【推荐2】Self-esteem is an abstract concept, which refers to people’s beliefs about their own worth and value. American psychologist Abraham Maslow thought self-esteem was a basic human need and included self-esteem in his hierarchy of human needs. He described two different forms of “esteem”: the need for respect from others in the form of recognition, success, and admiration, and the need for self-respect in the form of self-love, self-confidence, and skill. Respect from others was believed to be more fragile and easily lost than inner self-esteem. According to Maslow, without the fulfillment of the self-esteem need, individuals will be driven to seek it and unable to grow and obtain self-realization.

Basically, high self-esteem is achieved through a series of real accomplishments, which is good for people. However, the excessive high self-esteem, based more on a sense of entitlement than on any accomplishment, is considered to be less psychologically healthy. And just as self-esteem can be too high, it can also be “under-inflated”. Those having poor self-esteem do have a basis for feeling good about themselves but they may not recognize their accomplishments and actions as meaningful.

To appreciate what it would be like to have high self-esteem, one can consider how they may feel about things in their lives that they value. For instance, some people really like cars. They take good care of their cars. They may even decorate the car and then show it off to other people with pride. Similarly, people with high self-esteem love, care for and feel proud of themselves. Take children for example. When they have high self-esteem, they believe they are valuable and important. They enjoy different activities and can handle criticism easily without taking it personally.

People need to develop positive self-esteem. This can convince them they deserve happiness. Besides, the development of positive self-esteem increases the capacity to treat other people with respect, thus favoring a variety of interpersonal relationships and avoiding destructive ones.

【推荐3】A scientific study carried out by some scientists shows that fish have the ability to count (数) directly up to four. Christian Agrillo, a scientist at the University of Padua in Italy, said that it was during a study on North American mosquito fish that their mathematical ability was observed.

Previously (以前) it was known that fish could tell big groups from small ones, but the researchers have now found that they have the ability to count how many other fish are around them.

In their most recent research, the researchers did a series of experiments to see whether a single mosquito fish would prefer to join a group of between two and four other fish.

They found that female fish preferred to join groups that were larger by just one fish more often—always prefer groups of four fish rather than three fish, and always prefer groups of three fish over those containing just two.

In another experiment, it was found that the fish were unable to directly count over four. The results, published on the BBC World-wide’s natural history site, showed that fish are able to use eyes to estimate (估算) larger numbers, but not very accurately.

Lead researcher Professor Angelo Bisazza said that fishes’ count abilities were similar to those of monkeys and human babies between 6 and 12 months old, who were both able to use eyes to count small numbers and less exactly estimate larger ones.

The most interesting thing is that fish’s performance is very similar to what is observed in adult humans who have a very limited vocabulary for numbers, Dr Agrillo said.

【推荐1】Some chimpanzees(黑猩猩)are much wilder when it comes to making beats, scientists have discovered. In a Ugandan rainforest, the chimps have developed their own drumming(击鼓)styles on tree roots. Researchers observed their drumming styles range from rock to jazz. One chimpanzee brought back the style of the late John Bonham, a drummer who played a piece of music, Whole Lotta Love, and is ranked as one of the best. “The chimpanzee makes very fast drums with many evenly separated beats. His drumming is so fast that you can hardly see his hands.” said Catherine, leading scientist of the study.

Drumming with feet and hands with their special calls is used to exchange messages through thick forests, even with miles between them. Ben the Alpha’s call was a close two quick beats and a distant third, sometimes fourth.

Catherine also said. “We could often recognize which chimpanzee was drumming, and it was a fantastic way to find the different ones we were looking for. So if we could recognize, we were sure they could.”

The team was surprised to note the chimpanzees only used their personalized drumming styles when on the move, showing that the chimpanzees could decide whether to be recognized or not. The research could also settle a problem about why these chimpanzees greet each other when they meet but are not observed to say goodbye when they part in the forest. “The chimpanzees don’t need to say goodbye because they’re effectively able to keep in touch.” Catherine said. These long-distance signals give the chimpanzees a way to recognize with each other.

The researchers’ next study will be to explore whether different drumming styles can lead to different drumming cultures among the different chimpanzee populations.

【推荐3】Humans can make do with scarves, coats and gloves in cold weather. Some animals can hibernate (冬眠) for the winter. A new study finds that reptiles (爬行动物) and birds do something that is similar to hibernation, but a little different. In very cold weather, their body temperatures greatly drop into an energy-saving state in order to survive. The ability to thermoregulation (体温调节) for reptiles and birds is possible.

In Texas, where the city of Beaumont reached a low of 18 degrees Fahrenheit last month, it looked as if alligators (短吻鳄) had died of cold — yet alive in iced-over water. By ensuring their long noses stayed above the water line, the cold-blooded creatures were able to lower their body temperatures to survive the sudden short period of very cold weather. The process, in the case of cold-blooded animals like reptiles, is called brumation — it’s like a short state of hibernating. While in this state, reptiles become sleepy and they can go for a long time without eating or drinking. For example, alligators can be in brumation from just a few hours to months.

Like reptiles and mammals, birds can go into a state called torpor in order to save energy under very cold conditions. “Torpor is somewhere between a short sleep and hibernation,” said Justin Baldwin, a PhD candidate in biology at Washington University in St. Louis. Baldwin studied 29 species of hummingbirds living in Colombia. Researchers found that hummingbirds can enter into deep or shallow torpor, depending on several factors, including their size and weather conditions. In deep torpor, the birds are much more likely to be affected by disease. And what’s more, they would be easily harmed by their enemies.

Some bird lovers want to help the birds when they are in torpor. For example, the Bird Alliance of Oregon offers a few tips on how to keep the birds from danger.