Custom tattooed fish (纹身鱼) may be big sellers at markets, but an animal expert say it is a cruel and potentially lethal practice.

    In Laitai Flower and Fish Market near the Lufthansa Center in Beijing, four of over 20 fish stores sell marine ornamental fish that are tattooed using laser (激光) guns with beautiful images in order to make them more attractive to customers. Many people just love these kinds of fish, which gives them a unique visual impression. The price of these fish ranges from 50-100 yuan. Some customers are willing to pay an additional 100 yuan to have Chinese characters tattooed on to the fish. The most popular characters are “zhaocai” (attracting fortune) and “fu” (blessing). The color of tattooed fish won't fade away, and the fish can be cared for as regular fishes:

    But Ye Zhenjiang, a professor from the Ocean University of China, said “the practice would damage a fish's mackerel scale, which is its protective layer. Although I haven't done any research on the impact of the laser on mackerel scale, it is obvious that the mackerel scale may be infected or even destroyed under the exposure of laser,” Ye said. “It's like tattooing a human being's body, and it breaks the physiological balance of the fish and damages: the skin's protective surface, It may even cause death among fishes which have thin mackerel scale.”

    A specialist in aquatic(永生的) animal study surnamed Xu, from the Beijing Fisheries Research Institute, said, “We have no specific regulations to prevent fish from being tattooed. An official surnamed Bai from the Fishery Surveillance and Administration Bureau(FSAB), said there is no study showing that the laser threatened a fish's health. He said a regulation on small animal protection, to be passed in the near future, doesn't include regular aquatic animals. He said the institution is only responsible for aquatic animals that are on the verge of extinction. He said tattooed fish are mainly from south China's Guangdong province because Beijing does not have the laser technology to tattoo a fish.

    “It's too brutal to tattoo pictures or characters on fishes, even if it makes them more beautiful,” many tropical fish buyers told METRO yesterday. “We would never buy fish like that and we prefer them with natural beauty.”

    Boston Tourist Attractions and Sightseeing

    Duck Tours

    One of the most popular tours in and around Boston are the legendary Duck Tours, which show you the best that the city has to offer. World War II vehicles take you on a scenic drive around the most famous sites and attractions in the city. With interesting explanation, this novel tour is an enjoyable and fun way to see the city and very much recommended.

    New England Aquarium

The aquarium is home to over 7,000 fish and a collection of many different sea creatures. The city's most visited tourist attraction is complete with exhibit space, gift shop and a cafe with spectacular views of the city and harbor. It also offers whale-watching tours with indoor and outdoor seating — and even seal or walrus (海象) shows.

    Boston Public Library

    Built in 1848, the Boston Public Library was the first free publicly supported city library in America. With more than 650,000 photographs, 100,000 prints and 250 different papers in the “Newspaper Room” the library now has Internet access, two restaurants and an on-line store with reproductions of its priceless artwork. All exhibits are open to the public and books m only the beginning.

    Bull and Finch Pub - Home of Cheers

    This world-famous pub is the inspiration for the hugely successful sitcom (情景喜剧) “Cheers”. Although the outside is the same as on television, the inside is completely different. However, although unexpected, this is not a real disappointment as the busy pub is full of reminders of Cheers. The menu serves typical bar food, and is very popular with tourists

    If visiting family or staying at one of the luxury Boston hotels downtown, you may want to corner purchasing a “Boston City Pass” as this will enable you to pay half price for most the finest attractions.

    Spider monkeys have long, thin arms with hook like hands that allow them to swing through the trees. They do not have opposable thumbs(对生拇指).

    The brown-headed spider monkey has a prehensile(缠绕性的)tail, which means it can grasp and can be used like a fifth leg to grab trees. During the day, the spider monkey searches for fruits, which make up the main part of its diet. They will also eat flowers, seeds, leaves, and small insects during the dry season when fruits aren't available. They spend most of the daylight hours climbing and swinging through the high branches of trees.

    The brown-headed spider monkey lives in a large community of about 20 to 100 male and female monkeys. They split into smaller groups for feeding. Females usually give birth to only a single baby each year or two. Young monkeys are carried on their mothers' stomachs until about 16 weeks old. Then they are strong enough to ride on their mothers' backs. All brown-headed spider monkey babies are born with a pink face and ears.

    Spider monkeys hug each other and wrap their tails around each other. They are very intelligent and have strong memories. They were named spider monkeys because they look like spiders as they hang upside down from their tails with arms and legs swinging. Their genus (属)name is Ateles, which means “imperfect”. This refers to the fact that they don't have thumbs.

    Hunting the brown-headed spider monkey is now barred in Ecuador, a country in northwestern South America, but humans have killed them for their meat for hundreds of years.

    Humans and many other mammals have unusually efficient internal temperature regulating systems that automatically maintain stable core body temperatures（核心体温）in cold winters and warm summers. In addition, people have developed cultural patterns and technologies that help them adjust to extremes of temperature and humidity（湿度）.

    In very cold climates, there is a constant danger of developing hypothermia（低体温）, which is a life threatening drop in core body temperature to below normal levels. The normal temperature for humans is about 37.0℃. However, differences in persons and even the time of day can cause it to be as much as 6℃ higher or lower in healthy individuals. It is also normal for core body temperature to be lower in elderly people. Hypothermia begins to occur when the core body temperature drops to 34.4℃. Below 29.4℃, the body cools more rapidly because its natural temperature regulating system usually fails. The rapid decline in core body temperature is likely to result in death. However, there have been rare cases in which people have been saved after their temperatures had dropped to 13.9—15.6℃. This happened in 1999 to a Swedish woman who was trapped under an ice sheet in freezing water for 80 minutes. She was found unconscious, not breathing, and her heart had stopped beating, yet she was eventually saved despite the fact that her temperature had dropped to 13.7℃.

    In extremely hot climates or as a result of uncontrollable infections, core body temperatures can rise to equally dangerous levels. This is hyperthermia. Life threatening hyperthermia typically starts in humans when their temperatures rise to 40.6—41.7℃. Only a few days at this extraordinarily high temperature level is likely to result in the worsening of internal organs and death.

    It's Friday night. You're looking through your Instagram (a photo-sharing app) feed when you see it: a photo of your friends hanging out without you.

    Why didn't anyone invite you? What are they doing later? Should you text them? What if no one responds (回应)?

    Sounds like a typical case of FOMO.

    FOMO, or "fear of missing out", is a form of anxiety that causes people to feel like they're missing out on something. The word was added to The Oxford English Dictionary last year. But just how serious is FOMO?

    According to a study by a US research organization, JWTIntelligence, 47 percent of teen millennials (those who are 13-17 years old now) feel upset or nervous when they learn that their friends are doing something they're not. And 41 percent said they spread themselves too thin, trying to do too many things at one time to avoid FOMO.

    Today's technology is a big cause of FOMO, according to Jonathan Pochyly, an adolescent psychiatrist (青少年精神病学专家) at Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago.

    "Technology is one of the things that makes life special for adolescents these days," he explained.  

    "There's a lot of focus on what everyone else is doing. It became a trend, so there's pressure to keep up with it."

    As social media (社交媒体) feeds are always updating us with our friends' activities, it's easier than ever to feel left out. So what can we do?

    To fight against FOMO, Jones freshman Emmy Brewer just calls people and talks to them.

    "I'd be upset for a bit, but then I'd realize that I should be reaching out to them," she said.

    Oak Park and River Forest High School senior James Cullinane said he fights off FOMO by living in the now.

    "If I'm hanging out with my friends, or just sitting at home on my couch, I think it's best to stay off social media and focus on what I'm doing in the moment," Cullinane said.

    While FOMO will continue to affect (影响) teenagers in the future, Pochyly said that he believes these feelings are just side effects of growing up.

    "These types of interactions (交往) with people are … a function (功能) of kids being more independent, looking for connections with other people, moving away from just being a child in a home, and moving toward adulthood," he said.

    Many years ago, when we were a young couple with two small children, aged 2 and 4, we were practically impecunious. My in-laws lived from hand to mouth, so we didn't expect any help from them. My parents lived a great distance away, and I was too ashamed to let them know about our situation.

    My husband was trying to earn a living with an old pick-up truck, carrying groceries for local shopkeepers, but it was constantly breaking down. It took almost all the money we had to have it fixed. The truck was also the only means of transportation for us.

    We lived in the countryside, and we always used the back door because the driveway led to it. One winter evening, I stepped outside to take a bag of trash to the barrel and almost tripped over something. It was nearly dark, and I had to bend down to see what it was. I could hardly believe my eyes. There sat a large basket loaded with food.

    It was heavy, so I called my husband to carry it into the house. Once inside, we discovered two loaves of bread, some butter, several cans of vegetables, a can of orange sauce, and a large turkey. There was so much that I can't remember it all, but it was everything we needed to fix a wonderful dinner—everything except potatoes.

    A little while later I remembered that I hadn't taken the trash to the barrel. By now it was dark, so I had to turn on the yard light —and that's when I spotted a small bag of potatoes sitting on the porch.

    That dinner was the best I can remember.

    We weren't able to thank our donators, though, because we never found out who had been so generous in helping a struggling young family. Whoever it was, we are forever grateful.