【推荐2】Facebook has been actively working on virtual reality to build a VR “Metaverse” focused on online work. It recently launched a free version of Horizon Workrooms for the public to download and use. Horizon Workrooms is a VR tool that provides teams with a virtual space across VR and the web to connect and work together. It is meant to provide an immersive (沉浸式的) experience for teams working remotely.

Users will have to purchase the company’s headsets and download the Workrooms app on their devices. Then they should follow the instructions to set up an account. Once the user registration is complete, users from the team can sign up and create a new Workrooms team. They can also invite colleagues to their existing team. Then users can experience VR-powered meetings and connect with teammates in the same virtual room.

Every meeting room in Workrooms comes with multiple functions. You can capture notes, share links and files, and chat with your team while you’re in a meeting. The web platform allows users to schedule and share meetings while being able to store data with ease.

The Workrooms will not use the work conversations or the materials used during meetings to make profit. Facebook also makes it clear that the company and even the third-party apps connected with Workrooms will not be given access to the data used in the meetings.

Virtual reality possesses the ability to transform the way we work. Its ability to allow for better cooperation while bridging the gaps between the regular office setups and the remote working culture could revamp the digital cooperation setups as we know them today.

【推荐3】Going to sleep at a certain time is associated with a lower risk of developing heart disease, according to researchers. A team led by the U.K. -based University of Exeter found that going to sleep between 10 and 11 p.m. was beneficial compared to earlier or later bedtimes.

The research included 88,000 participants in the U.K. Biobank who were recruited between 2006 and 2010. The average age of the group — ranging from 43 to 79 years old — was 61 and 58 percent were women. Participants filled out demographic (人口统计的), lifestyle, health and physical questionnaires, according to a European Society of Cardiology news release. The study looked at the association between objectively measured sleep onset timing and cardiovascular disease using wrist-worn accelerometers, collecting a week’s worth of data.

Using Cox proportional hazards models, an age- and sex-controlled base analysis found that sleep on set time of 10 to 10:59 p.m. was associated with the lowest incidence of cardiovascular (心血管的) disease. Another model that controlled for sleep duration, sleep irregularity and established cardiovascular risk factors like smoking status and body mass index did not reduce the impact of the association.

There was a 25 percent higher risk of cardiovascular disease with sleep onset at midnight or later, a 12 percent greater risk for 11 to 11:59 p.m. and a 24 percent raised risk for falling asleep before 10 p.m. compared to sleep onset from 10 to 10:59 p.m. More than 3,170 cases, or 3.6 percent, were reported during an average follow-up period of nearly six years. Sensitivity analyses revealed the association with increased risk of cardiovascular disease was stronger in women, with only sleep onset earlier than 10 p.m. significant for men.

“The body has a 24-hour internal clock, called circadian rhythm (昼夜节律), that helps regulate physical and mental functioning,” study author David Plans of the University of Exeter said in a statement. “While we cannot conclude causation from our study, the results suggest that early or late bedtimes may be more likely to disrupt the body clock, with adverse consequences for cardiovascular health.”

【推荐1】One of the things we were able to offer at our program before COVID(新冠病毒)forced us into lockdown was pre-loved clothing. We would set it up on tables once a month for our members to look through and take what they needed.

We had a lady join our program who was under government protection after escaping domestic violence. You could tell she’d been through a lot as she was shy and nervous but somehow had a kind of strength about her.

I soon noticed that she wore the same sweater every time she came. When our “market day” came around and we had our clothing laid out, I took her by the hand and told her to take what she needed. She refused as she didn’t have any money, but when I assured her it was free, she smiled and started to look through the piles.

We found quite a few things in her size and I urged her to take them to the bathroom to try them on. She took most of them and left that day very grateful and feeling a little better about herself.

She arrived the following week with a plate of baked cookies. I told her how much we appreciated her taking the time to make them as she handed me the plate.

She took me by the shoulder, kissed me on both cheeks, and looked me in the eye as she said thank you.

She had been treated with such cruelty and disrespect and this small gesture had a great impact on her. We hugged one another warmly.

From that day on, I put aside anything I thought she would like as we sorted the new donations. By the time she was moved to a new safe house, she had a whole new cupboard of clothes.