During the cold winter days, there are some interesting festivals in the world. Look at the following ones.

    Harbin Ice and Snow Festival

    Place: China

    Time: January 5 to February 5

    People build incredible things out of ice and snow, decorating them with lights.

    The Carnival of Venice

    Place: Italy

    Time: between February and March

    One of the most beautiful festivals in the world, people wear masks and elaborate costumes to hide differences among classes, and there are contests for the best costumes.

    Holi Festival

    Place: India

    Time: late February/ March, on the last full moon day

    Hindus and Sikhs, in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka celebrate the main day of this incredibly fun 16-day festival by throwing colored powder and water at each other.

    Sundance Film Festival

    Place: Utah, the US

    Time: end of February

    The largest independent film festival in the US. Watch both feature films and shorts. You need to buy a ticket.

    Wedding is one of the most universal traditions in the world. But it's celebrated differently by people around the world. Now let's know something about these traditions.

       In Jamaica, weddings are a community affair, with the whole village often coming together to help plan the big day. People in the village gather in the street to see the bride and if she isn't in perfect shape, she will be publicly criticized. And while women wear the typical white wedding dress，men wear a bush jacket for the event. Several cakes are baked for the ceremony and on the wedding day married women wearing white dresses carry the confections (甜点) to the wedding. The reception is often held at the groom's house, in a booth specially built for the event. The wedding celebration also includes a lot of dancing.

    In Welsh wedding tradition, a man carves a spoon out of wood and gives it to the woman he loves. H she wears it, they are engaged (订婚）. Brides are often hidden by their families just before their wedding day. The groom and his family follow and whoever finds her will be the next to get married.

    In her bouquet, a Welsh bride carries a small tree with shiny green leaves and white flowers that smell nice as a symbol of love, and gives a cutting of the plant to her bridesmaids as well. If the bridesmaid plants the cutting in her yard and it blooms, she will soon marry, according to Welsh tradition.

    In Czechoslovak, before the wedding, the bride's friends traditionally plant a tree in her yard and decorate it with colored ribbons and eggshells, because, according to the legend, the bride will live as long as the tree. Before the marriage vows, a baby is placed in the couple*8 bed to bless their fertility. During the wading ceremony, Czech women surround the bride*, dancing and singing. They then remove her veil (面纱）and make her put on a handrnade babushka ( a woman's head scarf).

    Once I was troubled by tourists to do a favor for them—take their photos. Sometimes they complained that the photos I took were not good.

    Now fellow travelers trouble me in a different way—with their selfie sticks (自拍杆). I fear my head will be knocked or my eyes poked (戳) by the poles with mobile phone cameras put on them.

    Admittedly, it is a good invention. With a cool $3, you can take solo or group photos without asking for a favor from strangers. But if you want to take your selfie sticks out to travel to the West, think twice. Selfie-sticks bans have been spreading in some of the world's important museums, galleries, parks and soccer stadiums including Disney. Visitors have to leave their selfie sticks in a locker before entering to protect paintings, individual privacy and the overall visitor experience.

    In China, selfie sticks are still widely used. People would do anything to take a perfect selfie and don't pay attention to their surroundings and other travelers. Many examples have shown things could go horribly wrong when people were taking selfies. For example, earlier this year, a starfish died at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum after a visitor took it out to take a selfie, and last year a criminal was caught by the Chinese police after the criminal posted a selfie of himself on Wudang Mountain and shared it on social media, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

    Thus, I strongly advise travelers not to take a selfie in a crowded public place, indoors or at any sensitive places such as cemeteries and memorial places, especially when the police are looking for you. If you are a die-hard selfie fan, there are some options cooler than a selfie stick. One is a waterproof (防水的) wrist-band called a “pop stick”. Just like the slap bracelets (手镯) we used to wear when we were kids, it unrolls into a stiff selfie stick. Another one is “selfie ring”, an accessory that helps you stick your phone to your hand so you can snap better selfies.

    She was returning from teaching out in a small community. It was a black, moonless night, and a heavy snow was falling.

    She thought back to the time when she had first started teaching out in small communities. During those days she had always picked up hitchhikers (搭便车者), until the day her sister told her that one of her friends had been shot in the head by a hitchhiker, all because she had stopped out of kindness to help him during a storm.

    Her family didn't stop worrying about her safety over the hitchhikers until the family heard the promise: “No more hitchhikers!” The snow that night was making her think back to this.

    Then she saw a man waving. She slowed down for him, but as he ran toward the car in the dark, she shook with fear. Yet she thought that if he was truly in need, she couldn't leave him here in this storm.

    The stranger explained that his car was dead, and she told him to get in. They drove for an hour into the next city and she took him to a convenience store. She waited until he had made a call. When he reported back to her that a family member would soon come to pick him up, she wished him well and then left.

    Tears fell on her cheeks as she drove away. It felt as though she had been holding her breath for an hour.

    “I hope they'll understand why I had to break my promise,” she thought.

    Artificial intelligence can predict when patients with a heart disorder will die, according to scientists.

    The software learned to analyze blood tests and scans of beating hearts to spot signs that the organ was about to fail. The team, from the UK's Medical Research Council, said the technology could save lives by finding patients that need more aggressive treatment. The results were published in the Journal of Radiology.

    According to the researchers, high blood pressure in the lungs damages part of the heart, and about a third of patients die within five years after being diagnosed. There are treatments: drugs, injections straight into the blood vessels, a lung transplant. But doctors need to have an idea of how long patients might have left, in order to pick the right treatment.

    The software was given scans of 256 patients' hearts, and blood test results. When this data was combined with eight years of patient health records, the artificial intelligence predicted when patients would die.

    The software could look about five years into the future. It correctly predicted those who would still be alive after one year about 80% of the time. The figure for doctors is 60%.

    The team now want to test the software works in other patients in different hospitals before assessing whether it should be made widely available to doctors. The researchers also want to use the technology in other forms of heart failure, such as cardiomyopathy, to see who might need a pacemaker or other forms of treatment.

    Dr Mike Knapton, from the British Heart Foundation, said, "This exciting use of computer software in medical practice will help doctors in the future to make sure that patients are receiving the correct treatment before the condition deteriorates and leaves them needing a lung transplant. The next step is to test this technology in more hospitals with heart disease."

In May 2019, a friend who had previously been involved in the Restless Development Sierra Leone Business Brains project encouraged me to apply for the "Saving Lives II" project. Seeing this as an opportunity to move closer to my ambition of working in the medical field in the near future, I eagerly seized the chance. Fortunately, my performance during the interview led to me being awarded the role. 

Following the basic training, I was sent to volunteer in Kurubonla, a remote community located in the northern region of Sierra Leone. This assignment presented challenges such as limited road access and communication networks. At first, I felt concerned about being sent there, but with a determined mindset, I set out on the journey, driven by a passion to contribute to my country's development and to push my personal boundaries. 

As I got to know the community, I quickly realized that the challenges extended beyond language barriers and cultural differences; there was also a sense of isolation from my peers. However, I refused to allow these challenges to stop me. I threw myself in my duties, working together with local leaders and community members to identify the most pressing needs. Together, we carried out the projects aimed at improving healthcare, education, and infrastructure (基础设施). Additionally, I organized workshops and training courses to share my knowledge and skills with the locals. 

Over time, I witnessed the positive impact of our collective efforts. Healthcare facilities improved, the number of students in schools increased, and the overall quality of life in the community showed signs of improvement. These achievements were not solely mine; they were a testament to the cooperative spirit and commitment of the entire community.