【推荐1】Today’s Flight Time Table

（Departure＝leave）

【推荐3】Japan is starting to experiment with self-driving buses in rural (乡村的) communities, such as the town of Nishikata, where the elderly are living a hard life because of fewer bus and taxi services as the population ages and becomes smaller.

The advance of the self-driving technology is making cities such as Paris and Singapore experiment with such services, which could prove important in Japan, where populations are not only graying, but becoming smaller, in rural areas.

Japan could start the self-driving services for communities that are far from cities by 2020, if the experiments begun this month prove successful.

The government plans to turn highway rest stops into centers from which to drive the elderly to medical and banking services.

“Smaller towns in Japan are graying even faster than cities, and there are just not enough workers to drive buses and taxis,” said Hiroshi Nakajima of mobile gaming software maker DeNA Co.

In the initial (最初的) experiments, the elderly of Nishikata were sent from a service area to some organizations providing healthcare services.

“I worry about not being able to go out when I’m no longer able to drive,” said one test rider, Shizu Yuzawa, adding that she would be open to using such services.

The test also checked the vehicle’s safety in road conditions, and if those crossing its path would react to the warning it gives.

The ride, at a speed of about 10 kilometers per hour, felt comfortable and safe, said test taker Mieko Shimazaki, 71, but her 72-year-old husband, Susumu, said, “Self-driving cars could be useful in the future, but I’d like to see them go faster, at least at 40 kilometers per hour.”

【推荐2】For motorcycle enthusiasts, nothing beats the excitement of riding your motorcycle on the open highway with the wind on your back. With gas prices rising, riding motorcycles is economical and a much greener way to travel. Along with the benefits comes the risk of personal injury if an accident occurs. After all, you’re not protected by steel like you are while driving your car. Besides a helmet (头), the latest safety innovations, new airbag jeans, are personal airbags that you can wear to better protect your life.

Airbags have been protecting people in car accidents for decades. Now, a Swedish company, Mo’cycle, teamed up with an airbag technology company which previously produced upper body protection for motorcycle riders, to design and produce the airbags jeans. This kind of airbag can offer protection for the motorcycle rider’s lower body, especially the tailbone, in case of an accident. According to the company, “It reformed the airbag technology to protect the first bone of the spinal column (脊柱), because spinal column injury is the leading cause of disability among motorcycle riders.”

The airbag jeans look like conventional trousers. Its component is removable and the jeans can be washed, dried, and worn again. The jeans are made of a fabric called Armalith which is stronger and weighs less than steel. Armalith helps to prevent riders from injuries caused by force of friction after a fall. The airbags fixed into the fabric help protect the rider if he or she falls off the motorcycle. If the rider is separated from the vehicle, the airbags are touched off in seconds. That’s because the mechanism is actually a chain that connects the jeans to the motorcycle.

Mo’cycle’s airbag jeans are available on the company’s crowdfunding campaign along with an airbag shirt and a complete protection package. Obviously, they can provide protection for more motorcycle riders. Making the roads safer for them is certainly a worthy effort.

【推荐3】Chocolate is good for your heart, skin and brain. Usually, people think that chocolate is bad for their health. They describe chocolate as “something to die for” or say “death by chocolate”. Now they should bite their tongues! Evidence (证据) is showing that some kinds of chocolate are actually good for you in the following ways:

A happier heart

Scientists at Harvard University recently examined 136 studies on cocoa — the main ingredient (成分) in chocolate and found that it does seem to strengthen the heart.

Better blood pressure

Jeffrey Blumberg from Tufts University recently found that people with high blood pressure who ate 3.5 ounces (盎司) of dark chocolate per day for two weeks saw their blood pressure drop quickly.

Muscle magic

Chocolate milk may help you recover after a hard workout (锻炼). In a small study at Indiana University, people who drank chocolate milk between workouts did better on a tiredness test than those who had some sports drinks.

Better for your skin

German researchers found that chocolate helped protect and increase blood flow to the skin, improving its appearance.