【推荐1】What is language for? Some people seem to think it's for practicing grammar rules and learning lists of words—the longer the lists，the better. That's wrong. Language is for the exchange（交流）of ideas and information. It's meaningless knowing all about a language if you can't use it freely. Many students I have met know hundreds of grammar rules, but they can't speak correctly or fluently. They are afraid of making mistakes.

One shouldn't be afraid of making mistakes when speaking a foreign language. Native speakers make mistakes and break rules, too. Bernard saw once wrote, “Foreigners often speak English too correctly.” But the mistakes that native speakers make are different from those that Chinese students make. They're English mistakes in the English language. And if enough native speakers break a rule, it is no longer a rule. What used to be wrong becomes right. People not only make history, they make language. But a people can only make its own language. It can't make another people's language. So Chinese students of English should pay attention to grammar, but they shouldn't overdo（做过头）it. They should put communication first.

【推荐2】It sounds almost too good to be true, but a new study on sleeping brains suggests that listening to languages while you sleep can actually help you to learn them.“What we found in our study is that the sleeping brain can actually encode (编码) new information and store it for a long term,” said Marc lust, co-first-author of the paper.

For the study, researchers played recordings of foreign words and their translations to sleeping subjects enjoying deep sleep, a stage when a person has little consciousness (意识) of their environment. To ensure that the results were not compromised by foreign language words that subjects may have had some connection with at some point in their waking lives, researchers made up totally artificial foreign words. When the subjects woke up, they were presented with the artificial words again without their translations. The subjects were then asked to imagine whether they meant an object that was smaller or larger than a shoebox.

Unbelievably, the subjects were able to correctly classify the words in this way at an accuracy rate that was 10 per cent higher than random chance. That’s not a rate high enough to have them suddenly speak in a foreign tongue, but it is enough to suggest that the brain is still absorbing information on some level, even during sleep.

“If you present ‘biktum’ and ‘bird’ to sleeping humans, their brains can make a new connection between the known concept ‘bird’ and the completely new and unknown word ‘biktum’,” Züst explained. “This sleep-formed memory trace (痕迹) lasts until the following wakefulness and can influence how you react to ‘biktum’ even though you think you’ve never met with that word before.“I find it amazing that humans are competent at such complex information processing without consciousness,”said Züst.

The next step for researchers will he to see if new information can be acquired quicker during wakefulness if it is already presented during sleep. If so, it could forever change how we train our brains to learn new things. Sleep learning might become a widespread practice.

【推荐2】American researchers say they have found the strongest link yet between ozone pollution and damage to health. Their findings show that short-term increases in ozone lead to higher death rates in cities.

Ozone is a form of oxygen. The gas is produced naturally in the upper atmosphere to protect the Earth against radiation from the sun. But human activity can also create ozone in the lower atmosphere. Gasses from vehicles and industry react with sunlight to form this ozone. Levels usually increase in the warmer months. Ozone is the main chemical in smog, the air pollution that is a combination of fog and smoke.

Ozone has been linked to heart and lung problems especially, and to higher rates of hospital cases. Researchers from Yale University and Johns Hopkins University did the study. Michelle Bell of Yale was the lead researcher. The Journal of the American Medical Association published the results. The researchers collected information on 95 American cities. These contain about 40% of the national population. The study compared deaths rates to ozone levels between 1987 and 2000. The research suggests that even a small increase in ozone, ten parts per thousand million, can lead to higher death rates the following week. The study found that the average daily number of deaths rose point-five percent. Heart and lung related deaths rose point-six percent. And deaths among older people rose point-seven percent.

The study is one of the largest ever done of ozone and death rates. The researchers note that ozone is widespread in the United States and many other countries. The United States Environmental Protection Agency is re-examining its air pollution rules. The current limit for ozone is eighty parts per thousand million for an eight-hour period. Limits were higher in the past. But the researchers say they found an increase in deaths even below the current levels.

【推荐3】A new study suggests some of America’s favorite Independence Day fireworks can give out lead and copper (铜), which are used to give fireworks their vivid colors, and also damage human cells and animal lungs.

Led by researchers at NYU, the study showed poisonous levels of lead in the fireworks. Experiments showed that lung exposure to particle emissions (颗粒排放物) from five types of fireworks significantly increased oxidation (氧化), a chemical process in the body that can damage or even kill cells.

The researchers say the new study is believed to be the first to examine the effects of firework exposure in human cells and living animals, and to test for particles of common firework metals thrown into the atmosphere.

“While many are careful to protect themselves from injury from explosions, our results suggest that inhaling firework smoke may cause, longer-term physical damage, a risk that has been largely ignored,” says study senior author Terry Gordon, a professor in the Department of Environmental Medicine.

Gordon and his team also analyzed 14 air quality samples taken at dozens of sites across the US throughout each year. They found that levels of poisonous metals were higher in samples taken on Independence Day and New Year’s Eve celebrations than at any other time of the year. Along with lead, copper and other poisonous metals are commonly found in fireworks. “Our research shows that although we are only exposed to these poisonous substances for a short time each year, they are much more poisonous than the pollutants we breathe every day,” says Gordon.

Gordon cautions (警告) that the current investigation is the first step, only addressing the potential effects of one-time exposure to the firework metals. He says repeated exposure is likely a larger concern. Nevertheless, he is planning to share his findings with local health officials, firework producers, the Environmental Protection Agent, and other regulatory agents to alert them to the potential for harm.

In the face of Covid-19,we had to make the challenging decision of whether to go ahead with Open House 2020.How could we effectively reconnect with a locked-down city at a time when discussions around openness are more important than ever?

Against these difficulties, we chose not to postpone Open House 2020.Instead, we invested in completely reinventing how we approach our programme.Through a mix of original films, new books, activity packs, walking and cycling tours, podcasts, talks, and a host of online and outdoor events, the year that threatened(威胁）the existence of Open House became one of our most varied and accessible ever.

None of this would have been possible without our Open House Friends,who have reached out to give a monthly donation to support the charity after Covid-19 stopped almost all of our income.

But we still need your support.

If you value our work and want to see Open House continue beyond the pandemic(疫情），please consider becoming an Open House Friend from just £l.25 per week.We've made some fantastic gifts to say thank you to everyone who signs up.

Thank you -together we can ensure that London is truly an Open City.

The Open House Team

【推荐2】Look for a stress-free company event? Here is a range of our most popular Team Building therned events, all available at Tangalooma.

Our most popular event at Tangalooma! This activity encourages teams to work together by problem-solving, being creative and exploring opportunities. Our app leads small teams to complete fun-filled creative missions around the resort. This is not a foot-race, but a game built on strategy and creativity!

Inspired by the “Amazing Race” TV show and classic Scavenger Hunts, this activity is the perfect mix of problem-solving, teamwork, leadership and creativity. Teams race around Tangalooma Island Resort, competing against each other in a series of questions, creative photo and video tasks and physical challenges. It’s fast-paced, and ends with a live-voting presentation before the winners are announced and crowned champions!

Your group will be split into an even number of tribes, competing in a head-to-head rotation (自转) of exciting and strategic beach challenges. If you want to maximise the time spent “facing off” in challenges, then this is perfect for you. We’ll test physical, mental and problem-solving skills. The strongest players rarely win...

This is a classic team building activity, where teams work together to gather materials, design, plan and build their own raft. Engage your team, where communication, design and planning, and strategy are critical to your success. Are you ready to test yourself against nature, the wits (智慧) of your team, and your building skills?

【推荐3】Last Friday, Mike Babbitt was about to leave the Bremerton Yacht Club to go gas up when the engine of the boat caught fire.

“The wind was blowing from the North. It would have blown the boat into the yacht (快艇) club so I just gave it all the power I could to get it away from the yacht club,” he told Komo News. However, that wasn’t the end of Mike’s mission (使命). Still on the boat were his two bulldogs Pearl and Hootie. He placed the dogs on a paddleboard before jumping into the water himself.

He explained to Komo News that he didn’t even have time to grasp a life coat or his oxygen. Mike served in the army for five years in a special police unit in Iraq and Afghanistan. During his time in the army, he suffered a pancreatic (胰腺的) attack that forced him to rely on oxygen treatment for the rest of his life.

Still, he succeeded in doing the unthinkable. “I just slid into the water and started paddling away from the fire and I could still feel the heat from the fire,” Mike told the news reporters. Mike was then rescued by some friends and later transported to a nearby hospital, where his wife Jamie met him. The fire is especially heartbreaking for Mike and his wife as the yacht was their only house. They had early sold their home and saved up in order to live a life on the water.

However, Mike is just happy to have survived. “I think it is the gift of God watching over us,” Mike told Komo News. “You have to put it exactly that were still alive and we’re still together.” A GoFundMe has since been created to help the Babbitts following the fire.

【推荐1】Next time you throw away rotten lettuce or smelly berries you should think about this. Globally, we waste more than a third of the food we produce. That is according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.

A group of Swedish graduate students is working to fight that fact. They are in the Food Innovation and Product Design program and have come up with a way to use produce that is about to go to waste. They turn the food into non-perishable (不易腐烂的) powder. It may help people who have limited access to food.

They are calling it FoPo Food Powder. It is exactly what it sounds like. It is dried, powdered, shelf-stable fruits and vegetables. The powder can be dropped into relief efforts after natural disasters. Or it can be given out in low-resource areas where fresh food and refrigeration are hard to come by.

Ngo, one of the students who developed it, says they are not making something ground breaking. Powdered food has been around since the early days of astronauts. But they are rethinking the waste and delivery channels. Their development team reached out to farmers and retailers to source fruit.

“Today a relief bag for humanitarian disasters contains various foods such as strawberry jam, peanut butter and peas in tomato sauce. We think that an easily transported pack of cheap dried food powder with high nutritional value would fit in perfectly,” Ngo says. The team has been trying to keep its prices down, too. That would aid low-budget humanitarian groups and non-governmental groups.

Freeze-dried food keeps most of the nutritional benefits of raw food. It loses some vitamins and minerals in the drying process. But it is still a good way to get fiber and nutrients.

The group are about to start working with the U.N.’s Initiative on Food Loss and Waste. They want to try and reach more people and countries that could benefit.

【推荐2】When baby turtles first come out of eggs, they head to the sea by nature. The beach surface goes down, which is one directional clue they follow. Another is light: The horizon (地平线) over the sea is brighter than the horizon over land.

But lights from towns and beach developments can confuse the baby turtles. The sky shining above a city can mislead them to wander. And particularly bright lights can draw them away from the sea.

You’d think the extra time crawling (爬行) might wear out baby turtles, which need energy   once they get in the water to swim for about a day to get to their destination in the sea. In a normal trip from nests to waves, the babies build up chemicals that show they have been pushing themselves.

Some researchers took the baby turtles to a lab, where they ran on a treadmill and swam in a tank while their blood and breathing were monitored. The finding is surprising: even after hours of crawling, the turtles were fine by all measures and swam as well as turtles that didn't have an extra crawling period.

The reason is that they often stop while crawling if they are doing U for a long time, unlike the disturbed trip they make when heading straight to the water. So misled turtles are not worn out.

But the misleading lights are still a problem for the babies. The longer they spend on the beach wandering, the more they are exposed to natural enemies. They can also end up losing their lives in the heat of the sun.

【推荐3】Welcome to South Pole

Is it cold?

Yes! Be very careful out in the open air! The temperature is between -21℃ in the summer and -78℃ in the winter, and you can become numb with cold without realizing. There’s heavy frost even on the warmest summer days, and if it’s quiet you can hear your breath freeze. So if you leave the station, dress warmly and carry dry clothing and a portable radio.

Is there anything good about the weather?

The air is very pure, and it doesn’t snow very much — only about four millimetres a year. There’s very little wind and the sky is usually clear. It’s possibly the calmest place on Earth.

Is it safe?

Because the South Pole is a high altitude site, the glare of the sunlight here is very terrible. It’s also reflected by the snow, so if you go outside, remember to wear sunglasses and use suncream. If you don’t, there’s a severe risk that you’ll damage your eyesight or get badly sunburnt.

What’s it like to live here?

Life is quite abnormal. Sunrise and sunset come once every six months, and in the winter the total absence of daylight can be tiresome, and for some, depressing. We’re totally isolated except for radio and electronic communications, as no aircraft can fly here for about eight months. Usual equipment doesn’t always work as it should do. If you use an electric drill, the power cord will snap. Photography is tricky too, as film is fragile and the camera battery doesn’t work in the cold.