“We all know that exercise is good for us, but can you get the benefits without actually doing the exercise?” asks Michael Mosley.

    Having a hot bath or a sauna is a good way to soothe your limbs after exercise, but what happens if you do it instead of exercise? Dr. Steve Faulkner of Loughborough University asked me to take part in an experiment comparing the relative benefits of having a long, hot bath versus an hour of hard pedalling.

    For this study I join a group of volunteers who have all been fitted with monitors which continuously record blood sugar levels. Keeping your blood sugar levels within the normal range is an important measure of your “metabolic” fitness.

    The first part of the experiment is very relaxing, consisting of having a long, hot bath. While I sit in the bath, which they keep at 40℃, Steve closely monitors my core temperature. Once it has risen and stayed there, I am allowed out.

    A couple of hours after my bath I have a light meal. Since we want to see how having a hot bath compares with exercise we repeat the experiment.

    So what's the result?

    “One of the first things that we were looking at,” Steve says, “is the energy expenditure while you're in the bath and what we found was an 80% increase in energy expenditure just as a result of sitting in the bath for the course of an hour.”

    This is nothing like as many calories as cycling for an hour (which comes out at an average of 630 calories) but we do burn 140 calories, the equivalent of a brisk 30-minute walk.

    Driving a car is not just handling controls and judging speed and distance. It requires you to predict what other road users will do and get ready to react to something unexpected. When alcohol is consumed, it enters your bloodstream and acts as a depressant (抑制药),damaging eyesight, judgment and co­ordination(协调),slowing down reaction time and greatly increasing the risk of accidents. Even below the drink driving limit, driving will be affected.

    Alcohol may take a few minutes to be absorbed into the bloodstream and start action on the brain. Absorption rate is increased when drinking on an empty stomach or when consuming drinks mixed with fruit juice. To get rid of alcohol from the body is a very slow process and it is not possible to speed it up with any measures like taking a shower or having a cup of tea or coffee.

    The present Road Traffic Ordinance states clearly that the limit of alcohol concentration is： 50 milligrams of alcohol per 100 ml of blood； or 22 micrograms of alcohol per 100 ml of breath; or 67 milligrams of alcohol per 100 ml of urine (尿液)．

    Drivers who cause traffic accidents, or who commit a moving traffic offence or are being suspected of drink driving will be tested.

    Any driver found drinking beyond the limit will be charged. The driver declared guilty may be fined a maximum of HK $ 25000 and be sentenced to up to 3 years in prison and punished for 10 driving­offence points; or temporarily banned from driving.

    The same punishment applies to failing to provide specimens (样本)for breath, blood or urine tests without good excuse.

    Drink driving is a criminal offence. Be a responsible driver, think before you drink. For the safety of yourself and other road users, never drive after consuming alcohol.

    Camping is a good way to spend time along with your kids and to show them how wonderful nature can be. Through camping, children can discover new things about nature, such as flowers, birds, and other small animals. Camping gives kids time to get away from all the electronics (电子) of today's culture. So it is necessary to plan exciting and enjoyable family camping trips with your children while they are young.

    When planning your family camping trip, consider the activities your kids like: games, hiking, swimming, boating, bicycling, etc. Select a camping place that has some of the activities the kids are interested in. Meal planning is an important part of your camping trip. Plan the meals together, and kids love to choose what they want to eat.

    When starting to pack for your trip, let the kids pack their own items (物品) . Each person should have his/her own sleeping bag with a luggage (行李) bag to put it in. Personal items should be packed with their sleeping bags. Encourage the kids to put their items in a certain place and always return it when they have finished using it.

    When you have arrived at your campsite, make all the camping activities a family activity, which will help children to realize how important team-work is. Everyone can have his/her own job sitting up the campsite. Meal time can be a fun time. So let the older ones help with the cooking on your outdoor camping stove while the younger ones get the picnic table ready.

    There was a man playing the piano in a bar. He was a good piano player and always performed in this bar. People came in just to hear him play. But one night, a customer told him that he didn't want to hear him just play the piano any more. He wanted him to sing a song.

    The man said, "I don't sing." But the customer was persistent(执着的). He told the bar manager, "I'm tired of listening to the piano. I want that man to sing!" The manager shouted across the room, "If you want to get paid, sing a song. Our customers are asking you to sing！" So he did. He sang a song. A piano player who had never sung in public did so for the first time. And everyone was surprised by his song Mona Lisa. He got lots of applause(掌声) that night.

    He had such a talent for singing, but he just had been sitting on his talent for the past years! If without such a chance, he may have lived the rest of his life as a no­name piano player in a no­name bar. However, now he has become one of the best­known singers in America.

    You, too, have skills and abilities. Maybe your "talent" is not as great as the singer above, but it may be better than you think! And with effort, most skills can be improved. So, in your life, you should be brave enough to try doing different things and find out what talents you really have!

    I remember little of the journey which started so early in the morning. I only know that the day seemed extremely long, and that we appeared to travel over hundreds of miles. Calmed by the sound of the coach wheels, I fell asleep. But I had not slept long when the coach stopped, the door was opened, and I saw a servant standing there.

    "Is there a little girl called Jane Eyre here?" she asked. I answered "Yes," and was then lifted out. My trunk handed down, the coach instantly drove away. I looked about me. I could see a house with many windows. There were lights burning in some of them. We went up a wide pebbly path, splashing wet, and were admitted at a door. Then the servant led me through a passage into a room where she left me. I stood and warmed my frozen fingers at the fire and looked around. There was no candle, but the light from the fire showed papered walls, a carpet, curtains and gleaming furniture. Then the door opened, and a tall lady with dark hair, dark eyes entered followed by another who looked younger. "The child is very young to be sent alone," said she, putting her candle down on the table. She looked at me for a minute or two and then added, "She had better go to bed soon; she looks tired."

    Led by the younger lady, Miss Miller, through passage after passage, we came, at last, to a long, wide room filled with the hum of many voices. There were many tables, and seated all round on benches were a large number of girls aged from nine to twenty. Seen in the dim light of the candles, their number appeared above eighty. Each was dressed in a brown old-fashioned dress of cheap material. It was their hour of study.

    Miss Miller signed to me to sit on a bench near the door, then walking up to the top of the long room she cried out "Monitors, collect the lesson-books and put them away!"

    Four tall girls arose and went round, gathered the books and removed them. Miss Miller again ordered, "Monitors, fetch the supper-trays!" The tall girls went out and returned presently, each bearing a tray. Some food and water was in the middle of each tray. The food was handed round and everyone drank from the same mug. When it came to my turn, I drank too, for I was thirsty, but I did not touch the food. From there I was taken to my hard bed where I thankfully fell asleep immediately.

As part of our mission to inspire the next generation of scientists, inventors and engineers, the Science Museum Group (SMG) has launched an exciting new online game—Total Darkness.

Over the last year we have been developing Total Darkness with the aim of creating an experience that can have a positive impact on people's attitudes towards STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths), as well as having a focus on self-reflection, rather than asking players to recall specific facts or concepts.

Total Darkness is a digital storytelling experience which encourages young people to recognise how the skills they use every day relate to STEM and can help them develop their confidence in science thinking. The game invites the player to solve a mysterious power cut in their hometown. The game puts players in control, allowing their choices and decisions to guide them through the story.

As the player navigates through the darkened streets of the town, equipped only with a torch, they will face various challenges. Using their curiosity, communication skills and creative problem solving, they will discover new theories about what might have caused the blackout(停电；断电). But with every step their torch fades, and the player must solve the mystery before the battery runs out.

The player's choices and actions throughout the game will score them curiosity, creativity or communication points. At the end, the skills the player has used will be revealed along with their science style, showing how they could put their skills into action in the real world.

Total Darkness is aimed at 8-15 year-olds—an important stage in teens' science development. Research shows that as teens make the step between primary and secondary, many move away from an interest in science as other influences have a stronger pull in their lives.

Total Darkness is a free online game playable on smartphone, tablet and desktop. Play now at totaldarkness.sciencemuseum.org.uk.