The oddness of life in space never quite goes away. Here are some examples.

    “We are good mothers,” I said to my friend, as we sat on our comfortable beach chairs under our beach umbrella and watched our children playing in the waves.

    Out of nowhere, the children took off running. About fifty yards from us, a man—maybe in his fifties—was fishing. The children stood next to him and watched with their little mouths hanging open as he cast the fishing lines. He smiled at them. They ran back to us—all except my three-year-old daughter, Drew.

    My heart beat fast with horror. “Drew! Come here! Play with your friends!” I shouted, very aware that my speeches about not talking to strangers weren't working. It seemed that many parents heard of horrible stories about children being taken away by strangers. Responsible mothers should teach their children that the world is a dangerous place. So I felt relieved (松口气) when Drew ran towards me and took hold of a shovel (铲子). Then she looked me in the eye: “I want to be with the person.”

    Again, she approached the middle-aged man, and started digging next to him.

    Several seconds later, she returned, waving something shiny.

    “Look, Mommy! A toy fish!”

    It was, indeed, a toy fish—yellow and rubber. This must have been what he was using to attract the fish. And he'd given it to Drew. The three other children were deeply impressed, and they didn't try to hide how jealous(妒忌的)they were—clearly, they all wanted the fish.

    “My friend gave me that fish!” Drew shouted loudly. The sand in front of the umbrella turned into a preschool cage match with a yellow rubber fish flying through the air. I felt like I might cry myself.

    Unexpectedly, there he was: the man, standing right next to us with three more rubber fish in hand. He handed them to each of the children. By their faces, you would have thought he was actually the really kind big brother.

    “Thank you,” I said, realizing that there is good and kindness in strangers.

    How is it that siblings (兄弟姐妹) can turn out so differently? One answer is that in fact each sibling grows up in a different family. The firstborn is, for a while, an only child, and therefore has a completely different experience of the parents than those born later. The next child is, for a while, the youngest, until the situation is changed by a new arrival. The mother and father themselves are changing and growing up too. One sibling might live in a stable and close family in the first few years; another might be raised in a family crisis, with a disappointed mother or an angry father.

    Sibling competition was identified as an important shaping force as early as in 1918. But more recently, researchers have found many ways in which brothers and sisters are a lasting force in each others' lives. Dr. Annette Henderson says firstborn children pick up vocabulary more quickly than their siblings. The reason for this might be that the later children aren't getting the same one-on-one time with parents. But that doesn't mean that the younger children have problems with language development. Later-borns don't enjoy that much talking time with parents, but instead they harvest lessons from bigger brothers and sisters, learning entire phrases and getting an understanding of social concepts such as the difference between “I” and “me”.

    A Cambridge University study of 140 children found that siblings created a rich world of play that helped them grow socially. Love-hate relationships were common among the children. Even those siblings who fought the most had just as much positive communication as the other sibling pairs.

    One way children seek more attention from parents is by making themselves different from their siblings, particularly if they are close in age. Researchers have found that the first two children in a family are typically more different from each other than the second and third. Girls with brothers show their differences to a maximum degree by being more feminine than girls with sisters. A 2003 research paper studied adolescents from 185 families over two years, finding that those who changed to make themselves different from their siblings were successful in increasing the amount of warmth they gained from their parents.

    Most nations have at least one type of food that people from other countries think is unusual or unacceptable to eat. In France, people eat horse meat and frog legs. In South Korea and parts of China, restaurants serve dog meat. And in Australia, it's common to cook kangaroo meat on the barbecue and use emu eggs to make pancakes.

    The kangaroo and emu are native to Australia. Both animals are important to the national image of Australia and appear on the Australian coat of arms. They're also central figures in the history of the native Australians. However, they still hunt these animals for their meat, fur and fat.

    Today, Australian people continue to eat these animals. One of the reasons people eat kangaroo meat is that it's high in protein and low in fat, so eating kangaroo is a good option for anyone on a diet. It's also cheaper to eat kangaroo meat than other red meats. Because of this, a lot of university students choose to buy kangaroo meat. BBC News also reported that Australian scientists believe that eating kangaroo meat is good for the environment— kangaroos have different digestive systems than cows and sheep, meaning they produce less methane, the second biggest contributor to global warming.

    While emu meat is high in iron and vitamin C, most people don't think it tastes good. For this reason, they prefer emu eggs. One egg is large enough to make seven omelettes (煎蛋). And while ifs illegal to collect emu eggs from the wild, they can be bought from emu farms. Rather than cracking the beautiful dark shell, it's better to dry it by putting a small hole at each end and blowing. Afterwards, you can even carve a design into the eggshell.

    Driverless technology will soon enter another major global industry: shipping. Several companies recently announced plans to start self-sailing ships to improve safety and efficiency（效率）.

    One of them is Norwegian chemical company Yara International. Yara has designed to build an autonomous ship expected to start next year. The ship is fully electric to reduce air pollution. It is designed to carry containers normally transported by truck. This means the ship will also improve road safety by replacing about 40,000 truck trips a year.

    Yara plans to operate the ships by remote control beginning sometime next year. By 2020, the ships should be loading and sailing themselves. Another company focusing on self-sailing ships is the world's largest mining company, Australia's BHP Billiton. The company's Vice President of Freight, Rashpal Bhatti, recently spoke about the technology. He said, “I believe automation（自动化）will be one of the biggest changes for shipping in the future.” Autonomous ships offer important chances to improve safety and provide better efficiency results to the marine supply chain. He added that self-sailing ships could become a reality within the next decade.

    Rolls-Royce, the British automobile and engine manufacturer, is also developing unmanned shipping technologies. Oskar Levander is the company's head of marine operations. He told a conference last year, “This is happening. It's not if, it's when.” Several shipping companies have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to develop self-sailing ships expected to be used by 2025. These ships will be equipped with technology to collect weather and sea data. They will then use the data to plan out the safest, shortest and most fuel-efficient route.

    A golf tournament (锦标赛) isn't held every day and thus, as an organizer, you have to put on a great show for those who wait for it.

    Preparations before the Tournament

    An important thing you need to note down at this stage here is that once you start advertising an event, the event has actually begun for the audience. At this stage, you need to decide what you are going to call this event. You should make the name and the advertisement special, so that people will give them a second look. Depending on your economic situation, you need to decide whether you want to hold this event for amateurs or for experts. The next thing is to choose a proper place to hold the tournament.

    Plan of Action during the Event

    While the players are on court, you have to make sure that everything they might need is made available to them. Since golf is a sport that is played in the open, guests should be given drinks from time to time, preferably a drink of their choice. There should also be enough dustbins to keep the court clean. The things the guests need, from extra equipment to drinks, should not be put off for any reason. Announcement of some contests, lucky draws and prizes during the event will add to the entertainment of the tournament. Another one of the successful golf tournament ideas is an auction (拍卖) of some particular things during the game. You can get some equipment signed from the players.

    Post Tournament Necessities

    Now that the tournament is over, you need to keep a small after-party in the form of a dinner. During this party, the guests can actually communicate with the players and congratulate those who won.