【推荐1】Hem an Bekele is not your typical high school student．Rather than spending his free time playing video games or staring at his phone, this 14 year-old from Fairfax, Virginia was calling professors and conducting experiments, all to create a soap that could treat skin cancer, and to make it affordable for everyone who needs it．His work won him the grand prize in this year’s 3M Young Scientist’s Challenge, a competition that encourages kids to think of unique ways to solve everyday problems.

Growing up in Ethiopia, Bekele found in pity that people working outside were likely to end up getting skin cancer．Skin cancer did have cures and was treatable in most cases．However, the average price of skin cancer treatment globally was almost $40,000．Those shocking statistics really inspired him to create a more accessible solution．He started doing experiments and working on different things, and that turned into his bar of soap as a project.

A lot of his research and development started in his family’s kitchen and in his basement．But as he reached the final of the competition, he realized that he did need to do a little bit more outside of just his house．So he reached out to people at University of Virginia and people at Georgetown, and he got a lot of assistance．The number one person would be Deborah Isabelle, who helped him organize and structure his ideas during the finalist competition．Bekele said that he definitely couldn’t have done that all by himself.

Bekele’s award-winning soap is a compound based bar of soap and it’s charged with different cancer fighting chemicals．The color of the soap is a bit of a dark type of white and it has a rough surface, which could be a good exfoliant（去角质剂）．It does have a strong medicine smell and feel a bit stickier．The whole point of it is that even once you wash off the soaps, the medicinal parts will stay on your skin．It can activate the body’s immune cells to defend cancer.

Bekele won 25,000 prize money and he was going to use it to continue research．He said, “I still need a lot of resources to be able to conduct this research, so this money will definitely help me achieve it.”

【推荐2】Long lines at security checkpoints, tiny plastic cups of drink, small bags of biscuit, planes full of passengers, fees attached to every service—all reflect the realities of 21st century commercial air travel. It’s no wonder that many travelers have become nostalgic (怀旧) for the so-called “golden age” of air travel in the United States.

During the 1950s, airlines promoted commercial air travel; airline hostesses served full meals on real china, airline seats were large and frequently empty with enough legroom, and passengers were always dressed well.

After jets were introduced in the late 1950s, passengers could travel to even the most distant locations at speeds unimaginable a decade before. An airline trip from New York to London that could take up to 15 hours in the early 1950s could be made in less than seven hours by the early 1960s.

But the good memory of airline in that time can be tricky, and “golden ages” are seldom as beautiful as they seem. Until the introduction of jets in 1958, most of the nation’s commercial planes were propeller-driven (螺旋桨驱动) aircraft. Most of these planes were unpressurized, and with a maximum cruising (巡航) altitude of 10,000 to 12,000 feet, they were unable to fly over bad weather. Delays were frequent, turbulence (气流) was common, and air sickness bags were often needed. For much of this period, the old saying “Time to spare, go by air” still rang true.

Through the 1930s and into the 1940s, almost everyone flew first class. Airlines did encourage more people to fly in the 1950s and 1960s by introducing coach or tourist fares, but the savings were relative: less expensive than first class, but still pricey. Although the invention of jets did result in lower fares, the cost was still out of reach of most Americans.

【推荐2】Three years into my postdoc (博士后), I started to wonder whether I needed a new career plan. After applying for more than two dozen teaching jobs, I hadn’t landed a single interview.

I had once considered going to art school but had put that idea to the side when I decided to pursue chemistry as an undergraduate. In the years that followed, I kept up my interest in art by taking painting classes at night. My family was bursting with mathematicians, computer programmers, and engineers, so it felt natural to have my daily life center around science.

But in the spring after my failed job search, that started to change after a friend excitedly showed me proofs of a review article. She was astonished by what the journal’s scientific illustrator had done with her fundamental sketches (速写). “That would be such a fun job.” I thought.

I decided to test out a new career direction by volunteering to create similar illustrations for my institute’s newsletters. I spent my nights and weekends reading scientific papers and thinking about how to illustrate the results. It was a fun task. I felt I was perhaps on the right path. But could I make a full-time career work?

Searching online, I tracked down people who had that kind of job. I found many had training through scientific illustration master’s degree programs. After living on graduate student and postdoctoral salaries for years, I didn’t have enough money saved up for the programs, so I decided to get a certificate in digital design.

I now work as a visual designer at a biomedical research institute where I spend my days working with research to communicate their work visually. I love the fact that I get to combine my scientific and artistic sides.

【推荐1】A lonely elderly man has left people feeling moved after he wrote his neighbour a thank you letter for changing his life.

The letter reads, “Good afternoon. This letter is regarding your vocation two weeks ago and how you let me take care of your dogs. I’d just like to give you a letter of thanks. As you know, I’m a lonely old man without a wife or a kid. To add to that, two years ago, my dad died of cancer. After his death, I was left alone in my home. You don’t see me outside often anymore. Every day was spent just sitting around and wondering what I have done for this world until I met Smokey, Oreo and Jennifer. Your pets are the cutest, funniest and most troublesome (in a good way, don’t worry) individuals. They gave me the motivation to restart my life again. I started waking up early in the mornings. I began to take walks outside with your pets for the first time in years. Whenever I felt sad, they would bark or rub against my leg and make me laugh. The highlight of their stay was when I took them to the park. It was the longest time I’ve spent outside in a while. It didn’t just bring back pet interaction; I also met other people, started talking and made some friends. I was so happy to finally be able to interact with others again, and feel like I’m part of the human race. Anyway, thank you so much. You brought back meaning to my life. That’s all that matters.”

Many Reddit users felt emotional reading the letter and shared their responses online. One commented, “We all get busy with our lives and don’t realize the power a small act of kindness can do.”

【推荐3】Many years ago I lived in a western country. I got my first job in the city and I was excited to go to the office by bus!

I left home each morning in time to catch the 8: 05 bus from the main road. One morning I could see the bus coming. I could also see an elderly lady walking with a lovely dog beside her. There were some teenagers behind her.

The bus arrived and we got on. Unlike in eastern countries, only eight passengers were permitted to travel standing. I was inside the bus when the conductor called, "Only eight standing passengers! Could the last one please get off?" I saw those teenagers inside, right in front of me! I thought that it was me who now had to get off. I turned and saw the elderly lady with her dog. They were about to get off instead. I moved quickly to get in front of her. I encouraged her to stay and got off. To my surprise, when I moved past her, I realized that she was blind! Her lovely companion (同伴) was her guide dog!

Well, I finally got to the office. After the day's work, I went to the bus station near my office to make the return journey. What a pleasant surprise! The lady and her dog were there! I was really pleased because I'd get a better chance to speak with her. I opened the conversation and she recognized my Asian accent! She asked if I was the same person who helped her that morning. Amazing! From then on it was a long happy conversation. 

The bus arrived. We got on, and were able to choose any seat as the bus was empty. Our journey started, and so did our friendship.