繽紛前沿

Owls Abandoned After Harry Potter Craze Fades

貓頭鷹大批被棄，《哈利·波特》之錯(cuò)？

Hundreds of owls are being abandoned across the country after being bought as pets by Harry Potter fans. There was a surge (激增) in demand for pet owls from fans who fell in love with Harry's cute companion Hedwig. But the birds take a lot of looking after， and many owners have been tired of having to clean up their droppings (糞便) and feathers. Sanctuaries (收養(yǎng)所) are full of the birds now after the release of the final Harry Potter film last year. Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling has pleaded with fans not to follow their hero and keep an owl as a pet. \"If anybody has been influenced by my books to think an owl would be happiest shut in a small cage and kept in a house， I would like to take this opportunity to say as forcefully as I can， 'you are wrong'.\"

想要像哈利一樣擁有一只可愛神奇的貓頭鷹不為過，不過輕易拋棄它們就不太好了。愛護(hù)動(dòng)物，人人有責(zé)哦。

Japanese Invent Auto-Planting Heels

會(huì)自動(dòng)播種的高跟鞋

A Japanese shoe designer， Masaya Kushino， is developing sky-high heels that automatically deposit (放下) seeds in the ground as the wearer walks in them. The shoes are part of a project to help rebuild Fukushima (福島) by planting rapeseeds (油菜籽) whose plants can remove the radionucleotides (放射性核素) from the soil. The mechanical heels， which are still a work in progress， sink back when the wearer walks. Pressure from the movement causes a tube within the heel to emerge. The compartment containing rapeseeds turns and， a single seed emerges from the end of the tube. Lifting the foot starts the process again.

會(huì)播種的高跟鞋，播撒的是綠色，帶走的是污染?？磥?lái)沒有什么可以阻擋人類的想象力了。

Texting While Walking Banned in New Jersey Town

邊走邊發(fā)短信要挨罰

Distractions and collisions happen all the time for a million reasons. Stony Brook University's Eric Lamberg—co-author of a study on the effects of texting on walking—found that texting disrupts your ability to walk much more than does talking， making people 60 percent \"more likely to veer off (偏離) line\". The town of Fort Lee， New Jersey， has started issuing $85 tickets to any pedestrians caught texting and walking. And don't think it's a law just for show. Fort Lee is being serious about this: More than 117 tickets have been issued， according to the record.

看來(lái)邊走路邊發(fā)短信的習(xí)慣要改掉了，罰款事小，安全事大。