Have you ever wanted to travel back in time? What about traveling into the future? There's an easy way to do it.

    One way you can make a time travel journey is by writing a letter to your future self to be opened in the future. To your future self, the letter will be a visit from the past. What can be gained by writing a letter to yourself? It depends on how good your letter is. You have the chance to say something to your future self. What would you want to communicate? You'll be able to talk to yourself 5, 10, 15 years down the road. There may be instructions for your future self, or you may have goals that you will want to check up on.

    There are a lot of things you could include in your letter or letters to yourself. The more you include, the better the letter will be to you. Here are some ideas of things to include in your letter:

    Your thoughts and feelings about life, religion, politics, society, etc.

Your feelings for your family.

Your likes and dislikes.

Your dreams.

    The type of person you want yourself to become.…

    Be creative with what you put in your letter. Include a picture of yourself or family to show the period from which the letter came.

    You can store your letter in many different ways. You can give your letter to a friend or family member to keep and mail to you. If you can get others to take part, have them write letters to themselves as well and ask someone to be the letter holder until it's time to send the letters. You can also use a service online to store your letter and e-mail it to you.

    Make the most of your letter writing, and you will help your future self make the most of the present.

    The extraordinary Eastgate Building in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital city, is said to be the only one in the world to use the same cooling and heating principles as the termite mound (白蚁堆).

    Architect Mick Pearce used precisely the same strategy when designing the Eastgate Building, which has no air conditioning and almost no heating. The building is the country's largest commercial and shopping complex but uses less than 10% of the energy of a conventional building of its size. The Eastgate's owners saved 3.5 million on a 36 million building because air conditioning didn't have to be equipped.

    The complex is actually two buildings linked by bridges across a shady, glassroofed atrium (天井) open to the air. Fans suck fresh air in from the atrium, blow it upstairs through hollow spaces under the floors and from there into each office through vents (通风口). As it rises and warms, it is drawn out via ceiling vents and finally exists through fortyeight brick chimneys.

    During summer's cool nights, big fans blow air through the building seven times an hour to cool the empty floors. By day, smaller fans blow two changes of air an hour through the building to circulate the air which has been in contact with the cool floors. For winter days, there are small heaters in the vents.

This is all possible only because Harare is 1,600 feet above sea level, and has cloudless skies, little dampness and rapid temperature swings-days as warm as 31 ℃ commonly drop to 14℃ at night. “You couldn't do this in New York, with its fantastically hot summers and fantastically cold winters,” Pearce said.

The engineering firm of Ove Arup & Partners monitors daily temperatures. It is found that the temperature of the building has generally stayed between 23 ℃ and 25 ℃, with the exception of the annual hot period just before the summer rains in October and three days in November, when a doorkeeper accidentally switched off the fans at night. And the air is far fresher than in airconditioned buildings, where up to 30% of the air is recycled.

    In beautiful rural Montana lies the town of Livingston. Around half the students in the Livingston School District qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, according to local educator Rachael Jones, known as "Farmer Jones". She is the director of the Livingston Farm to School program, which uses the district's two greenhouses and four gardens to grow food that supplements school meals while offering kids hands-on lessons. Jones said, "In many places around the country, if you can't pay for your school meal, you don't eat. Well, here, we don't turn anyone away."

    The town's school district and community members started the program eight years ago. It's part of the National Farm to School Network, which aims to increase access to local food and nutrition education across the country. Jones, who attended public school in Livingston as a kid, has headed up the local program since 2014. Farm to School enriches curriculums in all of the schools through garden lessons, cafeteria and kitchen lessons, and classroom lessons.

    Research has shown that healthy school meals can enhance academic performance, including improved test scores. Though the Farm to School program is not aimed solely at lower-income students, Jones said, "Such kids are more likely to eat lunch provided by the school. Eventually she wants to get healthy, affordable meals on the plate of every child in Livingston.

    It is important for kids to understand where their food comes from. That's a life changing experience for them. Jones said," When I grew up a big force in my life was my grandma Ethel. She taught me from a really early age the value of growing my own food. I worked in her gardens with her and somehow, through all of those experiences —eating her tomatoes and canning pickles with her —it really built up my trust and knowledge in food systems. I'm so thankful for her!"

    The Trans-Siberian Railway is a single train line that crosses nearly the complete length of Russia, from Moscow to Vladivostok. It covers a total of 5,772 miles, running from Europe to Asia. Unlike the longest flight in the world, which just began transporting passengers in 2018, the Trans-Siberian Railway started its business in 1916.

    Anyone who has taken this long journey, or even just part of it, will tell you that it travels at a rather slow speed, passing through some amazing, remote areas of Russia. You don't have to make the full journey without stopping. Instead, you're suggested to get off where there are attractive views, since it stops in some pretty fantastic places. But you certainly can take the full journey non-stop. If you do, the trip will take about 144 hours—six full days!

    You can book tickets with travel agencies. You can also make the booking online and tickets will be sent to your hotel or personal address. Children under 4 years old accompanied by adults can travel free, but cannot take up a seat. A child ticket needs to be bought if you want to get a seat for the child.

    There are longer railway services in the transportation world, but only one of them is a passenger line as some longer routes transport goods, not travelers. This railway may not be the fastest or the most modern, but it's clearly still an important player in the transportation world!

    Naturalist John Muir called the Marin County woods named for him "the best tree-lover's monument that could possibly be found in all the forests of the world."

    Located only 11 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge near San Francisco, California, USA. Muir Woods puts some of nature's most huge creations within reach of little feet, hands, and imaginations.

    "Muir Woods is home to a small forest of redwood trees that reach to the sky," says David Shaw of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. "Redwoods grow taller than any other tree species in the world. The average age of the redwoods here ranges from 400 to 800 years old and many ancient specimens have been around for more than a thousand years."

    William Kent, the man who donated the 295 acres to create the Muir monument, grew up in Marin and played in similar redwood forests. That childhood experience inspired him to save the redwoods as an adult.

    "Young people can learn about young William Kent when they visit here," says ranger(护林员) Timothy Jordan. "Kent's early connection with nature developed his love of the outdoors. As an adult, he witnessed the destruction of many Bay Area redwood forests. This, with the writings of John Muir, inspired Kent's conservationism."

    Walking (and playing)in, on, and around the redwoods will help kids understand why young Kent was so fascinated(深深吸引) by the trees. Ranger Jordan encourages children to lie down and look up at the treetops, hug a redwood tree, and start a nature journal like John Muir.

    "Have kids find a redwood spray(小树枝)the same age as them, count the rings in trees, and sit inside of a hollow redwood tree on Fern Creek." he advises.

    After all the interaction, the kids just may be ready to rest. Take this time to "be quiet and listen to the sounds of the forest," says Shaw. "Encourage kids to think about how these trees have stood quietly through year after year of rain, sun, and sometimes even snow."