【推荐1】A new study shows that a positive atitude about ageing can help recover mild memory loss. People with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are 30 per cent more likely to make symptoms (症状) disappear if they think positively about ageing, according to a study carried out by the Yale School of Public Health. The study was conducted over twelve years and involved 1,716 participants aged 65 and above.

MCI is usually considered a one-way process, but according to Professor Becca Levy, lead author of the study, that’s not the case at all, ”Most people assume there is no recovery from MCI, but in fact half of those who have it do recover.”

Mild cognitive impairment is a condition which causes memory loss and difficulty in thinking clearly. Symptoms might include forgetting events, or often losing things. Other more physical symptoms such as a loss of smell or spatial perception have also been connected with MCI.

It is mostly found in people over 60，and often leads to Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. The study was conducted over a twelve - year period between 2008 - 2020, with seven data collection waves performed every two years.

Results showed that those who came to the study with MCI were 30 per cent more likely to make a full recovery if they were upbeat about ageing. They were also likely to recover two years faster than those with more negative age beliefs (such as “The older I get, the more useless I feel”). Those who came to the study without MCI were also far less likely to develop it if they felt more age - positive, no matter of what their physical health or age is.

Factors (因素) such as age, race and gender have previously been examined for connections with recovery, but this is the first study to look at cultural factors — in this case, beliefs about ageing.

While the study definitely provided positive results, it’s still not known exactly why. “A limitation is that we did not examine the mechanism of positive age beliefs in cognitive (认知) recovery”, says Levy.

Given how well this research has gone, hopefully future studies will show the “why”, as well as looking at other cultural factors.

【推荐2】When it comes to having a healthy body, seeing may be believing. Experiments suggest that people who are shown pictures of their clogged arteries may be more likely to stay healthy than people who do not.

Researchers studied just over 3,500 people. These people were between 40 and 60 years of age. Each person had at least one risk for heart disease, but no signs of the disorder. The researchers divided these subjects into two groups. The first group received what was called usual care — like taking medicine or talking with health care workers about heart disease. However, the members of the other group were shown pictures of their arteries. Researchers also gave them special guidance on why those pictures might be a sign of future health problems. One year later, the people who watched the images of their own arteries had less risk for heart disease than those who weren’t shown the pictures. That is where the “pictures” part may help.

Doctors warn that many people think they have healthy hearts but, actually, they do not. Clogged arteries can be a silent killer. It takes many years to develop and patients may show no signs until the condition is serious and difficult to treat. Because it is a silent killer, experts say patients only remember a small part of what their doctor tells them to do. Seeing a picture is much more effective. To use a popular English expression,“A picture is worth a thousand words.”

Smoking, an unhealthy habit, and being short of exercise increase the risk of heart attacks. Exercising for at least 30 minutes every day of the week will help to prevent heart disease. Eating at least five servings of fruit and vegetables a day, and limiting your salt intake to less than on spoon a day, also helps to prevent heart attacks.

【推荐3】New fences, fresh floor coverings and plenty of paint; home improvement has become the national amusements to kill time during the pandemic (疫情) as the nation has spent more time at home and rediscovered a passion for DIY after a decade of decline. The close down of pubs,restaurants and sporting fields, financial pressures and the need to adapt houses and flats to deal with changed circumstances, started a trend in DIY this year, particularly among 18 to 34-year-olds.

After years of falling sales, store close down and cost-cutting, B&Q -the DIY chain is hoping the tide may finally have changed its tough situation. Kingfisher, the parent company of B&Q, is investing in digital marketing, home delivery and new products to attract the imagination of the young generation.

Thierry Gamier, chief executive (总裁) of Kingfisher, has plenty of data to prove how consumers warmed to DIY again in 2020. It began in the spring with painting fences and decorating walls or cars. Sales of pressure washers increased by 80% at B&Q. People then moved on to gardening, setting up home offices and entertaining outdoors.

It has been the same story in some other countries. Demand for fencing, decorating wooden cabins in continental Europe and the us has put such a stress on wood supply chains that sawmill (锯木厂) and producers are working hard to tackle the problem. Paint supplier to B&Q are concentrating on the most popular shades, reducing the product range so they can keep up with the demand for high volumes.

But the big focus is on digital. As demand for home shopping rocketed during the pandemic, B&Q began using its stores to help pick and pack home deliveries. The group now handles 1.5 million orders a week. Online now accounts for 17% of sales -up from 8% before the pandemic and Gamier hopes to expand further.

【推荐1】    1    . It seems that the next industry area to experience an economic boom will be the exploration of space and space tourism.

Last month, the first ESA Investment Forum took place at the European Space Research and Technology Centre in the Netherlands. More than 100 participants from all over the world showed up and expressed an interest for investments in the field.

“The focus of the Investment Forum is to highlight the commercial benefits of satellite and space technology in applications on Earth and to give potential investors an opportunity to meet with a number of newly established companies using various versions of space technology.” explained Frank M. Salzgeber, acting Head of the TTP office.     2    , or simply don’t know what to do with all the money.

    3    . Many of these technologies have already been transferred to applications on Earth where they have created unlimited business opportunities.

So if you have some money and you have not decided yet how to invest, or if you simply want a more unusual alternative, this looks like the right spot.     4    , such as the automobile, medical, security, energy, sports and transport industries.

【推荐2】Smart phones are dramatically changing the way we walk down the street. Office workers and young people are walking like pensioners (领退休金者) as they check emails and messages.

Scientists have found mobile phones make us walk more slowly, with modest steps, to avoid obstacles. The lead author of the study said the walk is similar to that of someone in their eighties. Researchers found people writing a text message walk more than twice as slowly as those without a phone, finding it harder to stay in a straight line and lift their feet 18 per cent higher above a pavement edge. Their steps are more than a third shorter, as they rely on their restricted vision to avoid falling over while distracted by their phone.

The scientists examined 252 separate participants walking while reading a text message, writing one, speaking on their phone or without their phone at all. Writing a text is the most demanding activity, causing people to look down at their phone 46 per cent more, and 45 per cent longer, than when reading a message. This led people to walk 118 per cent more slowly than when they were without their phone. People walked almost a third more slowly while reading a text and 19 per cent while talking on the phone.

Smart phones were found to prevent people from walking in a straight line, putting them at greater risk of colliding (碰撞) with other people, cars or street lamps. This increased the need to slow down and take more careful steps.

John Timmis said, "The idea for this study came from following someone walking down the street in the afternoon, who was walking as if he had had several drinks. I thought it was a bit early for that, then walked up alongside him and saw that he was on his phone. Simply being on the phone changes the way people walk."