=== Dragon and Snow ===
Yueming zipped up her warmest coat for the walk home from school and pushed through the double doors. No new snow had fallen since the weekend, when back-to-back snowy blizzardshad turned Philadelphia into a place she did not recognize, the view out her apartment window at the time more amazing with each passing hour. The New Year’s festivities, fifteen days of it, were half over and still her family had not arrived from China, delayed by the storms. The cold air snappedYueming out of an afternoon daze. At the corner of Tenth and Winter, someone had cleared the snow in front of the mural, one of the several that were part of Yueming’s daily commute. This one The History of Chinatown, looked especially bright today, the sun’s reflection off the snow, working some magic with the colors. There, in paint, Chinese immigrants worked their jobs, one bent over a clothes iron, others caught up in railroad construction, and a giant figure on the horizon, his gaze locked on the passerby. In the lower left-hand corner, a child no bigger than Wei tugged at a kite in a schoolyard. As many times as she had seen them, these figures still caught Yueming off guard, incongruousas they were—motionless—with the rush of Philadelphia’s urban citytraffic heading for the Vine Street Expressway. Mother and Wei would come tomorrow after this visit, their next one would be for Yueming’s graduation. Having to tell them soon, tomorrow, overher decision to stay, that she would not be coming home to China. She would remain instead inthis world, familiar and new. Suddenly, laughter turned the corner in her direction. It belonged to a small group of young men, each carrying a piece of a giant dragon. She would see the toothy, quaking creature in all it’s festive entirety the following evening with her family. But now, Yueming hesitated under the arch that opened into Chinatown. As the traffic light changed and changed again, she watched the distance grow between herself and the undone dragon, color bobbing on a cityscape of snow.
=== AQUA2 ===
nterpart, AQUA2 has flippers that allow it to glide through the water, dive to the ocean floor, and ascend from the bottom. Unlike thruster-powered robots, AQUA2 can make subtle changes in course simply by altering the positions of its flippers. By holding two flippers still, as it gently paddles, with the other four, for example, the robot can “hover” in place underwater. This exquisite competency will allow it to avoid disturbing the sea life it is designed to observe. Now, AQUA2 faces a new challenge; even more tricky than reacting to different terrains is interacting with human divers. During field tests amid busy coral reefs in Barbados and the silty beds of lakes in Canada, AQUA2 practices following divers’ instructions. Soon, scientists may be able to conduct more frequent, more efficient dives with robotic partners at their sides.
=== The Fisherman of Porgy Key ===
Covering 173,000 acres of clear water and dozens of islands off the tip of Florida, Biscayne National Park features many unusual species of plants. Today, the park is a refuge for sea turtles, manatees, and alligators. In the 1960s, though, land developers saw commercial potential for the area. Some wanted to build an oil refinery. Others, because of Biscayne Bay’s natural beauty, wanted beach resorts. However, Lancelot Jones, one of two year-round residents, of the islands, wanted to preserve the bay. Porgy Key had always been home for Jones, a small island in Biscayne Bay. His father had purchased the land for $300 in 1897, and Jones grew up there, cultivating pineapples and Key limes. Therefore, in 1935, Jones began guiding fishing trips; his knowledge of fishing earned him the reputation for being the area’s best fishing guide. Among his clientele were several US presidents, including: Hoover, Kennedy, and Nixon. In 1961, fourteen of the eighteen landowners came to Biscayne Bay and voted to found a city on the bay’s islands to expedite commercial development of the land. Jones abstained from voting. He refused to sell his land because he wanted the area to be conserved. Jones wasn’t alone, some Florida residents, and frequent visitors sought to preserve Biscayne Bay by turning it into a national park. Their efforts were furthered by Miami Herald reporter Juanita Greene, whose articles helped sway public opinion. Finally, in 1968, President Johnson signed a bill that put the bay under federal protection. First to sell their land to the National Park Service was Lancelot Jones, who was permitted to remain on Porgy Key. Since he still led fishing trips, and he taught schoolchildren about the environment of Biscayne Bay. In exchange for teaching each class, he asked only for a Key lime pie in return for the class. Jones lived alone, but he said, “When you have plenty of interests, like the water and the woods, the birds and the fish, you don’t get lonely.”
=== Close Encounters of the Bird Kind ===
In June of 1995, due to NASA technicians inspecting the space shuttle Discovery for an upcoming launch found over two hundred punctures in a fuel tank. Video surveillance revealed the culprits; two northern flickers, a species of woodpecker, was attempting to excavate a nest in the fuel tank’s foam insulation. Upon striking the solid metal beneath, the flickers would stubbornly choose a new spot and try again. In the northern United States, where most flickers return each summer to mate and raise broods, the birds’ persistence is well known. By lacking a distinct song, flickers drum their beaks against hard surfaces to announce themselves to mates. The louder the noise an object makes, the more attractive it is to flickers. Among their favorite noisemakers are drainpipes, TV antennas, and even farm equipment. At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, though the flickers’ persistence seemed mysterious.
=== ... ===
...