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    Measles(麻疹), which once killed 450 children each year and disabled even more, was nearly wiped out in the United States 14 years ago by the universal use of the MMR vaccine(疫苗). But the disease is making a comeback, caused by a growing anti-vaccine movement and misinformation that is spreading quickly. Already this year, 115 measles cases have been reported in the USA, compared with 189 for all of last year.

    The numbers might sound small, but they are the leading edge of a dangerous trend. When vaccination rates are very high, as they still are in the nation as a whole, everyone is protected. This is called “herd immunity”, which protects the people who get hurt easily, including those who can't be vaccinated for medical reasons, babies too young to get vaccinated and people on whom the vaccine doesn't work.

    But herd immunity works only when nearly the whole herd joins in. When some refuse vaccination and seek a free ride, immunity breaks down and everyone is in even bigger danger.

    That's exactly what is happening in small neighborhoods around the country from Orange County, California, where 22 measles cases were reported this month, to Brooklyn, N.Y., where a 17-year-old caused an outbreak last year.

    The resistance to vaccine has continued for decades, and it is driven by a real but very small risk. Those who refuse to take that risk selfishly make others suffer.

    Making things worse are state laws that make it too easy to opt out(决定不参加) of what are supposed to be required vaccines for all children entering kindergarten. Seventeen states allow parents to get an exemption（豁免), sometimes just by signing a paper saying they personally object to a vaccine.

    Now, several states are moving to tighten laws by adding new regulations for opting out. But no one does enough to limit exemptions.

    Parents ought to be able to opt out only for limited medical or religious reasons. But personal opinions? Not good enough. Everyone enjoys the life-saving benefits vaccines provide, but they'll exist only as long as everyone shares in the risks.

    Shakespeare's Birthplace and Exhibition

    Henley Street, Strafford-Upon-Auon   Tel: 01789 204016

    Shakespeare's Birthplace Was the childhood home of William Shakespeare. Take a step back in time and see what life was like for the young Shakespeare growing up in Stratford-Upon-Avon. The house has been exactly furnished, and includes both original and copy items similar to those which would have been there in the house when Shakespeare was a boy. Beautiful painted cloths hang on the walls, brightly colored fabrics fill the rooms and his father's glove workshop has been recreated. At the back of the house is a beautiful garden containing many plants，herbs and flowers mentioned in Shakespeare's plays.

    The neighboring exhibition shows Shakespeare's life and focuses on many rare local items connected with him, as well as a copy of the first edition of his collected plays published in 1623.

    Limited disabled access

    Many restaurants close to Shakespeare's Birthplace

    Town center parking

    Gift shop

    Allow at least 45 minutes to visit the house and the exhibition

    What can technology do to make your world better?Three young people are starting new businesses to answer that question.

Mateusz Mach

    Eighteen-year-old Mateusz Mach was the youngest person in Poland to receive money from investors to expand his company.He started Five,a mobile messaging application,or app,for deaf people.The app lets deaf people create their own hand signs to communicate with friends.The app now has more than 10,000 deaf users.And Mach thinks there will be about 150,000 more deaf users in the U.S. next year.There are many different sign languages in various parts of the world.Mach will be working with the United Nations in New York.He says,"I love to create.And I think that the creation of things will be my passion to the end of my life."

    William Zhou

    William Zhou is the co-founder and leader of Chalk.com.The education software company helps teachers from the kindergarten level t0 12th grade,or the end of secondary school.Zhou was born in Beijing,China,grew up in the Canadian city of Vancouver and founded his first company when he was still in high school.Zhou sold the company when he was studying computer science at Canada's University of Waterloo.But he strongly wanted to make a change in education,From his dorm room,Zhou created Chalk.It is a group of programs that supports individual teaching and learning.Based in Canada,Chalk is now used in 20,000 schools by more than 100,000 users worldwide. Zhou says building startups is a difficult process because it could last years."It's only worth it if you find something you truly care about—something you're passionate about.Otherwise,you may just end up crashing."

    George Mtemaharji

    George Mtemahanji was born in the African country of Tanzania and moved with his family to Italy in 2002, where he attended the Technical Institute of Alfredo Ferrari in Maranello.There he learned about renewable energy and began thinking that solar energy would be easier to use in Africa than in Europe.After graduation,he returned to Tanzania in 2014 to start his own solar energy company—Sun Sweet Solar—in partnership with his friend Manuel Rolando.He explains that he could not understand why,in a place with bright sunshine,"more than 90 percent of people had no access to electricity.So when I returned to Italy I spoke with Manuel on the huge electricity demand in Tanzania and to the possibility to open a business there."Sun Sweet Solar found early success in rural areas of Tanzania.Since then,the company has been expanding.He hopes to create jobs and help build his country in the process.He understands the process will take time."But I think we are on the right path."

    Animal lovers have long suspected that playing with pups was good for the soul, and now science has confirmed it – for students in particular.

    The results of a new study done by researchers at the University of British Columbia concluded that the college students who spent time at drop-in dog therapy sessions experienced an increase in feelings of wellness and a reduction in overall stress. The study, as reported by Science Daily, indicates that playing with pups is not only popular with the students, it's also beneficial to their health. This finding was seen across gender（性别）.

    The study, which published on March 12 in the journal Stress and Health, involved 246 students who were surveyed before and after they dropped by dog therapy sessions. The young participants were given free access to pet, hug with and talk to seven to 12 therapy dogs. Additionally, they filled out questionnaires right before and right after hanging with the dogs, as well as 10 hours later.

    According to researchers, these young adults reported a notable increase in happiness, a significant reduction in stress and a flood of energy right after their sessions with the pups. Although the reported feelings of happiness and satisfaction weren't long-lasting, researchers say other effects have clear, positive advantages.

    “These sessions clearly provide benefits for students in the short-term, so we think universities should try to schedule them during particularly stressful times, such as around exam periods,” Assistant Professor of Psychology at UBC and the study's senior author, Frances Chen told Science Daily. “Even having therapy dogs around while students are working on their out-of-class assignments could be helpful.”

    Modern lifestyles are generally quite different from those of our hunter-gatherer ancestors, a fact that some claim as the cause of the current rise in global obesity, but new results published July 25 in the open access journal PLOS ONE find that there is no difference between the energy expenditure(耗费) of modern hunter-gatherers and Westerners, casting doubt on this theory.

    The research team behind the study, led by Herman Pontzer of Hunter College in New York City, along with David Raichlen of the University of Arizona and Brian M. Wood of Stanford measured daily energy expenditure among the Hadza, a population of traditional hunter-gatherers living in the open Savannah of northern Tanzania. Despite spending their days hiking long distances to seek for wild plants and game, the Hadza burned no more calories each day than adults in the U.S. and Europe. The team ran several analyses accounting for the effects of body weight, body fat percentage, age, and gender. In all analyses, daily energy expenditure among the Hadza hunter-gatherers was indistinguishable(难以区分的) from that of Westerners. The study was the first to measure energy expenditure in hunter-gatherers directly; previous studies had relied entirely on estimates.

    These findings overturn the long-held assumption that our hunter-gatherer ancestors expended more energy than modern populations, and challenge the view that obesity in Western populations results from decreased energy expenditure. Instead, the similarity in daily energy expenditure across a broad range of lifestyles suggests that habitual metabolic(新陈代谢的) rates are relatively constant among human populations. This in turn supports the view that the current rise in obesity is due to increased food consumption, not decreased energy expenditure. It means we have more to learn about human physiology(生理学) and health, particularly in non-Western settings.

    "These results highlight the complexity of energy expenditure. It's not simply a function of physical activity," says Pontzer.” Our metabolic rates may be more a reflection of our shared evolutionary past than our diverse modern lifestyles."

    Elephants have impressed us for centuries. They are big, clever, and sociable. But what if someone told you that they may also hold the key to fighting cancer (癌症)?

    People have been wondering why elephants do not develop cancer, even though they have lifespans (寿命) that are similar to humans, living for around 50 to 70 years.

    Now scientists believe they know why. A team at the University of Chicago, US has found that elephants carry a large number of genes that stop tumors (肿瘤) from developing. To be precise, they found 20 copies of an anti­tumor gene called TP53 in elephants. Most other species, including humans, only carry one copy.

    According to the research, which was recently published on the online science network BioRxiv, the extra copies of the gene improved the animal's sensitivity to DNA damage. This lets the cells quickly kill themselves when damaged before they can go on to form deadly tumors.

    “An increased risk of developing cancer has stood in the way of the evolution of large body sizes in many animals，” study author Dr. Vincent Lynch told The Guardian. If every living cell (细胞) has the same chance of becoming cancerous, large creatures with long lifespans like whales and elephants should have a greater risk of developing cancer than humans and mice do. But across species, the risk of cancer does not show a connection with body mass.

    This_phenomenon was found by Oxford University scientist Richard Peto in the 1970s and later named "Peto's paradox". Evolutionary (进化的) biologists believe it results from larger animals using protection that many smaller animals do not. In the elephant's case, the making of TP53 is nature's way of keeping this species alive.

    The study also found that when the same genes were brought to life in mice, they had the same cancer resistance (抵抗) as elephants. This means researchers could use the discovery to develop new treatments that can help stop cancers from spreading or even developing in the first place.

    "Nature has already figured out how to prevent cancer, " said Joshua Schiffman, an oncologist at the School of Medicine, University of Utah, US.

    “It's up to us to learn how different animals tackle (处理) the problem so we can use those strategies to prevent cancer in people.”