The American Bystander

    On a humid subway ride into work a few days ago, a woman on the other end of my car had a seizure (病情突然发作). All of a sudden, I heard her let out a painful sigh as she collapsed. For several minutes, the train continued down the track, and everyone in the car just stared at the woman. Finally, at the next stop a man informed the operator of what had happened and called 911. Luckily the woman came to herself as the EMTs carried her off the train. Ever since, I've been puzzled by the same question — why didn't anyone do anything? And more importantly, why didn't I do anything?

    We've learned about the commonly referenced bystander effect—a psychological phenomenon in which individuals will avoid offering help to a person in need when other people are present. The bystander effect is attributed to two different psychological processes: social influence—individuals in a group will monitor and imitate other group members' behavior—and shift of responsibility—individuals will cease to help because they believe that someone else will.

    Even though most people probably haven't witnessed a woman having a seizure on the subway, I'm sure if asked, anyone could think of a time when they could have helped and simply didn't. In fact, I know that we have all experienced the bystander effect, because I believe it is one of American society's most common headaches.

    Anyone who follows the news can tell you that most of what we hear or read about these days is another death or another hate crime committed right in our own country. Consider the most recent theatre shooting in Nashville. The headlines read Another Theatre Shooting, Gunman is dead. When we read that headline or heard it on the news, most of us just acknowledged how sad it was, then told ourselves that there is nothing we can do to help and assumed that someone else would.

    If America is just one large group of witnesses, all while telling ourselves that someone else most certainly will step in, how can we hope to shake the hold of this social psychological spell? The solution lies solely within us, to know the difference between doing what is justifiable and doing what is right, helping those in need when we have the means and opportunity to do so.

    I want to be like the man on the subway who told the operator about the woman's seizure, because as soon as he did, people followed suit and offered help. We have the power to choose whether to justify passivity or actively decide to do the right thing, and as a society I believe we ought to break free from our psychological tendency to just stand by.

Earth's geologic ages—time periods defined by evidence in rock layers—typically last more than three million years. We're barely 11,500 years into the current age, the Holocene. But a new paper argues that we've already entered a new one—the Anthropocene, or “new man”, age.

    The name isn't brand-new. Nobel Prize winner Paul Crutzen, a co-author of the paper, coined it in 2002 to reflect the changes since the industrial revolution. The paper, however, is part of new push to formalize the Anthropocene age.

    Recent human impacts have been so great that they'll result in an obvious boundary (界限 ) in Earth's rock layer, the author's say. “We are so skilled at using energy and exploiting the environment that we are now a defining force in the geological process on the surface of the Earth,” said co-author Jan Zala, a geologist with the University of Leicester in the UK. Even so, it could take years or even decades for the International Union of Geological Science to formalize the new age.

If the concept of the Anthropocene age is to be formalized, scientists will first have to identify and define a boundary line ,or marker, that's set in stone. “The key thing is thinking about how—thousands of years in the future—geologist might come back and actually recognize in the deposit in the UK.” It's not as straightforward as you might think. The market has to be very precise, and it has to be recognized in many different parts of the world,” said Haywood, who wasn't involved in the new study.

One candidate for the market is the distinctive radioactive signature left by atom bomb tests, which began in 1945. “The fallout (沉降 ) is basically across the world,” Haywood said. In a similar way, scientists used traces of the element iridium (铱) left by shooting star strikes to help define the boundary between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods—the time of the great dinosaur extinctions.

    The push for a formal declaration of the Anthropocene age is about more than just scientific curiosity. The move the scientists write in the last issue of the journal Environmental Science & Technology, “might be used as encouragement to slow carbon emissions and biodiversity(生物多样性)loss” or “ as evidence on protection measures” Just as Haywood said, by underlining how much we're changing the environment, the formalization would be "a very powerful statement”.

    Over the years Lisa urged her sister Helen to prepare for her old age. Now they passed sixty. Lisa had a big house, Helen had the clothes on her back.

    Lisa had hated being a child and couldn't wait to grow up and buy herself everything. What Helen wanted was to go outside and play.

    When anyone would hire her, Lisa put herself to work. She never touched a penny of her money though her young mouth watered for ice cream and candy. When the dimes (一角硬币) added up to dollars， she lost her taste for sweets. And her bankbook became her most precious possession.

    Helen had a boyfriend Harry whose only ambition was to play a horn. That Helen married Harry straight out of high school was not surprising. Two or three times Lisa was halfway persuaded, but to give up a job that paid well for a homemaking job that paid nothing was a risk she was unable to take.

    Helen's married life was nothing for Lisa to envy. She and Harry played in second-rate bands. But Lisa had a big house because her boss offered her his first house at a price so low that it would be like losing money to refuse.

    Harry died abroad, in a third-rate hotel, with Helen crying as hard as if he had left her a fortune. He had left her nothing but his horn. Lisa knew she would have to bring her home.

    At dinner, Helen began to tell stories. They were rich with places and people, most of them lowly, all of them magnificent. Her face showed the joys and sorrows.

    Then Lisa knew why Helen didn't mention the shining room. Tonight Helen saw only what she had come seeking, a place in her sister's home and heart.

    She said, “That's enough about me. How have the years used you?” “I didn't use them,” said Lisa regretfully. “I saved for them but forgot to enjoy them. Now it's too near the end to try. ”Helen said, “Don't count the years that are left to us. At our time of life it's the days that count. You've too much catching up to do to waste a minute of a waking hour feeling sorry for yourself.” Lisa smiled.

    Government in Tibet have denied the permanent( 永久的) closure of Mount Qomolangma National Nature Reserve.

    The announcement came after a report went viral online claiming the base camp of the world's highest mountain was "permanently closed due to heavy pollution" and caused a universal misunderstanding.

    Mount Qomolangma National Nature Reserve was set up in 1988. Covering an area of more than 33, 800 square km, it is home to one of the world's most weak ecosystems(生态系统).

    Kelsang, deputy director of the reserves administration, said ordinary tourists are allowed to visit areas around Rongpo Monastery, almost 5,000 meters above sea level. As for travelers who have a climbing permit, they can go to the base camp at an altitude of 5,200 meters. The mountaineering activities have been permitted by the regional forestry department.

    To conserve the environment surrounding Mount Qomolangma, China carried out three major clean-ups at an altitude of 5, 200 meters and above last spring, collecting eight tonnes of household wastes, human wastes and mountaineering trash. This year, the clean-up will continue, and the remains of mountaineering victims(受害者) above 8,000 meters will be centrally dealt  with for the first  time. Meanwhile, the number of people who stay at the base camp will be kept under 300.

Recently, there are 85 wildlife protectors in the reserve, and 1,000 herders have part-time jobs going around and cleaning up garbage.

These measures aim to strike a balance between various demands such as environmental protection, local poverty relief, mountaineering and education, said Wang Shen, county chief of Dingri at the mountain foot.

On an autumn afternoon, a remote sheep farm in southern Greenland is quiet. The silence is abruptly broken when dozens of sheep come thundering across the hills overlooking the farm. Walking after them are Lars Nielsen and his 37-year-old son Kunuk Nielsen.

The Nielsen family has owned and run the farm since 1972. Kunuk says the summers now are longer than when he was a child and that drought has become a problem. The fields are not so green as those in the old days. He has to buy hay (草料) from European countries.

The effects of a warming climate are obvious on the land. While he intends to struggle on, his older brother Pilu has chosen a different path.

Pilu, 40, lives in Qaqortoq in the south of Greenland -- a town of about 3,000 people. Ten years ago, he got his helicopter pilot's license and is now part owner of a small company called Sermeq Helicopters. It caters to construction and telecommunication workers and an increasing number of foreign tourists.

Pilu says he loves his family's sheep farm. But he saw that warming temperatures were making remote areas of Greenland more accessible and wanted to look for other opportunities. His company's most popular tours include a visit to Greenland's glaciers.

The warming temperatures are also affecting traditional ways of life, particularly hunting. The sea ice is changing; it's becoming less so that hunting on ice becomes more difficult. When there's no sea ice, it's difficult to use dog sledges (雪橇), and the whole culture around having dogs and dog sledges and doing traditional hunting on the ice is sort of diminishing.

Besides, many Greenlanders, like Pilu, are leaving the countryside for towns and the capital city Nuuk, where opportunities are greater. A report found that Nuuk's share of Greenland's population grew from 17.2% in 1977 to 29.2% in 2014. If there were enough houses in Nuuk, the share would even be bigger.

Clair Hughes initiated her quest for frugal methodologies to extricate herself from a £3,500 educational advance that had spiraled into a financial overhang. This economic strategist commenced an online odyssey in search of vouchers that would provide her with markdowns on her purchases. She divulged that the full value of an item seldom left her wallet, proclaiming, "Deductions are perpetually accessible; the key lies in meticulous organization. Initially, I anticipated an onerous endeavor, but I have now assimilated this lifestyle to the point where it has become second nature. I have effortlessly amassed savings exceeding £15,000."

In the year 2010, Ms. Hughes directed her attention towards fiscal conservation when she relocated to share a domicile with her significant other, Shane Byrne, an instructor within the telecommunications sector. Seeking counsel through digital means, she implemented a series of astute financial maneuvers, such as transferring her financial overdraft to an account that levied no interest. Subsequently, after a few years, she encountered an online collective of individuals devoted to the art of voucher accumulation and resolved to experiment with their practices.

She dedicated considerable time to navigating the digital expanse in pursuit of vouchers, meticulously printing each one to accompany her on her commercial forays. Over the passage of time, she has secured some remarkable bargains. On one occasion, a pair of luminaries valued at £140 were hers for the mere sum of £35.

Two years prior, Ms. Hughes expanded her repertoire of economic strategies by incorporating rebate applications that offer monetary restitution on a spectrum of items from alcoholic beverages to personal care products. Post each commercial venture, she uploads visual documentation of her financial transactions, which are subsequently scrutinized, and restitution is granted on certain acquisitions.

Among her other premier recommendations for financial prudence, Ms. Hughes advocates participation in remunerative online surveys, which have yielded her a substantial cache of vouchers. She remarked, "I have encountered accounts of individuals gathering forsaken receipts from shopping carts to seek overlooked discounts. The extent to which vouchers and rebate applications have been of service to me is astonishing. The community significantly enhances my financial endeavors. There is invariably an individual prepared to elucidate the operational intricacies."