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CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico (AP) — A 35-year-old Canadian woman has died and two other tourists were injured when a surfacing gray whale crashed onto their boat, Mexican authorities said Thursday.

The Attorney General's Office for Environmental Protection says two other tourists suffered "considerable" injuries when the whale breached and hit the side of the boat. The office said the boat had been carrying nine tourists on a snorkel tour.

The Baja California Sur state prosecutor's office says the collision near the beach resort of Cabo San Lucas tossed the victim into the water.

A crew member and a passenger lifted her back onto the vessel and Mexican navy personnel moved the woman to shore. She was taken to a clinic, where she died during treatment.

What do you think when you think of China? A repressive government, human rights abuse, corruption scandals, terrible pollution? Admit it, I'm right.

Here's what you probably don't know: China is as rich in language as it is in engineers.

Many modern, everyday Chinese idioms have their roots in ancient poetry. These idioms, which are each composed of four Chinese characters, are totally unique to the language. Chinese has 20,000 such idioms in total; only one or two thousand are commonly used. But Chinese schoolkids often spend their days reciting them in class.

Chinese poetry "is a window to a world that is very foreign and advanced," says Ron Egan, a professor of Chinese literature at Stanford University. "By the 7th and 8th century, the Chinese [had] mastered the art of expressing themselves, which didn't happen in any other place in the world."

This is no esoteric idea. There's even a hot television program called China Idiom Convention. This show, which aired Sundays from April to June, tested competitors' knowledge of idioms. More than 30,000 people signed up to compete. Videos netted nearly 2 million clicks on Youku, one of China's biggest online video sites.

So if you're trying to understand the Asian giant, boning up on your Chinese idioms might help.

A Shade of a Willow and Bright Flowers

Hillary Clinton quoted the Chinese poem "A Trip to Mountain West Village" by Lu You at the Shanghai 2010 World Expo to celebrate the hard work in building the USA pavilion, which Clinton financed by raising $60 million in private cash.

"There is a poem from the Southern Song dynasty that reads: 'After endless mountains and rivers that leave doubt whether there is a path out, suddenly one encounters the shade of a willow, bright flowers and a lovely village.'"

The original meaning? "A favorable turn of fortune will often appear just when there seems to be no way out of trouble."

Clinton implied that difficulties came with establishing the U.S. pavilion. The Chinese use the same idiom in less vaunted settings, such as: "My new job is a lot of hard work; I haven't found that feeling of 'the shade of a willow and bright flowers.'"

Hearts With Magical Rhinoceros

Rhinoceros horns are powerful, supernatural objects in old Chinese sayings.

"Even though my body is not a colorful phoenix with two wings to fly [to my lover], we have hearts that understand each other immediately as though connected with a magical rhinoceros."

So wrote Li Shangyin, a famous male poet from the Tang dynasty (7th–10th B.C.) in an untitled poem.

Today in China, people often say, "You get me — we really [have] hearts with 'magical rhinoceros.'"

Leaving [Your] Name on Light-Green History

Sure, you want to make your mark on history — but why "light-green" history? Before paper was invented in 105 B.C. in China, events were recorded on light-green bamboo slips, which involved "sweating" bamboo over a fire to get the moisture out.

In the 13th century, ages after Sun-Tzu penned The Art of War, Chinese poets were using literature to document military ambitions.

This idiom comes from the poem "Passing by Lingdingyang" (also known as "Crossing the Lonely Ocean") by the great politician and poet Wen Tianxiang. The poem, which Tianxiang wrote while leading an army to fight for the fate of the Song dynasty, reads:

"In history, what man does not die? [I'd rather] leave my red heart to shine on light-green sweat."

A Red Apricot Blossom Peeks Over the Yard Fence

A pretty plant, but so much more.

"[The] whole garden can no longer confine the lively energy of spring; a spray of red apricot blossom [already] peeks over the fence."

So wrote Song dynasty poet Ye Shaoweng in "On Visiting a Garden, When Its Master Is Absent."

Modern readers see this as symbolizing a woman's infidelity to her husband. The "red apricot blossom" symbolizes a young and attractive woman, while "peeking over the fence" shows her sneaking out.

Even today, Chinese people will say, behind gossipy hands: "Behind her husband's back, she [is like] 'a red apricot blossom peeking over the yard fence.'"

Reach a Higher Level on the Tower

The idiom comes from the poem "On the Yellow Crane Tower" by Wang Zhihuan of the Tang dynasty. After climbing the famous tower, Zhihuan writes:

"[I] desire to see thousands of miles [from this tower], [so I need to] climb to a higher level."

To see farther, you need to stand higher. This poem is often used to encourage students and workers alike to set higher goals.

Now you know why Chinese students work so hard. You would, too, if you had to memorize idioms like this from a young age.

Have you ever wondered why your toddler isn't responding to you with what you believe should be a "normal" reaction? Or you can't understand why your baby keeps opening and shutting the closet door over and over again?

Humans are one of the few species on earth born "unfinished." At birth, our brains are nowhere near fully developed, and in fact, the human brain develops quite slowly over time. New technology such as CAT scans, MRIs and PET scans all indicate that your brain is still developing into late adolescence. Therefore, the way your baby and toddler thinks is colored by his stage of development. At first, your baby will view the world in concrete terms. The way he reasons and responds is directly correlated to this particular stage. For this reason, it is important to take your child's development into consideration when speaking with your child and when placing behavioral expectations on him.

Synaptic pruning

Your infant's brain is born into the world with approximately 86 billion neurons; while this sounds like a lot, it is actually about half of what it will have by the end of your baby's first year. At age two or three, the brain has up to twice as many connections as it will have in adulthood; the reason, is that as we grow older, our brains perform a sort of "use it or lose it" function: effectively "pruning" unused connections over the years.

Your baby's first year on earth is full of neuron growth as well as the pruning of synapses which is affected by environmental stimulation (or lack therof).

Your Baby's Brain: Age 1

So much happens during the first year of life that many parents I know are often overwhelmed and amazed at the changes their baby makes at this time. I am going into more depth in this matter in my upcoming book, but I wanted to give you a brief glimpse of your baby's brain development -- particularly in terms of cognitive and social learning -- during ages zero to three. In today's blog post, we'll take a quick look at your baby's brain development from birth through his first birthday.

Social and Cognitive Learning

The brain development that happens in your baby's social learning as well as basic problem-solving is phenomenal in the first year. Your baby goes from not knowing how to do anything to being able to speak a foreign language, follow simple directions, such as "pick up the book," and using items correctly, such as using a book for reading time and using a cup to drink. While your baby still may not understand the nuances of physical activity, he is learning to explore by banging things together, throwing things, dropping items, and shaking them up and down. This is your 1-year-old's way of learning how things work. He may be throwing a stuffed animal across the room over and over again, but know that this action is not to annoy you, nor is it done as an emotional response. Your baby is simply doing what all babies do: repeating a movement in order to understand it.

Meanwhile, your baby also begins to develop social and emotional connections during his first year. You may wonder why your normally calm baby suddenly seems scared of strangers around 7-8 months old. This comes from a brain spurt in the frontal lobe that brings about attachment; your baby has already formed an attachment with you and with other familiar caregivers, thanks to the familiar sounds of your voices and your touch, and they may experience sudden fear when you leave and/or when someone unfamiliar approaches.

Until your baby is one year of age, he is still lacking behavioral control. That is to say, that he may start to understand that hitting a sibling is wrong, but his brain is still in the process of developing the ability to override the impulse to do so. Therefore, it's important for you to be aware, and to react to his developmental stage appropriately.

Parenting Tips for Newborns through Age One:

* Talk to your infant, sing, and listen and react to your newborn's gurgles and mumbles as much as possible. The more bonded you are to your baby, the more he hears your voice, feels your touch, smells your scent, the more comforted and secure he will feel.

* Encourage all caregivers and visitors to talk to your baby often. This will help especially during the seven-to-eight month stage, in which he will start to feel separation and stranger anxiety.

* Hold your baby as much as possible during this first year. Babies respond strongly to attachment and begin to be socialized and culturalized when accompanying mom and dad on simple outings.

* Help your baby practice and rehearse motor, sensory and cognitive advances, by creating a safe learning environment in which he can explore. Objects that can be manipulated, touched and observed, not only enhance learning, but will help your baby to test himself against his environment. Each experience will add to his insight and understanding and stimulate his brain's associative mass. Since your baby doesn't really begin to have controlling behavior until he turns approximately one, you can understand and empathize with him if he spontaneously hits his sibling or has a temper tantrum. Here, gently changing his environment while reminding him verbally that hitting is not okay, will remediate his behavior. On the other hand, when your baby throws his toy or drops things from his highchair, he is really processing an experiment with gravity. If you participate with him instead of fighting against him by scolding him and trying to control his behavior, your understanding approach will lower the decibels of your reaction while helping his intellect expand through insight and cognition.

* Give your baby a safe, open space in which to learn while being supervised. Clear out sharp and heavy objects from a living room, for example, and let your baby play on the floor with blocks, books, stuffed animals, wooden spoons, and age-appropriate toys. While this may look like mindless activity to you, this form of free play allows your child's brain to make more connections with actions.

I'll share more in-depth information and tips in an upcoming book, but for now this gives you a good glimpse at some of the most common, important developmental brain stages during the first year of life. In an upcoming blog post, I'll share information about brain development at other infant, toddler, and child stages.

George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin were on hand to commemorate the Armenian genocide at the 100 Lives event in New York City Tuesday.

The actor and the human rights lawyer took part in the launching of the 100 Lives initiative, remembering those who helped save lives during the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman government beginning in 1915, and in announcing the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity honor, which will be given to those who put themselves at risk for others.

"I am honored to be associated with 100 Lives as it shares a common mission with my foundation, Not On Our Watch, to focus global attention on the impact of genocide as well as putting resources towards ending mass atrocities around the world," Clooney said, per a press release. "It should weigh heavily on all of us that genocide still takes place today. We have to tackle this head on -- as individuals, as communities and as governments."

We all know elephants are in trouble. Nearly 35,000 are killed every single year to fuel a burgeoning ivory trade, spurred by demand in China where a growing upper class views the tusks as a prime status symbol.

Many elephants across Africa now live in protected reserves or national parks, some with full-time anti-poaching details aimed at curbing the rampant poisoning, shooting and outright slaughter of the creatures. Governments and wildlife organizations have gone to great lengths to protect the elephants, and when they're at risk, it's often a race against the clock to find them safety before poachers can go after a hefty payday.

Photographer Pete Oxford was along for the ride as a team rushed to capture nearly 80 elephants that escaped from a protected wildlife sanctuary in Zimbabwe. The elephants needed to be approached from a helicopter and split into family groups before a team of veterinarians was able to individually tranquilized each animal based on its size. Once the animals are sedated, the vets work against the clock to make sure they're safely loaded onto flatbed trucks "like sardines" and transported as a family back to the reserve, Oxford told The Huffington Post.

He said elephants are increasingly under threat as ivory demand booms and rhino populations dwindle. The animals are now under threat almost "everywhere."

"Where we are today, where man has got to take extreme measures to save wildlife ... this is Africa's most iconic mammal and it's still under threat. It's a growing shame, really," he said.

Are your aesthetic tastes a bit too refined to be accurately expressed by a kissy face, twin ballerinas or a smiling pile of poop? We have good news: Cindy Sherman emojis are now a thing, ready and able to communicate your deepest and most complex feelings along with your masterful understanding of contemporary art.



Seoul-born, New York-based designer Hyo Hong is the brilliant mind behind the new emoji series, dubbed "Cindy Sherman-icons," which features the many faces and guises of the exquisite photographic chameleon.

Sherman has long entranced the art world with images exploring the many masks women wear, all starring Sherman herself rendered unrecognizable thanks to a wide array of sensual, grotesque and entertaining disguises. In one photo she's a femme fatale pulled straight from a 1940s noir film, while in another she's a collagen-pumped socialite trying desperately to steal the spotlight. She dives completely into her roles, transforming altogether into a trashy hitchhiker, a Marilyn Monroe lookalike, a Renaissance Madonna, a battered woman, a nightmarish clown. Her glorious makeovers, captured in self-portraits, speak to the contemporary age of performed identities, specifically the roles women are born (and sometimes forced) to play.

Given her knack for shapeshifting, Sherman seems like the perfect artist to give us measly texters the images we need to better express our rawest emotions. "We don't always want to convey that we're blindly happy, crying with laughter or horizontally-lipped and nonplussed," Hyo told Hyperallergic. "Sometimes, we need something a little more subtle and nuanced from emoticons. So, I have come up with just the solution, in the form of the multifaceted Cindy Sherman-icon."

To begin inserting the many faces of Cindy into your everyday life, simply visit Hyo's tumblr page, where you can download all the Sherman-icons individually. Then post them into text message conversations as you would any other image and voila! You're texting like an art literate sovereign ruler.

In the meantime, check them out in highly enlarged form below.

On March 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck northeast Japan, triggering a massive tsunami and a crippling nuclear crisis. Nearly 19,000 people lost their lives in the disaster -- the country's worst since World War II.

On Wednesday, the victims of the March 11 catastrophe were remembered in ceremonies across Japan. At 2:46 p.m. -- the time the earthquake struck -- the country observed a minute of silence.

Four years after the crisis, Japan continues its path to recovery. The stunning photos below document the country's resilience and its efforts to rebuild.

We all knew to expect hot flashes, maybe even some prostate issues. But nobody ever warned us about these aging-related things:

1. You will want to nap more.
Naps, it turns out, aren't just for cranky toddlers. It is popularly believed that our need for them returns, in earnest, in our later years. But while you may feel the need to sleep through the NFL game on TV every Sunday, that's not related to aging. The core of the problem is more likely your inability to sleep at night.

People over 65 can take more than 30 minutes to fall asleep. They often sleep less deeply and wake up during the night. Many older adults get sleepier earlier in the evening and wake up earlier in the morning. But poor sleep and the need to nap are not symptoms of aging; they are symptoms of something else going on with your body that is preventing you from sleeping. It's vital to figure out what that something else is. Sleep patterns change as we age, but disturbed sleep and waking up tired every day are not part of normal aging. People over 65 need about the same amount of sleep as younger adults -- seven to nine hours a night.

2. Your face can still break out like a teenager's.
While most aging skin tends to dry out, adult acne can be a case of junk-in/junk-out. Like with teenagers, breakouts in adults can often be traced to hormonal fluctuations. Acne is a clogged follicle or pore. It begins when the pore is blocked and the sebum or oil in your skin can't work its way out. Bacteria forms, followed by inflammation. Adult acne can sometimes be triggered by hormonal shifts, food and improper cleansing that allows oil buildup.

3. Cataract surgery is a treatment of last resort, even if you hate wearing glasses.
You probably bought your first pair of drugstore reading glasses somewhere around age 50. From there, you wound up with the optometrist recommending you wear glasses when you drive. And then somewhere around 62, you realize that you have an assortment of eyewear for computer use, reading, watching TV, driving at night and driving during the day. You have glasses on every horizontal surface, and generally have a pair stuck on top of your head. You never go anywhere without your glasses and wonder why you can't just go and have cataract surgery done -- like now -- to be able to see once again.

Well, you can't. A cataract generally starts very small and grows gradually larger and cloudier. Doctors prefer to wait until the cataract interferes significantly with your vision and lifestyle. Some cataracts never really reach the stage where they should be removed. If your cataract is interfering with your vision to the point where it feels unsafe to drive, or doing everyday tasks is difficult, then it's time to discuss surgery with your doctor. Cataract surgery is the most commonly performed type of surgery in the United States; it just isn't done lightly.

4. Hot flashes can last until you are 65.
A recent study found that 42 percent of women 60 to 65 years old still have menopausal hot flashes. For many, the hot flashes are occasional and mild, but for some, they remain really troublesome, said the study published in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS). Sexual symptoms also remain a problem for more than half these older women. The study included 2,000 women aged 40 to 65.

5. If you are older, this winter has been really cold.
In between those never-ending hot flashes, older people really feel the cold -- which hasn't made this winter all that wonderful for them. Sometimes, it's a sign of a medical problem like hypertension or diabetes. Sometimes drugs, like beta blockers, decrease the heart rate which can reduce blood circulation to hands and feet. Thyroid conditions also can impact people's ability to regulate their body temperature.

But healthy older people feel colder too. Older people are more likely to have slightly colder body temperatures than younger ones.

What do you think? What about aging has surprised you? Let us know in comments.