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A warm drink of milkbefore bed has long been the best choice for those wanting a good night'ssleep. But now a study has found it really does help people nod off—if it ismilked from a cow at night.

  Researchers have discovered that“night milk” contains more melatonin(褪黑激素), which has been proven tohelp people feel sleepy and reduce anxiety.

  The study, by researchersfrom Seoul, South Korea, involved mice being fed with dried milk powder madefrom cows milked both during the day and at night.

  Those given night milk, whichcontained 10 times the amount of melatonin, were less active and less anxiousthan those fed with the milk collected during daytime, according to the studypublished in The Journal of MedicinalFood.

   Night milk quickened the startof sleep and caused the mice to sleep longer.

   While the effect of cowsmilk harvested at different time has not been tested on humans up to now,taking melatonin drugs has been suggested to those who are struggling to fallasleep at night.

   Previous studies have alsoindicated that milk can be excellent for helping sleep because of the calciumcontent, which helps people to relax.

  Milk is also sugar-free andadditive-free with nutritionists recommending skimmed milk as the best choicebefore bed as it is the least fattening. The more fat you take in beforebedtime, the greater burden you will put on your body at night.

    Two of the saddest words in the English language are “if only”. I live my life with the goal of never having to say those words, because they convey regret, lost opportunities, mistakes, and disappointment.

    My father is famous in our family for saying “Take the extra minute to do it right”. I always try to live by the “extra minute” rule.  When my children were young and likely to cause accidents, I always thought about what I could do to avoid an “if only” moment，whether it was something minor like moving a cup full of hot coffee away from the edge of a counter, or something that required a little more work such as taping padding (衬垫)onto the sharp corners of a glass coffee table.

    I don't only avoid those “if only” moments when it comes to safety. It's equally important to avoid “if only” in our personal relationships. We all know people who lost a loved one and regretted that they had foregone an opportunity to say “I love you“ or “I forgive you”. When my father announced he was going to the eye doctor across from my office on Good Friday，I told him that it was a holiday for my company and I wouldn't be here. But then I thought about the fact that he's 84 years old and I realized that I shouldn't give up an opportunity to see him.  I called him and told him I had decided to go to work on my day off after all.

    I know there will still be occasions when I have to say “ if only” about something, but my life is definitely better because of my policy of doing everything possible to avoid that eventuality. And even though it takes an extra minute to do something right, or it occasionally takes an hour or two in my busy schedule to make a personal connection, I know that I'm doing the right thing. I'm buying myself peace of mind and that's the best kind of insurance for my emotional well-being.

    Papa was a ranger. He worked with horses. He always wore clean clothes with a hat even when he worked. His hat was always the same kind of a cowboy hat—large black hat of heavy wool. He wore his hat full and high. I think he wanted to look taller than he really was.

    Mama was proud of the way he looked when he wore his hat and his best clothes. But in some way she got the idea that papa would lose his hair if he kept wearing a heavy wool cowboy hat in the hot weather. She began to talk about his hat.

    "Papa, "she said one day, "why don't you get a nice cool straw hat? That heavy wool cowboy hat may cause losing hair!" Papa laughed at her and explained that the horses wouldn't recognize him if he changed the hat. But she didn't believe him.

    Mama talked and talked about the hat all summer long. At last papa answered, a little angry, "It would not the cowboy hat but a wife's talking about the hat that makes me lose my hair."

    Mama had a very serious look on her face. She went straight out and later came home with a straw hat. It was a bad year for ranger and we didn't have much money. She thought that if she spent the money for a straw hat, papa would wear it. When papa saw the hat, his face got red. Without a word, he pulled the straw hat down over his head until it hid his eyes and went on to train the horses.

    He was a good ranger and gentle to his horses. But as papa got close to the horses this time, they jumped high into the air, raising their front feet. All of them ran around in the rounded field and then raced toward the barn. Papa began to shout "Woo boys. Steady boys, steady." But there was nothing equal to.

    Papa walked back straight to the stove in the kitchen, pushed the straw hat deep down into the fire then turned to mama, in a way that even frightened me. "Now listen to me, mama. Understand this I will never wear a straw hat or any other kind of hat my horses do not like. "Then he put on his wool cowboy hat and walked out of the house.

    I never heard mama talk any more about hats. Perhaps, that is why when papa died many years later, there was a round spot on the top of his head where there was no hair.

    Although his 1-year-old smart-phone still works perfectly, Li Jijia already feels the need to replace it.

    "There are many better ones available now. It's time to upgrade(更新）my phone."

    Li's impatience is shared by many. Shortly after the season when new products are released（发布，发售）, many consumers feel the urge to upgrade their electronic equipment, even though the ones they have still work just fine.

    As consumers' minds are occupied by Apple's newly released products and debate whether the Google tablet is better than the new Amazon Kindle, it might be time to take a step back and ask: "Do we really need the latest upgrades?"

    According to Donald Norman, an American author, "planned obsolescence (淘汰）" is the trick behind the upgrading culture of today's consumer electronics industry.

    Electronics producers strategically release new upgrades periodically, both for hardware and software, so that customers on every level feel the need to buy the newest version.

"This is an old-time trick—they're not inventing anything new," Norman said. "This is a wasteful system through which companies--many of them producing personal electronics—— release poor-quality products simply because they know that, in six months or a year, they'll put out a new one."

    But the new psychology of consumers is part of this system, as Norman admitted, "We now want something new, something pretty, the next shiny thing." In its most recent year, Apple's profit margin(利润) was more than 21 percent. At Hewlett-Packard, the world's biggest PC maker, it was only 7 percent.

    Apple's annual upgrades of its products create sales of millions of units as owners of one year's MacBook or iPhone line up to buy the newest version, even when the changes are slight.

    As to Li Jijia, the need for upgrading his smart-phone comes mainly from friends and classmates. When they are switching to the latest equipment, he worries about feeling left out.

    "Some games require better hardware to run," said Li. "If you don't join in, you lose part of the connection to your friends."

    If you're encouraged by the tiny house movement and think 160 square feet is just enough for your needs, you may want to contact the Academy of Construction and Design (ACAD) at IDEA Public Charter School in northeast Washington．

    Students in the program built a micro house with a kitchen, a bathroom, a sleeping loft with space for a queen-size bed and a storage loft, all set on a trailer for mobility. The exterior (外部) of the house was part of a continuous living exhibit in 2015and was moved to the IDEA campus so students could work with builders to complete the interior earlier this year.

    McMahon said the D.C. government's approval to push companies to hire District residents (居民) was at odds with the school system not preparing students for careers in construction, exploring or electrical work. McMahon gathered industry and community leaders to establish ACAD in 2005 and he said 100 percent of the companies he contacted responded positively to the idea, including major firms such as JBG, Clark Construction, Hines Construction and Boston Properties.

    “When students make the connection between what they are learning a potential career, their academics improve dramatically,” said Carol Randolph, chief operating officer of the D.C. Students Construction Trades Foundation. “Some of them who didn't think college was an choice now have a better chance because their classes have become relevant to a job.”

    “We teach them life skills and explain that even if you start as a laborer, there are opportunities to move up quickly,” he said. “We rewrite the story for them and explain that they can work for a few years, make good money, get promoted, and start their own business or go to school with less debts.”

    “Parents and school advisors can be the biggest obstacles because of the negative idea of construction as a blue-collar career,” Karriem said. “I get middle-school advisors on board to talk about the opportunities this education provides. These kids are learning lifelong skills that can help them in other fields, provide them with income and allow them to take care of their homes.”

Are you a moviegoer? If, like me, you're a fan of film, then there's no better place to watch something than on the big screen at the cinema. You enter the dark theatre and take your seat, ready to be entertained. But while you are absorbed in some movie magic, many others are now getting their film fixed at home.

Over the last few years, cinemas have seen a comeback. Customers have been attracted by comfortable seats, and lots of choice of things to watch. Multiplexes in particular can screen up to twenty films at the same time, suiting all different tastes. In addition, 3D and even 4D movies can give the audience an extra immersive experience. So what's not to like about a trip to the cinema?

The coronavirus pandemic has put the future of cinema under the spotlight. Some have had to close because of reduced ticket sales. In the UK, it's brought about a surge in TV watching and online streaming. It's reported that half of UK adults will keep and continue using their new streaming subscriptions.

This isn't great news for cinemas. They rely on the release of a big blockbuster to bring the crowds back, but the launch of new films, such as James Bond: No Time To Die, are being delayed. Disney has released its $200m blockbuster, Mulan, online instead of in movie theatres. John Fithian, from the National Association of Theatre Owners, told Variety magazine: This idea of waiting out the pandemic to make your movies more profitable doesn't make sense to me. There won't be as much of an industry left to play your movies in if you do that. "