Having experienced a shocking electrical accident, which caused him to become both blind and deaf, James Franco's world became completely dark and quiet for almost ten years. The loss of sight and hearing threw him into such sorrow that he tried a few times to put an end to his life. His family, especially his wife, did their best to tend and comfort him and finally he regained the will to live.

    One hot summer afternoon, he was taking a walk with a stick near his house when a thunderstorm started all at once. He stood under a large tree to avoid getting wet, but he was struck by the lightning. Witnesses thought he was dead but he woke up 20 minutes later, lying face down in muddy water. He was trembling badly, but when he opened his eyes, he could hardly believe what he saw: a tree and a muddy road. When Mrs. Franco came running up to him, shouting to their neighbors to call for help, he could see her and hear her voice for the first time in nearly ten years.

    The news of James regaining his sight and hearing quickly spread and many doctors came to examine him. Most of them said that he regained his sight and hearing from the shock he got from the lightning. However, none of them could give a compellent answer as to why this should happen. The only reasonable explanation given by one doctor was that, since James lost his sight and hearing as a result of a sudden shock, perhaps, the only way for him to regain them was by another sudden shock.

    Most people know that Marie Curie was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize, and the first person to win it twice. However, few people know that she was also the mother of a Nobel Prize winner.

    Born in September, 1987, Irene Curie was the first of the Curies' two daughters. Along with nine other children the parents of whom were also famous scholars, Irene studied in their own school, and her mother was one of the teachers. She finished her high school education at the College of Sévigné in Paris.

    Irene entered the University of Paris in 1914 to prepare for a degree in mathematics and physics. When World War I began, Irene went to help her mother, who was using X-ray facilities (设备) to help save the lives of wounded soldiers. Irene continued the work by developing X-ray facilities in military hospitals in France and Belgium. Her services were recognised in the form of a Military's Medal by the French government.

    In 1918, Irene became her mother's assistant at the Curie Institute. In December 1924, Frederic Joliot joined the Institute, and Irene taught him the techniques required for his work. They soon fell in love and were married in 1926. Their daughter Helene was born in 1927 and their son Pierre five years later.

    Like her mother, Irene combined family and career. Like her mother, Irene was awarded a Nobel Prize, along with her husband, in 1935. Unfortunately, also like her mother, she developed leukemia because of her work with radioactivity (辐射能). Irene Joliot-Curie died from leukemia on March 17, 1956.

    Brrriiinnng. The alarm clock announces the start of another busy weekday in the morning. You jump out of bed, rush into the shower, into your clothes and out the door with hardly a moment to think. A stressful journey to work gets your blood pressure climbing. Once at the office, you glance through the newspaper with depressing stories or reports of disasters. In that sort of mood, who can get down to work, particularly some creative, original problem-solving work?

    The way most of us spend our mornings is exactly opposite to the conditions that promote flexible, open-minded thinking. Imaginative ideas are most likely to come to us when we're unfocused. If you are one of those energetic morning people, your most inventive time comes in the early evening when you are relaxed. Sleepy people's lack of focus leads to an increase in creative problem solving. By not giving yourself time to tune into your wandering mind, you're missing out on the surprising solutions it may offer.

The trip you take to work doesn't help, either. The stress slows down the speed with which signals travel between neurons (神经细胞), making inspirations less likely to occur. And while we all should read a lot about what's going on in the world, it would not make you feel good for sure, so put that news website or newspaper aside until after the day's work is done.

    So what would our mornings look like if we wanted to start them with a full capacity for creative problem solving? We'd set the alarm a few minutes early and lie awake in bed, following our thoughts where they lead. We'd stand a little longer under the warm water of the shower, stopping thinking about tasks in favor of a few more minutes of relaxation. We'd take some deep breaths on our way to work, instead of complaining about heavy traffic. And once in the office—after we get a cup of coffee—we'd click on links not to the news of the day but to the funniest videos the web has to offer. 

    10-year-old Mikaila Ulmer from Texas is building a lemonade（柠檬水）empire, hoping to save honey bees in the process.

    It all started when Mikaila was 4 years old and she was bitten by a bee twice in one week. This caused her to become very scared whenever bees were near. In order to help her manage this new fear, Mikaila's parents asked her to do some research on bees. She learned that bees are quite important for flowers, gardens and trees. She also learned that they are dying at a rapid rate. In the past year, honeybee farmers have reported losing nearly 42% of them. Many believe that this could be due to the overuse of pesticides（杀虫剂）.

    This is when she set her mind to create a product to help save bees. She started her company BeeSweet Lemonade. Her special lemonade recipe came from her great-grandmother's cookbook. She adds honey to it, instead of sugar. In order to call attention to the problems honeybees face, Mikaila sells lemonade almost every day at her lemonade stand. And she takes every opportunity to tell her customers about the problems that face honeybees.

    What began as a small activity is starting to grow. BeeSweet is projected to sell almost 140,000 bottles of lemonade this year. BeeSweet lemonade can be found on the shelves at select Whole Foods Markets as well as many restaurants and other locations near her home.

    Does Mikaila have any time to just be a kid? Sure! Every weekend Mikaila does something fun. She doesn't mind the hard work though. She says that she is happy watching people enjoy her lemonade. The more people enjoy it, the more they're learning about the bees.

    Any foreigner who has tried to learn Chinese can tell how hard it is to master the tones required to speak and understand. And anyone who has tried to learn to play the violin or other instruments can report similar challenges.

    Now researchers have found that people with musical training have an easier time learning Chinese. Writing in the online edition of Nature Neuroscience, researchers from Northwestern University say that both skills draw on the same parts of the brain that help people discover changes in pitch(音调).

    One of the study's authors, Nina Kraus, said the findings suggested that studying music "actually tunes our sensory system". This means that schools that want children to do well in languages should hesitate before cutting music programs, Dr. Kraus said. She said music training might also help children with language problems.

    Mandarin(普通话)speakers have been shown to have a more complex encoding(编码) of pitch patterns in their brains than English speakers do. This is because in Mandarin and other Asian languages, pitch plays a central role. A single­syllable word can have several meanings depending on how it is intoned.

    For this study, the researchers looked at 20 non­Chinese speaking volunteers, half with no musical background and half who have studied an instrument for at least six years.

    As they were shown a movie, the volunteers also heard an audio tape of the Mandarin word "mi" in three of its meanings: squint, bewilder and rice. The researchers recorded activities in their brain stems to see how well they were processing the sounds. Those with a music background showed much more brain activities in response to the Chinese sounds.

    The lead author of the study, Patrick C.M. Wong, said it might work both ways. It appears that native speakers of tonal languages may do better at learning instruments.

    Years ago, I volunteered at a homeless shelter in Los Angeles, handing out food. Once I got talking with Albert, a tall and skinny young guy in line. He said he liked my socks. "Want to see mine?" he joked, lifting his leg. He was barefoot. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach.

    The next day, after work, I stopped at Ross and filled up my truck with socks. The following early morning, I drove over to Santa Monica's Palisades Park, which is a common destination for homeless people.

    I took one of the bags from my trunk. It was still dark out. I headed for a group of three men, standing around a tree, probably using it as a windbreaker. Two were asleep under heavy blankets, and the third was digging through his collection. As I walked toward him, he watched me, perhaps questioning my motives. "I thought you guys might need some fresh new socks," I said, handing him a pair. He looked confused at first but took them and said, "Thank you." I gave him two more pairs for his friends.

    I moved on. An hour later, I had given out all the socks. Most people were sleeping, and I felt like Santa. I knew that when they wake up they would find a very meaningful present.

    That was nine years ago. Every week I'll hand out as many socks as I can. If I'm on vacation or on a business trip for more than a week, I bring a bag of socks with me and hand them out to the homeless on the streets in other states and countries.

    It's extremely satisfying to operate "under the radar(雷达)" to help make some people's lives a little bit easier. Part of me hopes to see Albert out there one of these days, but even if I don't, I like to think one of the pairs will find him.