Alvin Irby, a former kindergarten and first-grade teacher, was at a barbershop when he saw one of his former students sitting in the shop with a bored look on his face. That's when Irby realized that by pairing barbershops and books, he might be able to inspire young black boys to read.

    Four years ago, he launched Barbershop Books as a way to not just get books into the hands of young black boys, but to also create community reading spaces in a place where kids go frequently. Since its inception in 2013, the program has created kid-friendly reading spaces in 50 barbershops in 12 states throughout the United States.

    Irby isn't the first person to see the connection between barbers and books and boys. Hair stylist Courtney Holmes, launched a program a few years ago offering free haircuts to kids as long as they read to him while he cuts their hair.

    That's the kind of environment that Irby wants to promote with his program. The reading spaces created by Barbershop Books help to spark an interest in books by showing kids that reading is about more than just spelling and vocabulary skills, it's about making reading a low-stress activity that can help them relax, laugh and have fun.

    “Our belief is that if we can create positive reading experiences early and often for young black boys, then they will choose to read for fun because they will identify as a reader,” Irby noted, adding, “This is really what Barbershop Books is about, getting young black boys to say three words: I'm a reader.”

Irby's idea is catching on, and it will continue to spread thanks in part to the National Book Foundation. Barbershop Books recently won the organization's 2017 Innovations in Reading prize, which is given to Programs that use reading to make a social impact.

    BKLYN House Hotel

    There are works by Brooklyn artists in this hotel. The 116 rooms are of great value and Manhattan is only 20 minutes away by taxi or subway. The immediate surroundings feel urban—the hotel is by a high-rise public housing project while the nearest commercial street is under elevated（高的）subway tracks—but Bushwick's best bars and cafes/restaurants are near-by.

    Doubles from $99, room only. Tel: 718 3884433

    Archer Hotel

    Visitors eager to stay in the heart of Manhattan should try one of the bargain-priced rooms at this hotel. Some start from as low as $179 a night (if prepaying in full). Rooms are small but tasteful, with nice touches such as exposed brick. Some have close-up views of the Empire State Building.

    Doubles from $199, room only. Tel: 212 7194100

    Pod 39 Hotel

    In an elegant brick building in Manhattan's Murray Hill, this excellent budget（预算）option opened following the success of its sister hotel, The Pod. The rooms are called pods given for their small size and may not suit everyone. But with prices among the most competitive in Manhattan, budgeters will be happy.

    Doubles from $95, room only. Tel: 212 8655700

    CitizenM New York Times Square

    This is the first US location for a Netherlands-based concept hotel chain—CitizenM. The hotel features self check-in at its 230 little but comfortable rooms via touch screen “Mood-Pads”. There's a rooftop bar, a 24-hour grab-and-go cafeteria and an area with public iMac workspaces. Although New Yorkers avoid nearby Times Square, all the lights, cameras and action can make it a fun tourist experience.

    Doubles from $170, room only. Tel: 212 319 7000

    Look and listen, and that concert poster just might be singing. Engineers have designed antennas（天线）that can turn everyday objects, from posters to clothing, into radio stations. Anyone walking or driving by can tune in and hear what's on. The devices use radio waves, but they don't generate their own. They hijack（劫持）the same waves that carry music and news to your smartphone.

    Vikram Iyer co-led the project with Anran Wang, a graduate student in computer science and engineering. The two got the idea for their invention by paying attention to what was already around them. “It's the ideal way to minimize the power consumption for any kind of communication,” notes Iyer. Their research had focused on new types of wireless communications that won't require much energy. They wanted something that would work outdoors in a city. Then they realized the air is already filled with wireless communications in the form of radio stations.

    Radio waves carry energy at the speed of light from tall transmission towers to radios in cars, phones and homes. These waves of the antennas take in existing radio waves and change them slightly. Those changes add new sound information. The changed waves are then sent back out into the world where people can listen in. So the device only needs enough power to change the waves, not to generate them.

    The scientists tested their device with a poster. It advertised a Seattle concert by Simply Three. People standing almost 4 meters away from the poster could use FM receivers on smartphones to listen to all songs of the band's music. Those in cars as far as 18 meters away could use car radios to pick up some parts of the songs

    The technology could even extend to clothes. Iyer, Wang and their team turned the shirt into an antenna. It let the shirt talk to the wearer's smartphone. If a sensor in the shirt tracked a person's heart rate during exercise, for instance, the antenna could transmit those data to the wearer's phone.

    Philadelphia offers a ton of attractions that are suitable for people of every age and here are some family—friendly attractions.

    Spruce Street Harbor Park

    Spruce Street Harbor Park，one of the best urban beaches in American，is an outdoor heaven on the Delaware River waterfront. Visitors can relax in a hammock，play on the playgrounds，and play games like table tennis and giant chess. Don't miss out on the park at night，when colorful LED lights hanging from treetops make the entire area bright.

    Blue Cross RiverRink

    Offering ice skating in the winter and roller skating in the summer，Blue Cross RiverRink creates a fun，outdoor experience for the whole family. Visitors can play on the nine-hole mini-golf course during the summer，and enjoy eats and drinks from the on-site(现场的)bar and restaurant all year round.

    Sesame Place

    Big Bird，Elmo and the other stars of Sesame Street come out and play at Sesame Place，the only theme park in the nation starring the popular TV show's most lovable characters. A water park，interactive activities，parades，fireworks and shows add to the fun.

    Once Upon a Nation Storytelling Benches

    On summer days，uniformed and professional storytellers at 13 storytelling benches throughout Philadelphia's Historic District entertain visitors with true，free，three-to-five minute tales about the colonial(殖民的)era as part of Once Upon a Nation. Children can pick up a Story Flag at any storytelling bench，and then collect a star from every storyteller on their journeys. Flags with all the stars can get free rides on the Parx Liberty Carousel at Franklin Square.

    The young boy saw me, or rather, he saw the car and quickly ran up to me, eager to sell his bunches (串) of bananas and bags of peanuts. Though he appeared to be about twelve, he seemed to have already known the bitterness of life. "Banana 300 naira. Peanuts 200 naira"

    He said in a low voice. I bargained him down to 200 total for the fruit and nuts. When he agreed, I handed him a 500 naira bill He didn't have change, so I told him not to worry.

    He said thanks and smiled a row of perfect teeth.

    When, two weeks later, I saw the boy again, I was more aware of my position in a society where it's not that uncommon to see a little boy who should be in school standing on the corner selling fruit in the burning sun. My parents had raised me to be aware of the advantage we had been afforded and the responsibility it brought to us.

    I pulled over and rolled down my window. He had a bunch of bananas and a bag of peanuts ready. I waved them away. "What's up?" I asked him. "I… I don't have money to buy books for school." I reached into my pocket and handed him two fresh 500 naira bills.

    "Will this help?" I asked. He looked around nervously before taking the money. One thousand naira was a lot of money to someone whose family probably made about 5,000 naira or less each year. "Thank you, sir," he said. 'Thank you very much."

    When driving home, I wondered if my little friend actually used the money for school-books. What if he's a cheat? And then I wondered why I did it. Did I do it to make myself feel better? Was I using him? Later, I realized that I didn't know his name or the least bit about him, nor did I think to ask.

    Over the next six months, I was busy working in a news agency in northern Nigeria. Sometime after I returned, I went out for a drive. When I was about to pull over, the boy suddenly appeared by my window with a big smile ready on his face

    "Oh, gosh! Long time."

    "Are you in school now?" I asked.

    He nodded.

    "That's good," I said. A silence fell as we looked at each other, and then I realized what he wanted. "Here," I held out a 500 naira bill. "Take this." He shook his head and stepped back as if hurt. "What's wrong?" I asked. "It's a gift"

    He shook his head again and brought his hand from behind his back. His face shone with sweat (汗水). He dropped a bunch of bananas and a bag of peanuts in the front seat before he said, "I've been waiting to give these to you."

Spending all day glued to your smartphone probably isn't doing you any favors. Too much phone use has been linked with a range of concems, including sleep issues, joint pain and even relationship problems. But if it's radiation you're worried about, experts say you don't have to ditch your phone. 

"There's no risk of anything hazardous or dangerous with radiation from cellphones, "said Gayle Woloschak, an associate dean and professor of radiology at the Northwesterm Univerity Feinberg School of Medicine. As with all cellphones, along with Wi-Fi networks, radio stations, remote controls and GPS, smartphones do send out radiation, said Emily Caffrey, an assistant professor of health physics at the University of Alabama at Birningham. They use invisible energy waves to transmit voices, texts, photos and emails to nearby cell towers, which can carry them to almost anywhere in the world. But nearly three decades of scientific research has not linked such exposures to medical issues like cancer, health authorities including the Food and Drug Administration say. Here's what we know. 

"Radiation"describes many types of energy, some of which do carry risks, explained Dr. Howard Fine, director of the Brain Tumor Center at NewYork —Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City, "It is often sent out from radioactive substances", Atomic bombs, or, to a far lesser degree, X-ray machines, send out energy called ionizing radiation that in high enough or frequent enough amount can damage DNA and cause cancer, Dr. Fine said. 

But smartphone energy falls into a category called non-ionizing radiation, Dr. Caffrey said, which isn't powerful enough to cause this damage. "A lot of people think‘radiation is radiation, 'but it's not all the same, "Dr. Woloschak said. "There's no DNA damage seen from cellphone use. "

Most experts and health authorities like the F. D. A. and World Health Organization agree that there's no evidence that smartphone radiation causes health problems. Still, several studies over the years have made headlines for suggesting their links to brain diseases. Many of these studies have since been proved to be false, Dr. Fine said, including those focused on fifth-generation.