For the record number of American runners who completed an official race event last year, the questions often start not long after they cross the finish line: 'What's my next challenge?' and 'How much further can I push myself?' But data show that th…

AS AUTO MAKERS ADD far-out features to the latest cars at warp speed--everything from futuristic heads-up displays to simple perks like hands-free calling--the appeal of the newest showroom tech can be hard to resist. But a car, unlike a smartphone,…

China has tried your form of government and found it wanting. That was the message delivered by Chinese President Xi Jinping during an expansive address at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, this week that capped off his first visit to Western…

Buying real estate involves weighing a lot of factors: location, price . . . smell? Some condo developers are betting that the best way to a buyer's heart is through the nose. The latest sales tools are signature scents designed to enhance a buyer's…

AT THE ACADEMY AWARDS earlier this month, Kerry Washington, the star of the ABC-TV series 'Scandal,' wore a lilac Jason Wu gown, tailor-made to accommodate what she playfully called her little 'accessory'-a growing baby bump. These days, that's just…

Anyone who has felt like the odd duck of the group can take heart from new research from Harvard Business School that says sticking out in distinct ways can lend you an air of presence or influence. Standing out in certain circumstances, like wearing…

The default background for Microsoft's Windows XP operating system -- a perfect blue sky full of cotton-candy clouds above rolling hills with impeccably trimmed grass and daffodils -- is the spring day we wish could last forever. rolling hills:起伏群山  …

[Confident girls are often called the other B-word, and it can keep them from reaching their full potential, write Sheryl Sandberg and Anna Maria Chavez.] Sheryl: When my brother and sister describe our childhood, they will say that I never actually…

Is your desktop or laptop computer starting to feel a little poky? Even after just a few months of use, your PC or Mac may start to lose steam thanks to a fragmented hard drive, too many programs running in the background, or even a rogue piece of ma…

What the world needs now is a Web-enabled toothbrush. That part is clear to several oral-hygiene companies. What they can't agree on is who was first to put teeth into the smartphone. The giant Procter & Gamble Co. last week demonstrated what it call…

The conference call is one of the most familiar rituals of office life -- and one of the most hated. ritual:典礼,宗教仪式 Abuses are rife. People on the line interrupt others, zone out or multitask, forgetting to hit 'mute' while talking to kids or slurpin…

If you find yourself needing to sit down to take off your shoes, it might be time to start paying attention to your sense of balance. People don't usually think about balance until they fall, but little signs such as relying on handrails to go up and…

When her husband died of cancer 10 years ago, Becky Aikman says she experienced grief and adapted to her loss -- but not in the way some people seemed to expect. proactive:有前瞻性的,主动地 About a year after his death, when Ms. Aikman felt it was time to st…

The mass uprisings this summer in Egypt, Turkey and Brazil are powerful reminders that the middle classes drive history. What remains unclear, however, is where they are driving it. uprising:起义,升起 The world today is witnessing its third great surge o…

The problem: Every night, your workaholic boss is still glued to the computer when you need to leave. How to go home without looking like a slacker? slacker:懒鬼 Should you sneak out, hoping to avoid a six o'clock showdown in the hall? Guiltily apologi…

Daifailluh al-Bugami was just a year old when his parents noticed that his lips turned blue as he slept at night. It was his weight, doctors said, putting pressure on his delicate airways. delicate:精致的,微妙的,易碎的 Now Daifailluh is 3, and at 61 pounds he…

I grew up in an affluent area. Most kids owned multiple Cabbage Patch dolls and Gear bags and pairs of Jordache jeans (not to mention the beloved Atari 2600). I certainly had enough, but it felt like all of my peers possessed more. I wanted Benetton…

China's recent clampdown on foreign media is crimping the expansion plans of Western news organizations, at a time when many experts believe the Chinese market for news and financial data could be poised for explosive growth. stymie:妨碍,阻挠           …

Many companies regularly look up job applicants online as part of the hiring process. A new study suggests they may also use what they find to discriminate. discriminate against:歧视,排斥 look up:查阅,仰望,拜访 The study, a Carnegie Mellon University experimen…

Why are some obese people healthy, apparently protected from the damaging effects of excess fat on the liver and other organs? interfere with:干涉,妨碍,打扰 metabolism:新陈代谢 obese:肥胖的,过胖的 liver:肝脏 Scientists are investigating this question as they look to u…

Big data. It's the latest IT buzzword, and it isn't hard to see why. The ability to parse more information, faster and deeper, is allowing companies, governments, researchers and others to understand the world in a way they could only dream about bef…

Big auto makers are steering their efforts to develop cars that drive themselves out of the labs and into the fast lane for production, after years of low-profile experimentation. Auto industry executives on Tuesday used the podium offered by the bie…

The casino billboards lining America's roadways tantalize with the lure of riches. 'Easy Street. It's Only a Play Away,' screams one in Arizona. '$7.1 Million Every Day. We're a Payout Machine,' reads another. casino:赌场,俱乐部 lining:内层,衬套 tantalize:逗弄,…

The Wolff family of Paramus, N.J., was eyeing the gathering clouds and debating whether to cancel a planned park trip when 6-year-old Leora piped up with an idea: 'Let's call Grandma. Her knees always know when it's going to rain!' Leora's grandmothe…

What's the most destructive force in the tech world, the thing that has nearly killed BlackBerry, pushed Dell to go private, and made a mess of Microsoft? Conventional wisdom in Silicon Valley would finger one of the following technologies: smartphon…

The world is a fast and dangerous place. To survive a company must innovate. Many organizations look to their innovation teams, but to thrive, the whole of an organization needs to become an innovation engine. Businesses that understand that dedicate…

How can you decide whether to have a child? It's a complex and profound question -- a philosophical question. But it's not a question traditional philosophers thought about much. In fact, the index of the 1967 'Encyclopedia of Philosophy' had only fo…

We spend a full five hours and 16 minutes a day in front of a screen, and that's without even turning on a television. So says a statistic from eMarketer, a research firm that focuses on digital media and marketing. It says that for the first time we…

Many students cruise along just fine in math until fourth grade or so. Then, they hit a wall -- fractions. cruise:巡航,巡游,漫游 fraction:分数,片段The wall is about to get taller. With mastery of the topic seen as a crucial stepping stone to progressing in mat…

Opening up a Korean restaurant among the rice fields and limestone karsts north of Hanoi might seem a risky business, but Le Thi Huyen is doing a roaring trade at her bistro here. bistro:小酒馆 The reason? Samsung Electronics Co., the South Korean firm,…