While bees hopping from one flower to another is vivid to watch, having bees disturbing a backyard barbecue certainly isn’t. They may seem like pesky creatures to get rid of, but there are quite a few things you may not know about bees, especially the impact they have on our livelihood.

The main purpose of bees, particularly honey bees, is to help pollinate the plants around them. According to the Department of Entomology at Pennsylvania State University, pollinators (such as bees) help to fertilize plants, which results in “the formation of seeds and the fruit surrounding seeds”. Pollinators are necessary for three-quarters of our major food crops, including fruits, vegetables, and nuts. An estimated 300,000 species of plants need pollinators. That’s around 80 to 95 percent of plant species. Without pollinators, the number of crops we have will take a serious hit.

Other pollinators can help out with this process including butterflies, beetles, and flies. Even some birds and bats can be pollinators. However, bees of various species are known for being natural pollinators for plants.

Unfortunately, for years there has been an alarming decline of bees around the globe. The University of Vermont published a study stating that 23 percent of the wild bee population declined between 2008 and 2013. 139 counties in parts of California, the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest, west Texas and the Mississippi River valley have taken the worst hit in wild bee declines. Since 39 percent of U.S. croplands rely on pollinators for their crop including those beloved apple orchards and pumpkin patches in the fall, we are facing a serious threat.

By taking care of the bees, our world is able to benefit in terms of agricultural income and nutritious food supply. You may not be able to make a huge change on an industrial level, but as someone with a landscape of your own, why not help save the bees?

Just like people, dogs tend to have distinct and unique personalities. Some of a dog’s personality traits (特点) are completely individual, but many traits are predictable based on the breed (品种). Knowing the common traits of certain dog breeds enables you to choose a dog whose personality matches well with your lifestyle.

	Siberian Husky You may already know that Siberian Huskies have a historical role as sled dogs. This breeding makes them get along well with other animals and are great for families. Their breeding also gives them incredible tolerance, so you will have to ensure that they have enough space to run safely. Unlike some of the other working dogs, Siberian Huskies tend to be too friendly to be very good guard dogs.
	Bulldog The distinctive Bulldog is friendly and loyal. Bulldogs tend to be calm by nature, but they still enjoy getting out for walks. Moderate exercise is important for weight-management given their small but solid stature and the fact that their calm nature can make them come off as lazy. Bulldogs are great companions and are courageous and steady.
	Cocker Spaniel The Cocker Spaniel’s distinctive long ears and curly hair are a major outward sign of their sweet, friendly personalities. As sporting dogs, they were bred to help hunters find game and are, therefore, highly trainable. Cocker Spaniels love to exercise and play and are great with kids. If they don’t get enough energy out, though, they can become frustrated and destructive.
	Dachshund The Dachshund’s small physical size is no match for their big personality. Their short legs do not make Dachshunds great running or hiking buddies, but that does not mean they are low-energy. They are a unique mix of a great guard dog—brave, loyal, and a bit stubborn—while being friendly enough to win over just about anyone.

Today, the most frightening living shark is the great white, which is over six meters long and bites with a force of two tonnes. Its fossil relative, Megalodon that lived about 2.3 to 3.6 million years ago, was over twice the length of a great white shark and had a bite force of more than ten tonnes.

Jack Cooper and his team used a number of mathematical methods to find out the size and proportions(比例)of this monster, by making close comparisons with a variety of living relatives that have certain similarities to Megalodon. He said, “I have always been mad about sharks. Megalodon was actually the very animal that inspired me to pursue palaeontology, the study of fossils as a guide to the history of life on earth, in the first place when I was just six years old, so I was over the moon to get a chance to study it. This was my dream project.”

Previously the fossil shark, known formally as Otodus megalodon, was only compared with the great white. Jack and his colleagues, for the first time, expanded this analysis to include five modern sharks. “Megalodon is not a direct ancestor of the great white and is equally related to several modern sharks such as the salmon shark, as well as the great white. We collected detailed measurements of all five to make predictions about Megalodon.” Dr. Pimiento said.

The researchers discovered that the babies of all these modern sharks start out as little adults, and they don’t change in proportion as they get larger. Jack Cooper said, “This means we could simply take the growth curves(生长曲线) of the five modern forms and forecast the overall shape as they get larger and larger, right up to a body length of 16 meters.”

The results suggest that a 16-meter-long Megalodon likely had a head round 4.65 meters long, a fin about 1.62 meters tall on the back and a tail around 3.85 meters high. The reconstruction of the size of Megalodon’s body parts represents a fundamental step towards a better understanding of this huge extinct shark.