Electrical devices (仪器) could soon use power made by human energy. Scientists say they have developed an experimental device that produces electricity from the physical movement of a person walking. British scientist Max Donelan and other scientists in Canada and the United States developed the device.

    The device connects to a person's knee. As the person walks, the device captures energy each time the person slows down. To do this, the device helps with the slowing down movement of the leg. The movements of the walking person push parts of a small machine that produces electricity. Using the device, an adult walking quickly could produce thirteen watts of electricity in just a minute. Donelan says walking at that speed could produce enough power to operate a laptop computer for six minutes.

    There are several possible uses for the device. Developers say it could help people who work in areas without electricity to operate small computers. The device could also be used in hospitals to operate heart pacemakers (起搏器). It could even be used to assist in the movement of robotic arms and legs.

    The experimental version of the device weighs about one and a half kilograms, but it is too costly for most people to buy. But the researchers hope to make a lighter, less costly version. An improved version should be ready in one year.

    The developers hope the device will one day help developing countries. Nearly twenty-five percent of people around the world live without electric power.

    A similar product was invented in 2005 by Larry Rome of the University of Pennsylvania. He created a bag carried on a person's back that also produces power from walking. The knee device does not produce as much electricity as the bag. But the bag requires the walker to carry a load of twenty to thirty kilograms.

    Despite their popularity, only three of Jin Yong's martial arts novels have been translated into English. But fans will soon get more from the writer as his most popular trilogy, named after the first of the three books, Legends of the Condor Heroes, is scheduled to hit bookstores in February.

    Jin Yong is the pen name of Louis Cha. And the author, who lives in Hong Kong, is one of the best-selling Chinese authors alive. With regard to Jin Yong's works this latest translation project is the most ambitious. The trilogy, written by Jin Yong in the 1950s and 60s, covers the Song Dynasty and the early Ming Dynasty, and features hundreds of characters.

    According to the publishing house, Maclehose Press, the translated work will come in 12 volumes, including Legends of the Condor Heroes; Divine Condor, Errant Knight; and Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre.

    Speaking of the project which she took up in 2012, Holmwood, a self-employed translator focusing on Chinese-English literary translations, says in an email interview: “It had to be Jin Yong then. It was the obvious place to start, not only because of the quality of his writing, but also because of his standing and reputation in Asia.”

    Having studied history at the University of Oxford, Holmwood was determined to learn Chinese due to her previous trip to China. She then went to Taiwan Normal University for language training in 2,009. In a bookshop there, she saw a whole shelf dedicated to Jin Yong. She bought a copy of Jin Yong's work—Lu Ding Ji (The Deer and the Cauldron), the longest of his novels. “What is a bigger challenge for the translator is making the original pace and excitement into English. It's all about whether the English reader will be lured by the emotions and characters.”

    It took five years for Holmwood to finish the translation of the first volume. As for why his works need to be translated, she says: “Many have considered Jin Yong's world too foreign, too Chinese for an English-speaking readership.Impossible to translate.” “And yet this story of love, loyalty, honor and the power of the individual against successive corrupt (腐败的) governments and invading forces is as universal as any story could hope to be.” “The greatest loss that can occur in translation can only come from not translating it at all.”

Cara Jumper loves the giant saltwater pond on her grandparents Swansea, South Carolina, property(房产). One January afternoon, her grandfather Coy Jumper piled ten-year-old Cara and her sister, Claire, six, and Emma, five, into his Pontiac Sunfire and took them down to the pond. He and the girls walked happily through the pines, checking traps. No luck—they were empty.

    As the sun disappeared gradually toward the horizon, the group turned back to head home. But as Coy walked along the bank, he was suddenly unable to put one foot in front of the other. Then Cara saw Coy walk unsteadily and fall backward into the pond's deep water.

    When her grandfather didn't surface immediately, Cara jumped in. With one hand, Cara grabbed the bank. With the other, she reached for her grandfather, making contact in the dark water.

    Coy had suffered a stroke(中风) the year before. Now Cara wondered if he'd had one again. Just 80 pounds to her grandfather's 230, she held his head and pulled his face out of the water. That woke him, but he was still dead weight. She managed to move Coy towards the three-foot bank and pulled him up onto solid ground.

    The winter sun had almost disappeared, and they were all trembling. Cara knew she'd have to get Coy to the car, a quarter mile away. She helped him to his feet. Coy slowly moved forward.

    Sixty feet from the car, Coy fell. From there, he crawled, dragging himself under a gate, to the car. His granddaughters helped him into the passenger's side, and Cara got into the driver's seat.

"I used to sit on my dad's lap and drive," she says now. Coy, too, she says, had let the fifth grader drive through the fields around the house. Still, she felt nervous, but she pushed on the gas and steered(驾驶) them the three miles home. "I was trying to get there fast, but I didn't want to get us hurt," Cara says. When she pulled the Sunfire into the garage, her grandmother, Esca was there to meet them.

Coy spent six days in the hospital recovering from a stroke. Says Esca, "If Cara hadn't helped, she might not have a grandpa anymore."

    My 17-year-old daughter went off to college and having her away from home brought back memories of watching Peter Pan when she was little. In the classic TV production, one scene in particular impressed me: when Mrs. Darling puts her children into bed. As she turns off the last of the night light, she takes one last look at the bedroom and says, “Dear night lights, protect my sleeping children.” As a mother, I know how much she loves her children.

    It has been several weeks since we took our daughter to college and she seems to be adjusting well after a short period of homesickness. For us, though, it's another story. Like most parents, I love checking in on my children at night. But now she's gone, and I find night times the hardest. I miss her most at night.

    In my neighborhood, most of the parents whose kids are off to college are dealing with similar melancholy. My husband is filled with anxiety. One friend talked about getting this sick feeling in her stomach as she prepared for the college drop off. We complained that many of us were too busy to truly enjoy being with our children while we had them.

    For us moms, seeing Toy Story 3 only made the sadness worse as we watched the character Andy, who is the same age as our kids, say goodbye to his childhood as he prepares to leave for college. And it's not just “first-time” parents like me. Two moms who have kids already well into college said the separation didn't get any easier. You feel like something has been taken away from inside you,” said one of them.

    I imagine things will get easier with time, especially as I see my daughter adjust to college life. Meanwhile, as I keep my cell phone close to me in bed and text my daughter goodnight and sweet dreams every night, I like to think that messages serve as a night light that keeps her safe.

    The English language is full of phrases about the weather. Some of these phrases are easy to understand, but others are not really about the weather at all. If you say you "hit rough weather", you may not be struck by a real storm, but you do experience difficulties or problems. If you don't know what such phrases mean, they might leave you "in a fog (雾)"!

    In English, you can "shoot the breeze", or have an informal chat. But things can also be a breeze. If you take an exam and find it very easy, you'd tell your friends: "It was a breeze!" The wind can also bring information. You can "get wind of" a piece of news, and if someone "knows which way the wind blows", they have a good idea about how things will work out. But don't "throw caution (警惕) to the wind" — that means taking a great risk!

    Clouds sometimes bring rain, and in English they often represent problems or difficulties. If someone "sees a cloud on the horizon (地平线)", there may be problems ahead. And if someone is "under a cloud", then people think the person might have done something wrong. But clouds are not always bad; in fact, people say that "every cloud has a silver lining". This means that there is a good side to every situation, no matter how bad it may seem. You may even end up "on cloud nine", which means you are very happy! But some people have their "heads in the clouds", not paying attention to reality.

    No one likes to be stuck in the rain or storm, so it's no surprise that phrases about them are generally negative. When someone says "it never rains but it pours", they are complaining (抱怨) that when things go wrong, they go very wrong. People who talk about "weathering a storm" just want to get through a difficult period or situation.

    Many animal and plant species have become extinct and many more are in critical danger. Finding ways to protect the earth's wildlife and conserve the natural world they inhabit (居住) is now more important than ever.

    Dodo

    The Dodo is a classic example of how human caused damage to the earth's biology. The flightless Dodo was native to the Island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. It lived off fruit fallen from the island's trees and lived unthreatened until humans arrived in 1505. The easily controlled bird became a source of food for sailors and was attacked by animals introduced to the island by humans such as pigs, monkeys and rats. The population of Dodos rapidly decreased and the last one was killed in 1681.

    Rhinos

    The Rhino (犀牛) horn is a highly prized item for Asian medicine. This has led to the animal being hunted in its natural habitat. Once widespread in Africa and Eurasia, most Rhinos now live in protected natural parks and reserves (保护区). Their numbers have rapidly decreased in the last 50 years, and the animals remain under constant threat from poachers (偷猎者).

    The Giant Panda

    The future of the World Wildlife Fund's symbol is far from certain. As few as 1, 000 remain in the wild. The Chinese government has set up 33 panda reserves to protect these beautiful animals and made poaching them punishable with 20 years in prison. However, the panda's distinct black and white patched coat fetches a high price on the black market and determined poachers still pose (造成) one of the most serious threats to the animals continued existence.

    Whales

    The International Whaling Commission is fighting to ensure the survival of the whale species. Despite the fact that one-third the world's oceans have been declared whale sanctuaries (保护区), 7 out of 13 whale species remain endangered. Hunted for their rich supply of oil, their numbers have decreased to just 300. Collisions with ships, poisonous pollution and being caught in fishing nets are other major causes of whale deaths.

    Tigers

    The last 100 years has seen a 95% reduction in the numbers of remaining tigers to between 5, 000 and 7, 000 and the Bali, Javan, and Caspian tigers are already extinct. The South China tiger is precariously close to disappearing, with only 20 to 30 still alive. Like the Rhino horn, tigers' bones and organs are sought after for traditional Chinese medicines. These items are traded illegally along with tiger skins.