Don't you just hate it when you have to take an important phone call and you're surrounded by potential eavesdroppers(潜在偷听者)? You either have to whisper or go outside to keep the conversation private, which is not good. Now Hushme aims to fix this problem by muffling your voice and making you look like Bane in the film Batman.

    Hushme is a strange high-tech mask(口罩)that blocks the sound of the wearer's voice so that people nearby can't hear what is being said. It connects to your phone via Blucetooth and comes with a pair of earphones. When you get a private call, all you have to do is put the mask on and it will do the rest. The pair of thick pads over your mouth does a good job of muffling your voice, but to ensure nothing gets through. Hushme also has speakers that play a variety of sounds when you speak.

    The Hushme mask, which comes in a variety of colors, can be worn around the neck, like a regular pair of earphones, and attaches in front of your mouth thanks to a couple of very powerful magnets(磁铁). It's not yet clear how comfortable speaking with this Bane-like mask over your mouth really is, or how effective its speech muffling ability is, so we know so far is that it makes you look strange. The sound choices for covering your voice currently include wind, ocean, rain, birds, monkey, but new ones could be added in the future.

    Advertised as the “world's first voice mask for mobile phones'. Hushme was showed at CES. At the becoming of this year. Its makers plan to sell it by the end of this year. It will cost about $200.

B

    Researchers say they have created a new super-tough material in the laboratory. It is stronger, lighter and costs less than steel. But the new material is not a product of high technology. It is wood. Researcher Liangbing Hu says that it can compete with some of the world's strongest materials or even replace steel.

    The product is called Super Wood. It doesn't require any special raw, unprocessed material. That means the cost of the product will be relatively low.Hu said, “We can start with very cheap wood, and also very fancy, expensive wood. But in the end, we get very similar performance.”

    Super Wood is made by partially removing a natural polymer called lignin（木质素）. Hu explained, “Lignin is like glue to hold all the parts together in natural wood. To be able to densify（增密）the wood completely, some of the lignin has to be removed. “Strong chemicals are put on the wood to remove about half of its lignin. Then, after being left in extreme heat and pressurized for a day, the treated wood is ready.

    The wood is strong enough to build automobiles, airplanes, wind turbines and more. Researchers are finding many new ways to use wood, including creating batteries and see-through wood and paper.Hu said, “Wood has been existing on Earth for more than a million years. And human beings have been using wood for furniture, construction for more than 10 thousand years. And the more we worked on this material, we realized, we have never fully exhausted the potential of this amazing material.”

    Dubai Aquarium & underwater Zoo

    Experience

    You will be surprised at the amazing collection consisting of over 140 species including 300 sharks, rays and the largest collection of sand tiger sharks in the world. Walk along the Rainforest, Rocky Shore and Living Ocean environments at the Underwater Zoo and you will find yourself face to face with dangerous piranha, giant catfish, playful otters, a Humboldt penguin colony and more.

    Options

    Basic Pass: With this basic pass, you'll get access to the Dubai Aquarium and underwater Zoo.

    Explorer Pas: If you're looking to get a little closer to the sea creatures, then this pass is for you. Along with the explorer pass you can also get access to the submersible simulator(潜水模拟器) & big screen theater and a free ride on the glass-bottom boat.

    VIP Line Buster: This pass includes all the benefits of an explorer pass and a tour guide. And you can get to try your hand at fish feeding!

Timings

    Sunday--Wednesday: 10:00 am--11:00 pm

    Thursday--Saturday: 10:00 am--12:00 am

    Pro Tip

    You can save a lot by buying a combo ticket(套票). This ticket gives you access to Undersea Zoo and Aquarium Tunnel alongside tickets to the observation deck on the 124th floor of the Burj Khalifa. Your government ID card has to be shown at the entrance.

    If you want to spark a heated debate at a dinner party, bring up the topic of genetically modified foods. For many people, the concept of genetically altered, high-tech crop production raises all kinds of environmental, healthy, safety and ethical questions. Particularly in countries with long a grain traditions—and vocal green lobbies—the idea seems against nature.

    In fact, genetically modified foods are already very much apart of our lives. A third of corn and more than half the soybeans and cotton grown in the U. S. last year were the product of biotechnology, according to the Department of Agriculture. More than 65 million acres of genetically modified crops will be planted in the U. S. this year. The genetic genie(鬼怪) is out of the bottle.

    Yet there are clearly some very real issues that need to be resolved. Like any new product entering the food chain, genetically modified foods must be subjected to rigorous testing. In wealthy countries, the debate about biotech is tempered by the fact that we have a rich array of foods to choose from and a supply that far exceeds our needs. In developing countries desperate to feed fast-growing and underfed populations, the issue is simpler and much more urgent: Do the benefits of biotech outweigh the risks？

    The statistics on population growth and hunger are disturbing. Last year the world's population reached 6 billion. The U. N. estimates that nearly 800 million people around the world are undernourished. The effects are devastating. About 400 million women of child-bearing age are iron deficient, which means their babies are exposed to various birth defects. As many as 100 million children suffer from vitamin A deficiency, a leading cause of blindness.

    How can biotech help? Biotechnologists have developed genetically modified rice that is fortified with beta-carotene—which the body converts into vitamin A—and additional iron, and they are working on other kinds of nutritionally improved crops. Biotech can also improve farming productivity in places where food shortages are caused by crop damage attributable to pests, drought, poor soil and crop viruses, bacteria or fungi.

    Sometimes the best gift is the one you can use at home. These items will likely be appreciated all year for time spent relaxing, entertaining or getting things done.

    Jawbone Jambox Wireless Speaker

    $199 retail (far cheaper online). The bigger version goes for $299.

    The cool-looking rechargeable wireless speaker is getting good reviews for its big, balanced sound and compact design. It lets you stream music from smartphones, laptops and other Bluetooth devices(设备).

    Chalkboard Wall Planter

    $129. 95 retail at Williams-Sonoma

    No need to make room indoors for more flower pots. Grow a herb garden indoors in a wall-fixed vertical planter, and you'll get the benefits of fragrance (芳香). Fill the 10 planting cells with the herbs of your choice, and hang the planter in a sunny spot. Use the chalkboard borders to label each plant. Measures 16 by 5 by 24 inches and weighs 11 pounds.

    Pocket Projector

    $299 retail at Brookstone

    Let everyone get a good look at the pictures on your smartphone, computer, video player, or digital camera. This rechargeable pocket projector can turn a flat surface into a 60-inch big screen with 1080p HD picture quality. Invite friends for a movie night or a presentation. An HDMI cable is included to connect it to your device.

    Adjustable Tablet Stand

    $159 at Sharper Image

    This is the gift for the person who enjoys mobile. Use it to keep your hands free while doing homework, crafts or writing out bills. It can be rotated through 360 degrees. The stand slides easily under your furniture and can be used on either side of a bed or a sofa. It also folds for storage.

Rolland and Adeline are proud parents to nine beautiful children. Their youngest two, daughter Lanto, and son, Rindra, were both born with cleft lip（唇裂） conditions. In Madagascar, many families have never seen a cleft lip before, so it's a condition often greeted with fear and misfortune in some rural communities.

However, the news of Lanto and Rindra's cleft lip wasn't much of a shock for Rolland and Adeline because Rolland's cousin—a man in his fifties—had lived his entire adult life with an untreated cleft lip. Although seeing a relative with a cleft lip meant the family weren't fearful of the condition, they knew the negative impact an untreated cleft lip can have on a person's health and life. As any loving parents would, Rolland and Adeline wanted a better future for their children.

Rolland heard an advertisement on the radio about an Operation Smile surgical programme in Antsirabe, Madagascar. Finding out that Rindra and Lanto could have the cleft lip surgery they needed, for free, was a dream for the family. Unlike here in the UK, health services aren't free in many parts of the world, and the costs of treatment—or even travelling to reach medical facilities—are out of reach for most families.

When Rolland and his children arrived at the patient village, they were surprised to see so many other families in the same position. After a thorough medical evaluation by medical volunteers, Lanto was found to be fit enough for surgery, and later got the new smile her parents had dreamed of for her. But, for younger brother Rindra, the journey to a new smile would take a little longer.

Operation Smile has provided hundreds of thousands of safe surgeries for children withc left lip conditions worldwide. For more information about our work or to find out how you can help, visitwww.operationsmile.org .