Don't you just hate it when you have to take an important phone call and you're surrounded by potential eavesdroppers(潜在偷听者)? You either have to whisper or go outside to keep the conversation private, which is not good. Now Hushme aims to fix this problem by muffling your voice and making you look like Bane in the film Batman.

    Hushme is a strange high-tech mask(口罩)that blocks the sound of the wearer's voice so that people nearby can't hear what is being said. It connects to your phone via Blucetooth and comes with a pair of earphones. When you get a private call, all you have to do is put the mask on and it will do the rest. The pair of thick pads over your mouth does a good job of muffling your voice, but to ensure nothing gets through. Hushme also has speakers that play a variety of sounds when you speak.

    The Hushme mask, which comes in a variety of colors, can be worn around the neck, like a regular pair of earphones, and attaches in front of your mouth thanks to a couple of very powerful magnets(磁铁). It's not yet clear how comfortable speaking with this Bane-like mask over your mouth really is, or how effective its speech muffling ability is, so we know so far is that it makes you look strange. The sound choices for covering your voice currently include wind, ocean, rain, birds, monkey, but new ones could be added in the future.

    Advertised as the “world's first voice mask for mobile phones'. Hushme was showed at CES. At the becoming of this year. Its makers plan to sell it by the end of this year. It will cost about $200.

    China is making great effort to protect its cultural relics. In early May, State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) added 1,943 unmovable cultural relics sites to the list. So the number of these sites on this list will increase to 4,295.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}The newly added sites were reviewed(评审) by more than 130 experts. They spread around Shanxi, Henan, Hunan, Hebei and Jiangsu provinces, including 795 pieces of ancient architecture and 516 ancient ruins.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}In an interview, the head of the SACH said that new types of cultural relics sites have been newly listed to get protection at first, including industrial relics, rural architecture and cultural landscapes.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}For example, some are in the north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.Despite great achievements during the years of effort, problems still exist.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Historic relics get stolen and antiques are taken abroad secretly.The head of the SACH said that people has faced a challenge to the protection of cultural relics for a long time. So, balancing the relationship between economic development and protection of history is important. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} He also used good examples of protection, describing how some cultural relics sites have become education bases for young people and popular tourist places, where a lot of people spend their holiday.

    California has become the first U.S. state to approve plans to require newly-built homes to include solar equipment.

    The state's Energy Commission voted 5-0 to approve the new rules, which are to take effect in 2020. The rules will deal with most newly-built residential (住宅的) buildings up to three stories high.

    The move is California's latest step aimed at reaching renewable energy targets and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

    California has set a goal of filling half of its electricity needs with renewable energy by 2030. Officials said they had reached 30 percent by the end of 2017. The state's Governor, Jerry Brown, plans to hold an international climate meeting in September.

    ①The Energy Commission said the cost of adding solar equipment to a single-family home would be about $9,500. But, the group added that homeowners would save at least $19,000 in energy costs over 30 years.

    Robert Raymer is the technical director for the California Building Industry Association. He says the action is a step forward for the wider use of solar power in the U.S. "You can bet every other of the 49 states will be watching closely to see what happens," he told the Associated Press.

    ②Solar companies praised the new requirements, which officials have said will likely raise demand for solar equipment in California by 10-15 percent.

    The Solar Energy Industries Association called it a "historic decision for the state and the U.S." It estimated the action would produce "huge economic and environmental benefits," including bringing tens of billions of dollars into California.

    ③Some legislative and community leaders argued that Californians cannot afford to pay any more for housing in what is already an extremely high-priced market.

    "That's just going to drive the cost up and make California, once again, not affordable to live in," said California Assemblyman Brian Dahle.

    ④Severin Borenstein is an energy economist at the University of California, in Berkeley. He sent an email to the head of California's Energy Commission to urge the state to reconsider its decision.

    He expressed his belief that it is a mistake for California to approve such a policy instead of centering on efforts to develop large solar farms to produce renewable energy. He said these farms would cost much less to operate.

    "Every energy economist I know is shaking their head at this," he told the Wall Street Journal. "In many ways, this is setting the wrong example," he added.

    The final results of Best-Ever Teen Fiction vote are in. While it's no surprise to see Harry Potter and The Hunger Games series on top, this year's list also highlights some writers we weren't as familiar with. For example, John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars, appears five times in the top 100.

    Summer, like youth, passes quickly. But the books we read when we're young can stay with us for a lifetime. The following are the top 4 on the list. Enjoy.

    ⒈Harry Potter series

    The Harry Potter books make up the popular series written by J. K. Rowing. The series includes seven books. The books concern a wizard (魔法师) called Harry Potter and his journey through Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The stories tell of him over coming dangerous obstacles to defeat the dark wizard Lord Voldemort who killed his parents when Harry was 15 months old.

    ⒉The Hunger Games series

    In the ruins of a future North America, a young girl is picked to leave her poor district and travel to Capitol for a battle to the death in the cruel Hunger Games. But for Katniss Everdeen, the main character in this series by Suzanne Collins, winning the Games only puts her deeper in danger as the strict social order of Panem begins to unravel (瓦解).

    ⒊To Kill a Mockingbird

    Author Harper Lee explores racial tensions in the fictional “tired old town” of Maycomb, Ala., through the eyes of 6-year-old Scout Finch. As her lawyer father, Atticus, defends a black man accused of a crime, Scout and her friends learn about the unjust treatment of African-Americans – and their mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley.

    ⒋The fault in Our Stars

    Hazel Grace, a teenage girl, has got all sorts of cancer inside her body, and her lungs aren't working very well. She knows she is dying and doesn't live in hope any more. When a man named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at the Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

    Let me tell you, Johnson, this is going to be the biggest development in animal-imitative cybernetics (动物模仿控制学) since Hayes pioneered the field way back in 2014. Everybody's going to want a piece of my discovery! Everyone! Even United States of Earth Defense! I'm going to be the richest man alive!

    I can see you don't share my excitement yet. Just wait, old friend. Accompany me to my lab, and we will see who has the last laugh. You'll be begging me to take you on as a lab assistant after I...Oh, here we are. You first, my good man. You see, I had already come up with the perfect cybernetic engine, able to copy any life form. The question was, which creature would be the best show of my discovery? I've used a life form nobody's considered for cybernetics. It is powerful, graceful, intelligent, and best of all people love it. I chose the tiger!

    Go on, have a glance! Ha! Don't look so shocked, Johnson. I leave it powered down when I'm not testing it. It is rather great, though. Yes, all the latest technology, including claws (爪) I had made from vanadium alloy (合金). It cuts through steel like its wet cardboard. The process that I used to get its mind in the computer will be enough to ensure me fame and fortune.

    Huh? It did move, didn't it? I guess I left it on yesterday. No, don't look so nervous; I can shut off its main power with this remote (遥控器) right here. Nothing to worry about. I really don't think it's regarding you as a meal. Be reasonable, old...Oh, God! Johnson! The remote, where is it? Where?!

    Ah, there we go! Too late to save Johnson, though. What a pity. Better safe than sorry. There! God, what a mess. Even worse, I can't call the police now; the bad publicity would overshadow my breakthrough, and certainly frighten the investors. I've got to get rid of the body secretly, somehow. I could bury it, but I might be seen. I could burn it, but the smoke would be very doubtful. What to do?

    What to...

    I wonder...How fast can this cat eat?

Students from Oceanside High School in Rockland will be able to sleep in a little longer from this autumn.

Regional School Unit 13 Superintendent (负责人) Lew Collins said during the school's Thursday night meeting that the schedule (时间表) for the schools will be changed. Oceanside East and West will start a half hour later, at 8 a.m. for their new school year.

Research has shown that teenagers' brains are often not fully awake at 6:30 a.m. Collins said the schedule, which is used to get students to school for classes that begin at 7:30 a.m., calls for some to get on buses before 6 a.m. to get to school on time. Teachers are having meetings at 6:40 a.m., which is too early, he thinks.

Collins visited the high schools in Rockland and asked students when they would like classes to begin. Most of them said 8:00 a.m. "I was surprised. I thought they would have said 9:00 or 10:00," he said.

The National Sleep Foundation says on its website that teenagers' biological clocks (生物钟) are designed to stay up later and get up later. The Foundation called for schools to change their schedules, which means a later start as well for elementary students (小学生).

We do not have enough buses to run, since all the high school and elementary school buses run almost at the same time, Collins said. He suggested, "We should buy six more buses and get six more drivers to keep the new schedule working."

Elementary school classes in Rockland now start at 8:30 a.m., but will be moved to 8:45 a.m., starting in the autumn. "I know this is a problem for working parents, but we will see what we can come up with," said Jane Brown, a teacher at Bardonia Elementary School. "Anyway, I believe if students get more sleep they'll be more ready to learn when classes start," she added.