There's no doubt that man is the smartest. But do you know what other animals are smart, too?

Dolphins

    Dolphins are very smart. Most of the “tricks” they're taught to do are actually behavior they would engage in on their own. They love to play, race and generally enjoy their life to the fullest. They speak a language we have yet to completely understand and like all civilized creatures, dolphins' mothers always provide their young children with guidance and possibly, love.

Great apes

    The great ape family primarily consists of gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans. Their brain chemistry is so similar to humans' that NASA once used chimpanzees in place of astronauts during many dangerous missions. Gorillas have been taught sign language and orangutans exist in complex familial relationships.

Elephants

    Everyone has heard the phrase “an elephant never forgets”. Elephants establish long-term friendships, recognizing and remembering their friends years later. If an elephant comes upon a fallen friend, it has even been known to feel sad.

Parrots

    As proved by this list, parrots are very smart. They are also the only animals listed that can actually hold a conversation. Some parrots know hundreds of words by imitating humans. The birds are also capable of remembering words and using them intelligently in response to situations.

    My family was gathered for a barbecue when the discussion arose about a celebrity who earned a large amount of money. The major criteria for receiving millions of dollars seem to be determined by how much the audience will pay to watch the performer achieve.

    The discussion led to a sudden self-questioning. Why did I choose teaching for a career? I half-listened to their conversation as I pondered the answer.

    I remembered my three children watching me spend nights planning for my class. I remembered how they intently listened to my frustrations concerning materials, procedures and the amount of responsibility that seemed to endlessly be thrust into the laps of classroom teachers. I remembered when it came time for each of my own children to choose a profession. How I waited to hear if any had plans to follow Mom into teaching. Long considerations held no mention of anyone becoming a teacher.

    Dessert was being served, and everyone was still involved in the discussion of the enormous salary of one individual, when the phone rang. My husband handed the phone to me.

"Hello, this is Bonnie Block," I said.

"Is this the Bonnie Block who used to teach kindergarten?"

    A nervous sensation swelled in me, and my mind raced with memories of those days long ago.

"Yes!" I exclaimed with a lump in my throat. It seemed like forever as I waited anxiously to hear what the caller would say next.

"I am Danielle—Danielle Russ. I was in your kindergarten class."

    Tears of surprise and joy rolled down my flushed cheeks.

"Yes," I uttered softly as I remembered that darling, wonderful child.

"Well, I am graduating from high school this year, and I have been trying to find you. I wanted you to know what a difference you made in my life."

She proceeded to give details. My influence on her wasn't limited to kindergarten but remained a strong motivating force when she needed a coach to help her meet a challenge. "I pictured you praising and encouraging me all the way."

    Why choose teaching?

    The pay is great!

    Electrical devices (仪器) could soon use power made by human energy. Scientists say they have developed an experimental device that produces electricity from the physical movement of a person walking. British scientist Max Donelan and other scientists in Canada and the United States developed the device.

    The device connects to a person's knee. As the person walks, the device captures energy each time the person slows down. To do this, the device helps with the slowing down movement of the leg. The movements of the walking person push parts of a small machine that produces electricity. Using the device, an adult walking quickly could produce thirteen watts of electricity in just a minute. Donelan says walking at that speed could produce enough power to operate a laptop computer for six minutes.

    There are several possible uses for the device. Developers say it could help people who work in areas without electricity to operate small computers. The device could also be used in hospitals to operate heart pacemakers (起搏器). It could even be used to assist in the movement of robotic arms and legs.

    The experimental version of the device weighs about one and a half kilograms, but it is too costly for most people to buy. But the researchers hope to make a lighter, less costly version. An improved version should be ready in one year.

    The developers hope the device will one day help developing countries. Nearly twenty-five percent of people around the world live without electric power.

    A similar product was invented in 2005 by Larry Rome of the University of Pennsylvania. He created a bag carried on a person's back that also produces power from walking. The knee device does not produce as much electricity as the bag. But the bag requires the walker to carry a load of twenty to thirty kilograms.

    It was a cold night in Washington, D. C., and I was heading back to the hotel when a man approached me. He asked if l would give him some money so he could get something to eat. I'd read the signs "Don't give money to beggars." So I shook my head and kept walking.

    I wasn't prepared for a reply, but he said, "I really am homeless and I really am hungry! You can come with me and watch me eat!" But I kept on walking.

    The incident bothered me for the rest of the week. I had money in my pocket and it wouldn't have killed me to hand over a buck or two even if he had been lying. Flying back to Anchorage, I couldn't help thinking of him. I tried to rationalize (找借口)my failure to help by thinking government agencies, churches and charities were there to feed him. Besides, you're not supposed to give money to beggars.

    Somewhere over Seattle, I started to write my weekly garden column for The Anchorage Daily News. Out of the blue, I came up with an idea. Bean's Cafe, the soup kitchen in Anchorage, feeds hundreds of hungry Alaskans every day. Why not try to get all my readers to plant one row in their gardens dedicated to Bean's? Dedicate a row and take it down to Bean's. Clean and simple.

    The idea began to take off. Readers would fax or call me when they got something in their garden. Those who only grew flowers donated them. Food for the spirit.

    In 1995, the Garden Writers Association of America held their annual convention in Anchorage and after learning of Anchorage's program, Plant a Row for Bean's became Plant a Row for the Hungry. The original idea was to have every member of the Garden Writers Association of America write or talk about planting a row for the hungry sometime during the month of April.

    As more and more people started working with the Plant a Row idea, new changes appeared unexpectedly. Many companies gave free seed to customers and displayed the logo, which also appeared in national gardening publications. Row markers with the Plant a Row logo were delivered to gardeners to set apart their "Row for the Hungry."

    Garden editor Joan Jackson, supported by The San Jose Mercury News and California's nearly year-round growing season, raised more than 30,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables her first year, and showed GWAA how the program could really work. Texas fruit farms donated food to their local food bank after being inspired by Plant a Row. Today the program continues to thrive and grow.

    I am surprised that millions of Americans are threatened by hunger. If every gardener in America--and we're seventy million strong--plants one row for the hungry, we can make quite a decrease in the number of neighbors who don't have enough to eat. Maybe then I will stop feeling guilty about abandoning a hungry man I could have helped.

    My name is Kobus Vermeulen. On February 16, 2015, I was one of five South Africans among the 100 people selected by Mars One to begin training to live on the Red Planet. The Dutch not-for-profit's aim is simple: build a human colony (殖民地) on Mars. Since I have begun this journey, the one question that people ask me most is why I want to leave a good planet for wasteland. Here is why.

    I have been interested in Mars since I was a child, and I always thought that if I had the opportunity to leave the planet, I would take it. So the why begins with a child's dream.

    However, as I grew, so did the why. In my eyes, since the 1970s the public has stopped trying to learn more about space. We've put our dream aside. We're satisfied with getting our dose (一份) of the future from sci-fi movies and comic books. And so the first part of my motivation (动机) is to get people thinking about space travel and the colonization (殖民化) of other planets in real terms again instead of just as sci-fi visions of the future.

    If we want that future, the truth is that we have to build it, and anything worth doing comes with risks. Somebody has to take the risks, and I, along with thousands of other people, am willing to take them.

    But it goes deeper than that. If the task of Mars One is even partially (部分地) successful, it will encourage a new generation of scientists and engineers that will build us an even better future.

    Without a dream, there is no reason to build those things. The public that does not try to understand science and technology does not choose good leaders. Leaders who don't care for science and technology do not make budgets (预算) for it. Besides, without the money, the dream dies. Projects like Mars One are like a focusing lens (聚焦透镜) for dreams. It is an opportunity to change hearts and minds at the grassroots level.

Tuesday, 1^st September

    I had mixed feelings today, nervous, worried, happy, excited… My heart went down when Miss Chan, our head teacher, said that Matthew and Beth, two students from England, would spend three months with us! I was worried that I had to speak English so much! But at the end of the school day, I was happier than I thought: the morning with them today was more enjoyable than I expected.

    Today is the most unforgettable first day I have had! Matthew is fantastic! His English is clearer and easier to listen to than I thought. The other English student, Beth, is the most helpful girl I've ever met. There were lots of things to do on the first day. Beth offered to help Miss Chan put up all the notices. Of course, some of the credit (功劳) should also go to ME because I translated some of the notices for her. Miss Chan praised us!

    We finished all the preparations 10 minutes earlier than expected, then Beth and I talked for a while, Matthew sang several English songs and did some stand-up comedy (单人喜剧表演) at the party. We all praised him. When the bell rang to end the first school day, none of us wanted to leave.

    When I went back home, I had a little headache. I have probably spoken more English today than the whole of last year.

    It was really a happy day! I hope our friendship can continue, even after they gone back to England!