【推荐1】Eggs-perimenting with eggs

What can you do with eggs other than eat them?

Naked Eggs

What does an egg look like without its shell? You may be picturing the white and yolk in a bowl after cracking it, but that isn’t the only way to remove the shell.

Materials: an egg, white vinegar, a bowl, a spoon

Directions: Fill a bowl with one cup of vinegar. Add the egg to the bowl, and wait at least 24 hours. When you check it after a day, you’ll notice some bubbles on the egg and a residue (残留物) in the water. Use the spoon to gently remove the egg from the bowl. Dump out the old vinegar, and add a cup of fresh vinegar. Return the egg to the bowl, and wait another 24 hours. When you remove the egg this time, the shell should be completely dissolved. What remains will be the contents of the egg.

Walking on Eggshells

Can Eggs hold the weight of your entire body?

Materials: six cartons (硬纸盒) of eggs, a garbage bag

Directions: Place the garbage bag on the floor to make any necessary clean up easier. Place the cartons of eggs into two rows of three. Make sure all the eggs are pointing in the same direction— either all pointy end up or all rounded end up. Step onto the first carton of eggs carefully. Make sure your foot is as flat as possible and that you are distributing your weight evenly. If you’re careful, you will succeed. Eggs are actually incredibly strong. The arch shape at the top and the bottom of the egg allows pressure to be distributed evenly over the egg. If you were to place the eggs on their sides instead, you’d be likely to wind up with a gooey (胶粘的) mess.

【推荐2】Henry Raeburn (1756-1823)

The Exhibition

This exhibition of some sixty masterpieces celebrating the life and work of Scotland’s best loved painter, Sir Henry Raeburn, comes to London. Selected from collections throughout the world, it is the first major exhibition of his work to be held in over forty years.

Lecture Series

Scottish National Portrait (肖像画) Gallery presents a series of lectures for the general public. They are held in the Lecture Room. Admission to lectures is free.

Exhibition Times

Monday-Saturday 10.00-17.45             Sunday 12.00-17.45

Last admission to the exhibition: 17.15. There is no re-admission.

Closed: 24-26 December and 1 January.

Admission

£4. Children under 12 years accompanied by an adult are admitted free.

Schools and Colleges

A special low entrance charge of £2 per person is available to all in full-time education, up to and including those at first degree level, in organised groups with teachers.

How much would a couple with two children under 12 pay for admission?

【推荐2】Steven Stein likes to follow garbage trucks. His strange habit makes sense when you consider that he’s an environmental scientist who studies how to reduce litter, including things that fall off garbage trucks as they drive down the road. What is even more interesting is that one of Stein’s jobs is defending an industry behind the plastic shopping bags.

Americans use more than 100 billion thin film plastic bags every year. So many end up in tree branches or along highways that a growing number of cities do not allow them at checkouts (收银台). The bags are prohibited in some 90 cities in California, including Los Angeles. Eyeing these headwinds, plastic-bag makers are hiring scientists like Stein to make the case that their products are not as bad for the planet as most people assume.

Among the bag makers’ argument: many cities with bans still allow shoppers to purchase paper bags, which are easily recycled but require more energy to produce and transport. And while plastic bags may be ugly to look at, they represent a small percentage of all garbage on the ground today.

The industry has also taken aim at the product that has appeared as its replacement: reusable shopping bags. The stronger a reusable bag is, the longer its life and the more plastic-bag use it cancels out. However, longer-lasting reusable bags often require more energy to make. One study found that a cotton bag must be used at least 131 times to be better for the planet than plastic.

Environmentalists don’t dispute (质疑) these points. They hope paper bags will be banned someday too and want shoppers to use the same reusable bags for years.