This Sunday in London, an American running phenomenon will hit the UK for the first time — and looks set to leave a mark. The Color Run™ series, founded in 2011 by Utah resident Travis Snyder, who currently lives in Los Angeles, is a 5k with a twist: runners start in white clothing, and at each kilometer get caked in brightly colored powders (made from 100% eco-friendly and natural food-grade corn starch) thrown by volunteers.

    Snyder, 35, previously organized rock climbing events but says it was having a child that inspired him to think of an event combining fitness and pleasure. So far,  600,000 people have already taken part in Snyder's fitness festivals across the world, from Sydney to Rio de Janeiro, becoming America's biggest 5k along the way.

    What does Snyder think is its appeal? "I think sometimes people get tired of being so competitive," he says. "In a running event, the person next to you is the tool that you are going to compare yourself to; whether or not you run faster than them or they run faster than you. The Color Run still has running in its basis: people still get to be out and be active. But instead of it being an exclusive experience, it's an inclusive experience, where the people next to you are part of that."

    The events attract a large population, including families and children, along with a higher proportion of women than most runs. For many, it is their first race and furthest distance. Synder's eight-year-old son has taken part in 20 of the races. "It's not a big deal because he doesn't think of it as 5k – he is just running and having fun."

    In line with this theme of participation rather than competition, there are no praises for coming first. If runners want to get a result, they will have to track it themselves, as it is not officially timed. And, needless to say, the finish line is one big party – before the clean up begins.

    What makes a person a giver or a taker? The idea of “give versus take” takes shape in all relationships of our lives. We're either giving advice, making time for people, or we're on the receiving end. We alternate between the two based on different situations we face on a daily basis, it not an hourly one.

    According to Adam Grant, a professor at Pennsylvania University, most people are matchers. They make careful observations on takers and make it a point for them to pay something back. They hate to see people who act so generously towards others without receiving any reward. Actually, most matchers will try to promote and support givers so that they can get the good they deserve.

    Another professor named Hannah Rile Bowles, from Harvard University, led a study on the idea. She asked 200 senior managers to sit down in pairs where one person would act as the boss and the other as an employee to negotiate salary promotions. Male employees asked for an average salary of $146 k while the females asked for only $141 k. But why did they not bargain as hard as the men? Simply because they were more likely to be givers.

    As a woman, I do enjoy the act of giving up my time, my knowledge and my care and attention to others. I don't expect anything in return, but I do tend to pull myself away when I feel like I'm being taken for granted. I also tend to get upset when I see a loved one's continuous actions of kindness go unnoticed. So it's safe to say I'm 50% giver,35% matcher and 15% taker.

    I do know someone, however, who is 99% giver. They're devoting their time, sharing valuable insights and going out of their way for everyone who crosses their path. Although they've changed the lives of many people, they rarely see any of it returned. But the universe is slowly repaying them; they're now extremely successful, well known for what they do.

    Explore the possibility of using the iPad App Store in the classroom.

    App Name: Bridge Constructor/Cost: $1.99

    Bridge Constructor lets players build increasingly challenging bridges over deep valleys, canals and rivers. Stress tests reveal whether the bridge kids build can withstand continual use from cars, trucks, and more recently, super-heavy tank trucks. Players can choose from among a range of bridge-building materials such as wood, steel, cables and concrete pillars (混凝土柱). Each bridge also has a budget, and there are numerous ways to successfully complete each challenge.

App Name: Pyramid Adventure 3-D/Cost: $13.99

    The interface allows users to fly around the plateau where the pyramids and the Sphinx are located at Giza near Cairo. Interactive, three-dimensional maps let students wander around the labyrinthine tombs and passageways. Uses can examine wall paintings in detail, or view royal statues and objects with a 360-degree feature. To help explain the world of ancient Egyptians, the app offers an accompanying interactive book, specially written by world-famous Egyptologist Zahi Hawass.

    App Name: Grammar Up/Cost: $4.99

    Grammar Up is a multiple-choice quiz system for English grammar. Kids and adults can learn most quickly when playing learning games with real-time error feedback, which Grammar Up provides. The app also offers students practice tests so they can see how much they've learned. A summary is presented at the end of each test, showing the time spent, a score, and the questions answered correctly and incorrectly. The results are also e-mailable.

    Do you like eating processed meat? If you do, think twice now if you want to eat such meat for the sake of your health. Why? It's because eating processed meat can cause cancer, World Health Organization (WHO) experts said last Monday.

    Processed meat is the meat that has been preserved by salting, smoking, drying or canning. Experts from the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France studied 800 patients. The experts connected processed meat, such as hot dogs and bacon, with at least three kinds of cancer. A person who eats 50 grams of processed meat per day—about two pieces of bacon—increases his or her risk of bowel(肠) cancer by 18 percent.

    The IARC has included processed meat in its Group 1 list, for which there is “enough evidence” of connection with cancer. Tobacco is also on the Group 1 list.

WHO experts also say red meat, including beef, lamb and pork, is “probably” carcinogenic (致癌的) to humans. Dr. Kurt Strait is with the IARC. He said in a statement that the risk of cancer increases with the amount of meat a person eats. Health experts in some countries advised against eating large amounts of red and processed meat. But those suggestions had been centered on the increased risk of heart disease and obesity.

    However, meat industry groups protest the result of the WHO study. They say that meat is part of a balanced diet. They also say the causes of cancer are broad, and include environment and lifestyle factors.

    The WHO report cites the Global Burden of Disease project, which shows that diets high in processed meat lead to 34,000 cancer deaths per year worldwide.

    With the New Year weeks approaching, you're looking forward to watching the splendid fireworks shows that will welcome 2019 worldwide. Unfortunately, visually impaired and blind people can't experience this joyful celebration. That may change soon thanks to Feeling Fireworks, a fireworks experience invented by the Disney Research Lab in Switzerland.

    To experience the show, users stand before a large flexible screen, place their hands at the base of the screen and move them around to feel the fireworks. Alternatively, their hands can be situated in the center of the screen, where the initial explosions happen, and then moved across to explore other fireworks.

    As the fireworks begin to explode, five nozzles (喷嘴) at the back of the screen start to shoot water, creating movement of water imitating the show. One specializes in the "blooming flower effect", another reproduces the "crackle" effect, and the rest take care of rockets and explosions. A computer controls the timing, and Feeling Fireworks allows users to experience fireworks similar to those in the sky.

    Paul Beardsley, who led the research team, says, "We want blind, visually impaired, and sighted people to all try Feeling Fireworks, and to have a shared and enjoyable memory of a fireworks evening." And the screen displaying the vivid images created by water makes it fun for everyone.

    The low-cost technology is still in its early stage, with only a 66 percent success rate. However, the team plans to continue improving the experience and believes the day when everyone will be able to enjoy the thrill of fireworks shows is not far. When ready, Feeling Fireworks will initially be available only at the Disney theme parks, and then hopefully, at fireworks shows worldwide.

    On a recent spring morning. Susan Alexander, a retired government intelligence analyst, left her Maryland home, climbed into her Volkswagen Passat and drove about three miles to pick up two strangers. She battled rush-hour traffic on the Capital Beltway and George Washington Memorial Parkway before dropping them off at Reagan National Airport. She didn't earn a cent for her trouble, and that was the point.

    Alexander is a member of the Silver Spring Time Bank— one of more than 100 such exchanges around the world trying to build community by exchanging time credits for services instead of dollars and cents. "I have time," she said. "I like giving the gift of time to other people."

    In Alexander's case, passengers Mary and Al Liepold were grateful for the ride, but it wasn't charity. Mary, a retired writer and editor for nonprofit organizations, used time credits she banked for editing work and baking. Senior citizens who don't drive, the Liepolds cashed in their credits to catch a flight to Montreal for a five-day vacation.

    Without money changing hands or shifting between virtual accounts, the airport drop-off was more like a coffee party than a taxi ride. Driver and passengers chatted about projects they've completed for the time bank, and no one raised an eyebrow when Mary said she likes "to avoid the conventional economy."

    "The beauty of this is that you make friends," Mary Liepold said. "You don't just get services."

    The Silver Spring Time Bank formed in 2015 and has about 300 members, said co-founder Mary Murphy. Last year, she said, l,000 hours were exchanged for basic home repairs, dog walking, cooking and tailoring, among other services, without the exchange of money." You get to save that money that you would have spent," she said. "You get to meet somebody else in your community and get to know that person. That's a bonus that's part of an exchange."

    A deal performed partly to make friends would seem to go against classical economics and one of Benjamin Franklin's most memorable sayings: "Time is money." To those at the forefront of modern time-banking, that is the appeal.