【推荐1】Health care is regarded as an important way to improve the health and well-being of people around the world. In many countries of the world, free health care is provided by the government.     1    

Clearly, we all have to pay for this service through our taxes.

    2     They say that people who take unnecessary risks should not receive this free health care. For example, people who join in risky activities such as skiing are more likely to have an accident. It has been suggested that these people should pay for any medical treatment they require.

    3     Firstly, it’s difficult to say exactly what is risky and what is not. For example, not doing enough exercise is probably more risky than skiing in the long run. As a result, it isn’t fair to give free health care to an inactive person and make the skier pay.     4     Clearly, these people should receive free medical treatment if they are hurt on the job.

Finally, I would like to say that I think free health care is a good thing. I understand that the system is not perfectly fair because some people use it more than others. Besides, not all the medical treatment is really necessary for the health of the patient. The taxpayer should not have to pay the costs of such treatment.     5    

【推荐3】Here’s an idea whose time has come: A flu shot that doesn’t require an actual shot.

For the first time, researchers have tested a flu vaccine patch (疫苗贴) in a human clinical experiment and found that it delivered as much protection as a traditional injection with a needle. Doctors and public health experts have high hopes that it will increase the number of people who get immunized (免疫的) against the flu.

Seasonal flu is responsible for up to half a million deaths around the world each year according to the World Health Organization. A team led by Georgia Tech engineer Mark Prausnitz has come up with an alternative method that uses “microneedles”. These tiny needles are so small that 100 of them, arranged in order on a patch, can fit under your thumb (拇指). Yet they’re big enough to hold vaccine for three types of flu.

None of the study volunteers had serious side effects. The groups that got patches had mild skin reactions that were not seen in the regular needle group, while the volunteers in the regular needle group were more likely to experience pain. Overall, 70 percent of the volunteers who got vaccine patches said they’d rather use them again than get a traditional flu shot. The study authors declared it a success on all fronts.

The biggest beneficiaries could be people in low- and middle-income countries, where flu vaccines are hard to come by. Reducing pain is nice, but other benefits—the patch costs less, is easier to transport, doesn’t require refrigeration, can be self-administered and doesn’t cause waste of needles—are even better.

“Microneedle Patches have the potential to become ideal candidates for vaccination programs,” wrote Katja Hoschler and Maria Zambon of Public Health England.

【推荐3】Medicine is not exclusively a human invention. Many other animals, from insects to birds to nonhuman primates, have been known to self-medicate with plants and minerals for infections and other conditions.

Behavioral ecologist Helen Morrogh-Bernard of the Borneo Nature Foundation has spent decades studying the island’s orangutans (猩猩) and says she has now found evidence they use plants in a previously unseen medicinal way.

During more than 20, 000 hours of formal observation, Morrogh-Bernard and her colleagues watched 10 orangutans occasionally chew a particular plant (which is not part of their normal diet) into a foamy lather (泡沫) and then rub it into their fur. The apes spent up to 45 minutes at a time massaging the mixture onto their upper arms or legs. The researchers believe this behavior is the first known example of a nonhuman animal using a topical painkiller.

Local people use the same plant Dracaena cantleyi, an unremarkable-looking plant with stalked leaves-to treat aches and pains. Morrogh-Bernard’s co-authors studied its chemistry. They added extracts (提出物) from the plant to human cells that had been grown in a dish and had been artificially stimulated to produce cytokines, an immune system response that causes inflammation (炎症) and discomfort. The plant extract reduced the production of several types of cytokines, the scientists reported the finding in a study published last November in Scientific Reports.

The results suggest that orangutans use the plant to reduce inflammation and treat pam. Such findings could help identify plants and chemicals that might be useful for human medications.

In creatures such as insects, the ability to self-medicate is almost certainly innate: woolly bear caterpillars infected with flies seek out and eat plant substances that are poisonous to the flies. But more complex animals may learn such tricks after an initial discovery by one member of their group.

For example, an orangutan may have rubbed the plant on its skin to try to treat parasites and realized that it also had a pleasant pain-killing effect. That behavior may then have been passed on to other orangutans. Because this type of-self-medication is seen only in south-central Borneo, Morrogh-Bernard says, it was probably learned locally.

【推荐1】If you read the news about honeybee survival, it's all very confusing.

The Hoover Institution's Dr. Henry Miller notes “The reality is that honeybee populations are not declining. According to U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO) statistics,the world's honeybee population rose to 80 million colonies(群落) in 2011 from 50 million in1960.”Meanwhile Jennifer Sass of the Natural Resources Defense Council points out “The number of managed honeybee colonies in the U. S. has dropped from four million hives(蜂群) in 1970 to 2.5 million today.”

Surprisingly, both of these claims are correct. Miller points to the “global” commercial honeybee-hive count, which has grown considerably. Sass points to domestic colony numbers only, which have in fact declined.

Far more bees are farmed for making honey than for pollination(传粉) services. Since more honey is now made overseas than it was in the past, more hives are kept overseas, and fewer in the United States and Europe. And the global number of commercial hives and honey they produce has grown to meet the demands of an expanding world population. Such shifts offer no evidence of a honeybee hive crisis. They simply represent the market forces of supply and demand.

The FAO data also clarify that national or even regional declines in the size of the managed honeybee population cannot prove claims of a global pollinator decline or a pollination crisis. However, it emphasizes that solutions to those problems must be motivated locally, rather than globally.

Solutions will follow only if we take a non-subjective look at the issues, so we can address them appropriately rather than have a crisis mentality. As I highlight in a recent post for The Hill,a big part of the solution lies at the very local level: with the beekeepers, farmers, and communities that surround them.

【推荐2】OTTAWA—After leaving suddenly almost twenty years ago, fans of one Italian car brand (品牌) have been crying. “Oh, Alfa Romeo, where are you?” But with the arrival of the all-new Alfa Romeo 4C sports car this year, parent Fiat’s sportiest brand is back in business in Canada. The question is: Will anybody care?

Although it hasn’t sold a new car in Canada since 1995, the Alfa Romeo brand is one of the oldest in the car industry. It was founded in 1910. It quickly became well-known for making fast, beautiful and expensive sports cars. An Italian state-holding company took over in the early 1930s, but since 1986, the Alfa brand has been owned by Fiat.

Unfortunately, Alfa Romeo met fresh competition from Japan. By the mid-1990s, Alfa’s lone North American offerings were the Spider roadster (单排座敞篷轿车).

Many Alfa fans will tell you the brand’s success is on the racetracks (赛车场). Dating back to 1913, Alfa Romeo has always had a strong factory presence in racing. But since the late-1980s the Italian automaker has become less involved in car races.

While Alfa Romeo has shot a few videos of its new mid-engine, two-seat 4C on a racetrack. there are no plans for the car maker to get back into racing.

One of the biggest attractions for Toronto Alfa Romeo fan Vytas Svedas is the brand’s racing past. He currently takes part in many races with his father with a 1966 Alfa Giulia Sprint GT, and he thinks if Alfa wants to be taken seriously as it returns to selling cars in Canada, it has to get back on the racetrack.

Of course, not all Alfa fans need a racetrack to enjoy their cars. David Semel is the president of the Alfa Romeo Club of Ottawa. Semel’s current ride is a 1964 Alfa Romeo Giulia SS. And, he admits, the main attraction of the Giulia SS is the way the car looks, not how fast it can go.

【推荐3】It is becoming more and more important for researchers to closely observe our sea life, with climate change and overfishing damaging our oceans. However, this is almost impossible since human presence scares the animals.

Now, thanks to The Soft Robotic Fish, also called SoFi, researchers may not only be able to keep a close eye on the creatures, but also uncover undersea secrets that have been confusing us for centuries. Though not the first autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) created to observe the oceans, SoFi solves many of the problems that have hindered (妨碍) the usefulness of previous robots.

AUVs traditionally have had to be tied to a boat because radio communications do not work well underwater. To solve the problem, CSAIL director Daniela Rus and her team used sound waves which can travel greater distances, allowing drivers using a waterproofed Super Nintendo controller to pilot SoFi from up to 50 feet away. To ensure SoFi can freely move around the ocean, a pump moves water from one balloon-like structure to the other through its soft rubber tail, while a controller fitted with a battery powers the robot through the ocean.

During test dives, SoFi moved alongside the sea life at depths of 50 feet for up to 40 minutes at a time, taking high-quality photos and videos. Even more importantly, it was able to do so without causing any disturbance. The researchers say sometimes the fish would swim alongside the strange-looking robot-fish out of curiosity, while at other times they appeared completely unaware of its existence.

While SoFi currently only records videos, future versions will include sensors. “For us, this fish is magical,” says Rus. “We imagine someday it might help us uncover more mysteries from the amazing underwater world that we know so little about.”

【推荐1】A single ticket bought in Massachusetts won $758.7 million in Wednesday’s Powerball draw.

The lucky ticket holder correctly matched the numbers 6,7,16,23 and 26 with the Powerball 4 to win the second biggest lottery prize in US history, and the largest won by a single ticket. Whoever won must have been having a lucky day as the odds of matching all six numbers are one in 292.2 million.

The winner has to pay around 40% taxes on the nearly jackpot, but will still likely walk away with around $300 million, which they will be more than happy with. That’s if they choose the “annuity option(保障养老金选项)” which sees their wins being split up into 30 payments over 29 years. If they go for one lump sum (one time payment), they’re looking at a win of $480.5 million.

The jackpot came nearly two months after the last Powerball win in June 14, when it stood at $40 million. Powerball officials told ABC an estimated 170 million would be sold between Saturday and Wednesday night’s draw. The biggest ever Powerball jackpot win was in January 2016 when three winning tickets split $1.6 billion.

The Massachusetts State Lottery managed to add even more drama after giving the wrong store and location of where the winning ticket was bought, leading to even more mysteries about who has that golden ticket.

After initially claiming the ticket was sold at a shop in Watertown, just outside Boston, they later correctly confirmed that it had in fact been bought at a Pride Station & Store in Chicopee, North of Springfield. A spokesperson for Pride Station said they had been told at around 8 am, with Michael Sweeney, the lottery’s executive director confirming they will receive around $50,000 for selling the winning ticket.

As for the actual winner, their identity remains a mystery and according to the Star Tribune, by midmorning they still hadn’t come forward to claim the prize.

If you bought a ticket in Massachusetts, it might be time to check your ticket.

【推荐2】National Geographic Exhibit "Titanic: The Untold Story"

The National Geographic Museum is always an interesting and educational place to visit. The admission isn't free but is definitely worthwhile for unique exhibits like this. We'll be taking a self-guided tour hut there may also he museum staff on hand.

About the exhibition

On this exhibition, you will be surprised to find that the sunken Titanic was discovered by Robert Ballard, who was then carrying out a top secret Cold War mission(任务). In 1985,Ballard’s mission was to dive to depths of 9,800 feet using a camera system called Argo to find and document the exploded remains of the submarine (潜艇) Scorpion. The objective of the mission was to gain evidence to determine what led to her loss. After concluding his successful investigations,Ballard used the final 12 days of his expedition to discover the remains of Titanic.

The exhibition — originally exhibited at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum — shows the history of the discovery from an entirely new angle. Not only are visitors exposed to the historical events that led to the ship’s finding, but they can hear the fascinating stories of some of the passengers on board the ship. In addition to items borrowed from families of the survivors that have not been reunited since the night the ship sank in 1912, the exhibition contains those from the rich collections of the National Archives and the 20th Century Fox Archives. There are also movie sets and clothes worn by actors from the 1997 movie Titanic.

Price

Regular:$15

Seniors/Students/Military : $ 12

Children 5—12 ( free under 5 ) : $ 10

【推荐3】Big Brothers Big Sisters is based on the simplicity and power of friendship. It is a program which provides friendship and fun by matching vulnerable young people(ages7-17)with a volunteer adult who can be both a role model and a supportive friend.

Volunteer tutors come from all walks of life — married, single, with or without children. Big Brothers and Big Sisters are not replacement parents or social workers. They are tutors: someone to trust, to have fun with, to talk and go to when needed.

A Big Sister and Little Sister will generally spend between one and four hours together three or four times each month for at least twelve months. They enjoy simple activities such as a picnic at a park, cooking, playing sport or going to a football match. These activities improve the friendship and help the young person develop positive self-respect, confidence and life direction.

Big Brothers Big Sisters organizations exist throughout the world. It is the largest and most well-known provider of tutor services internationally and has been operating for 25 years.

Emily and Sarah have been matched since 2008. Emily is a 10-year-old girl who has experienced some difficulties being accepted by her schoolmates at school. "I was pretty sure there was something wrong with me."

Emily's mum came across Big Brothers Big Sisters and thought it would be of benefit to Emily by "providing different feedback (反馈) about herself other than just relying on schoolmates to measure her self-worth."

Sarah wanted to get involved in a volunteer program. "I googled it and found out how to be a part of it. I thought it would be fun for me to get involved in making time to do something because sometimes it is all work   and no play."

Big Brothers Big Sisters has been of great benefit and enjoyment to both Emily and Sarah. They love and look forward to their time together and the partnership has certainly helped Emily be more comfortable in being the wonderful, happy and unique girl she is!