Elizabeth Mitchell's new “Liberty's Torch” is the fascinating story of how the Statue of Liberty came to be. The Statue of Liberty's rough history is explored in “Liberty's Torch”.

    Frederic Auguste Bartholdi is an all-but-forgotten figure in American history. He was, however, responsible for one of the most enduring symbols of the United States: the Statue of Liberty. A Frenchman from Alsace, he designed and built the Statue of Liberty which stood on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor. How this statue came to be is the fascinating subject of Elizabeth Michell's new book “Liberty's Torch”.

    The power of Mitchell's narrative is convincing(令人信服的). We recognize the Statue of Liberty now as a symbol of hope and opportunity for a nation of immigrants. At the time, though, people could not see that－nor did they even imagine that. Instead, the construction of the statue was born of one man's desire to set up a great monument.

    For this reason, perhaps, “Liberty's Torch” relies on Bartholdi as the connecting thread. Bartholdi went to Egypt to make photographic copies of the main monuments. On the boat, Bartholdi met and began a lifelong relationship with Ferdinand de Lesseps, the man who would build the Suez Canal. Maybe it was this friendship, or maybe it was seeing Egypt's huge monuments, but finally the trip inspired Bartholdi's dream to create the largest statue ever built. Failure to bring this to completion in Egypt, followed by his exile (流放) from Paris, led Bartholdi to sail to America.

    By explaining the Statue of Liberty's hard history and showing Bartholdi's brave spirit, Mitchell has done a great service.

    We've reached a strange—some would say unusual—point. While fighting world hunger continues to be the matter of vital importance according to a recent report from the World Health Organization (WHO), more people now die from being overweight, or say, from being extremely fat, than from being underweight. It's the good life that's more likely to kill us these days.

Worse, nearly 18 million children under the age of five around the world are estimated to be overweight. What's going on?

    We really don't have many excuses for our weight problems. The dangers of the problem have been drilled into us by public ­health campaigns since 2001 and the message is getting through—up to a point.

    In the 1970s, Finland, for example, had the highest rate of heart disease in the world and being overweight was its main cause. Not any more. A public ­health campaign has greatly reduced the number of heart disease deaths by 80 per cent over the past three decades.

    Maybe that explains why the percentage of people in Finland taking diet pills doubled between 2001 and 2005, and doctors even offer surgery of removing fat inside and change the shape of the body. That has become a sort of fashion. No wonder it ranks as the world's most body ­conscious country.

We know what we should be doing to lose weight—but actually doing it is another matter. By far the most popular excuse is not taking enough exercise. More than half of us admit we lack willpower.

    Others blame good food. They say: it's just too inviting and it makes them overeat. Still others lay the blame on the Americans, complaining that pounds have piled on thanks to eating too much American­ style fast food.

    Some also blame their parents—their genes. But unfortunately, the parents are wronged because they're normal in shape, or rather slim.

    It's a similar story around the world, although people are relatively unlikely to have tried to lose weight. Parents are eager to see their kids shape up. Do as I say—not as I do.

    In our everyday lives we meet situations in which we take many things for granted（不去重视）.We only treasure things when they are gone.This is a sad truth of human nature.One day,I found myself as a witness to a similar situation.

    One evening,I left work and boarded the train.After entering,I noticed something unusual.The center of the car had a few empty seats while both ends were crowded with people standing.I didn't pay much attention and sat down on one of the empty seats.I sensed a funny smell.It wasn't long before I noticed a homeless person sleeping on three seats in front of me.He was bleeding from his nose.Why wasn't anyone helping him?

    His clothes were torn and he was giving off a strange smell.Along with the smell,his eyes were dull,watery and red.Occasionally he scratched himself and people looked at him as if he had committed a crime.As the train stopped at stations and more people came in they covered their noses and faced away from him.All the seats around him were empty.

    Suddenly,he began to swear at the people around him.A plain clothes policeman who looked like a construction worker took out his certificate and showed it to the homeless man.The officer,not wanting to touch the homeless man, told him his rights and directed him to exit the train.As the officer walked the man out of the train,the homeless man turned around and said "MY HOME!" and started crying.

    A man doesn't value things until they are gone.If he didn't have a home,at least he had freedom.Now he has neither.No one wants to help someone who won't help himself.

    Connecting the best chefs and restaurants in the world with their fans.

    For True Foodies Only puts the world of food in your pocket. It is a global app and social platform where lovers of the art of food and wine come to connect, be inspired and share that love.

    What makes the For True Foodies Only app different?

·It is exclusive (专一的). A “food Facebook” for only the best chefs and restaurants in the world and their fans.

    Users of the app from around the world can find out where to eat when they travel, giving restaurants and chefs free advertising and making sure that your vacation is full of wonderful meals at the restaurants your favorite chefs would eat at.

    New restaurants and chefs can only be chosen by chefs in the app, so together we build a trusted community of the highest quality.

    There is no cost to restaurants to be included or to users –the app is free.

    Buy recipes the way you buy music on the internet –one recipe, a bitebook or a whole cookbook. Restaurants and chefs make more profits by selling digital recipes through the app.

    The story behind the app

    Cordon Bleu Chef Ted and his foodie partner Joanne love eating in great restaurants around the world. But they spent a lot of time researching where to go, in guidebooks, online and from friends, and looking for news about what their favorite chefs were creating. They wished they could easily see where their favorite chefs and foodie loved to eat, and find the latest about the best chefs and restaurants all in one place.

    And so the idea was born. They wanted to build a trusted community of those who love the art of food and wine, with chefs and true foodies at its heart.

    Ted and Joanne spent the next two years using all their experience—Ted as a chef in Michelin star restaurants, and Joanne as an international food marketer—to build a truly amazing app that included only the top restaurants and chefs. Fortunately, their work also included a lot of fine dining, which made it all worthwhile.

    Batteries can power anything from small sensors to large systems. While scientists are finding ways to make them smaller but even more powerful, problems can arise when these batteries are much larger and heavier than the devices themselves. University of Missouri(MU) researchers are developing a nuclear energy source that is smaller, lighter and more efficient.

    “To provide enough power, we need certain methods with high energy density (密度)”，said Jae Kwon, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at MU. “The radioisotope (放射性同位素) battery can provide power density that is much higher than chemical batteries.”

    Kwon and his research team have been working on building a small nuclear battery, presently the size and thickness of a penny, intended to power various micro/nanoelectromechanreal systems (MNEMS) Although nuclear batteries can cause concerns, Kwon said they are safe.

    “People hear the word 'nuclear' and think of something very dangerous,” he said, “However, nuclear power sources have already been safely powering a variety of devices, such as pace-makers, space satellites and underwater systems.”

    His new idea is not only in the battery's size, but also in its semiconductor(半导体). Kwon's battery uses a liquid semiconductor rather than a solid semiconductor.

    “The key part of using a radioactive battery is that when you harvest the energy, part of the radiation energy can damage the lattice structure(晶体结构) of the solid semiconductor,” Kwon said, “By using a liquid semiconductor, we believe we can minimize that problem.”

    Together with J. David Robertson, chemistry professor and associate director of the MU Research Reactor, Kwon is working to build and test the battery, In the future, they hope to increase the battery's power, shrink its size and try with various other materials. Kwon said that battery could be thinner than the thickness of human hair.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park Volunteer Program

Building a Community of Park Stewards

    Position Title: Wildlife Volunteer — Butterfly Monitors (2 positions)

    Dates: Mid May to September, 2020

    Hours: 8-16 hours/ week

    Location: Cuyahoga Valley National Park

    Duties: Park staff will train volunteers in butterfly identification and data recording for one week before volunteers work in team of two to help track butterfly monitoring areas. The three butterfly monitoring areas in the park are I to 2 miles in length and are walked one time per week. Butterflies are identified by using binoculars (望远镜) or by netting and releasing. Data is recorded on data sheets.

    Skills required: Applicants must have self motivation and desire to work with others. Volunteers will work during days when temperature is 70 degrees or more, between 10:30 am and 5 pm. Ability to walk a long distance in hot and humid conditions is needed. Skills with basic butterfly identification are not a must but helpful.

    Requirements: Applicants must be current Kent Stale University (KSU) students and a National Park Service Agreement must be completed. U. S citizenship is also required.

    How to Apply: Please request an application from Mike Johnson at gkovach@ kent.edu and send it back to Mike Johnson at gkovach@ kent.edu, by February 15, 2020. If offered an interview, please come to Cuyahoga Valley National Park with your personal resume introducing your education and previous work experience.

    For further information, please call Jamie Walters at (330) 657-2142 or email jwalters@ forcvng.org.