A handsome man can earn a fifth more than an average-looking colleague but a beautiful woman is not paid a penny more than her average-looking colleague, new research has shown.

    The study by senior economists（经济学家）found that being good-looking meant male workers could earn 22 percent more than average-looking colleagues. Researchers said good looks did not give women a similar advantage.

    Andrew Leigh, a former economics professor at the Australian National University who co-authored the report, said: “Beauty can be a double-edged sword for women.”

    “Some people still believe good looks and intelligence are incompatible(矛盾的) in women, so a good-looking women can't be that productive, but it doesn't affect men's pay.”

    He said that although he believed good-looking women may also earn more, the research did not support his theory.

    The research found that handsome men in all jobs, from manual labour（手工劳动）to highly-paid professional careers, can earn 22 percent more than their colleagues doing the same work.

    Men with below-average looks face a battle in the office, with ugliness reducing a man's earnings by 26 percent compared to an average-looking worker.

    Former male model, Caitlan Mitchell, 28, who has a first class degree in history from Edinburgh University and now works for a cosmetics company, told the Sunday Times:' It gives you confidence, and I suspect people tend to warm to you more quickly.”

    The study, named Unpacking the Beauty Premium, was the largest exercise of its kind and repeated a survey from 1984 to see if the beauty premium（美貌溢价) had changed.

    Leigh said the research showed people in the workplace were “lookist(以貌取人的)”and he hoped the findings would encourage employers to remove their prejudice.

    In 1978, I was 18 and was working as a nurse in a small town about 270 km away from Sydney, Australia. I was looking forward to having five days off from duty. Unfortunately, the only one train a day back to my home in Sydney had already left. So I thought I'd hitch a ride (搭便车).

    I waited by the side of the highway for three hours but no one stopped for me. Finally, a man walked over and introduced himself as Gordon. He said that although he couldn't give me a lift, I should come back to his house for lunch. He noticed me standing for hours in the November heat and thought I must be hungry. I was doubtful as a young girl but he assured (使……放心) me I was safe, and he also offered to help me find a lift home afterwards. When we arrived at his house, he made us sandwiches. After lunch, he helped me find a lift home.

Twenty-five years later, in 2003, while I was driving to a nearby town one day, I saw an elderly man standing in the glaring heat, trying to hitch a ride. I thought it was another chance to repay someone for the favor I'd been given decades earlier. I pulled over and picked him up. I made him comfortable on the back seat and offered him some water.

    After a few moments of small talk, the man said to me, “You haven't changed a bit, even your red hair is still the same.”

    I couldn't remember where I'd met him. He then told me he was the man who had given me lunch and helped me find a lift all those years ago. It was Gordon.

    China is a big country, and there is no simple answer to the question “When is the best time to visit China? ” There are two best times to visit China, depending on your preference.

    October

    Things to do: hike on the Great Wall, photography tour

    Places to visit: Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, Guilin, Jiuzhaigou, Chengdu

The best time to go to China is early autumn (October).

    Most of China has warm temperatures, and the summer rains have stopped (apart from around HongKong and Sanya) so it's pretty dry. The autumnn colours are also amazing. It is quiet at tourist attractions for most of the month, as the summer holiday travel crowds have gone. But try to avoid October 1st -7th, which is the Chinese National Day holiday, as attractions, transport and hotels are packed with Chinese tourists and prices go up a lot.

    Late Spring (April to May)

    Things to do: appreciate flowers, Li River cruise, ethnic festivals

    Places to visit: Beijing, Xi'an, Guilin, Huangshan, GuiZhou, Zhangjiajie

    The second-best time to travel to China is probably in April and May, when the flowers are in bloom and the temperatures are warming up. In late spring, temperatures across China are getting into the 20s (℃), except the extreme northwest and northeast. While the North of China is still dry, the summer rains have already begun in the South. This could actually improve the view in the form of mountain fog in mountainous areas like the Li River and the Yellow Mountains.

    Ethnic festivals in GuiZhou are concentrated in April and May, such as the Sisters' Meal Festival. If you are interested in Miao and Dong ethnic cultures, this is a good time to visit.

    Travel prices are average: cheaper than June to October, but more expensive than the lower season from November to March.

    You can't always predict a heavy rain or remember your umbrella. But designer Mikhail Belvacv doesn't think that forgetting to check the weather forecast before heading out should result in you getting wet. That's why he created lampbrella, a lamp post with its own rain sensing umbrella.

    The designer says he come up with the idea after watching people get wet on streets in Russia. “Once, I was driving on a central Saint Petersburg street ad saw the street lamps lighting up people trying to hide from the rain. I thought it would be appropriate to have a canopy(伞蓬)built into a street lamp.” he said.

    In addition to the rain sensor, there's also a 360°motion sensor on the biberglass street lamp which detects whether anyone's using the lampbrella. After three minutes of not being used the canopy is closed.

    According to the designer, the lampbrella would move at a relatively low speed, so as not to cause harm to the pedestrians. Besides, it would be grounded to protect from possible lighting strike. Each lampbrella would offer enough shelter for several people. Being installed at 2 meters off the ground, it would only be a danger for the tallest of pedestrians.

    While there are no plans to take lampbrella into production, Belyacv says he recently introduced his creation one Moscow Department, and insists this creation could be installed on my street where a lot of people walk but there are no canopies to provide shelter.

    Self-driving cars have been backed by the hope that they will save lives by getting involved in fewer crashes with fewer injuries and deaths than human-driven cars. But so far, most comparisons between human drivers and automated vehicles have been unfair.

    Crash statistics for human-driven cars are gathered from all sorts of driving situations, and on all types of roads. However, most of the data on self-driving cars' safety have been recorded often in good weather and on highways, where the most important tasks are staying in the car's own lane and not getting too close to the vehicle ahead. Automated cars are good at those tasks, but so are humans.

    It is true that self-driving cars don't get tired, angry, frustrated or drunk. But neither can they yet react to uncertain situations with the same skill or anticipation of an attentive human driver. Nor do they possess the foresight to avoid potential perils. They largely drive from moment to moment, rather than think ahead to possible events literally down the road.

    To a self-driving car, a bus full of people might appear quite similar to an uninhabited corn field. Indeed, deciding what action to take in an emergency is difficult for humans, but drivers have sacrificed themselves for the greater good of others. An automated system's limited understanding of the world means it will almost never evaluate (评估) a situation the same way a human would. And machines can't be programmed in advance to handle every imaginable set of events.

    Some people may argue that the promise of simply reducing the number of injuries and deaths is enough to support driverless cars. But experience from aviation (航空) shows that as new automated systems are introduced, there is often an increase in the rate of disasters.

    Therefore comparisons between humans and automated vehicles have to be performed carefully. To fairly evaluate driverless cars on how well they fulfill their promise of improved safety, it's important to ensure the data being presented actually provide a true comparison. After all, choosing to replace humans with automation has more effects than simply a one-for-one exchange.

ABCmouse

ABCmouse is one of the most well-known learn to read apps for children. With its expert-made curriculum, the program offers endless hours of content for children aged 2 to 8. The interactive app offers thousands of activities to help develop this essential skill, with lessons that expose students to math, arts, and science at age-appropriate levels too. The cost after free trial is around $15 per month. Families who purchase a full year's subscription can get about 40% off the price.

Homer

Homer provides a personalized learning path for children aged 2 to 8. Children will learn reading, math, creative thinking, and problem-solving skills in a fun and engaging way. Instead of a one-size-fits-most approach, Homer customizes learning plans and allows students to take the lead in deciding what they want to work on. The price point is in line with similar apps at about $5 per month after a free trial, or roughly $60 for a full year or $100 for lifetime access.

Hooked on Phonics

Hooked on Phonics is an exceptional tool for homeschoolers, with a wide range of lessons, games, and fun activities. It is one of the most popular brands for teaching kids to read, and its integrated system makes it an ideal option for homeschooling students. Children are introduced to each new concept through a series of fun activities, videos, and even songs. The system is a little bit pricier than other apps, at about $16 per month after a trial month for roughly $1.

FarFaria

FarFaria invites children to join in on a magical adventure that includes island hopping and the choice between reading the story or having it narrated completely with fun, magical animation. While the free membership offers one story a day, paid subscribers unlock access to unlimited adventures at roughly $8 per month. Readers can either read the books themselves or take advantage of the "read to me" option to have stories read aloud by professional narrators.