One of America's best-known artist colonies, the MacDowell Colony, will turn 110 next year. It is a place where artists of all types can sweep away distractions (令人分心的事物) and just create.

    MacDowell's operations are funded by foundations, corporations and individuals. Writers, composers, photographers, filmmakers and sculptors — both famous and unknown —compete for the 32 free studios at the place. Once accepted, an artist can stay for as little as a couple of weeks, or as long as a couple of months.

    When they arrive, artists find a kind of isolation (隔绝) hard to find in our world. There's no phone. No fax. No friends. No family. It's just a cabin in the snowy woods.

    Writer Emily Raboteau lives in New York City. She came to MacDowell to work on a novel. She received a desk, chairs, pencil and paper — and ice grippers. The walk from one isolated, one-room studio to another is icy, so colony residents (居住的人) fasten the ice grippers to the bottom of their shoes.

    Another colony resident, Belfast composer Elaine Agnew, plays a piece called “To a Wild Rose,” written by Edward MacDowell. She says it's so famous that every pianist in the world has played the tune. A hundred years ago, Macdowell owned the land where the colony now sits. He liked its isolation and his ability to get work done there. After his death, his wife, Marion, encouraged other artists to come.

    And for the last century, artists have accepted the invitation, coming to step outside of their daily lives for a short time. Privacy is respected, but cooperation and discussion is common.

    Screenwriter Kit Carson — who wrote Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and the film adaptation of Sam Shepherd's play Paris, Texas — has visited MacDowell twice. He says that the interdisciplinary (学科间的) discussion there is valuable.

    “You sit around at dinner, talking, and then somebody runs off and brings you back some stuff and shows it to you,” he says. “That, I didn't realize, was part of the magic here, because people are really open to showing their opinions here.”

    A new argument has been put forward as to whether penguins are disturbed by the presence of tourists in Antarctica.

    Previous research by scientists from Keil University in Germany monitored Adelie penguins and noted that the birds' heart rates increased dramatically at the sight of a human as far as 30 meters away. But new research using an artificial egg, which is equipped to measure heart rates, disputes this. Scientists from the Scott Polar Research Institute at Cambridge say that a slow moving human who does not approach the nest too closely, is not viewed as a threat by penguins.

    The earlier findings have been used to partly explain the 20 per cent drop in populations of certain types of penguins near tourist sites. However, tour operators have continued to insist that their activities do not adversely（不利地）affect wildlife in Antarctica, saying they encourage non-destructive behavior in tourists, and that the decline in penguin numbers is caused by other factors.

    Amanda Nimon of the Scott Polar Research Institute spent three southern hemisphere summers at Cuverville Island in Antarctica studying penguin behavior towards humans. “A nesting penguin will react very differently to a person rapidly and closely approaching the nest,” says Nimon. “First they exhibit large and prolonged heart rate changes and then they often flee the nest leaving it open for predators（掠夺者）to fly in and remove eggs or chicks.” The artificial egg, specially for the project, monitored both the parent who had been 'disturbed' when the egg was placed in the nest and the other parent as they both took it in turns to guard the nest.

    However, Boris Culik, who monitored the Adelie penguins, believes that Nimon's findings do not prove his own research invalid. He points out that species behave differently – and Nimon's work was with Gentoo penguins. Nimon and her colleagues believe that Culik's research was methodologically（方法论上）defective because the monitoring of penguins' responses needed catching the birds and fitting them with heart-rate transmitters（发射器）. Therefore, argues Nimon, it would not be surprising if they became stressed on seeing a human subsequently.

Evening Workshops

    Optional evening workshops will be held at small restaurants or other meeting places near the conference hotel. Meals and other costs are not included but are also optional. Locations will be announced at the conference site. Workshops are very loosely organized and most represent discussions that have been held at Society for Economic Botany (SEB) meetings over a series of years.

    Workshop 1: Student Network

    Date: Wednesday evening, Feb. 5^th

    Chairs: Hugo de Boer and Arika Virapongse Sponsor: Society for Economic Botany

    Description: Student members of the SEB hold a networking mixer each year in order to meet each other and to become familiar with a variety of educational programs and faculty advisors(大学指导老师). Faculty members who are part of training programs are encouraged to join the mixer to meet and talk with students.
     Workshop 2: Botanical Film Making
    Date : Wednesday evening, Feb. 5^th Chair : David Strauch

    Sponsor : University of Hawaii

    Description : Digit al film making is a particularly useful tool of linking cultural information to recognizable plants. This workshop is aimed towards increasing the quality of material recorded by giving participants greater control over the medium. We will cover technical aspects (e.g. camera settings, audio), technical aspects (framing, lighting, focus), and some ways of presenting the material. Experienced filmmakers are encouraged to attend, and participants are welcome to bring their own camera equipment.

    Workshop 3: Collections for Botany

    — Collections Development and Management Date: Friday evening, Feb. 7^th

    Chair: Jan Salick

    Sponsor: Society for Economic Botany

    Description: SEB is a network of researchers who have been developing standards for the development of collections of artifacts, plant samples and related materials. Participants discuss successes, problems, and funding sources for solving management issues.

    In my life, my grandfather has influenced me a lot. Ever since I was a little kid, I have always loved sports, especially football. My grandfather also enjoys sports and really loves football. He received a couple of awards in football matches. Through my three years so far in high school, my grandfather has helped me become a better player.

    Another reason why I admire my grandfather so much is because of his strong work ethic(道德). Ever since I was a little boy, my grandfather has taught me and shown me what good work ethic means. He is a good example. When he was a young man, his family owned a small store. He often helped his father run the store. He has also done several jobs in his life. He owned his own store when my mother was a young girl; he helped on a farm; he then had his own painting business. Now he is working at a Wal-Mart.

    Responsibility(责任) is something that I have struggled with in the past. My grandfather, on the other hand, is a very responsible person. That's why I am very responsible now, because of him. When he was in school, he was almost a straight A student. I, on the other hand, don't do so well. One day he had a talk with me about being more responsible. He helped me in school and made me realize how important grades are. Now I get almost As and Bs.

    Now you can see why I admire and respect my grandfather as much as I do. He is the best role model I have, and I will always look up to him.

    My challenge for you is this: to read a book for 15minutes every single day for a month.

    Let me explain a bit, by telling you where the challenge came from. I have many things in common with my dad, like music taste and sense of humor, but sadly reading isn't one of them. I can happily spend a whole day with a book, but my dad can't read a book for longer than about 5 minute. He reads emails, websites and papers for work, but not book. He's busy, so I think sitting down to read for just 15minutes a day is a good way to relax and to introduce him to reading.

    My dad is not the only person who avoids book. I know lots of people would rather relax on their computers or in front of the TV. Everyone is different and has their own interests, but I think there are lots of benefits to reading, which screen﹣based activities don't have.

    Firstly, it's better for your eye. Looking at screens can be very stressful for your eye muscles, and clearly you should avoid looking at screens for an hour before bed, to get a good night's sleep.

    One thing I personally love reading, is being transported to another world﹣I often forget the time or things around me! Reading is a great way to switch off before you go to bed, because you think more about the world of the book, rather than the real world, so you can truly relax. I know you can be transported to a different world in a film or a TV show, but I think books do it better.

    I also enjoy hearing what people are doing and finding out what they think. Reading gives me the chance to get to know hundreds of new people! It also teaches you to see things from other people's point of view, and understand other people's decisions or opinion. With a book, you can hear everything a character is thinking or feeling﹣you really can be inside someone else's head!

    So give it a go! Take 15 minutes when you are waking up, going to bed, eating lunch, or having a coffee. If you read a lot, why not try 15 minutes of an English book, or pass the challenge on to someone else？ Good luck, and happy reading!

Coolest Bookstores in the World

    Where did you buy your last book? Chances are that you bought it on the Internet. But if you did, you missed the remarkable experience of browsing in a real bookstore. These days bookstores offer lots of great books and plenty more.

    Eslite Dunnan Store

    Time magazine once named Eslite Dunnan Store in Taiwan province, China "Asia's best bookstore". One visit to the store tells you why. The store, spread across five floors, offers a combination of restaurants, music and over 200,000 books. With its comfortable reading spots, visitors sometimes say it's like a library. Others have called it the "7-Eleven of bookstores" because it's open 24 hours a day.

    Book Garden

    The world's biggest bookstore is Tehran, Iran's Book Garden with 700,000 square feet of space. In addition to restaurants and a theater, the Book Garden features a park on the roof. Visitors can pick up one of 1,000 free books to read while enjoying the fresh air and sunshine from the Book Garden's rooftop park.

    Saraiva Bookstore

    Rio de Janeiro's Saraiva Bookstore might be the world's most colorful bookstore. The visible upper level is lined with books arranged by their colors. This rainbow effect provides a color welcoming for shoppers as they arrive. A rainbow path also leads young readers into the children's section.

    Liberia Acqua Alta

    Venice, Italy, is a city surrounded with water. Its books are displayed in all things related to water such as boats, bathtubs to protect them when the shop floods during high tide. It overlooks one of Venice's many canals, and the smell of old books fills the air.