HandEnergy is an ingenious apple-sized device that charges your phone anytime, anywhere. But what really makes this thing special is the fact that it uses your own personal energy to do it.

    In a time where power-banks and solar-power devices have become mainstream, a device that lets you charge gadgets on the go doesn't sound very special. But while power-banks have to be charged the old fashioned way, and solar panels need the sun to store energy.

    Hand Energy just needs a hand. To get this little guy to produce energy, which it then stores in built-in batteries, all you have to do is hold it in your hand and rotate your wrists.

    To use Hand Energy, users start by winding a starter ring. This transmits a signal to activate the rotor, at which point they can start rotating their wrists to keep the rotor spinning. It might sound hard to believe, but the rotor inside Hand Energy spins at an average speed of 5,000 rotations per minute, transmitting mechanical power to create an electric current, and charging the built-in batteries. To charge a device, all you have to do is hook it up to HandEnergy using a USB cable.

    Hand Energy was successfully crowd funded on Kickstarter, raising over $71,000 in one month, and will be available for the masses in May 2017, at a price of 99 euros. One thing is for sure – it beats paying thousands of dollars on a solar-powered gadget-charging coat.

    Michael and I did not know when the waiter put the plates on our table. At the time we were sitting in a small restaurant, hidden from the busy Third Street, in New York City. Even the smell of fresh serving blintze did not interfered our conversation. In fact, we let the blintze soaked in the sour cream. We just enjoy the conversation too much that we forgot to eat. Our conversation was so delightful though we did not speak about important things. We laughed and spoke about the film which we have just watched.

    While our fun conversation continued, my eyes went across the room and stop on the corner. A couple of old folks sat in there. The woman wearing the flower dress with faded color, the same with the pillow where she laid her pallid handbag. The man's top head shined just like the boiled egg which he ate very slowly. The woman chewed her oatmeal(燕麦片) very slowly too, seemed with very much effort.

    But what made my mind thought about them was the silence around them. Michael and I paid our food and went on. When we passed the corner where the couple sat, my wallet fell. When I stopped to get it, I saw under the table, they were tenderly holding each other's hand. They were eating in silence while holding each other's hand! I was very touched to see the simple yet the very meaningful action reflecting the close relationship of the couple.

    Their silence was the pleasant and relaxing one, it was the expression of the tender love and it did not always need the words to express it. They might spend the hours holding each other's hand like this in the morning.

    When I and Michael went out of the restaurant, I thought, maybe it was nothing bad at all if some day we have something like that. Maybe, it will become the expression of the tender and complete love.

    According to new research from the University of Cambridge in England, sheep are able to recognize human faces from photographs.

    The farm animals, who are social and have large brains, were previously known to be able to recognize one another, as well as familiar humans. However, their ability to recognize human faces from photos alone is novel.

    The recent study, the results of which were published in the journal Royal Society; Open Science, show the woolly creatures could be trained to recognize still images of human faces, including those of former President Barack Obama and actress Emma Watson.

    Initially, the sheep were trained to approach certain images by being given food rewards. Later, they were able to recognize the images for which they had been rewarded. The sheep could even recognize images of faces shown at an angle, though their ability to do so declined by about 15 percent—the same rate at which a human's ability to perform the same task declines.

    “Anyone who has spent time working with sheep will know that they are intelligent and individual animals who are able to recognize their handlers.” said Professor Jenny Morton, who led the Cambridge study. “We've shown with our study that sheep have advanced face-recognition abilities, close to those of humans and monkeys.”

    Recognizing faces is one of the most important social skills for human beings, and some disorders of the brain, including Huntington's disease, affect this ability.

    “Sheep are long-lived and have brains that are similar in size and complexity to those of some monkeys. That means they can be useful models to help us understand disorders of the brain, such as Huntington's disease that develop over a long time and affect cognitive (认识的) abilities. Our study gives us another way to monitor how these abilities change.” Morton said.

    Two new studies suggest that modem running shoes could increase the risk of injuries to runners.

    One study involved sixty-eight healthy young women and men who ran at least twenty-four kilometers a week. The runners were observed on a treadmill machine (跑步机). Sometimes they wore running shoes. Other times they ran barefoot.

    Researchers from the JKM Technologies Company in Virginia, the University of Virginia and the University of Colorado did the study.

They found that running shoes create more stress that could damage knees, hips and ankle joints than running barefoot. They observed that the effect was even greater than the effect reported earlier for walking in high heels.

    The study appeared in the official scientific journal of the American Academy of Physical Medicine.

    The other study appeared in the journal Nature. It compared runners in the United States and Kenya. The researchers were from Harvard University in Massachusetts, Moi University in Kenya and the University of Glasgow in Scotland.

    They divided the runners into three groups. One group had always run shoeless. Another group had always run with shoes. And the third group had changed to shoeless running.

    Runners who wear shoes usually come down heel first. That puts great force on the back of the foot. But the study found that barefoot runners generally land on the front or middle of their foot. That way they ease into their landing and avoid striking their heel.

    Harvard's Daniel Lieberman led the study. He says the way most running shoes are designed may explain why those who wear them land on their heels. The heel of the shoe is bigger and heavier than other parts of the shoe, so it would seem more likely to come down first. Also, the heel generally has thick material under it to soften landings.

    But the researchers do not suggest that runners immediately start running barefoot. They say it takes some training. And there can be risks, like running when your feet are too cold to feel if you get injured.

    The study was partly supported by Vibram, which makes a kind of footwear that it says is like running barefoot. The findings have gotten a lot of attention. But the researchers say there are many problems in the way the press has reported in their paper. So they have tried to explain their findings on a Harvard Website.

    The world is filled with smart ，educated and gifted people. We meet them every day. A few days ago ，my car was not running well. I pulled it into a garage and the young mechanic fixed it in just a few minutes. He knew what was wrong by simply listening to the engine sound. I was amazed. The sad truth is that great talent is not enough.

    I am constantly shocked at how little talented people earn. I heard the other day that less than 5 percent of Americans earn more than $100，000 a year. A business consultant who specializes in the medical trade told me how many doctors and dentists struggle financially. It was this business consultant （顾问）who gave me the phrase ，“They are one skill away from great wealth.”

    There is an old saying that goes，“JOB means  'Just Over Broke（破产）”. And unfortunately，I would say that the saying applies to millions of people. Because schools do not think financial intelligence is intelligence，most workers “live within their means”. They work and they pay the bills. Instead I recommend that young people seek work for what they will learn ，more than what they will earn.

    When I ask the classes I teach ，“How many of you can cook a better hamburger than McDonald's ？ ” almost all the students raise their hands.I then ask ，“So if most of you can cook a better hamburger ，how come McDonald's makes more money than you？” The answer is obvious: McDonald's is excellent at business systems.The world is filled with talented poor people.They focus on perfecting their skills at building a better hamburger rather than the skills of selling and delivering the hamburger.

    Generally speaking, people like those who have a good sense of humor.

    Sometimes a touch of humor might well enable us to win. Consider the case of a young friend of mine, who hit a traffic jam on his way to work shortly after receiving an ultimatum (最后通牒) about being late on the job. Although there was a good reason for Brian's being late—serious illness at home—he decided that this by-now-familiar excuse wouldn't work any longer. His boss was probably already pacing up and down preparing a dismissal speech.

    Yes, the boss was, as Brian entered the office at 9:35. The place was as quiet as a locker room (更衣室): everyone was hard at work. Brian's boss came up to him. Suddenly, Brian forced a smile and stretched out his hand. "How do you do!" he said. "I'm Brian. I'm applying for a job, which, I understand, became available just 35 minutes ago. Doesn't the early bird get the worm?"

    The room exploded in laughter. The boss clamped off a smile and walked back to his office. Brian had saved his job, with the only tool that could win—a laugh.

    Humor is a most effective, yet frequently neglected means of handling the difficult situations in our lives. It can be used for patching up differences, apologizing, saying "no", criticizing, getting the other fellow to do what you want without his losing face. For some jobs, it's the only tool that can succeed. It is a way to discuss subjects so sensitive that serious dialog may start a quarrel. For example, many believe that comedians on television are doing more today for racial and religious tolerance (忍受力) than people in any other forum.