The sound of a mosquito can mean trouble in many parts of the world. The bite of the mosquito can be deadly. The insects carry serious diseases like malaria (疟疾). It is estimated that almost 630,000 people died from malaria and malaria­related causes in 2012, and most of these cases were in African countries.

    In the United States, a group of California scientists are working to develop a more effective and less costly substance (物质) to protect people from mosquitoes. The researchers are investigating the sense of smell in mosquitoes. They found the insects use the same receptor for identifying carbon dioxide in human breath as they do for the smell of our skin. Anandasankar Ray, who is leading the investigation, says scientists tested more than a million chemical compounds (化合物) until they found a substance called Ethyl Pyruvate. He says Ethyl Pyruvate makes the mosquitoes' receptors inactive. “When we apply Ethyl Pyruvate to a human arm and offer it to hungry mosquitoes in a cage, very few of the mosquitoes are attracted to the human arm because only a few of them are able to smell it out,” said Ray.

    Genevieve Tauxe, a member of the research team, says it was not easy to find the neurons (神经元) of noble cells that recognize both the smell of human breath and skin. “With the device used to examine the mosquito, we are able to insert a very small electrode (电极) into the part of the mosquito's nose, where its smelling neurons are and where the smell is happening,” said Tauxe.

    Anandasankar Ray says a product based on Ethyl Pyruvate may cost less to produce than DEFT, the most effective chemical treatment now in use. He says DEFT is too costly for most people who live in areas affected by malaria.

    “Perhaps by finding smells that can attack other target receptors, we will be able to improve upon DEFT and finally have the next generation of insect behaviour control products,” said Ray.

    Laws that would have ensured pupils from five to 16 received a full financial education got lost in the 'wash up'. An application is calling on the next government to bring it back.

    At school the children are taught to add up and subtract(减法) but, extraordinarily ,are not routinely shown how to open a bank account — let alone how to manage their finances in an increasingly complex and demanding world.

    Today the parenting website Mumsnet and the consumer campaigner Martin Lewis have joined forces to launch an online application to make financial education a compulsory element of the school curriculum in England. Children from five to 16 should be taught about everything from pocket money to pensions, they say. And that was exactly the plan preserved in the Children, Schools and Families bill that was shelved by the government in the so-called “wash-up” earlier this month — the rush to legislation before parliament was dismissed.Consumer and parent groups believe financial education has always been one of the most frustrating omissions of the curriculum.

    As the Personal Finance Education Group (Pfeg) points out, the good habits of young children do not last long. Over 75% of seven- to 11-year-olds are savers but by the time they get to 17,over half of them are in debt to family and friends.By this age,26% see a credit card or overdraft(透支) as a way of extending their spending power.Pfeg predicts that these young people will “find it much harder to avoid the serious unexpected dangers that have befallen many of their parents' generation unless they receive good quality financial education while at school.”

    The UK has been in the worst financial recession(衰退)for generations.It does seem odd that — unless parents step in — young people are left in the dark until they are cruelly introduced to the world of debt when they turn up at university. In a recent poll of over 8,000 people, 97% supported financial education in schools,while 3% said it was a job for parents.

    If Confucius（孔子）were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake, there would be a lot of candles. He'd need a fan or a strong wind to help him put them out.

    While many people in China will remember Confucius on his special day, few people in the United States will give him a passing thought. It's nothing personal.  Most Americans don't even remember the birthdays of their own national heroes.

    But this doesn't mean that Americans don't care about Confucius. In many ways he has become a bridge that foreigners must cross if they want to reach a deeper understanding of China.

In the past two decades, the Chinese studies programs have gained huge popularity in Western universities. More recently, the Chinese government has set up Confucius Institutes in more than 80 countries. These schools teach both Chinese language and culture. The main courses of Chinese culture usually included Chinese art, history and philosophy（哲学）. Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantages of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up for the drawbacks of Westerners philosophy.  Students in the United States, at the same time, are racing to learn Chinese.  So they will be ready for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States.

    Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about Confucius to understand their Chinese customers. 

    So the old thinker's ideas are still alive and well.

    Today China attracts the West more than ever, and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West.

    As for the old thinker, he will not soon be forgotten by people in the West, even if his birthday is.

                                                                  Journey to Mecca: In the Footsteps of Ibn Battuta

    Ibn Battuta is considered one of the world's greatest travellers. During the 14^th century, he travelled about 75, 000 miles in search of knowledge and for the love of travel. To share the learning and research so highly valued by Islamic (伊斯兰教的) culture, the ruler of Morocco, Abu Inan Faris, wanted Ibn Battuta's worldwide travels recorded and published when he returned home to Morocco after almost 30 years. Ibn Juzayy, a Moroccan Court Secretary, was appointed to write down Ibn Battuta's experiences. His travel journal, The Rihla, documents this extraordinary achievement. It gives us a first-hand account of life in the 14th-century Muslim world. The original book, handwritten in Arabic, can be viewed today at the National Library in Paris.

    The early 14^th century was a favorable age for a Muslim traveller. It was nearing the end of the Golden Age of Islam, one of the great explosions of scientific and cultural achievements in world history. Caravans and sea lanes created transportation and communication networks that spread across continents, including Europe, Africa and Asia. Towns and cities were regularly visited by merchants, traders, doctors, artists, craftsmen, scholars and pilgrims (朝圣者) carrying goods and ideas. All of these promoted the exchange of goods and ideas on a scale not seen previously in world history. As an educated man with professional legal skills, Ibn Battuta enjoyed kindness, companionship and offers of employment throughout the Islamic world.

    Journey to Mecca describes the 5, 000-mile journey Ibn Battuta made in 1325 and 1326 from his hometown Tangier, Morocco, to reach Mecca, in what is now the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to make the pilgrimage. During this dangerous and awesome 18-month pilgrimage, he met many hindrances as he was attacked by robbers, troubled by thirst, and forced to go back to his route due to war along the Red Sea. Joining the legendary Damascus Caravan with thousands of pilgrims leaving for Mecca, he completed the final section of what would be his first of six journeys to Mecca.

    The goal of the film, Journey to Mecca, was to tell the remarkable story of Ibn Battuta and to promote a better understanding of Islam in the West, said the producers.

    Beginning life at college naturally develops both excitement and anxiety for many reasons. Fors ome, this feeling is quickly overcome as they adapt to a new environment; for others the change takes longer and sometimes appears as homesickness.

    If you are homesick, you might notice an increase in:

    Low energy or motivation.

    Trouble sleeping.

    Increases/decreases in appetite.

    Having difficulty with school.

    Increased use of drugs or alcohol.

    Lack of interest or involvement in new surroundings.

    CAUSES

    The distance from home—the farther you go, the worse it may be.

    Unhappiness when things are different from your expectations of student life.

    You have finally arrived at college after working toward it for so long.

    A heavy workload.

    Students who are homesick often feel they have no control over their environment.

    WHAT MIGHT HELP?

    Keep in good contact with the people you have left behind, but also give yourself time within the university to begin to get involved here.

    Be realistic about what to expect from student life and from yourself. Set up a balance between work and leisure.

    If work is proving too difficult, you may need to improve your study skills or your organization of time.

    Remember to get enough food and sleep! These affect you emotionally as well as physically.

    Make contacts and friends through shared activities such as sports or other interests.

    If you stop being able to do normal social and academic things, seek professional help either from your advisor or dean or the counseling service.

    New research has found that even if you give up smoking, the damage it has done to your genes（基因）will stay there for a much longer time.

    In the research, a team of US scientists studied the blood of 16, 000 people. Among them, some were smokers, some used to smoke, and the rest were non-smokers. Scientists compared their genes and found that more than 7, 000 genes of smokers had changed a number that is one-third of known human genes.

    According to NBC News, both heart disease and cancer are caused by genetic changes. Some people may have had the changes when they were born, but most people get them in their day-to-day lives while doing things like smoking.

    When you stop smoking, a lot of these genes will return to normal within five years. This means your body is trying to heal（治愈）itself of the harmful effects of smoking. But the changes in some of the genes stay for longer. They can stay for as long as 30 years. It's almost like leaving a footprint on wet cement（水泥）— it will always be there, even when you've walked away and when the cement becomes dry.

    Although the study results may make people unhappy, there is a bright side: the findings could help scientists invent medicine to treat genetic damage caused by smoking or find ways to tell which people have heart disease or cancer ricks.