Once a boy came to ask a fisherman how to become cleverer, because his mother always called him “foolish boy”.

    “That's easy,” answered the fisherman. “I know one way to make you become cleverer.”

    “Really?”

    “Of course. It is said a fish head is good for brain. If you eat one, you'll become cleverer indeed. Pay only three pounds for one fish head.” The boy paid him three pounds and the fisherman cut off a fish head and handed it to him.

    A raw fish head is not good—not even for a hungry boy to eat but the boy ate it up in  two gulps.

    “Do you feel anything?” asked the fisherman.

    “Not in my head,” said the boy.

    The boy lay on the ground and thought. “One whole fish costs only two pounds. I have paid him three pounds for the fish head. Why couldn't I have the whole fish for soup, a head for brain and one pound left over?” He jumped up and shouted at the fisherman. “You thief! You are fooling me!” The fisherman laughed, saying, “The fish head works now, you see.”

    It is bad to have food stuck between your teeth for long periods of time. This is because food attracts germs; germs produce acid, and acid hurts your teeth and gums. Flossing (使用牙线) helps to remove the food that gets stuck between your teeth. This explains why flossing helps to keep your mouth healthy, but some doctors say that flossing can also be good for your heart.

    It may seem strange that something you do for your teeth can have any effect on your heart. Doctors have come up with a few ideas about how flossing works to keep your heart healthy. One idea is that the germs that hurt your teeth can leave the mouth and travel into your blood.Germs that get into the blood can then attack your heart. Another idea is based on the fact that when there are too many germs in your mouth, the body tries to fight against there germs. For some reason, the way the body fights these mouth germs may end up weakening the heart overtime.

    Not every doctor agrees about these ideas. Some doctors think that the link between good flossing habits and good heart health is only a coincidence. The incidence (发生率) of two or more events is completely random, as they do not admit of any reliable cause and effect relationship between them. For example, every time I wash my car, it rains. This does not mean that when I wash my car, I somehow change the weather. This is only a coincidence. Similarly, some doctors think that people who have bad flossing habits just happen to also have heart problems, and people who have good flossing habits just happen to have healthy hearts.

    The theory that flossing your teeth helps to keep your heart healthy might not be true. But every doctor agrees that flossing is a great way to keep your teeth healthy. So even if flossing does not help your heart, it is true to help your teeth. This is enough of a reason for everyone to floss their teeth every day.

    Throughout the world, parents talk differently to babies than they do to adults. With their young kids, parents use baby talks, featuring long pauses and a roller coaster of pitch（音高）changes.

    While parents may feel a bit silly using baby talks, they shouldn't in fact. Babies not only prefer listening to them, but they also learn new words more easily from them. By highlighting the structure of speech, such as the differences between the vowels（元音）“a” and “o”, baby talks help babies translate sounds into meaningful units of language.

    Actually, the timbre（音色）plays a role. The timbre of an instrument clearly affects how we experience music, but its role in language is less obvious. Looking into the timbre of baby talks, researchers made some surprising discoveries. In a new study published in Current Biology, researchers reported for the first time that mothers shifted their overall vocal timbre when speaking to their babies, as if they were changing their voice into a different instrument to address these unique little listeners.

    In the Princeton Baby Lab, where researchers study how children learn, they recorded English-speaking mothers while they talked with their 7-to-12-month-old babies and while they spoke to an adult experimenter, and found that adult-directed and baby-directed speech had consistently different timbres.

    Most surprising, in a second sample of non-English-speaking mothers, researchers found that this timbre shift was also highly consistent across nine diverse languages. This suggests these timbre shifts may represent a universal form of communication with babies.

    Being able to identify baby talks across multiple languages could give us rich information about the amount and type of language children hear at preschool across different cultural environments. This could help researchers and educators predict and improve outcomes such as vocabulary and success at school.

    Parents should feel self-conscious about their own baby talks: with them they're helping their baby learn.

    While the start of a new school year is always exciting, this year was even more so for some elementary school students in Auckland, New Zealand. They became the world's first kids to be" taught" by a digital teacher, Will. Will is just an avatar(用户头像)that appears on the student's desktop, tablet, or smartphone screen, not a human-like robot walking around the classroom.

    Auckland energy company Vector and AI company Soul Machines worked together to develop Will, which has been modeled after the human brain and nervous system, allowing it to perform human-like behavior. The digital teacher is currently assigned to teach Vector's" Be sustainable with energy, "a free program for Auckland elementary schools.

    Just like the humans it replaced, Will is able to instantly react to the students' responses to the topic. Thanks to a webcam(网络摄像头)and microphone, the avatar not only responds to questions the kids may have, but also picks up non-verbal cues(非口头提示).For instance, if a student smiles at Will, he responds by smiling back. This two-way interaction not only helps capture the students' attention, but also allows the program's developers to monitor their engagement, and make changes if needed.

    Vector's Chief Digital Officer, Nikhil Ravishankar says," What was fascinating to me was the reaction of the children to Will. The way they look at the world is so creative and different, and Will really captured their attention."

    Will, in place since August 2018,has been a great success thus far. However, regardless of how popular it becomes, Will is unlikely to replace human educators any time soon .For one, the avatar's knowledge base is severely restricted. But more importantly, even the smartest digital avatars could never predict and react to all the unexpected situations that educators have to deal with on a daily basis. However, it could come in handy as a" personal tutor", providing kids with one-on-one help on specific subjects or even topics.

    Kompong Phhluk Private Tour

    Depart the city for an unspoiled floating community called Kompong Phhluk which is well-known for its stilted-house (吊脚楼) villages and flooded forest.

    Stop on the way for the Rolous Market tour. This is a great chance for you to take the photos of locals selling vegetables, different fish species and other local produce.

    After this market tour we'll all have a boat trip to the floating community of Kompong Phhluk, visit an island pagoda, school and houses standing on 8 or 10m high stilts, fish farms and learn about the village life.

    Stop and have lunch in a family's house before getting into a row boat and venturing into the flooded forest, the habitat to some famous water-bird species.

    Eventually we jump back into the big boat and set off for the largest fresh water lake in SE Asia, Tonle Sap.

    Tour Details

    Departs 8.30am

    Returns around 2pm

    A picnic lunch with sandwiches and drinks is provided. We cannot provide local food from the area due to poor sanitation (卫生设备), lack of hygiene standards and refrigeration.

    No passes required

    Rates

    These rates are based on an English speaking guide.

    Rates include all transport, water and a picnic lunch.

·    Children 11 years and under are 50%.

    Children 4 years and below are free.

    If your group is larger than 5 people please email us for the best rate.

    Number of People Price Per Person

    1 Person  $65

    2 People  $45

    3 People  $40

    4 People  $35

    5 People  $32

    What to Wear

    Please be mindful of your clothing and try to avoid anything too revealing

    We strongly recommend a sunglasses, hat and sunscreen.

    General Information

    This is a poor rural village, please be mindful of the environment.

    Please do not hand things out to villagers, for this leads to creating a begging cycle and can create jealousy.

    We recommend heading to the toilet before you go on this trip as facilities (设施) are very basic.

    According to the International Ecotourism Society, eco-travel is "responsible travel to natural areas that protects the environment, maintains the well-beings and involves education". Eco-travel is on the rise, as more and more people become conscious about their carbon footprint.

    Expert from Boundless Journeys, Matt Holmes, who works-on travel experiences towards conserving areas said, "As scientists and non-scientists learn more about how we human beings are impacting the planet, I think more people want to do what they can while still exploring the world. Our guests are definitely interested in that aspect of our journeys. Travelers can farm their own food in Italy, managing their use of water and using solar or wind power. They can also visit n family-run camp that cares for retired logging elephants in Myanmar, know a park entry fee goes to a conservation organization in Costa Rica, employ and train members of the local community or partner with a protection group. There are lots of options for seeking out greener holiday."

    Most people believe that eco-travel is expensive and it is true. Matt explained "Anti-poaching patrols (巡逻) need to be paid, solar energy equipment costs a lot to install, building with environmentally friendly, materials is more expensive and so on. The extra cost is necessary, as you're paying to minimize your footprint and protect the places you visit, which is exactly what eco-travel is about. The financial success and sustainability (可持续性) of an eco- focused operation doesn't come from thin air." The industry is trying to make eco-travel affordable and make it accessible to the common people.