According to a team of researchers, an animal's ability to perceive(感知) time is linked to their pace of life.

    “Our results lend support to the importance of time perception in animals where the ability to perceive time in a very short time may be the difference between life and death for fast moving creatures.” commented lead author Kevin Healy from Trinity College Dublin.

    The study was done with a variety of animals using phenomenon based on the maximum speed of flashes of light an individual can see before the light source is seen as constant. Dogs, for example, have eyes with a refresh rate higher than humans.

    One example of this phenomenon at work, the authors say, is the housefly and its ability to avoid being hit. The research showed flies “observe motion in a shorter time than our own eyes can achieve,” which allows them to avoid being hit.

    Professor Graeme Ruxton of the University of St Andrews in Scotland, who worked jointly on the research project, said in a statement, “Having eyes that send updates to the brain at much higher frequencies than our eyes do is of no Value if the brain cannot process that information equally quickly. Thus, this work highlights the impressive abilities of even the smallest animal brains. Flies might now be deep thinkers, but they can make good decisions very quickly.”

    In comparison, the tiger beetle (虎甲虫) runs faster than its eyes can keep up, basically becoming blind, which requires it to stop periodically to re-evaluate its prey's(猎物) position.

    Our results suggest that time perception offers an as yet unstudied dimension along which animals can specialize and there is considerable range to study this system in more detail.

    One day an out-of-work mime(哑剧演员)is visiting a zoo and attempts to earn some money as a performer. As soon as he starts to draw the crowd, a zoo keeper grabs him and drags him into his office. The zoo keeper explains to the mime that the zoo's most popular attraction, a gorilla, died suddenly and the keeper fears that the attendance at the zoo will fall off. He offers the mime a job to dress up as the gorilla until they can get another one. The mime accepts.

    So the next morning the mime puts on the gorilla suit and enters the cage before the crowd comes. He discovers that it's a great job. He can sleep when he wants to, play and make fun of people and he draws bigger crowds than he ever did as a mime. However, eventually the crowds get tired of him and he doesn't like just swinging on wires any longer. He begins to notice that the people are paying more attention to the lion in the cage next to his.

    Not wanting to lose the attention of his audience, he climbs to the top of his cage, crawls across a partition(隔开物), and dangles(悬荡) from the top of the lion's cage. Of course, this makes the lion furious, but the crowd loves it. At the end of the day the zoo keeper comes and gives the mime a raise for being such a good attraction. Well, this goes on for some time, the mime keeps laughing at the lion, the crowds grow larger, and his salary keeps going up.

    Then one terrible day when he is dangling over the furious lion he slips and falls. The mime is terrified. The lion gathers its strength and prepares to pounce(猛扑). The mime is so scared that he begins to run round and round in the cage with the lion close behind. Finally, the mime starts screaming and yelling, "Help me! Help me!", but the lion is quick and pounces. The mime soon finds himself lying on his back looking up at the angry lion and the lion says, "Shut up, you idiot! Do you want to get us both fired?"

    It's a warm summer afternoon. You're cooking up the catch of the day over a campfire. Suddenly, a few raindrops fall on your arms, and before you know it, the sky is opened up. Then you hear what sounds like thunder in the distance. What should you do? Your tent is close by and would offer shelter from the pouring rain. There's a campsite picnic shelter a few minutes down the path. And then you remember that your car is parked down the road. What's your safest choice to make sure you and your families are safe?

    It's a common question for many hikers(徒步者) and campers, especially when they are camping during summer months. Heading to your car is almost always the safest choice. Your tent and a picnic shelter will keep you dry, but they offer little or no protection against lightening. Your car, on the other hand, will keep you dry and protect you from lightening strikes. Protecting yourself against possible lightening strikes is very important; lightening kills an average of 62 people in the US each year. If you keep all of the windows and doors closed in your car, you'll be able to return to your campsite safely.

    Of course, if you're backpacking(背包旅行), not car camping, and you're deep in the woods, your car won't be a good choice. So, what should you do if your car is far away and there's no other safe shelter nearby? First, you'll have to make sure that tree limbs or other objects don't fall on you or your campsite. Then you'll have to get in a safe position to avoid lightening, or flash flood conditions. What else should you do?

    The summer holidays are coming up. It's time to fill the bookshelves with quality literature for the kids. Here are some great books.

    Josephine Wants to Dance by Jackie French

    Price: $14.99 (for ages 4+)

    Josephine is a kangaroo who loves to dance. Her little brother, Joey, tells her that kangaroos don't dance; they jump. But Josephine continues to point her toes and leap through the air. When a ballet group comes to town and the lead ballerina (芭蕾舞演员) is injured, Josephine is called upon to help save the day. Can she do it, and, more importantly, does it matter that she's a kangaroo?

    House of Secrets by Chris Columbus

    Price: $19.99 (for ages 9+)

    The Walker kids —Caroline, Brendan and Nell—may have saved the world, but they can't save their home and must leave Kristoff House. Things can't get any worse, but then it turns out that the Wind Witch is still alive and planning an attack. To defeat her, the Walkers must return to the book world. The Walkers always help each other, but they must do it alone in their most important mission yet. And this time, if they fail, there's no chance of coming back.

    Edge of Extinction Book 1 by Laura Martin

    Price: $16.00 (for ages 9+)

    If you like The Land of the Dinosaurs, you will love this book. Two hundred years ago, the first dinosaur was successfully cloned (克隆). Soon after, humans realized they'd made a big mistake. Thirteen-year-old Sky Mundy's father suddenly disappeared five years ago. Along with her best friend， Shawn， she steps out into the world above --a world of dinosaurs --to look for him. Then she learns that everything she's been taught has been a lie.

    More and more travellers in China nowadays prefer homestays rather than traditional hotels, as they seek private living experiences. The house-sharing model was first introduced by the website Couchsurfing, com in 2003. It is still the largest website for travellers to find accommodation(住宿) without much money to spend.

    Encouraged by her great experience of homestays in France, Maggita, 30, considered short-term hire as her first choice in her future trips. She later went back to her hometown Shanghai and ran a "shared accommodation" business.

    The short-term hire idea has been a win-win business model. For travellers, they can rent a special room at a reasonable price and also enjoy a firsthand experience of the local culture, compared with traditional hotels. For owners, they can gain much with daily rental. Now Maggita has quit her last job in an IT company and become a host of some 20 homestays, which enables her to earn a monthly income of around 40,000 —50,000 yuan.

    In recent years, China has seen many homestay booking websites such as Xiaozhu and Tujia. Chen Chi, the founder and CEO of Xiaozhu, said the model is to share rooms or apartments that are not in use with people who need them. Instead of the traditional view that Chinese people feel uncomfortable living with strangers, Chen found that a large number of travellers got along well with house owners.

    However, experts have pointed out a series of problems brought about by the fashion. Lacking supervision(监管) to those accommodation sharing websites, the service quality and accommodation safety cannot be guaranteed(保障).Experts suggest that the online websites should closely work together with communities and local police stations to improve the services.

Kelli Boehle says her son Nik was an amazing and caring person. Nik was diagnosed(诊断) with cancer in 2008 when he was 17. He passed away in 2012. But Nik's kindness and generosity have lived on long after his death.

After he was diagnosed and started treatment, Nik was granted (给予) a wish experience from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. "For just this period of time, we didn't think about cancer, "Kelli Boehle said. "All we thought about was enjoying our time together."

In 2009, Nik met another young man Nate, who was also going through cancer treatment. He'd been diagnosed a month after turning 18, and Nik learned he was too old to qualify for a wish. The night before Nik passed away, he asked his mother to help ensure that young adults fighting cancer could have their wishes come true too. 

"It was like a seed he planted that just wouldn't stop coming into my mind, " she said. In 2012, Kelli Boehle started Nik's Wish. The nonprofit grants wishes to young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 who are battling cancer. Nate was the organization's first wish recipient. "It's meant to bring them joy and know that they're loved and that we're fighting for them, too, "Kelli Boehle said. 

Recently, 19-year-old Jordan Morrow received her wish to attend a Taylor Swift concert as part of a trip to Los Angeles. For Morrow, who has spent the last year battling brain cancer, going to the concert has done more than lift her spirits. "I think it's something to get me through whatever comes my way, "she said. "And I'm thankful for Nik's Wish for that. "

In the 11 years since Nik passed away, the organization has granted more than 300 wishes across more than 30 states. In the beginning, Kelli Boehle says she wasn't sure she could be a wish maker and work closely with the young adults. But now, it's her favorite thing to do.