【推荐1】PTSD(战后创伤) is sadly a common affliction(折磨) for many soldiers who have witnessed conflict, an invisible wound that continues to cause incredible suffering long after the guns have fallen silent.

“A lot of us come home without realizing we are bringing the war home with us,"said Josh Marino, a veteran (退伍兵)of the Iraq war who suffered the effects of PTSD of suicide .

“i didn’t want to deal with it anymore,” Marino said. He wrote a goodbye note, grabbed a knife and went outside for a final cigarette in the rain. But then, from the deepest depth of despair came hope. Meowing out of the bushes next to him came a stray black and white kitten (小猫) which， according to Marino, “just walked up and started rubbing up against my leg and let me pet him. I came to life again and I broke down crying. I burst into tears.”

From this accidental encounter everything changed. Marino found a new purpose in life through the friendly cat, who he named Scout, and who he credits with saving his life. "I stopped thinking about all my problems, and started thinking about all his problems, and what I could do to help him, "Marino said. The bond between them was instant，but that wasn't the end of the story

Marino has made a video of his and Scout's remarkable story of healing and heartbreak which you can watch on the Internet. The story is dedicated to showing how animals can help humans through tough times, as well as humans can help them.It is a beautiful story that is sure to tug at your heart strings, showing just how powerful the bond between humans and animals can be. We love it, and we hope you do too!

【推荐2】Owning a dog is associated with a significantly lower risk of heart disease and death, according to a comprehensive new study published by a team of Swedish researchers on Friday in the journal Scientific Reports.

The scientists followed 3.4 million people over the course of 12 years and found that adults who lived alone and owned a dog were 33 percent less likely to die during the study than adults who lived alone without dogs. In addition, the single adults with dogs were 36 percent less likely to die from heart disease.

“Dog ownership was especially prominent as a protective factor in persons living alone, which is a group reported previously to be at higher risk of heart disease and death than those living in a multi-person household,” Mwenya Mubanga, a Ph.D. student at Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden, and the lead junior author of the study, said in a statement announcing its findings. The link between dog ownership and lower mortality(死亡率)was less pronounced in adults who lived either with family members or partners, but still present, according to the study. “Perhaps a dog may stand in as an important family member in the single households,” Mubanga added. “Another interesting finding was that owners of dogs which were intended originally for hunting were most protected.”

The study, which is the largest to date on the health relations of owning a dog, suggested that some of the reasons dog owners may have a lower risk of mortality and heart disease were because dog owners walk more. “These kind of epidemiological (流行病学的)studies look for associations in large populations but do not provide answers on whether and how dogs could protect their owners from heart disease,” Tove Fall, a senior author of the study and a professor at Uppsala University, said in a statement

“We know that dog owners in general have a higher level of physical activity, which could be one explanation to the observed results,” Fall added. “Other explanations include an increased well-being and social contacts or effects of the dog on the bacterial microbiome(微生物菌群) in the owner.” Fall added that because all participants of dog owners in Sweden or other “European populations with similar culture regarding dog ownership.”

【推荐3】In Canada, you can find dogs, cats, horses, etc. in almost every family. These are their pets. People love these pets and have them as their good friends.

Before they keep them in their houses, they take them to animal hospitals to give them injections (注射) so that they won’t carry disease. They have special animal food stores, though they can get animal food in almost every kind of store. Some people spend around two hundred Canadian dollars a month on animal food. When you visit people’s houses, they would be very glad to show you their pets and they are very proud of them. You will also find that almost every family has a bird feeder in their garden. All kinds of birds are welcomed to come and have a good meal. They are free to come and go and nobody is allowed to kill any animal in Canada. They have a law against killing wild animals. If you killed an animal, you would be punished. If an animal happened to get run over by a car, people would be very sad.

People in Canada have many reasons to like animals. One of them might be: Their family ties are not as close as ours. When children grow up, they leave their parents and start their own life. Then the old will feel lonely. But pets can solve this problem. They can be good friends and never leave them alone.

【推荐1】Laughter is a kind of universal body language that’s shared by people of all nationalities, skin colors, cultures and traditions. But did you know that the ability to tell genuine laughter apart from fake laughter also transcends (超越) cultures?

Greg Bryant, a professor of communication at the University of California, Los Angeles, US, published a study in Psychological Science in late July in which be found that people are able to identify real laughter through slight variations in sound.

In the study, 884 people from 21 countries were asked to listen to random recordings of laughter. Some of the recordings were made up of spontaneous (自然的) laughs, while others were made by people who were asked to laugh on command.

The study showed that people around the world have the ability to pick out real laughter, although their abilities vary from country to country. Residents of the Samoan Islands, an island chain in the central South Pacific, were particularly good at it, correctly identifying real laughter 56 percent of the time. According to Bryant, people from smaller, less industrialized nations “are more accurate in identifying a natural smile” because they rely heavily on emotional engagement (联系) in order to predict others’ behavior and create stronger social relationships.

But how do people from different cultures detect natural laughter so easily? And what traits does real laughter have? As Professor Jessica Wolf of the University of California, Los Angeles, told the Association for Psychological Science, in real laughter, our vocal chords (声带) “produce qualities such as higher pitch (音调) and volume (音量), as well as faster bursts of non-articulate (不清晰的) sounds and more non-tonal (无语调的) noise”

By contrast, fake laughter will “sound like speech”. According to Science Daily, fake laughter is controlled by the same brain system that controls the lips and tongue.

Bryant further explained that this system has an imitative (模仿的) capacity (能力), saying “with this speech system, you can make a lot of different noises, including crying, laughter or a shriek (尖叫) of pain. That’s where fake laughter comes from.”

So that’s something to think about the next time one of your friends laughs at something you said. Will you be able to tell if it’s real or fake?

【推荐2】Just like our bodies, our minds also become weak over time. We lose the ability to process new information or to switch quickly between mental tasks.     1    

It improves cognitive (认知的) performance.

A study published in the journal Neurology Clinical Practice examined nearly 100 individual studies on exercise and brain function and discovered that exercising an average of 52 hours over six months is associated with improved cognitive performance in older adults.     2     And these exercises include strength-training and mind-body exercises.

    3    

The human body is meant to move. But listening to that urge to move has many benefits — including making you happier and even keep depression and other mental health issues at bay. A research has begun to expose long-overlooked links between physical activity and mental health. It suggested exercise can significantly improve mood over time.

It allows you to use less brain power for the same task.

    4     They found that the fitter a participant was, the less brain activity he used to complete the tasks when compared with his out-of-shape peers.

It can expand your capacity for joy.

Kelly McGonigal is a health expert who explains how exercise makes the brain more sensitive to joy.     5     After eight weeks of walking, jogging and strength training, these adults showed an increase of dopamine receptors.

【推荐1】Sir David Attenborough is set to host a brand new natural history series, named A Perfect Planet. The noted documentarian is back, and will be starring in a five-part BBC One series which will take a look at “the intricate（复杂）systems” that allow Earth to boom.

The show is set to explain how the planet operates, looking at everything from ocean currents to solar energy to the weather, and risking all around the world, from India to the Arctic.

Plus, in showing how the earth works, the documentary will also seek to display how animals adapt to their natural environments as they continue to change. As ever, it sounds like a truly fantastic watch.

It won’t be a surprise to hear that the new Attenborough series is set to feature some wonderful film scenes, too.

Speaking of the brand new series, from Our Planet producers Silverback Films, Sir David said: “Oceans，sunlight, weather and volcanoes - together these powerful yet fragile forces allow life to flourish（茂盛）in astonishing diversity. They make Earth truly unique-a perfect planet. Our planet is one in a billion, a world filled with life. But now, a new determining force is changing the face of Earth: humans. To preserve our perfect planet we must ensure we become a force for good.”

While an exact first-show date has not yet been announced, the show is set to land on BBC One later this year.

【推荐2】Here is some news of the future.

March 20,2035

There was a lot of news around the life extension drugs that hit the market a decade ago.They didn’t promise that you would live forever,but they gave you a chance to extend your life an extra five to ten years.Even though the life expectancy rate at birth has increased greatly,the life expectancy for seniors hasn’t improved that much.Basically,you have a greater chance to become a senior,but you will not have a much longer lifespan,and this is where the anti-aging drugs intend to kick in.So,do the anti-aging drugs work?Well,it is too early to tell.But the sales so far are very good.

April 19,2035

Of the total US population of 378 million,people over 65 years old now make up 20% for the first time.The senior ratio was only 4.1% by the year 1900,and 12.4% 30 years ago.The number of people above 65 compared to those of what is considered working ages,between 15 and 64,is currently 33.7%.This is up from 18.5% in the year 2005,which means that for every retired person there are now two workers,compared to four workers 30 years ago.The number of people above the age of 80 has grown to 23.8 million,making them 6.3% of the total population compared to 3.6% in 2005.

April 12,2040

Although introduced in the market only five years ago,10% of all hydrogen fuel now sold in the US is of the environmentally friendly Re-Hydro label,produced through electrolysis(电解)based on a source of 100% renewable energy.Several producers have turned to producing Re-Hydro,mainly because of lower tax,which also keeps the price of Re-Hydro on the same level as regular hydrogen.Most analysts believe that Re-Hydro will be the dominating fuel in the future.