Singapore is building an airport where indoor trees, waterfalls and a 'rain vortex' sit alongside check-in queues, waiting rooms and baggage carousels(传送带).

    Where once sat a car park, there will soon be thousands of trees and plants across 22,000 square metres of landscaped indoor parklands. This will be joined by a 40m-high indoor waterfall, expected to be the world's tallest. These are the plans for the new 3.5 hectare 'Jewel' development at Singapore's Changi Airport, scheduled to open in 2018; a five-story, 134,000 square metre complex, mixing natural outdoor plants with modern airport facilities.

    “The aim behind the introduction of such lush(茂盛的) landscaping is purely to provide all visitors with a memorable experience, one where they are surrounded by nature and greenery,”says Philip Yim, Chief Executive Officer of Jewel Changi Airport Development.

    Promised sustainability（持续性） measures include “extensive usage of photovoltaic panels（光电板）”to produce renewable energy, as well as encouraging the use of natural lighting and a “high efficiency” air-conditioning system.

    The indoor waterfall, named the “Rain Vortex”, will make use of special lighting effects to change at night into what is promised to be a dramatic light and sound show. “The Rain Vortex is one example of how sustainable design plays an important role in the planning of the attraction,” says Yim. 'In the event of a rain storm, the power of the rain water will flow naturally through the oculus. The excess rain water collected will be used for irrigation of the landscaping at Jewel.'

    Yim quotes the popular reputation Singapore enjoys as “the garden city”, where greenery is recognised as an essential part of the urban landscape, an attractive image which clearly inspires Jewel's design.

    However, it remains to be seen whether, beyond the aesthetic (审美的) appeal, Jewel can add genuine environmental things to something as un-environmental as an international airport.

    Why read, and sometimes even write poetry? That question is not difficult to answer if we change the word poetry to songs.

    I sing when I feel good. When I sing my favorite songs, I feel even better. Sometimes when I am listening to music and to the song words, I feel that it was written for me. A good song always makes me feel something. There are songs that I sing in my head between classes and songs that I want to sing when the school bell rings by the end of the day. They help me get through the day.

    They are like bright and warm colors in the middle of grays and shades. I like songs about love and friendship. The extraordinary thing is that my feelings are more special when I sing my favorite songs in English.

    I also like reading. I used to avoid poetry until an e-friend told me I should recite poems and not look up the meaning of the words. Poetry uses many difficult words and idioms, but the best thing is to just forget about them. In the beginning I felt quite strange. Now I always lock the door. Reading aloud gives you a strange feeling, but when you have some practice and fall into the rhythm, and the sounds of the words, it is really a special experience.

    I started with small poems, but now I think I most like long poems. I have different feelings with different poems. When I have had a bad day at school, I read Keats and forget everything. When I am sad I read Wordsworth by the light of a candle. When the poem is finished, I close the book and my sadness is gone.

    It was my first day back home since starting college. A lot had changed in the last year. Not with my hometown but with me. I had left as a 17-year-old boy and had now returned as an 18-year-old man. In the city, I was living on my own, had a part-time job and was studying. Even the government recognized I was an adult: I had a driver's license. So here I was, on my summer vacation, walking down the main street with my father, desperate for him to acknowledge how mature I was. When his recognition failed to appear, I took matters into my own hands. “Dad,” I said casually, “I'm thirsty. Let's go for a beer.” It was the first time I'd ever mentioned beer in front of my father, let alone ask him to drink one with me.

    He turned to me with a curious expression on his face. “A beer? Well, 1 guess you're old enough now. Let's go to Sailors' Bar. It's where my cousin Tom, your uncle, used to drink. You remember him, right?”

    I had only some vague recollection of my uncle. He was the black sheep of the family. We didn't talk about him much. What ever happened to Uncle Tom, Dad? I haven't seen him in years,” I said as we continued towards the bar.

     “Neither have I, unfortunately. He was a good kid once. But things changed,” my father said mournfully. As a boy, he explained, there had been no better-behaved boy than Tom. But after leaving school, he moved to the city and fell in with bad company. He started going out every night, drinking in nightclubs and playing cards. Soon he lost everything and had to beg his mum to pay his debts. She agreed on condition that he returned home.

    My dad took a deep breath and continued his tale. "Things settled down for a while. He married a lovely woman, gave up his bad habits. But it didn't last. He was soon back to his old ways. He couldn't resist. He was at Sailors, Bar almost every night. His poor mother died of grief and shame. His wife followed her soon after.

     “What ruined him was alcohol He told me once, when a man begins drinking, he never knows where it'll end. ‘So', Tom warned me. ‘be cautious about your first drink!'

     “He went from bad to worse. Last year Tom sent me a letter saying he had been found guilty of stealing, and sent to prison for ten years.”

    Dad finished talking just as we reached the front door of Sailors' Bar. “Anyway, here we are. Let's go in,” he said. But understood. I put my arm around my father and said, “I'm not thirsty anymore, Dad. Let's go home.”

    As self — driving cars come closer to being common on American roads, much of the rhetoric (说辞) promoting them has to do with safety. About 40,000 people die on U. S. roads every year, and driver errors are linked to more than 90 percent of crashes. But many of the biggest advocates of autonomous vehicles aren't car companies looking to improve the safety of their existing products. Huge backing for self - driving technologies is coming from Silicon Valley giants like Google and Apple.

    Those of us who have studied the relationship between technology and society tend to look more carefully at the motivations behind any technological push. In this case, it's clear that in addition to addressing safety concerns, Silicon Valley firms have a strong incentive (动机) to create a new venue for increasing the use of their digital devices. Every minute people spend on their mobile phones provides data - and often money - to tech companies.

    At present, digital devices and driving are in conflict: There are serious, often fatal, consequences when drivers use smartphones to talk or to text. Regulators and safety advocates look to resolve dial conflict by banning phone use while driving - as has happened in virtually every state. But the tech companies are taking a different approach. The obvious answer for Silicon Valley is creating an antomobile in which continuous cellphone use no longer poses a threat to anyone.

    In recent years, the amount of time adults spend on their mobile devices has grown rapidly. At the moment, it's around four hours a day for the average adult in the U. S. However, that rapid growth is likely to slow down as people run out of time that ' s available for them to use their devices. Unless, of course, there's a new block of time that suddenly opens up. The average American now spends about 48 minutes in a car every day, a sizable opportunity for increased cellphone use.

    So as the public conversation around autonomous cars highlights the safety advantages, don't forget the tech industry ' s powerful desire for more profits, which goes well beyond simply saving us from ourselves.

    For those concerned about wrinkly old skin, it might be a creative solution: an elastic(有弹性的) “second skin” that can be smoothed on to make aged tissue look more youthful.

    The wearable film, developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has shown promise in a series of small experiments where it was applied to wrinkles, under-eye bags and areas of dry skin. When applied to the face or body, the thin, transparent layer sticks to the skin and supports the tissue, making it look and behave like younger skin, its producers claim.

    “What we've been able to do is create a cream that you can put on the skin, and then when it's on the skin it can actually form, essentially, an elastic second skin,” said Bob Langer, who led the research. Tests in the lab found that the polymer film (高分子膜), which is only 70 thousandths of a millimeter thick, reduced the appearance of wrinkles and under-eye bags, and helped keep moisture (水分) in areas of dry skin.

    The layer is designed to be applied in the morning, then peeled off at night, In previous studies, the second skin withstood normal daily wear, and the stresses and strains of exercise and swimming, without falling off or causing irritation. It also survived exposure to rain.

    “It's something you can wear for a whole day or longer, depending on the physical forces that get applied to the area where it is worn, "said Daniel Anderson, who helped develop the product at MIT. “You can't tell you're wearing it.”

    While normal cosmetics can mask imperfections on the skin, the new coating changes the way skin behaves by giving it the elasticity of young skin. It was developed with help from two companies.

    On Sept. 19 the Westchase Elementary PTA（Parent-Teacher Association）will hold its Wizard Walk. The Wizard Walk is a locally organized, healthy alternative to traditional product sales that will raise money to support all PTA programs and events for the year. Remaining money will be applied to an on-going capital campaign to build a new playground.

    The Wizard Walk will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 28, from 8 a. m. to noon at the Westchase Recreation Center Field.  Volunteers will be needed throughout the event.  Look for more Wizard Walk information and volunteer sign-up links in your student's folder, or contact（联系）Laura Kohler at president＠ westchasepta. org.

    The PTA is also holding a year-long Spirit Stick fundraiser（资金筹集活动）. Spirit Sticks are small and students can display them on a key ring on their backpacks, which represent a variety of interests and accomplishments. There will be many ways to earn a Spirit Stick （good grades, great behavior, exceptional attendance, etc.）and opportunities to purchase the limited edition sticks for just $1 every Friday in the courtyard. For more information, contact Nikki Pivnichny at fundraising@ westchasepta. org.

    In addition to new fundraising programs, the PTA is partnering with our Guidance Counselor, Mrs. Kiersten Rivenburg, on a new campaign called Kindness Counts. Look for new recognitions and rewards as we continue to promote kindness from our children, staff and parents throughout the year. For more information, contact Laura Smith at kindnesscounts@ westchasepta. org.

    Now in its eighth year, the After-School Enrichment Program（ASE）is bringing back some favorite programs and offering some new ones. Students will have the opportunity to explore and develop a variety of new interests. Class schedules will be available soon. Registration starts on Sept. 7. Fall session begins Sept. 21 -22. For more information, contact Jennifer Newman at ase@ westchasepta. org.