【推荐1】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."

【推荐1】On Nov. 7, 2020, Chris Nikic did something incredible. He became the first person with Down syndrome (唐氏综合征) to complete one of the toughest athletic competitions in the world—the Ironman triathlon.

Nikic started the triathlon just before 6 a, m. on Nov. 7, entering the water in Panama City, Florida, for his swim. During the biking section his bike crashed and he skinned his knee. And during a water break, he was bitten by fire ants. But he never gave up. He finished the triathlon in 16 hours, 46 minutes and 9 seconds with just 14 minutes to spare before the cut-off time.

For two years, Nikic trained for the event, using a strategy he developed with his father which they call the “1% better each day principle.” Every day, Nikic and his father would strive to become one percent better. Nikic’s father said it works well for “a young man with Down syndrome.” On his website, Nikic outlines six strategies that helped him achieve his goal of completing the Ironman triathlon: Health (body), health (mind), friends (soul), focus on the positive, help someone else and pass it on.

Nikic originally started exercising in order to recover from ear surgery and get in shape. Now he has other goals: to live independently and one day have a big house and a nice car and to get married.

Training for the Ironman triathlon has helped make his dream come true. In fact, he recently bought a white Chevy and has been offered speaking gigs that may enable him to save up enough money to buy a house.

His next goals are to learn how to drive and he has been invited to compete in the US Special Olympics in 2022.

【推荐2】Jane Goodall is a famous animal behaviorist and has spent many years observing the behavior of chimps in their native habitat. Jane Goodall was born on April 3rd, 1934 in London, England. Her childhood dream was to spend time with animals in the wild. In particular, she was drawn to Africa and the dream of seeing wild animals in their native habitat. It was an unusual dream for a girl at the time, but her parents said to her, “We know it’s different, but we are at your back.”

In 1956, Jane jumped at the opportunity to travel to a friend’s farm in Kenya. It was there that Jane met the famous anthropologist, Dr. Louis S.B. Leakey. Leakey was impressed with Jane’s passion and knowledge of Africa and wildlife.

In 1960, Leakey and Jane began an important study of wild chimps by Lake Tanganyika. The chimps showed some fascinating habits to the group. These included meat eating, which is completely different from the previous opinion about chimps. Also, Jane saw chimps making tools to catch insects. This was an important discovery because, at the time, it was assumed only humans made tools.

The study of chimps in their native habitat was a significant event, leading to many new observations. Jane’s first article My life among wild chimpanzees was published in National Geographic in 1963. Some aspects of the study were challenged. For example, some feared her decision to feed the animals might have distorted their behavior and made them more aggressive (好斗的).

In 1977, Jane set up the Jane Goodall Institute which promotes plans to look after chimps and their environment. The institute has many networks and programs all over the world.

【推荐3】Growing up on a farm, Tori James spent much of her early years outdoors, building shelters and playing in muddy streams. She describes herself as an ambitious, adventurous child who went to bed reading the survival guides that lived on her bedside table. Even so, James says she could never have predicted that, one day, she might be the youngest British woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Today, James is a professional adventurer. Yet ahead of her first expedition at the age of 18, which she spent mapping the cracks of Iceland’s Vatnajökull glacier with the British Exploring Society, James recalls doubting her ability to last a month out in the cold without the comfort of a hot bath. “It’s only by stepping out of our comfort zone that we understand our true potential,”she explains. “That’s when the magic happens.”

Although James has spent a significant part of her life exploring some of the most remote landscapes in the world, when it comes to traveling, she believes that there are numerous ways for everyone to push their boundaries, other than by undertaking physical challenges. James also encourages would-be adventurers not to be put off by the stereotypical image of the rugged, hardy explorer. “I am such a believer that, with the right support and skills, everyone can bring something to an expedition,” she says.

Sometimes, she adds, it’s only out in the field that someone’s hidden talents emerge. A diverse team can be key to a successful trip, particularly given the role of exploration in today’s world. “Historically, exploration has been about people finding nature’s hardest obstacles and trying to either overcome them, or beat them,” says James. “But now, for me at least, exploration is about connecting, not conquering. It’s about our connection to the living world around us, it’s about sharing its importance once we’ve returned and it’s about figuring out how to do adventure sustainably.”