Behold, our winters lifting,
Let the light of the grandest suns emerge!
When the last vestige of resistance subsides,
Futile before many a wakeful heart.

Although astrobiologists disagree whether advanced life is common or rare in our universe, a new study suggests there may be many Earthlike candidate planets. The University of Washington study involved 44 computer simulations of planet formation near a sun. Astronomers found each simulation produced one to four Earthlike planets.

In the era of the Emperor Xuzong during the Tang Dynasty, there was a fortuneteller who claimed he could foretell what foods people would eat in the future. Many officials in the Imperial Court went to see him to ask him to tell their fortune. Only one senior official, named Li Qijun, didn't believe him.

LONDON - British astronomers believe they have discovered another solar system only 25 light years away that bears a remarkable likeness to ours. The scientists said they found evidence that planets circling the star Vega have some similarities to Earth, the BBC reported. The report by astronomers from the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, is published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Du Xian was a prime minister during the Xuanzong period of the Tang dynasty. One day, a youthful Du Xian was trying to cross the river at Pu Jin at a point where the current was very fast with heavy under currents. Many people had boarded the boat, and the person who untied the boat had already untied the cable and was ready to leave. At that time, an elderly man on the bank called out to the boat: “Mr. Du, please stay for a moment!” The old man’s manner was very sincere, so Du Xian had no choice but to depart the boat and go and see the old man. He talked with him for a long time. The people on board waited for Du Xian impatiently. After a period of time there was stil no sign of Du Xian returning to the boat, so they threw his bag onto the bank and left without him

Using the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope and aided by a gigantic cosmic lens conveniently provided by nature, an international team of astronomers has discovered that a young galaxy had a central disk of gas in which hundreds of new stars were being born every year -- at a time when the Universe was only a fraction of its current age.

Ji Kong was a proud person who chose his friends carefully. When the group showed up at his house, he was working on working a piece of iron. He had a furnace set up and was pounding iron under a tree. When he saw the group, he acted as if he hadn’t seen them and kept pounding the iron for a long time, without saying a single word. Zhong Hui was very embarrassed and disappointed and turned to leave. Ji Kong asked him just before he left: “What is it that you came here to hear and what have you seen that is making you leave?” Zhong Hui responded quickly and said: “I heard what I wanted to hear when I came and I saw what I was supposed to see before I am to leave.” This exchange of questions and answers is a famous anecdote in Chinese literary history.

The shrouded figure walks in a haze of cold gloom, wandering, following the heart as a compass through a twilight world of horrors. Buffeted by the Banshees wailing wind, discovering comfort in the forbearance of the icy bite of winter’s gale that freezes every single bone.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, Shou Mong, the king of the state of Wu had four sons. He named the eldest son Zhu Fan, the second Yu Ji, the third Yu Muo and the youngest Ji Zha. Among all four, Ji Zha was the one with the most pleasant personality. The king was extremely fond of his youngest son. In A.D. 561, the king became seriously ill. He asked for Ji Zha and told him that he would be the successor to his throne. However, Ji Zha would not accept it. He said: “Generally, the eldest son inherits the throne. Father, please, do not continue to shower me with gifts to show your affection.” Therefore, the king’s eldest son, Zhu Fan, inherited the throne. Before he died, the king tasked his oldest son to take good care of Ji Zha.

Cui Yan was a commander in the Luoziwu Valley at that time and he was in charge of many soldiers there. One day he saw a Taoist walking into the valley. The Taoist refused to tell Cui Yan his name, but he did give Cui Yan a special prescription to cure his ailment. He said, “get one or two liters of Chinese Honey Locust sticks and bake them to ashes. Steam rhubarb nine times, drying the rhubarb each time after steaming it. Grind it into fine powder. Before eating it, pour the ashes of the Honey Locust sticks and the rhubarb powder into the decoction of rhubarb. Eat the entire decoction.”

Lily longed to see the beauty of this light, but just could not rise above the depths and murky waters of the pond. Her friends sometimes teased her. “There’s Lily again, dreaming as usual.” They forever told her to give up her dreams of the other world. “This is your home Lily,” they said. “Why must you seek elsewhere?” They simply could not understand her! Even the fish swimming around her commented, “Why can’t you be content with who you are? We are happy here!” Freddy the Fish, the naughtiest of all, roared with laughter and told many of the other fish to tease Lily and to call her names. Although he was unkind to Lily, she was patient with him as he had lost his father only months ago to the line of a fisherman. She also understood that not everyone in life shares the same dream. Lily’s heart still longed for something more.

After two weeks the wart had completely fallen from my cheek. The spot where the wart used to be grew new, soft, white skin. At first, if you didn’t inspect it closely you couldn’t even see that there used to be something there. Slowly the new skin blended in with the rest of my skin, so invisible that there were no signs where the wart used to be. I have read in health and medical books about people growing warts on their feet and dying because of ill treatment. I never thought that the folk remedy for curing my wart would be so easy and effective, and that there would not be any scars.

It has been nearly six months since the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak emerged and more than six weeks since the illness spread from its birthplace in southern China to put the world on alert. Yet with more than 4,800 cases in at least 26 countries to date, SARS has rocked Asian markets, ruined the tourist trade of an entire region, nearly bankrupted airlines, and spread panic through some of the world's largest cities. Hospitals and schools were shut down last week in Beijing, thousands of people were put under quarantine, and rumors flew through the capital that martial law was about to be imposed. In other countries, including the U.S. with zero SARS deaths, fear is spreading faster than SARS.

Pan Yue was Yue Guang’s contemporary, a great writer. Zhong Rong of the Liang Dynasty collected Pan Yue’s works in his book, Collections of Poems ranked them as the best in the book. Pan’s writing even won him such praise as, “Pan’s talent flows naturally like a running river.” Eventually, Yue Guang asked Pan Yue to write the resignation letter for him. Pan Yue obliged but said, “I would only be able to write this letter after I know your thoughts and ideas.” Yue Guang then eloquently described for Pan Yue his ideas within two hundred sentences, and Pan Yue did his best to describe Yue Guang’s ideas in the letter of resignation. The letter was so well written that Pan Yue gained fame as a writer.

In order to completely resolve the problem of environmental pollution, the fundamental reason that leads to environmental pollution has to be discovered. Through the analysis of several reasons that people now consider to be the main causes for environmental pollution, the author demonstrates that human beings’ improper ways of living and manufacturing are the fundamental causes of environmental pollution. The reason why the actions of human beings can lead to environmental pollution is that the moral standard that discerns whether certain human behavior is right or wrong has deteriorated. Therefore, in order to solve the environmental problems fundamentally, people have to improve their moral standards.