【推荐1】When children complain "It’s not fair!" they’re not just doing it to be annoying—their brains prefer equality in the doling out of everything from candy to money.

Researchers at California Institute of Technology used an MRI to look at how the brain processes rewards. They were looking at how the brain reacts to "inequality aversion", or not liking it when things aren’t fair.

What they found was that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum-both associated with reward in the brain-reacted strongly to inequality even when the inequality was in their favor.

"It could have worked out in the opposite way, such that these reward processing regions might only have responded in a self-interested way and the reason that people showed inequality aversion in the lab is because they wanted to appear fair but in reality they only cared about themselves," says Tricomi, a professor of psychology.

The researchers gave some participants $50 while others began with nothing. Then, while they were in the MRI, they were presented with a series of possible money transfers. Sometimes they would be given more money; sometimes another person would get more. As the subjects thought about this money transfer, the researchers looked to see how their brains reacted.

As they’d expected, people who started out "poor" in the experiment had the strongest brain reaction when they were given money, and didn’t really react when money went to the "rich" person.

But in a surprise finding, the "rich" participants reacted just as strongly to the "poor" person getting money as they did when they themselves got money.

"Their brains weren’t simply wired for self-interest, but for fairness all around," says Tricomi.

【推荐2】Cerebral palsy(脑瘫)is the most common motor disability in children. The condition,which affects about 1 in 345 children, can make daily activities like walking, eating, or even lifting a cup difficult. A team of researchers from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) hopes to reduce the daily struggles with robotic clothing that will allow kids with cerebral palsy to better control their arm movements.

Wearable robotic units to help people with mobility issues have been around for many years. However, they are rigid and uncomfortable to wear. The UCR team plans to use light-weight materials to create a robotic sleeve that is cheap, durable, and, most importantly, comfortable to wear on a daily basis.

“Hard materials don’t interact well with humans,” said Jonathan Realmuto, UCR assistant professor of mechanical engineering and project lead. “What we’re going for by using materials like nylon and elastic are essentially robotic clothing.”

The scientists envision the robotic sleeves to have sealed areas that can be inflated. When filled with air,they would become temporarily rigid and provide the force needed for movement. The clothing will be fitted with sensors to detect small muscle contractions and anticipate what the wearer wants to do. The inflated bladders(气囊) will then help move the arm to complete the intended action.

“If we can help kids brush their own teeth, pour water or open doors, actions that others take for granted, it’s a huge win for them,” Realmuto said. “And it’s also a huge win for their families and caretakers.”

The UCR engineers are not the only ones working on soft robotic clothing to help those with motor disabilities. San Francisco-based startup CIONIC is on a similar mission. The company’s first product, the CIONIC Neural Sleeve, is designed to improve mobility for people with conditions like cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, and stroke. Jeremiah Robison, the founder of CIONIC, was inspired to develop the product after seeing his daughter struggle with cerebral palsy.

【推荐2】New York—like Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington—sits underneath the “Atlantic Flyway”, an ancient migration (迁徙) route travelled by millions of birds, every spring and autumn. Up to a quarter of a million of them die crashing into windows in New York every year, according to New York City Audubon, the bird charity that organizes Project Flight Safe. Birds confuse reflections of sky or plants for the real thing and fly straight for them.

In 2021, however, new laws came into force in New York requiring all new buildings and restoration work to be made bird-friendly. It is the strictest such laws in America. The case of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Centre in west Manhattan is a good example. It used to be a top bird-killer, but after swapping its glasses for bird-friendly glass, strikes dropped by 90%. The centre has now fully embraced bird life. Its green roof is home to a breeding seagull group, and as of October 18th, 62 different species have been spotted there.

At night, artificial light draws birds into the city, where they are more likely to crash. Some studies suggest birds can fail to tell direction because artificial light prevents them from sensing the Earth’s magnetic (磁的) field effectively. Last year the city passed a law that requires all city owned and managed buildings to switch their lights off at night during birds’ migration seasons. The law will extend the requirement to privately owned commercial buildings next year. Though exceptions would be allowed for landmarks such as the Empire State and the Chrysler Building, the change would still transform the world’s most famous skyline.

Jessica Wilson of NYC Audubon says that would be a good thing for birds, energy consumption and people. New York is on track to become the most bird-friendly big city in America.