When it comes to cultural heritage protection, the Grand Canalof China is probably the world's greatest project of its kind. The big inland waterway system in thenorth-eastern and central eastern plains passes through eight of the country'spresent-day provinces.
The Canal runs from Beijing in the north to Zhejiang Province inthe south. Constructed in sections from the 5th century BC onwards, it wasdesigned as a means of communication in the 7th century AD. The Canal is the world's greatest civilengineering project before the Industrial Revolution.
The Grand Canal reached a peak in the 13th century, providing aninland navigation(航行) networkconsisting of more than 2,000 kilometers of artificial waterways, linking fiveof the most important river basins in China, including the Yellow River and theYangtze. It entered a bid as a UNESCO(联合国教科文组织) culturalheritage site in 2008.
The Grand Canal cultural square is located in Beijing's Tongzhoudistrict. Ever since the Yuan dynasty 800 years ago, the Tongzhou section ofthe Grand Canal has been the life blood of Beijing. Grain and buildingmaterials were all transported to meet the endless demands of the big cities.Even today, the Grand Canal plays a major role in the lives of its citizens.
"I grew up near the Grand Canal. In the past the waterwaywas a lot narrower, but now it's nice and wide and bridges are built over it. Ithink if the bid for world heritage status succeeds, it will greatly makeTongzhou more famous in the world, especially with Tongzhou aiming to be asub-center of the capital Beijing," a citizen said.
The result of the bid is set to be released next week, and nodoubt it will certainly make it into the history books if the Canal is listedas a world heritage site.
Sometimes it's necessary to take a break, relax and forget the routine (日常工作), so I know of an excellent place to do it outside the city. It's a beautiful place and I really enjoy going there.
The name is Tepoztlán, 71 km south of Mexico City. Here you can find a lot of different meals, beautiful landscapes, historical buildings, local souvenirs, and so on.
The weather most of the time is very hot, and I have to give you some advice if you go.
● Use sun block ● Wear comfortable clothes, sunglasses and a hat ● Drink a lot of waterI give you this advice because I ended up with sunstroke. I'm going to tell you how my trip started. When we got there we were really starving, so we decided to have breakfast and when we go to Tepoztlan we usually enjoy "quesadillas" in the market.
In Mexico, it's very common to eat in the market, but these kinds of markets not only sell food but also you can buy clothes, flowers, everything you can imagine.
Tepoztlan has a lot of tourist sites, but the main attraction is Tepozteco hill, and it's more attractive for the visitors during "Spring Equinox". To be honest, I've never climbed it, I'm too lazy to walk a lot and even more in the sun.
In my trip we didn't have time to do all that because one day is not enough, but if you have the opportunity to stay for more than one day it's an excellent idea.
As a Chinese saying goes, "Taste is actually a memory of childhood". Local specialty food may not be popular among all people, but it offers outsiders a glimpse of local culture and history.
Gongcheng "oil tea" is such a kind of food that would be considered "weird" by many first-time visitors to the remote county in the north of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Many people dislike its bitter and astringent(涩的) flavor when they take a sip.
"It felt like drinking Chinese herbal medicine. I never expected that I would gradually accept it afterwards, and even become addicted to it," said a traveler surnamed Zhang who comes from Shijiazhuang in northern China's Hebei province.
Langshan village is said to be the birthplace of Gongcheng "oil tea" whose ideal ingredients are green tea and fermented tea. The village has preserved well its buildings and roads dating back to late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), as well as its traditional way of making the special tea.
Lin Fengyou, 60, introduced the cooking process. She looks younger than her age, and attributes this to the benefits of drinking "oil tea" throughout the year.
The first procedure is to use a wooden hammer to pound the tea while heating it in an iron pot, and then add edible oil and boiled water afterwards. She filters off the solid residues(余渣), and pours the glue-like green tea soup into bowls. Then, she adds salt, caraway seed, green onion, dried rice, fried groundnuts, sliced taro and fried beans.
The taste of the "oil tea" is a mixture of the distinctive flavors of all its ingredients. Local people usually eat it together with glutinous rice(糯米) balls, rice dumplings and glutinous rice cake.
The villagers consume "oil tea" three times a day. The tea soup is a healthy and refreshing food. "The tea soup to us is coffee to Westerners", said Lin. "But it is tastier."
a. pour the glue-like green tea soup into bowls
b. heat the tea in an iron pot and pound the tea
c. add salt, caraway seed, green onion, dried rice, etc
d. add edible oil and boiled water
e. filter off the solid residues
Auckland is New Zealand's largest urban area with a population of just over a million people. It is not, however, the capital, although it was at one time, until the capital moved to Wellington. Auckland is the center of commerce and industry, and is perhaps the most energetic, prosperous and multicultural city in New Zealand.
The city's landscape is decided by volcanic hills, the twin harbors, bays, beaches and islands. Its nickname “the city of sails” is very suitable. Auckland has more boats for each person than anywhere else in the world.
Auckland has many volcanic hills, many of which currently afford great views of the city. And Auckland's geography is such that shiny waters seem to attract people from every point. It is a water lovers' best place, with some of the best beaches, swimming, diving, fishing, sailing, windsurfing and water sports in the country.
Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is also the cultural, administrative and political center of the country. Two aspects of the city that will immediately strike any visitor are the harbor and hilly landscape. Everywhere you go, the sounds and the smell of the ocean hang in the air, and green hills and valleys wrap you in a bear-hug embrace. At night, Wellington offers a spectacular, shimmering(闪闪发光的) cityscape that is unlike almost anywhere else in the world. Even after seeing it for a hundred times, it takes your breath away.
Wellington is a scenic, windy and diverse place. It has some of the best museums, art galleries, restaurants, and coffee houses in the country. It is the storehouse for the nation's historic, cultural and artistic treasures. Being the first place where European settlers arrived, it also boasts lots of historic streets and buildings.
Wellington is host to an excellent Festival of the Arts every two years.
Given Australia's size and the fact that early settlements were far apart, Australian society is remarkably homogeneous (同种的). The way of life in the major cities and towns is much the same, however many miles divide them. It takes a sharp ear to tell the differences between regional accents.
However, there is some difference in lifestyle between people in the city and those in the countryside. Almost 90 per cent of the population lives in the fast-paced cities along the coast and has little more than a passing familiarity with the desert. The major cities keep some colonial (殖民的) heritage, but the overall impression is modern, with new buildings reflecting the country's youth. By comparison, the rural communities tend to be slow-moving. For many years, Australia was said to have “ridden on the sheep's back”, a reference to wool being the country's main money-earner. However, the wool industry is no longer dominant. Much of Australia's economy is now achieved from natural coal and wheat, and by being the largest diamond producer in the world. Newer industries such as tourism and wine making are also increasingly important. Australians are generally friendly and relaxed, with a self-deprecating sense of humor. On the whole, Australia is a society without hierarchies (等级制度), an attitude generally held to stem from its prisoner beginnings.
Yet, contrary to popular belief, very few Australians have true prisoner origins. Within only one generation of the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, Australia had become a nation of immigrants. Originally coming almost entirely from the British Isles, today one in three Australians comes from elsewhere. Australia's liberal postwar immigration policies (政策) led to a growing number of survivors from war-torn Europe, most notably Greeks, Italians, Poles and Germans.
The emphasis has changed in recent years and today most of the new immigrants are from Southeast Asia. Today Australia is a ‘blend of nations' and although some racial (种族的) problems exist, it has generally been a successful experiment and the country is proud to have one of the most harmonious multicultural communities in the world.
Danger-junkie orangutans(猩猩) in Borneo climb dead trees and shake then until they begin to fall. They scream with excitement as they cling to the falling tree. Just before the tree hits the ground the orangutans leap to another tree or vine, narrowly escaping death. While no one cab ask orangutans if they enjoy it as a person playing an extreme sport, one animal behaviorist sees this monkey fun as a bit of harmless thrill-seeking.
A growing number of scientists agree that animals are conscious and capable of experiencing basic emotions(情感), such as happiness, sadness, boredom or depression. A few scientists even see the possibility for higher animal emotions like love, jealousy and spite.
Five years ago, behaviorist and animal-rights activist Dr. Jonathan Balcombe stood on a Virginia hotel balcony watching two crows intimately groom (清洁) each other in the comfort of an abandoned billboard. He felt that the birds liked what they were doing, even if engaged in a natural, beneficial act, such as picking parasites (寄生虫) off the other's feathers. That moment changed the way he would view animals forever and led to a book, “Pleasurable Kingdom: Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good”, which is filled with hundreds of examples of animals living it up thanks to developed senses of touch, taste, sight, sound and smell.
Balcombe recounts a favorite example of Kenyan hippos (河马) having high-end spa treatment in a fresh water spring. They splay their toes, open their mouths wide and wait for a school of cleaner fish to remove parasites and slough off dead skin, he recalls. Balcombe knows that the hippos and the fish both benefit from this arrangement. “My interpretation is that it is also enjoyable for them ,” he says.
Honey from the African forest is not only a kind of natural sugar, it is also delicious. Most people, and many animals, like eating it. However, the only way for them to get that honey is to find a wild bees' nest and take the honey from it. Often, these nests are high up in trees, and it is difficult to find them. In parts of Africa, though, people and animals looking for honey have a strange and unexpected helper—a little bird called a honey guide.
The honey guide does not actually like honey, but it does like the wax(蜂蜡) in the beehives(蜂房). The little bird cannot reach this wax, which is deep inside the bees' nest. So, when it finds a suitable nest, it looks for someone to help it. The honey guide gives a loud cry that attracts the attention of both passing animals and people. Once it has their attention, it flies through the forest, waiting from time to time for the curious animal or person as it leads them to the nest. When they finally arrive at the nest, the follower reaches in to get at the delicious honey as the bird patiently waits and watches. Some of the honey, and the wax, always falls to the ground, and this is when the honey guide takes its share.
Scientists do not know why the honey guide likes eating the wax, but it is very determined in its efforts to get it. The birds seem to be able to smell wax from a long distance away. They will quickly arrive whenever a beekeeper is taking honey from his beehives, and will even enter churches when beeswax candles are being lit.
To American visitors, Iceland is a very interesting country, partly because it is different in so many ways from he or she is used to seeing at home. There are quite a few things that are not done, or that do not exist on the island—quite a few “No's”．
There is no pollution, for instance, no dogs are permitted in Reykjavik, the capital. There is no television on Thursdays or during the whole month of July, and only three hours of blackand-white TV the rest of the time. There is no hard liquor（酒） on Wednesdays and no beer at any time. There is no handguns; only one prison of thirty five rooms in the whole land—an admirable figure, even for a small country of 313,376 people.
There is no army, air force or navy. There is no tipping（给小费） for anything. There are no large stores open on Saturdays or Sundays. Since Iceland is located just under the Arctic Circle, there is no darkness in summer and no daylight in winter. But thanks to Gulf Stream, the climate is rather mild, with temperatures between 34 degrees and 52 degrees in July.
The rules on television liquor and guns are the result of government decisions. But the absence of pollution is because of in great part the fact that Iceland gets its power from the thousands of hot springs(泉水) that come out of the ground. They provide all the energy needed by the country. In fact, Iceland uses only 3 percent of all its available power.
Iceland has been described as a democratic（民主的） independent country where more fish are caught and more books published per person than anywhere else in the world. The Icelanders have always felt a particular love for literature. They wrote their first books in the ninth and tenth centuries AD. These works were poems and tales about the kings, heroes, and heroines of Iceland and Norway. At first, the stories were remembered and passed from generation to generation. They were finally written down between 1140 and 1220. The Icelanders have never stopped writing ever since. “Rather shoeless than bookless，” they proudly say.
For years, people have wondered whether there's life on other planets. Scientists may now be closer than ever to answering that question.
Using powerful telescopes, a team of astronomers in South America discovered a new planet, called Proxima b. It circles a star named Proxima Centauri, in the same way Earth circles the sun. Proxima Centauri is the closest star to our solar system.
Scientists believe the new planet has a rocky surface and is similar in size to Earth. More important, they've determined that the distance between Proxima b and its “sun” gives the planet a similar temperature to Earth's.This means it could have liquid water. The presence of water on a planet makes it possible for life to exist there. Scientists refer to planets like Proxima b as “Goldilocks planets” because they are not too hot or too cold, but just right to possibly support life.
Astronomers have found other Goldilocks planets in the past, but none are as close to Earth as Proxima b. Still, the new planet is 4.2 light years from Earth—that is about 25 trillion miles away.
Despite the long distance, astronomers hope to get a much better look at our new-found neighbor one day. But they'll need to wait until more advanced telescopes are developed. They may also send a robotic spacecraft to investigate the planet.
Plants are very important living things. Life could not go on if there were no plants. This is because plants can make food from air, water and sunlight.
Animals and man cannot make food from air, water and sunlight. Animals get their food by eating plants and other animals. Therefore animals and man need plants in order to live. This is why we find that there are so many plants around us. If you look carefully at the plants around you, you will find that there are two kinds of plants: flowering plants and non-flowering plants. Flowering plants can make seeds. The seeds are protected by the fruits. Some fruits have one seed, some have two, three or four, and some have many seeds. But a few fruits have no seeds at all. An example of a fruit without seeds is the banana fruit. Most non-flowering plants do not grow from seeds. They grow from spores (胚芽). Spores are very small. Some spores are so small and light that they can float in the air. We may say that spores are quite the same as seeds. When these spores are all on wet and shady places, they usually grow into new plants.
England's highest main-line railway station is in serious trouble, deserted and unmanned since it was officially closed in 1970, Dent, located high in the hills of Yorkshire, wakes up on six summer weekends each year, when a special train unloads walkers, sightseers and people who simply want to catch a train from the highest station to its platforms.
But even this limited being may soon be brought to an end. Dent station located on the Settel to Carlisle railway line, is said to be surrounded by the most beautiful scenery in the country. But no amount of scenic beauty can save the line because of the British Rail's money problems.
It is now an open secret that British Rail sees no future for this railway line. Most of its trains disappeared some time ago. Bridges, built a century ago, are falling down. It is not alone. Half a dozen railway routes in the North of England are facing a similar threat. The problem is an old system and an almost total lack of cash to repair it. Bridges and tunnels are showing their ages, the wooden supports for the tracks are rotting（腐烂） and engines and coaches(车厢) are getting old.
On main lines between large cities, the problem is not too bad. There lines still make a profit and cash can be found to keep them in good condition. But on the country branch line, the situation is different. As track wears out, it is not replaced. Instead speed limits are introduced, making the journey longer than necessary and discouraging travelers.
If a bridge is dangerous, there is often only one thing for British Rail to do: go out and find money from another places. This is exactly what it did a few months ago when a bridge at Bridling station was threatening to fall down. Repairs were calculated at 200,000 pounds just for one bridge, so British Rail was pleased, and rather surprised when two local councils(理事会) offered half that amount of money.
Tornadoes are nature's most violent storms, which can cause deaths and destroy a neighborhood in seconds. A tornado appears as a funnel-shaped (漏斗状) cloud from a thunderstorm to the ground with whirling (飞快移动) winds that can reach 300 miles per hour. Damage paths can be over one mile wide and 50 miles long. Every state is at some risk from this disaster.
Some tornadoes can be seen clearly, while rain or nearby low-hanging clouds obscure others. At many times, tornadoes develop so rapidly that little, if any, advance warning is possible.
Before a tornado hits, the air may become very still. A cloud of debris (散片) can mark the location of a tornado even if a funnel can not be seen. Tornadoes generally occur near the edge of a thunderstorm, when the strong wind may die down. It is not uncommon to see clear, sunlit skies behind a tornado.
The following are facts about tornadoes:
The average forward speed of a tornado is 30 MPH, but may also vary from still to 70 MPH. Debris is picked up or a cloud forms in the funnel.
The average tornado moves from southwest to northeast, but tornadoes have been known to move in any direction. Tornadoes are most often reported east of the Rocky Mountains during spring and summer months.
Tornadoes can happen together with tropical storms and hurricanes as they move onto land. Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water.
The tornado season in the southern states of America is March through May; in the northern states, it is late spring through early summer. Tornadoes are most likely to occur between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m., but can occur at any time.
You might think people all over the United States have Wi-Fi—-wireless Internet service—and mobile phones. But there is no such service in Green Bank, West Virginia, a tiny town four hours from the U.S. capital, Washington D.C. Fewer than 150 people live in Green Bank, which has two churches, an elementary school and a public library. It is also home to the largest radio telescope in the world.
There is a ban on Wi-Fi in Green Bank, along with anything else that can create electromagnetic(电磁的)waves. Officials say the waves could disturb the signals the telescope receives.
For many American, a visit to Green Bank is a little like returning to the 1950s. To get there, you must read road signs—because there is no GPS service in the town. People can connect with the Internet through telephones, but wireless service is not allowed.
The observatory(天文台)is one of the largest employers in the area. The federal National Science Foundation(NSF)spends about ﹩8.2 million a year to operate the observatory, telescope and educational center.
Jonah Bauserman is a technician. If he supposes there is a signal that is not allowed in the zone, he drives to the house where the signal is coming from and checks it. But once a week, when the device is cleaned, some banned devices are allowed near it.
People in the town respect the work of the scientists. And they say they are happy to live without Wi-Fi and mobile phones. “You know, instead of sitting here on our phones and other devices we're out fishing and hunting and going to each other's houses.” Everyone knows each other and communication is almost always face-to-face.
Antarctica, with its seemingly endless icy beauty, is one place where one look is worth a thousand words. My own dream to see it came true last January when I joined the sixth exploration crew(考查队) of the China National Marine Bureau. We spent 10 days connecting flights to reach our goal, but finally arrived at the Great Wall Station on Antarctica on the eve of Chinese New Year.
There are only two seasons in Antarctica: winter and summer. You get polar nights in winter and polar days in summer. Day is longer than night in summer, and the temperature often reaches below zero. Luckily, there are no snowstorms in summer, which makes it the best season to travel. What I imagined before starting for Antarctica was a world of ice, storms, endless cold and loneliness. When I stopped on Antarctica for the first time, however, I saw rich, energetic and beautiful scenery that was beyond anything I had imagined.
We only spent 11 days at the South Pole, but every minute was spent taking pictures and losing our heart to the wonderland. Beauty enveloped us as we watched the world around us. The mountains, oceans, ice, snow, sky, earth and people all seemed to have their own stories.
Rocks from Antarctica are considered valuable. Unfortunately, I didn't bring one back. However, my heavy bags full of films are certainly worth that. It is in these pictures that the true Antarctica comes alive.
What do we think of when we someone mentions Scandinavia(斯堪的纳维亚半岛), the group of Northern European countries? Many things come to mind. We might think of the breath-taking natural beauty of Norway's fjords(海湾). If we enjoyed the fairy tales of Han Christian Anderson as children, perhaps we will think of Denmark's capital, Copenhagen, and its statue of Anderson's Little Mermaid（美人鱼）.
Perhaps we shiver at the thought of Scandinavia, as the countries there can be very cold. Or maybe we imagine this part of the world, so high up in the Northern Hemisphere, as dark and a little gloomy.
What doesn't come to mind is people who like to party. However, according to a survey released by travel site Hostel-world this month, Scandinavia has some of the most sociable cities on the planet.
For the study, 12,188 people from cities around the world were asked about their attitudes to socializing. Overall, Gothenburg in Sweden came out on top, but Copenhagen and Stockholm also placed highly, among with more predictably lively cities like New York and Madrid.
A city made up of many little islands, Gothenburg is, according to The Daily Telegraph, "charming in an old-fashioned way". The city's authorities have preserved Gothenburg's attractive wooden houses from the 19th century. Many of these have been made over into restaurant and coffee bars. Music fans are as well satisfied too — Gothenburg has dozens of record stores and live music venues(场所).
As you'd expect, Scandinavia cities are also welcoming to visitors. People here don't care about your cultural background or anything else that some other places might take exception to. In these friendly Scandinavia cities, everyone's invited to the party.
As a capital city full of art and history, London is an important political centre and a huge financial marketplace. Whatever you think about London, visiting as a tourist is very different from living there. Each part of London has its own character. Some parts are richer than others, or more industrial, or have better housing.
Let's start with the centre, the “Square Mile”. This is the oldest part of London. In the past, it was where all financial business was done. Not many people live here, but 300,000 people work here every day.
Moving west, we come to the West End. This busy shopping and entertainment district is bursting with things to do. Take a walk down Oxford Street, and you will see big department stores like Selfridges and Harrods. Rents here are very high; a one-bedroom apartment may cost around 1,000 pounds a week. Further away is West London. This area is more residential(住宅的)and very fashionable.
The East End contains the Port of London, which historically is where many immigrants first arrived. Waves of French, Belgians, Jews, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis have all lived here. This makes the culture of this area very various. London won the bid to hold the Olympics in 2012, so many Londoners hope that housing, education and employment for many people in this area will improve.
It is difficult to be general about London. The city is made up of a " collection of villages”, each area with its own character and community. Put them all together, and you have London, an international capital.
Finland is perhaps the most beautiful and mysterious of the countries of northern Europe. Two-thirds of its surface is covered with thick forests. Relative to its size, Finland has more lakes than any other countries. The northern part of this country is inside the Arctic Circle, where almost no trees can grow because of its cold weather and the people use their deer to transport clothing and food.
The Finnish history began in the Middle Ages. In about 1155, Finland was conquered (征服) by its western neighbor Sweden. After a period of rule by Denmark in the 14th century, the Swedes won back independence and power in 1523 under their brave king. During the Napoleonic Wars (1804～1818), Finland was finally passed from Sweden to Russia. The opportunity came in 1917 when the Russian Revolution brought foreign rule of Finland to the end. Shortly after Soviet Russia made peace with Germany, 1919 saw the founding of the Finnish Republic.
The years between the First and Second World Wars were years of progress and growing development. Finland is the fifth largest country in Europe, and despite a relatively small population of 5.2 million, the market potential is much greater. Finland has no coal or oil, and the nation's wealth lies in the timber (木材) from its forests, which supplies material for paper and furniture making, and in the electric power from its water. Finland is an excellent gateway to trade with Russia and the Baltic States because of a long history of trading with these markets. Finland has also enjoyed a strong and long-standing trading relationship with Britain, a relationship which was further strengthened by Finland's accession (加入) to the European Union in January 1995.
The following are some of the main commercial centres and towns:
|
Town |
Population |
|
Helsinki |
545,474 (1 January 2013) |
|
Espoo |
213,271 (1 January 2013) |
|
Tampere |
195,468 (1 January 2013) |
|
Vantaa |
178,471 (1 January 2013) |
|
Turku |
172,561 (1 January 2013) |
|
Oulu |
120,753 (1 January 2013) |
The New Caledonian barrier reef (堡礁)is located in New Caledonia in the South Pacific, and is the second longest coral reef in the world, after the Belize Barrier Reef.
The New Caledonian barrier reef surrounds Grande Terre, New Caledonia's largest island, as well as the Ile des Pins and several smaller islands, reaching a length of 1,500 km. The reef encloses (围住)a lake of 24,000 square kilometers, which has an average depth of 25 meters. The reefs lie up to 30 kilometers from the shore，but extend almost 200 km to the Entrecasteaux reefs in the northwest. This northwestern extension encloses the Belep Islands. Several natural passages open out to the ocean. The Boulari passage, which leads to Noumea, the capital and chief port of New Caledonia, is marked by the Amedee lighthouse.
The reef has various species, and is home to endangered dugongs, a kind of sea animal, and is an important living site for green sea turtles.
Most of the reefs are generally thought to be in good health. Some of the eastern reefs have been damaged by waste water from nickel mining(镍开采) on Grande Terre. The waste from mining and agriculture has affected reefs near river mouths, which have been worsened by the destruction of forests, which help to keep waste. Some reefs have been buried under several meters of waste.
In January 2002, the French government proposed listing New Caledonia's reefs as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Later on, UNESCO listed the New Caledonian barrier reef on the World Heritage List on July 2008.
Events at the Fleet Science Center
Superpower Dogs
Join an adventure to experience the life-saving superpowers of some of the world's most amazing dogs on the big screen. No stranger to superheroes himself, Chris Evans narrates(讲述) this inspiring true story about remarkable dogs that save lives.
Time: March 2, 2:00 pm
Price: Adult (Age 13-65) $21; Junior (Age 3-12) $18; Senior (Age 65+) $19
The Sky Tonight
Early show: March 4, 7: 00 pm to 8: 00 pm
Late show: March 4, 8: 15 pm to 9: 15 pm
Join us for a tour of the solar system. Journey through the universe with us as we explore a new topic each month.
Price: Adult (age 13-65) $19; Junior (Age 3-12) $17; Senior (Age 65+) $18
Make-It Workshop
We invite you to stop by Studio X to try your hand at making. Make-It Workshop activities change monthly and fees vary.
Participants can purchase tickets at Studio X on the day of the workshop.
Time: March 7, 11: 30 am to 3: 30 pm
Suds & Science
Sometimes, the most interesting discussions occur over a beer or a glass of your favorite wine. That's the concept behind Suds &Science, a monthly event that brings scientists face-to-face with the general public in a neighborhood bar.
Location: Thorn Brewing, 3176 Thorn St, San Diego, CA 92104
Time: March 8, 6: 30 pm to 8: 00 pm
Time: March 8, 6: 30 pm to 8: 00 pm
Price:＄6 at the door. Food & drinks are available for purchase. Please come early to place your orders at the bar, as staff will not be available to take orders during the event.
Don't you wish those long summer days could last forever? An island in northern Norway is campaigning to do just that.
Sommarøy — meaning "Summer Island" — wants to swap its watches for flower garlands and declare itself the world's first time-free zone.
On this island in West Tromsø, north of the Arctic Circle, the sun doesn't set from May 18 right through to July 26, a full 69 days.
The locals, having endured the long polar night from November to January, when the sun doesn't rise at all, make the most of these precious months, with no regard to conventional timekeeping.
"There's constantly daylight, and we act accordingly," says islander Kjell Ove Hveding in a statement. "In the middle of the night, which city folk might call '2 a.m.', you can spot children playing soccer, people painting their houses or mowing their lawns, and teens going for a swim. "
Now they want to make it official. Islanders gathered at a town hall meeting to sign a petition for a time-free zone and on June 13, Hveding met with a Norwegian member of parliament to hand over the locals' signatures and to discuss the practical and legal challenges of the initiative.
"To many of us, getting this in writing would simply mean formalizing something we have been practicing for generations," he says.
Islanders hope to be free of traditional opening hours and to introduce flexibility in school and working hours. Fishing and tourism are the main industries on this island with a population of little more than 300 people.
Hveding says local fishermen and women often spend days on the ocean pursuing their catch, with little regard to timetable.
It's clear they mean business. When visitors cross the bridge to the island from the mainland, they aren't greeted with padlocks (symbolizing love locks) like on similar bridges worldwide. The bridge is covered with watches, as people prepare for entry to the land time forgot.
Will the islanders succeed in their efforts? It's already paying off in a publicity boost, which could well be the primary aim of the campaign.
