If a stranger offered you money to keep a suitcase in your spare room，would you accept? How about the other way round：if you had too many belongings，would you consider trusting someone you met online with their safekeeping? Anthony Paine believed enough of us would answer “yes” to these questions to launch his own startup(新兴公司)，Stashbee．His business links people with space to those who need it．

    And it's just one player in the booming “sharing economy”，an industry that relies on people renting out things like their beds，bikes and even parking spaces．Airbnb，a company valued at 200bn RMB，provides a platform for those renting property short-term．DogVacay pairs holidaymaking pet owners with pet-friendly hosts，and aims to be profitable by 2017．

    All their business models revolve around one simple word：trust．So，how does Stashbee measure up? BBC journalist Dougal Shaw decided to try it out for himself．He had some odds and ends to store while renovating his house，and met a host through the site who could keep them for 475 RMB for two months．All relatively smooth and painless．

    Heavyweights(行业巨头)in the traditional storage industry，such as Big Yenow and Access，aren't convinced．A representative from Access told Shaw he was skeptical about storing with “amateurs”．He considered 24／7(全天候) access to the items and better security as the main advantages of his service.

    Stashbee agree that dealing with security concerns is important，but say business success depends more on people overcoming a distrust of strangers we've been taught since childhood. They aren't alone．Companies such as Costockage，Roost and Spacer all run similar storage businesses，and are all relying on a shift in consumer attitudes．

    And the concept of social storage doesn't stop there．CityStasher believe there's a gap in the market for those who want to store things for extremely short periods of time．

    Would you try it out? It's a question of trust．

    Mrs. Jones was my first patient when I started medical school—and I owe her a lot.

    She was under my care for the first two years of my medical training, yet I knew very little about her, except that she was thin, perhaps in her mid 70s. It might seem rather negligent not to know the basic facts of my patient ,but I had a valid reason—Mrs. Jones was dead, and had been dead for about three years before I made a patient of her. Mrs. Jones was the dead body that I dissected（解剖）over the first two years of my medical training.

Of course, her name wasn't really Mrs. Jones, but it seemed a little impolite to be conducting research into someone's body without even knowing its name, so out of courtesy, I thought she should have one. "Me and Mrs. Jones, we've got a thing going on," went the song coming out of the radio as I unzipped the bag of her on my first day — and so she was christened.

As the months passed, I soon forgot that Mrs. Jones had, in fact, once been alive. One day, though, she suddenly became very human again. I'd been dissecting Mrs. Jones a good 18 months before I got around to the uterus（子宫）. After I'd removed it, the professor came up to me, "If you look at the opening carefully, you'll see that the angle indicates that this woman has had several children, probably three." I stared at it, and I suddenly felt very strange. This woman, who had given me something incredibly precious that I'd begun to take for granted, wasn't a dead body. She was a person, a mother, in fact.

    At my graduation, the same professor came over to congratulate me. I explained the story about Mrs. Jones to him, and recalled what he'd told me about her having children and how that had affected me all those years ago.

"Well," he said, "at the beginning of your training you had a dead body and managed to turn it into a person. Now you're a doctor, the trick is to have a person and not turn them into a dead body," and he laughed, shook my hand and walked away.

    A man, who sometimes takes my bus, is in rags. His life seems different from that of the others. He looks exhausted and carries nothing. He appears along a downtown street, seemingly out of nowhere. We sometimes want to know where he sleeps at night.

    A few weeks ago he boarded the bus. A few stops later, a young woman boarded. She swiped (刷) her bus-card, only to find the machine would not accept it. The driver told her to pay the $2.25 fare. “I just bought this card,” she said. “I paid the money...”

    The driver said she could take the card back to the sales office and explain the problem. In the meantime she would have to pay the fare for that day. The woman became confused and distressed. The rest of us just watched, wondering how the problem would be solved. Suddenly the man rose from his seat, dropped a few coins into the fare box.

    “You're lucky,” the bus driver said quietly. “He paid for you.” Silence fell over the bus. The rest of us had watched the woman's discomfort, but he felt it. We lawyers, journalists and business people headed downtown to help fix the world. He fixed her world.

    I haven't seen him since that day. Some people believe angels occasionally drop down and move among us. All I know is that I have a new respect for the simple act of kindness. It speeds us along on our way.

    On Wednesday, January 13th, I performed on stage for the first time. As someone who takes part in so many activities, it's extremely difficult to find the time to be a part of any production. For me, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to try acting through the Senior Play Project.

    Auditions (试镜)came first. They weren't particularly difficult, more to see who may be a better fit tor certain roles. We were told our roles in the various plays, and started to work immediately.

    I was unsure of how I was as an actor, and I had to learn a lot fast: actions, my place in the story, my reactions, and countless other small details... As I began to improve as an actor, I was able to understand my characters better.

    My first character is a man named Roger who is a senior advisor to a presidential candidate in a play called "The Spot." He's a short-tempered guy who says what he wants and takes what he wants to assist his candidate in today's tough political races. He's on the set of The Spot, an advertisement for the candidate, to make sure everything runs smoothly and that any problems are dealt with quickly and efficiently.

    While I had really interesting characters, and the plays were funny and such a great experience to act in, I really love the Senior Play Project for the people. I worked with 12 other seniors who not only loved what they were doing, but offered help and advice throughout my entire learning process.

    Between the lights, sounds, costume and makeup, and plenty more, theatre is a team sport just like basketball or baseball. There are no small parts; there is no one who isn't needed. I've learned to appreciate live theatre, and the effort that every person in the show, both onstage and offstage, puts into it.

    The pub is a great British invention. Here, experts pick their favourites for Sunday lunch, picturesque settings, craft beer, history and more.

    Free Trade Inn, Newcastle

    House favourites

    Fyne Ales Jarl, 3.8%

    Scream for Pizza food truck, every Wednesday, £5 (if pre-booked)

    Moors and oceans are great, but looking up the Tyne towards the city's bowed bridges from this pub in Ouseburn is another kind of delight. It is especially exciting at sunset, as the Instagrammers and amateur photographers of north-east England have discovered — city lights gleaming(闪烁) against Miami Vice skies.

    The Angel on the Bridge, Henley-on-Thames

    House favourites

    Brakspear Bitter, 3.4%

    Slow-roast belly pork, £13.50

    For those who prefer their views more landscaped than wild. The river is peaceful, the ducks entertaining, the air clean, and sunsets and mist keep the view varied all year round. The pub even has its own moorings for people with boats.

    Duke of Marlborough, Suffolk

    House favourites

    Adnams Dry Hopped Lager, 4.2%

    Braised beef cheek, £13.50

    Time has a habit of leaving its trace on village pubs and the Duke is no different. Originally built as a medieval hall house, it became an inn during the 17th century. With the help of what is obviously a very active community, the pub is a lively place attracting drinkers, foodies and families with kids. Help yourself to dog biscuits if you bring your best friend.

    The Bevy, Brighton

    House favourites

    Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter, 4%

    Sunday roast, £7.95

    In 2010, what was then the Bevendean pub was closed by the police due to a series of antisocial incidents. Four years later it reopened as the Bevy, after locals bought it and carried out essential works. The whole project is an example of how an urban pub in an unfashionable area can be saved.

When we're on the treadmill（跑步机）, we're more likely to bethinking about whether we're going to make it another mile than'what's in our workout clothing. But our favorite sports ch ab are likely to be made from synthetic （合成的） fabrics, all of which are essenally plastic often created with harmful chemical additives. Now, a study conducted by the University of Birmingham shows the chemical additives from our workout clathing are available

to be absorbed through our skin.

Previously, researchers have tended to focus on our exposure to plastic through diet,but the new study raises awareness that humans can be expesed to plastic chemicals through our skin, too. And because harmful chemicals accumulate lowly and stick around in our bodies, repeared and multi-source exposure can result in having high

concentrations of chemicals inside us, potentially contributing to health effects.

The Birmingham study focused on a class of compounds（化合物）called brominated flame retardants（BFRs）, which are used to prevent. burning in a wide range of consumer products including fabries, and are linked to adverse

health effects such as hormonal disorders and mental problems.

It's known that sweat contains oil. Researchers found the oil has a chemical nature that encourages the chemicals in plastic to dissolve and spread."In short, oil y substances in our sweat help the bad chemicals to come out of the microplastic fibers and become available for human absorption,"says Dr. Abdallah of the Urnversity of Birmingham. An easy way to avoid exposure ta these chemicals is to wear clothing made of sustainably produced textiles, which dont contain the bad chemicals associated with plastic materials. Check fabric labels for items that are mostly organic cotton, he mp or merino wool. Visit brand websites to see if they make an effort to list their suppliers, and where their products come from, including their dye houses and mills. Abdallah says he minimizes synthetic fabrics

in his home, meanwhile wearing natural fibers like cotton. "Why be exposed to these chemicals even at low levels?" he says. "Why not avoid the risks?"