【推荐2】I was travelling with students in Barcelona,walking through the famous street La Rambla, when I noticed two guys making fun of me.I could see them on in the reflection of a mirrored building,making gestures with their hands to suggest how much bigger I was than the thin girl standing next to me.They painted her figure in the air like an hourglass(沙漏).Then they painted my shape like a ball.They were saying something,too,but there was only one word I could make out:Gorda.Fat woman.

I’ve been hearing comments like this for much all my life.Maybe someone else would have yelled at them,or shrunk(畏缩) inside.But I don’t get upset when this happens.

I pulled out my camera,and set up a shoot.I suspect that if I met with these narrow-minded people,my words would have no effect.So,rather than using the attackers’ actions to beat myself up,I just prove them wrong.The camera gave me my voice.

For about a year,I’d been taking pictures of strangers’ reactions to me in public for a series I called“Wait Watchers.”My goal is to capture a wide range of social groups so I travel as much as I can.I’ve photographed in Spain,Peru,Chicago,New York and Memphis.I set up my camera on a tripod(三脚架) or bench,or an assistant will take hundreds of photographs in several minutes.I then comb the images to see if I captured a reaction.

And I don’t get hurt when I look at the images.I feel like I am pushing the stare back on to them to let people see their stare.I’m fine with who I am and don’t need anyone’s acceptance to live my life.I only get angry when I hear someone comment about my weight but I don’t get the shot.

Since the project started getting media attention,I’ve received hundreds of emails from people thanking me.There are so many people in the world who feel they have the right to criticize someone for the way they look.I got an email from a 15-year-old girl in Belgium who said my images made her“feel better and not care about what others think.”That made me proud.As for what the images mean,viewers may make sense of the images as they see fit,I’m trying to start a conversation.

【推荐1】More than 40% of the insects around us could become extinct in next few decades. Simultaneously, the population of the adaptable and general species like that of houseflies, cockroaches and fleas is likely to bloom.

Although some species of insects are vectors (带菌者)of serious diseases, or others destroy crop, but a world without insects is inconceivable. Their importance in interconnected ecosystems and food chains can never be undermined. Insects have essential roles in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems as herbivores, carnivores and decomposers.

There are 17 times as many insects as humans, and these numbers are essential for proper functioning of all ecosystems. Insects are responsible for pollinating around 75% of the crops in the world and also serve as food for other creatures. They replenish soils and keep the number of pests in check.

The primary cause of this extinction is loss of habitat. Be it the grasslands or wetlands, everything is vanishing in man's quest towards intensive agriculture and urbanization.

Another cause of this decline is the excessive use of pesticides, fertilizers and introduced invasive species. As if this wasn't enough, climate change and pollution of all sorts have already started worsening their lives. Climate change may also cause emergence of new pests and other vector-borne insects.

The biggest threat of Insect Armageddon comes from Germany, where 75% of insect population have declined in just 30 years and from Puerto Rico, where due to 2 degree rise in temperature, there has been 60 fold decline in invertebrate (无脊椎的)population since the 1970s.

However, the fact that insects getting extinct is a global crisis is undisputed. But the neat thing about insects is, we all can do our bit to save them. We all can maintain pesticide-free kitchen gardens and organic farms. We can plant flowers and trees and invite them to nest again.

Maybe this tragedy would have never arisen in the first place and you would not have to read this article, if the world had stopped using all kinds of pesticides immediately after Rachel Carson had published the Silent Spring. Conserving the insect biodiversity is not our responsibility. It is a necessity because if they go, so will we.

【推荐2】Social networking isn’t only for the under 40s. More than 25 percent of Americans 50 years and older stay connected using sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, according to new research.

“The latest data tells us that more and more social networking is becoming a part of everyday life for Americans 50 plus,” said Kevin Donnellan, the chief communications officer at AARP, which released the report.

Nearly a quarter of older Americans are on Facebook and 73 percent said they use it to stay in touch with relatives, but not just their children and grandchildren. “They are using the Internet to keep up with the world and the people who are important to them,” said Jean Koppen, the author of the report. She added that older adults are also on Facebook to stay connected, not only with their family, but with their friends and those in the same age group. Almost 50 percent of older adults were introduced to the social networking sites by a family member, mainly a child or grandchild. “Just under one-fifth of adults aged 50 and older say they do not use the Internet,” according to the report.

The findings are based on a telephone survey of 1,863 adults. In addition to keeping up on Facebook and Twitter older adults are aware of the latest technology. Eighty-three percent had heard about the Apple iPad and 11 percent intended to buy one.

Despite the popularity of the Internet among the over 50s, they still mostly go to print newspapers and magazines for news. Only one percent said they followed blogs.

【推荐3】I’m Andrew Siegel and this is my garden. This is where my family and I grow a lot of different vegetables, flowers and herbs. Gardening has been really important to my family because it gives us an opportunity to spend time outside together, away from all the electronics.

Especially for my five-year-old, it really gives her an opportunity to be in touch with nature-all the little animals, insects and things that come out here.

We find that a lot of the things that we plan for in the garden don’t always go the way that we’d like them to, and some of the things that we don’t plan for become what we enjoy the most that year. So it’s something that my family and I have learned: To appreciate(欣赏) all of it.

My advice for beginner gardeners is to just start. Get a pot, get a little bit of dirt, get a tomato plant or whatever plant you want and just get started.

I think sometimes it seems a little challenging. Trust me, it does not need to be perfect. You will enjoy every little thing you get out of it.

Gardening has taught me patience, something I don’t naturally have a lot of. It takes weeks, takes months before the work you put into it comes out. You learn not only to be patient, in that end product, but you’ve also learned that, after years of gardening, the end product is just part of it.

The journey of growing has become much more important to me than the actual produce that we get in the end. Nothing has been so valuable as the time I spend out here. I’m by no means in a farmland, but I do have my own little piece of what I consider heaven, and I’ve really learned to appreciate every little moment-every insect, every plant, every flower-and when you can appreciate it in that way, there’s nothing better.