【推荐3】A shark that walks in water instead of swimming might sound like a creature straight out of science fiction. However, that is precisely how the fish -- found in the waters of Northern Australia moves across the seafloor .The unique ocean animals were discovered by a team of scientists led by Dr. Christine Dudgeon from Australia's University of Queensland during a 12 year global conservation study.

The newly-found sharks have evolved (进化) to survive in low oxygen environments, enabling them to hunt during low tides. The researchers believe their ability to use their fins (鳍) to walk affords the sharks a remarkable edge over the smaller animals they try to bunt. “While they are super hunters in their shallow habitat, the tiny sharks present no threat to people," says Dudgeon.“At less than a meter long on average, they're incredibly cute little animals that do not look like sharks at all," she adds.

A DNA analysis of skin samples from the live fish suggests that walking sharks broke away from their original population and became a distinct species about nine million years ago. Though that may appear to be a long time ago, it is relatively recent given that sharks have been around for more than 400 million years. In fact, Dudgeon and her team believe walking sharks are the youngest kind of sharks on Earth!

The researchers say that the sharks' small numbers and small habitat make them extremely vulnerable (易受伤害) to natural disasters and overfishing. They are currently on the Nature Red List, which lists species at risk. Dudgeon and her team believe sensible conservation management plans are urgently needed to protect the walking sharks and other endangered animals from further threats.

【推荐1】Hardship comes in different shapes and sizes. Losing a job. Bills overdue (逾期未付的). Illness, injuries or the death of a loved one.

Every kind of difficulty takes its toll. But few things in life are as heartbreaking as feeling cut off from the people we love.

Recently, while “sheltering in place” against the coronavirus, I’ve started reading to my grandkids via FaceTime.

Mostly, I read to them because I love doing it. But I also do it for their parents’ mental health. Besides having to stay indoors, they are forced to homeschool the kids, who can’t go to school or to the park or play with their friends.

As a mother, I didn’t do everything right. Far from it. But when my three children were small, most nights before bed, I would read to them.

There is something important – something comforting and healing – about the age-old ritual (惯例) of reading to each other. Sometimes the words we read are so powerful that they will never be forgotten. But hearing them read is a different experience.

When we read to ourselves, we see the words with our eyes. But when someone reads to us, we just need to be still and listen. Sometimes, the voice and the love it conveys mean far more than the words.

Today, I read the Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume, a book my kids loved long ago. Randy, 9, and Wiley, 7, thought it was funny. Elle, who’s 5, usually prefers to read to me, but this time she just wanted to talk. Next, Randy played a song for us on his guitar, the very first song he has written. Finally, I FaceTimed with Jonah, who is almost a year old. I read MOO, BAA, LA LA LA! by Sandra Boynton. He liked it so much that he gave me kisses over the phone, then we said goodbye.

Now, more than ever, while keeping a safe distance, we all need to hold on to each other.

【推荐2】Do you suppose Darwin, one of the greatest scientists of all time, really did fools’ experiments? Or did he do experiments that were so simple and basic that other people just thought they were foolish?

Sometimes, people think they already know the answer to a question or the solution (解决办法) to a problem. Sometimes, they really do know an answer or a solution, but without thinking they are important.

Charles Darwin didn’t settle for (满足于) just thinking he knew something. And, he believed all things could be important however simple they seemed to be.

Suppose you drop sheets of paper that are of exactly the same size and shape. If you drop them at the same time in the same place, they will fall in the same way. Now make one of the sheets of paper into a tight (紧的) little ball and let it drop along with the other sheets. What happens? You have done an experiment that is so simple that you might think it couldn’t be worth anything.

But this simple experiment is important. It explains part of our present-day understandings of physics and ideas that were worked out long ago by Galileo and Newton. And these understandings set aside some of ancient Greek physics.

A scientist sometimes stops to look at very simple things and to think very hard about them. Even the simplest idea, which we might think is foolish, can shake the foundations of science.

【推荐3】Leeny stood in the chicken coop（笼子）, shovel in hand, smiling widely. She was not faking it: My 7-year-old daughter was having fun cleaning out the chicken coop. I was happy she was enjoying herself, but I’d meant the household work to be punishment for losing a library book. So, was I winning or losing at parenting?

Leeny always has her nose in a book. She even took to reading in the car on the long drive to summer camp, which was where she lost the book. This is the first lost library book in my life. My family has always been overeducated, but we were poor. I didn’t own books. I borrowed books. However, my daughters have more books now than I owned my whole childhood and I knowingly contribute to it by adding to the stacks（堆）. So it’s probably my fault that when Leeny realized she had lost the book, she shrugged（耸肩）. “Sorry. I can't find it.” My daughter said. “It’s only $20, right? What's the big deal?”

I felt the need to make her feel responsible for the book. She agreed to clean the chicken coop in trade for my paying the library fine. I thought this idea was very clever because cleaning the coop is some work I had been avoiding for months. It was summertime, and dust floated in the dry air.

But my girl, my animal-loving, mini-me, thought shoveling chicken poop（铲鸡粪）was the most fun she’d had on a Saturday morning in a long time. She did not feel any of the emotions that punishment is supposed to introduce. In fact, she looked as if she might lose another book on purpose in order to clean the coop again. I stood, somewhat dumbfounded（发愣的）, watching her.

It took me a while to realize what had happened, why my punishment had failed completely and why I didn’t care. The fact is that I had Leeny help me clean the chicken coop. I was there, too, shoveling chicken poop, fetching the clean straw and feed. Leeny’s little sister, Vicki, was inside watching a cartoon while my husband paid bills. Only Leeny and I were outside. She had me all to herself for the first time since Vicki was born, and she was enjoying all the attention for once. I don’t know what she learned about responsibility, but I found that I didn’t care about the book anymore. We bonded over that unpleasant job and spent quality time together: mother, daughter, and chicken poop.