More than 10 years ago, it was difficult to buy a tasty pineapple.The fruits that made it to the UK were green on the outside and, more often than not,hard with an unpleasant taste within.Then in 1966,the Del Monte Gold pineapple produced in Hawaii first hit our shelves.

    The new type of pineapple looked more yellowy-gold than green.It was slightly softer on the outside and had a lot of juice inside.But the most important thing about this new type of pineapple was that it was twice as sweet as the hit-and-miss pineapples we had known. In no time, the Del Monte Gold took the market by storm, rapidly becoming the world's best-selling pineapple variety, and delivering natural levels of sweetness in the mouth,up until then only found in tinned pineapple.

    In nutrition it was all good news too.This nice tasting pineapple contained four times more vitamin C than the old green variety.Nutritionists said that it was not only full of vitamins, but also good against some diseases.People were understandably eager to be able to buy this wonderful fruit.The new type of pineapple was selling fast9 and the Del Monte Gold pineapple rapidly became a fixture in the shopping basket of the healthy eater.

    Seeing the growing market for its winning pineapple, Del Monte tried to keep market to itself.But other fruit companies developed similar pineapples.Del Monte turned to law for help, but failed. Those companies argued successfully that Del Monte's attempts to keep the golden pineapple for itself were just a way to knock them out the market.

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    A new study shows students who write notes by hand during lectures perform better on exams than those who use laptops(笔记本电脑)．

    Students are increasingly using laptops for note­taking because of speed and legibility(清晰度)．But the research has found laptop users are less able to remember and apply the concepts they have been taught.

    Researchers performed experiments that aimed to find out whether using a laptop increased the tendency to make notes “mindlessly” by taking down word for word what the professors said.

    In the first experiment，students were given either a laptop or pen and paper. They listened to the same lectures and were told to use their usual note­taking skills. Thirty minutes after the talk，they were examined on their ability to remember facts and on how well they understood concepts.

    The researchers found that laptop users took twice as many notes as those who wrote by hand. However，the typists performed worse at remembering and applying the concepts. Both groups scored similarly when it came to memorizing facts.

    The researchers' report said，“While more notes are beneficial，if the notes are taken mindlessly，as is more likely the case on a laptop，the benefit disappears.”

    In another experiment aimed at testing long­term memory，students took notes as before but were tested a week after the lecture. This time，the students who wrote notes by hand performed significantly better on the exam.

    These two experiments suggest that handwritten notes are not only better for immediate learning and understanding，but that they also lead to superior revision in the future.

    Reading may be fundamental, but how the brain gives meaning to letters on a page has been a mystery. Two new studies fill in some details on how the brains of efficient readers handle words. One of the studies, published in the April 30 Neuron, suggests that a visual-processing area of the brain recognizes common words as whole units. Another study, published online April 27 in PLOSONE, makes it known that the brain operates two fast parallel systems for reading, linking visual recognition of words to speech.

    Maximilian Riesenhuber, a neuroscientist at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., wanted to know whether the brain reads words letter by letter or recognizes words as whole objects. He and his colleagues showed sets of real words or nonsense(无意义的词语)words to volunteers undergoing fMRI scans. The words differed in only one letter, such as “farm” and “form” or “soat” and “poat”, or were completely different, such as “farm” and “coat” or “poat” and “hime”. The researchers were particularly interested in what happens in the visual word form area, or VWFA, an area on the left side of the brain just behind the ear that is involved in recognizing words.

    Riesenhuber and his colleagues found that neurons(神经元)in the VWFA respond strongly to changes in real words. Changing “farm” to “form”, for example, produced as great a change in activity as changing “farm” to” coat”, the team reports in Neuron. The area responded slowly to single-letter changes in made-up words.

    The data suggests that readers grasp real words as whole objects, rather than focusing on letters or letter combinations. And as a reader's exposure to a word increases, the brain comes to recognize the shape of the word. Meaning is passed on after recognition in the brain, Riesenhuber says.

    The researchers don't yet know how longer and less familiar words are recognized, or if the brain can be trained to recognize nonsense words as a unit.

    My wife, daughter, and I moved into our home nine years ago and we spent a lot of time and energy in the yard to get it looking like the way it does today. We live on a corner, higher than street level, and the entire side of the yard is surrounded by a professionally built rock wall. The front of the house though is another story because instead of a wall along the sidewalk, the rocks appear to be just thrown up onto the dirt as if someone were in a hurry to finish.

    We did the best we could with what we had to work with and called this area our "rock garden". Whenever we had leftover flowers or plants, Denise or I would stick them out front, just to bring some color to the area. We would do all of the yard work on our own, even the tiring weed-pulling.

    Last summer I had reached the end of the rock garden and found a tiny little plant that I could not immediately identify, I knew I didn't plant it and Denise claimed that she didn't either. We decided to let it continue growing until we could figure out what it was.

    Weeks passed and as I made my way back to the mystery plant, it appeared to be a Sunflower with a tall skinny stalk（茎，杆）and only one head on it. I decided to baby it along and weed around it. As I pulled rocks from the area to get to the weeds, I noticed something unusual. The Sunflower had not started where I saw the stalk begin. It actually had begun under a big rock and grown under and around it to reach the sun.

    That's when I realized that if a tiny little Sunflower didn't let a big rock stand in its way of developing, we too have the ability of doing the same thing. Once our environment begins to see that we believe in ourselves like that little Sunflower, we can attain the same nourishment（营养）and growth as well.

    Stand tall like the Sunflower and be proud of who and what you are and the environment will begin to support you. You will find a way to go under or around your big obstacle in order to reach your desires.

    A shark moving around the coastline is normally a worrying sight，but this waterborne drone (无人机) threatens floating rubbish instead of people.

    Developed by Dutch company RanMarine, the WasteShark takes nature as its inspiration with its whale shark-like mouth. Responsible for collecting waste, the drone will begin operations in Dubai Marina in November after a year of trials with local partner Ecocoast.

    According to RanMarine, the WasteShark is available in both autonomous and remote-controlled models. Measuring just over five feet by three-and-a-half feet (1.5 meters by 1.1 meter), it can carry up to 352 pounds of rubbish (159.6 kg) and has an operational battery life of 16 hours.

    By 2016 there were approximately 150 million tons of plastic in the world's oceans. One paper from December 2014 estimated that over a quarter of a million tons of ocean plastic pollution was afloat.

    "WasteShark also has the abilities to gather air and water quality data, remove chemicals out of the water such as oil, and heavy metals, and scan the seabed to read its depth and outlines," said Oliver Cunningham, one of the co-founders of RanMarine. "Fitted with a collision-avoidance system, the drone uses laser imaging detection and ranging technology to detect an object in its path and stop or back up if the object approaches."

    "Our drones are designed to move through a water system, whether it's around the perimeter (周边) or through the city itself. The drones are that last line of defense between the city and the open ocean," added Cunningham. "WasteSharks are operating in Dubai, South Africa and the Netherlands and cost $ 17, 000 for the remote-controlled model and just under $ 23, 000 for the autonomous model."

    Dubai-based operator Ecocoast has two WasteShark drones. Co-founder Dana Liparts says they will clean waterfronts for clients including hotels and environmental authorities and that Ecocoast' intention is to have the collected rubbish recycled or upcycled. However, Liparts argues that cleaning waterways doesn't have a one-size-fits-all solution and requires a combination of new technology, preventative measures and changing people's attitudes towards littering.

    When you need a job very much, you may end up taking one for which you are over qualified. Although you were initially grateful just to have the work, you now feel bored and depressed. Is there any way to change that?

    Start by changing your opinion, says Caitlin Kelly, the author of Malled, a book based on her experience as a sales clerk after losing her job in journalism. "Don't focus on what you're not getting but what you are getting," she says. "Be patient and work attentively with a wide range of people. It doesn't matter what the job is –there are always things you can learn and skills you can develop."

    Hilary Pearl, the founder of a coaching firm, says, "Tell yourself the current situation isn't the end of your career. Don't overdramatize(过分夸大)the negative aspects but try to view the situation more philosophically: life has a series of stages, and this is one of them. Don't forget to study even in the worst stage."

    Consider that because you're overqualified, you may be able to learn or do things on the job that might not have been possible in a more demanding position, says Sarah Hathorn, the chief executive of Illustra Consulting. "You could spend your extra time in learning different aspects of the business and teaching others in the organization," she says.

    Is it possible to make your work more challenging, even if your job responsibilities aren't likely to change?

    Of course, you may seek tasks and responsibilities that force you to learn something new or to work harder. "You may be operating on autopilot(习惯性地)right now, but chances are that people above you are stressed," Sarah Hathorn says." Take things off your boss's plate and let him know which projects or tasks you want to learn more about."

    Always express your request positively, saying that you love new challenges, rather than complaining that you're bored and underused, says Ethun, the president of the Park Avenue Group. In your down time, educate yourself about the company and its industry. "Read corporate information, analyst reports and related news articles," she says. "If your boss accepts your suggestions, it will make you a more valuable employee."