I've been researching my family tree since 1998 ，and I've long been curious about DNA as a way to learn more about my roots. The technology has come a long way in the last decade, and it's become more affordable too. Finally, I went ahead and ordered a Y-DNA test.

    The results came in my email inbox from the DNA lab! When I logged in to see the results, there are 29 living people today with whom I share a common direct male ancestor in about the last 1,000 years. They live in Ireland, England, Scotland, South Africa, the United States and probably elsewhere.

    I had two close matches, and the rest were more distant. They both live in Ireland! What makes the connection  to these two men so interesting is that most Irish genealogical (族谱的)records were burned in fires in Dublin and don't exist today. Without them, it's hard to trace Irish roots any further back than the 1800s. I've written emails to both of them and hope to hear back!

    I did some more research on my Y-DNA and found my direct male ancestors were Celtics. They seem to have lived in Western Europe at the time of Ancient Rome. Migration patterns show that my DNA group likely originated in Western Asia, living there 20, 000 and 30, 000 years ago. There are relatives with similar DNA going thousands of years back in what is now Iran, India, Syria, Israel and Turkey.

    I was so excited by these results that I decided to trace my motherly line too. My DNA is already at the lab, so now I just have to wait another month or so, and I'm sure to find more interesting things.

    When her classmates were having a good time, Molly sat at the picnic table alone. She remained awkward around her classmates. She seemed unsure of what to do or say, yet I could see her eyes longing for acceptance. Many students had already decided that her friendship would not be worth the energy required to overcome the awkwardness. Others teased her. Most ignored her except for one.

    Brianna, the class clown, was making the other students laugh, as usual. “Brianna, do you see Molly down there? Would you mind walking down there and inviting her to come up here with the rest of us?”

    Brianna sighed. I could tell she didn't want to sacrifice precious minutes of her own recess (休息) to do what I was asking of her, but I also knew her heart. She often thought of others before herself— a rare character for anyone, much less a kid.

    Knowing this choice was hard for her, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a D-buck, our class currency. Though bribery (行贿) was not the ideal way to handle this situation, I needed her cooperation.

    “Here, I'll pay you for your time.”

    She offered an insincere smile, grasped the green paper, and headed down the hill.

    As the rest of the children screamed and laughed, my eyes locked on Brianna as she neared the picnic table. Molly could be difficult, and I wouldn't have been surprised if she sent Brianna back alone, refusing her invitation. When she encouraged herself to a standing position, I sighed with relief.

    A minute later, I felt a tap on my shoulder. “Here, Mrs. D.” She handed me the D-buck.

    “Why?” I asked.

    “I shouldn't keep this,” Her eyes fell to her feet, guilt radiating from her quiet voice. “I don't want Molly to think I only went to get her so I could earn a D-buck. She's my friend.”

    A moment later, they were all laughing again, and who should I see among them, laughing for the first time that week? Molly.

    Summer Holiday Fun 2018!

    The summer holidays are upon us again. Here is our guide to summer holiday fun in Peterborough!

    Peterborough Museum

    The Age of the Dinosaurs is the museum's main attraction this summer. Get up close to prehistoric creatures via some great hands-on exhibits! Watch out for monsters lurking around every ember! The museum is open from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday to Saturday, and from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm on Sunday in August.

    Call 01733 864663 for details.

    Saxon Youth Club

    School holiday fun: Young people aged 13-19 will be able to produce their own music, compete in sports activities, or try their hand at cooking at Saxon Youth Club, Saxon Community Centre, Norman Road, Peterborough every Monday and Wednesday from 3:00 pm. PLUS an aero ball tournament will take place on Thursday, 12th August between 3:30 pm and 6:30 pm.

    Call 01353 720274 for details.

    Houghton Mill

    Through the Looking Glass – a new production of the family favorite on Monday 30^th, August. Bring rugs or chairs to sit on and a picnic if you wish to eat during the play. Gates open 5:30 pm, performance 6:30 pm-8:30 pm. Tea room will be open until the end of the interval. Adult £ 10. Child £ 7. Family £ 20.

    Booking advisable on 0845 4505157.

    Farmland Museum and Denny Abbey

    Farmland Games: From Wellie Wanging to Pretend Ploughing matches, come and join the Farmland Team. Collect your sporting stickers and create a colorful rosette that is fit for a winner! No need to book, just turn up between 12:00 pm and 4:00 pm on Thursday, 19th August. Suitable for children aged four and above, each child should be accompanied by an adult and all activities are included in the normal admission price. Tickets Cost: £ 7 per child.

    For further information, call 01223 810080.

    The day will come when renewable energy such as wind, solar, geothermal and others replace fossil fuels as the major source of world energy. However, most analysts insist that this day will not arrive for many decades to come—certainly well past the middle of the century. Systems of fossil fuels have already been firmly set up, and it is too costly or impractical to replace the existing systems with renewables. But there are good reasons to believe that the transition (转变) to renewables will come much faster than previously thought.

    It is hardly surprising that many experts say we will see a relatively slow transition from fossil fuels to renewables, given what is known about previous energy changes of this sort. "Energy transitions take a long time," observed Vaclav Smil of the University of Manitoba in Scientific American. It took more than 50 years for coal to replace wood as the world's leading source of energy and another 50 years for oil to replace coal; the change from fossil fuels to renewables, he argued, is not likely to come any faster.

    Under ordinary circumstances, Smil's forecast would no doubt prove accurate. But these are not ordinary times. Growing concern over climate change is leading to increasingly strict controls on CO₂ and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (排放), while the development in renewables technology is lowering their price and speeding their installation.

    There are, of course, many difficulties in the effective control of carbon emissions, as demonstrated by coal companies to block the introduction of new rules by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Nevertheless, it is impossible to dismiss the progress being made at the local and international levels to promote the use of renewables. The European Union (E. U), for example, is well on the way to achieving a 20% reduction in GHG emissions from 1990 levels by 2020, along with a 20% increase in the use of renewable energy.

    The transition to renewables will be faster due to dramatic improvements in the pricing and performance of such systems. As a result of the steady increases in the efficiency of wind and solar systems, together with the savings achieved through large-scale manufacture, the price of renewables is falling globally. With prices dropping this fast, solar energy is now proving competitive with fossil fuels for generating electricity in many areas.

    The change from fossil fuels to renewable energy will not come overnight, and it will not escape many setbacks. Nevertheless, renewables are likely to replace fossil fuels as the main source of electrical power well before mid-century.

    Barbara McCintock was one of the most important scientists of the twentieth century. She made important discoveries about genes(基因) and chromosomes (染色体).

    Barbara McClintock was born in 1902 in Hartford, Connecticut. Her family moved to Brooklyn area of new York City in 1908.Barbara was an active child with interests in sports and music. She also developed an interest in science.

    She studied science at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Barbara was among a small number of undergraduate students to receive training in genetics in 1921. Years later, she noted that few college students wanted to study genetics.

    Barbara McClintock decided to study botany, the scientific study of plants, at Cornell University. She completed her undergraduate studies in 1923. McClintock decided to continue her education at Cornell. She completed a master's degree in 1925. Two years later, she finished all her requirements for a doctorate degree.

    McCintock stayed at Cornell after she completed her education. She taught students botany. The 1930s were not a good time to be a young scientist in the United States. The country was in the middle of the great economic Depression. Millions of Americans were unemployed. Male scientists were offered jobs. But female geneticists were not much in demand.

    An old friend from Cornell, Marcus Rhoades, invited McClintock to spend the summer of 1941 working at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. It is a research center on Long Island, near New York City. McClintock started in a temporary (临时的) job with the genetics department. A short time later, she accepted a permanent (永久的) position with the laboratory. This gave her the freedom to continue her research without having to teach or repeatedly ask for financial aid.

    By the 1970s, her discoveries had had an effect on everything from genetic engineering to cancer research. McClintock won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1983 for her discovery of the ability of genes to change positions on chromosomes. She was the first American woman to win an unshared Nobel Prize.

    The Notre Dame fire has been put out, but its spire and a large portion of its wooden roof have been damaged. The terrible destruction causes a sudden sharp pain to people around the world. On Chinese social media network Wechat a common comment on the disaster is: "What a pity that we cannot see the damaged parts of the wonder anymore."

    But the good news is that there is at least one way of seeing them, namely via a video game called Assassin's Creed: Unity. In this game, the player can travel to one city after another and enter the buildings exactly like what they are in reality, and see Notre Dame as it was before the fire. Further, with virtual reality technology, which is already quite mature, one can even look around the undamaged Notre Dame as if it is still there. Maybe digital technology could help to better protect architectural cultural heritage.

    The idea of digitizing ancient buildings, making digital models of them so their data can be saved, dates back to the 1990s and the necessary technology has continued to advance since then. By scanning the ancient buildings with lasers, building 3D models with multiple images, as well as measuring everything precisely, engineers can make a copy as accurate as the real one.

    As computers and smartphones are hugely popular, the digital replica（复制品）has great use value  First, it allows tourists to feel the cultural relics without touching them, which helps protect them. The virtual tour of Dunhuang Grottoes in Gansu Province is a good example of this as tourists can view the paintings without standing near them. Furthermore, it can make the digitized cultural relics more famous by spreading awareness about them via the Internet. In 2000, a virtual tour of the Great Wall became very popular at the Hannover World Expo, which increased the number of foreign tourists visiting the site in the following years. Above all, it preserves all the information of the cultural relics. Even if the original ones are damaged one day, people can still know what they were like and can build a replica if desired.

    Of course, however precise a model is, it is not the original. Time is the biggest threat to a country's architectural heritage, which will always become ruins with the passing of time. Maybe we will have better technologies in the future, but the digital technology offers a practical way to preserve architectural cultural heritage at the moment.