Zheng Jie - a true hero

China's Zheng Jie made tennis history as the first Asian woman to make it to Wimbledon semi-finals. She did it as an unseeded player ranked 133 in the world in Singles, overcoming 3 seeded players including Anna Ivanovic, ranked #1. She did it as one the smallest players on the tour at 1.65m, beating girls far taller than her in a tennis world dominated by big players. That makes her a hero for millions around the world, especially Chinese and Asians.

Yet, the most amazing action she took was to donated ALL of her personal winnings at Wimbledon to the Sichuan Earthquake victims. This is by far her biggest tournament win in her career; and she will not take a cent from it.

Some people make the world a better place just by being in it. This week, in this world, Zheng Jie is one of them.

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/showsports.aspx?id=SPOEN20080055437

some people ...

Some people make the world brighter just by being in it.

- Mary Dawson Hughes

Life of Fruit Flies

In research done at University of Iowa recorded at the Journal of Natural Science, it is found that fruit flies raised with the younger control flies lived twice as long as those housed with similar aged flies. It appears that social interaction with younger flies helped the flies to make some kind of physiological adaptation that compensated for the genetic defect which makes the insect vulnerable to oxidative-stress induced ageing.

So, my friend, if you love your older folks, talk to them. And to all my younger friends who interact with me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping to help me live longer. ... and of course don’t call us older folks fruit flies, Haha!