When the dog named Judy spotted the first sheep in her life, she did what comes naturally. The four-year-old dog set off racing after the sheep across several fields and, being a city animal, lost both her sheep and her sense of direction. Then 
she ran along the edge of cliff( 悬崖) and fell 100 feet, bouncing off a rock into the sea.
         Her owner Mike Holden panicked and celled the coastguard of Cornwall, who turned up in seconds . Six volunteers slid down the cliff with the help of a rope but gave up all hope of finding her alive after a 90-minute search.
         Three days later, a hurricane hit the coast near Cornwall. Mr. Holden returned home from his holiday upset and convinced his pet was
 dead. He comforted himself with the thought she had died in the most beautiful part of the country.
          For the next two weeks, the Holdens were heartbroken . Then, one day, the phone rang and Steve Tregear, the coastguard of Cornwall, asked Holder if he would like his dog bark.
         A birdwatcher, armed with a telescope, found the pet sitting desperately on a rock. While he sounded the alarm, a student from Leeds 
climbed down the cliff to collect Judy.
         The dog had initially been knocked unconscious(失去知觉的)but had survived by drinking water from a fresh scream at the base of the cliff. She may have fed on the body of a sheep which had also fallen over the edge. “The dog was very thin and hungry,” Steve Tregear said , “It was a very dog. She survived because of a plentiful supply of fresh water,” he added.
          It was ,as Mr. Holden admitted, “a minor miracle(奇迹)”. 

    Fix it on your own

    Did you know that a bowl of rice could save your iPod if you drop it in a swimming pool by accident? Or that the camera on your phone could tell you what's wrong with your TV remote control(遥控器)? The experts at Geek Squad have made a gadget (小机件) rescue guide. So, let's take a look at some of their useful advice.

    How to get more juice out of your phone battery (电池)

    If your battery goes dead but you need to get a number or send one last text, try warming it up. That may give you a tiny bit of power. Take the battery from the phone and rub it between your hands. Or warm it under your arm for a few minutes. Then try to start the phone-but use it quickly.

    What to do if your gadget gets wet

    First, try drying it out with a vacuum cleaner(真空吸尘器). If a vacuum cleaner isn't at hand, fill a pot or bowl with uncooked rice and put your wet gadget inside. The dry, uncooked rice will absorb all the water and, after a few hours, you should be able to use the gadget. Don't forget to remove the battery and SIM card before you dry it.

    What to do if your TV remote control stops working

    If replacing the batteries doesn't work, get the camera function up on your phone and point the remote at the lens (镜头). When you press a button on the remote, if it is working, the glass bobble (小球) at the front of the remote will light up when you look at it on the screen of your phone. This is because the screen on a phone or digital camera picks up infrared rays (红外线), even though your eyes don't. If the glass bobble doesn't light up, the remote is broken. If it does, the receiving device is broken.

    I was getting ready to go to bed when the phone rang. This could not be good. My mind raced through the list of family members who might need help, but the voice was hardly familiar.

    "Linda, this is Lesley." I didn't know Lesley well. We did occasionally speak with each other, but to say we were friends was not appropriate. I asked what she needed. Perhaps something really awful caused her to reach someone she barely knew. Instead, she asked me, "Do you have room for a turkey? In your freezer?" We had lots of room in our freezer, and in fact, too much. "Sure," I responded, "did your freezer break down?" "Not exactly," Lesley replied, "but I will explain when I arrive."

    Minutes later came a huge freezer truck. Lesley stepped down and explained the lease (租约) of the grocery store her husband serviced had run out and that they had to empty all the freezers that night. Thinking it was a shame to throw away all this good food, they decided to drop off food to anyone she could think of. Noticing our freezer was pretty empty, Lesley asked to fill it up. Our home was their last stop and anything left would have to be put in our freezer. An hour later, everything finished, I asked her, "When will you come back for all this?" Lesley laughed, "We don't want it back. It is yours! Thanks for helping us out!" Then they waved goodbye and drove away.

    "For helping them out?" We opened our freezer door. Inside were all expensive foods we never bought but often longed to try. We were struggling to buy groceries, yet it was not something we shared with anyone. However, our needs were met in an unexpected way by that call.

    Most dog owners have probably been puzzled waiting for their dog to do its business. Instead of just finding a soft area of grass to go number two, they make a whole ritual(仪式) out of it, spinning in a circle before finally squatting(蹲下). Luckily, the ultimate pet owners' question may finally have been answered.

    A few theories have circulated about why dogs might circle before pooping  and most are similar to the reasons they spin before lying down. Trampling around in a circle would flatten the grass around, which would keep tall blades(叶片) from trapping their waste. Another explanation could be that they're scanning for snakes and predators before they become completely occupied.

    But Czech researcher Hynek Burda didn't quite buy into those theories. Dogs evolved from wolves, which didn't need to worry much about tall grass. And if they were scanning their environment, keeping still to listen and sniff would be more effective than giving the area a quick once-over. Instead, Burda suggested that dogs spin to get a feel for the Earth's magnetic pull.

    The Earth has a magnetic field around it protecting it from radiation from space, and some animals seem to use it to get a sense of where its North and South poles are. For instance, it's how birds know which way to migrate. In 2013, Burda published a study in the journal Frontiers in Zoology suggesting dogs have a strong internal compass, too. He and his team spent two years watching 70 dogs poop and pee and recording which way they faced and how strong the magnetic(磁的) field was.

    As it turns out, when the magnetic field was calm, dogs preferred to poop facing either north or south.

    The pattern couldn't explain why dogs like facing the Earth's poles, but the researchers think it might help them remember where they marked their territory.

    If they can remember which way they were facing, they might find it easier to find that spot again. So before you roll your eyes when your dog takes ages to do his business, remember that Fido might just be getting scientific about his potty spot.

    Most people know something about the greenhouse effect. Factories send gasses such as carbon dioxide, or CO₂, into the atmosphere, the air around the earth. In the past, this wasn't a problem because trees absorbed the CO₂. But now people in many countries are cutting down billions of trees all around the world. At the same time, factories are sending more CO₂ into the atmosphere. It's difficult to believe, but factories put billions of tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere every year. One ton is over 2000 pounds, so it is a lot of pollution. There is too much CO₂ and there aren't enough trees, so the world is getting warmer. In other words, we have a greenhouse effect. This is terrible for the environment.

    What can we do about this? Firsts we can stop using so much coal and oil. We can learn to use different kinds of energy: the sun, wind, steam from volcanoes, and heat from inside the earth. Second, instead of cutting down trees, we should plant more trees. One tree can absorb ten pounds of carbon dioxide every year.

    The trees are good for the earth's atmosphere and for Guatemala (拉丁美洲国家危地马拉).In small towns and villages in Guatemala, most women are poor and have hard lives. Trees help them in three ways. First, the Connecticut factories pay them to plant the trees. Their pay is com, not money. The com is good for their children. Second, these women know a lot about their environment. They know where to plant when to plant, and what kinds of trees to plant. For example, they plant many fruit trees. The fruit gives them vitamins for their families^' diets. Other trees are good for firewood. In a few years, the women won't spend so much time looking for firewood. Third, all these trees are good for the soil. Now rain can't wash the soil down from the mountains so easily.

    This plan isn't enough to stop the greenhouse effect. However, it's a start. The woman of Guatemala are helping themselves and helping their environment.

    Get top tips from an expert photographer while you are taking digital photographs in the Garden at Kew.

Event details

    Wednesday 13 – Thursday 14 February, 2019

    Time: 10:30 am – 4 pm

    Place: Kew Gardens

    Course Fee: £160

About the course

    This course is designed for camera-owners who would like to know the basics. It will explain some of the basic principles of photography such as focus and exposure as well as many of the practical aspects such as how to download and store images.

    The great part of the time will be spent practicing techniques by actually using cameras out in the beautiful gardens at Kew. There will be many opportunities to ask questions, review your own images and learn some top tips.

    This course is suitable for people with any sort of camera. It is useful to bring along instructions books, and you'll need to make sure your batteries are fully charged and your memory card has some free space on it.

About the tutor

    Edward Parker is an expert tree and forest photographer who, over the last 20 years, has worked in more than 40 countries around the world. He has written more than 30 educational books and his photographs have been on exhibition at Kew Gardens, Downing Street and the Horniman Museum. Photographing Trees is his latest book.

How to book

    Email adulated@kew.org with a contact number, or call at 020 8332 5641.