The Summer Holiday Activities for Families in the UK

    While the Astronaut spacewalk, Manchester last year remains in the memory of some families, our week-by-week guide to the school summer break this year features a host of special events and outdoor fun for kids, from open-air cinema and live music to coming face to face with dinosaurs.

    Polar fun, Edinburgh

    Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh is keeping cool this summer with lots of polar-themed activities, including family science shows on the Arctic and Antarctic, icy experiments, and craft designs where kids can make their own penguin, walrus or polar bear.

    Until 28 August, £15 adults, £9.50 children, dynamicearth.co.uk.

    Dinosaur events, various locations

    Dinosaurs in the Wild is a vivid, walk-through experience taking visitors back 67 million years to the late Cretaceous period. Dinosaur Babies is an exhibition of dinosaur embryos and eggs, plus a model nest. Dinosaurs of China displays fossils and skeletons never before seen in Europe.

    Until 23 August, NEC in Birmingham, then 7 October to 7 January, Event City Manchester, £29.50 adults, £26 children, dinosaursinthewild.com.

    Proud Country House kids fest, Brighton

    Just 15 minutes from the centre of Brighton, this 18th century Georgian manor house in Stammer Park has a packed programme of events and activities on throughout the summer, including storytelling in the forest, guided bike rides, tree climbing and family yoga.

    1 July〜10 September, prices vary, usually from £5〜10, booking for events required but bouse and gardens can be visited without booking, stammerhouse.co.UK /kids fest.

    NOT all memories are sweet. Some people spend all their lives trying to forget bad experiences. Violence and traffic accidents can leave people with terrible physical and emotional scars. Often they relive(再体验)these experiences in nightmares.

    Now American researchers think they are close to developing a pill, which will help people forget bad memories. The pill is designed to be taken immediately after a frightening experience. They hope it might reduce, or possibly erase(抹去), the effect of painful memories.

    In November, experts tested a drug on people in the US and France. The drug stops the body releasing(释放)chemicals that fix memories in the brain. So far the research has suggested that only the emotional effects of memories may be reduced, not that the memories are erased.

    The research has caused a great deal of argument. Some think it is a bad idea, while others support it.

    Supporters say it could lead to pills that prevent or treat soldiers' troubling memories after war. They say that there are many people who suffer from terrible memories.

    "Some memories can ruin people's lives. They come back to you when you don't want to have them in a daydream or nightmare. They usually come with very painful emotions," said Roger Pitman, a professor at Harvard Medical School. "This could reduce lot of that suffering."

    But those who are against the research say that changing memories is very dangerous because memories give us our identity(特质). They also help us all avoid the mistakes of the past.

    " All of us can think of bad events in our lives that were horrible at the time but make us who we are. I'm not sure we want to wipe those memories out," said Rebecca Dresser, a medical expert.

    Your kids might be ready for a break from school but the idea of being at home for three weeks loses its magic. Lucky for us Portlanders, the city has no shortage of awesome winter camps for kids.

    Trackers Earth

    For winter break, Trackers is offering several one-day outdoor and craft camps. The hard part will be choosing between so many fun options: “Ninjas Save Christmas?” Or “Here We Go A Waffling - Caroling and Waffles?”

    Details: $70. Dec. 23, 27, 30, 31; Jan. 2, 3. （Ages 4-14）

    Address: 5040 SE Milwaukie Ave.

    Tel: 503-345-3312

    Audubon Society

    Your kids don't have to be specifically bird-crazy to appreciate the Audubon Society's one-day winter camps. The classes all have a broad nature focus, including everything from ducks for the younger set to introducing older kids to bats, wolves and wildlife rescue work.

    Details: $65, Dec, 2S, 24, 26-31; Jan, J-3 (Ages 6-14)

    Address: 5151 NW Cornell Rd.

    Tel: 971-222-6120

    Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI)

When your kids start to get bored with his or her own Legos (乐高玩具)－yes, it occasionally does happen－check out OMSI's one-day Lego and Museum Experience, a full day of hands-on Lego activities in one of the city's most fun, family-friendly museums.

    Details: $49. Classes offered throughout December and January, (Ages 7-10)

    Address: 1945 SE Water Ave.

    Tel: 800-955-6674

    The Children's Gym

    Your kids definitely won't complain of being bored at Children's Gym's Winter Sports Camps. From 9:0 -5:30, they'll develop their gymnastics skills on the center's excellent equipment, then squeeze in a little rock climbing and field games.

    Details: $60/day; Dec. 23, 26, and 2 7; Jan. 2 and 3. (Ages 3-14)

    Address: 1625 NE Sandy Blvd.

    Tel: 503-249-5867

    Next autumn when you see wild geese heading south for the winter flying in a V formation you might think about what scientists have discovered as to why they fly that way.

    As each bird flaps(拍打) its wings, it creates an uplift(升力) for the bird immediately following. By flying in V formation the whole group adds at least 71% greater flying range(航程) than if each bird flies on its own.

    People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily because they are traveling on the push of one another. When a wild goose falls out of the formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance(阻力) of trying to go alone and quickly tries to get back into the formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front. When the head goose gets tired, it flies back into the formation and another goose flies to the front. It is wise to take turns doing difficult jobs whether it be people or wild geese flying south.

    Wild geese honk(发出雁叫声) from behind to inspire those up front to keep up their speed. When a wild goose gets sick or wounded by gunshots, and falls out of the formation, two other geese will fall out with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection. They will stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly or until it dies, and only then will they go on with their own or with another formation to catch up with their group.

    A team of engineers at Harvard University has been inspired by Nature to create the first robotic fly. The mechanical fly has become a platform for a series of new high-tech integrated systems. Designed to do what a fly does naturally, the tiny machine is the size of a fat housefly. Its mini wings allow it to stay in the air and perform controlled flight tasks.

    "It's extremely important for us to think about this as a whole system and not just the sum of a bunch of individual components," said Robert Wood, the Harvard engineering professor who has been working on the robotic fly project for over a decade. A few years ago, his team got the go-ahead to start piecing together the components. "The added difficulty with a project like this is that actually none of those components are off the shelf and so we have to develop them all on our own," he said.

    They engineered a series of systems to start and drive the robotic fly. "The seemingly simple system which just moves the wings has a number of interdependencies on the individual components, each of which individually has to perform well, but then has to be matched well to everything it's connected to," said Wood. The flight device was built into a set of power, computation, sensing and control systems. Wood says the success of the project proves that the flying robot with these tiny components can be built and manufactured.

    While this first robotic flyer is linked to a small, off-board power source, the goal is eventually to equip it with a built-in power source, so that it might someday perform data-gathering work at rescue sites, in farmers' fields or on the battlefield. "Basically, it should be able to take off, land and fly around," he said.

    Wood says the design offers a new way to study flight mechanics and control at insect-scale. Yet, the power, sensing and computation technologies on board could have much broader applications. "You can start thinking about using them to answer open scientific questions, you know, to study biology in ways that would be difficult with the animals, but using these robots instead," he said. "So there are a lot of technologies and open interesting scientific questions that are really what drives us on a day to day basis."

How to Have a Better Conversation on Social Media

You're not alone if you find social media to be both a space for staying informed and a space full of hate and disagreement. These days, that is the landscape we log into and struggle in.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

Don't voice opinions on everything

Too much information is like an "Everything Storm" for us to absorb .and respond. Thus, it's OK and normal that there are some topics we know more about and others we, know almost nothing about,{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. By focusing on just one or two topics and leaning on our own personal experience, rather, than .unclear references online, we can escape the storm or at least grab an umbrella as it strikes.

Find a place to fully express ourselves

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}. However, sometimes our thoughts are too messy or complicated to cypress. in a bite-size package. Move to modes of communication that allow us to fully express ourselves without limits. Talking on the phone or in person may not always be possible. Try taking conversations to direct messages.

Stop competing for "likes".

The internet has become an arena(竞技场), where we all compete for "likes". We use emojis to cheer and boo(发出声). Often the supposed winner of a debate is who gets the most "likes." This can be entertaining, yet it blocks the forming of genuine connections with people.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Find a place far away from the audience, where we are not judged and scored instantly for what we say.

Accept differences

It's sad but true: many of us act differently online than we would in real life, and often see anyone who disagrees as a "troll"(网络怪物). {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. Remember we're speaking with someone whose feelings and experiences have shaped their opinions. Approach people online with compassion, and we're on the way to opening doors to new understandings

A. Exit the battlefield

B. Remove this word from our vocabulary

C. It is wise to limit our comments to the former

D. Many social platforms enforce strict word limits

E. Luckily, we can still survive with some strategies

F. Briefing your message in a reply will get you more connections

G. Our online feelings can be described as "'entertaining" and "connecting"