I look back sometimes at the person I was before I rediscovered my old professor. I want to talk to that person. I want to tell him what to look out for, what mistakes to avoid. I want to tell him to be more open, to ignore the temptation of advertised values, to pay attention when your loved ones are speaking, as if it were the last time you might hear them.

    Mostly I want to tell that person to get on an airplane and visit a gentle old man in West Newton, Massachusetts, sooner rather than later, before that old man gets sick and loses his ability to dance.

    I know I cannot do this. None of us can undo what we've done, or relive a life already recorded. But if Professor Morrie Schwartz taught me anything at all, it was this: there is no such thing as “too late” in life. He was changing until the day he said good-bye.

    Not long after Morrie's death, I reached my brother in Spain. We had a long talk. I told him I respected his distance, and that all I wanted was to be in touch—in the present, not just the past—to hold him in my life as much as he could let me.

    “You're my only brother,” I said. “I don't want to lose you. I love you.”

    I had never said such a thing to him before. A few days later, I received a message on my fax machine. It was typed in the sprawling, poorly punctuated, all-cap-letters fashion that always characterized my brother's words.

    “HI I'VE JOINED THE NINETIES!” it began. He wrote a few little stories, what he'd been doing that week, a couple of jokes. At the end, he signed off this way:

I HAVE HEARTBURN AND DIAHREA(腹泻) AT THE MOMENT—LIFE'S A BITCH. CHAT LATER?

[signed] SORE TUSH.

I laughed until there were tears in my eyes.

    This book was largely Morrie's idea. He called it our “final thesis.” Like the best of work projects, it brought us closer together, and Morrie was delighted when several publishers expressed interest, even though he died before meeting any of them. The advance money helped pay Morrie's enormous medical bills, and for that we were both grateful.

    The title, by the way, we came up with one day in Morrie's office. He liked naming things. He had several ideas. But when I said, “How about Tuesdays with Morrie?” he smiled in an almost blushing way, and I knew that was it.

    After Morrie died, I went through boxes of old college material. And I discovered a final paper I had written for one of his classes. It was twenty years old now. On the front page were my penciled comments scribbled to Morrie, and beneath them were his comments scribbled back.

    Mine began, “Dear Coach . . .”

    His began, “Dear Player . . .”

    For some reason, each time I read that, I miss him more.

    Have you ever really had a teacher? One who saw you as a raw but precious thing, a jewel that, with wisdom, could be polished to a proud shine? If you are lucky enough to find your way to such teachers, you will always find your way back. Sometimes it is only in your head. Sometimes it is right alongside their beds.

    The last class of my old professor's life took place once a week, in his home, by a window in his study where he could watch a small hibiscus(木槿) plant shed its pink flowers. The class met on Tuesdays. No books were required. The subject was the meaning of life. It was taught from experience.

    The teaching goes on.

    Machu Picchu is an unusual site in Peru and one of the most mysterious wonders of the world. Built at almost 10,000 feet on the top of an Andean mountain, the Incas built hundreds of structures made of stone. A large number of Machu Picchu's surrounding structures date back to the early 13th century, but it was considered a chief sacred site far before then. The Inca people changed the large site into a very small but wonderful city, completely self-sufficient and hidden from below. Agricultural terraces (梯田) surrounded the entire city, fed by natural spring water, supporting the entire population.

Inca Trail

    The trail is one of the most famous in the world and regarded as one of the best. It covers only 26 miles, combining cloud forest, green mountain scenery, forest, and plenty of tunnels, paving stones, and ruins. The four-day hike begins slowly but quickly changes into a difficult journey suitable for those in excellent shape. The trail winds through the Andes, leading alongside and through ruins. Though independent hiking was once permitted, now it must be done with a guide.

Funerary Rock

    It is believed that the Funerary Rock at Machu Picchu was used as a place to prepare Inca nobles for preservation, or mummifying (做成木乃伊), a common habit among the tribe. Nobles would be laid out to be mummified by the hot sun and freezing cold nights after their organs were removed. The rock is also famous as a spot from which a view of the city is afforded.

Temple of the Sun

    Within the city's castle, deep within Machu Picchu, is the Temple of the Sun, accessed only by the Emperor and

    Inca priests. It means the Inca's advanced knowledge of religion, weather, and nature, showing the great extent

    Incas went to adapt to and learn about nature. Still unbroken, the temple was built to honor the god Inti, who is exactly the sun. The temple was effectively protected. It was also a very important scientific center, built in half-moon shape with openings facing north and east. The windows' shadows in the center of the temple helped see the start of winter solstice (至日), showing farming season.

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The idea of being able to walk on water has long interested humans greatly. Sadly, biological facts prevent us ever accomplishing such a thing without artificial aid—we simply weigh too much, and all our mass pushes down through our relatively small feet, resulting in a lot of pressure that makes us sink.

    However, several types of animals can walk on water. One of the most interesting is the common basilisk Basilicus basilicus, a lizard (蜥蜴)native to Central and South America. It can run across water for a distance of several meters, avoiding getting wet by rapidly hitting the water's surface with its feet. The lizard will take as many as 20 steps per second to keep moving forward. For humans to do this, we，d need huge feet that we could bring up to our ears in order to create adequate w hitting. ''

    But fortunately there is an alternative : cornflour. By adding enough of this common thickening agent to water (and it does take a lot), you can create a “non-Newtonian” liquid that doesn't behave like normal water. Now, if the surface of the water is hit hard enough, particles(粒子）in the water group together for a moment to make the surface hard. Move quickly enough and put enough force into each step, and you really can walk across the surface of an adequately thick Liquid of cornflour.

    Fun though all this may sound, it's still rather messy and better read about in theory than carried out in practice. If you must do it, then keep the water wings handy in case you start to sink--and take a shower afterward!

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    Hundreds of years ago, a Roman army came north from England to make war on Scotland. The Scots, a brave people, love their country. They fought hard to drive the enemy out of Scotland. But there were too many of the Romans. It looked as if the Romans would win.

    One night, the leader of the Scots marched his soldiers to the top of a hill. “We will rest here tonight, my men,” he said, “Tomorrow we will fight one more battle. We must win, or we will die.”

    They were all very tired. So they ate their supper quickly and fell asleep. There were four guards on duty, but they were very tired, too, and one by one, they fell asleep.

    The Romans were not asleep. Quickly they gathered at the foot of the hill. Slowly they went up the hill. Closer they came to the sleeping Scots. They were almost at the top. A few minutes more the war would be over. Suddenly, one of them put his foot on a thistle (蓟). He cried out and his sudden cry woke the Scots. In a minute they were on their feet and ready for a battle. The fighting was hard, but it did not last long. The Scots wiped out the Romans and saved Scotland.

    The thistle is not a beautiful plant. It has sharp needles all over it. Few people liked it. But the people of Scotland liked it so much that they made it their national flower.

    Nobel prize winners sometimes display as much uniqueness when deciding how to spend their prize money as they did on the work that won them the award in the first place.

    When Sir Paul Nurse won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2001, he decided to upgrade his motorbike. A fellow winner in 1993, Richard Roberts, installed a croquet lawn in front of his house. Austrian author Elfriede Jelinek, who won in 2004, said the prize meant "financial independence."

    Lars Heikensten, executive director of the Nobel Foundation, said there were no obvious shopping trends among winners.

    "I think it depends a lot on which country they come from, their personal finances... what kind of incomes they have when they get the prize," he said.

    Real estate, however, is a popular option, at least among those willing to reveal what they spend the money on. Phillip Sharp, the American co-winner of the 1993 medicine prize, decided to splash out on a 100-year-old Federal style house. "I took that money and bought a little bit bigger house... It's a beautiful old place," he told AFP(法新社), adding that "The money is a nice part of the process", but "the important thing about the prize is the recognition."

    For winners of the peace prize the decision is often more clear-cut, as the honor tends to go to politicians, organizations and activists who are under more public supervision. Many, like US President Barack Obama in 2009 and the European Union in 2012, donate to charities.

    Literature winners tend to be more private about how they use the money, but the choice is often equally straightforward. "Even if Nobel-winning authors are quite well known, many of them will not have made much money from writing," said Anna Gunder, a Nobel literature expert at Uppsala University. While the prize might keep the wolf from the door for some years, giving them freedom to write, it can also briefly have the opposite effect. "It really changes their careers… During the first year after they've won they often write less, but they generally continue after a year or two," said Gunder.

    When you're on the go, your best friend and resource can be your phone. In the age of smart phones, apps are like guiding stars: They can point you in the right direction for a hotel, list expenses, send postcards, and much more. When used together, these apps can be the basic travel tool, placing a wealth of information at your fingertips no matter where you are on the planet. U.S. News Travel has picked the essential travel apps, known for their utility and reliability. Best of all, they cost absolutely nothing.

    Trip It

    Your Personal Travel Agent

    Be your own travel agent and plan every detail of your trip-- from car rental to accommodating restaurants-- with Trip It. You can make travel schedule by hand, or simply forward the email confirmations of your flight, rental car, train tickets, and hotels to plans.

Weather Free

    Your Go-To Meteorologist(气象学者)

    Stop trying to explain the weather forecast on the evening news (particularly when it's in a foreign language.) The Weather Free app informs you (in English) of the climate in various locations. It features the local weather, and other key factors that will inform your decision about what to wear before stepping outside.

    Goby

    Your Event Guru

    When you're in a foreign city, you sometimes look around and ask: Where are all the people? Goby has the answer. This app pinpoints the neighborhood hot spots (including museums, hotels, eateries, and more) in your neighborhood. But its true value comes in finding nearby events. You'll discover concerts, plays, and more right around the corner.