【推荐2】Jeremi was doing homework when he heard a thump (重击声). A bird had flown into the window and fallen onto the balcony. Jeremi rushed to check. Just when he was about to open the door, it flew away.

Not all birds are so lucky. According to a study , between 365 million and a billion birds are killed each year in the United States by flying into glass.

“Birds don’t mean to fly into buildings. It’s the reflectivity of the windows that tricks them,” says Christine Sheppard, director of the glass-collisions program at the American Bird Conservancy. “When birds see reflections of trees — to them, they are just more trees that they can fly into.”

Sheppard and others, including environmentalists and building designers, work to make buildings bird-friendly to lower the number of bird collisions. One method is to use less glass. Another is to cover a glass building with some kind of screen. A third method is to use special glass.

Officials agreed to use patterned glass to take the place of some glass in 2009. Building designer Piselli worked on the project. “We need to consider what humans need and what birds need,” Piselli says. He notes that with glass, “ the main thing is to put something on it that birds can see, so they are not tricked by reflections and people can still enjoy daylight through the glass.”

Work on the Javits Center project was completed in 2014. “We ended up bringing down collisions by more than 90%,” Piselli says.

【推荐1】You might feel burned out after solving a difficult math problem or studying for a whole day. Are our brains really “burning” when we spend a lot of time thinking? In fact, our brains never stop burning calories, even if we aren't thinking about anything.

Our brains are powered by glucose, a kind of sugar that can be found in carbohydrates (碳水化合物) like rice and noodles. The glucose goes to the brain through the bloodstream. It powers the neurons (神经元) in our brains. Since our brain never really rests, it is burning energy in the form of glucose all the time. Even when we sleep, our brain needs energy to keep our body's basic functions (功能) working. These include breathing, digesting, and keeping the body warm.

The brain uses up 20 to 25 percent of the body’s total energy. That’s 350 calories per day for woman and 450 for man. When you are five or six years old, your brain uses up to 60 percent of the body's energy, according to Live Science.

   When we are thinking hard, the brain burns more calories . In one experiment, researchers found that people who worked on a hard task on a computer ate around 200 more calories than those who were resting. That explains why you feel hungry and eat more after taking exams or studying for a long time.

【推荐2】Have you ever heard people say that laziness is the mother of poverty? Laziness is a sin (罪), everyone knows that. We have probably all had lectures pointing out that laziness is immoral, that it is wasteful, and that lazy people will never amount to anything in life. But is it often the case?

In fact, laziness is often caused by more complex reasons than simple wish to avoid work. Some people who appear to be lazy are suffering from much more serious problems. They may be so distrustful of their fellow workers that they are unable to join in any group task for fear of ridicule (嘲笑) or having their idea stolen. These people who seem lazy may be paralyzed by a fear of failure that prevents fruitful work. Or other sorts of fantasies may prevent work; some people are so busy planning, sometimes planning great deals or fantastic achievements that they are unable to deal with whatever “lesser” work is on hand. Still other people are not avoiding work; strictly speaking, they are merely procrastinating — rescheduling their day.

Laziness can actually be helpful. Like procrastinators (拖延者), some people may look lazy when they are really thinking, planning, contemplating (沉思), researching. We should all remember that great scientific discoveries occurred by chance. Sitting “lazily” under the tree, Newton wasn’t working in the orchard (果园) when the apple hit him and he devised the theory of gravity. All of us would like to have someone “lazy” build the car, particularly if that “laziness” was caused by the worker’s taking time to check each step of his work and to do his job right. And sometimes, being “lazy” — that is, taking time off for a rest — is good for the overworked students or executives. Taking a rest can be particularly helpful to the “lazy” athlete who is trying too hard or the “lazy” doctor who’s simply working himself overtime too many evenings at the clinic. So be careful when you’re tempted to call someone lazy. That person may be thinking, resting, or planning his or her next work. See for yourself!

【推荐3】Given that most little girls love to dress up as princesses, it is difficult to imagine what might be wrong with that. But one author has written an entire book on how she believes the fairy tale fantasies send a dangerous message.

Jennifer L Hardstein is behind the recently-published Princess Recovery: A How-To Guide to Raising Strong, Empowered Girls Who Can Create Their Own Happily Ever Afters. The child and adolescent psychologist believes that children as young as two are taking away unrealistic ideals from fairy tale books and Disney cartoons that can affect their self-esteem later on.

In her book, Dr. Hardstein theories that traditional stories like Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella promote the idea that if a girl is pretty enough and has fancy clothes and shoes, she find love and popularity. The author refers to this phenomenon as the “Princess Syndrome”

These kinds of messages, she says, have a huge impact on a girl's self-confidence and make it hard for children to understand as they grow up, that intelligence, generosity and passion are more important value. During an appearance on CBS' Early Show, Dr. Hardstein explained: “Girls are getting this message everywhere that. … what their worth is based on is how they look and the things that they have and it's very superficial (肤浅的)”

Her book teaches parents how to let their toddlers (幼儿) enjoy the Disney moves and their teenagers watch figures in reality shows while encouraging a discussion about the messages projected by the media. Speaking on the show she said: “Parents think their kids will understand the messages that they receive all the time but actually they don't.”

As well as warning of the dangers of “Princess Syndrome” her book advise parents how to guide and empower their children from an early age. Dr. Hardstein warns of the influence of toys like Barbie dolls and teenager celebrities who might wear heavy make-up.

Princess Recovery, she assure parents, will bring “balance, confidence, and self-sufficiency into your daughter's life while giving her a modern, energetic childhood.”