Many people trying to sell homes find that an increase in home prices has turned the market in their favor. But sellers can still get the short end of the deal if they aren't careful. Here are a few tips for you:

    Don't test your luck. Of course you think anyone who moves into your lovely home should be willing to pay top dollars, especially if you've recently invested in some improvements. But listing a home at a price that's too high above the market price could turn away some buyers.

    Buyers noticing that the home still hasn't sold may begin to assume there's something wrong with the house and use that as a reasonable excuse for offering a lower price. And if a home hasn't received any offers after two weeks, it might be time to reset the price.

    A price that's too low can bring about an undesired outcome. Listing your home at or slightly below the market price can have the effect of drawing in a large group of buyers and increase the chances that a home will receive multiple offers. But setting the price too low comes with several risks. One possibility is that buyers will get skeptical of the home that is listed for $ 15,000 to $ 20,000 less than similar homes in the area, especially if it's not properly marketed. Once again, people might assume there is something wrong with the home and may not bother to look at it.

    Spy on the competition. Going to other people's open houses can give you a better sense of how your home compares to others on the market. Check out the finishes in their kitchens, the size of their backyards and use the information to figure out where your home should fit in the range of the price. But don't set your pricing just on what you see elsewhere.

    If you have a long holiday to spend, where can you go?

Nikoi Island, Indonesia

    Less than 85 km – but somehow a whole world away – from Singapore's shining skyline lies Nikoi Island. Surrounded by white sandy shorelines and vivid coral reefs, Nikoi's centre is hidden in rainforest, resulting in amazing biodiversity seen in its native plants, animals and bird life. Marrying traditional Indonesian craftsmanship with contemporary design, Nikoi boasts just 15 stilted（建于支柱上的）beach houses, all with breathtaking sea views, guaranteeing privacy and total escape from the daily grind.

Amanpulo, Philippines

    The only property on Pamalican Island, the luxurious Amanpulo resort offers extremely impressive accommodation, with only access to over five kilometres of clean coral sand beach. Designed to resemble indigenous Bahay Kubo homes, Amanpulo's beachside, treetop and hillside villas all feature comfortable decks with hammocks（吊床）from which to enjoy the spectacular views of the greenish-blue sea below. Fill your schedule with Amanpulo's signature aquatic adventures (including diving, windsurfing and sailing), recharge in the award-winning spa or feast upon locally caught seafood – the choice is yours.

Song Saa, Cambodia

    Song Saa's incredible ocean views, and breathtaking sunsets are a very typical example of pure paradise. Its 24 villas – each with their own sea-view private plunge pool – are designed to reflect the natural beauty of Cambodia's coastline; built from recycled wood with straw roofs and driftwood furnishings, these presences are stylish proof of Song Saa's admirable commitment to sustainability（持续）and conservation. You can choose to do as much or as little as you want here, with rainforest tours, island safaris and reef snorkelling just some of the activities on offer that showcase this spectacular destination.

    Rainforests, it turns out, are not created equal. Take the Amazon rainforest, an area that covers about 7 million square kilometers. But within that huge expanse are all kinds of ecological zones, and some of these zones, says Greg Asner, are a lot more crowded than others.

    “Some forests have many species of trees,” he said, “others have few. Many forests are unique from others in terms of their overall species composition…” And all of these different small areas of forest exist within the giant space that is the Amazon Rainforest.

    So Asner, using the signature technique called airborne laser-guided imaging spectroscopy, began to map these different zones from the air. “By mapping the traits of tropical forests from above,” he explains, “we are, for the first time, able to understand how forest composition varies geographically.”

    The results show up in multicolored maps, with each color representing different kinds of species, different kinds of trees, the different kinds of chemical they are producing and using, and even the amount of biodiversity, the animal and plant species that live within each zone.

    Armed with this information, Asner says decision-makers now have “a first-time way to decide whether any given forest geography is protected well enough or not. If not, then new protections can be put in place to save a given forest from destruction.”

    Asner says the information is a great way for decision-makers to develop a “cost-benefit ratio type analysis.”  Conservation efforts can be expensive, so armed with this information, government leaders can ensure they are making the most of their conservation dollars by focusing on areas that are the most biologically diverse or unique.

    The next step, Asner says, is to take his project global, and to put his eyes even higher in the sky, on orbital satellites. “The technique we developed and applied to map Peru is ready to go global.” Asner said. “We want to put the required instrumentation on an Earth-orbiting satellite, to map the planet every month, which will give the best possible view of how the world's biodiversity is changing, and where to put much needed protections.

    Money is the root of all evil (邪恶) and new study claims there may be some truth behind the saying. Scientists at the University of California Berkeley, US, announced on February 27 that rich people are more likely to do immoral things, such as lie or cheat, than poorer people. The scientists did a series of eight experiments. They published their findings online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNA《美国国家科学院院刊》).

    They carried out the first two experiments from the sidewalk near Berkeley. They noted that drivers of newer and more expensive cars were more likely to cut off other cars and pedestrians at crosswalks. Nearly 45 percent of people driving expensive ears ignored a pedestrian compared with only 30 percent of people driving mow modest cars.

    In another experiment, a group of college students was asked if they would do immoral things in various everyday situations. Examples included taking printer paper from work and not telling a salesperson when he or she gave back more change. Students from higher — class families were more likely to act dishonestly.

    According to the scientists, rich people often think money can get them out of trouble. This makes them less afraid to take risks. It also means they care less about other people's feelings.

    Finally, it just makes them greedier. “Higher wealth status seems to make you want even more, and that increased want leads you to bend the rules or break the rules to serve your self- interest,” said Paul Piff, lead scientist of the study.

    Piff pointed out that the findings don't mean that all rich people are untrustworthy or all poor people honest. He said the experiments were to show how people living in different social situations express their instincts（本能）and values in different ways.

    I was in a rush as always, but this time it was for an important date I just couldn't be late for! Thinking of my upcoming evening, I hurried into a store to pick up some flowers, for I did not want to be late for this date. When I paid the bill at a checkout counter, I found myself behind an elderly woman who seemed in no hurry when she paid for her groceries. She looked up at me and smiled. It was a nice smile –warm and friendly –and I returned her gift by smiling back.

    “Must be a special lady, no matter who will be getting those beautiful flowers,” she said.

    “Yes, she's special,” I said, and then to my embarrassment, the words kept coming out.

    “It's only our second date, but somehow I am just having the feeling that she's 'the one'. Jokingly, I added,“The only problem is that I can't understand why she'd want to date a guy like me.”

    “Well, I think she's very lucky to have a boyfriend who brings her such lovely flowers and who is obviously in love with her,” the woman said.” “My husband used to bring me flowers every week –even when times were hard and we didn't have much money. Those were wonderful days; he was very romantic and – of course – I miss him after he died.

    I paid for my flowers as she was gathering up her groceries. I walked up to her, touched her on the shoulder and said,“You were right, you know. These flowers are indeed for a very special lady.” I handed her the flowers and thanked her for such a nice conversation.

    It took her a moment to realize that I was giving her the flowers I had just bought.“You have a wonderful evening,” I said. I left her with a big smile and my heart warmed as I saw her smelling the beautiful flowers.

    I remember being slightly late for my date that night and telling my girlfriend the above story. A couple of years later, when I finally worked up the courage to ask her to marry me, she told me that the story I had told her that night helped me win her heart.

    Laughter is part of the universal human vocabulary. All members of the human species understand it. Unlike English or French or Swahili, we don't have to learn to speak it. We re born with the capacity to laugh.

    Very little is known about the specific brain mechanisms responsible for laughter. Contrary to folk wisdom, most laughter is not about humor; it is about relationships. To find out when and why people laugh, I went with several assistants to local malls and recorded what happened just before people laughed. Over a 10-year period, we studied over 2, 000 cases of naturally occurring laughter.

    We found that most laughter does not necessarily follow jokes. People may laugh after a variety of statements, such as, "Here comes Mary," "How did you do on the test?" or "Do you have a rubber band?" These certainly aren't jokes.

    We believe laughter evolved from the panting (喘气的) behavior of our ancient ancestors. Today, if we tickle (使发痒) chimps, they don't laugh. But, instead, they produce a panting sound. That's the sound of ape laughter, and it's the root of human laughter.

    Apes laugh in the kinds of situations that lead to human laughter, like games that involve chasing. Other animals produce sounds during play, but they are so different from laughter. Rats, for example, produce high sounds during play and when tickled, but these are very different in sound from human laughter.

    Laughter is often positive, but it can be negative too. There's a difference between "laughing with" and "laughing at". People who laugh at others may be trying to drive them out of the group.

    No one has actually counted how much people of different ages laugh, but young children probably laugh the most. At ages 5 and 6 we probably laugh more than at any other times. Adults laugh less than children, probably because they play less.

    Work now underway will tell us more about the brain mechanisms behind laughter, how it has evolved, and why we're so susceptible to tickling.