For years, people have wondered whether there's life on other planets. Scientists may now be closer than ever to answering that question.

    Using powerful telescopes, a team of astronomers in South America discovered a new planet, called Proxima b. It circles a star named Proxima Centauri, in the same way Earth circles the sun. Proxima Centauri is the closest star to our solar system.

    Scientists believe the new planet has a rocky surface and is similar in size to Earth. More important, they've determined that the distance between Proxima b and its “sun” gives the planet a similar temperature to Earth's.This means it could have liquid water. The presence of water on a planet makes it possible for life to exist there. Scientists refer to planets like Proxima b as “Goldilocks planets” because they are not too hot or too cold, but just right to possibly support life.

    Astronomers have found other Goldilocks planets in the past, but none are as close to Earth as Proxima b. Still, the new planet is 4.2 light years from Earth—that is about 25 trillion miles away.

    Despite the long distance, astronomers hope to get a much better look at our new-found neighbor one day. But they'll need to wait until more advanced telescopes are developed. They may also send a robotic spacecraft to investigate the planet.

    Aunt Karen always had a special place in my heart. When I was growing up, I knew I could count on her to have room for me on her lap and words of love and encouragement when I needed to hear them. When she died five years ago, I was devastated. The whole family was still in shock when her husband, Uncle Ronnie, died a week later. I longed to have a small item of Aunt Karen's to remember her by, but seeing her children and grandchildren overcome by the grief of this double loss made me shy away from asking.

    A few months after Aunt Karen's death, I was on my way to work when I saw Rescued Treasures, a local second-hand store. I only had a couple of dollars on me and didn't really intend to buy anything, but I stopped anyway just to look inside. I had been shopping around for a few minutes when a small, black handbag caught my eye. It wasn't fancy or special. I didn't really need a handbag and continued to look around the store, but something kept drawing me back to that handbag. Finally, I checked the price tag (标签). It was just one dollar.

    The handbag stayed in the back of my car for weeks until I came upon it during a car clean-up. I opened it up. I couldn't believe it. They hadn't even cleaned it out. It was still full of junk, old candy wrappers, old receipts (收据) and used paper. Usually the store emptied things inside, so there wouldn't be any surprises for a new owner.

    I threw away some wastes, and sorted through the receipts, when I found one item in the small inside pocket. It was an insurance card with the name “Karen Stair” written on it. I began to cry. My beloved Aunt Karen. This was her handbag.

    Amazing concept images have shown what homes of the future could look like, as preparations are made for the world's first free from 3D-printed property (房产).

    Experts will build a house called Curve Appeal, which will be 3D-printed off-site before being put together on-site to create two outside walls, a roof and an inside part. These four main sections will then be joined together.

    Although 3D-printed buildings have been made before, this home - to be constructed in Chattanooga, Tennessee, later this year — will be the first of its kind, as it will contain no regular shapes or angles. The house is the creation of the design company WATG, based in London and California. The design for Curve Appeal draws inspiration from the Case Study House program.

    The architects leading the program were famed for constantly pushing the limits in terms of minimalist (极简主义) materials, and trying to create open-plan spaces that focused on enhancing (增强) natural light. In a written statement, a spokesman for WATG said, “Employing many of the same modem design principles, Curve Appeal is the next evolutionary step. It's important that the architecture and the environment work together harmoniously. The chosen site is steps away from the Tennessee River in a beautiful wooded, sunlit area.”

    WATG was awarded the first prize in the Freeform Home Design Challenge in 2016 and given prize money of $ 8,000 to make its plans a reality. The competition was aimed at architects, designers, engineers and artists. Participants were challenged to design a 600 to 800sq ft single-family home that rethinks traditional aesthetics (美学), ergonomics, construction, building systems and structure.

    Over the last year, WATG's Chicago office has been developing their design with Branch Technology. This project is currently underway, working towards breaking ground later this year. Once completed, the Curve Appeal home will have open and light-filled inside living spaces.

Hidden London: the city's lesser-known delights Dulwich Picture Gallery

    As much an excuse to enjoy the village charm of Dulwich Village as to admire some delicate European masterworks,  this gallery is a southeast London charmer,  which was founded in 1811. Join a free guided tour to the permanent collection (3 pm Saturday and Sunday), catch the latest temporary exhibition and admire the lovely garden (open 1: 30 pm to 3: 30 pm Tuesdays).

Where: Gallery Rd SE21 7AD

Train: West Dulwich

Temple Church

    Featuring in the novel TheDaVinciCode and dating back to the late 12th century,  this is one of London's oldest and holiest medieval (中世纪的) treasures. Built by the Knights Templar,  the church is divided into the Round—which contains the statues of crusading knights,  who tried to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims in the Middle Ages—and the Chancel,  where the priests (牧师) and singers performing in church services sit.

Where: Temple EC4Y 7DE

Underground: Temple or Blackfriars

Chelsea Physic Garden

    Endlessly satisfying the green-fingered, the plain curious or those eager to discover botanical interests in central London, this delightful walled garden was founded by the Apothecaries' Society in the 17th century and is one of the oldest botanical gardens in London.

Where: 66 Royal Hospital Rd SW3 4HS

Underground: Sloane Square

Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art

    Built between 1953 and 1958, the Estorick is Britain's only gallery devoted to Italian art. It draws together a fascinating collection of Futurist masterpieces from Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla, Carlo Carra and others, who emphasized the importance of modern things, especially technology and machines.

Where: 39a Canonbury Sq N1 2AN

Underground: Highbury or Islington

    On the day the tornado(龙卷风) hit, there was no sign fierce weather was on its way— the sky was blue and the sun had been out. The first warning my husband, Jimmy, 67, and I, 65, got came around 9 p.m., from some text on the TV Jimmy was watching. He ran upstairs to find me in our third-floor bedroom, and we changed the channel from the national television to our local Pensacola, Florida, station.

    Soon the tornado was on top of us. It was the loudest thing I have ever heard. The bones of the house shook, and the power went out. And the wind began to roar(咆哮) through the house, most likely through blown-out windows and the door to our garage. Everything was moving. And the back wall of the house came off and flew into the darkness outside. We had three flights of steps to get to the storeroom down there, the relative safety of the first floor.

    I didn't know how or if we would make it down the steps. It felt as if there were no floor underneath me as the wind lifted me off my feet. As we finally reached the last flight of steps, our front door blew out. Suddenly, a three-foot-long tree branch flew over our heads, missing us by inches.

    By the time I reached the storeroom, the tornado had been over us for about a minute. Jimmy pushed me down to the storeroom floor, but he couldn't get inside himself because of the wind. I held Jimmy's arm as the tornado blew the door open. My knees were full of glass, but I felt no pain. If I had let go, Jimmy would have flown right out the back of the house.

    All of a sudden, Jimmy lifted off his feet. I thought he was gone. And then everything stopped. He landed on his feet. In those first quiet moments, I couldn't believe it was over. Our neighbor says the storm lasted four minutes. In that time, four of the twelve town houses in our unit were completely destroyed. Amazingly, none of us were seriously injured.

    When a group of children politely stop a conversation with you, saying, "We have to go to work now." you're left feeling surprised and certainly uneasy. After all, this is the 21st century and the idea of children working is just unthinkable. This is, until you are told that they are all pupils of stage schools, and that the "work" they go off to is to go on the stage in a theatre.

    Stage schools often act as agencies to supply children for stage and television work. More worthy of the name "stage school" are those few places where children attend full time, with a training for the theatre and a general education.

    A visit to such schools will leave you in no doubt that the children enjoy themselves. After all, what lively children wouldn't settle for spending only half the day doing ordinary school work, and acting, singing or dancing their way through the other half of the day?

    Then of course there are times for the children to make a name and make a little money in some big shows. Some stage schools give their children too much professional work at such a young age. But the law is very tight on the amount they can do. Those under 13 are limited to 40 days in the year; those over 13 to 80 days.

    The schools themselves admit that not all children will be successful in the profession for which they are being trained. So what happens to those who don't make it? While all the leading schools say they place great importance on children getting good study results, the facts seem to suggest this is not always the case.