【推荐3】For those not familiar,"hygge"refers to the Danish lifestyle that's popular across the world and is described as a feeling of comfort and contentment,as well as indulging(沉迷）in all the good things and people in your life.

Hygge has focused largely on the idea of making the ordinary special,or meaningful, through ritualising(使仪式化）everyday activities such as making a cup of coffee or having dinner;that means putting technology to one side,and adopting simple practices such as lighting candles,purchasing flowers,or making real tea in china cups.

Of course,Denmark's use of"hygge"is particularly useful in battling with the country's harsh winters;with up to 17 hours of darkness a day potentially having deeply negative effects on the mental health of its citizens.Susanne Nilsson,a Danish lecturer at London's Morley College,explained to the BBC,"We have long,cold winters in Denmark. That influences things.Hygge doesn't have to be a winter-only thing,but the weather isn't that good for much of the year."

＂Hygge could be families and friends getting together for a meal,with the lighting dimmed(变昏暗），or it could be time spent on your own reading a good book,"she added. ＂It works best when there's not too large an empty space around the person or people."

The word hygge didn't actually originate from the Danish language,but from Norwegian,where the word originally meant something similar to"well-being".However, it spread to Denmark in the 18th century and has since become an essential part of the country's culture and self-identity.

Hygge's international export has seen an explosion of themed cookbooks and lifestyle guides,alongside Scandinavian-themed restaurants,cafes and bars in the UK with quiet and pleasant settings,simple decor,and plenty of comfort food.

【推荐1】The plan: turn Mars into a blue world with streams and green fields,and then fill it with creatures from the Earth. This idea may sound like something from a science fiction, but it is actually being taken seriously by many researchers. This suggests the future for the “red planet” will be the main topic for discussion at an international conference hosted by NASA this Week. Leading researchers as well as science fiction writers will attend the event. It comes as NASA is preparing a multi-billion-dollar Mars research programme.

“Turning Mars into a little earth has long been a topic in science fiction,” said Dr Michael Mever NASAs senior scientist. “Now with scientists exploring the reality we can ask what the real possibilities of changing Mars.” Most scientists agree that Mars could be turned into a little earth, although much time and money would be needed to achieve this goal. But many experts are shocked by the idea. “We are destroying our own world at an unbelievable speed and now we are talking about ruining another planet,” said Paul Murdin from the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK.

Over the past months, scientists have become increasingly confident they will find Martian life forms. Europe and Americas robot explorers have found the proof that water, mixed with soil, exists in large amounts on the planet.

In addition, two different groups of scientists announced on March 28 that they had found signs of methane (甲烷) in the Martian atmosphere: the gas is a waste product of living creatures and could be produced by microbes (微生物) living in the red planets soil. But scientists such as Dr. Lisa Pratt, a biologist at Indiana University, say that these microbes will be put in danger by the little earth project.

“Before we have even discovered if there is life on Mars, we are talking about carrying out projects that would destroy all these native life forms, all the strange microbes that we hope to find buried in the soil,” said Dr.Pratt.

Monica Grady, a planetary scientist at the Natural History Museum, London, shares this view.“We cannot risk starting a global experiment that would wipe out the precious information we are looking for,” she said. “This is just wrong.”

【推荐2】Using a mobile phone before going to bed can damage your health, according to a major study.

It says that radiation from the mobile phone can cause insomnia(失眠症) and headaches as well as cutting the time spent in deep sleep. Failing to get enough sleep can lead to depression, lack of concentration and personality changes. In teenagers and young children, lack of sleep can result in attention disorders and poor grades.

The research showed that using mobile phones before bed causes people to take longer to reach the deeper stages of sleep and to spend less time in them.

Deep sleep is important as it is the time when the body rejuvenates(更新) cells and repairs damage suffered during the day. Scientists found that using mobile phones an hour before sleep affects it. In the study scientists examined the sleep patterns of 36 women and 35 men aged 18 to 45. Some were exposed to radiation that is similar to what a person receives when using a mobile phone. The others received none. The results are as follows: The first group took longer to enter the first of the deeper stages of sleep and spent less time in the deepest one. However, the second group was opposite.

The findings will shock many parents. Many parents are always worried about their children’s health. But they didn’t have a better way to persuade them not to use a mobile phone.

【推荐3】You may have noticed sudden, brief twitching (抽动) at some point while your dog was sleeping and wondered if he was dreaming or even expressing some type of discomfort.

These involuntary movements only occur during dream states and usually don’t last long. So is twitching just a normal part of dreaming, or are there times when you should worry?

Dogs sleep an average of 12-14 hours each day. While they sleep, a dog’s brain processes information and experiences from the day through dreams. Twitching is often related to active dream cycles in the brain.

According to research by psychologist Stanley Coren, an average-size dog will dream about every 20 minutes, and these dreams will last about a minute. Larger breeds have fewer dreams that last longer—about every 45 minutes for 4 minutes. The opposite is true for smaller breed dogs; they will dream about every 10 minutes for up to 30 seconds.

Dogs experience the same dream stages as humans, including non-rapid eye movement (NREM), short-wave sleep (SWS), and rapid eye movement (REM). During the REM state, a dog’s eyes move around behind their closed eyelids, and the large body muscles are turned off so the dream is not physically acted out. The amount of twitching depends on how much these off switches cramp (阻碍) muscle movement.

If your dog sleeps next to you, he may unintentionally disturb your sleep with his sudden body movements. However, it is often advised not to awaken a dog that is twitching in his sleep unless he is clearly uncomfortable.

A bad dream or night terror could be the cause of these involuntary movements, and they may wake up frightened. Try to avoid touching them so they don’t bite you as a result of being shocked and panicked. Instead, gently call your dog’s name until they respond. Speak calmly and tell them that they are safe and secure after they wake up. While they appear to be pretty active in their sleep, dreaming dogs may be slow to awaken.