Sci-Fi Short Story: The Day Joy Hurt

The Day Joy Hurt

Theo had everything he could ask for. A quiet home in the clouds, weekly check-ins with his emotion dietist, and an endless supply of synthetic feelings. Red for joy, purple for calm, brown for confidence.

Ever since the Emotion Regulation Act passed a generation ago, unfiltered emotions were labeled dangerous as they are too unpredictable and too disruptive to social order. To maintain productivity and safety, especially among the elite, society turned to synthetic injections to regulate feelings.

Each morning, Theo pressed a vial into his neck and watched a smile stretch across his face. He grinned at breakfast and nodded politely at meetings. But inside, it was just hollow. At night, silence settled like fog in his apartment. His mind kept racing but his heart never responded.

Chicago 7: When Protest Went on Trial

A Nation in Turmoil

In 1968, the United States felt like a nation at war with itself. The Vietnam War was escalating, the civil rights movement was still fighting for equality, and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy had left the country in shock.

That summer, the Democratic National Convention was set to take place in Chicago, a city determined to maintain control under Mayor Richard Daley. Daley promised order, which in practice meant a heavy police presence and a willingness to use force.

Eighty Years After Hiroshima

The Morning of August 6, 1945

The morning of August 6, 1945, began like any other. In Hiroshima, children walked to school holding lunch boxes their mothers had packed. Some people were sweeping their doorsteps; others were already at work.

Then, in a blinding flash, the sky itself seemed to explode.

In that instant, everything changed. Buildings crumbled as if they were made of paper. The air turned into fire, and the streets were filled with cries, some loud, some fading too quickly. People wandered through the ruins, their clothes tattered, their skin burned, holding the hands of children who could no longer speak.

Hours later, as the fires still burned, the sky darkened again. From the clouds above, thick drops began to fall. Black rain, heavy with ash and soot. Some were desperate with thirst, thought it was clean water and drank. It ran down faces and clothes, into wounds, carrying a silent poison no one yet understood.

[Play Smarter with Game Theory] Level 3: Stag Hunt - Why the Safe Option Isn’t Always the Smart One

Play Smarter with Game Theory
Level 3: Stag Hunt - Why the Safe Option Isn’t Always the Smart One

Two hunters in a forest can either work together to hunt a stag, which will feed them both for days, or they can each hunt rabbits alone. Rabbits are easy to catch but a stag is worth more. A stag can only be caught if both hunters commit. If one decides at the last minute to chase a rabbit instead, the other goes home empty-handed.

[Play Smarter with Game Theory] Level 2: Prisoner's Dilemma - Why We Sometimes Betray the People We Should Trust

Play Smarter with Game Theory
Level 2: Prisoner's Dilemma - Why We Sometimes Betray the People We Should Trust

Imagine this: you and a friend are caught doing something you probably shouldn’t have been doing (we’ll assume it’s mildly illegal, for story purposes). The police separate you in different rooms. They make each of you the same offer:

• If you both stay silent, you each get a light fine.

• If you betray your friend and they stay silent, you go free and they get a big penalty.

• If they betray you and you stay silent, they go free and you get the big penalty.

• If you both betray each other, you both get a medium penalty.

You can’t talk to each other. You have to decide whether to trust them and keep quiet or to blame them.

[Play Smarter with Game Theory] Level 1: Why Everyone Is Playing Games (All the Time)

Play Smarter with Game Theory

Level 1: Why Everyone Is Playing Games (All the Time)

This morning, you probably played at least three games before you even finished breakfast.

You just didn’t notice. Maybe you made a decision on whether to hit snooze or wake up right away. Maybe you negotiated bathroom time with your sibling or roommate. Maybe you thought about whether to reply to that message right now or save it for later. None of these involved a dice or spinning wheel, but they were games. Not in the “fun” sense, but in the game theory sense: strategic decision-making in situations where other people’s choices affect yours, and yours affect theirs.

【英語短文】The Importance of Physical Activity in a Healthy Lifestyle

Regular physical activity is one of the most important habits of remaining healthy, and it has a few benefits. Firstly, one can lose weight if one exercises regularly. Maintaining a healthy weight then reduces one’s risk of diabetes and some cardiovascular diseases. In addition, some physical activities like weight-lifting helps strengthen one’s muscles and bones. Keeping one’s bones and joints healthy becomes increasingly essential when one starts aging. Last but not the least, exercising surprisingly benefits one’s brain, too. Regular physical activity not only reduces depression and anxiety, but also sharpens one’s thinking and judgement skills. To conclude, exercising is significant for a healthy lifestyle in that it profits one’s health in a few different aspects.

Possible Factors of BTS's Great Success (part 1)

So how exactly did they cross the language and culture barrier and become so popular worldwide? Today, I’m going to point out two aspects. 

The Start and Rising of BTS

When BTS just debuted in 2013, their agency, Bighit, wasn’t a very well known or rich company. (The three big agencies in Korea were SM, JYP, YG) So the agency couldn’t provide them with so many resources or opportunities to go on shows like the other groups. (In the beginning, they even had to go on the streets to promote their own concerts in person.) They were originally going to be a hip hop group similar to another group in the YG Entertainment, but Bang Si-hyunk, the CEO of Bighit, decided to make an idol group that can ignore the restrictions that Kpop was known for, and make socially conscious music.

What is Kpop?

The Korean wave, also known as Hallyu, means the rising popularity of Korean movies, dramas, music, fashion, and foods…etc. Hallyu has already been building for the last few decades, but among them, Korean pop music has become the most significantly popular recently. Most Kpop fans were only in Korea and a few other Asian countries back in 2010, but now, Kpop has gradually become a global phenomenon. Take “Gangnam Style” as an example, this song from the solo artist PSY, 2012, went super viral all around the world. Its music video even broke the upper limit of YouTube’s views, forcing YouTube to upgrade its system.

作文練習 - 戰爭

每天早上我都會經歷一場戰爭，一場就算我不願參與，敵軍還是會瘋狂轟炸我方，想將我逼出我死守的堡壘的戰爭；一場我只能孤軍奮戰，沒有任何援軍會前來幫我的戰爭。這麼殘酷又每天早上六點半發生的戰爭，就是我與蝙蝠俠鬧鐘的對決。

作文練習 - 感動的一刻

「下星期的連假我們能出去玩嗎？」我滿懷希望地問，「唉，雖然有放假，但我也沒空去訂住宿和安排行程呀！」媽媽回應道，「可是…我們真的很久沒出門旅行啦！」我滿滿的委屈，感覺爸爸媽媽都不在意我快被悶壞了的感受，明明就是連假卻沒辦法去旅行讓我抱怨連連。