The behaviour of a building's users may be at least as important as its design when it comes to energy use, according to new research from the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC). The UK promises to reduce its carbon emissions (排放）by 80 percent by 2050, part of which will be achieved by all new homes being zero-carbon by 2016. But this report shows that sustainable building design on its own — though extremely important- is not enough to achieve such reductions: the behaviour of the people using the building has to change too.

    The study suggests that the ways that people use and live in their homes have been largely ignored by existing efforts to improve energy efficiency (效率)，whichinstead focus on architectural and technological developments.

     ‘Technology is going to assist but it is not going to do everything,'explains Katy Janda, a UKERC senior researcher，‘consumption patterns of building users can defeat the most careful design. 'In other words，old habits die hard, even in the best-designed eco-home.

    Another part of the problem is information. Households and bill-payers don't have the knowledge they need to change their energy-use habits. Without specific information，it's hard to estimate the costs and benefits of making different choices. Feedback (反馈） facilities, like smart meters and energy monitors，could help bridge this information gap by helping people see how changing their behaviour directly affects their energy use; some studies have shown that households can achieve up to 15 percent energy savings using smart meters.

    Social science research has added a further dimension (方面），suggesting that individuals'behaviour in the home can be personal and cannot be predicted 一 whether people throw open their windows rather than turn down the thermostat (恒温器) , for example. Janda argues that education is the key. She calls for a focused programme to teach people about buildings and their own behaviour in them.

    Born in Detroit, Michigan, on January 10, 1928. Philip Levine was formally educated in the Detroit public school system. After graduation from university, Levine worked a number of industrial jobs, including the night work in factories, reading and writing poems in his off hours. In 1953, he studied at the University of Iowa. There, Levine met Robert Lowell and John Berryman, whom Levine called his "one great guide."

    About writing poems, Levine wrote: "I believed even then that if I could change my experience into poems I would give it the value and honor that it did not begin to have on its own. I thought too that if I could write about it, I could come to understand it: I believed that if I could understand my life-or at least the part my work played in it-I could write it with some degree of joy, something obviously missing from my life."

    Levine published (出版)his first collection of poems. On the Edge in 1961, followed by Not This Pig in 1968. Throughout his life. Levine published many books of poems, winning many prizes. A review said: "Levine writes poems about the bravery of men, physical labor, simple pleasures and strong feelings, often set in working-class Detroit or in central California, where he worked or lived."

    He taught for many years at California State University, Fresno, and served as Distinguished Poet in Residence for the Creative Writing Program at New York University. After retiring from teaching, Levine divided his time between Brooklyn, New York, and Fresno, California, until his death on February 14, 2015. His final poem collection, The Last Shift, as well as a collection of essays(短文)and other writings, My Lost Poets, A Life in Poetry, were published in 2016.

    Tom arrived at the bus station quite early for the London bus. The bus for London would not leave until five to twelve. He saw a lot of people waiting in the station. Some were standing in lines, others were walking about. There was a group of school-girls. Their teacher was trying to keep them in order. Tom looked around but there was nowhere for him to sit.

    He walked into the station cafe. He looked up at the clock there. It was only twenty to twelve. He found a seat and sat down, facing a large mirror(镜子) on the wall. Just then, John, one of Tom's friends, came in and sat with Tom.

    "What time is your bus?" asked John.

    "Oh, there is plenty of time yet," answered Tom.

    "Oh, I'll get you some more tea then," said John.

    They talked while drinking. Then Tom looked at the clock again.

    "Good heavens! It's going backward!" he cried. "A few minutes ago it was twenty to twelve and now it's half past eleven."

    "You are looking at the clock in the mirror," said John.

    Tom wanted to kick himself for being so foolish. The next bus was not to leave for another hour. He has never liked mirror since then.

    Mention the word superhero, and the images that come to mind are of fictional characters like Spiderman, Wonder Woman, or Batman. However, photographer Josh Rossi has used his camera to show the world's real superheroes — young children who are battling severe diseases and disabilities.

    The event leading to the creative project began in 2016, when Rossi fulfilled his then three­year­old daughter's dream of becoming Wonder Woman. Thanks to the handmade costume and Rossi's impressive Photoshop skills, the photoshoot instantly became a hit.

    Since it was Wonder Woman that brought about the idea, Rossi decided to focus on the superheroes that will appear alongside her in the upcoming movie, Justice League. To make the photo shoot more meaningful to the kids, he matched each child with a superhero with whom they had the most in common.

    The first member of the real­life "Justice League" was Kayden Kinckle. The five­year­old uses prosthetics (假肢) to walk because both his legs had to be cut off due to a born disorder. To Rossi, Kayden's perfect superhero was Cyborg, who was a healthy boy before a terrible accident left him injured, forcing his father to keep him alive with robotic parts.

    Teagan Pettit was born with only half a heart and has already gone through three open­heart surgeries. According to Rossi, the nine­year­old fits the bill for Superman because they both have a weak heart. The fictional superhero grows weak when near Kryptonite (氪), while Teagen's half heart is too weak to control his body temperature. The photographer says, "Superman and Teagan both have hearts of steel!"

Tales From Animal Hospital David Grant

    David Grant has become a familiar face to millions of fans of Animal Hospital. Here Dr Grant tells us the very best of his personal stories about the animals he has treated, including familiar patients such as the dogs Snowy and Duchess, the delightful cat Marigold Serendipity Diamond. He also takes the reader behind the scenes at Harmsworth Memorial Animal Hospital as he describes his day, from ordinary medical check-ups to surgery. Tales From Animal Hospital will delight all fans of the program and anyone who has a lively interest in their pet, whether it be cat, dog or snake!

    £14.99 Hardback 272pp Simon Schuster

    ISBN 0751304417

    Isaac Newton: The Last Sorcerer Micheal White

    From the author of Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science, comes this colorful description of the life of the world's first modern scientist. Interesting yet based on fact, Michael White's learned yet readable new book offers a true picture of Newton completely different from what people commonly know about him. Newton is shown as a gifted scientist with very human weaknesses who stood at the point in history where magic ended and science began.

    £18.99 Hardback 320pp Fourth Estate

    ISBN 1857024168

     Fermat's Last Theorem Simon Singh

    In 1963 a schoolboy called Andrew Wiles reading in his school library came across the world's greatest mathematical problem: Fermat's Last Theorem ( 定 理 ). First put forward by the French mathematician Pierre de Fermat in the seventeenth century, the theorem had baffled and beaten the finest mathematical minds, including a French woman scientist who made a major advance in working out the problem, and who had to dress like a man in order to be able to study at the Ecole Polytechnique. Through unbelievable determination Andrew Wiles finally worked out the problem in 1995. An unusual story of human effort over three centuries, Fermat's Last Theorem will delight specialists and general readers alike.

    £12.99 Hardback 384pp Fourth Estate

    ISBN 1857025210

    It is common to see many different kinds of insects while spending time outside in the summer. Some of them do not trouble people and can even add beauty to the natural environment. Other insects can harm the environment or humans. The population of these insects seems to stay large and healthy.

    But scientists say this does not appear to be true for some flying insects that serve an important purpose. There is growing evidence that these insects are decreasing across the world.

    One researcher looking into the present insect population is Doug Tallamy, a professor at the University of Delaware. He remembers walking through Washington D. C., in the past when it was "alive with insects, especially butterflies". Now, he said, "The flying insects are actually gone." Wilson said this point seemed to be proved during a drive he made last year from Boston to Vermont. He was surprised that, during his trip, he counted only one insect that had hit the car's front window. Several other scientists have carried out similar tests by checking how many insects hit their cars while traveling.

    While researchers admit this method is not scientific, they say it can still help them understand the changing flying insect population. There have not been many studies done on the flying insect populations covering large areas. However, some international research suggests a downward turn. In 2006, a group of studies showed that there had been a 14-percent drop in ladybugs(瓢虫) in the United States and Canada from 1987 to 2006. In Germany, a 2017 study found an 82-percent drop in the number of flying insects compared to levels recorded in 1990.

    After the German study, other countries also started looking into the problem. David Wagner of the University of Connecticut says other evidence leads him to believe the findings of the 2017 study are "clearly not a German thing".