2 . An artist in Oakland, California is using his skills to help the homeless. Greg Kloehn builds very small shelters that make life on the streets a little more comfortable. The structures offer the homeless some safety and protection from bad weather. Each little house also has wheels on the bottom so it can go wherever its owner goes.

Greg Kloehn has given away at least 20 tiny houses. Several are on the roadside near an active railroad. On a recent day, Mr.Kloehn stops at one to visit Oscar Young. The two men hug. Inside his little shelter Mr.Young gets relief from cold nights on the streets. Mr.Kloehn also visits Sweet­Pea, another friend who also lives in one of the little homes the artist built. She says it keeps her safe and protects her belongings.

In the mornings, Mr. Kloehn searches the streets for building materials. He gathers what he can and takes it to his studio. There, he puts the houses together. Empty coffee bags become roof material. A washing machine door and refrigerator part become windows. Nails,screws and the sticky glue hold all the pieces together. The artist also attaches a small electrical device to the house. The device is powered by the sun.

Some of the people living on the streets once had normal houses of their own. But some of the people say they have learned to live with less and they are thankful to that man.

Mr.Kloehn says his work is not a social project. He says he is just someone using his skills to help his homeless neighbors.

3 . Have you ever wondered if you see the same colours as other people? Most people know what blue is when they see it. They call it "blue” because they were taught the word and connected it with what they saw. But how do you know what you see as blue isn't someone else's red?

The ability to perceive （感知）different colours is up to receptors （接受器）in our eyes. Light waves hit these receptors and they react depending on which colour the light is, sending signals to the brain. The brain then reads these signals to determine which colour light the eyes are receiving.

Some people's receptors are more developed than others. The inability of the receptor to feel the light waves correctly means that some people cannot tell the differences between similar colours. Those with more developed receptors can see more colours. We sometimes hear people having an argument about whether something is dark blue or black. It might be because one person has stronger receptors to feel the light than another.

In the past, most scientists would argue that everyone saw colours in the same way. However, research was conducted on monkeys, in which their receptors were changed. This enabled them to see more colours than usual. Normally monkeys can only see blue and green, but the change allowed them to see red. Their brains automatically got used to new colours. This suggests that our brains may find new colors of the things we see. Colours could be a very personal experience , unique to everyone.

So, the next time you talk about your favourite colour, just remember if yours is blue and your friend says red, you two might actually be thinking about the same colour. What if everyone in the world has the same favourite colour, but just calls it different names?

4 . Are you a fan of social media(媒体)? Well, you must know this news: There are some hot social media dogs who probably have way more followers than you. Here are some of them.

Boo has been called the “World’s Cutest Dog” and has over 17 million fans on the social networking website Facebook alone. The Pomeranian has appeared on the TV program “Good Morning America "lots of times. There are Boo toys, Boo notebooks and other things for sale in stores. You can also find Boo on social networking websites Twitter and Instagram.

Monty is a dog with a lot to say, usually through several messages on Twitter per day. Monty, a shepherd dog, discusses how his owner treats him badly with things like baths, and notes interesting things he sees on walks in the country (like dead sheep). At just under 4,000 Twitter followers, he isn't the dog with the largest following, but Monty is one very active social media dog.

These dogs aren’t just social media dogs---they are actually" government officials". The dogs belong to California governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. and his wife. Sutter, a Pembroke Welsh corgi, is the “first dog ”and Lucy, a “ borgie” is the “deputy(代理) first dog” of California. Lucy and Sutter Brown have over 16,000 Facebook fans.

Tuna is a “chiweenie”---a mix between a Chihuahua and a Dachshund---who was rescued (解救)after he was left on the side of the road. His new mom not only fell in love with him and decided to keep him forever, she also turned the little dog into a popular dog on Instagram. Tuna has 1.6 million Instagram followers.

5 . A year ago, I decided to create a more environmentally friendly kitchen, focusing on reducing the single-use products such as plastic bags and paper towels. I’m not going to sugarcoat my experience. It takes com mitment and a willingness to change long-held habits. In creating my kitchen, I tried a lot of different alternative products and some plain old com mon sense； the result, however, has been worth the effort. I’m recycling more and relying less on single-use products and I’m saving money too.

I’m not kidding when I say that I used to really love plastic storage bags, so this was, perhaps, the biggest challenge for me. Switching to reusable storage bags is a financial investment, but the cos is reasonable considering that I previously spent at least $ 100 annually on single-use plastic bags and wrap. I willcheck online periodically for recycling updates, where a zero-waste box for kitchen items is offered, from party supplies to mixed-materialfood containers.

I’m a clean freak (怪人) and used to go through an amount of paper towels on a daily basis, butit’s easy enough to take old T-shirts ortowels and cutthem up to use to wipe down surfaces. I’m also a fan of bamboo paper towels, which have the look and feel of traditional paper towels, yet are made from a highly renewable source and also break down in just 45 days. Better yet, they can be reused up to 100 times. As for kitchen sponges (海绵擦), I keep an eye out for those made with natural and recyclable materials.

When purchasing household items online from companies like Amazon or Jet, I will ask to have them shipped in as few boxes as possible or as small a box as possible if a single item is to be sent. I’ll let the company know that they should pay more attention to how It is packaging items for delivery.

6 . The idea of turning recycled plastic bottles into clothing is not new. During the last five years, a large number of clothing companies, businesses and environmental organizations have started turning plastics into fabric to deal with plastic pollution. But there’s a problem with this method. Research now shows that microfibers could be the biggest source of plastic in the sea.

Dr. Mark Browne in Santa Barbara, California, has been studying plastic pollution and microfibers for 10 years now. He explains that every time synthetic clothes go into a washing machine, a large number of plastic fibers fall off. Most washing machines can’t collect these microfibers. So every time the water gets out of a washing machine, microfibers are entering the sewers and finally end up in the sea.

In 2011, Browne wrote a paper stating that a single piece of synthetic(合成的) clothing can produce more than 1, 900 fibers per wash. Browne collected samples from seawater and freshwater sites around the world, and used a special way to examine each sample. He discovered that every single water sample contained microfibers.

This is bad news for a number of reasons. Plastic can cause harm to sea life when eaten. Studies have also shown that plastic can absorb other pollutants.

Based on this evidence, it may seem surprising that companies and organizations have chosen to turn plastic waste into clothing as an environmental “solution.” Even though the science has been around for a while, Browne explains that he's had a difficult time getting companies to listen. When he asked well-known clothing companies to support Benign by Design-his research project that seeks to get clothes that have a bad effect on humans and the environment out of the market, Browne didn’t get a satisfying answer. Only one women’s clothing company, Eileen Fisher, offered Browne funding.

7 . Smart Home Products for Living a Connected Life

What makes something a smart home product? Generally, it’s defined by its ability to connect to a Wi-Fi network, allowing users to interact（互动）with it from their smartphones.We’ve rounded up some cool, diverse offerings that you’ll love to have in your home.

Nest Cam IQ

walmart.com

$299.00

The Nest Cam IQ is a beautifully designed home security camera that can recognize faces. It can warn you if there’s a stranger in your home. The device also supports two-way communication via built-in microphones and a powerful speaker.

Logitech Harmony Elite

amazon.com

$249.99

The Logitech Harmony Elite is one of the best universal remote controls available on the market. It can control just about every piece of electronics you own（it supports over 270，000 devices！）in every room of your house or apartment, including TVs，streaming devices, and sound systems.

Apple HomePod

bhphotovideo.com

$349.00

The Apple HomePod has better audio quality than any other smart speaker available today. Available in white or space gray, the Siri-powered device also allows you to control a number of devices with your voice.

August Smart Lock Pro

amazon.com

$279.99

The August Smart Lock Pro is compatible（兼容的）with most locks. A mobile app allows you to manage access to the lock, check its usage history, and get informed when someone opens the door. You can control it and check on the state of your door with voice commands.

8 . Choosing where to live may be one of the biggest decisions you’ll make when you move to Sydney, but you’ll have plenty of help.

Before you move to Sydney, we recommend that you book a temporary place to stay. Once you get here, you can look for longer-term accommodation.

--sydney.edu.au/accommodation/short-term

The University has eight residential colleges on the Camperdown/Darlington Campus, including International House, a residential community of global scholars. Colleges provide comfortable, fully furnished single rooms and daily meals, along with sporting, cultural, leadership and social programs. They also include on-site tutorials(辅导课) in addition to campus-based classes.

--sydney.edu.au/colleges

The University has two self-run residences—Queen Mary Building (QMB) and Abercrombie Student Accommodation—on the Camperdown/Darlington Campus. Both just under a year old, they house up to 1000 students. These residences provide modern single-study rooms with large common living, learning and study spaces, shared kitchens, a theatre, gyms, soundproofed music rooms, art studios, sky lounges and rooftop gardens.

--sydney.edu.au/campus-life/accommodation/live-on-campus.html

More than 90 percent of our students live off campus. The University is close to many dynamic and multicultural suburbs such as Annandale, Newtown, Chippendale and Glebe. A great place to search is our large online database of properties.

--sydney.edu.au/campus-life/accommodation/live-off-campus.html

9 . Computer programmer David Jones earns £35,000 a year designing new computer games, yet he cannot find a bank ready to let him have a credit card(信用卡). Instead, he has been told to wait another two years, until he is 18.

The 16-year-old works for a small firm in Liverpool, where the problem of most young people of his age is finding a job. David's firm releases(推出) two new games for the fast throwing computer market each month.

But David's biggest headache is what to do with his money. Even though he earns a lot, he cannot drive a car, take out a mortgage(抵押贷款), or get credit cards. David got his job with the Liverpool-based company four months ago, a year after leaving school with six O-levels and working for a time in a computer shop. "I got the job because the people who run the firm knew I had already written some programs," he said. David spends some of his money on records and clothes, and gives his mother 50 pounds a week. But most of his spare time is spent working.

"Unfortunately, computing was not part of our studies at school," he said. "But I had been studying it in books and magazines for four years in my spare time. I knew what I wanted to do and never considered staying on at school. Most people in this business are fairly young, anyway." David added: "I would like to earn a million and I suppose early retirement(退休) is a possibility. You never know when the market might disappear."

10 . Have you ever thought of quitting your job when you feel exhausted? Maybe most of you would say “yes”. After a particularly busy period at work, I decided to get away from it all by going on a hike in the mountains in southern France.

Before I left, I read an interesting story in a magazine. It read, “Once, while I was riding on a crowded bus, the man sitting next to me threw his cell phone out of the window when his phone rang. I was surprised. He looked at me, shrugged (耸耸肩) and looked away. I had no idea whether it was his or stolen or whether he even knew what a cell phone was or not, but he clearly wanted to be free of it, because it clearly troubled him.”

Billions of people across the world use cell phones. Though cell phones are a wonderful way for communication, they often do the exact opposite. Using cell phones can increase stress within families and friends.

So when I recently returned home, I got rid of my cell phone. Now I go outside without taking my phone with me. I’ve noticed things in my neighborhood I never noticed before, such as gardens. I’ve met new people, started conversations with neighbors I didn’t speak to before and talked with some of my friends face to face instead of chatting over the phone.

Instead of keeping me off from the world, stopping using my cell phone has helped me get even closer to my family and friends.