【推荐3】The largest-ever study of the link between city walkability and high blood pressure has been held up as evidence of the “invisible value of urban design” in improving long-term health outcomes, say researchers.

The study of around 430,000 people aged between 38 and 73 and living in 22 UK cities found significant associations between the increased walkability of a neighborhood, lower blood pressure and reduced risk of high blood pressure among its residents.

The outcomes remained consistent even after adjustments for socio-demographic (社会人口统计学), lifestyle and changing physical environment factors, though the protective effects were particularly pronounced among participants aged between 50 and 60, women, and those residing in higher density and poor neighborhoods.

The paper was published in the International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health this week. With high blood pressure a major risk factor for chronic (慢性的) and particularly heart diseases, researchers at the University of Hong Kong and Oxford University said the findings demonstrated the need to take notice of the health-influencing factor in urban design.

“With the increasing pace of urbanization and demographic shifts towards an ageing population, we become more likely to suffer from chronic diseases,” said Dr. Chinmoy Sarkar, an assistant professor at the Healthy High Density Cities Lab of the University of Hong Kong and lead author of the study. “The action taken to improve public health must consider the invisible value of urban planning and design.

“We are spending billions of pounds in preventing and curing heart diseases — if we are able to invest in creating healthy cities through small changes in the design of our neighborhoods to make them more activity-friendly and walkable, then probably, we will have significant savings in future healthcare expenses.”

To measure a neighborhood’s activity-promoting potential, researchers developed a set of index of walkability containing relevant urban elements, including residential and retail (零售) density, public transport, street-level movement, and distance to attractive destinations.

Poorly designed spaces generally reduced walking and physical activity, promoting the lifestyles of long time sitting down and not moving; and were harmful to social interactions, and as such associated with poorer mental and physical health.

Because walkability was “based on the underlying design of the city”, said Sarkar, cities could be modified or designed to encourage it. “Such investments in healthy design are likely to bring in long-term gains as they are enduring and common.”

【推荐1】After my pubic lectures on evolution, someone in the audience asks. “Are we still evolving?” People want to know if humans are getting taller, smarter, better looking or more athletic. My answer is truthful but disappointing: We’re almost certainly evolving, but we don’t know in what direction or how fast.

We’ve seen some evolution in our species over the past few millennia(千年), but it was detected by reconstructing history from DNA sequences. For example, we know that during the past 10,000 years, several populations of humans — those keeping sheep, cows or goats for milk — gained the ability to digest dairy products. This trait was useless in our earlier ancestors who, after babyhood, never encountered milk. And in the past 3,000 years, Tibetans have acquired genetic adaptations that allowed them to develop well in their high-altitude, low-oxygen home. But these well-documented changes are limited to particular populations, so the evidence for recent evolution of our entire species, remains not much.

The authors of “Evolving Ourselves” disagree. Not only, they claim, are we evolving faster than ever, but we’re doing it to ourselves. Juan Enriquez and Steve Gullans argue that humans have controlled evolution — not just in our own species but virtually in all species: “For better or worse, we are increasingly in charge. We are the primary drivers of change. We will directly and indirectly determine what lives, what dies, where, and when. We are in a different phase of evolution: the future of life is now in our hands.”

According to the authors, we’ve replaced natural selection with what they call “unnatural selection.” Overfishing, for example, has reduced the average size of many fish species, for taking the biggest fish selects in favor of those that reproduce when younger and smaller.

Yet while there’s no doubt that we’re changing the planet, the claim that we’re completely changing evolution on the planet does not follow. Let’s take those fish that are evolving to reproduce smaller and younger. This phenomenon has been documented in many species that we eat, but this is just a minuscule fraction (极小的一部分) of the 30,000 known species of fish.

The authors speak with unwarranted assurance about how our species is evolving in response to nearly everything. When they assert, for example, our ingestion (摄取) of drugs and exposure to chemicals mean that “our children’s brains are evolving fast,” they are overplaying their hand and abusing the word “evolution.” Out children’s brains may be changing fast in response to the new pharmacological (药理学的) environment, but change alone is not evolution.

When we talk about intelligence, we do not mean the ability to get a good score on a certain kind of test, or even the ability to do well in school.     1     The true test of intelligence is not how much we know how to do，but how we behave when we don’t know what to do.

The intelligent person, young or old, meeting a new situation or problem, opens himself up to it. He tries to take in with mind and senses everything he can about it. He thinks about it, instead of about himself or what it might cause to happen to him. If he fails to master it, he looks without fear or shame at his mistakes and learns what he can from them. This is intelligence.     2     Just as clearly, unintelligence is not what most psychologists seem to suppose, the same thing as intelligence, only less of it. It is an entirely different style of behavior, out of entirely set of attitudes.

Years of watching and comparing bright children with the not-bright，or less bright, have shown that they are very different kinds of people. The bright child is curious about life and reality, eager to get in touch with it, unite himself with it.     3     On the other hand, the dull child is far less curious, far less interested in what goes on and what is real. The bright child likes to experiment, to try things out. He lives by the maxim that there is more than one way to skin a cat.       4     The dull child is usually afraid to try at all, It takes a great deal of urging to get him to try even once；if that try fails, he is through.

【推荐3】It is becoming increasingly important for researchers to closely monitor our ocean life. However, observing sea creatures up close is almost impossible since human presence scares them. Now, thanks to the The Soft Robotic Fish, also known as SoFi, researchers may be able to keep a close eye on the sea creatures.

Built by MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), the white remote-controlled robot resembles the real fish, complete with a tail that waves from side to side. Though not the first autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) created to monitor the ocean, SoFi settles many of the problems that have blocked the usefulness of previous robot fish.

Previous AUVs have had to be linked to boats because of radio frequency communications don’t work well underwater. To overcome the problem, Director of the CSAIL Daniela Rus and her team used sound waves. The technology can travel greater distances allowing divers to pilot SoFi from up to 50 feet away.

Also limiting the usefulness of traditional AUVs is the risk of collision. With the outside made of soft silicone (硅树脂) rubber and flexible plastic that keeps its inbuilt electronics dry, SoFi poses no such danger. “Collision avoidance often leads to unnecessary movement, since the robot has to settle for a collision-free path,” says Rus. “ In contrast, a soft robot is not only more likely to survive a collision but also could use it as information to form a more workable movement plan next time around.”

During test dives, SoFi moved alongside the ocean life at depths of 50 feet for up to 40 minutes at a time, taking photos and making videos. The researchers say sometimes the fish would swim alongside the strange-looking robot-fish out of curiosity, while at other times they took no notice of its existence.

While SoFi presently only records video, future versions will include sensors. The researchers also hope to make it more autonomous. “We imagine someday it might help us uncovers more secrets from the amazing underwater world that we know so little about,” says Rus.

【推荐1】An extreme drought is threatening South Africa's wildlife industry. Farmers are keeping fewer animals and vacationers are visiting in smaller numbers. Parts of the country have been affected by repeated years of hotter than normal weather and below average rainfall. The conditions have burned feeding grass and dried up watering holes. In 2015, the area saw the driest year on record. The agency Wildlife Ranching South Africa ( WRSA) collets data on more than 9,000 wildlife ranches ( 牧场) in the nation. It estimates that the Northern Cape Province has lost more than .two thirds of its game over the last three years. WRSA is talking to ranchers around the country to gather information on animal loss and the financial impact the drought is having.

WRSA Chief Adri Kitshoff-Botha told Reuters News Agency the drought has continued for some time. “In some areas we've seen it has been going on for six years, ”she said. The wildlife industry brings money to South Africa's economy through tourism, hunting, breeding and meat production. Hunting —the shooting of carefully chosen animals in particular—made $ 140 million in 2016, topping the list of the four mentioned, above, breeding ranking the least, though.

In the past, the lodge (度假区) was home to around 4,500 wild animals—including 35 different species from antelope to rhino. But it has lost around 1 ,000 animals because of the drought. Now, dead animals sit in old and unused mines on the edge of the property. “The lodge has seen its spending rise as it buys more feed for animals for the sake of the drought. At the same time, hunters are paying less, and fewer tourists are visiting because the animals are in poor condition over the past year,” said WRSA’s Kitshof-Botha. The drought has also hit other parts of South Africa. In Botswana, more than 100 elephants died in two months in 2019. Botswana is home to almost one-third of Africa's elephants.

【推荐2】What exactly is intelligence? There aren’t any easy answers. Despite the progress that has been made in genetics and psychology, human intelligence has remained one of the most controversial areas of modern science, until now, that is, for the discovery of a gene(基因) linked to intelligence has made the experts think again.

Robert Plomin of the Institute of Psychiatry in London and his colleagues in the US have been looking into genetic make-up. From their research, they have discovered that a slightly different gene is more common in those with a high IQ. Plomin analyzed DNA from two groups of 51 children aged between 6 and 15. What he found was that the first group had an IQ of 136, putting them in the top 5% of the population, while the other group had an average IQ of 103. An analysis of their genes showed that 32% of children in the higher group had the gene in question, while only 16% in the second group did. However, there is a lot more research to be done, and Plomin himself is cautious at this early stage. He suggests that there are probably many genes that contribute to intelligence, rather than just one.

Several studies have shown a strong link between IQ and career success, although some psychologists remain unconvinced about this. Professor Michael Rowe, who has written a book called Genius Explained, is one of these. “The people with the highest IQs are not usually the ones who do best in their careers.”

Many psychologists now believe that when it comes to intelligence, IQ isn’t everything. Many alternative views have been put forward recently. One example is the idea of multiple intelligences, which was developed in the 1980s by Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner. This offers a much broader view than the IQ theory, including creativity and communication skills as relevant factors(因素) in intelligence.

Tony Buzan, brain expert and author of Master your Memory, is enthusiastic about this belief, arguing that true geniuses(天才) do indeed appear to combine high levels of each type of intelligence. He lists Alexander the Great, Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein as examples. At the same time, Buzan believes that everyone can develop their intelligence, only if they take the trouble to exercise their brain. Perhaps there’s hope for us all!

【推荐3】The year 2019 saw the end of the hit sitcom The Big Bang Theory. Now, another popular comedy, Modern Family, follows in their footsteps. After 11 seasons the final episode aired on April 8, bringing an end to a sitcom “widely recognized as one of the funniest and most decorated sitcoms of this century”, according to EOnline.

Hitting our screens in 2009, the show claimed 22 Emmys in total, an American award that recognizes excellence in television. At its peak the show attracted over 9 million viewers for its relatable family dynamic, loveable characters and mockumentary (伪纪录片) style. In this format, characters can convey their own thoughts and feelings directly to the audience via a short sit-down interview.

Over the course of the series, fans have witnessed the Pritchett-Dunphy-Tucker clan (家族), an extended Los Angeles family, overcome the trials and tribulations of any modern family, including death, adoption and mental health.

The big family’s highs and lows have made it so relatable that we see them as part of our own family and care about their stories. From fights between siblings (兄弟姐妹) to parental disagreement about children’s education, the show, despite being a comedy, deals with serious modern issues that are familiar to the audience.

Despite its success, showrunners  admitted that the sitcom had been running on fumes (后劲不足的) during the last few seasons. The final episode went as expected, with the growing branches of each family going their separate ways following one giant on-screen embrace involving every cast member.

As the camera cut to each departing family member, Jay Pritchett, the patriarch (大家长) of the family, expressed an important theme of the show. “Life is full of change. I learned a long time ago you can fight it, or you can try to make the best of it. And that’s a whole lot easier if you’ve got people helping you face whatever life throws at you,” he said emotionally.

Just as the final episode concluded, fans were treated to one last heartfelt moment. As each family switched off their porch (门廊) light, Claire asks Phil (a couple in the show) what they’ll do now that their kids have grown up and moved on. Phil said, “Leave the porch light on – they come back,” a subtle (巧妙的) hint that the show might someday return.