I loved my aunt Suzy. She was such a kind old lady. I loved going to her house on holiday. She had been sick for the last few years and, though my job had taken me away across the town, I tried to visit her as much as possible. I helped with the shopping, the cooking and the cleaning and taking her pet cat Mazy to the vet.

    Sad as her passing away was, what happened to Mazy was even more worrying. Because aunt Suzy had no children, there wasn't anyone who seemed to care for her beloved cat friend. I would have taken her in a short time, but my apartment doesn't allow pets. First, we talked with her neighbors. Mr. Jenkins, who was alone and lived across the street, wasn't interested. Joe and Sally who lived next door had a small child with serious skin allergies(过敏症). My aunt's best friend Molly who had lived just down the road was unable to take care of herself as she had serious health problems.

    Second, we thought about our family members. My brother Bobby and his wife Jill were eliminated at once as they aren't cat people. My cousin in California was a bit interested, but we weren't sure about the trip as Mazy was nearly as old as my aunt (in cat years!). Finally, we came to the local humane society to see whether they would be able to help her find a new home. The problem was that most people and families only welcomed a smart little cat into their home, not a dull old one.

    In the end, we had to put Mazy to sleep. I had spoken with the vet and realized it was possible for the best. It was so hard to lose aunt Suzy and then have nowhere for Mazy to live. A few months went by and I had gone to my aunt's house to clear out some of her belongings. I happened to see her mailman. Jerry and we started to talk about my aunt when he asked about Mazy. I told him that we had to put Mazy to sleep because we couldn't find a home for her. Jerry got really quiet. “I promised Suzy that if anything ever happened to her, I'd take care of Mazy”, he said sadly. “Suzy always said she'd told her lawyer the arrangement.”

    Hearing this, my heart sank to my feet and I almost cried. The saddest part, I realized, was this all could have been avoided. I guess we were just so busy in those final months that we didn't think about it. We could have called my aunt's lawyer to take care of it in less than 10 minutes. I'll never forgive myself for not thinking of it sooner. And I'll never forgive myself for losing Mazy.

    More companies and recyclers are taking steps to ensure that old electronic devices such as TVs and computers aren't sent to poor countries.

    The Basel Action Network, a Seattle-based non-profit that largely exposed the overseas discarding (丢弃) of US electronic waste, on Thursday launched a programme to use third-party employees to certify (证实) recyclers who don't export dangerous electronic waste.

    The so-called e-Steward recyclers will also agree not to discard the waste in US landfills and agree to meet other criteria. The certification is intended to provide companies and consumers with some assurance that the waste, which can include toxins (毒素) such as lead and mercury, is disposed of safely.

    The Government Accountability Office, in a 2008 report, declared that US electronic waste was often disposed of unsafely in such countries as India. There, workers recycle gold, silver and copper from the waste, often in open-air acid baths.

    The Basel Network also says it won assurances from 13 organizations, including Samsung, Bank of America, Wells Far-go, that they'll use e-Steward recyclers whenever possible. Wells Fargo had already been using recyclers who declared not to export. So far, Basel has certified three recyclers and seven sites.

    Before e-stewards, even, companies that wanted to avoid export of electronic waste had to “hope for the best”, when, they handed their waste to recyclers, says Robert Houghton, president of Ohio-based recycler Redemtech. It is an e-Steward that counts major companies among its customers. “Now, they can get some proof,” Houghton says.

    Basel's standards compete with another set launched in January. It was made by industry and backed by the Environmental Protection Agency.

    That standard, called R-2, doesn't ban the export of dangerous electronic waste but requires that it be handled safely. Instead of a ban, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries says, efforts should be made to help poor countries develop safe recycling.

    On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted that 42% of Americans could be overweight by 2030. Our expanding bodies not only lead to a medical problem, but also endanger personal safety in some situations—in an airplane crash, for example, according to a recent article in The New York Times.

The New York Times' Christine Negroni reports that engineers and scientists are questioning whether airplane seats are designed to protect overweight travelers. Government standards(标准) for airplane seat strength—first set more than 60 years ago—require that the seats be made for a passenger weighing 170 pounds. Today, the average American man weighs nearly 194 pounds and the average woman 165 pounds. Negroni reports:

     “If a heavier person completely fills a seat, the seat is not likely to behave as designed during a crash,” Robert Salzar, the leading scientist at the Center for Applied Biomechanics at the University of Virginia. “The energy that is built into the aircraft seat is likely to be overpowered and the passengers will not be protected properly”.

     “Nor would the injury be limited to that passenger only,” Dr. Salzar said. “If a seat or a seat belt fails,”he said, “those people who are seated nearby could not be safe from the uncontrolled movements of the passenger.”

    Most complaints(投诉) about airplane seats focus on their lack of comfort and high ticket price, and whether overweight passengers should be made to buy two seats. But The New York Times' article brings up another reason to feel anxious about flying. Investigators(调查者) got in touch with the airplane seat and seat belt makers, but they refused to talk about the problem. Experts agreed that crash testing should be done. Both airplane seats and seat belts should be tested, they said.

    Fortunately, however, according to Nora Marshall, a senior adviser at the National Transportation Safety Board, the board's investigators have never seen an accident involving a commercial plane in which the weight of a passenger was a problem.

    Pacific Science Center Guide

    Visit Pacific Science Center's Store

    Don't forget to stop by Pacific Science Center's Store while you are here to pick up a wonderful science activity or souvenir to remember your visit. The store is located(位于) upstairs in Building 3 right next to the Laser Dome.

    Hungry?

    Our exhibits will feed your mind, but what about your body? Our café offers a complete menu of lunch and snack options, in addition to seasonal specials. The café is located upstairs in Building 1 and is open daily until one hour before Pacific Science Center closes.

    Rental Information

    Lockers are available to store any belongings during your visit. The lockers are located in Building 1 near the Information Desk and in Building 3. Pushchairs and wheelchairs are available to rent at the Information Desk and Denny Way entrance. ID required.

    Support Pacific Science Center

    Since 1962, Pacific Science Center has been inspiring a passion(热情) for discovery and lifelong learning in science, math and technology. Today, Pacific Science Center serves more than 1.3 million people a year and brings inquiry-based science education to classrooms and community events all over Washington State. It's an amazing accomplishment and one we cannot achieve without generous support from individuals, corporations, and other social organizations. Visit pacificsciencecenter.org to find various ways you can support Pacific Science Center.

    It's probably my favourite bookstore ever. It's "designed for travelers who like reading". It is famous for its travel book collection. Categorized by country and region, you can find books on history, arts, food, culture, film, literature, and many more topics of the region. It's absolutely fascinating. My favourite is the London literature section near the entrance. It's very tasteful selection and it's a pleasure just to read a few paragraphs while you browse (浏览). The interior is beautiful. Classic wooden counters, wooden floors, shelves and tables of book are organized nicely. Every time I passed by I had to make a stop there. Staff there are helpful and friendly.

    I love the convenience of Amazon but bookstores with special atmosphere like this just cannot be replaced.

——Rachel Z, San Francisco

    I don't read books as often as I would like. I just don't have time, and let's be honest, after doing all my schoolwork. I'd rather just put my brain on coast and read an OK magazine and catch up with some news about film stars. I was brought into Daunt while wandering down the street and it's really just an inspiring place and it actually made me want to "read" something. Really, if you're anywhere near the shop, do pop in and just look around, even if you have a love/ hate relationship with reading like I do. The inside of the shop made me look around as if I remember enjoying as a kid seeing some new big store, when in fact it's not new, but the sight of a bookstore with classic design charm is refreshing after spending so much time in libraries.

    Go and see it for yourself. You won't be disappointed!

——Thomas A, London

    Professional athletes pay a high price for their pursuit of excellence and glory. Training to the limit tears muscles and wears out joints. Gymnasts often need hip replacements when barely into middle age. Few footballers make it to the end of their careers with their knees intact.

    But many also run a darker risk: doping—the use of banned athletic performance-enhancing drugs by athletic competitors. The Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, in South Korea, starts this week in its shadow. Years after whistle-blowers first revealed wholesale (大规模的) doping in Russia, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at last decided to bar it from taking part. But it has allowed many Russians to compete as individuals. And on the eve of the competition the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said that 28 others should receive a more tolerant penalty from the IOC, further muffling the anti-doping message.

    Russia's doping is unusual only in its scale and institutional nature. No country or sport is immune. Studies, and an anonymous survey at the World Athletics Championships in 2011, suggest that a third of athletes preparing for big international competitions take banned substances. Yet just 1-2% fail a test each year. Lance Armstrong, a cyclist who won the Tour de France seven times and later admitted to doping all the while, was tested on 250 occasions. The few times he failed, he avoided punishments by claiming he had taken anti-inflammatories (消炎药) for saddle-sores (骑行引起的肌肉酸痛).

    Doping is more sophisticated than when some states used steroids (类固醇) to bulk up athletes. New drugs are designed to be undetectable in a blood or urine sample. Many athletes "blood dope," receiving transfusions or taking a drug that stimulates the production of red blood cells to improve their physical strength. Soviet athletes who were fed steroids suffered a host of serious problems in later life. They were more likely to commit suicide, or to miscarry (流产) or have a disabled child. No one knows what risks those taking new "designer" versions are running. Blood-doping can cause heart attacks; more than a dozen cyclists' deaths have already been linked to it.

    The agencies that set out to stop doping are hugely outclassed. As the argument over punishments on Russia illustrate, they are divided and weak. Most testing is done by national bodies, which may not try very hard to find evidence that would get their own stars banned. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which oversees them, is packed with officials from national sports federations and the IOC. Their interests are likewise conflicted. Its budget is tiny. The system seems to be designed to look tough but punish only the occasional scapegoat (替罪羊). Honest athletes deserve better.