【推荐1】When the winds begin to rise over Bali Island, the sky will be decorated with colors that announce the arrival of kite season.

It’s a summer activity that brings back joyful memories of childhood to Balinese photographer Putu Sayoga. As a young boy, he’d watch elder kids pull kites through rice fields near his village after harvest season. When the winds didn’t come, the boys would whistle loudly, acting out stories of Rare Angon, the name of a character in Balinese epic story respected by kite flyers. According to the legend, his magical flute beckoned (召唤) the winds. Kites that dance in those sudden strong winds are said to help farmers keep harmful insects away from their harvests.

In the early 1970s, foreign visitors began flooding into Bali’s white sand beaches and in 1978 the island launched an annual kite festival that quickly grew into a large competition. Three styles of kite take flight at the festival: the long-tailed bird; the fish, perhaps the most popular; and the leaf, considered the toughest to fly because of earlier preparation.

The COVID-19 pandemic put off the kite festival in Bali Island. But in the absence of tourists, Sayoya rediscovered the beauty of kite flying without earlier preparation. One day, Sayoga spotted a colorful gathering overhead. Down a small side road, he found an illegal festival. The police had forced the kite flyers to leave the beach, so they had to remove to a rice field. Sayoga asked if he could film it and they agreed — so long as he focused his camera on the kites and not their faces.

This year, the official kite festival has returned to Bali’s beaches, but informal festivals, like the one Sayoga photographed, have also stuck around again. For Sayoga, who had long avoided the overcrowded pre-pandemic festivals, these gatherings have helped him rediscover the entertainment he loved as a child. Now when he goes to see the kites fly, he may intentionally leave his camera at home.

【推荐1】According to recent research, people who drink coffee may live longer than non-drinkers. Neal Freedman and his team analyzed data from over 400,000 Americans between the ages of 50 and 70. They found that those who drank at least two to three cups of coffee a day had a slightly lower risk of death over a 13-year period than non-drinkers. When looking at specific causes of death, coffee drinking seemed to reduce the risk of dying from heart disease, lung disease, injuries, accidents, and infections.

However, Freedman makes it clear that the study cannot prove that coffee causes people to live longer. The study only suggests that there may be a link between coffee and longevity. The research does not provide an explanation for why coffee may have these health benefits.

Although coffee has previously been linked to potential health risks, such as increased risk of certain diseases, recent evidence suggests that it may also have protective qualities against other diseases. The conflicting research on coffee and health has led to mixed messages for consumers.

Similar to wine research, there seems to be a lot of interest in coffee research as well. Scientists continue to investigate the potential health benefits and risks associated with coffee. They said, “Drinking coffee in moderation does not appear to be harmful, while too much consumption should be avoided.”

In conclusion, the relationship between coffee and longevity is still being explored. While the study suggests that coffee may have some health benefits, it is too early to say whether coffee can actually make people live longer. For now, it seems that drinking coffee in moderation is safe, but more research is needed to fully understand its impact on health.

【推荐2】In today’s youth culture, it seems as if teens are permanently glued to their cellphones, constantly receiving beeping, buzzing and blinking social media notifications (通知). We often hear of the harm of social media to teens and young people, but our latest research on young girls and boys has revealed that social media is not always negative.

In some cases, we found that social media can positively influence their health and well-being, by helping them learn about healthy eating or new workouts to try. Besides, social media provides space for young people to talk to each other about issues of health.

For our study, conducted by researchers from the University of Birmingham and Orebro University, we invited over 1,300 young girls and boys, aged 13-18, from ten UK schools. We were interested in better understanding how young people use social media, and how they feel it impacts their health and well-being. To do this, we selected 84 participants from the main sample and had them take part in small group interviews.

The results showed that social media often had a positive influence on young people’s motivation for being physically active and on their ability to make conscious diet choices. Social media also allowed them to access the information they found inspirational, and learn about different apps they could use to be physically active or monitor their progress. They reported that likes, comments, and views on their social media posts also helped them stay motivated to exercise.

Encouragingly, the young people we spoke to were also highly discerning users of social media. They thought carefully about the content they were engaging with online. For instance, the teenagers reported that they would often ignore content that had the potential to lead to harm, such as images or videos that presented unrealistic workouts or expectations for their bodies.

While the risks should certainly not be overlooked, our findings show that social media can have a positive effect on young people’s health and well-being. A benefit of social media is that it provides real-time, low-cost information, and support from their peers. Making young people use social media safely, critically and responsibly may thus help them continue to lead a healthy life.