What brings a nation together? Of the four choices — shared values, language, history, and religion, it's shared values. In our latest poll (民意调査), seven out of 16 countries chose values as the greatest factor (因素）bringing a nation together, and six preferred language. Both choices scored high in the poll, suggesting that our values and how we express them are closely linked Still, history was not forgotten in some countries, particularly in Mexico and Russia. Even Canada and the United States chose national histories as the second-most important factor uniting their people. The biggest surprise? Not one country picked religion as its top choice.

    When it's five o'clock, people leave their office. The length of the workday, for many workers, is defined by time. They leave when the clocks tell them they're done.

    These days, the time is everywhere: not just on clocks or watches, but on cellphones and computers. That may be a bad thing, particularly at work. New research shows that clock based work schedules hinder creativity.

    Clock-timers organize their day by blocks of minutes and hours. For example: a meeting from 9 a. m. to 10 a. m, research from 10 a. m to noon, etc. On the other hand, task-timers have a list of things they want to accomplish. They work down the list, each task starts when the previous task is completed. It is said that all of us employ a mix of both these types of planning.

    What, then, are the effects of thinking about time in these different ways? Does one make us more productive? Better at the tasks at hand? Happier? In experiments conducted by Tamar Avnet and Anne-Laure Sellier, they had participants organize different activities from project planning, holiday shopping, to yoga by time or to-do list to measure how they performed under "clock time" vs. " task time". They found clock timers to be more efficient(有效率的) but less happy because they felt little control over their lives. Task timers are happier and more creative, but less productive. They tend to enjoy the moment when something good is happening, and seize opportunities that come up.

    The researchers argue that task-based organizing tends to be undervalued and under-supported in the business culture. This might be a small change to the way we view work and the office, but the researchers argue that it challenges a widespread characteristic of the economy: work organized by clock time. While most people will still probably need, and be, to some extent, clock-timers, task-based timing should be used when performing a job that requires more creativity. It'll make those tasks easier, and the task-doers will be happier.

    It was an autumn day, and 1 was standing in the kitchen, hanging my head over the counter and trying to figure out how many calories were in a bowl of homemade yogurt and fruit. And I felt annoyed.

    I was 16, and my best friend and I had gone to our first Weight Watchers meeting. It was the trend in the mid-1980s, and even though I was an athlete, like many teen girls, I didn't necessarily like what I saw in the mirror. But after a week or so of recording every meal and snack and calculating the calories, I had had enough. I went back to my routine of chowing whatever I wanted, running and skiing, and let that be that. And it's still pretty much what I do; as long as the workouts are regular and the food is whole and balanced, my body's set point hasn't varied for years.

    The weight loss trend of three decades ago−full of scales and counting calories−has fallen away. Now fasting is popular. The ways to keep fit vary: on the 5:2 diet a person eats for five days and fasts for two days each week, while the 18:6 refers 10 fasting for 18 hours and then eating within a six-hour window each day.

    In this issue, Associate Editor Mark Barna tries to understand the science behind the fasting plans. Researchers have found that animals like monkeys age more slowly after years of eating less, and in the lab in humans, they saw improvements in a number of signs that indicate risk of some hard to cure diseases. The hope for healthy weight loss isn't over yet, but at least now the calculators don't have to be out at every meal.

    Imagine being given the opportunity to wake up to lions, eat your meals with monkeys, and even share your bath with bears, all from the comfort of a unique new lodging experience. The Jamala Wildlife Lodge opened its doors in January 2015, which was set up in an effort to educate visitors about aiding the survival of many of the world's endangered species. "It's great for the animals; they're going to get more space. It's great for the viewing public; they're going to get more things to see. It will be great for tourism and just for the local community," said Richard Tindale, the owner and operator. Spreading across three locations in the National Zoo, the 18 rooms, which range from giraffe tree houses to jungle bungalows, offer a fantastic experience with wildlife.

    The Giraffe Treehouse

    The Giraffe Treehouse is set among the giraffe enclosures (围场), and the Jungle Bungalows are luxurious individual suites which are next to either lion, cheetah (猎豹), brown bear, or Malaysian sun bear enclosures.

    The Ushaka House

    Housing up to 26 people, the Ushaka House is built around the monkey enclosure and has a builtin aquarium which offers private views of some of the zoo's sharks.

    The Burley Griffin House

    Only meters from the edge of Lake Burley Griffin, the indoor and outdoor entertaining areas have splendid views across the lake to Black Mountain.

    The Shark House

    The Shark House has its own little jetty (码头) and it comes out over the shark tank here and so the people who stay in the room will be able to go to their bedroom and pat the shark.

    Location

    Located in the heart of Australia's political capital, the Jamala Wildlife Lodge at the National Zoo and Aquarium is just ten minutes from Canberra's central Business District.

I've spent over a year in India, and in those 365 plus days, I've learned a lot about getting around Indian cities. My biggest lessons have been learned through being cheated, particularly by taxi and rickshaw (人力车) drivers, but that doesn't mean those are bad ways to travel, as long as you know what you're doing. Below are the best ways to get around the city of Delhi, India, and tips for how to keep from being the victim of scams (欺骗).

Taking taxis is a great way to get around the city of Delhi and chances are, if you arrive in Delhi by plane, as soon as you make it through customs, you'll be swarmed by Indian taxi drivers. At the Delhi airport, be sure to arrange for a taxi to your hotel at one of the two Delhi Traffic Police Taxi Booths. One is inside the airport, and one is outside. The key is to make sure to go to a booth run by the police, rather than by independent taxi drivers.

Rickshaws are one of my favorite ways to get around Indian cities, in part because it's how the locals often travel. Auto­rickshaws are more common, but bicycle rickshaws are still used in Old Delhi. If you do have a chance to take a bicycle rickshaw, you should do it at least once for a unique experience that should only set you back about 15 rupees. Auto­rickshaw rates around Delhi range between 30 and 80 rupees, depending on distance.

If you really want to travel around Delhi like the locals, take a public bus. Indian buses become very crowded and most do not have air conditioning. They are, however, very cheap. A bus trip won't set you back any more than 15 rupees, as long as you stay within the city limits. Since Indian buses get so crowded, try to board the bus at the start of the route so you can get a seat.

The train is a great way to get around within the city of Delhi. Fares are reasonable, between six and 22 rupees. All departure announcements are in both Hindi and English, and tokens can be purchased for between 6 and 22 rupees.

Quantum mechanics (量子力学) is a branch of science that studies the smallest particles (粒子) in the universe, like atoms (原子) and even smaller things. It might sound super complex, but let's break it down in simple language.

Imagine you have a small particle, like an atom. In the world of quantum mechanics, these particles don't behave like the things we see in our everyday lives, like balls or cars. Instead, they act kind of like waves and particles at the same time, which is really strange!

One of the most famous ideas in quantum mechanics is the "Uncertainty Principle", raised by physicist Wemer Heisenberg. This principle says that we can't precisely know both the position and the speed of particle at the same time. It's not because our measuring tools are bad; it's because the particles themselves are naturally uncertain.

Another weird thing about quantum mechanics is something called "Entanglement". Imagine you have two particles that are connected in a special way. If you change one of them, the other instantly changes, no matter how far apart they are. It's like they're talking to each other faster than the speed of light, which goes against what we know from everyday experiences.

Quantum mechanics also deals with probabilities. Instead of saying, "This particle will be here at this exact time," scientists say, "There's a certain chance it'll be here, and a certain chance it won't." It's like predicting the weather, but on a super small scale.

In a nutshell, quantum mechanics is a strange and fascinating world where particles act both like waves and particles, where you can't know everything about a particle at once, and where particles can be mysteriously connected no matter how far apart they are. It's a mind-boggling field that challenges our understanding of how the universe works, and even though it's tough to grasp, it's an essential part of modern physics.