Nowadays, bamboo growth cycles and the dietary needs of lemurs (狐猴) are out of sync. Findings show rainfalls are changing annually. Over the past two years, there has been a three-month delay in the rainy season and new tender shoots that lemurs consume for nutrition are appearing in January and February—14 days after the first rainfall, says Patricia Chapple Wright, a primatologist, anthropologist, and conservationist at Stony Brook University. “Lemurs eat a food source that is very adaptive,” Patricia Wright told PBS NewsHour. “It’s able to stand climate change, but the lemurs, unfortunately, can’t adapt quickly to this changed cycle.”

Since baby lemurs are born in November, the delayed rainy season is dangerously affecting the survival of them for lack of nutrition available for both the mothers and offspring. “This is why, for extreme feeding specialists like the greater bamboo lemur, climate change can be an unknowing killer,” Wright says. “Making the lemurs rely on bamboo stems(茎) for just a bit longer may be enough to tip the balance from existence to extinction.” The lemurs’ highly specialized teeth are also similar to the pandas’ teeth. Both are the mammals able to chew up stems. But this diet can’t last for more than a season or two because the stems can wear away their teeth.

The researchers believe that climate change is affecting the lemurs. The fossil record shows that the lemurs once lived throughout the island. Today, the mammals are cornered on the eastern side, where the dry season at present is the shortest. And if people continue the deforestation practice in the area, the lemurs will have nowhere to go.

The situation is serious, so Wright and her colleagues plan to create bamboo corridors within the rainforests, which will provide available bamboo to eat. They want to work with local villagers to plant more bamboo and manage automatic watering systems when dry seasons last long. They also want to build the local economy by allowing people to harvest a part of bamboo while the rest remains with the lemurs, so people will be interested. Wright’s conservation plans include moving lemurs back to other places on the island as well.

From a woodworker to a great artist — this was the course of Qi Baishi’s life. He achieved success by coupling talent with hard work. In 1953, he was honoured with the title “People’s Artist” by the Chinese government.

Qi Baishi’s works of shrimps, crabs and fish have always been on display. For most of the general public, however, his masterpieces are his paintings of shrimps. At the beginning, he painted these small animals by following ancient models. Later, he developed a personal style by using shades of ink to show a shrimp’s body, giving it an almost real-life feel. Besides, some of his paintings are flowers and vegetables, which are famous as well. People love these nature-based paintings because the works remind them of the countryside and of their hometowns. The dove is another common image in Qi’s art during his later years, showing his wish for world peace.

Whether they are landscapes, birds, flowers or figures, Qi’s paintings are rich in expression and detail. Using heavy ink, bright colors and energetic strokes (用笔), he created works in a fresh and lively manner, expressing his love of nature and life. His art reflected an international trend in modern art at the time, yet he expressed it in a typical Chinese way.

Qi was hard-working even in his 70s. He kept pursuing higher goals, especially as he got older. While many other Chinese artists retired from public life at an old age, Qi actively took on more social responsibilities. He said, “I love my hometown, my country and all the lives there. In recent years, I have realized that what I run after is world peace.”

When temperatures rise, humans sweat, dogs pant, and cats ... don’t move enough to overheat? Well, partially. Cats, who need to maintain an internal body temperature of 101°F to 102°F, have several methods for keeping cool in sweltering (酷热难耐的) weather.

It’s a misconception that cats sweat through their paws to cool themselves off. As summer wears on, you might see moist paw prints, but as veterinarian (兽医) Kimberly May told The Washington Post, “any secretions there or from their nose, mouth, or tongue are not for sweating; they’re for protection and moisture and are insufficient to cool the blood.”

Instead, cats recreate the sweating process — which works to cool humans via evaporation (蒸发) — by grooming themselves regularly. The saliva from their tongues acts like sweat that cools their body when it evaporates — which is why you can also help cool your cat down by using a damp washcloth to lightly wet their fur. In extreme weather, cats will also pant, but unlike dogs who pant regularly to keep themselves cool, a panting cat is a sign of more dangerous over-heating or other serious diseases.

And if you’re tempted to shave your feline (猫科的) friend to help keep him cool — don’t!

“Fur acts as a thermal regulator to slow down the process of heat absorption,” James H. Jones, an expert in comparative animal exercise physiology and thermoregulation (体温调节) at the University of California at Davis, told The Washington Post.

Fur coats are highly evolved — in the winter they keep animals warm, but in the summer, they work both to protect delicate skin from the sun and slow dehydration (Jones notes that, according to research, shaved camels fared worse in the deserts than those with their fur intact).

But even with these methods for keeping cool, cats also rely on the perks of domesticity to stay comfortable. So even though they evolved from wild ancestors and are able to tough it out, leave the A/C (or a fan) on for your cats when you go out, and make sure to leave them plenty of water.