A new American weather satellite could save more lives by better predicting extreme weather conditions. It will be in orbit(轨道）some 36,000 kilometers above Earth's surface. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, also known as NOAA, has been working with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on the project.

    NOAA officials are calling the new satellite GOES-R. That is short for a much longer name—the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series. NOAA said GOES-R could improve the nation's ability to observe weather conditions and make weather predictions. It said the satellite's operation would lead to more exact and timely weather forecasts watches and warnings.

    The government agency said the satellite will require testing of its six instruments and will be ready to work “within a year."

    "The next generation of weather satellites is finally here." said NOAA Administrator Kathryn Sullivan. She described GOES-R as one of the most complicated Earth-observing machines ever created. Sullivan said its instruments will be able to study Earth five times faster and with four times more detail than any other NOAA satellite currently in operation. She believes this will make the United States an even stronger, more “Weather-Ready" nation.

    A NOAA statement said the greater detail will help improve the agency's study of ocean storms, as well as “the prediction and warnings of severe weather. "In addition, GOES-R will be able to provide improved rainfall estimates (预计), which will lead to more timely and detailed flood warning. The statement also said that GOES-R will give better estimates of wind strength, as well as better measurement of fog, ice or lightning strikes.

    Craig Fugate serves as administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He says that the GOES-R satellite will improve the ability of people and organizations across America to prepare for, and react to, weather-related disasters.

    One of the most important things in the world is friendship. In order to have friends, you have to be a friend. But how can you be a good friend at school?

    Listen — Listen when they are talking. Don't say anything unless they ask you a question. Sometimes it's not necessary for you to have anything to say; they just need someone to talk to about their feelings.

    Help them — If your friend is ever in need of something, be there to help them. You should try to put them first, but make sure you don't do everything they want you to do. Try to take an extra (额外的) pencil or pen with you to classes in case (以防) they forget one. Have a little extra money in your pocket in case they forget something they need.

    Be there for them — Try to make something for your friend to help make them feel better in hard times. Making cards and encouraging them are among the nicest things you can do for a friend. Marilyn Monroe, a famous U.S. actor, once said, “I often make mistakes. Sometimes I am out of control. But if you can't stay with me at my worst, you are sure not to deserve (值得) to be with me at my best.” Always remember this! If you don't want to stay with your friends when they're in hard times, then you don't deserve to be with them when they're having a good time!

    Make plans — Try to make plans with your friends. Go shopping, go for ice cream, have a party, go to a movie and so on. Take time to know each other even better by doing something you both enjoy. By planning things together, you both can have a good time. And you'll remember these things when you're all old!

    At the beginning of the century there was a big farm called Hollywood Ranch. It was near Los Angeles in California. A few years later Hollywood was one of the famous places of the world. From 1910s to the 1950s Hollywood was the film center of the world. Every family knew the names of its film stars Charlie Chaplin, Grete Garbo, Bergman and hundreds more.

    The reason why people went to Hollywood to make films was the sun. At first people made films in New York on the east coast of the United States. But then they heard about Los Angeles where there are 350 days of sun every year. As they made all the films by sunlight, the west coast was a much better place to work.

    Also near Hollywood you can find mountains and sea and desert. They did not have to travel far to make any kind of film.

    When TV became popular in the 1960s, Hollywood started making films for television. Then in 1970s they discovered people still went to cinema to see big expensive films. After twenty years they are still making films in Hollywood and people watch them all over the world.

    Being mistreated at work can out their negative emotions on loved ones at home. But a new study suggests that getting more exercise and sleep may help people better pope with them by, leaving them at work where they belong.

    Previous research shows that employees who are looked down on or insulted by colleagues are likely, go express their frustrations and behave angrily toward people outside of work, says study co-author Shannon Taylor, a management professor at the University of Central Florida's College of Business.

    The new study backs up this idea, but offers a bit of good news as well: Employees who averaged more than 10.500, steps a day or burned at least 2, 100 calories were less likely to mistreat their cohabitants than those who averaged fewer steps of burned fewer calories.

    The findings also revealed that when employees felt they had a bad night's sleep because of work issues, they, were more likely to be grouchy at home. “When you're tired, you're either less able or less motivated to regulate yourself” says co-author Larissa Barber, a professor of psychology at Northern Illinois University.

    Physical activity seems to counterbalance poor sleepy, Barber says, because it promotes healthy brain functions needed to properly regulate emotions and behaviors. “This study suggests that high amounts of exercise can be at least one way to improve the situations brought by sleep troubles that lead to negative behaviors at home,” she says.

    Barber acknowledges that finding time to work out and get a full night's sleep can be difficult when work pressure is mounting, and that often, job stress can be directly related to sleep quality. But, she says, making the effort to burn some extra calories and blow off some steam can be worth it. It's not only good for you, says Taylor,/ but it can benefit the people you live with as well.

    Feeling blue about the world? “Cheer up.” says science writer Matt Ridley. “The world has never been a better place to live in, and it will keep on getting better both for humans and for nature.”

    Ridley calls himself a rational optimist—rational, because he's carefully weighed the evidence; optimistic, because that evidence shows human progress to be both unavoidable and good. And this is what he's set out to prove from a unique point of view in his most recent book, The Rational Optimist. He views mankind as a grand enterprise that, on the whole, has done little but progress for 100,000 years. He backs his findings with hard facts gathered through years of research.

    Here's how he explains his views.

    1) Shopping fuels invention

    It is reported that there are more than ten billion different products for sale in London alone. Even allowing for the many people who still live in poverty, our own generation has access to more nutritious food, more convenient transport, bigger houses, better cars, and, of course, more pounds and dollars than any who lived before us. This will continue as long as we use these things to make other things. The more we specialize and exchange, the better off we'll be.

    2)Brilliant advances

    One reason we are richer, healthier, taller, cleverer, longer­lived and freer than ever before is that the four most basic human needs—food, clothing, fuel and shelter—have grown  a lot cheaper. Take one example. In 1800 a candle providing one hour's light cost six hours' work.  In the 1880s the same light from an oil lamp took 15 minutes' work to pay for.  In 1950 it was eight seconds. Today it's half second.

    3) Let's not kill ourselves for climate change

    Mitigating (减轻) climate change could prove just as damaging to human welfare as climate change itself.  A child that dies from indoor smoke in a village, where the use of fossil­fuel (化石燃料) electricity is forbidden by well­meaning members of green political movements trying to save the world, is just as great a tragedy as a child that dies in a flood caused by climate change. If climate change proves to be mild, but cutting carbon causes real pain, we may well find that we have stopped a nose­bleed by putting a tourniquet (止血带) around our necks.

    Whether it's music, art, stage, screen, restaurant and bar deals, or the great outdoors – there's always something interesting going on in Hong Kong

    Tim Yip: Blue – Art, Costumes and Memory

    What: A well-known visual artist, costume designer, and art director for stage and film (particularly on his work for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, for which he won an Oscar), Tim Yip has been a proud promoter of Eastern aestheticism(唯美主义)for 30 years. For his first large-scale solo exhibition in Hong Kong, Yip explores the nature of human imagination and the depths of the subconscious mind. Organized by Mark Holborn, the exhibition is expected to be praised due to Yip's vision of “New Orientalism”.

    Where: HKDI Gallery, Hong Kong Design Institute, 3 King Ling Road, Tiu Keng Leng, Tseung Kwan O

    When: Until March 31, 2019

    Alice's Adventure at Starlight Garden

    What: Introduced last year, this exhibition became a huge hit, with more than 6,000 photos and videos posted online every day. Created by 27 multimedia digital artists from Korea, the exhibition features a 30-foot rabbit hole for visitors to explore the fantasy world made famous in the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This Christmas, New Town Plaza delivers a brand-new interactive digital version of the literary work. In particular, check out the seventh floor, with its bright lighting, glittering mirrors and rose-shaped decorations.

    Where: New Town Plaza, 18 Sha Tin Centre Street, Sha Tin

    When: Until January 13, 2019

    We Travel in Our Minds

    What: This exhibition of sculpture aims to present ideas of theatricality, the fantastical, travel and exchange, with figures that take the forms of humans and animals. Made by artist Ethan Murrow, a professor at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in Boston, these dream-like objects are inspired by puppetry (木偶戏), music, trade, navigation and beyond, with mixed effects of materiality, sound and imagination.

    Where: Duddell's, Level 3, Shanghai Tang Mansion, 1 Duddell Street, Central

When: Until March 10, 2019