Beekeeping encourages the conservation of local habitats.
It is in every interest of every beekeeper to conserve local plants that produce pollen.
As a passive form of agriculture, beekeeping does not require that native vegetation be cleared to make way for crops.
Beekeepers also discourage the use of pesticides on crops, because they could kill the honeybees.
Artisanal beekeepers go to extremes for their craft, but their product is worth the effort.
Artisanal honey making emphasizes quality and character over quantity and consistency.
To produce the finest honey, beekeepers become micromanagers of their honeybees.
Beekeepers scout the fields, know when nectar flows, and select the best ways to extract honey.
As the beekeeper opens the hive, the deep hum of 40,000 bees fills the air.
The beekeeper checks honey stores, pollen supplies, and the bee nursery.
Bees crawl across his bare arms and hands, but they don't sting, because they're gentle.
I have a recurring dream about exams, even though I'm no longer in college.
In my dream, it's the day of my final exam and I suddenly realize I've never gone to class.
In my dream, I've never even done any of the reading assignments.
I know many other people who have the same nightmare.
Each morning, participants in the study had to write down their dream experience from the previous night.
The participants recorded if they recalled any dreams, and described each dream and its emotional intensity.
Participants then assigned each dream to a category, such as a flying dream, a bad dream, or a nightmare.
Every night while we sleep and dream, our minds are as active as when we are awake.
We dream throughout the night, in cycles of about ninety minutes each.
Images, feelings, stories, and strange combinations of characters and places can fill our dreams.
When I decided to start playing cards and gambling, things went from bad to worse.
Gambling was something I had to do, and I had already spent close to $10,000 doing it.
My friends were sick of watching me gamble my savings away.
The hardest part was the horror of leaving a casino after losing money I did not have.
Good data on the social and economic effects of legalized gambling are hard to come by.
Some studies indicate that having a casino nearby makes gambling problems more likely.
Gambling may also be associated with personal bankruptcies and marriage problems.
Over the past generation, there has been a dramatic expansion of legalized gambling.
Most states have instituted lotteries, and many have casinos as well.
Gambling has become very big but controversial business.
The wind from the hurricane shook the house, shattering a window in the kitchen.
We ran in, grabbed some food, slammed the door, and surrendered the kitchen to the hurricane.
I was afraid our house would be ripped from its foundation by the hurricane.
Later that night, with the hurricane wind shaking the house, we fell asleep huddled on the sofa.
Hurricanes can tear limbs off of trees and suck houses off their foundations.
Hurricanes dump heavy rains that can trigger floods and mudslides.
Hurricanes can also bring a storm surge: a wall of ocean water that lurches onto land.
Scientists use several methods to look for evidence of ancient hurricanes.
The strongest storms deposited layers of windblown beach sand at the bottoms of coastal lakes.
Trees drenched by passing hurricanes preserve a record of each storm in their growth rings.
American ice cream is exported around the world, but different countries have different preferences.
Many people enjoy their ice cream flavored with local delicacies.
In some tropical places, vanilla ice cream is topped with bananas and fresh mangos.
I remember making ice cream at home as a child.
We poured the cream mixture into a frozen tub, then start turning the crank to expose it to the cold.
Eventually the ice cream froze enough that I couldn't turn the hand crank any more.
Then I put the container of half-frozen ice cream into the freezer to harden.
Ice cream is a mixture of milk or cream, sugar, flavorings, and up to half whipped-in air.
The butterfat in milk and cream is what makes ice cream smooth and silky.
High-priced premium ice cream is loaded with butterfat and natural flavorings.
When I use the riding lawnmower, the uncomfortable chair makes my back hurt.
I use the two levers in front of me to control the lawnmower.
The sharp blades underneath the lawnmower precisely sever each blade of grass.
Mowing the lawn is a long task and it has taught me patience.
A lawnmower is a machine with revolving blades that cuts grass to an even height.
The lawnmower blades may be powered by muscle or the machine may have a motor.
The most common power source for lawnmowers is a small gas engine.
Electric lawnmowers are better for the environment because they do not create emissions.
Electric lawnmowers also need less maintenance and are less expensive to run.
Electric lawn mowers use as much electricity as an ordinary toaster.
Astronauts train a long time for their spacewalks.
Much of the astronaut training is conducted underwater.
Astronauts may spend 8 to 10 hours in the pool for every hour they will spend floating in space.
Astronauts practice to be able to perform construction and repair work on the outside of the space station.
The astronaut commanders of shuttle flights are always pilots, and many have backgrounds as military test pilots.
Other astronauts are trained as doctors, engineers, and scientists, who can run experiments in space.
Early crews were all young men, but astronauts now are much more diverse.
The team of astronauts floated out together to the exterior of the space shuttle.
The astronauts carried tools needed to repair the broken part on the huge telescope.
One astronaut loosened the bolts on the pipe, while the other fitted the replacement part into place.
Computers have been used in art for a long time by experimental artists.
Now that computers are more affordable and widespread, computer graphics have entered the mainstream art world.
Some computer science conferences have art exhibitions that showcase the latest computer graphics technology.
Brand new computer graphics conferences have sprung up that are devoted to bridging the two cultures.
The computer graphics specialist works with doctors to visualize medical conditions and surgical procedures.
She uses computer graphic digital animation to help doctors understand structures within the body of a patient.
Seeing the internal structures in a computer graphic animation on a screen is much clearer than squinting at X-rays.
Modern digital animation with computer graphics is a powerful tool for education.
As the field of computer graphics broadens, we must ask if graphics actually help students.
Research does suggest that vivid and engaging computer graphics digital imagery can be effective in the classroom.
The reason he came to law school in the first place was cliche.
He wanted to use law to change things for the better.
He recalled one evening at law school when he and the program director had pulled an all-nighter.
They finally finished drafting a legal petition for several evicted families at sunrise.
Over the past four decades, the cost of legal education has gone up relentlessly.
Private law school tuition increased by a factor of four since the 1970s.
The market for admission to law school and for new lawyers could eventually crash.
Law school faculty often have minimal experience in actually practicing law.
Professors focus on writing law review articles for prestigious journals.
Law schools often emphasize the theoretical, with classes on topics like property law in feudal England.
Pharmacists are increasingly involved in preventive care.
Pharmacists are becoming front-line health advisers because people go to pharmacies often.
Pharmacists are often a good source of information about public health.
Doctors consult with pharmacists because they know a lot about drug interactions and side effects.
Pharmacists dispense prescription drugs to patients and offer advice about the safe use of medications.
Pharmacists also conduct health and wellness screenings and provide vaccines.
Pharmacists must have professional degrees and pass two exams in order to be licensed.
I think the pharmacy profession chose me as much as I chose to be a pharmacist.
I was fascinated by the neatly arranged bottles in pharmacies as a child.
I know it's cliche, but I love the impact that I have on lives of my patients as their pharmacist.
Each person has his or her own response to potentially stressful situations.
One person may be devastated by unemployment, while another may find working fulltime stressful.
There are everyday stresses, like being stuck in traffic.
There are also traumatic stresses, such as divorce or loss of a child.
Some people can adapt to different levels of stress.
If not dealt with effectively, though, stress can take a real toll on health.
Remember that it's your reaction to stress that determines if it will be harmful or beneficial.
When my company was downsizing, I felt incredibly stressed and worried.
My heart would race for no reason, and I even felt dizzy at times.
Then, I started taking yoga to try to manage my stress level.
The man wore a jet black tuxedo with satin stripes.
The tuxedo was made with rich fabric cut in the latest style.
Clearly he had the tuxedo tailored, as it fit the man perfectly.
The tuxedo looked like something a professional stylist would have picked out for a formal event.
While the tuxedo is still preferred, today's grooms are making personal statements in wedding attire.
Shorter tuxedo jackets are on the cutting edge of wedding fashion for men.
Grooms are also jazzing up their tuxedos with colorful shirts and satin ties.
A tuxedo jacket is a tailless dinner jacket with black silk lapels.
Black tie trousers should be a perfect match to the tuxedo jacket.
The shirt should always be plain white and the tie should be black and match the tuxedo jacket lapels.
The concert pianist went blind in adulthood.
The concert pianist's blindness was caused by a genetic condition that slowly damaged the eyes.
The concert pianist told interviewers that being blind was an advantage to a pianist.
Being blind the concert pianist had no visual distractions, so she could concentrate more fully on her music.
The government defines blindness as vision insufficient for the ordinary activities of life.
By establishing the parameters of legal blindness, resources can be focused on the legally blind.
This may overlook those who have vision problems but who do not meet the standard for blindness.
In developing countries, blindness in children is usually caused by infectious disease and nutritional deficiencies.
These causes of blindness can often be prevented by medicine and vitamin supplements.
In developed countries, blindness is more likely to be caused by genetic problems.
No one really knows exactly how a taste gets from your mouth to your brain.
Scientists think the process begins when a molecule of food touches a taste bud cell.
The cell carries a taste message to taste nerves beneath the cell.
It was once believed that each taste bud responded to one of the four basic tastes.
That is, a taste bud on the tip of the tongue would respond only if you were eating something sweet.
Scientists now think that a single taste bud can be sensitive to all of the basic tastes.
My sense of taste isn't very good, so I tend to eat foods with very strong flavors.
I like lots of hot sauce, and I drink my coffee with no cream, so it has a very bitter taste.
I can't even taste sweetness well, so when I make cookies I add extra sugar.
Hip fractures are a real problem for aging individuals.
Patients are faced with the pain of the break and the difficult process of healing the fracture.
Families have to adjust to the loss of independence of the fracture patient.
And for society, hip fractures involve substantial expense and time in the hospital.
Halfway through the race, I heard a sound like someone snapping their fingers.
I felt a crunch and I knew instantly that my foot was broken.
Because of the fracture, every step felt like running on spikes
At the office of the doctor afterward, the x-ray clearly showed the fracture.
There are a few different types of bone fracture.
In closed or simple fractures, the bone is broken but the skin is intact.
In open or compound fractures, the broken bone has punctured the skin and produced an open wound.
New ear piercings can become infected if they're not carefully cleaned.
Signs of infection include tenderness, swelling, or redness around the earlobe.
If you see these symptoms, clean the infected area and apply some ointment.
If the redness and swelling of the infection don't go away, contact your health care provider.
A local hospital has initiated new measures to reduce infections.
The local hospital has improved hand washing habits and ensured that infected patients are isolated from other patients.
The hospital has seen infection rates drop since the new measures began.
Scrubbing a wound with soap or alcohol delays healing, which increases the risk of infection.
Band-aids can increase the risk of infection by holding in heat and moisture.
Fortunately, most skin infections can easily be treated once they are diagnosed.
Modern opera started at the end of the sixteenth century.
Opera began as an effort to rediscover and imitate Greek tragic performance.
Early founders of opera chose tales from antiquity for their subject matter.
Later operas branched out into different sources of stories and musical traditions.
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a play that combines words and music.
Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes.
Performances are typically given in an opera house and accompanied by an orchestra.
The opera singer has worked hard to win the role in the new production.
The job of the opera singer is not just about singing.
Acting, stage presence, and musical interpretation of the opera singer are all critical.
But the pure, strong voice of the opera singer is certainly the star of the show.
A painter must keep many elements in mind while completing a painting.
The painter has to use solid elements of design, like strong composition and lighting.
The painter has to execute the brush strokes with skill.
Most importantly, the content of the painting should reveal a glimpse of the soul of the painter.
Long ago, painters were employed more as skilled artisans than as creative artists.
However, prominent painters had the social status of scholars and members of the royal court.
Painters signed their work, decided on its subject and imagery, and established a personal relationship with their patrons.
As a painter, I learned to focus less on the actual scene and more on the painting itself.
The eye of an artist is not a camera lens that has to record everything within its field of vision in the painting.
I found nature provides useful information, but more than is needed for a good painting.
The eagle owl is an impressive bird.
The eagle owl has ear tufts that stick up like horns.
The large orange eyes of the eagle owl are downright creepy, and look like they could pierce right through you.
This owl hunts at night, flying swiftly and silently through the darkness.
While some owl species have become endangered, others are thriving.
The barred owl has spread well beyond its previous habitat.
Early findings suggest that logging may have facilitated the invasion of the barred owl.
The owl landed on a thick branch and gripped it with her talons.
The owl pressed her wings to her sides and settled down, half-closing an eye.
The owl might have been a statue but for the glow of her eyes.
It's unnerving to watch a polar bear stalk across floating sea ice.
It's even worse when you are submerged in the frigid waters directly beneath the huge polar bear.
Overhead, giant paws set down on the ice as the polar bear pursued its prey.
As part of the film crew for a polar bear documentary, I spent months capturing these shots.
Polar bears are one of the few animals that will attack people for reasons other than fear or confusion.
Polar bears may attack out of hunger because they live in a food-scarce environment.
Polar bears will sneak up on people slowly, careful to conserve their energy.
The seal is an important part of the diet of the polar bear.
When hunting, polar bears will wait by a seal breathing hole, or stalk seals that are basking on the ice.
The polar bear will crawl quietly forward and freeze in place when the seal looks around.
The medieval castle was not a structure built primarily for defense.
The purpose of the castle was to dominate its surroundings.
A castle could easily control lands within a day's walk.
During times of attack, peasants, livestock, and property could be brought inside the walls of the castle for protection.
Spectacular castles in dramatic locations provide a record of the stormy history of many regions.
Today, castles stand atop rocky cliffs overlooking beautiful landscapes and quaint villages.
In the past, castles were home to battles, plots and intrigue.
Upon leaving the train station we saw our hotel looming above:  a magnificent castle built on a cliff.
The thick outside walls of the castle sheltered an inner courtyard hundreds of feet above the river.
Our castle tower rooms had an incredible but slightly scary view.
After climbing fifty feet up the side of the pyramid, the man gestured me into a small black entranceway.
This led into the chamber at the center of the pyramid.
I followed him down the steep, dark, narrow passage, into the pyramid.
The smell inside the pyramid was chalky and the air was thick.
More than just the tomb of the king, pyramids represented the pride of the nation.
The care that the pyramid builders took in their craft is evident.
The stones covering the pyramid were precisely fitted together and polished until the structure gleamed.
Architects are still working to solve the mysteries of how pyramids were constructed.
Some architects think ramps were built inside the walls of the pyramid to raise stone blocks.
Other architects speculate that ramps zigzagged up the exterior walls of the pyramid.
Even beginner rock climbing takes courage and strength.
Climbers who are learning rock climbing can try scrambling on large boulders.
Once rock climbers are comfortable with that, they can begin using ropes to safely climb vertical rock faces.
All of the boys on the trip were new to rock climbing.
Many of the boys were afraid of rock heights.
Having someone else check their knots and harnesses before climbing the rock helped them calm down.
The adults set up rock climbing routes appropriate for beginners.
Free-climbing is one particular style of rock climbing.
The climber relies solely on her skill and physical strength to ascend a rock face.
Rope and bolts are the only equipment used in free rock climbing
They are meant only to stop the rock climber if she falls.
I hesitantly skied down the steep trail that my buddies convinced me to try.
I made a bad turn and I found myself tumbling down the ski slope.
I finally came to a stop at a flat part of the ski slope.
My skis were nowhere to be found and my poles were lodged in a snow drift up the hill.
A major strength of professional skiers is how they use ski poles.
Proper use of ski poles improves their balance and adds flair to their skiing.
It minimizes the need for upper body movements to regain lost balance while skiing.
New ski designs and stiffer boots lets skiers turn more quickly.
But faster and tighter turns increase the twisting force on the legs while skiing.
This has led to more injuries, particularly to ligaments in the knee of skiers.
