Cakan is a successful businessman from Montenegro, who has earned himself nicknames(昵称)like “the best boss” and “Brother” by being surprisingly generous to his employees.

    Cakan, who owns "Cakan Sports", the largest sporting goods store chain in Montenegro, has been making news headlines for years, but not for his professional success. He is best known for the generosity he shows to his faithful and hard-working employees. The businessman firmly believes that his company can boom only if he keeps his employees happy, and to that end, he has offered the best of them some pretty unbelievable presents.

    Cakan first surprised his workers back in 2012, when he offered four of them brand new cars — 2 VW Golf 6 and 2 VW polo — complete with paid insurance. They were some of the oldest and most hard-working employees of Cakan Sports, and since the company had recently moved its operations outside the city, Cakan thought his best people shouldn't have to struggle to get to work. "When we saw them, we were speechless," Danijela, one of the receivers, remembers. "While the boss was saying 'his is a gift for you', all I could think of was 'this is not real, this can't be happening to us'.” But this was just one of the generous ways Cakan has rewarded his employees over the years. In 2014, after hearing that one of his workers had been saving up his paychecks so he could buy a ticket to the world Cup soccer final, in Brazil, he took him there himself, at his own expense.

    Asked why he doesn't use cheaper means of motivating his employees, like a small raise or a cash bonus, Cakan had this to say, "Money comes and goes, but memories are forever." Asked why many of his employees call him "Brother", Cakan told a reporter that it was because "brothers always help each other".

    On the last day before Christmas, I hurried to the supermarket to buy Christmas gifts. In the supermarket, I noticed a little boy, holding a doll and looking so sad. He turned to the old woman next to him, “Granny, are you sure I don't have enough money?” The old lady replied, “You know we don't have enough money to buy this doll, my dear.” Then she left for something else and the boy still stood there.

    Finally, I went to the boy and asked him who he wanted to give this doll to. “It is the doll that my sister wanted so much for this Christmas. She was so sure that Father Christmas would bring it to her.”

    I told him that maybe Father Christmas will bring it to her. But he replied to me sadly, “No, Father Christmas cannot bring it to her where she is now. I have to give the doll to my mother so that she can give it to her when she goes there. My sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mummy will also go to see God very soon, so I thought that she could bring the doll with her to give it to my sister.”

    Hearing this, I quickly reached into my wallet and took a few notes and said to the boy, “What if we checked again, just in case if you have enough money?”

    “OK,” he said, “I hope that I have enough.”

    I added some of my money to his without his seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll.

    The little boy said, “Thank God for giving me enough money.”

    Then he looked at me and added, “I prayed to God yesterday before I slept to make sure I have enough money to buy this doll. He heard me.”

    Some of the world's most significant problems never hit headlines. One example comes from agriculture. Food riots（暴动）and hunger make news. But the trend lying behind these matters is rarely talked about. This is the decrease in the growth in production of some of the world's major crops. A new study by the University of Minnesota and McGill University in Montreal looks at where, and how far, this decline is occurring.

    The authors take a vast number of data points for the four most important crops: rice, wheat, corn and soyabeans. They find that on between 24% and 39% of all harvested areas, the improvement inproduction that took place before the 1980s slowed down in the 1990s and 2000s.

    There are two worrying features of the slowdown. One is that it has been particularly sharp in the world's most populous countries, India and China. Their ability to feed themselves has been an important source of relative stability both within the countries and on world food markets. That self-sufficiency (自给自足) cannot be taken for granted if productions continue to slow down.

    Second, production growth has been lower in wheat and rice than in corn and soyabeans. This is problematic because wheat and rice are more important as foods, accounting for around half of all calories consumed. Corn and soyabeans are more important as feed grains. The authors note that "we have preferentially focused our crop improvement efforts on feeding animals and cars rather than on crops that feed people and are the basis of food security in much of the world."

    The report also states the more optimistic findings of another new paper which suggests that the world will not have to dig up a lot more land for farming in order to feed 9 billion people in 2050, as the Food and Agriculture Organisation has argued.

    Instead, it says, thanks to slowing population growth, land currently ploughed（犁）up for crops might be able to revert (回返) to forest or wilderness. This could happen. The trouble is that the prediction assumes continued improvements in productions, which may not actually happen.

    When it comes to thrilling places to travel to, the nation of Thailand has got to be at or near the top of the list. The beaches of Thailand are simply amazing. Here is a look at the four best beaches in all of Thailand.

    Maya Bay

    This small beach attracts some huge crowds, but it is still worth a visit thanks to what is widely regarded as some of the best scenery in the entire country. The Maya Bay Beach is located on a small island and is only accessible via boat or passenger ferry.

    Lamai Beach

    For the traveler looking for an unforgettable beach experience during their visit to Thailand, a trip out to Lamai Beach in Samui is a must. The sandy areas are long and wide with plenty of room for everyone. The water is inviting and easy to access.

    Patong Beach

    Patong Beach is not only one of the most beautiful and popular beach in Thailand, but it is the largest beach on the popular island of Phuket. The soft white sand is a great place to relax. Some of the many great activities that travelers can participate it. during a visit to Patong Beach include jet skiing, kayaking, surfing, diving, snorkeling(浮潜) , swimming, and more.

    Haad Rin

    Haad Rin is one of the most popular party spots in the country, for both locals（当地人） and travelers. All month long, during most parts of the year, there are some exceptional entertainment, eating, and socializing opportunities.

    Wolves travel shorter distances and move slower during snowfall events, according to new research by University of Alberta biologists. The effects were most pronounced at night, when wolves hunt, and behaviour returned to normal within a day. Wolf tracks across snow in northeastern Alberta.

    "Our findings suggest that there is something about actively falling snow that causes wolves to slow down," said Amanda Droghini, a former MSc student in the Department of Biological Science and lead author on the study. "We don't know the exact mechanism behind that. It's unlikely that they were staying still because they were feasting on a recent kill. Instead, active precipitation（降雪量）might affect wolves' hunting abilities. Like rain, snow clears the air column of scent molecules. So, maybe falling snow makes it harder for wolves to detect the smell of prey."

    Over the course of two winters, the researchers used remote cameras to disclose snowfall events and estimate snow depth. To study wolf movement, they collected telemetry（测距仪） data from 17 wolves to calculate travel speed and duration, as well as resting periods. It is the first study to examine how large flesh-eating animals respond to snowfall events.

    With the effects of climate change on precipitation in the north forest region uncertain, it is difficult to predict the implications for wolf populations. Studies such as these increase our understanding of how large mammals react to normal snowfall events, but the type and amount of winter precipitation will likely have an impact on animal behavior and the energetic cost of movement.

    "Winter is already challenging for many wildlife species because moving through snow requires more energy. Snow can also make it harder for animals to access food resources," said Droghini, who conducted the research under the supervision of Professor Stan Boutin, Alberta Biodiversity Conservation Chair.

    "Anything that increases those costs, such as increased rain-on-snow events, could lead to lacking in nutrition, poor body condition, and even starvation as animals are unable to make up for those additional costs. That is one of the worst-case scenarios（设想）but, in truth, we know very little about potential changes to precipitation patterns and how wildlife will respond to those changes."

    In a recent series of experiments at the University of California, researchers studied toddlers' thinking about winners and losers, bullies (欺凌) and victims.

    In the first experiment, toddlers (学步儿童) watched a scene in which two puppets (木偶) had conflicting goals: One was crossing a stage from right to left, and the other from left to right. The puppets met in the middle and stopped. Eventually one puppet bowed down and moved aside, letting the other one pass by. Then researchers asked the toddlers which puppet they liked. The result: 20 out of 23 toddlers picked the higher-status puppet—the one that did not bow or move aside. It seems that individuals can gain status for being dominant (占优势的) and toddlers like winners better than losers.

    But then researchers had another question: Do toddlers like winners no matter how they win? So researchers did another experiment very similar to the one described above. But this time, the conflict ended because one puppet knocked the other down and out of the way. Now when the toddlers were asked who they liked, the results were different: Only 4 out of 23 children liked the winner.

    These data suggest that children already love a winner by the age of 21-31 months. This does not necessarily mean that the preference is inborn: 21 months is enough time to learn a lot of things. But if a preference for winners is something we learn, we appear to learn it quite early.

    Even more interesting, the preference for winners is not absolute. Children in our study did not like a winner who knocked a competitor down. This suggests that already by the age of 21-31 months, children's liking for winners is balanced with other social concerns, including perhaps a general preference for nice or helpful people over aggressive ones.

    In a time when the news is full of stories of public figures who celebrate winning at all costs, these results give us much confidence. Humans understand dominance, but we also expect strong individuals to guide, protect and help others. This feels like good news.