BEIJING — The launch of a new manned space mission brings China closer to the establishment of a permanent space station, international experts say.

    Chinese taikonauts, Jing Haipeng, 50, and Chen Dong, 37, were blasted off into space onboard Shenzhou-11 at 7:30 am Monday and will spend 30 days in the Chinese space laboratory Tiangong-2.The launch marks a key step toward China's plan to eventually operate a permanent space station. The successful launch of the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft is another step forward to put China among leading players in space technology, said Alexander Zheleznyakov, a Russian expert on history of space flights. China's experimental space lab will help provide solutions for spacecraft of different functions to approach and anchor, and for a long-term operation of life support system, said Zheleznyakov. Shenzhou-11 is scheduled to anchor on Wednesday with Tiangong-2, which is part of China's plan to build a permanent space station by 2022.

    China can now test technologies for cargo spacecraft anchoring, life support system operation and water recycling to ensure a long-term continuous operation of its space station in the future with less dependence on renewal from the Earth, he said. If all goes well, China will launch the unpiloted Tianzhou-1 cargo ship next spring to autonomously tie up with Tiangong-2. Tianzhou-1 will be capable of automatically transferring rocket fuels, a vital requirement for space station grouping and maintenance, according to a report by Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS).

    "That will further their anchoring abilities needed for the larger space station," Johnson Freese was quoted." Tiangong-2 is supposed to be able to stay in orbit for two years or longer, so that's taking them (Chinese) really close to 2019 or so. I think this will be their last big technology test phase before going to their large space station," said Freese.

    Lisa Pina never thought she would need the fire safety training she received during her apprenticeship(学徒期)as a union painter and dry waller(筑墙工). On Friday morning, she was thanking God she had it.

    On Thursday night, while Pina was babysitting her granddaughter, nephew and two nieces in her sister's apartment, she smelled smoke and realized the apartment building was on fire. When her 4-year-old granddaughter Ilean Garcia began saying, “We're going to die, ”she knew she had to act.Pina,39, first sealed the door, and then told all four children to get on the floor. After calling 911, she told the children to start singing and promised them all treats as soon as they reached safety. “I said, ‘OK, we're going to lie down and we're all going to play a game,'” Pina said. “We all started singing our ABCs and 123s.I was just trying to make it fun.” Pina patiently waited, and a few minutes later, Riverside County sheriff's deputies (治安官的助手) arrived. Pina, Ilean,8yearold Gabriel Parga,5-year-old Aubreyana Parga and 4-year-old Meriyah Parga were all trapped on the second floor as flames filled the first story.  Pina did the only thing she could. She opened the window and dropped the children, one-by-one, into the arms of the sheriff's deputies about 15 to 20 feet below. “I just needed to keep the kids calm so they wouldn't be afraid，”Pina said.“I was deathly afraid inside，but I couldn't let them know that.”[Not long after dropping the children out of the window, firefighters arrived with a ladder and rescued her. Ten people were treated at the scene for suffering smoke, but nobody was seriously injured.

    The British live on a small island. They are surrounded by the sea, so it is not surprising that the sea has always played an important role in their lives. After the development of large, ocean­going sailing ships in the fifteenth century, the sea became even more important to the country's development. Ships setting sail from England determined to extend Britain's territories, its wealth and its knowledge of the world. Ships returned to England bringing goods, people and new ideas from foreign places. By the nineteenth century, Britain had the largest, most powerful navy in the world.

    The great sailing ships were so much a part of British life that they even affected the language. Many English expressions we use today were originally nautical (航海的) terms, although most people no longer realize this. For example, people commonly describe an honest and fair business deal as being "above board". This expression was originally used in sailing ship times when secretive, dishonest ship's business would be carried out below decks (below the boards) out of public view. On the other hand, honest business was always conducted on deck (above the boards), in the open where everyone could see what was going on.

    "Pipe down!", meaning "Be quiet!", is another common expression that has nautical origins. The ship's boatswain (水手长) would blow a whistle, or pipe, at the end of the day to indicate (表明) to the sailors it was time to quieten down and go to sleep.

    Most native English speakers have heard the expression "not enough room to swing a cat", but few know that the "cat" does not refer to a small furry animal with four legs and a tail. The "cat" is actually a short form of "cat of nine tails" — a whip with nine, knotted (打结的) tails. A boatswain needed a lot of space in order to swing the whip properly when lashing (鞭打) a poor sailor under his control!

    We hope you've finally made your peace with Pluto being downgraded from a planet to an ice dwarf (冰矮星)，because we have some more jarring news for you : It seems your teachers may have been wrong about the number of continents on the earth, too.

    Earlier this year, scientists published a report in the journal of the Geological Society of America detailing an eighth continent called Zealandia, roughly the size of India and almost completely hid itself under the Pacific Ocean east of Australia. Covering all of New Zealand as well as several nearby islands, Zealandia likely spent the best of its above-water days as part of the supercontinent Gondwana before fragmenting off Australia and Antarctica some 80 million years ago. This lost, underwater continent is just beginning to reveal its secrets, making for one of the most promising scientific discoveries this year.

    While researchers have been aware of the 1. 9 million-square-mile mass for two decades, Zealandia has only recently become the object of serious study since the Geological Society paper argued that it fits all the criteria for a proper continent, including a continental crust (地壳)that's distinctly separate from the seabed in terms of elevation, thickness, and geology. A team of 32 scientists from 12 countries just completed their first visit to six dig sites around Zealandia, where they drilled up more than 8,000 feet of sediment cores (沉积物岩心)that will help explain the lost continent's 80-million-year history.

    Because there is no official body that formally recognizes continents, whether or not Zealandia ends up in future geography textbooks will come down to its acceptance by the scientific community at large, possibly with a little help from travelers like you.

    Nola is a 41-year-old northern white rhino (犀牛) that lives at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, California. She is one of only four remaining northern white rhinos in the world, and the only one in the western part of the earth. The other three live in Kenya (肯尼亚).

    Rhinos have lived on earth for more than 40 million years, but they are now at the risk of dying out. Hunters illegally hunt rhinos for their horns (角), which are used for art, jewelry, and decorations. They sell the horns for thousands of dollars per pound, though it is not allowed by law. Rhino horns are also prized as a key part in traditional medicine, even though scientific tests have proven that the horns cannot cure illnesses. Experts say that every eight hours, one rhino will be hunted.

    Scientists are trying to find ways to prevent rhinos from dying out. In 1975, the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research started the Frozen Zoo, a program through which researchers have collected cell samples (细胞样品) from more than 8, 000 different animal species until now, including the northern white rhino. Scientists hope that by studying the rhino cells, they will gain greater understanding of the species, and will find ways to increase its number.

    Jeanne Loring works with the Frozen Zoo. Loring's research focuses on pluripotent stem cells, which are cells that can renew and become any cell type. Coloring's lab at TSRI is working together with scientist Oliver Ryder of the San Diego Zoo to use plenipotentiary stem cells to try to increase the number of the northern white rhino. Loring said the goal is to start producing new rhinos through this method over the next couple of years.

    Dogs certainly need to bark (犬吠) every now and then, but if your neighbor's dog is getting in the way of your daily life, you need to do something.

    "Before you take action, you should record the dates and times that the barking happens to find out any patterns," says Schweitzer, who is a dog owner. You might notice the barking only happens when the owners are at work, or during thunderstorms.

    After two to three weeks of observing (观察), go to your neighbors with the facts. Wait for a time when the barking is over. "Since you're trying to keep a good relationship, you can't go when you're angry and upset," says Schweitzer. Besides, your neighbors might not even realize the barks are a problem, especially if the worst barking happens when they're not at home.

    Politely explain the times when the barking gets bad, and then suggest a way of solving the problem. Ask if the dog can stay inside during storms, or offer a dog training class.

    Making friends with the dog could help you gain some peace and quiet. If your neighbors introduce you to their dog, you should give the dog a treat. "If they become more comfortable seeing you, they're less likely to bark when they see you or when they're in the backyard，" says Schweitzer.

    Whatever you do, don't talk with your other neighbors about the problem or start a petition (诉状) to get the dog to quiet down. "Those make people feel angry," says Schweitzer. "That's when things escalate."

    If weeks go by and you still aren't seeing a difference, follow up with a note. Tie a dog treat on the note to build trust with your neighbors, and make a copy before dropping it off. That way, you'll have evidence (证据) that you've discussed it before and followed up politely if you need to bring in a third party, says Schweitzer.