Want to be an astronaut?Then“study hard，stay healthy and have perseverance”!

    This is what Chinese astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng said in Hong Kong．Fei，Nie and leading engineers of Shenzhou VI visited Hong Kong from November 27 to 30，2010．

    They talked with primary，secondary and college students．Kids were interested in the astronauts' space lives．They asked questions like “Did you see the Great Wall from space?”Fei and Nie said they didn't see the Great Wall．But they felt excited when they passed over China，including Taiwan．The Taiwan Island looks very beautiful，like jade．

    Young people wanted to know how the astronauts developed(发展)their careers(职业)．“How did you decide to be astronauts when China's space industry is still at the beginning?”spoke a young woman．The astronauts said it was because of their love of flight and the need of the nation．They said their love of flight could be seen from their children's names．Nie's daughter is named Nie Tianxiang，which means“flying up high”．Fei's son is called“Fei Di”，which sounds like“Feidie”，meaning UFO．

    Do you know why different animals or pests have their special colors? Colors in them seem to be mainly used to protect themselves.

Some birds like eating locusts (蝗虫), but birds cannot easily catch them. Why? It is because locusts change their colors with the change of the colors of crops. When crops are green, locusts look green. But as the harvest time comes, locusts change into the same brown color as crops have. Some other pests whose colors are different form plants are easily found and eaten by others. So they have to hide themselves for lives and appear only at night.

    If you study the animals' life, you'll find the main use of colors is to protect themselves. Bears, lions and other animals move quietly through forests. They cannot be easily seen by hunters because their colors are much like the trees.

    Colors are useful not only on the land, but also in the sea. A kind of fish in the sea can give out a kind of black liquid (液体) when the fish face danger. The liquid spreads over quickly, so they cannot be found by their enemies and can quickly swim away. That is why they live safely though they are not strong at all.

    Today many people like growing plants at home because the plants help make the indoor environment beautiful and healthy. However, sometimes people may be too busy to remember to water their plants. If you have the same problem, don't worry. Designer Alastair Crompton can help you solve the problem with his amazing product-Plant Pod. It can water itself without any help.

    The Plant Pod is a self-watering container (容器) for small to medium-sized plants inside the house. Alastair Crompton makes it use a very simple process to provide the plant with the water it needs every day. With a Plant Pod, people no longer need to worry about how much water is perfect for their plants to grow. The water in the Plant Pod is enough to last for at least two weeks. So if people are away from home on a short holiday, they don't need to ask their relatives or neighbours to look after their plants. Won't it be great to see your plants welcome you when you are back home after one or two weeks?

    A small robot may help children who are ill in hospital or at home. These children may feel lonely without their friends or classmates. The robot takes their places at school. Through the robot, the children can hear their teachers and friends.

    The robot is called AV1. A Norwegian company called No Isolation created the robot. Dolva explains how the robot AV1 works. She says from home, children use a tablet or phone to start the robot. Then they use the same device to control the robot's movements. At school, the robot becomes their eyes, ears and voice.

     "So, it sits at the child's desk in the classroom and the child uses a tablet or a phone to start it and control its movements and talks through it. So it's the eyes, the ears and the voice at school." The robot is equipped with speakers, microphones and cameras that make communication easy.

    AV1 is large and looks like a human for a reason. Dolva says this is important because the robot is supposed to be a friend of the children. "It can't be just a tiny camera because the other kids can't pick it up and take it with them. This is supposed to be their friend." And robots are, quite simply, cool. Hopefully AV1 will help some children feel less lonely while they are not in class.

    The name of our galaxy(星系), the Milky Way, comes from its appearance. It's a milky white band of glowing light that spreads across the night sky. If you look up at the evening sky, there's a good chance you will not be able to see what your grandmother saw when she was a little girl. A new study says that nearly 80 percent of people in North America can't see the Milky Way because of light pollution.

    The most light-polluted country in the world is Singapore where researchers found that people living in the country never have the chance to experience true darkness. Other countries with large percentages of people living under such skies include Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

    Too much light has a direct influence on human physiology and behavior. It can also destroy our sleep cycle. What's more, it also influences wildlife. For example, baby turtles may not swim into the ocean because of street lights near shorelines.

    In the U.S., some communities have been taking action on light pollution but in developing countries, people still want to make bigger, brighter light, like LED lights. They can save energy, but on the other hand, they will increase light pollution rapidly in fact.

    There are still people that can remember when they used to be able to see the Milky Way, when they would walk outside at night, but those are becoming fewer and fewer.

    Nighttime natural scenery needs protection just like daytime scenery. Don't let the light pollution steal the chance to experience the wonder of a natural night sky from us.