Early on a mid-October Saturday, 21 cloaks our suburban neighborhood in gray. But even this misty haze cannot 22 the blazing glory of the maple trees lining the street. Who needs Old Sol on a day like this? Canopies of radiant red and gold leaves glow from within, as if 23 by their own private sun. This autumnal glow comes as an especially welcome gift these days. Has the October landscape ever seemed more 24 beautiful than it does after a month of national mourning? The soft light and brilliant colors serve as 25 antidotes to the somber news coming out of Washington and Kabul.

        Great white sharks, one of the most feared animals on the planet, are not without their own predators. In the past week, three great white sharks have been killed by orcas off the coast of South Africa and had their livers removed. Prior to this shocking finding, there were no records of killer whales going after great white sharks in this region, though it has been documented elsewhere in a few rare incidents. Orcas are one of the most versatile and fearsome predators in the world, known to eat various types of sharks, seals and whales, but they usually avoid great whites. 

        Orcas are very smart, and have different behaviors for hunting different animals around the world. It is possible that the creatures have now learned to go after killer whales. When turned upside down, many sharks become nearly comatose, and thus easy prey. Samuel Gruber, a researcher at the Bimini Biological Field Station in the Bahamas, said orcas could develop and spread new such hunting tricks. “Their learning abilities are so great, that if one of them happened to” flip over and stun a shark, “and see that sharks freeze up in this state, they could communicate it to the other ones.” (Adapted from Newsweek, May 10, 2017)

        Through the world’s largest distribution system, consumers in some 200 countries enjoy products of the Coca-Cola Company (such as Coca-Cola, diet Coke, Fanta and Sprite) at a rate of more than one billion servings each day. One of the reasons for the success of the Coca-Cola Company is the strength of its extensive production and distribution network in local communities around the world. Today Coca-Cola is the most widely available consumer product in the world. Coca-Cola also owes a lot of its success to its catchy and innovative advertising. Since the first slogan ‘Delicious and Refreshing’ came out in 1886, The Coca-Cola Company has introduced such memorable slogans as ‘The Pause that Refreshes,’ ‘Things Go Better With Coke,’ ‘It’s the Real Thing,’ and ‘Coca-Cola enjoy.’ Surveys have shown that, thanks to such effective marketing, Coca-Cola is now the best known and most admired trademark in the world.