We know that hugs make us feel cosy inside. And this feeling could actually ward off stress and protect the  immune (免疫) system,  according to a new research from Carnegie Mellon University.

    It's a well-known fact that stress can weaken the immune system. In this study, the researchers sought to determine whether hugs could protect individuals from the increased sensitivity to illness brought on by the particular stress that comes with interpersonal conflict.

    “We know that people experiencing ongoing conflicts with others are less able to fight off cold viruses. We also know that people who report having social support are partly protected from the effects of stress on psychological states, such as depression and anxiety, ” the study's lead author, psychologist Dr. Sheldon Cohen , said in a statement. “We have tested whether awareness of social support is equally effective in protecting us from sensitivity to infection caused by stress and also whether receiving hugs might partially account for those feelings of support and thus protect a person against infection.”

    In the experiment, over 400 healthy adults filled out a questionnaire about their perceived (感知到的) social support and also participated in a nightly phone interview for two weeks. They were asked about the frequency that they engaged in interpersonal conflict and received hugs that day.

    Then, the researchers exposed the participants to a common cold virus, and monitored them to assess signs of infection. They found that both perceived social support and more frequent hugs reduced the risk of infection associated with experiencing interpersonal conflict. Regardless of whether or not they experienced social conflicts, infected participants with greater perceived social support and more frequent hugs had less severe illness symptoms.

    “This suggests that being hugged by a trusted person may act as an effective means of conveying support and that increasing the frequency of hugs might be an effective means of reducing the effects of stress,” Cohen said. “The apparent protective effect of hugs may result from the physical contact itself or hugging being a behavioral indicator of support and closeness. Either way, those who receive more hugs are somewhat more protected from infection.”

    If you need any more reason to wrap your arms around someone special, consider this: hugs also lower blood pressure, reduce fears, improve heart health and decrease feelings of loneliness.

    She was walking home from work one evening when she got the idea. Rosa didn't like her job at the factory, but it was better than no job at all. So, while she was trying not to think about work, she saw the pots in an alley. They were cheap plastic pots, but there were dozens of them piled up behind the flower shop. Such a waste, she thought. When the pots were still there three days later, Rosa went in and asked if she could take some. The flower shop lady said she didn't mind, so Rosa carried home a tower of pots, pretending she was a circus performer on the way.

    At home, Rosa set them on the fire escape outside her tiny apartment. And there they sat. Once a gust of wind sent them slipping to the street three floors below, and she had to go to run after and catch them before the gathering storm.

    Every day, Rosa went to work and thought about her pots- She was wailing for something, but she had patience.

    At last, the newspaper brought good news. A hardware store had a sale on potting soil. Rosa carefully counted her money, then walked six blocks to the store. She bought six bags and carried them home. She bought seeds, too. Rosa slept well that night and dreamed of masses of flowers and fat, glowing fruits,

    Sundays were always good days. Rosa didn't have to work on Sundays. But Rosa couldn't remember when she had had such a good Sunday. She got up early and ate her breakfast on the fire escape with her pots. Then, she began to put dirt into the pots. She sang a little song until all six of her bags of soil were empty. Then, she laid her precious seed packets out and planned her garden. Tomatoes for the biggest pots, and peppers for the next-biggest ones. Flowers in all the rest.

    At the end of the day, Rosa sat in her garden and watched the sunset. Soon, she thought, there will be masses of flowers and fat, glowing fruits.

    I've seen a couple of the other Fast Furious films but this one is definitely best. Dominic Toretto (played by Vin Diesel), Brian O' Conner (Paul Walker) and Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) are planning to steal $100 million from businessman Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida). At the same time, agent (联邦特工) Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is chasing after them. The story's pretty fast-moving and the car chase at the end is amazing.

—Derek

    Well, if I'd known it was an action film, I wouldn't have gone to see it. I mean, I can't stand action films. And I'll tell you another thing – I can't stand Vin Diesel. I mean he can't act to save his life. The film would have been much better with someone like Mau Damon or George Clooney. The only good thing about it was the soundtrack (电影配乐) which was pretty good. And I won't be going to see any other Fast & Furious movies either!

—Zoe

    Well it started off all right, but the romance between Mia and Brian was a bit inadequate (不足的) and the whole thing lost its way. It was as if the director couldn't decide whether he was making a thriller, an action movie or a romantic comedy (喜剧), so he ended up making none of them.

—Mario

    It was amazing! I can't believe it was really over two hours long. It just flashed by. The direction was superb； Justin did a really good job. And the acting was great. I know Vin Diesel isn't going to win an Oscar or anything like that but he's good at what he does. And the plot! I laughed out loud quite a few times. The funny thing is, I wouldn^'t have bothered seeing it if my friend hadn't suggested going.

—Megan

    They're in restaurants, hotels and homes all over the world. The saltwater aquarium, with its colour fish, bring a piece of the wild into your living room.

    But do you really know where those saltwater fish come from? A full 97 percent, yes, almost all kinds of saltwater fish can't be bred in captivity (人工养殖). They must instead be taken from the ocean. And how is that done?

    Most of the time, with sodium cyanide, it is a harmful chemical compound that many fish collectors in the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia use to catch fish. They mix it with water and use it on the fish. Stunned, the fish can then be easily caught.

    What does cyanide do to the fish? There is a scientific study on cyanide's effects. When there is cyanide in water, fish lose their balance and have difficulty breathing. Some fish simply die then and there. Many, many more die on the way to captivity.

    Although cyanide fishing in the Philippines, Sir Lanka, and Indonesia is not allowed, it still happens too often. According to the World wildlife Fund, up to 90 percent of the saltwater fish that enter the US each year are caught this way. The Center for Biological Diversity is calling on the US government to avoid these imports.

    “Compared to many environmental problems now facing the world's oceans, this is one that can easily be solved,” said Nicholas Whipps of the Center. “Because the US is such a powerful market player in this industry, the responsibility to stop this practice falls largely on the United State' shoulders.”

    In the Philippines, private planes bring in cyanide to the fisherman and then take away the live fish. Live fish give the fisherman a better life than dead ones, so more and more fishermen have turned from supplying the fish-for-food trade to the fish-for-aquariums trade.

    The Center for Biological Diversity hopes the government will use the law to turn away cyanide-caught fish and persuade people to buy those only raised in captivity.

    ARCHAEOLOGISTS (考古学家) GUIDED BY laser images of a remote region of northern Guatemala have discovered 20-foot-high walls, watchtowers, and other evidence that ancient Maya societies had been annoyed by warfare threat over many years. The finds have upended long-established impressions of a civilization that it tamed the jungle and built thriving cities, then declined and disappeared quietly beneath the dense tropical forest.

    Among the most surprising discoveries was a large stone complex now called La Cuemavilla. Built on a steep ridge, the heavily fortified site included high walls. Moats which serves as the largest defensive system ever discovered in the region.

    This was surprising says an archaeologist, because we had a tendency to romanticize Maya warfare as something that was largely ritualized. But the fortifications were seeing suggest an elevated level of antagonism over centuries. Rulers were so deeply alarmed that they felt the need to invest in all these hilltop fortifications. There is an almost visible sense of fear in this landscape.

    All these findings owe credit to PACUNAM LIDAR Initiative, a laser survey of some 800 square miles of the Maya Biosphere Reserve in northern Guatemala. Using revolutionary Laser technology, the survey revealed the long-hidden ruins of a sprawling pre-Columbian civilization that was far more complex and interconnected than most Maya specialists had supposed.

    Guided by the new Laser treasure maps, the LIDAR team deployed through the jungle over the past year to conduct hands-on investigations of more than a dozen of the most promising sites-most of which would have been imperceptible without LIDAR.

    "You could walk over the top of a major ruin and miss it, "says an archaeologist who's part of the PACUNA project. But LIDAR picks up the patterns and makes the features pop out with surprising clarity.

    Three-dimensional maps generated by the survey yielded surprises even at Tikal, the largest and most extensively explored archaeological site in Guatemala. The ancient city was at least four times bigger than previously thought, and surrounded by a massive ditch and fortified base stretching for miles.

    Archaeologists stress that LIDAR, for all its utility, will never see below the ground or yield direct dates of occupation. "We still need to dig and hack our way through the jungle, but now we have a very accurate map to guide us."

    It's natural to think about what goes into producing the food in your daily lunch bag. But have you ever stopped to consider the production techniques behind the bag itself? At the center of it is a woman named Margaret Knight.

    From her earliest years, Knight was a restless creator. In the article titled "TheEvolutionoftheGroceryBag", its writer mentions a few of her childhood projects. She was "famous for her kites", and "her sleds were the envy of the town's boys."

    To support her mother, she took a job at a cotton factory when she was 12. That same year she invented a shuttle system which helped to prevent injury. At the time,  she had no concept of patenting(得到……的专利权) her idea. What strengthened her place in history was her working experience at the Columbia Paper Bag Company. Here, instead of folding every paper bag by hand, Knight wondered if she might be able to make them cleanly and rapidly via an automated machine. The result was a working model of her elegant paper-folding machine. But this time, she wanted to go to the extra step and secure a patent on her creation, a brave move for a woman in the 19th century, when an extremely small percentage of patents were held by women.

    Not only did Knight file for a patent, she bravely defended her ownership of the bag machine idea. A man named Charles Annan said the creation was his own, arguing no woman could be able to design such a machine. Knight fought a legal battle against him and handed Annan a courtroom(法庭) defeat by presenting her detailed hand－drawn blueprints. Finally, Knight received her rightful patent in 1871.

    After making the machine, she continued to invent many other things like a paper feeding machine and a skirt protector. Knight, at the age of seventy, worked twenty hours a day on her 89th invention.