CHINA — When Joshua Lambert suggested putting bicycle desks in his math classroom at China Middle School last year, the idea was met with skepticism.

Lambert is on the Regional School Unit 18 wellness committee, which was coming up with ideas for grant proposals to fund health and fitness programs in district schools.

China Middle School eighth-graders Morgan Presby and Colby Marston study and pedal at the two bike desks as math teacher Josh Lambert leads the class Wednesday. David Leaming/Morning Sentinel

 

China Middle School student James Hardy pedals a bike while working on his laptop during math class Wednesday. David Leaming/Morning Sentinel

Taipei, Sept. 16 (CNA) The average age of Taiwanese women giving birth to their first child has increased by three years over the past decade, but the number of marriages and births in society remains on the rebound, the Ministry of the Interior said Wednesday.

Jair Lan-pin (翟蘭萍), deputy director of the ministry's Department of Household Registration, said women gave birth at the average age of 30.5 years old in 2014, up from 27.4 years old in 2004, demonstrating that women are giving birth later than in the past.

But Taiwan's fertility rate -- the number of children the average woman would have in her lifetime -- has risen in recent years, from 0.9 in 2010 to 1.17 in 2014.

Image copyright AP Image caption Chinese promoters said "unforeseen reasons" were behind the abrupt cancellation

資料來源: http://9gag.com/gag/a7bVGbb?ref=fbp

And that's because of a surge in global instability over the past 12 months, from terrorist shootings in France and Tunisia, to ongoing conflicts across the Middle East, Ukraine and Libya.

In any event, it's as you were for the "haves" at the top of list, with Melbourne taking the top spot for a fifth year running, with Vienna, Vancouver, Toronto and Adelaide/Calgary (tied at 5) completing the top five most livable cities in 2015.

According to the EIU, these cities have "relatively few challenges to living standards," and enjoy a good infrastructure, healthcare system and a low murder rate.

The dilemma is sometimes likened to a double-edged sword.

Historical and natural sites of extraordinary beauty often draw large numbers of visitors to the countries that host them, providing a healthy tourism revenue.

However, those same crowds often have a detrimental effect on the places they visit, sometimes leading to significant damage, which has in recent years sparked a debate whether tourist numbers should be capped.

"Sites all over the world are under threat at any given moment. Apart from the monuments and ancient cities in the Middle East, I would say historic districts of major cities in Asia face the highest threat due to the unchecked sprawl and development," says Stefaan Poortman, executive director of the Global Heritage Fund, which aims to protect the most endangered cultural heritage sites in the developing world.

"Tourism is not regulated well enough and the massive influx is putting a strain on sites all over the world. The most well-known sites like Angkor or Machu Picchu are really swamped with tourism. Not only does it affect the sites but at a certain point, if unchecked, tourism can negatively impact the quality of life for local communities as well," he adds.

So why is this suddenly an issue and what could it mean for society?

What's a designer baby?

Well it is like a normal baby, but one that has been modified by altering their DNA - which is the blueprint for building a person.

Lots of us know we are sleep-deprived, but imagine if we could fix it with a fairly simple solution: getting up later. In a speech this week at the British science festival, Dr Paul Kelley, clinical research associate at the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute at Oxford University, called for schools to stagger their starting times to work with the natural biological rhythms of their students. It would improve cognitive performance, exam results and students’ health (sleep deprivation has been linked with diabetes, depression, obesity and an impaired immune system).

It follows a paper, published last year, in which he noted that when children are around 10 their biological wake-up time is about 6.30am; at 16 this rises to 8am; and at 18, someone you may think of as a lazy teenager actually has a natural waking hour of 9am. The conventional school starting time works for 10-year-olds, but not 16- and 18-year-olds. For the older teenagers, it might be more sensible to start the school day at 11am or even later. “A 7am alarm call for older adolescents,” Kelley and his colleagues pointed out in the paper, “is the equivalent of a 4.30am start for a teacher in their 50s.”