A biologist from the National Park Service discovered a rare and unusual mammoth(猛犸) skull(颅骨) buried in a 13,000-year-old rock layer on the Santa Rosa Island, the second largest landmass in the Channel Islands, California. The fossil of the extinct giant animal is leaving many paleontologists(古生物学家) scratching their heads. Despite the fact that it's possibly the best preserved mammoth skull ever found and of high scientific importance, the species of the individual it belonged to can't seem to be identified yet—it's too big to be a pygmy(特别矮小的) mammoth and too small to have come from a Columbian mammoth. Some say it's a new species while others believe the truth lies somewhere in between.

    The first mammoths showed up in North America around two million years ago, but it was only during the last two ice ages that the Columbian species, which could grow to be up to 14 feet tall, made its way to the Channel Islands 100 miles west of Los Angeles. Once the ice melted, many populations became trapped on the island and evolved into pygmy mammoths, an endemic species(地方种) to the Channel Islands which grew only to six feet tall.

    Judging from its size, the newly found mammoth skull doesn't seem to fit any of the two species, Columbian or pygmy. To make things even more confusing, one of its two tusks(象牙) is nearly five feet long and coiled in a manner that resembles those of fully grown mammoths but the left tusk is shorter and sloped, more like a juvenile(青少年).

    This has caused some scientists to say the Santa Rose skull may belong to a transitional species. Whatever's the case, a following examination of the mammoth's teeth should put the matter to rest. The analysis will also tell us how old the mammoth was when it died, so we can tell for sure whether it was an adult or juvenile.

    More interesting than the mammoth's lineage, however, might be its story. The giant mammal lived 13,000 years ago or roughly the same timeline of the “Arlington Man”, a 13,000-year-old human skeleton also found on Santa Rosa. Some 3,000 years later humans were already spread throughout the continent and the Channel Islands' mammoth went extinct. The present finding might help reveal a link between the two.

    The remains also seem to confirm a long-held assumption that there were two mammoth migrations to the Channel Islands. “The discovery of this mammoth skull increases the probability that there were at least two migrations of Columbian mammoths to the island: during the most recent ice age 10,000 to 30,000 years ago, as well as the previous ice age that occurred about 150,000 years ago,” said USGS geologist Dan Muhs.

    “Did you hear what happened to Adam Last Friday?”Lindsey whispers to Tori.

    With her eyes shining, Tori brags，“You bet I did, Sean told me two days ago.”

    Who are Lindsey and Tori talking about? It just happened to be yours truly, Adam Freedman, I can tell you that what they are saying is not nice and not even true. Still, Lindsey and Tori aren't very different from most students here at Linton High School, including me. Many of our conversations are gossip(闲话). I have noticed three effects of gossip: it can hurt people, it can give gossipers a strange kind of satisfaction, and it can cause social pressures in a group.

    An important negative effect of gossip is that it can hurt the person being talked about. Usually, gossip spreads information about a topic-breakups, trouble at home, even dropping out-that a person would rather keep secret. The more embarrassing or shameful the secret is, the juicier the gossip it makes. Probably the worst type of gossip is the absolute lie. People often think of gossipers as harmless, but cruel lies can cause pain.

    If we know that gossip can be harmful, then why do so many of us do it? That answer lies in another effect of gossip: the satisfaction it gives us. Sharing the latest rumor(传言)can make a person feel important because he or she knows something that others don't. Similarly, hearing the latest rumor can make a person feel like part of the “in group.” In other words, gossip is satisfying because it gives people a sense of belonging or even superiority(优越感).

    Gossip also can have a third effect: it strengthens unwritten, unspoken rules about how people should act. Professor David Wilson explains that gossip is important in policing behaviors in a group. Translated into high school terms, this means that if everybody you hang around with is laughing at what John wore or what Jane said, then you can bet that wearing or saying something similar will get you the same kind of negative attention. The do's and don'ts conveyed through gossip will never show up in any student handbook.

    The effects of gossip vary depending on the situation. The next time you feel the urge to spread the latest news, think about why you want to gossip and what effects your “juicy story” might have.

    Many people like to explore the Internet. Exploring the Internet is one of the most important activities of the day. The Internet brings the outside world closer to people's homes. Some people say the world is smaller than before because of the Internet.

    What's going on in other countries? How do people live in places far away? Is there a good sports game somewhere？What's life like in the deepest part of the sea? If you want to answer all these questions, just come to the Internet. Of course, people can also learn through reading or listening to the radio. But with the Internet they can learn better and more easily. A lot of information can be collected at a great speed.

    Can we go shopping without leaving home? Can we see a doctor without going to the hospital? Can we study without going to school？ All these things seemed to be impossible, but now they have become true.  

    The Internet helps us to open our eyes. The Internet also helps to open our minds. The Internet often gives us new ideas. In a word, it helps us in many ways. Great changes have taken place in our life since the use of the Internet.

    After a morning hike in the Saneum HealingForest, 46-year-old firefighter Kang Byoung-wook has tea made from the bark of an elm tree, practices yoga (瑜伽), and makes a picture with dried flowers. He is one of 40 firefighters taking part in a three-day program, the aim of which is to offer "forest healing" (森林治愈); the firefighters all have posttraumatic stress disorder (创伤后应激障碍).

    Saneum is one of three official healing forests in South Korea. Soon there will be 34 more. South Koreans-many of whom suffer from work stress, digital addiction, and great academic pressure have accepted the medicalization of nature with great enthusiasm.

    There is increasing evidence that being outside in a pleasant natural environment is good for us. But how many of us get to enjoy nature regularly? Fewer and fewer, it seems. According to Lisa Nisbet, a psychology professor at Canada s Trent University, evidence for the benefits of nature is pouring in at a time when we are most disconnected from it.

    "We don't think of being outdoors as a way to increase happiness," says Nisbet. "We think other things will, like shopping or TV." But South Korea is starting to challenge this opinion.

    So what are some of the benefits of nature that Nisbet refers to? Being surrounded by nature has one obvious effect: It calms us and reduces our stress levels. This has been shown to lower blood pressure and heart rates.

    Another experiment conducted by psychologist Stephen Kaplan found that people who took a 50-minute walk in a park had better attention and short-term memory than those who took a walk along a city street.

    Perhaps what's more surprising is that nature may also make us more creative. David Strayer, a psychologist at the University of Utah, showed as much with a group of participants, who performed 50 percent better on creative problem-solving tasks after three days of wilderness backpacking.

    In fact, we may never know exactly what nature does to the brain. Something mysterious will always remain, and maybe that's as it should be.

    I have been passionate about sewing and fashion design since I was 12. Two years ago, I designed and made a set of outfits from recyclable materials for a charity fashion show. Through this highly meaningful and profound experience, I became sensitized to the importance of protecting and preserving our environment when designing and making fashion items, resulting in my founding an organization to promote eco-friendly design and fashion.

    My interest has led me to research areas of fashion that have environmental implications. For example, some popular clothing stores have announced merchandizing policies designed to improve the environment. For those of us who are eco-conscious, it is incumbent upon us to evaluate whether such policies are just a marketing ploy, or represent genuine efforts to protect our environment.

    Three chain-stores, H&M, Urban Outfitters and Forever 21, have been promoting "green" items. After I examined their products, I have concluded that H&M and Urban Outfitters are truly helping the environment with their efforts, while Forever 21 seems to be using the 'go green' trend as a way to sell more products, rather than genuinely help the environment.

    Of these three stores, H&M has the most extensive eco-fashion plans. It is already well on its way to implementing its plans by increasingly blending organic cotton into their garments, as well as putting fully organic cotton items on the market. The store also belongs to the Organic Exchange Organization, which endorses growth of organic cotton. To reduce the substantial harm from non-organic cotton production, H&M is involved with the Better Cotton Initiative. Mindful of the adverse effects of climate change, the store aims to minimize transportation and energy usage. H&M labels their eco-friendly products with an official symbol, the Flower, to represent a production system that is less harmful than most traditional processes. Because of these actions and policies, H&M is already well on its way to making a difference on the environment.

    With its Urban Renewal brand, Urban Outfitter takes a different approach from H&M in promoting eco-friendly fashion. The brand features women's apparel made from strictly environmentally-friendly sources, such as vintage, dead stock, or surplus clothing. Urban Renewal produces fashionable garments, and embraces being eco-friendly through recycling.

    Unlike the other two stores above, Forever 21's eco-fashion efforts fall short; a cynic would say their message is downright misleading. It promotes the "'green" image, and yet many of their supposed eco-friendly products do not help the environment. For example, it sells a "Think Green Tote" that, according to the site, is meant "to send an environmentally friendly message". However, it is made of 100% non-organic cotton which is one of the most damaging fabrics to the environment, mostly because it requires greater chemical intervention compared to organic cotton. Also, the "I Love My Planet Tote" is supposed to "make a positive statement," but is also made of 100% cotton that is not organic. The only tote that is environmentally-friendly is the "H81 Organic Cotton Tote" from Forever 21's Heritage brand, made from 100% organic cotton. Now that Forever 21 has portrayed itself as being "green," it should start "walking the walk."

This was no ordinary class. The students who came together were all science or engineering professors at Cornell University. They had interrupted their research to accept an invitation to take part in an unusual experiment: "an interesting week of poetry". This class was part of a study to answer the questions: Why is science difficult for many non-science students? What can teachers learn about teaching if they take a class that is not in their field? 

The students in the poetry class listened to lectures and took notes. They had reading tasks and had to write three short papers. All students noticed one thing—the importance of spoken words. In science and engineering classes, the instructors put tables and drawings on the blackboard. But in this poetry class, the instructors just talked. They didn't write anything on the board.

The scientists and engineers noticed one similarity between science and poetry. In both subjects, students need to find layers of meaning. Some layers are simple, clean, and on the surface;   other layers are deeper and more difficult. This search for different levels of meaning doesn't happen much in undergraduate science classes, but it is important later, in a graduate school. And it is always important in humanities (人文学科).

Both the poetry instructors and their students learned something about teaching from this experience. One poetry instructor, for example, now sees the importance of using careful, clear definitions when he explains a poem. He also plans to be more informative as he teaches. Most of the scientists agreed on several points. Firstly, humanities classes might help science students to see patterns and decide which information is important. Secondly, the poetry class was fun. One engineer decided, "We need to change the way we teach engineering to make it an enjoyable experience for students."

But perhaps the most important result of the experience was this: all of the professors began to think about how they teach and how they can teach better.