In addition to the official basketball world, various other types of basketball are practiced around the world.

    Wheelchair Basketball

    Wheelchair basketball was invented in 1946 by former American basketball players, who, after wartime injury, wanted once again to experience the excitement of a highly athletic sport within a team environment. It is now played in more than 80 countries by over 25,000 men, women and children with a physical disability which prevents them from playing competitive basketball on their feet.

    http://www.iwbf.org

    Beach Basketball

    Beach basketball is an exciting, non-stop action game played in the sand. The game was born more than forty years ago on the physical education fields of Gulf Shores School. This kind of basketball, invented by Philip Bryant, has grown from an extremely effective skill improvement game to a very popular, widespread competitive sport.

    http://www.beachbasketball.com

    Street Basketball

    Street Basketball or streetball is mainly played as a leisure game, but streetball players can also compete against each other. There are no specific streetball rules and the game is played outdoors; the players make up their own rules to play. Streetball is very popular among younger players and allows players to publicly show their own individual skills.

    http://www.streetball.com

    Deaf Basketball

    Basketball for the deaf (unable to hear in one or both ears) men and women has been played since the early 1920s. The game today has exactly the same rules as FIBA (International Basketball Federation).

    http://www.dibf.org

    Bankshot Basketball

    Bankshot is a new game of skill and challenge that is often described as “mini golf, but with a basketball.” Bankshot is the only sports system that allows the able-bodied and athletes with a disability to play together at the same time. This game is about no running, jumping, or body contact(接触)and relies on the shooting skill.

    http://www.bankshot.com

    The vast majority of us spend our entire lives pulled down by gravity. Then there are astronauts.

This small population of space travelers has given researchers a rare look at what happens to the human body when it's able to spend large amounts of time outside the downward pull of the Earth. This week, a study on one of the largest groups of astronauts yet —34 participants—was published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

    In the new study, a team of international radiologists supported by NASA looked at MRIs of the brains of astronauts before and after their trips to space. The scientists found that upon returning to Earth, many of the astronauts' brains had become repositioned inside their skulls, floating higher than before. In addition, the space between certain brain areas appeared to have shrunk. The changes were more common in astronauts who took longer trips into space.

    The team characterized astronaut trips as short (an average of less than 14 days) or long (an average of about 165 days). Radiologists who didn't know each astronaut's duration（持续时间）in space compared MRIs from before and after their trips.

    Of the 34 total astronauts involved in the study, 18 took long trips to space—spending most of that time on the International Space Station —and of those, 17 returned to Earth with smaller areas between the frontal lobe（脑前额叶）and parietal lobe（顶叶）. The same area of the brain also shrank for three of the 16 astronauts who took shorter trips with the US Space Shuttle Program. The researchers also found that 12 of the ISS astronauts and six of the space-shuttle astronauts returned home with their brains sitting slightly higher in their skulls than before.

    It's not clear what, if anything, these brain changes mean for the health of space travelers. In general, it appears the human body tolerates space travel fairly well: the time astronauts have spent in zero-gravity environments so far doesn't seem to have had any strong or long-lasting effects.

    Home from the Navy, I started school at Greenville College in my hometown of Illinois. I'd been out of high school for four years, but my high school headmaster, Mr. Gardner, invited me to a Valentine's Day dance party at school. The thought of seeing my former teachers was exciting. So I agreed.

    When Friday came, I cleaned up, dressed up and drove to the high school gym. I chatted with my teachers and approached Mr. Gardner to thank him before leaving. Just then, the band started playing and a young girl stood up to sing. One look at and I was crazy—I had never seen such a beautiful girl!

    I asked Mr. Gardner who she was, and he answered, “That's Marilyn Riley, Cut Riley's daughter.” I was shocked to say the least. They lived just around the corner from me. I walked across the gym floor to introduce myself, “Hi, I'm Jack Joseph.”

    “I know who you are,” was her not-too-friendly response.

    “Would you like to dance?” I asked. “No! I'm working,” she shot back.

    “Can I call you next week for a movie date?” I asked. “No,” was her response.

    For the next month I phoned, trying to set up a date. She always had the same answer: No. then one rainy afternoon in March as I was driving home after basketball practice, I saw Marilyn, walking with no umbrella, no raincoat, no hat. I pulled alongside her and asked if she needed a ride, half expecting her to say no. instead, she stepped over the roadside and sat down on the seat next to me. It was only a few blocks to her house, but after pulling into her driveway we talked for 45minutes. It was magic from then on.

    Karen, one of my co-workers, complained about her apartment every day. One day I asked her why she didn't look for another apartment. It seemed like an easy solution to me. Karen's reply to this was, "I will look for another apartment when I come back from vacation."

    Sam hated his job. He had a love for photography and was currently taking a two-year course to obtain his certificate. Every night he complained about his work. I asked him why he didn't finish his course and start a small business doing photography on the weekends. His reply was, "If only I had more time to finish my course. When I finish my course I will start a business."

    Harry worked for a company that allowed early retirement. He had both the years of service and his age, which allowed him to retire, but at a reduced pension. He was having difficulty coping with all the changes that were being made in his work. I was worried about the stress of his job and the effects it was having on his health. "Why don't you retire, Harry? Do something that you have always wanted to do?" I asked. Harry's reply to my question was, "If only I was older then I would get my full pension." "But Harry, you have your house paid off. You have no bills, and the kids are grown up. You can sell your house and get a smaller one. It's really not worth your health, is it? Harry then said, "When the summer comes, maybe I will."

    Now a year later, Karen is still living in the apartment she hates! Sam is still complaining about his job! Harry is still working and his health is not what it used to be! These people had a lot of stress in their lives that they could have taken action to reduce. But all of them defeated themselves by thinking "if" or "when". Life is too short for "if's and when's". The next time you are in a stressful situation and you find yourself saying or thinking "if or when", remember the saying, "If and when were planted and nothing grew!" Change your thinking and take action so that you can reduce your stress right now.

    When we talk about famous UK writer Agatha Christie, it seems that her famous detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple are must-reads. So, of course, are her best-selling novels Murder on the Orient Express (1934) and Death on the Nile (1937).

But when the readers around the world were asked to name their favorite Christie novel to mark her 125th birthday on Sept 15, And Then There Were None (1939) topped the list, reported The Guardian.

    It may surprise you to learn that it is a crime novel without a detective. What it does have is suspense (n.悬念) and a very sinister (adj.邪恶的) atmosphere. It is “on a knife edge”, as Mathew Prichard, Christie's grandson, told the newspaper.

    Ten people get an invitation to come to a house on a small island near Devon in South West England. Nobody refuses these invitations since each one promises something the person wants: a job, a holiday, a chance to meet up again with an old friend.

    These people are all responsible for deaths. Some are directly responsible, others are responsible because of what they did not do. Anthony James Marston, for instance, killed two children while driving dangerously. He did not feel guilty and actually complained when he was banned from driving. Another, Emily Caroline Brent, is a harsh person who threw out a young servant for becoming pregnant while unmarried. The servant later killed herself.

    When they arrive at the house they are played a recording. The voice gives details of the wrongdoing of each of the guests. Starting with Marston, each is killed in a way that fits their crime. The series of deaths is completed with a hanging, “and then there were none”, as the title suggests.

    Christie can be quite a predictable writer. Some of her stories are a little unoriginal. But this book is full of clever writing. Look it up to find out what this hugely successful mystery writer, the “Queen of Crime” as she was called, could do at her best.