【推荐1】Go to North pole on The polar Express！

Between November 24th and December 30th each year, you and your kids can enjoy The Polar Express Train Ride in the Sea World Orlando！

This amazing journey takes you and your children to the North Pole on the actual train that has appeared in The Polar Express movie. You will have your yellow ticket checked by the conductor（售票员）, dance with cooks who will serve tasty drinks and treats, Interact（互动）with the characters from the movie, along with enjoying Chris Van Allsburg’s reading of the classic children s book The Polar Express.

Upon arrival at the North Pole, Santa Claus will climb into the train and visit each family. Each child will receive a bell from him as the first gift of Christmas.

After singing many sweet Christmas songs, kids will return to real life with a completely new sense of Christmas joy.

To make the ride more exciting, kids may put on costumes（戏装）, just like the children on the train in the movie!

It is a long way from Orlando to the North Pole, but The Polar Express Train Ride can take you there and back in a little over an hour. Ticket price is $32 for one seat. Children under the age of 2 may ride for free if they do not take a seat. A ticket at half price is required if the child takes a separate seat.

【推荐3】Beijing issued on Thursday China’s first autonomous(自动的)driving permits to two robotaxi operators-Baidu Inc and Pony. ai, which for the first time allows the removal of a safety operator from the driver’s seat on public roads in the capital.

Industry experts said the move marks a significant milestone for the autonomous ride-hailing(打车服务)industry in China, indicating an openness to taking a further step toward a fully driverless vehicle.

Since Thursday, users can hail a driverless robotaxi using the Apollo Go mobile app from 10 am to 4 pm for free, according to Baidu Inc. The driverless robotaxi is expected to hit the road around the clock within six months, said Wei Dong, vice-president of Baidu Intelligent Driving Business Group. The company is concentrating on expanding its commercial robotaxi pilot services in more cities at an early stage.

The robotaxi service provided by Pony.ai, which obtained a taxi license in Guangzhou on April 24, covers hundreds of locations, including subway stations, parks, stadiums, commercial buildings and residential areas “The approval to operate driverless robot axis in Beijing is a critical milestone in the change from testing driverless autonomous vehicles to offering driverless robotaxi rides to public passengers, ”said Peng Jun, co-founder and CEO of Pony.ai.

Beijing is taking the lead in promoting the development of commercialized autonomous driving in China, said Zhang Xiang, a researcher at the Automobile Industry Innovesearcher at the Automobile Industry Innovation Research Center, adding that other first-tier cities, such as Shanghai and Shenzhen, might follow Beijing and allow autonomous vehicles to carry passengers in the near future.

The move will help autonomous driving companies get more testing experience of the driverless pattern, said Lyu Jinghong, an intelligent mobility analyst, adding that more tests are required to realize the goal of fully autonomous driving.

【推荐1】

The Jitterbug Flip is one of the most affordable cell phones on the market.

【推荐3】Popular Shows

Every family has a story. This Is Us follows the Pearson family across the decades: from Jack and Rebecca as young parents in the 1980s to their 37-year-old kids, Kevin, Kate and Randall searching for love and fulfilment in the present day. This dramedy in a grounded way shows how the tiniest events in our lives impact who we become, and how the connections we share with each other can survive time, distance and even death.

The Voice, which has won four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program, returns with the strongest singers from across the country invited to compete in the show’s new season. Superstar singer, songwriter, actress and pop-culture icon Miley Cyrus takes a red chair on Season 13 alongside the show’s returning coaches Adam Levine and Blake Shelton and the host Carson Daly.

Saturday Night Live, the Emmy Award-winning late-night comedy show, enters its 45th season for another year of laughs, surprises and great performances. Since its first show in 1975, Saturday Night Live has launched the careers of many of the brightest comedy performers of their generation. The program has won 67 Emmy Awards, the most for any show in television history. Saturday Night Live is influencing the political dialogue while making fun of it at the same time.

The summer sensation America’s Got Talent promises of the fun, excitement and feel-good performances that America has come to love over 13 seasons. With the show open to acts of all ages, America’s Got Talent continues to celebrate the variety format (形式) like no other show on television. Year after year, America’s Got Talent features a colorful array (大量) of singers, dancers, comedians, magicians and hopeful stars.

【推荐1】When my mother died a few years ago，we looked through boxes in which she had lovingly stored her children’s lives. Handwritten report cards from grade schoo1. News cuttings about games. Postcards from summer camps. And so many photos：birthdays，graduations，weddings and trips to wonderful places.

After my father’s death，I found many handwritten pity letters from his friends. Rereading them once a year，I am transported back to the time I miss so much. Of course，I received many emails about Dad as well，but I wouldn’t begin to know how or where to find them. Besides，personal messages are more meaningful when presented in the hand of the sender.

My kids，now in their 20s，have mostly digital keepsakes. Increasingly they rely on Facebook to store memories. Their letters from college，sent by email，are long gone. Many photos，never printed，have disappeared. I really worry that for them.

In Andrew Hoskins’new book Digital Memory Studies，he concludes，“Despite the gradual disappearance of photographs，letters and other objects that are reminders of people and past experiences，their keeping is like holding on to those people and experiences. ”Digital items offer nothing of the kind.

Mark B. McKinley explained that collecting physical memorabilia(值得纪念的事物)can       serve as a means of control to bring out a comfort zone in one’s life，calming fears and easing worries. It’s no wonder that children are fond of collecting things—it's important to their development.

One mother says，“My Son collects pieces of broken stones. ”The kid might become a great geologist or a successful businessman. But will his mom print out a photo of that unique collection? Will his degree in geology be memorialized on paper，or will he be given a digital diploma? And will he collect his first paycheck or will he be paid by direct deposit?

【推荐2】Plants: we eat them, juice them, weave them — and now it seems we can mine them too!

After a successful experiment on the island of Borneo, Botany Professor Alan Baker and a group of researchers want to introduce phytomining (harvesting minerals from plants) as a better, partial substitute for traditional mining.

Phytomining means collecting metal from live plants. However, this can only be done with a group of plants known as “hyperaccumulators.” They naturally attract and absorb minerals through their roots and then store huge, pure concentrations of these minerals in their bodies. The metal can then be extracted from the plant’s sap (液), oil, or sometimes even live tissue.

The term “phytomining” was coined in 1983 by Rufus Chaney of the US Department of Agriculture, who had worked with Baker in early phytomining experiments. But the idea of plant-mining was actually thought of 500 years ago by German scientist Georgius Agricola, who smelted leaves to identify the metals underground.

Baker and his colleagues see a lot of potential in phytomining. Not only can it help meet the growing global demand for metals, but is also a way of undoing some of that damage to the environment by traditional mining.

One of the biggest problems with traditional mining is that it pollutes the surrounding area. Phytomining can extract that metal waste, plus planting the hyperaccumulators would regrow the deforested areas created by mining operations.

Aside from this, if phytomining is able to replace part of traditional mining, then there would be fewer instances of bad mining practices like abandoned mines, which pollute the nearby waters. Also, since phytomining provides metal that is already naturally pure, there is no need to use huge amounts of energy to purify the ore (矿石).

However, phytomining has its drawbacks. Harvesting plants on a large scale is expensive today, compared to traditional mining. Besides, plants can be wiped out by diseases or unexpected weather conditions.

However, there are many reasons to consider phytomining. It gives us the hope that our advancement doesn’t mean sacrificing Mother Earth.

【推荐3】It was a cloudy Monday in late October 2012 when Hurricane Sandy approached Long Island. I was confident that Sandy would pass through, leaving us undamaged because of our experience with Hurricane Irene last year.

Some of my neighbors chose to leave, but my husband and I decided to stay. My husband moved my car to higher ground and left his in the driveway. We pulled out our candles and flashlights and felt prepared for Hurricane Sandy.

The sky had become very dark. The heavy winds and rains had moved in. Power lines moved from side to side rapidly and water rose quickly in my front yard. My husband put pumps in the garage to fight against the water. I watched in disbelief and helplessness as I realized that even the most powerful pump could not manage it.

My husband went to turn off the main power of the house to prevent a fire and move his car to higher ground. The time that he was gone felt like an eternity and I was afraid to be alone. When I opened the door, my husband was standing there and informed me that the water was too deep for us to try to go through We had to stay and wait out the storm.

When the water reached the third step of our high ranch home, we decided that we would climb to the roof if the water continued to rise.

We were not prepared for Sandy. The cost was huge in the loss of personal items-such as pictures, videos…—that tied us to special memories of our past. Despite that loss.l feel we areblessed to be alive and share our story.