Bicycle Safety

    Operation Always ride your bike in a safe, controlled manner on campus(校园). Obey rules and regulations. Watch out for walkers and other bicyclists, and always use your lights in dark conditions.

Theft Prevention Always securely lock your bicycle to a bicycle rack—even if you are only away for a minute. Register your bike with the University Department of Public Safety. It's fast, easy, and free. Registration permanently records your serial number, which is useful in the possible recovery of the bike stolen.

Equipment

    Brakes  Make sure that they are in good working order and adjusted properly.

    Helmet  A necessity, make sure your helmet meets current safety standards and fit properly.

Lights Always have a front headlight—visible at least 500 feet in front of the bike. A taillight is a good idea.

Rules of the Road

    Riding on Campus  As a bicycle rider, you have a responsibility to ride only on streets and posted bicycle paths. Riding on sidewalks or other walkways can lead to a fine. The speed limit for bicycles on campus is 15mph, unless otherwise posted. Always give the right of ways to walkers. If you are involved in an accident, you are required to offer appropriate aid, call the Department of Public Safety and remain at the scene until the officer lets you go.

    Bicycle Parking  Only park in areas reserved for bikes. Trees, handrails, hallways, and sign posts are not for bicycle parking, and parking in such posts can result in a fine.

If Things Go Wrong

    If you break the rules, you will be fined. Besides violating rules while riding bicycles on campus, you could be fined for:

No bicycle registration—————————————————$25

Bicycle parking banned————————————————--$30

Blocking path with bicycle ———————————————$40

Violation of bicycle equipment requirement ————————-$35

    Samanta Schweblin, one of the best young Spanish language novelists nominated (提名) by British literary magazine Granta, has visited Beijing to promote the first Chinese edition of a collection of her short stories. The collection, Birds in the Mouth, has been translated and published by Shanghai-based publisher Reader.

    “Sometimes I hold the Chinese edition and choose a story at random and try to guess which one it is. But it is almost impossible for me; even the length is different.” says Schweblin. “When a book is translated into a Western language, I can at least understand some parts of my stories, and therefore suffer some doubt about the quality of the translation. But my Chinese edition is more like an act of faith.”

    Born in Argentina in 1978, Schweblin says she is influenced by the literary traditions of the La Plata area, home to many famous Latin-American novelists.

    Interested in writing stories of ordinary lives where suddenly something extraordinary happens, something new, strange or unknown, she thinks, “The stranger and the unknown are not always related to ghosts or aliens, but can be something related to the known world, something that actually could happen.”

    Birds in the Mouth tells of a divorced father who worries about his 13-year-old daughter and her mysterious appetites. It turns out that his daughter eats live birds.

    The idea for this story came to Schweblin when she was browsing the Internet, “Click, click, click, a picture of a little girl who looks frightened with her hands covering her mouth came to my eyes. Little by little, I developed the story in my mind, and then wrote it down” recalls Schweblin.

    Although there are elements of violence and bloodiness in Schweblin's stories, she skillfully hides them, thinking the trick to writing a thrilling story is to stop the monster from appearing, while maintaining a frightening and mysterious atmosphere.

    Are you sometimes a little tired and sleepy in the early afternoon? Many people feel this way after lunch. They may think that eating lunch is the cause of the sleepiness. Or, in summer, they may think it is the heat. However, the real reason lies inside their bodies. At that time – about eight hours after you wake up – your body temperature goes down. This is what makes you slow down and feel sleepy. Scientists have tested sleep habits in experiments where there was no night or day. The people in these experiments almost always followed a similar sleeping pattern. They slept for one long period and then for one short period about eight hours later.

    In many parts of the world, people take naps in the middle of the day. This is especially true in warmer climates where the heat makes work difficult in the early afternoon. Researchers are now saying that naps are good for everyone in any climate. A daily nap gives one a more rested body and mind and therefore is good for health in general. In countries where naps are traditional, people often suffer less from problem such as heart disease.

    Many working people, unfortunately, have no time to take naps. Though doctors may advise taking naps, employers do not allow it! If you do have the chance, however, here are a few tips about making the most of your nap. Remember that the best time to take a nap is about eight hours after you get up. A short sleep too late in the day may only make you feel more tired and sleepy afterward. This can also happen if you sleep for too long. If you do not have enough time, try a short nap – even ten minutes of sleep can be helpful.

    Elephants might be the most well-known and well-loved animal in African wildlife. But conservation (保护) of the African elephant faces special difficulties. While the elephant population is half of what it was 40 years ago, some areas of Africa have more elephants than populated areas can support. That's why AWF scientists are studying elephant behavior, protecting habitats and finding ways for humans to live peacefully with elephants in Africa.

    Years ago, overhunting and the ivory trade were the biggest threats to elephants' survival. Luckily, ivory bans (禁令), hunting rules and protected areas protect elephants from these dangers today.

    The 21st century brings a different challenge to elephant conservation — land-use. Elephants walk across borders and outside parks and other protected areas. So they often destroy crops, causing conflicts (冲突) between local farmers and these big animals.

    Successful conservation strategies (策略) must allow elephants to walk freely in their natural habitats while reducing conflicts between elephants and local people.

    AWF researchers are searching for a way to give both elephants and people the space they need. The AWF is collecting information on elephant habitats and behavior. The information they gather will help to develop the widest possible space for elephants.

    The AWF is helping elephants by protecting their habitats. And they also work with local famers to improve their life in order to encourage them to protect rather than destroy elephants.

    Traveling by subway can sometimes be quite an adventure, especially during rush hour. There are the times when you have to avoid cups of coffee that could spill (溅) on you. The smells of some passengers' food are very strong, too. According to the Beijing subway passenger regulations, which went into effect on May 15th, passengers except babies and the sick are no longer allowed to eat or drink on the subway. Violators (违反者) who do not stop after being asked to will be asked to get off. The violation will also be recorded in the violators' credit record.

    Some support the rule. The reason is that the smell of food and drink can annoy other passengers. "The smell of food fills the carriage, causing people discomfort, especially in the hot summer. Besides, eating on the subway produces rubbish. And on subway trains, people often spill their drinks," said Zheng Yiou, 17, a student from Hefei.

    However, others question this rule. "Some citizens live so far from their work places that they have limited time to have breakfast before they go to work. Eating while they travel saves them time and decreases the chance that they will be late for work," He Songlin, a 17­year­old student from Chengdu said, "And some people, like those with low­ blood sugar levels, get sick if they can't eat when they must."

    Other Chinese cities like Nanjing and Chengdu have similar regulations. Some foreign cities also ban eating and drinking on the subway. For example, eating and drinking have long been banned on the subway in Washington DC. Singapore fines people who eat or drink on the subway up to 500 Singapore dollars, which is RMB 2,417 yuan.

    Chen Yanyan, a professor from Beijing University of Technology, believed we should consider the need of some people to eat or drink on the subway. "Commuters (上班族) and travelers are sometimes too busy to eat. Maybe we could learn from Tokyo, where there are many subway stations equipped with services, allowing passengers to eat and drink," she said.

    Did you know that if you attach a weighed stick to the back of a chicken, it walks like a dinosaur?

    No, you did not know(or care to know) such things, but now you do! Thanks to this year's winners of the 12 Noel Prize! Now in is 251h year, the lg Nobel is the goofy younger cousin of the honored Nobel Prize. It applauds achievements in the fields of medicine, biology, physics, economies.literature.etc. Every September at Harvard University, awards are presented in 10 categories that change year to year, depending on - according to the organization - what makes the judges "laugh, then think".

    The ceremony officially begins when audience members launch paper airplanes at an assigned human target on the stage, then speakers only have 60 seconds to present their research. In previous year, the one-minute rule was imposed by a young girl - nicknamed Miss Sweetie Poo -who would go up to the platform and repeat the words: "Please stop, I'm bored." in a sharp tone until the speaker left the stage.

    Fortunately for candidates though, the Ig Informal Lectures are held afterwards on Saturday to give presenters more time to explain the crazy things they're working on.

    The research can seem more like the brainchildren of teenage boys than of respectable adults. Justin Schmidt won the physiology Ig for creating the "Sting(蛰) Pain Index," which rates the pain people fell after getting stung by insects. Smith pressed bees against 25 different parts of his body until they stung him. Five stings a day for 38 days, Smith concluded that the most painful sting locations were the nose and the upper lip. Ouch.

    As silly as they sound, not all of the Ig awards lack scientific applicability, A group of scientists from 12 different counties won in the medicine category for accurately diagnosing patients with appendicitis (阑尾炎) based on an unusual measurement: speed bumps(减速带) . They found that patients are more likely to have appendicitis if they report pain during bumpy car rides.

    All these weird experiments have just one thing in common. They're improbable. It can be tempting to assume that "improbable" implies more than that--implies bad or good, worthless or valuable, trivial or important. Something improbable can be any of those, or none of them, or all of them, in different ways. And what you don't expect can be a powerful force for not only entertaining science, but also for the boundary-pushing science we call innovation.