Music for Humans and Humpback Whales   

    As researchers conclude in Science, the love of music is not only a universal feature of the human species, but is also deeply fixed in complex structures of the human brain, and is far more ancientthan previously suspected.

    In the articles that discuss the field of bio-musicology, the study of the biological basis for the creation and appreciation of music, researchers present various evidence to show that music-making is at once an original human "business", and an art form with skillful performers throughout the animal kingdom.

    The new reports stress that humans hold no copy right on sound wisdom, and that a number of nonhuman animals produce what can rightly be called music, rather than random sound. Recentin-depth analyses of the songs sung by humpback whales show that, even when their organ would allow them to do otherwise, the animals converge on the same choices relating to sounds and beauty, and accept the same laws ofsong composition as those preferred by human musicians, and human ears, everywhere.

    For example, male humpback whales, who spend six months of each year doing little else but singing, use rhythms (节奏) similar to those found in human music and musical phrases of similar length—a few seconds. Whales areable to make sounds over a range of at least seven octaves (八度音阶), yet they tend to move on through a song in beautiful musical intervals, rather than moving forwards madly. They mix thesounds like drums and pure tones in a ratio (比例) which agrees with that heard in much western music. They also usea favorite technique of human singers, the so-called A-B-A form, in which a theme is stated, then developed, and then returned to in slightly revised form.

    Perhaps most impressive, humpback songs contain tunes that rhyme. "This suggests that whales use rhyme in the same way we do: as a technique in poem tohelp them remember complex material," the researchers write.

    With the start of the new term, the students around the country exchange their fun and fashionable clothes for boring school uniforms. But not all schools are fashion deserts. Colorful sports shoes, school bags, T-shirts and even drink containers are breathing life into campuses.

    "The uniform makes us look like a bunch of clones, especially when we are doing morning exercises on the playground," said Qing Pei, a Senior 2 from Shanghai Qibao High School. "But the boys wear different sports shoes and girls have different decorations in their hair. These are the areas where you can express yourself," said Qing.

    Although it might be strange for boys to talk about fashion, they do care about what they wear in school, especially shoes, according to Qing.

    "Nike and Adidas basketball shoes, although they are still the must-have items for many of my friends, are becoming out-of-date," Qing added. He explained that "Since Liu Xiang ran so fast in Athens, running shoes are becoming popular in this autumn."

    "Still in fashion are the various baseball caps and American-style T-shirts with random (随意的) English words printed on them," said Qing. "The accuracy of the written message is not important. Often, the words are misspelt. Sometimes they do not even make sense, "Qing said with a smile.

    Besides sports shoes and T-shirts, styles and colors of school bags are another opportunity for students to express their taste in fashion. Some bags are made more eye-catching by decorating them with small hanging dolls.

    Other fashionable items are the colorful drink containers which are now popular among girls this term.

    "Some teachers are surprised to see a teenager sucking a bottle like this at school and criticize it as a childish regression (退化). But some girls just love it," said Yang Rui, a Senior 3. from High School attached to Xi'an Jiaotong University.

    Move over millennials(千禧一代), here comes Generation Z, today's youngest group.

    Born in 1995 or later, a lot of Gen Z-ers are entering into adulthood and will soon join the workforce. People of Generation Z have grown up with the internet. Policy makers, sociologists, as well as employers and marketers, are trying their best to understand these young people. So, how should we pin down the Gen Z-ers?

    Most people will agree that the single biggest difference between Gen Z and other generations is how connected they are. This is a group of people who were hooked up to social media as soon as they were born. A recent Guardian article says that the average teenager in the UK has at least 150 followers on Instagram and spends around half an hour a day on Snapchat, an image messaging app. “We are the first true digital natives,” Hannah Payne, an 18-year-old UCLA student and lifestyle blogger. “I can almost create a document, edit it, post a photo on Instagram and talk on the phone at the same time, all from the user-friendly interface(界面) of my iPhone.

    The Guardian also notes that young people in the UK are becoming more active in politics. Voting is just one way of making one's voice heard. Most of Generation Z are still too young to vote, says the Guardian. Instead of party politics, they focus more on single-topic issues such as feminism(男女平等)or climate change. And “much of the civil engagement and organizing they do takes place on social media rather than through traditional political structures,” according to the newspaper.

    With their furry round heads and big black eyes, Zhongzhong and Huahua look just the same as any other monkey. But they happen to be the world's first cloned (克隆的) monkeys.

    Years ago, scientists used cloning techniques to produce Dolly, the world's first cloned mammal (哺乳动物).They now used the same technique to produce the monkeys in China.

    In animal cloning, animals are produced in a lab by using DNA that is taken from the cells (细胞) of a naturally-born animal. To clone Zhongzhong and Huahua, scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS.中国科学院) first removed the nucleus (细胞核) from a monkey's egg cell (卵细胞). They then put another nucleus taken from the monkey's body cells into the egg cell. The newly-formed egg was put into the womb (子宫) of a female monkey. Finally, Zhongzhong and Huahua were born.

    The cloning process is hard, especially removing nucleus. It needs to be done in a fast and precise (精确的) way. The faster you do it, the less damage is done to the egg, according to CAS. Scientist Liu Zhen spent three years practicing removing the nucleus.

    Unlike common monkeys, cloned monkeys have the same DNA as each other. When doing experiments on them, scientists can easily know that certain results are caused by different treatments, rather than different genes.

    According to Sun Qiang from CAS, most drug trials (药物试验) are done on lab mice. However, drugs that work on mice might not work on humans. The two species are very different.

    "Monkeys and humans are much closely related and testing on monkeys is supposed to be as effective (有效的) as testing on humans," Sun added.

All Aboard for a Family Trip by Train

    If you're looking for a family vacation idea, look no further. Explore America with Amtrak. On the train, your family will have plenty of room to spread out and relax.

    Once on board, the family can take in the scenery from the Sightseer Lounge（观景车厢）. Plus, most of our overnight trains feature Dining cars that serve three meals a day, with full menus and table service. If you're looking for lighter fare, grab a bite to eat or a drink in the Café car. You can also reserve Sleeping car accommodations and let the gentle rhythms of the train sway you to sleep. It's the best way to arrive at your destination rested and ready to go.

    Learn More about the Onboard Experience on www.amtrak.com

    A Dining Experience like No Other

    From full sit-down meals to more informal food service, many trains have one or more option for onboard dining. If you're not hungry, you might start to hear your stomach rumbling（腹鸣） after looking at our menus. We provide you with more dining choices, onboard dining reservations and the different types of dining cars, like long distance dinning car, lounge car and café car.

    Sleeping Accommodations

    Sleeping accommodations are available on most long-distance routes. Amtrak trains traveling on long-distance routes typically use either two-level Superliner or one-level Viewliner train car equipment, each of which include bedrooms arranged in various configurations and private and public bathrooms and showers.

    Seating Accommodations

    On most Amtrak trains, you have three options for seating accommodations. The availability of these options varies depending on your route and the type of train equipment in use:

    Coach Class: Designed for You to Relax.

    Business Class: More Amenities. More Comfort.

    First Class: Exclusively on Acela Express.

    Self­control is the ability to regulate and adjust responses in order to avoid undesirable behaviors, increase desirable ones, and achieve long­term goals. Common goals such as losing weight, exercising regularly, eating healthy food, giving up bad habits, and saving money are just a few worthwhile ambitions that people believe require self­control.

    One 2011 survey conducted by the American Psychological Association found that 27 percent of subjects identified a lack of willpower as the primary factor keeping them from reaching their goals. Researchers have found that people who have better self­control tend to be healthier and happier. In one experiment, students who exhibited greater self­control had better grades and higher test scores, and were more likely to be admitted to a competitive academic program. The study also found that when it came to academic success, self­control was a more important factor than IQ scores.

    The psychologist Walter Mischel conducted famous experiments in 1975 that were related to delayed gratification. In these experiments, children were offered a choice: they could choose to eat one treat right away, usually a cookie or a candy or they could wait for a brief period of time in order to get two treats. At this point, the researcher would leave the child alone in a room with a single treat. Not surprisingly, many of the kids chose to eat the single treat the moment the experimenters left the room. However, some of the kids were able to wait for the second treat.

    Based on his research, Mischel proposed what he  referred to as a "hot­and­cool" system to explain the ability to delay gratification. The hot system refers to the part of our willpower that is emotional and impulsive ( 冲动的) and urges us to act upon our desires. The cool system is the part of our willpower that is rational ( 理性的) and thoughtful, and enables us to consider the consequences of our actions in order to resist our impulses.

    Self­control is an important skill that allows us to regulate behavior in order to achieve our long­term goals. Research has shown that self­control is not only important for goal attainment, and people with greater willpower also tend to do better on all sides.