Music for Humans and Humpback Whales   

    As researchers conclude in Science, the love of music is not only a universal feature of the human species, but is also deeply fixed in complex structures of the human brain, and is far more ancientthan previously suspected.

    In the articles that discuss the field of bio-musicology, the study of the biological basis for the creation and appreciation of music, researchers present various evidence to show that music-making is at once an original human "business", and an art form with skillful performers throughout the animal kingdom.

    The new reports stress that humans hold no copy right on sound wisdom, and that a number of nonhuman animals produce what can rightly be called music, rather than random sound. Recentin-depth analyses of the songs sung by humpback whales show that, even when their organ would allow them to do otherwise, the animals converge on the same choices relating to sounds and beauty, and accept the same laws ofsong composition as those preferred by human musicians, and human ears, everywhere.

    For example, male humpback whales, who spend six months of each year doing little else but singing, use rhythms (节奏) similar to those found in human music and musical phrases of similar length—a few seconds. Whales areable to make sounds over a range of at least seven octaves (八度音阶), yet they tend to move on through a song in beautiful musical intervals, rather than moving forwards madly. They mix thesounds like drums and pure tones in a ratio (比例) which agrees with that heard in much western music. They also usea favorite technique of human singers, the so-called A-B-A form, in which a theme is stated, then developed, and then returned to in slightly revised form.

    Perhaps most impressive, humpback songs contain tunes that rhyme. "This suggests that whales use rhyme in the same way we do: as a technique in poem tohelp them remember complex material," the researchers write.

    They wear the latest fashions with the most up-to-date accessories(配饰). Yet these are girls in their teens or twenties but women in their sixties and seventies. A generation which would once only wear old-fashioned clothes is now favoring the same high street looks worn by those half their age.

    Professor Julia Twigg, a social policy expert , said ,“Women over 75 are now shopping for clothes more frequently than they did when they were young in the 1960s .In the 1960s buying a coat for a woman was a serious matter . It was an expensive item that they would purchase only every three or four years — now you can pick one up at the supermarket whosever you wish to .Fashion is a lot cheaper and people felt tired of things more quickly . ”

    Fashion designer Angela Barnard ,who runs own fashion business in London ,said older women were much more affected celebrity(名流) style than in previous years .

    She said, “When people see stars such as Judi Dench and Helen Mirren looking attractive and fashionable in their sixties ,they want to follow them . Older women are much more aware of celebrities .There's also the boom in TV programs showing people how they can change their look, and many of my older customers do yoga to stay in shape well in their fifties . When I started my business a fen years ago .my older customers wended to be very rich, but now they are what I would call ordinary women .My own mother is 61 and she wears the latest fashions in a way she would call ordinary women .My own mother is 61 and she wears the latest fashions in a way she would never have done ten years ago.”

    I've loved my mother's desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it when Mother sat doing letters. Looking at the ink bottle, pens and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the most wonderful thing in the world.

    Years later, during her final illness, Mother kept different things for my sister and brother, “But the desk,” she said again, “is for Elizabeth.”

    I never saw her get angry, and never saw her cry. I knew she loved me, and she showed it in action. But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter. They never happened and a gulf opened between us. I was “ too emotional (易动感情的) ”, but she lived “on the surface”.

    As years went by, I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know that she did forgive (原谅) me.

    I posted the letter and waited for her answer, but it didn't come. I wondered if the letter had even got to her. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not.

    Now the present of her desk told me that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work, though she had never been able to. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside … a photo of my father and a one-paper letter, folded (折叠) and refolded many times.

    Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you choose. Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words.

    Most of the people who appear most often and most gloriously in the history books are great conquerors and generals and soldiers, whereas the people who really helped civilization forward are often never mentioned at all. We do not know who first set a broken leg, or launched a seaworthy boat, or calculated the length of the year, or manured(施肥)a field; but we know all about the killers and destroyers. People think a great deal of them, so much so that on all the highest pillars (纪念柱) in the great cities of the world you will find the figure of a conqueror or a general or a soldier. And I think most people believe that the greatest countries are those that have beaten in battle the greatest number of other countries and ruled over them as conquerors. It is just possible they are, but they are not the most civilized.

    Animals fight; so do savages (野蛮人); hence to be good at fighting is to be good in the way in which an animal or a savage is good, but it is not to be civilized. Even being good at getting other people to fight for you and telling them how to do it most efficiently －this, after all, is what conquerors and generals have done －is not being civilized. People fight to settle quarrels. Fighting means killing, and civilized peoples ought to be able to find some way of settling their disputes other than by seeing which side can kill off the greater number of the other side, and then saying that that side which has killed most has won. And it not only has won, but, because it has won, has been in the right. For that is what going to war means; it means saying that might is right.

    That is what the story of mankind has on the whole been like. Even our own age has fought the two greatest wars in history, in which millions of people were killed or disabled. And while today it is true that people do not fight and kill each other in the streets －while, that is to say, we have got to the stage of keeping the rules and behaving properly to each other in daily life － nations and countries have not learnt to do this yet, and still behave like savages.

    The easy way out isn't always easiest. I learned that lesson when I decided to treat Doug, my husband of one month, to a special meal. I glanced through my cook book and chose a menu which included homemade bread. Knowing the bread would take time. I started on it as soon as Doug left for work. As I was not experienced in cooking, I thought if a dozen was good, two dozen would be better, so I doubled everything. As Doug loved oranges, I also opened a can of orange and poured it all into the bowl. Soon there was a sticky dough (生面团）covered with ugly yellowish marks. Realizing I had been defeated, I put the dough in the rubbish bin outside so I wouldn't have to face Doug laughing at my work. I went on preparing the rest of the meal, and, when Doug got home, we sat down to Cornish chicken with rice. He tried to enjoy the meal but seemed disturbed. Twice he got up and went outside, saying he thought he heard a noise. The third time he left, I went to the windows to see what he was doing. Looking out, I saw Doug standing about three feet from the rubbish bin, holding the lid up with a stick and looking into the container. When I came out of the house, he dropped the stick and explained that there was something alive in out rubbish bin. Picking up the stick again, he held the lid up enough for me to see. I felt cold. But I stepped closer and looked harder. Without doubt it was my work. The hot sun had caused the dough to double in size and the fermenting yeast(酵母) made the surface shake and sigh as though it were breathing. I had to admit what the living thing was and why it was there. I don't know who was more embarrassed(尴尬) by the whole thing—Doug or me.

Two women going on a journey to green their city is the best way to describe the founders of Utility, Portland's low-waste and reuse company. It started in January 2019 and opened its first retail shop in April. Its founders, Rebecca Rottman and Nadine Appenbrink, are deeply committed to sustainability and supporters of zero waste.

They started Utility as a second job for both and as a personal journey, looking for clean products that didn't come in plastic. Their goal is to reduce the amount of single-use plastics by allowing people to bring their own reusable containers when they buy environmental friendly home and personal care items.

Every week the women teamed up with local stores to sell their goods and to refill products for returning customers. Now they are operating only online for pickup or local delivery in the Portland area. It is really easy, the company said. Just shop online and choose a container. Then select pickup or delivery. The products include all-natural dish bar soap and a wide variety of plastic-free kitchen tools.

While not completely zero waste, Utility is striving to get extremely close. Appenbrink said, "We are all on a journey. And we want to be as approachable as possible. Utility is to raise awareness about this lifestyle." They are focused on careful growth because Utility will never ship products because of the carbon footprint involved in shipping.

There are zero waste stores in other communities, like Clean Kilo in Birmingham UK, but they are real brick and mortar (实体的) buildings. Utility's concept is so simple that it can be followed almost anywhere. Zero waste markets are the way to the circular economy that is needed to stop plastic waste, reduce our carbon footprint and have a sustainable future.