C

    Terrafugia Inc .said Monday that its new flying car has completed its first flight,bringing the company closer to its goal of selling the flying car within the next year.The vehicle-named the Transition – has two seats，four wheels and wings that fold up so it can be driven like a car.The Transition,which flew at 1,400 feet for eight minutes last month, can reach around 70 miles per hour on the road and 115 in the flies using a 23-gallon tank of gas and burns 5 gallons per hour in the air. On the ground, it gets 35 miles per gallon.

    Around 100 people have already put down a $10,000 deposit to get a Transition when they go on sale, and those numbers will likely rise after Terrafugia introduces the Transition to the public later this week at the New York Auto Show. But don't  expect it to show up in too many driveways. It's expected to cost $279,000.And it won't  help if you're stuck in traffic. The car needs a runway.

    Inventors have been trying to make flying cars since the 1930s, according to Robert Mann, an airline industry expert. But Mann thinks Terrafugia has come closer than anyone to making the flying car a reality. The govemment has already permitted the company to use special materials to make it easier for the vehicle to fly. The Transition  is now going through crash tests to make sure it meets federal safety standards.

    Mann said Terrafugia was helped by the Federal Aviation Administration's decision five years ago to create a separate set of standards for light sport aircraft, which are lower than those for pilots of larger planes. Terrafugia says an owner would need to pass a test and complete 20 hours of flying time to be able to fly the Transition,a requirement pilots would find relatively easy to meet.

    The Best Time to Visit These Pricey Destinations

    If you're going to shell out on a vacation, then you might as well do it right. With that in mind, we've asked a few experts for tips on when to visit some of the most expensive places across the globe. Here's what they had to say.

    Botswana

    Hotels in Botswana are second only to Dubai in terms of average cost per person, per night, at around $257. To make the most of your time there, consider an autumn visit, suggests Sarah Faith of Responsible Travel. “The heat peaks in October—this is the best time to go and see wild animals as they gather around in the Okavango Delta”, says Faith. While wildlife viewing is incredible in Botswana, there's much to enjoy away from the wilderness, too.”

    New York City

    New York is the second-most expensive holiday destination overall and the most expensive place to dine out, with an average meal for two costing around $67. Garrett, the CEO of Discover New York, suggests, “October and June have gorgeous weather, so outdoor activities are a good choice, with sailing, in-depth neighborhood walks and biking.” For great value, she advises traveling in January and February, when the city offers tons of indoor activities, from art galleries and Broadway shows to indoor sports events and thousands of dining options.

    Sydney

    With its incredible surfing beaches, dining scene and friendly locals, Sydney is always a favorite of travelers. It's also expensive. Generally, the shoulder seasons (fall and spring in the U.S.) have the most comfortable weather and fewer crowds than the December-to-February high season. But some months have particular appeal, according to Stuart Rigg, Australian travel specialist for Southern Crossings. April, for example, falls into the low season, which means you'll find hotel deals along with weather that's typically “very pleasant,” Rigg says. “Sydney also has some great events during this low season period,” he adds.

    London

    Petulia Melideo, who runs Context's London walking tours, advises booking well in advance for lower hotel rates, and suggests a wintry visit. “November is a great time for London. The weather is still tolerable—and if it gets too chilly, there are plenty of cozy pubs to pop into,” she says. Other good times to visit include June, which means fewer tourists.

    I am sure we've all come across inspiring quotes（引言）that made us nod in agreement or made us think, "Wow, that's good quotes". But we end up going back to procrastinating（拖延）on whatever it was we were procrastinating on. So is it worthwhile to read these inspirational quotes? Well, that depends.

    Quotes, books, articles, audio programs… all of these things are just tools and they're only effective when you use them. I don't know about you but most quotes I read don't do anything for me. However, every now and then, I will come across one that will positively affect me in some way such as reminding me to be grateful, getting me to work out extra hard at the gym without being pressed by my wife, or never give up when things get tough.

      From my experience, reading quotes is more effective when you're actually trying to motivate yourself rather than just reading them for the sake of reading them. The second you feel the urge to take action, you'd better immediately get up off your chair and take action.

    These quotes aren't for everyone. If you have read tons of them and have never been motivated or had a positive change in the way you look at life or how you treat others, or these quotes don't help you to insist on doing something when you feel like giving up on it, then it's probably not worthwhile to read more of them. If you have done something a bunch of times and it's not giving you the results you want, don't keep doing it. Try something else.

    Now if you've found some value in reading these quotes in the past, continue to make them more effective by letting them guide your life.

    Many science fiction stories tell about explorers arriving in a new world. The explorers then use some kind of high-tech device to test for breathable air or signs of life. But here on Earth, science fiction is becoming reality through a new sampling technology called environmental DNA, or eDNA for short. Scientists can use it to identify rare species or estimate fish populations with just a little air or water.

    Environmental DNA can be used in two ways. One is to identify the creatures that live in a certain place. The other is to confirm the presence or lack of a specific creature.

    Caren Goldberg is one of the first biologists to take the technology from the testing stage to actually using it. She sees eDNA as a way to get answers more efficiently and with less destruction compared to traditional survey techniques. Until recently, scientists depended on snorkeling ( 潜水), netting or using an electric current to temporarily catch fish.

    This newer way to identify what lives in the environment is becoming popular around the world. Animal experts in Vietnam are using the eDNA to find the last, wild Yangtze giant softshell turtles. One researcher on the Caribbean island of Trinidad is using the sampling technology to find endangered golden treefrogs. In Madagascar, it is being used to identify amphibian(两栖动物)diseases.

    Ms Goldberg has used eDNA testing to confirm the local extinction (灭绝) of a leopard frog in the American state of Idaho. She has also been asked to document the spread of the New Zealand mudsnail in the state of Washington. The creature has been found in lakes and other waterways across the state.

    Scientists working with the technology say they do not expect robots to replace field biologists anytime soon. But the old-fashioned field work could soon be more targeted.

    Since the sex of a sea turtle(海龟)is determined by the heat of sand hatching the eggs, scientists had suspected they might see slightly more females. Climate change, after all, has driven sea temperatures higher, which, in these creatures, favors female children. They found female sea turtles from Raine Island, the Pacific Ocean's largest and most important green sea turtle living area, now outnumber males by at least 116 to 1. "This is extreme," says turtle scientist Camryn Allen.

    Biologist Michael Jensen wanted to know if climate change had already changed turtles' sexes. By using genetic(基因的) tests, he'd figured out that he could follow turtles of all ages. Still, his research data would lack an important detail: sex. Only after a turtle matures is it possible to tell its sex from the outside -- mature males have slightly longer tails. By then turtles can be decades old, so scientists often use Iaparoscopy(腹腔镜检查)，sending a thin tube into each animal, but that's not so practical if you're hoping to examine hundreds of creatures. Fortunately, at a turtle conference, he met Allen, and all she needed was a little blood.

    They compared their results with temperature data for nesting beaches. What worries them is that Raine Island has been producing almost female turtles for at least 20 years. This is no small thing. More than 200,000 turtles come to nest there. During high season, 18,000 turtles may settle in at once. "But what happens in 20 years when there are no more males coming up as adults? Are there enough to maintain the population?" says Allen. They also found cooler beaches in the south are still producing males, but that in the north, it's almost entirely females hatching. These findings clearly point to the fact that climate change is changing many aspects of wildlife biology.

    But how widespread is this phenomenon -- and what is the consequence?

    Almost none of us have the time to read everything we'd like to read. Yet we lose countless hours to daily activities that bring us little joy like taking buses and waiting in line. What if we could turn these little blocks of unoccupied time into precious and rewarding moments for learning and thinking?

    Established in 2012, iReader, a micro-learning app on mobile phones, brings the biggest ideas from best-selling books through 15-minute audio (音频) and text. So far, more than 3,000 books have been included, ranging from psychology and parenting to management and economics, with new titles added every day.

    iReader is pioneering a new method of reading, with over 9 million users enjoying the benefits already. According to the Pew Research Center (PRC), the British read just 4 paper books a year and over 25% haven't read a single paper book this year, but reading isn't dying. There are now more ways for the British to read than ever before, due to the widespread use of e-books and audio books.

    The books in iReader are rewritten to ensure it is easy to remember the main content. The way the content is edited has been specifically designed to ensure it is useful in practice. Besides, the content is rewritten with related examples in real life, which means users are more likely to remember and apply what is helpful to them.

    Holger Seim, German co-founder of this app, declares, "iReader gives you the biggest ideas in the shortest possible time. It transforms great ideas into little packs you can listen to or read in just 15 minutes."