【推荐1】The evidence for harmony(和睦) may not be obvious in some families. But it seems that four out of five young people now get on with their parents.

An important new study into teenage attitudes shows that their family life is more harmonious than it has ever been in the past. “We were surprised by just how positive today’s young people seem to be about their families,” says one member of the research team. “They’re expected to be rebellious(叛逆的) but actually they have other things in their minds; they want a car and other material goods, and they worry whether school is serving them well. There are more negotiations(协商) between parents and children, and children expect to take part in the family decision making process.”

So, it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat their children as friends. “My parents are happy to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me,” says 17-year-old Daniel Lazall. “I always tell them when I’m going out. As long as they know what I’m doing, they’re fine with it.” Susan Crome, who is now 21, agrees. “Looking back on the last 10 years, there was a lot of what you could call negotiations. For example, as long as I’d done all my homework, I could go out on a Saturday night. But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that.”

One of the researchers comments, “Our astonishment that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in our social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings. But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really only happened during that one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled. Now, the situation has changed. Now families enjoy more harmony”

【推荐1】NASA has a new job listing, and it’s no joke. The US space agency (机构) is looking for a “joker” to join their planned mission (任务)to Mars.

A mission to Mars is no laughing matter. On average, the red planet is 140 million miles (225 million kilometers) away from Earth. A trip there would take around eight months in a small spacecraft. And Mars has a communications delay   (延迟) of 20 minutes. This means that astronauts will have to wait 20 minutes for a reply, when an emergency happens.

“When you’re living with others in a confined space for a long period of time, such as on a mission to Mars, problems are likely to occur,” Jeffrey Johnson, a scientist at the University of Florida, told The Guardian.

This is probably why NASA wants an astronaut with a sense of humor. “These are people that have the ability to pull everyone together,” Johnson said.

In stressful situations, perhaps humor is a way to know we aren’t alone. By laughing together, we share our stress. Then we can focus on our jobs instead of just worrying.

There are other examples of team “clowns”. One example is the journey to the South Pole led by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. It was a difficult journey, full of danger. Adolf Lindstrom, a cook at Amundsen’s team, was a “clown”. He made people laugh through the whole journey. Amundsen later wrote that Lindstrom was the most valuable member of the team.

But if you’re hoping that your favorite TV comedian will fly to Mars, that probably won’t happen.

“Being funny won’t be enough to land somebody the job,” Johnson said. “They also need to be an excellent scientist and engineer.”

Besides, they must be in top physical condition.

【推荐2】In February, the U. S. stated that its Mars explorer, Perseverance, landed successfully on the Red Planet. Perseverance is on a task to collect Martian soil and rocks as part of a search for signs of ancient life.

Perseverance landed in an area of Mars called Jezero Crater. Scientists believe the area has a large ancient lakebed. NASA considers the area a promising place to find possible signs of microbial life.

Perseverance carried to Mars a small experimental helicopter (直升机) named Ingenuity. In April, NASA said Ingenuity had successfully completed a takeoff and landing on the planet. It said the flight was historic; it marked the first time any flying machines had performed a powered, controlled flight on another planet.

In July, British billionaire Richard Branson entered into space on a rocket plane built by Virgin Galactic, the space tourism company he created. Branson joined two pilots and three other task experts on the flight. Virgin Galactic aims to fly private citizens to the edge of space to experience a few minutes of weightlessness and observe Earth.

A little over a week later, American billionaire Jeff Bezos flew to the edge of space on a rocket built by his company, Blue Origin. Three other people took the quick trip with him: Bezo’s brother, a Dutch teenager and an 82-year-old pilot.

The flights by Branson and Bezos officially started a new industry that promises any citizen the chance to visit space. Such trips will be costly, however. Virgin Galactic’s price for a single flight is $250,000. Blue Origin has not publicly announced its price. Both businesses have built operating bases, called “spaceports”, in the countryside areas of the U. S.

And earlier this month, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa arrived for a 12-day stay at the International Space Station (ISS). The businessman arrived along with an assistant aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The price of that trip has not been made public, but some reports guess it costs up to $50 million.