In the latest romance-drama, Descendants of the Sun (《太阳的后裔》), a handsome soldier Yoo Shi-jin(柳时镇) (Song Joong-ki)(宋仲基) meets the pretty doctor Kang Mo-yeon(姜暮烟) (Song Hye-kyo)(宋慧乔) in a hospital, and he doesn't hesitate to hit on her.

    The dialogue, which takes place early in the first episode(集), immediately indicates that this is no ordinary South Korean drama. There's no family feud (不睦), or love tangles, or guesses and misunderstandings. The 16-episode show is set in the fictional war-torn country of Uruk(乌鲁克). Song Joong-ki is the leader of a special warfare command unit, while Song Hye-kyo plays a doctor who works for a humanitarian medical organization. Both are sent in the midst of disaster and disease as part of their work with UN peacekeeping troops. Both know and show clearly what they want and what they hate.

    But what stands out the most are Song's skills as a pick-up artist(撩妹技能).

    Boldness and creativity are the key weapons in his arsenal. When Kang invites Yoo to drink wine with her, Yoo, who is not allowed to drink alcohol as a soldier, says, ＂There is a way.＂ before kissing her. Forget about the ＂eighth-episode rule＂ . This kiss happens in the fourth.

    Humor also does the trick. On their first date in a cinema, Yoo says, ＂This is the most exciting moment of my life. The moment I am with a beautiful woman before the theater lights go out.＂ When Kang tries to give Yoo a hard time, Yoo jokes, ＂I mistook you for a beautiful woman because it's dark.＂

    And actor Song Joong-ki, who just came back from two years of military service last May, makes sure he delivers his pick-up lines just right.

    ＂In Deep Rooted Tree (《树大根深》) and The Innocent Man (《善良的男人》), he [Song Joong-ki] showed he had the steel to play fearless and heartless men — that he could be taken seriously as an actor, despite his pretty face. In Descendants, he hits the emotional core of every scene, whether he has to be bold and amorous, guarded and mysterious, or sad,＂said critic Foong Woei Wan in The Straits Times.

    Tired of eating at the same boring restaurants? Looking for a change? Here are some restaurants that offer an original restaurant experience. See for yourself which ones you fancy.

    An Exciting Dinner

    Looking for something adventurous? The Archipelago in London is just the thing for you. One of the most popular dishes in this restaurant is crocodile. Yes, you read it correctly, crocodile. If that is not daring enough for you, there are plenty of other dishes on the menu.

    A Restaurant with a View

    Want to enjoy the sights while you're eating? Try the Top of the World restaurant. At about 244 meters above Las Vegas, diners can enjoy a spectacular view of Las Vegas in this revolving restaurant. However, the real adventure starts at the end of the meal. That's when the customers are taken from their seats at ground level to the observation rooms in elevators that travel at a remarkable speed.

    A Theatrical Experience

    Longing for dinner with some drama? Dine with mimes at Mime in Manchester. The service is unique. Your waiter will communicate your order in mime and keep you entertained with performances in between courses.

    An Unusual Setting

    Don't care about presentation? You'll be fine at the Modem Toilet restaurant in Taiwan. The theme of this restaurant is the toilet, and you would be surprised how many people queue up for the experience of eating on toilet seats.

    Renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking died peacefully at his home in the British university city of Cambridge in March 14 at age 76.

    Hawking, whose 1988 book "A Brief History of Time" became an unlikely worldwide bestseller and cemented (奠定) his superstar status, dedicated his life to unlocking the secrets of the Universe. He held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, which is a position that was once held by Sir Isaac Newton.

    Born in 1942 in Oxford, where his parents spent the final months of pregnancy to avoid the bombings of London, Hawking was said to have been a good student although it wasn't until he was in his 20s that his true potential began to really shine through. Having initially wanted to study Mathematics, Stephen Hawking chose, instead, to read natural sciences with emphasis on Physics.

    Having found University life boring, so much so that he joined the University rowing team to relieve the boredom, it was only following an oral examination that he was awarded a first class degree.

    While at Cambridge, Hawking was diagnosed with a motor neurone (神经元）disease. He was initially given two to three years to live. The illness gradually robbed him of mobility, leaving him confined to a wheelchair, almost completely paralysed and unable to speak except through his trademark voice synthesiser (合成器）.

    Stephen Hawking led an incredible and well documented life. He was referred to in many TV programs, films, and even songs, and appeared as himself in a number of programs including Red Dwarf and the Big Bang Theory. His genius and wit won over fans from far beyond the world of astrophysics (天体物理学）, earning comparisons with Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton.

    For Canaan Elementary's second grade in Patchogue, N.Y., today is speech day, and right now it's Chris Palaez's turn. The 8-year-old is the joker of the class. With shining dark eyes, he seems like the kind of kid who would enjoy public speaking.

    But he's, nervous. "I'm here to tell you today why you should … should…"Chris trips on the "-ld," a pronunciation difficulty for many non-native English speakers. His teacher, Thomas Whaley, is next to him, whispering support."…Vote for …me …"Except for some stumbles, Chris is doing amazingly well. When he brings his speech to a nice conclusion, Whaley invites the rest of the class to praise him.

    A son of immigrants, Chris stared learning English a little over three years ago. Whaley recalls(回想起)how at the beginning of the year, when called upon to read, Chris would excuse himself to go to the bathroom.

    Learning English as a second language can be a painful experience. What you need is a great teacher who lets you make mistakes. "It takes a lot for any student," Whaley explains, "especially for a student who is learning English as their new language, to feel confident enough to say, 'I don't know, but I want to know.'"

    Whaley got the idea of this second-grade presidential campaign project when he asked the children one day to raise their hands if they thought they could never be a president. The answer broke his heart. Whaley says the project is about more than just learning to read and speak in public. He wants these kids to learn to boast(夸耀)about themselves.

    "Boasting about yourself, and your best qualities," Whaley says, "is very difficult for a child who came into the classroom not feeling confident."

    A 3-year-old boy who was lost in the woods for two days is now safe at home with his family. But Casey Hathaway told his rescuers that he was not alone in the rainy, freezing cold woods. He said he was with a friend — a bear.

    The child went missing on January 22. He was playing with friends at his grandmother's house in the southern state of North Carolina. When the other children returned home but Casey did not, the family searched the area for almost an hour before calling the police. Police formed a search and rescue team to look for the young boy in the nearby woods. But two days went by and still — no Casey.

    Then on January 24, someone called the police saying he heard a child crying in the woods. Police followed up on the information and found Casey at about 9:30 that night. They pulled him out of some briar. He was in good health. Casey told the rescuers that he had hung out with a black bear for two days, a bear he called his "friend".

    Sheriff Chip Hughes spoke with reporters from several news agencies. He said Casey did not say how he was able to survive in the woods for three days in the cold, rainy weather. However, the sheriff said, "He did say he had a friend in the woods that was a bear that was with him."

    Hundreds of people helped in the search and rescue efforts, including some 600 volunteers, federal police and members of the military. Officer Hughes told reporters that at no point did he think Casey had been kidnapped.

    His mother Brittany Hathaway talked with reporters from a local news agency and thanked everyone who joined the search for her son. "We just want to tell everybody that we're very thankful that you took the time out to search for Casey and prayed for him, and he's good," said his mother. "He is good, he is up and talking. He's already asked to watch Netflix. So, he's good …"

    Do you ever pull your phone out of your pocket, thinking it is vibrating(振动), only to find that it isn't? This phenomenon, which scientists call "phantom(幻觉的)phone vibration", is very common. Around 80% of people surveyed say they have imagined their phones vibrating when they were actually still.

    So, what leads to this universal behavior? According to the BBC, the explanation lies in your brainˈs ability to discover signals from the outside world. When your phone is in your pocket, there are two possible states: it is either vibrating or not. Meanwhile, you also have two possible states of mind: the judgment that the phone is vibrating, or that it isn't. Ideally, you match the four states correctly.

However, sometimes your brain decides that the results of missing a call are more serious than a "false alarm". Therefore, you become more sensitive(敏感的) to vibrations so that you don't miss anything. This is just like the fire alarm in your home—it can be annoying when it goes off in response to just a tiny bit of smoke. But that's a small price to pay compared to a fire really breaking out because the alarm fails to alert you. Now, you might still ask: why can't our brains just make every judgment correctly without being too sensitive to false signals? The answer is that your brain bears a heavy burden every day. "You get a large amount of sensory(感觉的) information that's coming from your eyes, ears and skin, and you can't deal with all that information all the time, "Michael Rothberg, a researcher at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, US, told Live Science.

    For example, the rustling(沙沙声)of clothing or the growling(咕咕声)of your stomach may both lead your brain to believe that they come from the vibration of your phone-it is like trying to hear your name being called in a noisy room.

    So, perhaps you should just check your phone whenever you think it's vibrating. It's not too much trouble to do that, is it?