【推荐1】Have you ever bought a gift for a friend, simply because it’s a gift that you like yourself?     1     Such activity is called “social projection (投射)” and is the focus of new marketing research.

The study, “I Love the Product, but Will You? The Role of Interpersonal Attachment Styles in Social Projection,” is authored by David, an assistant professor of marketing, and published in Psychology & Marketing. Research results are based on the surveys of 1,272 people.

The research reveals that people who are “secure” in interpersonal settings are the ones most likely to engage in social projection. Conversely(相反)，those who are “anxious” in such settings are less likely to assume that others share their own preferences.     2    

“You’d think that secure people who tend to be older, in a committed relationship and earn a higher-income with lots of friends and healthy personal relationships would have a better idea of what someone would like as a gift.    3     David said. “This research shows that individuals who are anxious in interpersonal situations and who have fewer close, personal relationships are better at predicting what a person may like.”

    4     Anxious individuals, on the contrary, tend to be younger and earn a lower income. Securely attached persons, who are people expecting others will be available and supportive when needed, are more likely to choose a gift based on their own preferences, while an anxious one more likely to consider what the recipients(接收者) may like.

Gifts should be thoughtful. Therefore, secure people should be mindful of their choice of gifts. They need to take caution when selecting and buying gifts.     5    

【推荐2】How to stay focused?

When you were at school, were you ever told to stop daydreaming and concentrate?     1    Staying focused can still be a challenge in adult life, but understanding how to do it, and knowing what is distracting you, can help.

Scientists have looked at what makes us delay and found a number of ways to help us stay in the zone. One of the most obvious things is getting rid of noise.    2     It also found turning off notifications on your phone, or switching it off altogether, removes a major distraction and helps us focus on the task at hand.

    3     Psychologists and neuroscientists are increasingly interested in our ability to study and have looked at what we can change inside our head to make us concentrate. Attention Researcher Nilli Lavie of University College London has found that making a task of training takes up more processing power and leaves the brain nothing left to process distractions. So, keeping your mind busy might be the answer.

There are more practical tips to keeping your mind focused.     4     It’s possible the movement in your mouth occupies parts of the brain that might otherwise get distracted.

But according to Science Focus magazine, distraction isn’t all bad. “If we were always so focused that we never got distracted, we’d miss potential changes, such as threats, in our environment.     5    ”

【推荐3】We’ve learned bees can understand zero and do basic math. Now a new study shows their tiny insect brains may be able to connect symbols to numbers.

Adrian Dyer, a professor in the RMIT University, said the research showed brains far smaller than humans’ could know numbers. “Humans learn numbers as children, but being able to recognize what numbers really represent needs a certain level of cognitive (认知的) ability,” Dyer says, “Studies have shown primates (灵长类动物) and birds have this ability, but this is the first time we’ve seen this in insects.”

It’s important for humans to do the research. There are 86 billion neurons (神经元) in humans’ brains. Bees only have less than a million. If bees have the ability to learn something difficult to understand like human-made symbolic language, this will open up exciting new paths for future communication between humans and animals.

Studies have shown that a number of animals have been able to learn symbols of numbers, including parrots and monkeys. Monkeys were taught Arabic numbers and could order them correctly. An African grey parrot called Alex was able to learn numbers and could do simple calculation.

Understanding how tiny brains of bees manage information opens paths to technology, which is good for the future design of computing (计算) systems.

【推荐1】Nine out of ten people on the planet breathe polluted air, even indoors, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. Some 92% of the population live in places where air pollution exceeds (超过) WHO limits.

Air pollution can contribute to lung cancer and heart disease. The Southeast Asia and Western Pacific regions account for nearly two out of every three such deaths, with poorer countries "getting worse". Around three million deaths every year are linked to outdoor air pollution. When "indoor" air pollution ― which includes contaminants like wood smoke and cooking fires ― is added, air pollution is linked to one in every nine deaths worldwide, the WHO said. The air quality model used in the data measures the smallest particles (颗粒), less than 2.5 micrometres across, which can enter the bloodstream and reach the brain.

Country-by-country data showed that Turkmenistan is ranked first for the death rate connected to air pollution. Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Egypt rounded out the top five. "Rich countries are getting much better in improving the quality of the air," Dr Carlos Dora from the WHO told the Associated Press. "Poorer countries are getting worse." However, he said, North America is doing better than Europe, mostly because Europe depends more on diesel fuel(柴油) and farming practices. China, the country with the sixth-highest death rate linked to air pollution, is relatively wealthy, but is bothered by smog in its cities and polluted air from industrial sources.

The WHO pointed to sustainable transport, waste management, and renewable energies as possible ways to reduce air pollution. It said its latest data represented the most detailed study it has ever released. The analysis combined satellite measurement and more than 3,000 monitoring stations on the ground with air transport models. The report is based on 2012 figures, which are the most recent data available.

【推荐2】“The sun isn’t even out. You get up, button your uniform, tie your boot laces, and kiss your family goodbye. You close your eyes and take a moment to make peace with the reality that you may never see them again.” This is the daily routine of a ranger (护林员).

Globally, about 150 rangers die each year protecting parks and wildlife, according to the Thin Green Line Foundation. In recent years, the number of rangers lost is likely to increase as the COVID-19 pandemic has a bad effect — both in terms of rangers catching the disease and in carrying out their duties.

On July 31, World Ranger Day, the Global Wildlife Program (GWP), funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), would like to honor the bravery and determination of all rangers by sharing their stories.

Patience Tsitsi Shumbayaonda has been a ranger with Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) for several years. She and her colleagues patrol (巡逻) in conservation areas to strengthen biodiversity and ecosystems management in the Mid- and Lower Zambezi Valley in Zimbabwe.

“Being a ranger is physically demanding,” with a typical day involving patrolling protected areas, watching and checking for illegal activities, tracking poachers (偷猎者), keeping track of available water in water bodies, fire management, looking for animals in trouble, and helping communities address human-wildlife conflict.

“Our job is not only to protect the animals from the people, but also the people from animals,” she said, “We do come face to face with dangerous animals but if we keep our distance from them, they will go away. I think somehow, they feel our positive energy and do not attack us.”

“It’s not our duty only as rangers to look after wildlife, but it is everyone’s task — as communities, as nations, and globally. I hope that the illegal trade of endangered species is stopped and that people value wildlife as we rangers do, such that we live in harmony with nature.”

【推荐1】Chinese spacecraft finds lunar soil could make oxygen and fuel on the moon.

Lunar soil could be used to make oxygen and other products from chemical reactions that mimic photosynthesis (模拟光合作用), according to an analysis of samples brought back to Earth by the Chang’e 5 spacecraft. Reliable supplies of such substances are necessary for any future lunar base.

It is expensive to send goods into space, so any material that can be found on the moon and that doesn’t have to be brought from Earth can save a lot of money.

Yingfang Yao at Nanjing University, China, and his team examined a lunar soil sample to see if it could be used as a catalyst (催化剂) for a system that would transform carbon dioxide and water released by astronauts’ bodies into oxygen, hydrogen and other useful by-products that could be used to power a lunar base.

Yao and his team first analysed their sample using techniques to identify catalytically active components of the soil. They found high levels of iron and magnesium-based compounds (复合物) that could be useful in a reaction mimicking the photosynthesis that occurs in green plants.

The researchers then tested the soil as a catalyst in various chemical reactions that would form part of a photosynthesis-like process to produce hydrogen and oxygen from CO₂ and water. They found that the soil’s efficiency wasn’t as good as catalysts we have on Earth and isn’t currently good enough to generate products in sufficient quantities to support human life on the moon, but that slight adjustments to the structure and composition of the lunar soil sample might see significant improvements.