Australia's koalas could die out within 30 years unless immediate action is taken to stop the losing in population, according to researchers. They say development, climate change and bushfires have all combined to reduce the number of wild koalas sharply.

    The Australian Koala Foundation said a recent survey showed the population could have dropped by more than half in the past six years. The number of koalas was once estimated to be more than 100,000, but now is as few as 43,000.

    The foundation collected field data from 1,800 sites and 80,000 trees to calculate the numbers. In one area in northern Queensland estimated to have 20,000 koalas a decade ago, a team of eight people could not find a single animal in four days of searching.

    The foundation said besides problems caused by cutting down forests, hotter and drier conditions because of global warming had reduced the nutritional value of their main food, eucalyptus (桉树) leaves, leading to poor nutrition for them. Koalas, which live in the forests in Australia's east and south, are very picky about what types of the leaves they eat.

    Foundation chief Deborah Tabart said: “The koalas are missing everywhere we look. It's really no tree, no me. If you keep cutting down trees you don't have any koalas.”She is hoping the new figures will persuade the government's Threatened Species Steering Committee (TSSC) to list the koala as threatened. But committee chairman Bob Beeton said a decision was not likely recently and the koala's status as one of the country's favorite animals would not be a factor. “There's a number of species which are attractive and people have special feelings towards them. We don't consider that,” Mr Beeton said.

                                       Cell phones：Is there a cancer link?

    Could your cell phone give you cancer? Whether it could or not, some people are worrying about the possibility that phones, power lines and Wi-Fi could be responsible for a range of illnesses, from rashes to brain tumors.

    Some say there is evidence to support the growing anxieties. David Carpenter, a professor of environmental health sciences at the university at Albany, in New York, thinks there's a greater than 95 percent chance that power lines can cause childhood leukemia (白血病). Also there's a greater than 90 percent chance that cell phones can cause brain tumors. “It's apparent now that there's a real risk, ”said Carpenter.

    But others believe these concerns are not justified. Dr Martha Linet, head of radiation epidemiology (流行病学) at the US National Cancer Institute, has looked at the same research as Carpenter but has reached a different conclusion. “I don't support warning labels for cell phones, ”said Linet. “We don't have the evidence that there's much danger.”

    Studies so far suggest a weak connection between EMFs (电磁场) and illness—so weak that it might not exist at all. A multinational investigation of cell phones and brain cancer, in 13 countries outside the US, has been underway for several years. It's funded in part by the European Union, in part by a cell phone industry group. The final report should come out later this year, but data so far don't suggest a strong link between cell phone use and cancer risk.

    More and more people in America are celebrating the Indian holiday Diwali. Diwali is Hindi for “row of lights.” It is the most important holiday in India.

    Many people around the world are beginning to celebrate it as well. The United States is one of the places where the festival is becoming more common. Diwali celebrations can now be found at American landmarks like Disney land in California and New York City's Times Square. They are also held in many parks and museums.

    Neeta Bhasin created the Times Square event. She said Indian immigrants (移民) have found great success in America. But, she said, many Americans still do not know much about India. So, she decided to act. "I felt it's about time that we should take India to mainstream America and show India's rich culture, heritage, arts and variety to the world, "she said, "And I couldn't find a better place than the center of the universe: Times Square."

    Bhasin came to the United States from India 40 years ago. She is president of ASB Communications, the marketing firm behind Diwali at Times Square. Tens of thousands of people attend the event, now in its fourth year.

    In India, Diwali is a five-day harvest festival held just before the Hindu New Year. The exact dates change from year to year but Diwali is always in the fall. Celebrations include lighting oil lamps or candles called diyas. The lights represent "a victory of knowledge over ignorance, light over darkness, good over evil."

    A Diwali celebration will light up Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim this year. Visitors can watch performances of traditional Indian dances and take part in a Bollywood dance party. The event is part of a Festival of Holidays program at the theme park to show cultural traditions from around the world.

    An abandoned girl named Sophie happens to see the big friendly giant (巨人) (BFG for short), who is running through the streets of London and “blowing dreams” to children late at night. The BFG is scared that the girl will give away his secret, so he takes Sophie back to his native Giant Country. In fact, the BFG is a kind-hearted vegetarian, but other giants in his native country like nothing more than eating humans. Sophie and the BFG try to stop these giants from continuing to eat humans. During this period, they become good friends.

    Spielberg's The BFG tells the tale of an unlikely friendship brought to life in an imaginary world. However, many people say the story is a bit too kid-friendly. Optimism is Spielberg's typical tone, but the final victorious battle against the bad guys seems a little bit too easy. And when the BFG fights for the first time against the giants who have been hurting him, it seems confusing how he successfully drives away bad guys who are almost twice his size.

    Spielberg does leave a little for adult viewers to digest. The BFG doesn't want to be seen as a monster by humans，but in the end his own kind ends up caught and locked up in isolation. Will he also be destined (注定) to spend the rest of his days in a remote place alone?

    Despite being made for a younger audience, the film is still worth a watch. It doesn't have gun-fights, death, explosions and the stuff that people seem to be interested in nowadays. But the film takes us back to a more innocent time.

    Someone sent me an email urging me to acquire a lot more resources, suggesting could do so much more good if I had an 8 or 9 figure net income of 6 like I've been doing for years. He claimed to have acquired a great deal of wealth himself and found it highly beneficial to fueling his path with a heart.

    As I consider his suggestion, I find myself not having much clarity(清晰的思维)as to what I'd do with I million or 10 million more money flowing through my life. I put so much attention on creativity, fulfillment, exploration, relationships, etc. that I find it difficult to intelligently imagine how more financial resources could provide extra fuel for that, except in small ways or in ways that aren't particularly meaningful to me.

    Lately I've been considering what it would be like to deliberately reduce my income for a while and see if I could live on much less，just for the experience. What if I capped my net personal income at $10,000 per year, for instance? That isn't such a big deal to me, though, since I already went through a period of low income like that during the 1990s, and I learned that I could still do what I love regardless of income.

    I've never worked in a business environment-the only job I've ever had was working for $6/hour in a video game store while I was in college. So I've never seen how larger operations allocate resources. That's probably why I haven't pushed myself to acquire more. As I mentioned in my book. Money and Your Path With a Heart，my main financial goal in life was to make money irrelevant in my life.

    I'm not interested in building an empire. What interests me is exploring personal growth and sharing what I learn along the way. In some ways I feel that acquiring and acquiring and allocating more resources could become a big distraction. I'm already doing what I want to be doing, so why rick distracting myself to acquire more resources, especially when I lack the idea about how I should treat such resources? I like having freedom and flexibility，and I don't really see how more resources would meaningfully improve that.

    I was driving my newly acquired motorcycle across the vastness of North Dakota when all of the sudden it froze up on the road. I would later be told the belt had slipped and this caused one of the pistons(活塞)to break a cylinder(气缸)head, or something like that.

    Anyway, I sat on the side of the road for what seemed like hours. I even pretended to have been in an accident, which didn't help. Finally, a young man pulled over and offered me a ride, but given that he already had two motorcycles in the back of his truck, he could only take me.

    He drove me to the next town, where I asked to be dropped off Rather than drop me off, he waited while I asked around if anyone could help me to pick up my motorcycle. One elderly gentleman was working and said that I could use his pickup! Can you imagine that a stranger gave me the keys to his pick up. It was quite an experience, I must say. So, as I drove back 20 miles to get my motorcycle, the gentleman who first stopped to help me followed me. We both put the motorcycle in the back of the truck and then I followed him another 50 miles or so and we both unloaded the motorcycle at his place. Then, he followed me back to the small town so I could return the man's truck. I didn't have much cash on me, maybe $40, but I gave it to the man for the use of his truck.

    Two strangers helped rescue me from spending the night on the side of the road in ND. I don't recall their names, but when I close my eyes I can see their faces as if it were yesterday. Thank you, strangers. You may be reading this right now.