【推荐1】When Jennifer Doudna was in sixth grade, she came home one day to find that her dad had left a book titled The Double Helix on her bed. She put it aside, thinking it was one of those detective tales she loved.

On a rainy Saturday, she picked up the book. As she sped through the pages, she became fascinated by the drama, which encouraged her to explore nature's wonders. Even though her high school teacher told her that girls didn't become scientists, she decided she would.

She worked with a biologist, Charpentier, to turn a curiosity of nature into an invention—an easy-to-use tool that can edit DNA. Known as Crispr, the tool will transform the human race. James Watson, the author of The Double Helix, later told her it was the most important biological advance: since he and Francis Crick discovered the structure of DNA.

For this achievement, Doudna and Charpentier were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020. Until now, only five women, beginning with Marie Curie in 1911, had won or shared the Nobel for Chemistry out of 184 award winners. When this year's prize was announced, Dr. Charpentier said it would provide a message specifically to young girls who would like to follow the path of science and to show them that women can also be awarded prizes.

A few decades from now, if it becomes possible and sate to edit DNA, should we allow parents to improve the IQ and physical strength of their kids? Should we let them decide eye color? Skin color? Height? After helping to discover Crispr, Dr. Doudna has become a leader in considering these moral issues. That's the main message we should take from this Nobel: New technologies can be a huge benefit to the human race, but in order to make sure they are used wisely, it's important for people to understand them.

【推荐2】When I was 4, our family took the train across the country to visit our grandparents. Because I was so little, I don’t remember much. But I do have a few memories of our stay there.

Grandfather had some tomatoes growing on the north side of his house, just outside the back door to the kitchen. I found a nice green tomato. I picked it and brought it with both hands and came into the kitchen and gave it to Grandpa. “Look, Grandpa, what I found!” He thanked me with a smile, and showed me he was putting it on the window sill(窗台). I was so happy, and I headed back outside, telling Grandfather I’d bring him some more. But my mom caught me and said, “No, no, no, green tomatoes are bad for health!” Grandmother sat in her wheelchair in the living room by the front door. We played games with her.

Soon, our visit ended and we had to go home. We left Grandmother to go back to the train station. It was several hours’ drive away. We all squeezed into Grandfather’s car.

A few years later, our family was living in Colorado. Grandfather came to visit us! He came by plane to Denver, and after a long drive, my father picked him up. During the weeks Grandfather stayed with us like most children, I’d go out and play in the back yard with him every day. I’m sure it was a precious time for Grandfather and my parents, too. I remember that when he was leaving in the airplane, we could see him in the airplane window, looking grieved. I never saw Grandfather again from then on, because we moved even further away. But we didn’t forget him.

【推荐3】The first time a tortoise walked through my hut at Middle Camp on Aldabra Atoll, I was amazed. I grabbed my camera and carefully positioned myself to take this wildlife encounter. The second time: same thing. The third time: I picked up my phone and took a snapshot. By the fourth or fifth time, I didn’t even look when I felt something bump into me. I knew what it was.

I was there to shoot a story about island restoration in the Seychelles, far off the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. Until roughly the middle of the past century, the small island nation showed signs of real environmental killing — local vegetation cleared to make way for coconut plantations, foreign rats and mice running uncontrolled, native sea turtles and giant tortoises being exploited. Biodiversity seemed destroyed. But then the country experienced a shift in conservation awareness — and the giant Aldabra tortoises are among its most visible signs.

Every morning when I woke up and walked outside the hut, I had to remind myself that I hadn’t traveled back in time. I could see flightless Aldabra rails, coconut crabs the size of dinner plates, and giant tortoises — roughly four feet long and weighing up to 550 pounds — just wandering around. The number of sharks in the bay was crazy. Frigatebirds and boobies (鲣鸟) nested in the mangroves (a kind of tree). When we left our hut doors open, which we often did to let in air, the tortoises would walk right through.

In the late afternoon or early evening, whenever they’d finished eating, the tortoises would drop themselves down and fall asleep with their heads outstretched. That made nighttime trips to the outhouse perilous. To get there, we’d have to go 200 feet into the mangroves, negotiating what I called the tortoise slalom trail.

It was a track without a pattern, because of course they picked different places to sleep every night. Avoiding them was important: Falling headfirst over a tortoise onto the sharp coral rock could lead to serious injury on an island far from medical facilities.

Nothing was easy on Aldabra, and much of it was insanely difficult. Yet living among the tortoises in this primordial place, in one of the last spots where reptiles still rule, was one of the happiest times of my life.

【推荐1】I took a motor rickshaw to the train station in the city of Belapur. The driver didn't speak much English, but understood, "Belapur Railway Station. ” I had my tabla, a traditional drum from India, my suitcase with my clothes and other essentials. The feeling of flying by cars in this little machine is : as if you are inside a box with tiny wheels, dashing through disorderly traffic.

I arrived at the station safely, and took a heavy breath as I unloaded my baggage before the ticket office. It was the first time that I had taken a local train to Tilak Nagar, where I was going to learn traditional vocal music. Standing in line, I counted at least 20 people staring at me. I bought my ticket, which was only 55 cents for a 20-minute train ride. The prices still blow me away.

When the train came after 15 minutes or so, I got on with all speed, as the train only stops for a few seconds. The locals again stared at me. This was a train especially for local transport. After a while, a young man asked me if he could talk to me. He wanted to know if I was in a band. I stated no, but I love to play tabla. Through the conversation I knew he was a student of engineering with his exams being tomorrow, I wished him good luck for the exams sincerely, as I knew what it means to Indian students to get good marks on their exams. If students do not get good enough scores, job opportunities will be few in a highly-competitive environment.

The student I met helped me unload my luggage as the train reached Tilak Nagar Station. He shook my hand strongly and looked into my eyes with marks of genuine care and friendship, despite us meeting for only 20 minutes.

【推荐3】Edmund Percival Hillary was one of the greatest explorers of the twentieth century. He was born in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1919. He discovered an interest in mountain climbing while he was still in high school and began climbing New Zealand's Southern Alps.

Like his father, Hillary earned his living as a beekeeper. However, he continued to climb mountains. His goal was to climb Mt. Everest, which is the highest mountain in the world. By the early 1950s, several expeditions（探险队）had attempted to reach the summit of Everest, but all had failed. Then, in 1953, Hillary and a Nepalese climber named Tenzing Norgay became the first two people to reach the top of the world.

Hillary's spirit of exploration was not satisfied. He joined an expedition to Antarctica and reached the South Pole in 1958. He also made an expedition up the Ganges River to its source in the Himalayas. Sir Edmund Hillary was a brave adventurer. He went where no man or woman had gone before.

Although Hillary was best known as the young man who climbed to the summit of Mt. Everest in the 1950s, he continued his journeys to far-off places into his senior years. For instance, in his mid-sixties Hillary flew to the North Pole with Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon. Moreover, Hillary authored many books. However, his most lasting gift, perhaps, was the Sir Edmund Hillary Himalayan Trust（信托基金）. It raised millions of dollars and contributed to schools, hospitals and many other public improvements in the Sherpa villages of Nepal. In January 2008, Sir Edmund Hillary died at the age of 88.

Despite being a great adventurer and known for the treasure he left Sir Edmund Hillary always modestly referred to himself as a simple beekeeper from New Zealand.

【推荐2】Scott McKenzie and Jeremy Uhrich, two dads from Huntingdon, have transformed their passion for baking into a heartwarming community effort. This journey began when McKenzie, 58, found himself laid off and decided to learn a new skill every week. Baking was one of these new skills, and he was pleasantly surprised by the quality of his first batch of cookies. Proudly, he shared his creation on social media, catching the attention of Uhrich,a longtime friend, who playfully challenged him to a bake-off.

Uhrich, 42, baked with his sons that same day and proposed a competition to McKenzie. The two agreed to let community workers in the community judge the treats as a thank-you for their help during the challenging times. The competition was a success, but McKenzie and Uhrich didn’t stop there. They decided to deliver the rest of the cookies to community workers, sparking an idea that would eventually become Cookies for Caregivers.

The timing couldn’t have been more crucial—the community had recently experienced a terrible earthquake, leaving many homes destroyed and families displaced. As part of the rebuilding efforts, a Facebook group, Cookies for Caregivers was born. McKenzie and Uhrich allowed their neighbors to volunteer to make treats for first responders and business owners who were working tirelessly in the aftermath of the earthquake. Since the disaster struck, more than 100 people have joined the group, baking and delivering more than 15,000 cookies to workers at hospitals, grocery stores, fire departments, and more.

The impact of Cookies for Caregivers has been profound. Uhrich says “they’ve seen a lot of smiles and tears during deliveries”. The project has brought together members of the community who may have never interacted otherwise, all with a common goal of showing gratitude to those on the front lines of the rebuilding efforts after the earthquake. McKenzie says “they plan on continuing the effort because they are immensely grateful for the selfless contributions and want to express their appreciation to as many people as possible”.