More cycling, better public transport and car bans… Places all over the world are taking a range of measures to lower traffic pollution.

Paris

    Paris bans cars in many historic central districts on weekends, places odd-even(单双日制的) bans on vehicles, makes public transport free during major pollution events and encourages car-sharing programs. A long section of the right bank of the river. Seine is now car-free and a monthly ban on cars has come into force along the Champs-Elysees.

The Netherlands

    Politicians want to ban the sale of all petrol cars from 2025, allowing only electric of hydrogen vehicles. The new law will allow anyone who already owns a petrol car to continue using it. Most cities encourage bicycle use.

Freiburg

    Freiburg in Germany has 500km of bike routes and a cheap and efficient public transport system. One town, Vauban, forbids people to park near homes and makes car-owners pay 18,000 for a space on the edge of town. In return for living without a car, people are offered cheaper housing, free public transport, and plentiful bicycle spaces.

Curitiba

    The southern Brazilian city of two million people has one of the biggest and lowest-cost bus systems in the world. Nearly 70% of its people go to work by public transport and the result is pollution-free air and traffic-free streets.

Copenhagen

    Copenhagen prioritizes(优先考虑) bikes over cars and now has more cycles than people. The city calculates that one mile on a bike is worth $0.42 to society, while one mile in a car is a $0.2 loss. Large parts of the Danish capital have been closed to vehicles for decades.

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    It's true that many dads in the wild aren't interested in parenting, but there are some that work pretty hard to give their little ones a good start. Maybe one of these dads will make you remember your own dad!

    The male giant water bug doesn't seem to mind a heavy load on his back for his kids. The female puts about 100 to 150 eggs on the back of the male, and then she leaves. Once the female is gone, the male has to look after the eggs. It usually takes one to two weeks for the eggs to hatch. The father giant water bug jumps around to make sure the growing eggs get enough air and water. All this time he can't fly because of the weight of the eggs growing rapidly on his back.

    Now let's turn to the male stickleback fish. When the mother leaves after laying her eggs, the father tends his young. If the young fish go too far away, their father helps with their safe return by carrying them back in his mouth. The male stickleback looks after all his young — as many as 100 — until they can live on their own.

    A similar example can be found in emperor penguins living in cold areas. The male emperor penguin goes without food while looking after his egg until it hatches. For about 62 to 67 days, the egg stays on top of the father's feet, in very cold temperatures that drop down to -39° C. As a result, the father may lose nearly 50 percent of his body weight while waiting for his baby penguin to be born!

    Tips for cooking on a Tight Schedule

    From my experience, there are three main reasons why people don't cook more often: ability, money, and time.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Money is a topic I'll save for another day. So today I want to give you some wisdom about how to make the most of the

time you spent in the kitchen .Here are three tips for great cooking on a tight schedule :

    Think ahead .The moments when I think cooking is a pain are when I'm already hungry and there's nothing ready to eat. So think ahead of the coming week .When will you have time to cook? Do you have the right materials already?{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Make your time worth it. When you do find time to cook a meal, make the most of it and save yourself time later on. Are you making one loaf of bread?{#blank#}3{#/blank#}.It takes around the same amount of time to make more of something. So save yourself the effort for future meal.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}This may surprise you, but one of the best tools for making cooking worth your time is experimentation. It gives you the chance to hit upon new ideas and recipes that can work well with your appetite and schedule. The more you learn and the more you try, the more ability you have to take control of your food and your schedule.

    Hopefully that gives you a good start.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}and don't let a busy schedule discourage you from making some great changes in the way you eat and live!

A. Try new things.

B. Ability is easily improved.

C. Make three or four instead.

D. Understand your food better.

E. Cooking is a burden for many people.

F. Let cooking and living simply be a joy rather than a burden.

G. A little time planning ahead can save a lot of work later on.

    Open work spaces definitely have their benefits，but they come with the drawback of offering employees little to no control over visual distractions(干扰)．With so many people around and so much going on，some of us can easily get disturbed by this information overload and lose focus in what's really important．That's where the Focus Cap comes into play．

    “As we are still cavemen or mammals kept in an unnatural environment，I believe that only by reclaiming(收回)the normal，stress-free human state through simple tools and techniques can we finally release our actual creative potential and create our meaningful work for a brighter future，”says German designer Hannes Greblin，inventor of the Focus Cap．

    After looking at other products designed at minimizing visual distractions，Greblin decided that most of them were either too expensive or too uncomfortable to become mainstream，so he decided to go with something much simpler —a simple cap with a retractable visor(可伸缩的帽沿)．

    Greblin's Focus Cap is really straightforward．You just wear it like a regular cap'with the sides of the visor retracted，and just collapse the sides whenever you need to focus on what's ahead of you．Whether you're trying to focus on a task in an open work office．Trying to study at university，or practicing yoga in a park and trying to ignore stares from strangers，the Focus Cap can help．

    To be honest，this whole project sounds like a joke，but the Focus Cap does have its own website where people interested in this unusual accessory can actually sign up for updates on when it will go on sale．Greblin claims it will cost 30 euros($37)plus shipping．

    Copenhagen Destination Guide

    The modern city of Copenhagen combines the best of European cafe culture and Scandinavian architecture. It's charming and compact with lots of local history to dive into. Although spending time in Copenhagen can become expensive, there are many ways to experience the city on a budget as well.

    Attractions

    Copenhagen is one of the world's best cycling cities. To see the city with ease, rent a bike or take a small group tour to see the sights, including the Little Mermaid, the island of Amager and the community of Christiania. You can also take a canal boat tour to see the city from a unique view. The Tivoli Gardens offer a sense of love in the evenings. There are some excellent museums to explore. Be sure to add the Museum of Art and Design to your travel plan.

    Transportation

    Kastrup Airport is the first destination for most visitors. It typically takes less than 15 minutes to get from the airport to the city center by train, so all the visitors prefer this way to travel between the two places. Canal boat tours are the easiest way to see the city's attractions. Cycling is the fastest and most flexible way to get around, and it's a refreshingly pedestrian-friendly city as well.

    Tips

    Find local sandwich shops to eat like the locals do and give your wallet a break.

    Museum lovers should have a Copenhagen Card, which provides free entrance to about 60 museums and many other attractions too.

    Consider visiting Copenhagen in the autumn, when it's a little cold but accommodations become much cheaper than those in the summer.

    Check at www.Save70.com to view price comparisons for flights and hotels before you book.

    Crossing your legs is an extremely common habit. While you may find it comfortable to sit with one knee crossed over the other, it might be causing health problems that you are not aware of.

    A study published in Blood Pressure Monitoring stated that sitting with your legs crossed can increase your blood pressure. The reason is that crossing one leg over the other increases resistance, making it even harder for the blood to circulate and increase your blood pressure. Thus, you shouldn't have your legs crossed for more than 15 minutes, and it's important that you get up and walk around at least once every hour.

    Crossing your legs can also lead to neck and back pain. Ideally, it's best for our bodies to sit with our feet planted flat on the floor. When you sit with your legs crossed your hips are in a twisted position, which can cause pressure on your lower and middle back and neck.

    You also might notice that when you sit with your legs crossed for long periods of time your feet and legs get painful. This is because when one leg sits on top of the other, it causes pressure on the veins and nerves in your legs and feet. While the feeling of discomfort may only last a minute or two, repeatedly crossing your legs until they feel numb can cause permanent nerve damage.

    So next time you sit down, try to get yourself in the habit of sitting with both of your feet on the floor. Not only will it help your posture and stability, but it will also save your health in the long run.