When you hear the word “recycling”, what comes to your mind? The color green or global warming?

    What if I were to tell you there is a dark side of recycling? A type of recycling that does more than good. The dark side of recycling has nothing to do with the environment but rather has a lot to do with the recycling of ideas.

Environmental unrest is not the only trouble we must face. Idea pollution is quickly becoming widespread across the online world.

    Think about it. When was the last time you read an original blog post? I'm guessing it has been quite a while. Why do you think top bloggers of today win so much respect? Do you think they recycle their ideas? With each recycled idea the online world becomes much more polluted. Used content contributes to the ever increasing mass of digital smog.

    The first step to reduce pollution is simple: stop recycling. When you stop recycling, you will then be forced to take up the task of creating from your own ideas. When you recycle an excellent idea, it soon becomes good. When you recycle a good idea, it soon becomes just OK. The chain continues until the key part of what used to make the idea good is saturated, leaving you nothing but a pile of mess.

    In order not to pollute, your ideas must go beyond “just recycled”. Your ideas must stand out from the pollution of the web. For your voice and talent to be heard and seen, you must go far beyond the standard copy of your neighbours' ideas.

    For the next week, make a promise not to recycle. Let your ideas flourish and flow. Believe in your ability to create, because the death of recycling starts with YOU.

    If you could be anybody in the world, who would it be? Your neighbour or a super star? A few people have experienced what it might be like to step into the skin of another person, thanks to an unusual virtual reality（虚拟现实）device. Rikke Wahl, an actress, model and artist, was one of the participants in a body swapping experiment at the Be Another lab, a project developed by a group of artists based in Barcelona. She swapped with her partner, an actor, using a machine called The Machine to Be Another and temporarily became a man. "As I looked down, I saw my whole body as a man, dressed in my partner's pants," she said. "That's the picture I remember best."

    The set-up is relatively simple. Both users wear a virtual reality headset with a camera on the top. The video from each camera is sent to the other person, so what you see is the exact view of your partner. If she moves her arm, you see it. If you move your arm, she sees it.

    To get used to seeing another person's body without actually having control of it, participants start by raising their arms and legs very slowly, so that the other can follow along. Eventually, this kind of slow synchronised（同步的）movement becomes comfortable, and participants really start to feel as though they are living in another person's body.

    Using such technology promises to alter people's behaviour afterwards-potentially for the better. Studies have shown that virtual reality can be effective in fighting racism-the bias（偏见）that humans have against those who don't look or sound like them. Researchers at the University of Barcelona gave people a questionnaire called the Implicit Association Test, which measures the strength of people's associations between, for instance, black people and adjectives such as good, bad, athletic or awkward. Then they asked them to control the body of a dark skinned digital character using virtual reality glasses, before taking the test again. This time, the participants' bias scores were lower. The idea is that once you've "put yourself in another's shoes" you're less likely to think ill of them, because your brain has internalised the feeling of being that person.

    The creators of The Machine to Be Another hope to achieve a similar result. "At the end of body swapping, people feel like holding each other in their arms," says Arthur Pointeau, a programmer with the project. "It's a really nice way to have this kind of experience. I would really, really recommend it to everyone."

    Family Fun in Canadian Museum of Nature

    Bring the whole family to rediscover our fully reformed museum and new galleries.

    What to See and Do

    Check out What's On for all the events, educational activities and HD movies happening during your visit. On the first floor, you can see birds, dive down into the depths at the helm(舵柄)of a submersible(潜水器)or explore a cave. Don't miss our 3D gallery play areas on the third floor when visiting with kids. By visiting here, your children will learn more about nature. Check out Our Exhibitions which presents our special exhibitions.

    Hours, Admission, Services and More

    Everything you need to plan your visit:

    Opening Hours

    Summer Hours (June1—September 4):

    9am-6pm(Saturday—Wednesday)

    9am-8pm(Thursday and Friday)

    Regular Hours: 9am-5pm(except Monday and Thursday)

    Admission

    Adult: $14

    Senior(65+):$12

    Student (13+):$12

    Child(3-12):$10

    Tiny Tot(0-2):Free

    Parking

    Paid parking is available on the Canadian Museum of Nature grounds.

    Rates

    $3 per half hour

    At most $14 per day(until 4:30 am)

    Evening flat rate(统一价格):

    $5(4:30pm-4:30 am)

    Charges accumulate(evening and next day)of vehicles that are parked overnight.

    Shopping

    Be sure to stop at our Nature Boutique on the second floor for a vast selection of games, books and nature-related souvenirs.

    Explore Nature

    The Canadian Museum of Nature provides a lot of information, images and videos on our websites. The museum participates in several social networks. Follow us on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter.

    Bats are the only mammals(哺乳动物) that can fly a great distance, but they have another ability. Many bats live a very long time for an animal of their size. European researchers are studying bats to understand why they lives0 long. They hope to make discoveries aimed at fighting the aging process in human beings.

    Last week, the group of scientists said they had identified important biological qualities in some bat species. The group studied bat chromosomes(染色体), a line of genes found in the nucleus(细胞核) of cells. The scientists were most interested in structures connected to the ends of the chromosomes. They are called telomeres(端粒), which protect the ends of chromosomes and shorten each time a cell divides. Scientists believe this shortening process causes cells to breakdown. They say this is what causes aging.

    The European researchers studied 493 bats from four bat species. The group used information that had been gathered over more than 60 years. Of these animals ，the greater mouse-eared bat generally lived the longest, an average of 37 years. The scientists said this and a related species, which are grouped together under the name Myotis, had telomeres that did not shorten with age. Another Myotis bat holds the record for oldest age, reaching 41years. The scientists' findings suggest that these bats cells have the ability to maintain and repair their telomeres. This, they said, helps guard against the aging process.

    Based on its body size, a bat like the greater mouse-eared bat would be expected to live four years. But, these mammals have been found to live nearly 10 times longer than that. The scientists found that only 19 species of mammals live longer than humans when their body size is considered. Eighteen of these are bats.

Dark Sky Parks around the World

    Warrumbungle National Park

    Situated in the central west slopes of New South Wales is Australia's only dark sky park, Warrumbungle. The park has served as a dark sky park since July 2016. Its crystal-clear night skies and high altitude make it a natural, educational, and astronomical heritage site in the southern half of the earth. Tourists can use Australia's largest optical telescope within the park boundaries to view the auroras (极光), the Milky Way, and faint shooting stars.

    Sark

    Sark is a Channel Island near the coast of Normandy under the protection of the UK. It was the World's First Dark Sky Island set up in January 2011. Its historical and cultural blend attracts over 40,000 tourists annually. With no motor vehicles and public lighting on the island, there is an exceptional view of the dark skies. A rich Milky Way is visible in the dark night skies from the shores of the island.

    Pic du Midi de Bigorre

    Pic du Midi de Bigorre in France was designated as a dark sky park in December 2013 making it the second largest dark sky park in the world. The park covers 3. 112 square kilometers spread across the Pyrenees National Park and UNESCO's World Heritage site, Pyrenees-Mont Perdu. The park attracts over one hundred star watchers every year. The Observatory Midi-Pyrenees, which was built in 1870, is one of the world's highest museums at a height of 2,877 meters above sea level.

    Ramon Crater/Makhtesh Ramon

    Ramon Crater is a unique 1,100-square-kilometer nature reserve located in the Negev Desert in Israel. In 2017, the Ramon Crater became the first designated dark sky park in the Middle East. Its location, rough climate, and forbidding landscape that are characteristic of the Negev have largely defeated historical attempts for human settlement, making it a great place to view the night skies. Stargazers usually camp in the desert to have an uninterrupted view of the stars, planets, and the Milky Way.