After a long winter，spring is the ideal time for sightseeing and exploring London’s green spaces．

Explore London’s parks and gardens

Springtime is one of the perfect times of year to explore London’s parks and gardens，when the city’s Royal Parks will be blooming with flowers．Go and admire the rainbow of azaleas(杜鹃花) at Richmond Park or hire a deckchair in St James’s Park with a view of Buckingham Palace.

Enjoy the entertainment at a Spring Festival

There are a good many festivals and events held in London throughout spring．Make the most of the cultural exhibitions at the British Library Spring Festival, the Sundance Film Festival or the London Literature Festival；head to Shakespeare’s Globe，which hosts open-air Shakespeare performances from late April until early October．

Get active

Warmer weather means there’s no excuse for staying indoors，so go for a walking or cycling tour of London．Alternatively，walk the Thames Walkway，which follows the river all the way from central London into the countryside；make the most of London’s “Boris Bikes”，which are available for hire all around the city and are free of charge for the first half hour．If you’re really looking for a challenge，sign up for the famous London Marathon，held annually in April．

Take to the waters

Whether cruising(航行) along the Thames River，hiring a rowing boat in Hyde Park or riding a canal boat around Little Venice，there are lots of fun ways to get on the water in London．Held every year since 1829，the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race allows teams from England’s most famous universities to compete against each other，and draws huge crowds of watching people．

Yacouba Sawadogo is an African farmer who has been travelling across the deserts for the last 30 years，using ancient farming techniques to fight the threatening deserts.

His story dates back to the 1980s when Africa suffered one of the worst droughts in its   history．During that period，rainfall reduced by as much as 80％，killing almost all the plants．Most local people moved away to different places，but Yacouba stayed back．Instead of giving in to the violence of nature，he decided to take control and change the face of the land completely．

Unable to read and write，and with no access to modern techniques and tools，he started to employ an old African farming practice called “Zai”．The practice involves planting seeds in small holes filled with eco-friendly manure(肥料)．The holes fill up with and keep the water that falls during the rainy season．This provides moisture(水分) and nutrients for the growing   plants during the dry periods．Also，the manure attracts ants，which help break up the soil further and increase its ability to take in water．

Within two decades of starting his revolutionary work，a forested area of about fifty acres came up on the land of the African desert．Yacouba featured in a documentary titled “The Man Who Stopped the Desert” through which he became known to the rest of the world．To the great joy and relief of Yacouba，what the documentary focused on was put into the re-establishment of local forests and a training program for the farmers who wanted to 1earn Yacouba’s technique．Today，“Zai” is being widely practiced in the region．

Grandparents who help out occasionally with childcare in their community tend to live longer than seniors who do not care for other people，according to a study from Berlin，Germany.

“Having no contact with grandchildren at all can negatively impact grandparents’ health. This link could be deeply rooted in our evolutionary past when help with childcare was important for the survival of the human species，”said Sonja Hilbrand，one of the researchers.

The findings are drawn from data on more than 500 people over age 70．Overall，after accounting for grandparents’age and general state of health，the risk of dying over a 20-year period was one-third lower for grandparents who cared for their grandchildren，compared with grandparents who provided no childcare．

Caregiving was associated with a longer life even when the care receiver wasn’t a relative. Half of a 11 childless seniors who provided support to friends or neighbors lived for seven years after the study began，while non-helpers lived for four years on average.

“Caregiving may give caregivers a purpose of life because they may feel useful for others and society．Caregiving may be thought also as an activity that keeps caregivers physically and mentally active，” said Professor Bruno Arpino．

Arpino noted，however，that caregiving is not the only activity that can improve health and that too many caring responsibilities can take away from other beneficial activities like working，being in social clubs，or volunteering．“Children should take into account their parents’ needs，willingness，and desires and agree with them on the timing and amount of childcare，” he suggested．

“It is very important that every individual decides for him／herself，what proper amounts of help’ means，”Hilbrand said，adding，“As long as you do not feel stressed about the intensity(强度) of help you provide you may be doing something good for others as well as for yourself．”

In an effort to discourage people from using plastics，scientists have been hard at work inventing alternative packaging products．From water bottles made from seaweed to cutlery(餐具) made from rice and wheat，a number of inventions are set to change the way we eat while we are on the go，or having a relaxing picnic in the park．

The idea of using seaweed to make eco-friendly(环保的) water bottles has been around for a few years．Recently，Ari Jonsson took his invention—a water bottle made from red seaweed—to show off at a festival. The bottles will only hold their shape as long as they are filled．As soon as these bottles are empty they will begin to break down，though they would be perfectly safe to eat．Ari Jonsson’s bottles are a step closer to a widely used alternative to the current plastic ones．

The eatable water container is not the only product to add to our image of the future．Narayana Pessapaty has also created eatable spoons．After the success of his spoons, Mr Pessapaty is ready to expand and introduce forks and chopsticks to his menu．His aim is to largely reduce the amount of plastic waste，which is a huge problem for waste sites all over the world．It is a product that may take up to 500 years to break down，and recycling companies worldwide are struggling to deal with it．

Aside from the obvious benefits to the environment，this new packaging is also cheap to produce and therefore cheap to buy．Even better is the fact that similar eatable cutlery can be made at home，possibly a science project for children or just fun with friends．Why not get experimenting and create your own recipes?