【推荐1】How much weight a baby gains during its first month could determine its IQ, new research found. The study found that children who gain more weight, and whose heads grow quickly during the first month of life, tend to have a higher IQ when they start school.

Researchers at the University of Adelaide, in Australia studied 13, 800 children who were born at full-term. They found that those who put on 40% of their birth weight in the first four weeks had an IQ 1.5 points higher than those who only put on 15% of their birth weight. Those who experienced the biggest growth in head circumference(头围) also had the highest IQs by the age of six.

"Head circumference is an indicator of brain volume, so a greater increase in head circumference in a newly-born baby suggests more rapid brain growth, "says the author of the study, Dr. Lisa Smithers. She added, "Overall, newly-born children who grew faster in the first four weeks had higher IQ scores later in life. Those children who gained the most weight scored especially high on the verbal IQ at age 6. This may be because neural (神经的) structures for the verbal IQ develop earlier in life, which means the rapid weight gain during the first month could be having a direct cognitive benefit for the children."

Previous studies have shown the association between early postnatal (产后的) diet and the IQ, but this is the first study of its kind to focus on the IQ benefits of rapid weight gain in the first month of life. Dr. Lisa Smithers says the study further highlights the need for successful feeding of newly-born babies." We know that many mothers have difficulty establishing breastfeeding in the first week of their babies' life,” Dr. Lisa Smithers said.

"The findings of our study suggest that if babies are having feeding problems, there needs to be early intervention(干预) in the management of that feeding."

【推荐1】Few businesses can run without computers, giving keyboard shortcuts an incredible importance. Schools view typing courses as necessary. But what are we giving up as handwriting loses its significance?

Brain power, according to science. Researchers from Princeton University and the University of California conducted a series of studies to demonstrate the differences between students who wrote out their notes and those who typed them. Study participants took notes on a lecture using one of the two methods and were tested 30 minutes after the lecture, and again a week later.

The results showed both types of notetakers did well on the first test. The longhand notetakers had a stronger grasp of the overall concept. Students with the handwritten notes were also able to better remember and understand the concept of the lecture a week later, and were more open to understanding new ideas.

According to Pam Mueller, lead author of the study, “Our findings suggest even when laptops are used as intended, they may still be harming academic performance.” Part of the reason is that it was faster to take notes on the laptop, using exactly the same words meant they weren’t truly engaged in the content. But notetakers using pen and paper tended to digest the material better and could rephrase it in their own words.

Although typing notes using exactly the same words can help in recalling facts in the short term, it takes the focus away from the main points of the lesson. “Ironically, the feature that makes their laptop notetaking so attractive— the ability to take notes more quickly —was what weakened learning,” educational psychologist Dr. Kenneth Kiewra told the Wall Street Journal.

Computers aren’t going away soon, but that doesn’t mean paper notebooks become outdated. In fact, it is best to start using them at an early age. University of Indiana researchers compared brain scans of five-year-olds -some who practiced the printing letters, and some who just looked at the letters. Those who wrote out the letters had more enhanced and adult-like brain activity.

【推荐3】In industry and medicine, robots routinely build, break down and inspect things; they also assist in surgery and pharmacies. Neither they nor “social” robots-which are designed to engage with people and to establish an emotional connection-behave like The Jetsons’ maid, Rosie, or other beloved robots of fiction. Even so, expect social robots to become more complicated and popular in the next few years.

Like most robots, social robots use artificial intelligence (AI) to decide how to act on information received through cameras and other sensors. The ability to respond in ways that seem lifelike has been informed by research into such issues as how perceptions (认知) form, what constitutes social and emotional intelligence, and how people understand others’ thoughts and feelings. Advances in AI have enabled designers to translate such psychological and neuroscientific (神经学的) insights into algorithms (演算) that allow robots to recognize voices, faces and emotions; interpret speech and gestures; respond appropriately to complex verbal and nonverbal cues; make eye contact; speak conversationally; and adapt to people’s needs by learning from feedback, rewards and criticisms.

In consequence, social robots are filling an ever expanding variety of roles. A 47-inch humanoid called Pepper (from SoftBank Robotics), for instance, recognizes faces and basic human emotions and engages in conversations via a touch screen in its “chest.” About 15,000 Peppers worldwide perform such services as hotel check-ins, airport customer service, shopping assistance and fast-food checkout. Social robots have particular appeal for assisting the world’s growing elderly population. Japan’s PARO Therapeutic (治疗的) Robot, which looks like a lovely seal (海豹), is meant to stimulate and reduce stress for those with Alzheimer’s disease and other patients. Mabu (Catalia Health) engages patients, particularly the elderly, reminding them to take walks and medication. Social robots are also gaining popularity with consumers as toys. Early attempts to incorporate social behavior in toys, such as Hasbro’s Baby Alive and Sony’s AIBO robotic dog, had limited success. But both are resurging, and the most recent version of AIBO has complicated voice and gesture recognition, can be taught tricks and develops new behaviors based on previous interactions.

Worldwide sales of consumer robots reached an estimated $5.6 billion in 2018, and the market is expected to grow to $19 billion by the end of 2025. This trend may seem surprising given that multiple well-funded consumer robot companies, such as Jibo and Anki, have failed. But a wave of robots is lining up to take the place of defunct robots, including BUDDY (Blue Frog Robotics), a big-eyed mobile device that plays games in addition to acting as a personal assistant and providing home automation and security.