“A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with asmart phone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website” is the definitionof “selfie” in the Oxford English Dictionary. In fact, it wasn't even in thedictionary until August of last year. It earned its place there because peopleare now so obsessed with (对……痴迷) selfies ─ wetake them when we try on a new hat, play with our pets or when we meet a friendwhom we haven't seen in a while.

But is there any scientific explanation for this obsession?Well, you should probably ask James Kilner, a neuroscientist(神经系统科学家) atUniversity College London.

Through our lifetime we become experts at recognizing andinterpreting other people's faces and facial expressions. In contrast,according to Kilner, we have a very poor understanding of our own faces sincewe have little experience of looking at them ─ we just feel them most of thetime.

This has been proved in previous studies, according to the BBC.

Kilner found that most people chose the more attractive picture.This suggests that we tend to think of ourselves as better-looking than weactually are. To further test how we actually perceive our own faces,Kilner carried out another study. He showed people different versions of theirown portrait ─ the original, one that had been edited to look less attractiveand one that was made more attractive ─ and asked them to pick the versionwhich they thought looked most like them. They chose the more attractiveversion.

But what does it say about selfies? Well, isn't that obvious?Selfies give us the power to create a photograph ─ by taking it from variousangles, with different poses, using filters (滤色镜) and so on ─that better matches our expectations with our actual faces.

“You suddenly have control in a way that you don't have innon-virtual(非虚拟的)interactions," Kilner told the Canada-based CTV News. Selfies allow you“to keep taking pictures until you manage to take one you're happy with”, heexplained.

Uncivilized behavior by passengers unacceptable

    For the first time, airline passengers have been blacklisted for uncivilized behavior. Their names will remain on the blacklist for one or two years, according to an announcement by the China Air Transport Association on Saturday. The blacklisting means they will not be able to travel by air until their names are removed from the list.

    Blacklisting passengers who disobey the rules for traveling by air and so place their own interests before everything else, including safety, has long been overdue (迟到的，延迟的).

    There have been frequent reports of passengers making a scene when their flight was delayed or when they believed that they were not treated as they should be on a flight.

    Yet it is natural for some flights to be delayed because of reasons such as bad weather or mechanical problems that need to be solved. However, some passengers seem to take it for granted that their flight must take off at the time stated on their ticket, and they even assume that the members of the cabin crew are simply there to do their bidding(吩咐).

    They forget that they should behave themselves in the first place and that respect is reciprocal (互相给与的).There is no reason for them to be respected when they do not show enough respect for others.

    Observing rules can never be over-emphasized when it comes to flight safety. No one has the right to disregard the rules for any reason. Of course, airlines should provide quality services to meet the needs of passengers. Yet, even if passengers are not satisfied with the service provided, there is still no reason for them to flout the rules that are designed for the safety of all.

    The blacklisting of these three passengers should serve for others to know they have to toe the line (顺从集体).

    In this day and age,it may seem that getting two people with different views together to discuss them leads to a disaster.Just think about what would happen if you sat down and had an open and honest conversation with someone with completely opposing views.Could it bring you closer together?

    However,the Human Library Organization is counting on it.At a Human Library,people volunteer to become "books" and make their experiences open and available."Readers" are encouraged to ask them questions freely,and they'll get honest answers in return.There's no judgment,and no questions are off—limits.

    You won't find unpleasant comments,and you won't lose faith in humanity.At the Human Library,you actually feel letter about the world you live in.You might even make a new friend!

    "The human books consist of people who have been discriminated by society."said Ronni Abergel,the Human Library Organization's founder,who has set out to build a space for conversations that can challenge prejudices through dialogue."The most pleasantly surprising thing about it is how close all the human books become to one another."she said.

    Human Libraries help to remind us there really is more that unites us than divides us.And as events now spread throughout 82 countries,with Human Libraries even set to launch soon in Pakistan and Jordan,you can tell that is a shared feeling.

    "We can spend billions and billions in trying to build up homeland security and our safety,but real safety comes from having positive relations to other groups in your community."said Abergel,"Real safety is not going to come from building walls.It's going to come from reaching out and getting to know each other."

    Bamboo is one of the world's most useful plants. For thousands of years, bamboo has been used in many different ways-from food to medicine to clothing and, in small ways, as a building material.

    However, bamboo is not often used as a building material in the developed world. A professor at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania is trying to change that. The professor and his students are testing the strength of bamboo.They are testing how much pressure or weight it can take before breaking.

    Kent Harries is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Harries says that testing methods for bamboo need to be the same for all. They need to be standardized. Standardizing test methods for bamboo will help to bring the plant into common use. It will also give engineers and builders around the world a dependable standard.

    Harries says that bamboo is strong in nature. The strength of at least three species of bamboo is similar to steel.Besides its strength, bamboo has other features that make it very useful in building. He says it is resilient(有弹力的), meaning it keeps its shape and strength even under pressure.

    Bamboo also grows quickly. Bamboo that is suitable for construction needs much less resources than wood. The harvest cycle of bamboo is about 3 years. Softwoods such as cedar, pine and spruce have a harvest cycle of about 10 years. And hardwoods that come from flowering plants such as oak and walnut need more than 30 years.

    Bamboo is widely used as food for panda bears. It is also used for flooring and window covers. However, for building, bamboo is not used much outside its native growing area. This is mostly because of its round shape. But there are other reasons too. People think -- or have the mentality--that bamboo is a low quality building material.

    I was very fortunate to be selected by Kindspring to receive $100 for the monthly kindness competition and it has helped to make a beautiful difference in people's lives.

    The idea is simple. I took a lot of fallen branches and hung them from the ceiling with the help of volunteers and friends. Then we hung strings with pins attached to them from the branches. I got a whole lot of art supplies and as people came in for the art exhibit, they were encouraged to create a piece of art or a positive message to hang from the tree.

    The tree changed into this really fun way of exchanging positive messages. If you were to hang a message up, you had to take a message down for you to keep. The experience was really amazing. People of all ages and from all walks of life were sharing art and encouragement through the tree.

    With the $100 I received from Kindspring, I made a total of seven more trees. I am putting them all over our community（社区）. One will go to a youth shelter for homeless teens and one will be put right in the middle of town on our public square. They will have paper and art supplies at the base for people to use in creating a message or piece of art. For the classroom I was able to provide them with new colored pencils, markers, and some sketchbooks, which they all loved. The act is to create communications that are positive and can influence people's lives in great ways just by doing a simple act of kindness. The messages people receive can be kept with them forever as a reminder of the good in the world, or they can pass them along to others. The beauty of the idea is that the messages have unlimited possibilities.

Rick Guidotti put aside his career as a fashion photographer to turn his lens（镜头） to people living with genetic, physical and behavioral differences.

He says what changed his perception（看法） of beauty was a chance encounter with an albino （患白化病的） girl."I was just tired of people telling me who was beautiful. Every season that face would change but I was always told who was beautiful. As an artist, I don't see beauty just on covers of magazines. I see it everywhere. So that was my original intention—that opened my eyes a little wider and wider."

Guidotti has created Positive Exposure, a not-for-profit organization that uses photography and video to transform public perceptions and promote a world where differences are celebrated. Guidotti and Positive Exposure are featured in a new documentary called On Beauty.

One of the women featured in the film is Jayne Waithera. "I never thought I was beautiful because nobody said that to me, but meeting him was my profound moment. I remember that particular day. He took my picture and I felt so good like I felt there's somebody who, like, really loves me and sees me for who I am and who sees me more than my condition."

Guidotti is travelling from city to city to promote On Beauty. He says his tour is not about money; it's about the message. "As I travel from community to community, I'm taking photographs and I'm empowering（给某人……的权力） individuals with a positive sense of who they are. They're seeing beauty in their reflection but I'm also empowering their families and they in turn are empowering their communities as well. All is based on the philosophy of change—how you see, how you change."