It's a sadness shared by many business start-ups: why did my company fail, while so many others seem to be profiting from the “golden age of entrepreneurship (创业精神）”？

    Some people argue that opportunities and good fortune are the secrets to success. But Innovation Works CEO Kaifu Lee believes that entrepreneurs need to have certain qualities to help them face the difficulties of starting a business. At a recent LinkedIn conference, Lee mentioned some of these qualities.

    “Even though we're now in a golden period for innovation and start-ups, not everyone is meant to be an entrepre- neur. Entrepreneurs share the same qualities — they are confident, communicative and focused. They don't fear losing, and they are good at learning,”he said.

    Lee explained that he often meets young people who are irresolute about setting up a business.“ If that's the case for you then don't do so,” he said at the conference. The bottom line, he said, is that entrepreneurs should be determined and passionate.

    Passion is vital to entrepreneurs since it typically relates to self-motivation, according to Li Jun, 26, founder of Wuhan Lushenglin Plant Wall Co Ltd. “Entrepreneurs often need to work around the clock. It's easier for people to put up with the difficult schedule if they're passionate about what they're doing,” he said.

    Entrepreneurs are also generally thought of as risk-takers. But Yu Xiuhong, general secretary of the Bright China foundation, warns that young entrepreneurs should not take too many risks. “Successful entrepreneurs rarely take risks blindly or jump at opportunities others avoid. Before launching a business, it's advisable to do market research, evaluate yourself and your opponents,” she said.

    Also she advises that young people thoroughly calculate their expenses in advance. Take Li Dongjin as an example, 35-year-old long-term entrepreneur disappeared a week ago after his O2O car washing company failed disastrously. He had gotten an initial investment of 5 million yuan but wasted it all on allowance and publicity.

    On a cool morning, Wilson Kasaine heads out along a dirt path in southern Kenya. His calmness makes it easy to forget that he's tracking one of the most dangerous animals in the world. Kasaine is tracking lions—especially one lion called Marti, who is the real-life Lion King of Selenkay Conservancy.

    Tracking lions on foot may sound like a death wish, but Kasaine has been doing it for most of his life. Born into a traditional Maasai family he quickly grew to understand the beauty and danger of wildlife. Living with big wild animals forces him to develop a good sense of where they have been and where they may be going. During his 12-kilometer walks to and from school, he learned how to tell the paw prints (爪印)of a lion from those of other animals.

    Growing up, Kasaine knew that improving his tracking abilities would help him avoid surprise meetings with dangerous animals. For many Maasai, tracking is mainly a matter of self-protection. But Kasaine is tracking lions to meet them and to protect them. He leads a small group of wide-eyed tourists over the red sandy path, searching for the lion that has left upon it his prints.

Each year, thousands of tourists crowd Kenya's national parks to try to have a look at the"big five”; elephants, rhinoceros, leopards, buffaloes and lions. The international draw of these animals matters a lot because the nation's economy is tied to the protection of its wildlife. If Kenya's wildlife disappears, so does its second-largest source of income.

    Wildlife protection efforts in Kenya meant marking off land exclusively(专门地)for animals. But it also meant that the people who had originally lived in the area were forced to leave their land and into smaller surrounding areas. They are also finding it increasingly hard to keep a traditional Maasai lifestyle. But people are glad that it really makes a difference to wildlife protection.

    Mya Le Thai is a scientist studying at the University of California, Irvine. She recently discovered a process that may result in batteries that last forever. Thai said she had been discouraged that the batteries for her wireless devices degrade. Over time, they fail to charge fully.

    Thai did not like to have keep her wireless laptop connected to an electrical outlet. She decided to do something about that problem.

    At first, she and her team thought about inventing a new battery. But as they experimented, Thai discovered something that might permit lithium-ion(锂离子) batteries to last forever. Lithium-ion batteries power most wireless devices. Over time, the batteries lose the ability to hold a charge. Most of these batteries have a life span of about 7,000 charging cycles before they die.

    One of the reasons lithium-ion batteries degrade is their use of nanowires(纳米线) to carry electricity. Nanowires are extremely thin. A human hair is thousands of times thicker, for example. Nanowires are extremely efficient carriers of electricity, which makes them useful in batteries. But Thai said their thinness also makes them weak. "Nanowires break over time," she said. "That's why they lose capacity."

    But, Thai had a theory: The nanowires might last longer if covered with a material. She and the team tested her theory. The team tried many coverings for the wires. PMMA was one of them. The nanowires were coated with PMMA and cycled through charges 200,000 times. The PMMA coated nanowires showed no evidence of damage. The results suggest that batteries could last forever, without losing charging ability.

    Thai hopes to continue her research to understand why this material works so well and to see if any other material could create better results.

"It's kind of cool," she said. "I'm really glad people are showing interest in my work and not just in the work itself, but also in technology and energy."

    British Writer John Donne once said: "No man is an island; every book is a world." As an enthusiastic reader, I can't agree with the latter part of the sentence more. Every summer, I endeavor to find some peaceful places where I can attack some classics without being disturbed. Thomas Hardy wants to live far from the madding crowd. I am no friend to chaos, either.

    I read George Orwell's 1984 in a New England beachside cottage with no locks on the doors, no telephones or televisions in the rooms. 1984 is a good book that needs deep reflection. Attempting Sound and Fury lying on the bed of a poorly-occupied motel, however, was less fruitful: I made it through one and a quarter volumes, but then my eyelids were so heavy that I couldn't keep them open.

    But this summer I find myself at a loss. I'm not quite interested in J. D. Salinger, say, or Frankenstein. There's always War and Peace which I've covered some distance several times, only to get bogged down in the "War" part, set it aside for a while, and realize that I have to start over from the beginning again, having forgotten everyone's name and social rank. How appealing to simply fall back on a favorite—once more into The Call of the Wild or Alice in the Wonderland, which feels almost like cheating, too exciting and too much fun to belong to serious literature.

    And then there's John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. This title do not amaze but confuse. We're never short of sour grapes, but we've never heard of angry grapes. Anyway grapes are my favorite fruit of summer. These stone fruits can always make me feel cheerful and peaceful all at once.

    Developed by researchers and designers specializing in typography(印刷术)and behavioral science, Sans Forgetica is a new font(字体)designed to help readers better remember the information they read by forcing them to spend a bit more time on each word.

    The design of Sans Forgetica is based on a font called Albion, but with substantial  modifications(修改)to reduce familiarity and attain its goal of engaging the brain more and helping the reader retain(保留) more information. It was developed by scientists at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, who believe it could help students studying for exams.

    “We believe this is the first time that specific principles of design theory have been combined with specific principles of psychology theory in order to create a font, ”Behavioral economist Jo Peryman told DW.

    If fonts are too familiar, readers often glance over them without their brain creating may  memories of what was read. At the same time, if a font is too outlandish, the brain has to struggle too much to decipher(破译)it while neglecting the retention of information. According to its developers, “Sans Forgetica lies at a sweet spot where just enough obstacle has been added to create that memory retention.” Its modifications force readers to spend more time, but not too much time, reading each word, allowing the brain to engage in deeper cognitive processing.

    So does Sans Forgetica actually work? Does it help readers better remember the information they read? So far, studies have shown that it can make a difference, although not a significant one.

    One experiment had 96 participants recall word pairs presented in three different fonts. They remembered 69 percent of the word pairs written in Sans Forgetica, compared to 61 percent for the other fonts. In a different experiment, 303 students took a mock(模拟)multiple-choice exam, and whenever the text was presented in Sans Forgetica, they remembered 57 percent of the text, compared to only 50 percent of the surrounding text written in Arial font.

    So Sans Forgetica won't give you the memory of an elephant, but if you're the kind of person who believes every little bit helps, it might be worth a try.

OSCAR THEATRE

    BOOKING­ in person. The Box Office is open Monday to Saturday, 10 am­8 pm.­ by post Stating the performance and choice of seats, enclosing a cheque, postal order, or your credit card details to Oscar Theatre Box Office, PO Box 220, Main street. All cheques should be made payable to Oscar Theatre. ­ by telephone

Ring 0844 847 2484 to reserve your tickets or to pay by credit card (Visa, MasterCard accepted). ­ on­line

    Complete the on­line booking form at www.oscartheatre.com.

    DISCOUNTS

    Saver: $2 off any seat booked any time in advance for performances from Monday to Thursday inclusive, and for all matinees(下午场). Savers are available for children up to 16 years old, over 60s and full­time students.

    Supersaver: half­price seats are available for people with disabilities and one companion. It is advisable to book in advance. There is a maximum of eight wheelchair spaces available and one wheelchair space will be held until one hour before the show (subject to availability).

    Standby: best available seats are on sale for $6 from one hour before the performance for people eligible(有资格的) for Saver and Supersaver discounts and thirty minutes before for all other customers.

    Group Bookings: there is a ten per cent discount for parties of twelve or more.

    Schools: school parties of ten or more can book $9 tickets in advance and will get every tenth ticket free.

    Please note: we are unable to exchange tickets or refund money unless a performance is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.