【推荐1】Our brains consist of soft matter bathed in watery cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) inside a hard skull. An impact on the hard skull is transmitted through the thin layer of CSF to the soft brain matter. In Physics of Fluids, Qianhong Wu and co-authors describe studying another system with the same features, an egg, to search for answers. An egg resembles the brain.

Considering that in most brain injuries, the skull does not break, Wu wanted to find out if it was possible to break the center of an egg without breaking the eggshell. The researchers did a simple experiment, from which they could see that rotational force (旋转力) can easily break the egg yolk and make it mix with the egg white. Two types of impacts can be imposed on the outer container. A translational impact is one that hits the container directly, while a rotational impact occurs when the outer container is accelerated or decelerated. The latter arises naturally in sports when helmets are not round.

The researchers discovered something quite surprising. Direct translational impact does not cause the egg damage, while rotational deceleration causes great egg yolk damage. This finding explains why boxers will very likely faint if hit on the chin. “Considering the chin is the farthest point from the neck, hitting on the chin could cause the highest rotational acceleration/deceleration of the head,” Wu said.

When it comes to concussions (震荡), “it remains unclear how the brain is injured and how to avoid such injuries. Critical thinking, along with simple experiments within the kitchen, led to a series of systematic studies to examine the mechanisms that cause egg yolk damage,” Wu said. “We hope to apply the lessons learned from it to the study of brain biomechanics (生物力学)as well as other physical processes. ” As the first study of its kind, this work will interest those designing helmets.

【推荐1】Fooling their parents about school was so simple; Robert and Anthony Duran made it a habit.

The twins played hooky from their high school—spending their days playing basketball and listening to music—for two entire years, skipping their freshman and sophomore years. But their truancy (旷课) was discovered when the boys’ father called their high school earlier this month to request the report cards that his sons had repeatedly “forgotten”. “Believe me, I was very upset with them—with myself mostly,” Armando Duran told a local newspaper after school officials alerted him to his sons’ absenteeism.

District policy considers students who are absent more than 50 days to be dropouts. So how to help teenagers facing the problem? Here is the solution. They can enroll in an accelerated career academy to make up their missed credits and plan to graduate a year behind their classmates. Imagine learning maths by calculating how much bears eat each day or by studying the habits of birds in an aviary (鸟舍).

About 100 students will have such opportunities when the school district—in collaboration with the local park service—opens a middle school at the zoo in the city’s 430-acre park. A school building near a park entrance will be used as a central meeting place, but the park grounds are intended to be the real classroom, school officials said. Students can wear zoo uniforms and perform certain tasks during the day, such as feeding the animals.

“The idea is to use the park campus as the school, where kids are likely to get more interested in learning and tend to develop their comprehensive and practical skills beyond textbooks.” said Arthur, the person in charge of the 23,000-student school district. Mr. Zarrella, a teacher in the community, said he is expecting science classes in the park’s greenhouses and history lessons in the park’s museum. “It’s a beautiful place,” he said. “I’ve always felt it has the potential for being an exciting place for kids to learn.”

【推荐2】Teachers often can fall into the trap of teaching content, paying no attention to children. Many of us have the attitude that “we will put the information out there, and if they don’t get it, they are to blame.”

Several years ago, I had a student named Jeremy in 12th - grade English, in which British literature was taught. I struggled to find ways to make the content interesting. Jeremy didn’t care. Though Jeremy was classified as. gifted, he slept in class every day. I began to get really frustrated. I even began to dislike him.

High school teachers sometimes develop a hands-off attitude. I thought, “OK, Jeremy, if you want to fail my class, fine. I’ve tried everything.” As time went on, I ignored Jeremy. I didn’t ask him questions, or even make eye contact with him.

By accident, I found that Jeremy was capable of much more. One day, I went to the broadcasting classroom to edit a video. On this day, several students were working on an assignment. Then I heard a voice I recognized. I looked up and saw Jeremy was teaching his classmates energetically how to film. My first thought was that Jeremy must have a twin! Suddenly he realized I was sitting in the corner.

Our eyes met. “Mrs. Duff?” he asked with surprise. “You know how to edit video?”

“Yes. I had no idea you were a videographer!” At this, he smiled with pride and explained the project his group was working on. It was clear he had earned his classmates’ respect. And it was suddenly clear to me that I had not really made an effort to know Jeremy at all.

What happened next was amazing. In class, Jeremy stayed awake and completed his work. He passed my class with a B.

What happened? When Jeremy encountered me outside English class, it changed his perspective of me. He realized I wasn’t just some odd lady trying to force him to learn British poetry. Equally important, my perspective about him changed. He wasn’t just the kid who slept in my class.

I’m not proud that I didn’t make a better effort to know Jeremy before the encounter in the broadcast room. I told myself I had tried everything, but I had not stepped outside of my little English world at all.

【推荐3】One morning, my four-year-old daughter and I were getting ready to leave the house when she suddenly yelled “Idiot!” right at me. As I processed the word, I noticed she was upset. Tears streamed down her face as she half whispered and half yelled “you are an IDIOT Mama.” Total silence followed as we looked at each other. We were staring at each other for so long, and I nearly forgot to breathe out, and in again. Idiot. How could my daughter call me an idiot?

There are many behaviors that really push parents’ buttons. Disrespectful, rude words tend to top the list. The wrong response to such rude remarks is often a serious warning. But I didn’t offer any serious remarks.

I realized that my daughter’s intention wasn’t to disrespect me. She was expressing the disconnection. And punishment doesn’t solve disconnection. It creates more of it. Her choice of word said it all. She was annoyed. She sensed the stress. I needed to hear her. I was being careless. I was the one being rude to her.

So, why punish our children when they need guidance? We must know the words we use matter, and become our children’s words too. The words include those we use to handle emotional overload. Idiot is a word I regretfully must admit to using when I’m extremely annoyed. Not at my children, but yes, they have heard me say it. So, instead of punishing my daughter for misbehavior, I chose to focus on her real message: Idiot means that “Mom, you are stressing me out!”.

No blame. No punishment for honest feelings. No criticizing her choice of words. Just focus on our relationship. I admitted my ignoring her, and we hugged and kissed each other. I walked into her play school with interest and was ready to see all her current projects.

Don’t be afraid to focus on your relationship, to show kindness, and to model forgiveness. Don’t be afraid to look beyond misbehavior, find the true message and trust the power of connection.