【推荐2】Warm-blooded species are evolving (进化) to have larger beaks, legs and ears to regulate body temperature as the planet warms up, new study suggests. The scientists behind the study warn the physiological changes do not mean animals are coping with climate change. If animals fail to control their body temperature, they can overheat and die.

Some animals in warmer climates have historically evolved to have larger beaks or ears to get rid of heat more easily. A larger wing, ear or beak relative to body size gives smaller animals a greater surface area to lose excess heat. Several species of Australian parrot have shown a 4-10% increase in size since 1871, which correlates with the rising summer temperatures over the years, the study says.

The scientists do say it’s hard to put the climate as the only cause of shapeshifting, but that other examples of species changing show the effect of heat. Wood mice are evolving to have longer nails, masked shrews are getting longer tails and legs, and bats in warm climates have bigger wings. The study suggests that shapeshiting is likely to continue as the climate becomes warmer because higher temperatures will influence the demand on animals to regulate their body temperature.

“Shapeshifting does not mean that animals are coping with climate change and that all is fine,” Sara says. “It just means they are evolving to survive it, but we re not sure what the other ecological consequences of these changes are, or that all species are capable of changing and surviving. The climate change that we have created is heaping a whole lot of pressure on them, and while some species will adapt, others will not.”

【推荐3】Mark Baker’s appreciation for nature runs deep, but he hasn’t always championed the Amazon rainforest’s rugged beauty.

For eight years, Mr. Baker’s business sold rare tropical wood from the Amazon to customers across the United States. Exporting wood provided him with an excuse to spend a lot of time in the rainforest, taking him back to his boyhood days. Mr. Baker told himself that selective harvest was just part of managing the resource.

But gradually he began to notice on his birding outings that the forest had grown quieter. On the Manaus docks, he saw wood for export labeled with the name of a type of wood legal to export, but knew that it was another illegal type. “It took me eight years to come to the realization that the construct that you can selectively harvest and manage the forest was a bunch of nonsense,” he says. “I couldn’t do it anymore.”

Because of his own personal transformation, Mr. Baker founded an ecotourism company that takes tourists along Brazil’s Rio Negro. With the trips, he aims to foster appreciation and a sense of stewardship(管理)for the rainforest among global citizens.

The Amazon rainforest covers more than 2.3 million square miles and is the biggest carbon store in the world, according to Giordane Martins, a biologist. Forty percent of Brazil’s land lies in the Amazon, but roughly 20% of it is already deforested. Ecotourism, what Mark is doing, has a positive impact.

“Our role is to educate,” Mark says. “Many people arrive with that nature sensibility. Some acquire it on our tours. One of the goals of ecotourism is to share the economic benefits of travel. The other is to help promote conservation, to generate income and help protect the forest. We’ve seen that happen. I wish we could say we saved the rainforest. We haven’t. But we have had an impact.”

【推荐1】“Anyone knows single parents who can’t afford to get their child’s hair done for school? I will braid (编辫子) it for free!”Brittany Starks wrote on a Facebook post.

She decided to offer her hair braiding services after a family friend delivered backpacks full of school supplies, clothing and shoes for Cayden and Ceniyah in early August. “At the time, I didn’t have anything for my kids to start school,” said Starks, who is in between homes and staying with her mother. “It meant so much to me.”

The unexpected gift made a big difference to Starks and her children, and it motivated her to pay it forward. Starks, who works two receptionist jobs, also braids hair part-time. “The hair-braiding process involves washing, blow-drying, and finally dividing the hair into small sections and braiding it. It also requires multiple supplies — including combs, brushes, hair jam and additional pieces of hair to weave in. It costs anywhere from $150 to $400 at a salon (美发厅), depending on the style,” Stacks explained. “But it can last for months and is a huge timesaver in the mornings.”

When she wrote the Facebook post, she assumed only a handful of people would reach out,but before she knew it, she had 35 appointments booked. Her Facebook inbox was suddenly full of messages from single parents, whose stories of hardship and financial challenges mirrored her own.

“There’s a huge need for this. I could really relate to a lot of the women who reached out, and it made me realize that what I was doing was really important,” said Stacks. “What got me the most was seeing the kids smile.” Given that there was less than two weeks before the start of school, Starks knew she needed to enlist help.

【推荐2】Everyone has his or her dream and may desire to achieve it anyway. One New Jersey man has proved that to be true by achieving a lifelong goal more than 80 years in the making. Earlier in March, a101-year-old man named Merrill Pittman Cooper received his high school diploma during a graduation ceremony in his honor.

Cooper attended Storer College from 1934 to 1938, but life circumstances got in the way and prevented him from finishing school and earning his diploma. Without his father around, it was up to him and his mother to take care of themselves. His mom had taken on work as a live-in housekeep er in order to pay his school tuition and board, but that wasn't enough. And after realizing his mother couldn't afford to make the final tuition payment for his senior year, the teen encouraged her to move them to Philadelphia.

In Philadelphia, Cooper took on work to help his mother pay the bills. He was hired as a city trolley car operator in 1945. That job led him to a long and fruitful career in transportation where he became president of the local union and later vice president of the International Transport Workers Union in New York City. But despite such a successful career, he always regretted not getting his high school diploma and struggled to finish all he should learn.

But now, after 84 years, Cooper was able to see his lifelong dream come true. His family got the idea to surprise him with the honorary high school diploma. Cooper could hardly hold back his tears when he discovered their plan after arriving at the hotel.

The whole thing was a dream come true for Cooper, who now displays his framed diploma proudly. “I can't think of a happier day,” says the inspiring 101-year-old man. “I'm really happy to finally have it.”