Andrew Ritchie, inventor of the Brompton folding bicycle, once said that the perfect portable bike would be“like a magic carpet…You could fold it up and put it into your pocket or handbag”．Then he paused：“But you’ll always be limited by the size of the wheels．And so far no one has invented a folding wheel．”

　　It was a rare－indeed unique－occasion when I was able to put Ritchie right．A 19th-century inventor, William Henry James Grout, did in fact design a folding wheel．His bike, predictably named the Grout Portable, had a frame that split into two and a larger wheel that could be separated into four pieces．All the bits fitted into Grout’s Wonderful Bag, a leather case．

　　Grout’s aim：to solve the problems of carrying a bike on a train．Now doesn’t that sound familiar?Grout intended to find a way of making a bike small enough for train travel：his bike was a huge beast．And importantly, the design of early bicycles gave him an advantage：in Grout’s day, tyres were solid, which made the business of splitting a wheel into four separate parts relatively simple．You couldn’t do the same with a wheel fitted with a one-piece inflated(充气的)tyre．

　　So, in a 21st-century context, is the idea of the folding wheel dead?It is not．A British design engineer, Duncan Fitzsimons, has developed a wheel that can be squashed into something like a slender ellipse(椭圆)．Throughout, the tyre remains inflated．

　　Will the young Fitzsimons’s folding wheel make it into production?I haven’t the foggiest idea．But his inventiveness shows two things．First, people have been saying for more than a century that bike design has reached its limit, except for gradual advances．It’s as silly a concept now as it was 100 years ago：there’s plenty still to go for．Second, it is in the field of folding bikes that we are seeing the most interesting inventions．You can buy a folding bike for less than ￡1,000 that can be knocked down so small that it can be carried on a plane－minus wheels, of course－as hand baggage．

　　Folding wheels would make all manner of things possible．Have we yet got the magic carpet of Andrew Ritchie’s imagination?No．But it’s progress．

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　　People diet to look more attractive．Fish diet to avoid being beaten up, thrown out of their social group, and getting eaten as a result．That is the fascinating conclusion of the latest research into fish behavior by a team of Australian scientists．

　　The research team have discovered that subordinate fish voluntarily diet to avoid challenging their larger competitors．“In studying gobies we noticed that only the largest two individuals, a male and female, had breeding(繁殖)rights within the group,”explains Marian Wong．“All other group members are nonbreeding females, each being 5-10％ smaller than its next largest competitor．We wanted to find out how they maintain this precise size separation．”

　　The reason for the size difference was easy to see．Once a subordinate fish grows to within 5-10％ of the size of its larger competitor, it causes a fight which usually ends in the smaller goby being driven away from the group．More often than not, the evicted fish is then eaten up．

　　It appeared that the smaller fish were keeping themselves small in order to avoid challenging the boss fish．Whether they did so voluntarily, by restraining how much they ate, was not clear．The research team decided to do an experiment．They tried to fatten up some of the subordinate gobies to see what happened．To their surprise, the gobies simply refused the extra food they were offered, clearly preferring to remain small and avoid fights, over having a feast．

　　The discovery challenges the traditional scientific view of how boss individuals keep their position in a group．Previously it was thought that large individuals simply used their weight and size to threaten their subordinates and take more of the food for themselves, so keeping their competitors small．

　　While the habits of gobies may seem a little mysterious, Dr．Wong explains that understanding the relationships between boss and subordinate animals is important to understanding how hierarchical(等级的)societies remain stable．

　　The research has proved the fact that voluntary dieting is a habit far from exclusive to humans．“As yet, we lack a complete understanding of how widespread the voluntary reduction of food intake is in nature,”the researchers comment．“Data on human dieting suggests that, while humans generally diet to improve health or increase attractiveness, rarely does it improve long-term health and males regularly prefer females that are fatter than the females’ own ideal．”

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　　Just plug RichardSolo 1800 into your iPhone once or twice a day, for fifteen minutes, and keep your iPhone charged up．At your desk, or at dinner, plug RichardSolo into iPhone to instantly transfer charge．No more battery worries．RichardSolo will charge iPhone to full 1.5 times, and it is good for 3-5 years of recharges．

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　　Eddie McKay, a once-forgotten pilot, is a subject of great interest to a group of history students in Canada．

　　It all started when Graham Broad, a professor at the University of Western Ontario, found McKay’s name in a footnote in a book about university history．McKay was included in a list of university alumni(校友)who had served during the First World War, but his name was unfamiliar to Broad, a specialist in military history．Out of curiosity, Broad spent hours at the local archives(档案馆)in a fruitless search for information on McKay．Tired and discouraged, he finally gave up．On his way out, Broad’s glance happened to fall on an exhibiting case showing some old newspapers．His eye was drawn to an old picture of a young man in a rugby uniform．As he read the words beside the picture, he experienced a thrilling realization．“After looking for him all day, there he was, staring up at me out of the exhibiting case,”said Broad．Excited by the find, Broad asked his students to continue his search．They combed old newspapers and other materials for clues．Gradually, a picture came into view．

　　Captain Alfred Edwin McKay joined the British Royal Flying Corps in 1916．He downed ten enemy planes, outlived his entire squadron(中队)as a WWI flyer, spent some time as a flying instructor in England, then returned to the front, where he was eventually shot down over Belgium and killed in December 1917．But there’s more to his story．“For a brief time in 1916 he was probably the most famous pilot in the world,”says Broad．“He was credited with downing Oswald Boelcke, the most famous German pilot at the time．”Yet, in a letter home, McKay refused to take credit, saying that Boelcke had actually crashed into another German plane．

　　McKay’s war records were destroyed during a World War II air bombing on London－an explanation for why he was all but forgotten．

　　But now, thanks to the efforts of Broad and his students, a marker in McKay’s memory was placed on the university grounds in November 2007．“I found my eyes filling with tears as I read the word ‘deceased’(阵亡)next to his name,”said Corey Everrett, a student who found a picture of Mckay in his uniform．“This was such a simple example of the fact that he had been a student just like us, but instead of finishing his time at Western, he chose to fight and die for his country．”

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　　Sunday is more like Monday tham it used to be,Places of busness that used to keep daytime“business hours”are now open late into the night．And on the Internet,the hour of the day and the day of the week have become irrelevant(不相关的)．A half century ago in the United states,most people experienced strong and precise dividing lines between days of rest and days of work,school time and summer time,Today the bundaries still exist,but they seem not clear．

　　The law in almost all states used to require stores to close on Sunday;in most,it no longer does, It used to keep the schools open in all scasons except summer, in most,it still does．And whether the work week should strengthen its legal limits,or whether it should become more“flexible”is often debated,How should we, as a society,organize our time?Should we go even further in relaxing the boundaries of time until we live in a world in which evey minute is much like every other?

　　These are not easy questions even to ask,．Part of the difficulty is that we rarely recognize the“law of time”even when we meet it face to face．Ww know as children that we have to attend school a certain number of hours, a ceryain number of days,a certain number of years－but unless we meet the truant officer(学监),we may well think that we should go to school due to social custom and parcnts’demand rather than to the law．,As adults we are familiar with“extra pay for overtime working．”but less familiar with the fact that what constitutes(构成)“overtime”is a matter of legal definition．,When we turn the clock forward to start daylight－saving time,have we ever thought to ourselves;“Here is the law in action”?As we shall see, there is a lot of law that has great infuence on how organize and use time：compulsory education law,overtime law,and daylight－saving law- as well as law about Sunday closing,holidays,being late to work, time zones,and so on．Once we begin to look for it, we will have no trouble finding a law of time to examine and assess．

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　　A few years ago, paul Gerner began to gather a group of architects in Las vegas to ask them what it would take to design a public school that uschool that used 50 percent less energy, cost much less to build and obviously improved student leaming．“I think half of then fell off their chairs,”Gemer says．

　　Gemer manages scholl facilities(设施)for clark county, Nevada, a district roughly the siae of Massachusetts．By 2018,143,000 additional students will enter the already crowded public-education system．Gerner needs 73 new schools to house them．Four architecture teans have nearly finished designing primary school prototypes(样品); they plan to consruct their schools xtarting in 2009．The district will then assess how well the xchools perform, and three winners will copy those desiiigns in 50 to 70 new buildings．

　　Green schools are appearing all over, but in clark County, which stands out for its vastness,such aggressive targets are difficult because deign repuirements like more natural light for students go against the realities of a desert climate．“One of the biggest challenges is getting the right site orientation(朝向),”Mark McGinty, a director at SH Architecture, says．His firm recently completed a high school in Las Vegas．“You have the same building, same set of windows, but if its orientation is incorrect and it faces the sun, it will be really expensive to cool．”

　　Surprisingly, the man responsible for one of re most progressive green-design competitions has dorbts about ideas of eco-friendly buildings．“I don’t believe in the new green religion,”Gemer says．“Gemer says．”Some of the building technologies that you get are impractical．I’m interested in those that work．“But he wouldn’t mind if some green featrues inspire students．He says he hopes to set up green energy systens that allow them to liarn about the process of harvesting wind and solar power．”You never know what’s going to start the interest of achild to study math and science,“he says．

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　　When I was seven my father gave me a Timex, my first watch．I loved it, wore it for years, and haven’t had amother one since it stopped ticking a decade ago．Why?Because I don’t need one．Ihave a mobile phone and I’m always near someone with an iPod or sonething like that．All these devices(装置)tell the time-which is why, if you look around, you’ll see lots of empty wrists; sales of watches to young adults have been going down since 2007．

　　This is ridiculous．Expensive cars go faster than cheap cars．Expensive clothes hang better than cheap clthes．But these days all watches tell the time as well as all lther watches．Expensive watches come with extra functions-but who needs them?How often do you dive to 300 metres into the sea or need to find your direction in the area around the South Pole?So why pay that much of five years’ school fees for watches that allow you to do these things?

　　If justice were done, the Swiss watch industry should have colsed down when the Japanese discovered how to make accurate watches for a five-pound note．Instead the Swiss reinvented the watch, with the aid of millions of piunds’ worth of advertising, as a message about the man wearing it．Rolexes are for those who spend their weekends climbing icy mountains; a Patek Philippe is for one from a rich or noble famoly; a Breitling suggests you like to pilot planes across the world．

　　Watches are now classified as“investments”(投资)．A 1994 Philippe recently sold for nearly?350,000, while 1960s Rolexes have gone from?15,000 to?30,000 plus in a year．But a watch is not an investment．It’s a toy for self-satisfaction, a matter of fashion．Prices may keep going up-they’ve been rising for 15 years．But when of fashion．Prices may keep going rp-they’ve been rising for 15 years．But when fashion moves on, the owner of that?350,000 beauty will suddenly find his pride and joy is no more a good investment than my childhood Times．

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　　Three years ago, five parrots were set free in a wild place of Arizona, thousands of miles from the Channel IsIands in Jersey sher they had been looked after by zookeepers．No evolutionary strategies informed them how to behave in this new Iandscape of mountainous pine forest unoccupied by their king for 50 years．To the researchers’ surprise, they failed to make comtact with a group of wild parrots imported from Mexico and set free at the same time．Within 24 hours the reintroducing ended in failure, and the poor birds were back in cages, on their way to the safety of the Arizona reintroduction programme．

　　Ever since then, the programme has enjoyed great success, mainly because the birds now being set free are Mexican birds illegally caught in the wild, confiscated(没收)on arrival north of the border, and raised by their parents in the safety of the programme．The experience shows how little we know about the behaviour and psychology(心理)of parrots, as Peter Bennett, a bird researcher, points out：“Reintroducing species of high intelligence like parrots is a lot more difficult．People like parrots, always treating them as nothing more than pers or valuable ‘collectables’．”

　　Now that manty species of parrot are in immediate danger of dying out, biologists are working together to study the natural history and the behaviour of this family of birds．Last year was an important turning point：conservationists founded the World Parrot Trust, based at Hayle in Cornwall, to support research into both wild and caged birds．

　　Research on parrots is vital for two reasons．Forst, as the Arizona programme showed, when reintroducing parrots to the wild, we need to be aware of what the birds must know if they are to survive in their natural home．We also need to learn more about the needs oft parrots keot as pets, particularly as the Trust’s campaign does not attempt to discourage the practice, but rather urges people who buy parrots as pets to choose birds raised by humans．

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　　My grandfather came from Hungary and was the only one in his family who settled down in the United States．The rest of his family remained in Europe．When World War I broke out, he seemed to have become another man,downherated．Such obvious change was not born out of his welfare,but out of fear．if his only son,my uncle,had to go to war,it would be cousin fighting against cousin．

　　One day in 1918,my Uncle Milton receved his draft notice．My grandparents were very upset,But my mother,at the age of 10,felt on top of the world about her soldier brother going off to war．Realizing how he was regarded by his little sister and all of her friends,my uncle bought them al service pins,which meant that they had a loved one in the service．All the little girls were delighted．

　　The moment came when my uncle and the other soldiers,without any training but all in uniforms,boarded the train．The band played and the crowd cheeed．Although no one noticed,I’m sure my grandmother had a tear in her eye for the only son．The train slowly pulled out,but not about a thousand yards when it suddenly paused．Everyone stared in wonder as the train slowly returned to the station．There was a dead silence before the doors opended and the men started to step out．Someone shouted,”The war is over．”For a moment,nobody moved,but then the people heard someone bark orders at the soldiers．The men lined up in two lines,walked down the steps,and with the band playing,marched down the street,as returning heroes,to be welcomed home．My mother said it was great day,but she was just a little disappointed that it didn’t last a tiny bit longer．

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　　We already know the fastest, least expensive way to slow climate change：Use less energy．With a little effort, and not much money, most of us could reduce our energy diets by 25 percent or more－doing the Earth a favor while also helping our wallets．

　　Not long age．My wife, PJ, and I tried a new diet－not to lose a little weight but to answer an annoying question about climate change．Scientists have reported recently that the world is bending up even faster than predicted only a few years ago, and that the consequences could be severe if we don’t keep reducing emissions(排放)of carbon dioxide(CO₂)and other greenhouse gases that are trapping heat in our atmosphere．

　　We decided to try an experiment．For one month we recorded our personal emissions of CO₂．We wanted to see how much we could cut back, so we went on a strict diet．The average US household(家庭)produces about 150 pounds of CO₂ a day by doing common-place things like turning on air-conditioning or driving cars．That’s more than twice the European average and almost five times the global average, mostly because Americans drive more and have bigger houses．But how much should we try to reduce?

　　For an answer, I checked with Tim Flannery, author of The Weather Makers：How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth．In his book, he had challenged readers to make deep cuts in personal emissions to keep the world from reaching extremely important tipping points, such as the melting(融化)of the ice sheets in Greenland or West Antarctica．“To stay below that point, we need to reduce CO2 emissions by 80 percent,”he said．

　　Good advice, I thought．I’d opened our bedroom windows to let in the wind．We’d gotten so used to keeping our air-conditioning going around the clock．I’d almost forgotten the windows even opened．We should not let this happen again．It’s time for us to change our habits if necessary．

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