From his own version of Kim Kardashian's "Internet-breaking" picture to rocking the "Leia Buns"look,Mark Udovitch,28,hopes his celebrity impersonations (名人模仿) will help raise money for cancer patients.

    Dressed in a garbage bag,black cleaning gloves and a plastic bag tie,the recreation (娱乐) of Kim Kardashion's picture is one of Mark's favorite celebrity impersonations.

    Game of Throne characters are also a popular choice,and the radiation doctor has cosplayed (角色扮演) many famous figures.Mark says the reaction to the pictures has been positive,with a lot of laugh from his co-workers."I have gotten a very positive response from many other radiation doctors,who privately message me,saying how much respect they have for me,"he said.

    But while the radiation doctor is having fun with his wild and strange creations,the cause behind it is sad.A patient once told him she was more devastated about losing her hair than surgery.It was at that moment that Mark decided to stop getting haircuts and start growing his hair.The radiation doctor will shave his hair off in a "Dry July Shave Off" and donate it to make false hair for cancer patients.

    Mark recalled,"Over the course of 2.5 years,my mates have been absolutely belting me with comments about who I look like with my long hair.I took a photo of me impersonating Scott Stapp,the lead singer of Creed,as a joke last year and posted it on Facebook.It got 150+ likes,which is large for me since I am not very social media savvy(懂行的).Since that image got so much notice that I wonder how many celebrities I could actually impersonate in the lead.Shaving my head may be used as a means of raising awareness."

    62-year-old Zhang Jianxing has been searching the ancient forests of the Shennongjia National Nature Reserve for over two decades.

    Jianxing began living in the 3,200-square-kilometer mountain range in 1994, after becoming fascinated with the Yeren(also Chinese Wild Man), a 6-foot-tall humanoid creature covered in thick red-brown fur. References of the so-called Chinese Wild Man date back to the Zhou Dynasty in the works of classical Qu Yuan.

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    For 10 months out of every year, for the last 22 years, Jianxing has been living deep in the Shennongjia National Nature Reserve, hoping to meet the Yeren. Dressed in military gear and armed with a camera, he constantly looks for clues of the creature, living off the land and sleeping in abandoned homes and empty caves. To him, the Yeren is more than just an old myth, it's a branch of scince, one that he has been studying for a very long time.

Jianxing claims he has collected enough evidence of the Wild Man's existence—over 100 hair samples and 3,000 photos of large footprints—adding that he even came close to seeing it for himself no less than 19 times. And he is not alone in his beliefs. The Wild Man Research Association—-yes, there is such a thing—records show reports of Yeren encounters from over 400 locals.

    But with no concrete evidence to prove the existence of the Wild Man, most scientists regard it as nothing more than a legend.

Jianxing also added that the local government in Hubei is relying on the Yeren to boost its tourism revenues. In 2012, the Shennongjia Nature Reserve signed an agreement with Beijing to promote holidays for Yeren hunters.

    The health of millions could be at risk because supplies of medicinal plants are being used up. These plants are used to make traditional medicine, including drugs to fight cancer. “The loss of medicinal plants is a quiet disaster,” says Sara Oldfield, secretary general of the NGO Botanic Gardens Conservation International.

    Most people worldwide rely on herbal (药草制的) medicines which are got mostly from wild plants. But some 15,000 of the 50,000 medicinal species are under threat of dying out, according to report from the international conservation group Plantlife. Shortages have been reported in China, India, Kenya, Nepal, Tanzania and Uganda.

    Over-harvesting does the most harm, though pollution and competition from invasive species (入侵物种) and habitat destruction all contribute. Businessmen generally harvest medicinal plants, not caring about sustainability (可持续性),” the Plantlife report says, “damage is serious partly because they have no idea about it, but it is mainly because such collection is unorganized”. Medicinal trees at risk include the Himalayan yew (紫衫) and the African cherry, which are used to treat some cancers.

    The solution, says the report's author, Alan Hamilton, is to encourage local people to protect these plants. Ten projects studied by Plantlife in India, Pakistan, China, Nepal, Uganda and Kenya showed this method can succeed. In Uganda, the project has kept a sustainable supply of low-cost cancer treatments, and in China a public-run medicinal plant project has been created for the first time.”

    “Improving health, earning an income and keeping cultural traditions are important in encouraging people to protect medicinal plants,” says Hamilton, “You have to pay attention to what people are interested in.”

Ghillean Prance, the former director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London, agrees that medicinal plants are in need of protection. “Not nearly enough is being done,” he told New Scientist. “We are destroying the very plants that are of most use to us.”

    It was Sunday, so Dad and I were at the second-hand goods market, looking for tools, appliances(家用电器), and other things that needed cleaning. Some were broken; others, like silver cups, just needed to be cleaned and polished. It was 1974, and the Depression(经济大萧条) was very serious. Dad worked full-time at a factory, but the money wasn't enough. Dad had tried a second job for a while, but he found it was too hard on the family. One day, he had an excellent idea that set me on a lifelong course of making money to support myself. Standing beside a crowded table at the second-hand goods market, I looked over an ancient manual sewing machine. Someone had changed it to run on electric power. It was much older than Mom's machine, but it looked like it had quality and a long life built into it. "Dad!" I called. "This is a beauty!"

    Dad walked over, pulling a cart full of audio equipment, tools, worn-out appliances, and what appeared to be a block of dull kitchen knife." What have you got, Son?" I described what I saw and what I figured I could do to x the beauty up. Dad paid for my discovery, and we headed home.

    Every day after school I worked on the ancient machine, and every night Dad and I sharpened tools and knives, sanded off rust, polished metal, and replaced missing parts from various items. The next Saturday we headed off, as we did every weekend, to that same market, where we sold the treasures we'd purchased the week before—at a tidy profit. My antique beauty brought in more money than anything else, and Dad let me keep every penny.

    Dad's gone now, but I can never thank him enough. Even if we hadn't needed the extra money Dad and I brought in, I wouldn't have traded those weekends for all the picnics or Little League games in St. Louis—not in a million years.

    You can't imagine how terrible I felt at that time. A month before my first marathon, one of my ankles was injured and this meant not running for two weeks, leaving me only two weeks to train. Yet, I was determined to go ahead.

    I remember back to my 7th year in school. In my first P.E. class, the teacher required us to run laps and then hit a softball. I didn't do either well. He later informed me that I was "not athletic".

    The idea that I was "not athletic" stuck with me for years. When I started running in my 30s, I realized running was a battle against myself, not about competition or whether or not I was athletic. It was all about the battle against my own body and mind. A test of wills!

    The night before my marathon, I dreamt that I couldn't even find the finish line. I woke up sweating and nervous, but ready to prove something to myself.

    Shortly after crossing the start line, my shoe laces(鞋带) became untied. So I stopped to readjust. Not the start I wanted!

    At mile 3, I passed a sign: "GO FOR IT, RUNNERS!"

    By mile17, I became out of breath and the once injured ankle hurt badly. Despite the pain, I stayed the course walking a bit and then running again.

    By mile 21, I was starving!

    As I approached mile 23, I could see my wife waving a sign. She is my biggest fan. She never minded the alarm clock sounding at 4 a.m. or questioned my expenses on running.

    I was one of the final runners to finish. But I finished! And I got a medal. In fact, I got the same medal as the one that the guy who came in first place had.

    Determined to be myself, move forward, free of shame and worldly labels(世俗标签), I can now call myself a "marathon winner".

On a recent Wednesday, archaeologists announced a groundbreaking discovery that challenges our understanding of early human capabilities. They have unearthed what is believed to be the oldest wooden structure ever found, dating back nearly half a million years. This discovery at Kalambo Falls in northern Zambia, near the border with Tanzania, suggests that our ancestors were more technologically advanced than previously thought.

The wooden structure, which is exceptionally well-preserved, dates back at least 476,000 years. This timeline predates the emergence of Homo sapiens, as detailed in a study published in the journal Nature. The wood shows evidence of having been cut and shaped using stone tools, indicating a level of craftsmanship that was not previously attributed to these early humans.

The structure, which is thought to have functioned as a walkway or platform elevated above the seasonally wet ground, demonstrates a purposeful construction technique. A collection of wooden tools, including a wedge and a digging stick, were also found at the site, further supporting the idea of a developed woodworking tradition.

Larry Barham, an archaeologist at the University of Liverpool and the lead author of the study, described the structure as involving "the intentional shaping of two trees to create a framework of two interlocking supports." A notch was cut into one log, and another tree was shaped to fit through this notch, providing stability to the structure.

The use of wood by early humans was already known, but it was typically associated with basic tasks such as starting fires or hunting. However, the discovery at Kalambo Falls indicates a more sophisticated application of woodworking skills. Barham explained, "The structure involves the intentional shaping of two trees to create a framework of two interlocking supports," which required a level of planning and execution that suggests a higher cognitive ability.

The preservation of the wooden structure is remarkable, given that wood typically decays over time, leaving little trace for archaeologists to study. The high water levels at Kalambo Falls are believed to have played a crucial role in preserving the structure for centuries.

These findings from Kalambo Falls not only provide evidence of an early human ability to manipulate their environment but also suggest a more complex cognitive capacity among these early humans than what has been inferred from stone tools alone. Barham concluded, "The finds from Kalambo Falls indicate that these earlier humans, like Homo sapiens, had the capacity to alter their surroundings, creating a built environment." This discovery underscores the need to reassess our understanding of early human technological and cognitive development.