We may be only three weeks into December, but artist Jonnie Hartman has been in the holiday spirit for months, designing and building the Grand America Holiday Window Stroll.

The goal with each window stroll is to create playful and uplifting displays (展示), according to Hartman. "I really try to do something lighthearted, something whimsical, that is, something everyone can connect with and maybe not see every day in the real world," Hartman said.

    She designs all of the window displays by hand, starting with pencil sketches, then illustrating the designs on her computer and sending parts of the drawings to be printed. From there, Hartman works with a team of five people to build the displays, creating, sewing and embellishing (润色) many elements by hand.

    However, a challenge Hartman has faced over the years as she has designed the displays is making sure all of the measurements are right for elements to fit inside the windows.

"When I was in college, I was an art major, and I thought, 'I don't need math. I will never use it. I'm an artist,' and guess what, it's the most important thing that I use, ''Hartman said. "If I don't get that right, then the windows don't fit, the pieces don't come together and it just doesn't work out."

    The holiday window stroll gives Hartman a unique opportunity to hear feedback from those who observe her creations, which is something she doesn't always get to experience with her other artworks. She said it's fun to hear people's reactions as they go through the holiday window stroll.

"It just makes me happy that I can kind of set the tone for people's holiday season and just maybe bring a smile to their face," Hartman said.

    Gorillas(大猩猩) are on the edge of extinction. They are calling on YOU to donate your phone today!

    You can now help save gorillas in Africa simply by donating your mobile phone! Coltan is a metallic ore(金属矿石) that is mined both in and out of Africa and can be found within many electronic devices such as mobile phones. The mining of coltan within the Congo River Basin is contributing to forest loss there, and is speeding up the loss of mountain gorillas at a shockingly fast rate. While efforts are being made to deal with this issue, the mining of coltan within gorilla habitat continues. It is very difficult to know which phones contain coltan mined from Africa; however, every phone can help save gorillas when donated to They're Calling on You.

    By donating your phone through the They're Calling You mobile phone recycling program you are:

    Preventing your phone from going to the landfill.

    Helping Melbourne Zoo raise money to support the Jane Good all Institutes monkey conservation work in Africa through the sale of refurbished(翻新)phones.

    Lessening the demand for coltan mining.

    To support the They're Calling You mobile phone recycling program you can:

    ⒈Visit Melbourne Zoo to collect a postage paid recycling bag, and post your mobile phone to the Aussie Recycling Program. Your phone will be resold to poor community groups.

    ⒉Register your support simply by emailing the registration form to zvfoundation@zoo.org.au or fax it to (03)9285-9377.

    Schools can get involved too! Please contact Kate McCabe at Melbourne Zoo by email or phone(03)9285-9471 Discuss adding this program to your course while inspiring students to take action for wildlife.

    For further information please contact: Rachel Lowry

    Ph:(03)9285-9377

    Mob: 0488-504-490

    Fax:(03)9285-9340

    Next time your mobile rings, let that be a reminder that “they're calling on you”!

    On plenty of drives with my mom through my childhood, she would suddenly pull over the car to examine a flower by the side of the road or rescue a beetle from tragedy while I, in my late teens and early twenties, sat impatiently in the car.

    Though Mother's Day follows Earth Day, for me, they have always been related to each other. My mom has been “green” since she became concerned about the environment. Part of this habit was born of thrift (节俭). Like her mother and her grandmother before her, mom saves glass jars, empty cheese containers and reuses her plastic bags.

    Mom creates a kind of harmonious relationship with wildlife in her yard. She knows to pick the apples on her trees a little early to avoid the bears and that if she leaves the bird feeders out at night, it is likely that they will be knocked down by a family of raccoons (浣熊). Spiders that make their way into the house and are caught in juice glasses will be set loose in the garden.

    I try to teach my children that looking out for the environment starts with being aware of the environment. On busy streets, we look for dandelions(蒲公英) to fly in the wind; we say hello to neighborhood cats and pick up plastic cups and paper bags. This teaching comes easily, I realize, because I was taught so well by example. Mom didn't need to lecture; she didn't need to beat a drum to change the world. She simply slowed down enough to enjoy living in it and with that joy came mercy and an instinct(直觉) for protection.

    I am slowing down and it isn't because of the weight of my nearly forty years on the planet, it is out of my concern for the planet itself. I've begun to save glass jars and reuse packing envelopes. I pause in my daily tasks to watch the squirrels race each other in the trees above my house.

    Last summer, in the company of my son and daughter, I planted tomatoes in my yard. With the heat of August around me, I ate the first while sitting on my low wall with dirt on my hands. Warm from the sun, it burst on my tongue with sweetness. I immediately wanted to share with my mom.

    In a paper published in the journey Science Advance, researchers describe how Matabele ants, a species of large ant known for attacking termite colonies (白蚁群落), will, after the battle, pick up injured fellow soldiers and carry them back to the nest where they can recover.

    The paper is the latest in a growing body of research that this form of helping behavior, previously observed in some mammals and birds, may not require complex emotion, and may, therefore, be far more widespread in nature than previously thought.

    “Here we have an example of an individual saving another individual,” says lead researcher Erik Frank who conducted the research. “We can be quite certain that the ants don't know why they are doing what they are doing.”

    It's a behavior that pays off for the colony. Our classic conception of worker ants is that they are essentially abandoned, but Mr. Frank and his colleagues calculated that the practice of rescuing nest mates results in a colony size that is a 28.7 percent larger than it would be had the ants left their fellow soldiers for dead.

    “These injured ants are able to recover from their injuries, ” says Frank. “They are essential for the safety and the betterment of the colony. ”

    When a Matabele ant is injured, as often happens during battles with termites, its body will give off two smelly chemicals that tell other ants to carry it back to the nest. Indeed, the researchers found that using these chemicals to seek help from uninjured ants will effectively activate the rescue behavior, supporting their theory that the ants were acting on pure instinct(本能), not more complex emotions.

    “The more we study rescue behavior in ants and other animals, the more we are going to realize that it's not just limited to the species we've observed so far, ” says Karen Hollis, a professor at Mount Holyoke College, mentioning studies that found that dolphins help other injured dolphins to the surface for air, capuchin monkeys defend each other during intergroup battles, and rats free other rats that are trapped.

    Celeste Ng,a new writer,has gained recognition for her first novel,Everything I Never Told You.

    Ng's parents came from Hong Kong,China in the 1960s.Ng was born in America and grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,and Shaker Heights,Ohio,in a family of scientists.Celeste went to Harvard University and earned an MFA from the University of Michigan,where she won the Hopwood Award.

    Although her novel is not about race,the characters are Asian.The main character is Lydia,a teenage girl,who is the favorite of three children born to a white mother and a Chinese-American father.The story is about Lydia's disappearance,and the emotions the family goes through as the mystery unfolds.The whole family deals with sorrow, regret,and exposed secrets as they search for their lost daughter.

    Though the characters in this story are Asian,Ng says she didn't really want to include Asian characters.She was afraid people would think the story was about real people in her life.Because she grew up in America and doesn't speak Chinese,she was actually surprised that she included.Asian characters in the book.

    The book has taken off,especially on Amazon,where it won the Editor's Pick for No.1 Best Book of the Year in 2014.Ng is still getting used to the attention,saying she is still amazed when people tell her they have read her book. With so many readers,it's safe to say this is a book you should read.But if you're looking for a simple mystery,this book might not be for you.Most readers warn that you should not read this book unless you're prepared to cry.

Taiwan was once known as "Garbage Island". Now it is a word leader which recycles more than half of its waste in business that brings in over $2 billion a year.

In 1993, Taiwan was filled with garbage. There was almost no recycling. Two thirds of its landfills were full. Around 20% of the island's garbage was dumped (丢弃). The rest was either buried in a landfill, or burned, leaving the island in an unpleasant and unhealthy situation.

In 1998, the government took action. Their plan affected companies that made products or brought them into Taiwan. These companies were required to take care of their own waste, or to pay the government to do it. The government used the money it collected to improve recycling in the area. Taiwan gave away as much as $6 billion a year to help recycling companies.

Ordinary people had apart, too. The government created a plan called Pay As You Throw. People were required to separate their waste into two groups-garbage, and things that are recyclable or reusable. Recycling is free, but people have to buy special blue bags to throw things away. People quickly began to recycle more.

The government also made it easy for people to deal with their waste. Yellow garbage trucks come around often. To let people know they're coming, they play music. People can also track (追踪) the garbage trucks by using a smartphone app.