Ever since the success of Apollo 11, when lunar travel was finally publicly acknowledged to be safe for humans, people have been waiting for the day when space would be opened up on a large scale to those who are not astronauts. It has finally become a reality, at least for people who have the means. The space flights are not cheap—each flight into outer space costs about U.S. $ 20 million.

But space travel agencies now have a clever plan to offer suborbital (亚轨道的) flights, which cost about U.S. $100 000. A lunar mission is also made available by space tourism agency, Space Adventures, where tourists, accompanied by one professional astronaut, would be able to reach within 100km of the Moon’s surface, enabling them to see the bright far-side of the moon and witness Earth rising above the surface of the moon.

Further extending the idea of space tourism, plans are underway to open a resort in space. In Galactic Suite Space Resort, a space resort started by a Spanish entrepreneur, guests are promised a remarkable experience with an orbital stay onboard with first-class resort facilities; they can enjoy a weightless spa as they watch 15 sunsets in one day; and tourists would be able to complete a single orbit in 80 minutes—all this while staying in a bio-inspired space, similar to a tropical paradise island!

Space tourism is, however, not environmentally-friendly. There are suggestions that black carbon emitted by the spacecraft could raise temperatures at the poles, contributing to global warming. An increase in space travel would mean that Man would not only leave his footprint in space but also his waste—space tourism can lead to pollution of the environment of the outer space.

Without a doubt, space tourism opens up new exciting possibilities. With time, the price would become more reasonable. Increasing commercialisation of space would also mean that a structure would be put in place for the disposal of rubbish. However, with no immediate solutions, space tourism would probably prove to be yet another controversial (有争议的) adventure of mankind.

Watching humorous videos on the Internet at work isn’t always a waste of time. According to Ruby Nadler, a Ph.D. student at the University of Western Ontario, “Generally, positive mood has been found to enhance creative problem solving and flexible yet careful thinking.” She and her colleagues published new research in the Psychological Science.

Students in the study were put into various moods before being given a category learning assignment to complete (they learned to classify sets of pictures with visually complex patterns). The researchers used music and video clips to alter people’s moods; initially, they tested out a few to see which ones made individuals the happiest and saddest. The happiest music was a cheerful Mozart composition, while the happiest video was a newborn laughing.

The researchers then used them in the experiment, along with sad music and video (a piece of music from Schindler’s List and a news report about an earthquake) and music and video that had no effect on mood. People were required to learn to detect a pattern after listening to the music and seeing the movie. Volunteers who were happy were better at learning a rule to categorize the patterns than those who were sad or indifferent.

“If you have a project where you want to think innovatively, or you have a problem to carefully consider, being in a positive mood can help you to do that,” Nadler says. And music is a simple method to put yourself in a good mood. Everyone responds to various types of music, so don’t feel it a must to switch to Mozart, she adds.