【推荐1】Most people know the feeling when you walk into a lift with other people. A study has found that where people stand is based on their social position on entering the lift.

Rebekah Rousi, a Ph. D, did a study of lift behavior in two of the tallest office buildings in Adelaide, Australia. As part of her research, she took a total of 30 lift rides in the two buildings, and discovered there was a fixed order about where people chose to stand.

In her research paper, she wrote that more senior men seemed to walk straight towards the back of the lift. She said, “In front of them were younger men and women of all ages.” She also noticed there was a difference in the direction where people look during the ride. “Men watched the monitors, looked in the side mirrors (in one building) to see themselves, and in the door mirrors (in the other building) to watch others. Women would watch the monitors and avoid looking into others’ eyes (unless in conversations) and the mirrors.”

Rebekah Rousi concluded that shyer people stand toward the front, where they won’t see other passengers, while fearless people stand in the back, where they have a good view of everyone else.

【推荐2】A new UBC Okanagan study finds children not only get the benefits of working with therapy dogs — they enjoy it too.

“Dog lovers often have an assumption that dog-assisted therapy is going to be effective because other people are going to love dogs.” says Nicole Harris, who conduct this research while a master student in the School of Education. The research saw 22 children from the Okanagan Boys and Girls Club take part in a series of courses to help them build their social skills. Over six weeks, the children were accompanied by therapy dogs from UBC Okanagan as they completed lessons.

Each week the children were taught a new skill, such as introducing themselves or giving directions to others. The children would first practice with their given therapy dog before running through the exercise with the rest of the group. In the final time, the children — accompanied by their new furry friend and volunteer handler — would practice their new skills with university students located in the building.

“Therapy dogs are often able to reach children and help their growth in surprising ways. We saw evidence of this in the social skills of children when they were paired with a therapy clog.” says Dr John-Tyler Binfet, associate professor in the School of Education and director of BARK. “The dogs helped create a non-threatening climate while the children were learning these new skills. We saw the children practice and train their social skills with and alongside the dogs.”

“Findings from our observations suggested that dog-assisted social and feeling learning activities can provide unique advantages.” says Harris. “Our team saw that by interacting with the therapy dogs, the children’s moods improved and their engagement in their lessons increased.”

“Dogs have the ability to provide many stress-reducing and confidence-raising benefits to children.” says Harris. “It was really heart-warming to see the effect the program had on the kids.”

【推荐1】Shot in more than 40 locations in L. A., the musical La La Land is “a love letter to the city”. To coincide with UK release, we asked a local writer to pick some of the film’s amazing settings.

Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange

La La Land’s opening scene is a six-minute dance that plays out in L. A.’s bad traffic. It is also where the film’s leading roles, struggling actress Mia and jazz pianist Sebastian, first encounter each other—in a road anger incident. The scene is said to have been filmed over two hot days in south L. A.

Smokehouse Restaurant, Burbank

This is the setting for the scene in which Mia discovers Sebastian’s talent for the piano. The fictional Lipton’s restaurant—where jazz purist Sebastian was reluctant to play Christmas music —is in reality a place long frequented by actors, producers and other show business types. It has been on this spot, across the street from the Warner Bros studio, since 1949. In the film, the outer wall of Lipton’s is the You are the Star mural, which feature s Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin and others, which is on the corner of Holly-wood Boulevard and Wicox Avenue in Hollywood in reality.

Warner Bros Studios, Burbank

Mia works at the studio’s coffee shop, where Sebastian comes to meet her. As they wander the studio’s lot, Mia points out “the window that Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman looked out in Casablanca.” It’s one of the film’s numerous nods to movie history. Warner Brons is still a working studio, with 35 sound stages, 14 exterior sets and visitor tours.

Cathy’s Corner, Mount Hollywood Drive

This section of the road that winds through Griffth Park is the setting of their dance play. It overlooks the San Fernando Valley and features on the film poster. Cathy’s Corner is near famed Mulholl and Drive, but prepare for disappointment if you’re expecting a park bench and street lamps, which only exist in the movie.

【推荐2】The Mona Lisa is the famous Leonardo da Vinci painting of a woman with a mysterious smile. This week, the painting gave up a secret.

Scientists used X-rays to examine the chemical organization of an extremely small part of the more than 500-year-old painting. The researchers discovered a technique Leonardo used in the work. A team in France and Britain discovered an oil paint used for the Mona Lisa was a special, new chemical mixture. It suggests that the Italian artist may have been in an experimental mood when he set to work on the painting early in the 16th century.

“He was someone who loved to experiment, and each of his paintings is completely different technically,” said Victor Gonzalez. He is the study’s lead writer. “In this case, it’s interesting to see that indeed there is a specific technique for the ground layer of the Mona Lisa,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press. Specifically, the researchers found a rare compound, plumbonacrite (水蛭石), in Leonardo’s first layer of paint. The discovery, Gonzalez said, proved that da Vinci most likely used lead oxide to thicken and help dry his paint.

The scientists looked into its atomic structure using X-rays in a synchrotron (同步加速器). The machine moves particles at close to the speed of light, permitting researchers to look deeper into the paint structure. “Plumbonacrite is really a fingerprint of his recipe,” Gonzalez said. “It’s the first time we can actually chemically prove it.”

Dutch artist Rembrandt may have used a similar mixture when he was painting in the 17th century. Gonzalez and other researchers have found plumbonacrite in his work, too. “It also tells us that those recipes were passed on for centuries,” Gonzalez said. “It was a very good recipe.”

But the Mona Lisa and additional works by Leonardo still have other secrets to tell. “There are plenty, plenty more things to discover,” Gonzalez said. “What we are saying is just a little brick more in the knowledge.”

【推荐3】In April 2015, UK journalist Rebecca Atkinson, along with other parents of children with disabilities started the campaign ToyLikeMe to solve the lack of various toys for children with disabilities. They created a Facebook page where everyone was able to post ideas and pictures about what toys for children with disabilities should look like.

Even though the campaign attracted a lot of attention, these parents couldn’t rest until their ideas actually became real. Luckily, only 2 weeks after the campaign started, the people who started the campaign got in touch with a company in the UK that designs toys through 3D printing, and the company agreed to create new series of dolls. That’s when the first toys for disabled children were produced.

There are around 150 million children with disabilities, and even though the toy industry is worth over $2.9 billion, it has completely failed to create toys that are fitter for them. Until recently, that is. Thanks to this campaign that has taken the Internet by storm, many toy companies have answered this calling and have made toys specifically for children with disabilities.

Soon enough, the ToyLikeMe campaign on Facebook and Twitter finally reached the big companies like Lego, and now there is an entire series of toys for disabled children that have been sold worldwide.

Even after all the success this campaign has had, ToyLikeMe gets on with its task. The organization has followers in over 45 countries and has received donations from over 700 people. The mission of ToyLikeMe is to continuously influence the worldwide toy industry and hopefully make kids with disabilities all around the world feel accepted and appreciated.