Marathon is the supreme discipline of long-distance running. They are not only attractive for top athletes, but also for hobby runners. The choice of events is almost endless. Now we have put together some most breathtakingly beautiful ones that you'll be tempted to run holding a camera.
Ultra-trail Angkor, Cambodia
The newest of a series of Angkor marathons, this endurance (耐力) test offers 32-km, 64-km and 128-km routes around the famous temples, including Bayon and Angkor Wat. Watch out for monkeys, and the gigantic tree vines that memorably hug some of the great buildings.
Dodo Trail, Mauritius
Crossing rugged (崎岖的) coastline and tropical forests，the Dodo Trail is full of wildlife, although the famous dodo bird remains, sadly, extinct. While the demanding 50km Xtreme route covers 828m-high Black River Peak, a beginner-friendly Mini Dodo Trail (10 km) is easier.
Great Ocean Road marathon, Australia
Another well-known scenic coastal drive, southern Australia's Great Ocean Road stages a footrace every May. Neckache could be a problem: in one direction lies the scenic South Sea, and in another handsome forest and, if you're lucky, a koala or two. Be warned, however, that the series of steep slopes make this one of the toughest marathons.
Big Five marathon, South Africa
Marathon meets safari at the privately owned Entabeni Game Reserve every June. The start time is dependent on the race-day location of the Big Five members-African elephants, Cape buffalo, lions, leopards and rhinos-as organizers try to guarantee sightings.
When the news came that my mother was hospitalized for a heart attack, I was in Peru on a hiking trip. That evening, before I could board the plane to Italy, I was informed that she had passed away. Sadness and the feeling of not being there for my mother when she needed me most broke all excuses I'd made up to stay away trying to make it as a "travel writer". There wasn't much I could do to stop that urge to denounce myself.
My mother Tundra stayed in her northern Italian world most of her life, where I always stood out as a freak and the one doing worthless silly things. But my stories from distant places aroused her curiosity and brought her comfort. To her, I was a courageous adventurer, and her words towards my achievements which are insignificant now pushed me forward on that unconventional path.
After handling my mother's affairs in Italy, I decided to leave for Penang Island, one of the most visited places in Penang, Malaysia. With all the international travel I'd done, in truth I'd always treated it more like a stop for necessary and urgent breaks, rather than a proper destination. Yet then, I missed its atmosphere that made me feel at home somehow.
Returning there, I reconnected with backwoods by going on hikes. It was hard to put my feelings into words, but the rainforest held something uniquely comforting. This experience was similar to stepping into an ancient, purer world that made one consider human nature and problems. Besides, the sound of strange insects was almost like a language, whispering to me that I should let go of the past, and only focus on current life. Like an oil leak, that suffering fell out of me and into every footprint left. 18 months passing, I look back on the time spent in the natural world and timeless environment, knowing I've pulled through.
If you've ever started a sentence with, " If I were you…"or found yourself scratching your head at a colleague's headache over a decision when the answer is crystal-clear, there's a scientific reason behind it. Our own decision-making abilities can become declined over the course of the day causing indecision or poor choices, but choosing on behalf of someone else is an enjoyable task that doesn't suffer the same trouble.
The problem is "decision fatigue (疲劳)", a psychological phenomenon that greatly damages the quality of your choices after a long day of decision making, says Evan Polman, a leading psychologist.
Physicians who have been on the job for several hours, for example, are more likely to prescribe antibiotics (抗生素) to patients when it's unwise to do so. "Presumably (据推测) it's because it's simple and easy to write a prescription and consider a patient case closed rather than investigate further," Polman says.
But decision fatigue goes away when you are making the decision for someone else. When people imagine themselves as advisers and imagine their own choices as belonging to someone else, they feel less tired and rely less on decision shortcuts to make those choices. "By taking upon the role of adviser rather than decision maker, one does not suffer the consequences of decision fatigue," he says. "It's as if there's something fun and liberating about making someone else's choice. "
Getting input from others not only offers a fresh perspective and thought process; it often also includes riskier choices. While this sounds undesirable, it can be quite good, says Polman. "When people experience decision fatigue-when they are tired of making choices-they have a tendency to choose to go with the status quo, " he says. "But it can be problematic, since a change in the course of action can sometimes be important and lead to a positive outcome. "
Robotic surgery is one thing, but sending a robot inside the body to carry out an operation is quite another, which has long been a goal of some researchers to produce tiny robotic devices. These devices are capable of traveling through the body to deliver drugs or to make repairs without the need for a single cut, the possibility of which has just got a bit closer.
However, unlike the plot of one film-which featured a microscopic crew and submarine traveling through a scientist's bloodstream-this device could not be put into blood vessels (血管) because it is too big. While other types of miniature robots that can be swallowed were developed in the past, their role has mostly been limited to capturing images inside the body. In a presentation this week to the International Conference, Daniela Rus and Shuhei Miyashita of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology described a robot they have developed that can be swallowed and used to collect dangerous objects accidentally taken in.
To test their latest version, Dr. Rus and Dr. Miyashita designed a robot as a battery hunter, which might seem to be an odd task. However, more than 3, 500 people in America alone, most of them children, swallow the tiny button cells used in small electronic devices by accident every year. To start with, the researchers created an artificial esophagus (食道) and stomach made out of silicone (硅胶). It was closely modeled on that found in a pig and filled with medical liquid; the robot itself is made from several layers of different materials, including pig intestine (肠), and contains a little magnet (磁铁). This is folded up and wrapped in a 10mmx27mm capsule of ice． Once this reaches the stomach, the ice melts and the robot unfolds which is moved and guided with the use of a magnetic field outside the body. In their tests, the robot was able to touch a button battery and draw it with its own magnet, and during dragging it along, the robot could then be directed towards the intestines where it would eventually be gotten rid of through the anus. After it, the researchers sent in another robot loaded with medication to deliver it to the site of the battery to speed up healing.
The artificial stomach being transparent on one side, the researchers can see the batteries and visually control the robots. If not, that will require the help from imaging system, which will be a bit more of a challenge, but Dr. Rus and Dr. Miyashita are determined to succeed.
False Memories or Parallel Realities?
Here is a common situation: You're talking with someone about an event, only to discover that you both remember things quite differently. Usually, you'd put it down to a poor memory, but what if it wasn't just one person who remembered things differently? What if it was millions?
In fact, this isn't a "what if" situation. It's known as the Mandela Effect, and it was first noticed in 2009 by paranormal researcher Fiona Broome. Broome was chatting with people about the South African activist Nelson Mandela, and she commented how sad it was that he had died in prison in the 1980s. Actually, he'd been released in 1990, become president of South Africa, and died in 2013.
Broome was so shocked at this that she started an investigation. People have memories of movies that never existed, and famous words that were never spoken. There is even a group who clearly recall seeing maps showing that New
Zealand was northeast of Australia (it's southeast), So what in the world is going on?
In each reality, history is shaped by different events, and the Mandela Effect occurs when some of us shift from one reality to another. Therefore, those who remember Nelson Mandela dying in the 1980s aren't wrong. They're just remembering events from their original reality.
More likely, however, is that the Mandela Effect has to do with how our brains store information. Many people remember Pikachu's tail having a black tip on the end of it, when in fact it was always yellow. "Ahal" you cry. "Parallel realities!" Probably not. Consider instead that people often ignore unfamiliar details and transform information to make it more understandable. In the Pikachu example, his tail may not have a black tip, but his ears certainly do. Thus, both his ears and tail are misremembered as having black tips.
All things considered, if you're stuck arguing win someone about whose version of events is correct, it may indeed be easier to agree that neither of you is wrong. You just come from different realities.
A. Before we explain, let's look at an example.
B. It turns out she wasn't the only one who'd experienced this.
C. If several people make these memory errors, the false memory gets stronger socially.
D. The story of Nelson Mandela is not the only example of this type of false group memory.
E. Some claim the Mandela Effect happens because we live in one of many parallel realities.
F. Many in her group agreed, while others mentioned that Nelson Mandela had not died in prison.
G. As more incidents of the Mandela effect continue to occur, perhaps more research into the origins will tell us the causes.
A few years ago, I was with a close woman friend in a grocery store in California. As we walked between the1, we became aware of a mother with a small boy moving in the opposite direction. The woman barely 2 us because she was so bored at her little boy, who kept on pulling items 3the lower shelves. As the mother became more and more4, she started to yell at the child and later began, to shake him by the5.
At this point my friend spoke up. As a wonderful6of three and founder of a kindergarten, she had probably 7 once in her life treated any child so badly.
I 8 my friend would give this woman a solid mother-to-mother talk about9 herself and about the effect this behavior has on a child.
However, my friend said, "What a10 little boy! How old is he?" The woman answered11, "He's three." My friend went on to 12how curious he seemed and how her own three children were just lie him in the 13, so interested in all the wonderful14and packages. "He seems so bright and intelligent," my friend said.
The woman had the 15in her arms by now and a shy smile came upon her face.16 brushing his hair out of his eyes, she said, "Yes, he's very smart and 17, but sometimes he wears me out." My friend18sympathetically, "Yes, they can do that; they are so full of19. But that is what makes him a kid." The woman20with approval.
As we walked away, I heard the mother speaking more kindly to the boy. "We'll have your favorite macaroni and cheese this evening," she told him.
Guozhuang dance is a favorite collective bonfire dance（集体篝火舞）of Tibetans, allowing people to show respect for nature.
Wandering in the old town of Dukezong indaytime, one can always see elderly Tibetans dancing in a circle while(sing) traditional Tibetan songs. When dusk(fall), Tibetan youths, after finishing a full day's work or study, will come outdoors to dance with a (fast) pace and more joyful music.
"Guozhuang dance (be)about paying respect to nature since ancient times, but now when we dance, it is more about recording and passing down our ethnic memory and tradition with every step, " said Losang Tashi, a 28-year-old Tibetan in Shangri-La.
"When I feel tired in daily life, I always dance Guozhuang to relieve my pressure. It makes my mind(full) relaxed, "he said, "Just as many people watch TV dramas and play online games(relax), many Tibetan youths like me take a fancy dancing to our traditional music, so it means a lot to us," he said.
"When other non-Tibetan people watch us dancing, I can bring (happy) to them," he said. "I feel so satisfied when I tell tourists about the messagesare conveyed by Guozhuang dance."
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Dear Editor,
I am high school student. Here I would like to express my sincerely gratitude through your newspaper to all the medical workers for your devotion and sacrifice in this battle against the Covid-19 virus. It is they who, despite of the lack of equipment and the potential of infection, desperately rescue those infecting and striving for life. It is also they who have shed new light on the virus to build up our confidence to defeat it. It is they who deserves all the admiration and love! I can ever express our thankfulness too much for their selfless contributions. As the virus is very hard to clear, I'm convinced that China will win the battle and make a quick recover. Finally, I hoped all of them will stay healthy and happy.
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
1）写信目的；
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Dear Sir or Madam,
……
Yours truly,
Li Hua
