【推荐2】Women cry 4,680 times over their adult lifetime — more than twice as much as men, a study has found. Sad TV shows or books, tiredness and arguments their partner mean the average woman will cry six times a month. In comparison, men will shed a tear just three times a month.

But the study found men are less embarrassed (难为情) about crying in front of others, with four in 10 saying they wouldn’t be bothered about shedding a tear in public compared to just a third of women. Psychologist Emma Kenny said, “While women are usually associated with crying, the results of this study actually show that men are now feeling that it’s acceptable to show their emotions through crying. And, different from what is usually believed, the results actually suggest that women feel embarrassed when they let their emotions show.”

The study of 2,000 adults found 51% of women admit to being a big crier — crying often or at little things. But far from shying away from it, three in 10 men are also happy to admit they often shed a tear.

A sad TV show, movie or book is most likely to leave women watery-eyed, while men tear up at sad moments or memories. Other reasons for crying include funerals, grief and anxiety. But women are more likely to cry happy tears, with 40%admitting to shedding a tear for a good reason, something just 24%of men do. And while 64% of women admit to crying for no reason, just three in 10 men can say the same.

The study also found an emotional 44% of men have cried in public, along with a huge 80% of women. Crying in front of people you work with would leave many feeling most embarrassed, followed by their boss, strangers and acquaintances. But almost one in 10 admit they would be left red-faced if they shed a tear in front of their family members.

【推荐3】With growing awareness of the gender gap in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields, where women hold only 27% of jobs, Chinese researchers have explored a cause influencing women’s participation in STEM careers. They studied how teen girls can be influenced by their own peers who believe the inaccurate stereotype (刻板印象) that boys are better at math.

The study found that when surrounded by peers holding this stereotype, middle-school girls scored lower on math tests. This influence even persisted into college, impacting women’s math performance and self-confidence. The researchers suggest dealing with this issue during the middle school period to reduce the negative impact on women’s long-term STEM engagement.

Middle school is considered a critical developmental stage where teens are forming a stronger sense of self separate from their parents. This change often makes teens more likely to be influenced by the opinions of their peers. It’s also a period when, objectively measured by standardized tests, girls on average have better math skills than boys. However, teens may not realize it.

In some middle schools in China, the researchers studied the potential role of peer-pressure beliefs of the gendered math stereotype. In classrooms where the belief that “boys” natural ability in studying math is greater than that of girls” was significantly higher than the standard, girls’ later performance on math tests was lower than the results for boys. Moreover, girls in these classrooms were less likely to participate in math-related out-of-class activities. They were also less likely to feel that their teachers paid attention to them and offered praise, leading to lower math-related self-confidence.

The researchers conclude that preventing the harm from gender math stereotyping requires a change of the social environment for children and young adults, in addition to focusing on changing girls’ attitudes and choices.

【推荐1】Many popular modern board games were invented in the United States. But some of our favorite games came from other countries and have deep historic roots.

Parcheesi came from India, where it is known as pachisi. The Mogul King Akbar, who ruled India in the 1500s, actually had a life-sized version of pachisi in his garden. Parcheesi came to America around 1870, and now has many variations of it — where each player has four pawns (兵) and races to be the first one to get them all safely to a home base.

Though simpler than Chess, Checkers offers plenty of strategic considerations for its players. Developing from a Middle Eastern game called alquerque, Checkers was introduced to America in the 1930s and has a number of variations that have been played since at least 3000 B.C.

Backgammon originated in Mesopotamia around 3000 B.C. In the game, two players took turns rolling dice in a race to be the first one to get their 15 pieces off the board. Introduced to America in 1920, Backgammon became wildly popular then and remains so today, especially in its electronic version.

Mancala means “to move” in Arabic. Players take turns to move pieces on its special board until all the pieces have been captured. Ancient game boards dating from the 6^th and 7^th centuries have been found carved in stone in Ethiopia. Mancala was brought into America in 1940 by immigrants from Cape Verde in Africa. And yes — it is played online!

【推荐2】MEXICO CITY, April 1（Xinhua）——Discoveries at the legendary Sanxingdui ruins in southwest China show that the region’s ancient Shu state civilization shared similarities with the Maya, according to the director of the Chichen Itza archaeological site, Marco Antonio Santos.

The Sanxingdui ruins, located in the city of Guanghan, about 60 kilometers from Chengdu, belonged to the Shu Kingdom that existed at least 4,800 years ago and lasted more than 2,000 years. China announced on March 20 that archaeologists uncovered gold, ivory and jade objects dating back about 3,000 years in six sacrificial pits.

Santos told Xinhua that the bronze-made remains of trees buried at the ruins of the Shu Kingdom recall the Maya’s sacred ceiba tree, which symbolized the union of heaven, earth and the underworld for the civilization that flourished in Mesoamerica. “They are very important similarities.” said Santos, stressing that “the representations of trees in both cultures provide us with a symbolism that is very similar”.

“One notable feature of the recent discoveries at Sanxingdui was the interdisciplinary（跨学科的）work and technology applied by teams of Chinese archaeologists.” said Santos. “The technology allowed the unearthing of artifacts as fragile as silk remains, which other types of less careful excavation methods would not have been able to manage.” he said. “Cooperation between Chinese and Mexican archaeologists could benefit projects in the Maya world, where the rainy climate and humidity are problematic for the conservation of objects.” said Santos.

“Every time our cultural knowledge increases, regardless of whether we speak one language or another, what it shows us is that we continue to be sister cultures, and, therefore, the exchange of such knowledge is fundamental.” said Santos.

【推荐1】In many places, a moonless night sky is no longer totally black. Artificial lighting can give the night a lasting light. This so-called light pollution can affect animals. Even moderate light pollution, a new study finds, can roughly double how long a house sparrow infected with West Nile Virus (WNV) remains at high risk of spreading disease. If bitten by a mosquito, that virus can now spread to other animals, including people.

“In the United States, house sparrows are about as widespread as artificial lighting. So they made a useful test species in a new first-of-its-kind study,” says Meredith Kernbach. Her team used these birds to test whether light at night might affect the spread of the West Nile Virus.

Kernbach based much of her lab test on real-world conditions. In the study, some house sparrows in the lab spent the night in an area that was dimly (昏暗地) lit. These birds were slower in fighting off West Nile Virus infections than those that spent the night in full darkness.

WNV needs a mosquito to spread from bird to bird, or from bird to human. If a mosquito doesn’t pick up enough viruses from the blood of an infected animal, its new victim might be able to avoid getting sick. House sparrows kept under a dim night light typically had enough viruses in their blood to be a source of virus for at least four days, Kernbach reports. House sparrows in full darkness had enough viruses to spread the disease only for two days.

What light does to the birds is only part of the story, points out Davide Dominon, a physiologist at the Nether-lands Institute of Ecology in Wageningen. “Researchers will need to look for effects on the virus itself,” he says. “And, of course, on the mosquitoes.”

【推荐3】It’s been a roller coaster ride for pets during the pandemic (疫情). All of a sudden, their families were home 24/7. While people got fascinated with cleaning, baking, and keeping themselves entertained, curious dogs and cats sometimes ended up getting hurt by these new habits.

The increase in these new pastimes saw a corresponding increase in the number of pandemic-related pet poisonings. “Our call volume has more than doubled since pre-pandemic. This is likely due to several factors including pets getting into more things at home simply because their people are doing more things at home,” says Dr. Ahna Brutlag. “Overall chocolate still remains our number one toxin (毒质), at least for dogs, but we were surprised to see how each of those listed increased relative to pre-pandemic times. We regularly see these types of cases, but we saw a surge of them during the pandemic.”

Although many pet owners look for eco-friendly cleaning products to keep their pets safe, there was a 92% increase in pet poisonings from cleaning products. Besides using eco-friendly cleaning products, there are things you can do to keep your pets safe at home, pandemic or not. “Pets are like kids. They are opportunists and will readily consume items left around the house,” Brutlag says. She suggests that pet owners think about pet-proofing their homes in the same way that parents kid-proof their homes in order to keep dogs and cats from getting into things that can hurt them. “Also, don’t underestimate how good their noses are and how high they can jump! They are experts at smelling food on a countertop and then finding a way to access it,” Brutlag says.

And if you think that your pet has had something potentially dangerous, reach out to your veterinarian or the helpline quickly. In potential poisoning cases, she points out, time is critical.