wine, biscuits tasting and more separate themes-fashion, cuisine, tech, local, craft, and health and fitness.

    June 7 to 10; www.unionstreetfestival.com

    North Beach Festival

    This is San Francisco's oldest street party, with live entertainment, delicious food and arts and crafts. Situated in the Little Italy district, known for its associations with the “Beat Generation”, festival goers are guaranteed plenty of good Italian food. There is also as the “blessing of the animals”, a San Francisco tradition which takes place at the National Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi (610 Vallejo Street) at 2 pm on both days of the festival.

    June 14 to 16; www.sfnorthbeach.org

    Stern Grove Festival

    This is the oldest free summer arts festival of its kind in the United States. It includes a wide variety of acts, from the local symphony orchestra to well known artists such as Smokey Robinson.

    Sundays from June 22 to Aug 24; www.stemgrove.org

    No one enjoys hearing the sound of someone else chewing their food. Most of the time, though, it's not that big a deal but a minor annoyance.

    But for a small group of people with misophonia (恐音症), the sound can be painful, causing extreme anger and deep discomfort. The most ordinary sounds of chewing and breathing can drive them crazy. Past attempts to explain the causes of misophonia have suggested everything from compulsive disorder to an easily-annoyed personality—but according to a study published yesterday in the journal CurrentBiology, the true criminal is the structure of the brain.

    For the study, a team of researchers led by Newcastle University neuroscientist Sukhbinder Kumar recruited (招募) 42 volunteers, of whom around half had extreme misophonia and the other half served as the control group, and played them several different noises: some ordinary; some harsh, like the sound of a person screaming; and some that were ordinary for the control group but known to be annoying for misophonics, people with misophonia, like the sound of breathing. As the participants listened, the researchers monitored them for signs of anxiety, both physical symptoms and behavioral expressions, and observed their brain activity using FMRI scans.

    The only significant difference in reaction between the two groups happened, during the misophonia-specific sounds, when those with the condition showed physical changes that suggested they were entering fight-or-flight mode.

    Misophonics had increased activity in the AIC, an area known to play a central role in the system that determines which things we should pay attention to. When the trigger sounds were played, there was not only more activity in this region but also abnormally high levels of connection to other regions.

    Misophonia, in other words, may be a result of misplaced attention the brain of a misophonic focuses on things that other people normally tune out (不予理会). On a related note, on behalf of misophonics and manners-minded moms everywhere: Please, chew with your mouth closed.

    The haunting paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck, on show in the final leg of a travelling tour that has already attracted thousands of visitors in Hamburg and the Hague, may come as a surprise to many. Few outside the Nordic(北欧的) world would recognize the works of this Finnish artist who died in 1946. More people should. The 120 works have at their core 20 self-portraits, half the number she painted in all. The first, dated 1880, is of a wide-eyed teenager eager to absorb everything. The last is a sighting of the artist's ghost-to-be.

    Prematurely gifted, Schjerfbeck was 11 when she entered the Finnish Art Society's drawing school. “The Wounded Warrior in the Snow”, a history painting, was bought by a private collector and won her a state travel grant when she was 17. Schjerfbeck studied in Paris, went on to Pont-Aven, Brittany, where she painted for a year, then to Tuscany, Cornwall and St Petersburg. During her 1887 visit to St Ives, Cornwall, Schjerfbeck painted “The Convalescent”. A child wrapped in a blanket sits supported up in a large wicker(柳条编制的) chair, toying with a sprig(小枝条). The picture won a bronze medal at the 1889 Paris World Fair and was bought by the Finnish Art Society. To a modern eye it seems almost sentimental(感伤的) and is made up for only by the somewhat astonished, sad expression on the child's face, which may have been inspired by Schjerfbeck's early experiences. At four, she fell down a flight of steps and never fully recovered.

    In 1890, Schjerfbeck settled in Finland. Teaching exhausted her, she did not like the works of other local painters, and she was further isolated when she took on the care of her mother. “If I allow myself the freedom to live an isolated life”, she wrote, “then it is because it has to be that way.” In 1902, Schjerfbeck and her mother settled in the small, industrial town of Hyvinkaa, 50 kilometres north of Helsinki. Isolation had one desired effect for it was there that Schjerfbeck became a modern painter. She produced still lives and landscapes but above all moody yet sharp portraits of her mother, local school girls, women workers in town.

    “I have always searched for the dense depths of the soul, which have not yet been discovered by humans themselves”, she wrote, “where everything is still unconscious -- there one can make the greatest discoveries.” She experimented with different kinds of underpainting, scraped and rubbed, made bright rosy red spots; doing whatever had to be done to capture the subconscious — her own and that of her models. In 1913, Schjerfbeck was rediscovered by an art dealer and journalist, Gosta Stenman. Once again she was a success.

    We are deep into January, and winter is in full swing. The days are short, grey, and cold, and many of us are fighting the annoying u Winter Blues". Yes, lack of sunlight can cause a type of depression called seasonal affective disorder (or SAD). Sunlight causes an increase in serotonin­a "happy hormone" ­in your body, and with a long winter ahead of us we must look for other choices to improve our moods.

    One of the best ways to fight off SAD is with light treatment. This treatment is safe, accessible, and easy and there is a wide range of different light lamps available on the market. After about 3 weeks of using the lamp for about 30 minutes a day, users report that their symptoms greatly improve. Most of these lamps are small and simple, and can easily slip into your home's decoration­just switch it on and carry on with your normal day.

    When buying your light treatment device(设备), keep a few things in mind. Make sure that the light you are buying gives off at least 10, 000 lux of light. Less than that and the light might not be effective. There are many reviews online, and it will be easy to find the best lamp for you.

    Try to find one whose bulb is easy to find and replace. You don't want to be stuck trying to figure out how to put the lamp back together.

    Finally, do your full research. There are so many different types and styles of lamp. Do you miss exercising outside? There is even one that you can put to your treadmill（跑步机）in order to copy running outdoors.

    There are larger lamps which are considered to be the most effective. There are small, nice lamps that don't take up too much space. There are modern designs such as vintage­style light­bulbs. There are even happy lamp alarm clocks, which are like sunrise, giving their users a gentle, natural wake­up.

    So, no need to go on a trip to Jamaica to get some sun and shake out the winter blues­instead, invest in a happy light which will keep your home sunny and happy all winter long!