【推荐1】It has been around for centuries, but up until very recently, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) wasn’t fully accepted abroad. Proof of this can be found in The Treatment (《刮痧》), a 2001 film that tells the story of a Chinese man in the US who’s accused of abuse after he uses guasha, a form of TCM treatment, to cure his grandson’s disease.

During the last 10 years or so, however, TCM has been getting increasingly popular all over the world. A report released by the State Council Information Office on Dec. 6 says this style of health care, which includes different forms like herbal medicine and exercise, has spread to 183 countries and regions.

“We have set up 10 TCM centers outside China, and all of them are popular among locals,” Wang Guoqiang, head of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said at a news conference on Dec 6. “Governments of 86 countries and regions have signed agreements with the Chinese government on TCM corporation.”

One of the reasons behind the growing popularity of TCM is the increase of scientific research into it. And after Tu Youyou, the Chinese scientist who discovered the anti-malaria (抗疟疾) drug qinghaosu (青蒿素), won the Nobel Prize in 2015, TCM became even more famous internationally.

However, all these achievements in TCM don’t mean that it’s problem-free. Over the years, TCM has faced challenges in being able to prove that it has certain effects.

Some researchers have suggested TCM should be more exact and work together with Western medicine.

“Bringing together with Western medicine and TCM, rather than being in competition, is where the potential for great effects is,” said Bernhard Schwartlander, the China representative of the World Health Organization.

【推荐3】Medical artificial intelligence (AI) can perform with expert-level accuracy and deliver cost-effective care. IBM’s Watson diagnoses (诊断) heart disease better than cardiologists (心脏病专家) do. Chatbots give better medical advice to patients in place of nurses. Some forecast that medical AI will enter 90% of hospitals and replace as much as 80% of what doctors currently do. Yet, as our recent research suggests, patients show a strong resistance to medical AI.

The reason, we found, is not the belief that AI provides lower care. Nor is it that patients think that AI is more costly or less informative. Rather, resistance to medical AI seems to come from a belief that AI does not take into account one’s specific circumstances. People view themselves as unique. By contrast, they think medical care delivered by AI providers is suited to treat an average patient but unsuitable to account for the unique circumstances that apply to an individual. No wonder that medical AI providers are given a cold welcome.

There are a number of steps that care providers can take to overcome patients’ resistance to medical AI. For example, if an AI provider is capable of tailoring its recommendation for whether to have a surgery to each patient’s unique characteristics and medical history, patients would be likely to follow the treatment recommendations of the AI provider. In addition, health care providers could also deliver individualized health care by explaining how the algorithms (算法) work and sharing patients’ reviews with the media. Having a physician confirm the recommendation of an AI provider should make people more willing to accept AI-based care. People are comfortable using medical AI if a physician remains in charge of the ultimate decision.

AI-based health care technologies are being developed and employed at an impressive rate, providing better medical services for the patients. But harnessing the full potential of them will require that we first overcome patients’ doubt of having an algorithm, rather than a person making decisions about their care.

【推荐1】Laughter is part of the universal human vocabulary. All members of the human species understand it. Unlike English or French or Swahili, we don’t have to learn to speak it. We re born with the capacity to laugh.

Very little is known about the specific brain mechanisms responsible for laughter. Contrary to folk wisdom, most laughter is not about humor; it is about relationships. To find out when and why people laugh, I went with several assistants to local malls and recorded what happened just before people laughed. Over a 10-year period, we studied over 2,000 cases of naturally occurring laughter.

We found that most laughter does not necessarily follow jokes. People may laugh after a variety of statements, such as, “Here comes Mary,” “How did you do on the test?” or “Do you have a rubber band?” These certainly aren’t jokes.

We believe laughter evolved from the panting (喘气的) behavior of our ancient ancestors. Today, if we tickle (使发痒) chimps, they don’t laugh. But, instead, they produce a panting sound. That’s the sound of ape laughter, and it’s the root of human laughter.

Apes laugh in the kinds of situations that lead to human laughter, like games that involve chasing. Other animals produce sounds during play, but they are so different from laughter. Rats, for example, produce high sounds during play and when tickled, but these are very different in sound from human laughter.

Laughter is often positive, but it can be negative too. There’s a difference between “laughing with” and “laughing at”. People who laugh at others may be trying to drive them out of the group.

No one has actually counted how much people of different ages laugh, but young children probably laugh the most. At ages 5 and 6 we probably laugh more than at any other times. Adults laugh less than children, probably because they play less.

Work now underway will tell us more about the brain mechanisms behind laughter, how it has evolved, and why we’re so susceptible to tickling.

【推荐2】The British have long been known for their love of tea, but people in London also drink a lot of coffee. In fact, the average Londoner reportedly drinks 2.3 cups of coffee every day.

And now, waste coffee grounds (咖啡渣) will be used to help fuel part of the city’s transportation system.

A technology company announced on Monday that some buses will be using a biofuel (生物燃料) that contains coffee oil.

The company, bio-bean, and its partner, Argent Energy, say they have made enough coffee oil to power one of London’s famous double-decker buses for a year.

The announcement made bio-bean a trending story on social media.

The government agency Transport for London has been turning to biofuels to cut production of carbon emissions. Carbon emissions are the gas produced by the burning of carbon, and the gas is released into the atmosphere.

London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, said last month that his city has a “health crisis ... caused directly by poor-quality air”. The government has taken steps to discourage people from driving cars that do not meet European Union emissions requirements.

bio-bean said Londoners produce over 200, 000 tons of waste coffee grounds a year. The company said it collects waste grounds from chain coffee shops and factories. The grounds are dried and processed to remove coffee oil.

“It’s a great example of what can be done when we start to reimagine waste as an untapped resource,” said one of bio-bean founders Arthur Kay. The coffee fuel technology has been receiving support from the oil company Royal Dutch Shell plc.

【推荐3】As your teacher passes out the math test, your palms turn sweaty. You notice that your heart has begun to race. Glancing down at the page, you suddenly forget those operations on which you had drilled only a few days earlier. Do you perform all additions first in a complex calculation?     1     Suddenly, you start to doubt a lot of things that you know.

If that sounds familiar, you might suffer from math anxiety. Or maybe not Even researchers who study this condition note that it can be surprisingly hard to define (下定义) math anxiety.     2     After all, it's not an officially recognized mental disorder in the way that depression is.

    3     It asks things like “how anxious would you feel about being given a set of division problems to solve on paper”. Those who score high on these surveys about stress over making calculations related to numbers will be labeled math anxious.

In general, people who panic over their math skills tend to do worse in math classes than people who don't mind numbers.     4     “Just because you're math anxious, that doesn't always mean you're bad at math,” notes Rose Vukovic, an educational psychologist at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Math anxiety affects people of all ages. It can lead to poor performance in math classes.     5     Throughout life, this type of stress can stand in the way of mastering skills or projects in a host of areas that rely on calculations. But the good news is that the problem is manageable. Researchers are finding ways people can cope with this stress.

【推荐1】Last night’s meteor(流星) shower left many people in the community dissatisfied and demanding answers. According to Gabe Rothsclild, Emerald Valley’s mayor, people gathered in the suburbs of the city, carrying heavy telescopes, expecting to watch the brightly burning meteors passing through the sky. What they found instead was a sky so brightened by the city’s lights that it darkened the light of the meteors passing overhead.

“My family was so frustrated,” admitted town resident Duane Cosby, “We wanted to make this an unforgettable family outing, but it turned out to be a huge disappointment.”

Astronomers—scientists who study stars and planets—have been complaining about this problem for decades. They say that light pollution prevents them from seeing objects in the sky that they could see quite easily in the past. They call on people and the government to take measures to fight against it.

There is yet a population besides professional and amateur star observers that suffers even more from light pollution. This population consists of birds, bats frogs, snakes, etc. For example, outdoor lighting severely affects migrating birds. According to the International Dark-Sky Association. “100 million birds a year throughout North America die in crashes with lighted buildings and towers.”

Countless more animals casualties result from the use of artificial lighting. Clearly, people enjoy the benefits of lighting their evenings, but some scientists think it can be harmful for humans, too. They worry that exposure to light while sleeping can increase person’s chances of getting cancer.

Emerald Valley is only one community that is becoming aware of the negative effects of high pollution. For years, Flagstaff, Arizona, has enforced lighting regulations in its city in order to assist astronomers at the Lowell Observatory. Similar efforts have been made worldwide, and a movement is underway to remind us to turn off lights when we are not using them, so that other creatures can share the night.

【推荐2】You may not know a lot of people when you start high school. Even if you know some freshmen (新生) , you still feel nervous that you don't know any upperclassmen or teachers. How are you going to make friends among this sea of unknown faces?

Most high schools hold a freshman orientation before school actually starts, which is helpful not only because you can know your way around the building and get to meet some of your teachers, but also because you get to meet fellow freshmen. That way, when you show up on your first day of school, you may already recognise a few familiar faces. When you talk to your new classmates, you'll probably find that a lot of them are feeling just like you are. They're all new to the school and don't know what to expect. Talking about a common concern with them can help you develop friendships.

The work in high school is something that freshmen are probably worried about. The work in high school builds on what you learnt in middle school, giving you a more advanced knowledge of many subjects. So you may find you have more work to do or that it's a bit more challenging. If you ever find your work too difficult, teachers can give you extra help.

High school also has more extracurricular activities than middle school does such as clubs, music and theatre groups and sports teams. This is a good time to explore your interests and try new things.

High school gives you the chance to learn how to manage your time, to develop your social skills and interests, and more importantly to be more independent and responsible.