One day, Lindsay and Erica were sitting at Lindsay’s house working very hard. Fourth grade was tough, and they were working on a science project about weather. Lindsay was a hard worker like Erica, so the two girls were happy to have each other as partners. They were writing about rain and were amazed to learn that Hawaii is the world’s wettest place. Lindsay found that Mount Waialeale, on the island of Kauai, gets about 460 inches of rain a year! In 1982, Mount Waialeale set an all-time world record when it received 666 inches of rain! The girls knew that their classmates would find all these facts interesting.

The girls were enjoying the fun facts they were finding when all of a sudden, Lindsay saw Erica choking. Erica had been chewing on a pen cap and had accidentally swallowed it! Erica started pointing to her neck. Lindsay asked her if she was choking. When Erica nodded to say yes, Lindsay quickly stood up and did the Heimlich maneuver (策略) to try to help Erica stop choking.

Lindsay was afraid of hurting her friend, so the first time she tried the Heimlich maneuver, she did not do it very hard. She tried a second time, and nothing happened. After trying it a third time, the pen cap flew out of Erica’ mouth!

Erica was very grateful to Lindsay. She was terrified when she realized she had swallowed the pen cap and could not breathe. Lindsay was very brave and saved her friend. This was one science project that both girls would never forget!

An online map showing in real-time how busy some of Beijing's best known sites are has been designed for tourists and residents so they can plan their visits. The map, developed by the Beijing Cyberspace Administration and the Beijing Commission of Tourism Development, monitors four popular scenic spots across the capital - the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace and Olympic Forest Park.

People who want to visit the sites can see which parking lots have spaces free, and how crowded the venues are.

The map, at present available only in Chinese, has been designed by Sogou Inc, the Chinese search engine owned by Sohu.com Inc, and will be expanded to cover more sites across China. There are also plans to turn it into an app for smartphones.

"If there are traffic jams around these tourism destinations, roads on the map will turn red, and if visitors want to drive to the places, the map will provide every parking area in and near the spots and show a real-time monitor of empty parking lots at the same time," said Kong Xianglai, the designer and producer of the map from Sogou.

To make the information as clear and simple as possible, some buildings and streets around the sites have been removed from the map if they are not necessary, Kong said.

"Users will also see peaks in visitor numbers and where crowds are at these destinations on the map, so it is helpful for them to plan and select a travel time," he said.

A cookie can give one person a sugar rush while barely affecting another person, a new study finds, indicating that a food’s glycemic index（血糖指数）is in the eater.

People’s blood sugar rises or falls differently even when they eat the exact same fruit, bread, deserts, pizza and many other foods, researchers report. That suggests that diets should be tailored to individuals’ personal characteristics.

The researchers made the discovery after fitting 800 people with blood glucose （血糖）monitors for a week. The people ate standard breakfasts supplied by the researchers. Although the volunteers all ate the same food, their blood glucose levels after eating those foods varied dramatically. Characteristics and behaviors such as body mass index, sleep, exercise, blood pressure, cholesterol levels and the kinds of microbes（微生物） living in people’s intestines are associated with blood glucose responses to food, the researchers conclude.

Those findings indicate that blood sugar spikes （血糖尖峰）after eating depend not only on what you eat, but how your system processes that food.

A team led by a biologist created a computer algorithm(计算程序) that predicted how much a person’s blood sugar would rise or fall after eating a certain food. When testing on a new group of 100 people, the algorithm correctly predicted the response about 70 percent of the time.

A third group of 26 participants were then given personalized meals. The computer algorithm analyzed each person and then picked diets for 12 of them. A nutritionist chose a “good” and “bad” diet for the remaining participants. Good diets were ones that minimized blood sugar spikes after eating. Bad diets sent blood sugar skyrocketing. The diets contained the same amount of calories. It turned out that foods on the “good” diet for one person were sometimes on another participant’s “bad” list.

Enter to win free book giveaways from publishers. See details for each book giveaway below.

Wilf The Mighty Worrier: Saves the World

By Georgia Pritchett

Wilf is a little boy who worries quite a lot, about quite a lot of things. About almost everything.

Sponsored by: Quercus

Giveaway dates: December 17 - January 18, 2016

Copies available: 10

Battle of the Bots (Robots Rule)

By C. J. Richards

Thanks to the eleven-year-old robotics whiz kid George Gearing and his best buddy, Jackbot, the evil Dr. Micron is finally behind bars. But life is hardly back to normal. With TinkerTech closed down for investigation and the townspeople abandoning their own beloved robots...

Sponsored by: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Giveaway dates: November 4 - November 24, 2015

Copies available: 5

The Secrets to Ruling School (Without Even Trying): Book 1 (Max Corrigan)

By Neil Swaab

It’s the first week of middle school, i.e., the Worst Place in the Entire World. How do you survive in a place where there are tough kids twice your size, sadistic (虐待狂的) teachers, and restrictions that make jail look like a five-star resort? Easy: with the help of Max Corrigan, middle school “expert” and life coach. Let Max teach you how to.

Sponsored by: Amulet Books

Giveaway dates: November 23 - January 8, 2016

Copies available:10

Weird but True 7: 300 Outrageous Facts

By National Geographic Kids

Ridiculous But True! 7 is the newest addition to the blockbuster Weird But True series. This new book offers children 300 more of the strange facts, illustrations, and photographs they love!

Sponsored by: National Geographic Children's Books

Giveaway dates: November 12 - January 14, 2016

Copies available: 10