Weather has a strong effect(影响) on people. It influences health, intelligence (智力) and feelings. In August, it is very hot and wet in the southern part of the United States. People there easily have heart trouble and other kinds of health problems during this month. In the Northeast and the Middle West, it is hot at some times and very cold at other times. People in those states will have heart trouble after the weather changes in February or March.
      The weather can also influence intelligence. For example, in a 1983 study by scientists, the IQ scores of some college students were very high during storm, but after the storm, their scores were low. Storms can increase intelligence. Very hot weather, on the other hand, can decrease(减少) it. Students in many schools of the United States often do badly in exams in the hot months of the year(July and August).
      Weather also has a strong effect on people's feeling. Winter may be a bad time for thin people. They usually feel cold during these months. They might feel depressed during cold weather. In hot summer weather, on the other hand, fat people may feel unhappy. At about 65F, people become stronger.
      Low air pressure(气压) makes people feel free, but it also increases forgetful- ness. People leave more bags and umbrellas on buses and in stores on low pressure days. There is a“perfect weather”for work and health. People feel best at a tempera- ture of about 64F with 65 percent humidity(湿度).
      Are you feeling sick, sad, tired, forgetful, or very intelligent today? The weather may be the reason.

Getting electricity has always been a problem for the 173 people living in Nuevo Saposoa, a small village in Peru, South America. However, things went from bad to worse in March 2015 after heavy rains damaged the only power cables in the area. The villagers were forced to use oil lamps, which are not only expensive but also dangerous because of the harmful gases they produce.

    Luckily, researchers at the University of Technology (UT) in Lima, Peru heard about their problem and found a wonderful solution. They made a lamp that can be powered by plants and soil, both of which can be easily found in the Amazonian rainforest where the village lies. The lamp takes energy from a plant growing in a wooden box and uses it to light up an LED light bulb.

While that may sound amazing and even impossible, the science behind the ides is quite simple. As plants create their food (using the sun's energy, water and chemicals from the soil), they also produce waste which they return to the soil. Tiny animals in the soil eat this waste and they produce electrons – the building blocks of electrical energy. The UT team put special sticks inside the soil to capture the energy and keep it in the lamp's batteries for later use. The researchers say a single charge can power a 50-watt Led light for two hours - enough time for local villagers to get their evening work done.

The university gave ten Plant Lamps to the villagers of Nuevo Saposoa in October 2015. So far, they have been a huge success! Elmer Ramirez, the UT professor who invented the lamp, believes the Plant Lamp could help improve the lives of many people, especially small rainforest communities, 42% of whom have no electricity.

    The biggest secret about inventing is that anybody can do it! Perhaps this sounds crazy, but it's true. Maybe you have the wrong idea about inventing, so read on to discover the truth.

    Wrong idea No. 1: An invention has to be something completely new.

    Inventing means creating something "new", but the idea could come from something that already exists(存在). The Wright brothers, for example, got the idea for building a "flying machine" from watching birds.

    Wrong idea No. 2: Inventors are born, not made.

    There are a lot of factors(因素) that make invention possible. Take Mazart, for example. He was born with a talent for musical composition. But other factors were also important for his creativity. His father was a music teacher, and Mozart practiced for hours every day, from the time he was four years old. Thomas Edison said that being an inventor was "99% hard work and 1% inspiration"!

    Very successful creators don't give up when they get something wrong. As one inventor said, "A failure is the right answer to the wrong question."

    Wrong idea No. 3: Inventors are always old people.

    Don't believe that you can't invent something when you are young. Here are two examples of young inventors: Louis Braille went blind when he was a child. When he was fifteen, he invented a system of reading and writing for blind people that is still used in most countries today.

    As a young man, George Nissen was watching some artists performing in a show. He watched how they fell into the safety net and then jumped back up again. This gave him an idea, and he invented the trampoline(蹦床).

Do you sleep well at night? March 215" is World Sleep Day. It's a good time to think about our {#blank#}1{#/blank#} habits and how to get more sleep.

Sleep is important because it gives our bodies {#blank#}2{#/blank#} to relax. But today, busy work and the habit of staying up late have {#blank#}3{#/blank#} people lose sleep.

About 62% of adults all over the world feel that they don't sleep {#blank#}4{#/blank#}, according to a report.In China, about 50 million {#blank#}5{#/blank#} 60 million people have sleep problems. Losing one or two hours of sleep every night can be bad for {#blank#}6{#/blank#} health.

‘For students, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} they don't get enough sleep at night, they may sleep in class. If they're asleep during the class, they don't learn anything,"{#blank#}8{#/blank#} Mary, a doctor from No.1 Hospital.

How much sleep do you need? That depends on how {#blank#}9{#/blank#} you are. It is said that {#blank#}10{#/blank#}need 8 to 9 hours a day while the old sleep less. So from now on, you'd better not stay up late and make sure you have enough sleeping time.

Have you heard the saying "Fall down seven times, stand up eight"? It means that however difficult things get and however many mistakes you make, have the passion and energy to keep going. This is called perseverance and it can help you achieve lots of things.

Perseverance means keeping doing something over a long time, even when the going gets difficult. It's believed that you can achieve a goal if you prepare to work for it. Practicing a trick (技巧) on your bike over and over again or finishing a picture without throwing it away and starting afresh shows perseverance. Florence, 11, says, "It means never giving up, being determined and trying hard to push yourself. I go running with my mom three times a week, even when I don't feel like it, because I want to be the fastest in my class."

Studies show that feeling hopeful and working towards a goal that you really want to reach can reduce stress and make you feel happier. Achieving something you've worked hard for, and overcoming challenges along the way, can also develop your confidence and make you feel braver to try new things. Angela Duckworth is an expert in thoughts and feelings. She studies perseverance, which she calls "grit (勇气)". Duckworth believes that it doesn't matter how talented, clever or rich you are, having grit is what really helps you succeed. She explains, no matter how gifted you are, and no matter how easily you do well in your lessons, you should have perseverance.

Duckworth believes perseverance is something anyone can learn, and the best way to do this is to have a growth mind. This means believing that your brain can grow, and that you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it. So instead of thinking, "I can't do this", try thinking, "I can't do this... yet". As the book The Big Life Journal says, "People with a growth idea know they can get better by working hard. They keep trying even when things are difficult."