【推荐1】According to a study conducted by UK scientists, there is something known as “plant blindness”. This leads to the common misconception that plants seem to be “less alive” as compared to animals.

Plant blindness was not proven to be what people were born with; rather, the severely reduced contact with nature in urbanized societies appeared to be the problem’s root. According to the research, a decline in relevant prior (先前的) experience with plants causes the cycle of inattention.

Urban civilizations display well-documented plant blindness. Kids are found to frequently think of plants as less superior to animals, especially when they’re young, and struggle to recognize a wide variety of species. Both teachers and students reported having different levels of plant knowledge, especially primary teachers without a science degree. Older people are more knowledgeable about plants because they are more likely to appreciate outdoor activities.

35 studies concluded that urbanization or modernization had a detrimental effect on plant knowledge. The usefulness of plant gathering was decreased by a greater dependency on urban services and a cash economy. The amount of time available to spend outdoors was reduced by work and school. These factors also decreased family time, which had a negative effect on verbally passing down plant knowledge to younger and older relatives.

Stagg said that instead of a cognitive (认知的) barrier to the visual perception of plants, people who live in highly industrialized countries have a lack of plant attention caused by a decline in relevant exposure to plants.

Stagg pointed out to break the cycle of plant awareness, people must be exposed to biodiverse environments and the key is to show that there are some direct advantages of plants to people as opposed to indirect advantages stemming from their use in industry or advantages to distant, traditional societies. Experiences with edible and practical plants in local environments can help with this. Younger generations’ level of botanical knowledge is directly correlated with how useful they think this knowledge is to them.

【推荐3】A team of psychologists led by Dr. Karen McComb at the University of Sussex in the UK have discovered an effective way for humans to communicate with cats through slow blinking (眨眼睛), similar to how cats interact with each other.

Dr. McComb and her team conducted two experiments to study this phenomenon. In the first study, owners were instructed by researchers Tasmin Humphrey and Andrew Wood to slowly blink at their cats from a distance while being recorded. Humphrey and Wood found the cats were more likely to respond with slow blinking of their own compared to when no interaction took place.

To follow up on these findings, McComb, Humphrey, and Wood designed a second experiment without considering the exsisting relationship between humans and cats. Researchers, including McComb, performed the same slow blinking action. Like in the first experiment, the cats in this study also responded more favorably to slow blinking by returning the gesture and more readily approaching an extended hand, according to Humphrey’s analysis.

The slow blink expression involves partially closing the eyes briefly, copying a relaxed, friendly facial expression in humans. McComb notes that for cats, it appears to signal good intentions as constant staring could be seen as threatening. Wood says that cats may have developed this language to acknowledge humans who react positively to the signal. Being able to effectively communicate acceptance in this subtle cat way seems to strengthen the bond between cats and their owners, McComb adds.

McComb, Humphrey and Wood hope their findings can provide insight into cat behavior and thinking. They also aim to apply this knowledge of cross-species communication to evaluate cat health in various places like veterinary (兽医的) clinics and shelters, according to Humphrey. A deeper understanding of how cats interpret and respond to humans can improve our ability to properly care for household and outdoor cat populations, McComb concludes.

【推荐2】Most parents will tell you that travelling internationally with kids is no day at the beach.

“For families with young children, spending a long period of time in an airport terminal can be a kind of pain, partly because of all the waiting around but also because the airport is just a stop — usually the first stop — in a long journey,” said Suzanne Rowan Kelleher, a family travel expert and managing editor of MiniTime.cn.

But a new beach-themed play area for children in the international terminal at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) gives kids a chance to have some fun and burn off some of their energy before they get on a flight.

First opening on Thursday, in the new Tom Bradley International Terminal with a party featuring the LAX therapy dogs, some gift bags and cupcakes, the 971-square-foot, post-security play area is titled “LAX Beach.” Open to kids aged 2 to 8, the play space has soft, sculpted foam pieces that resemble waves, surfboards, beach toys and dolphins and is keeping in with the terminal’s overall architectural theme, which was inspired by the Pacific Ocean to the west of the airport.

“I think it is safe to say that happy children make better flights,” said Los Angeles World Airports Executive Director Gina Marie Lindsey. “And with the opening of LAX Beach, we are going to see a lot more happy children on our international flights.”

There are likely going to be a lot more happy adults seated around those children on international flights as well with LAX Beach appearing in the international terminal.

The play space — the first children’s play area in any LAX terminal — was built for the Los Angeles World Airports by terminal management company Westfield for $350,000. In addition to the beach-themed foam pieces, there’s a slide, an interactive light table and lifesavers for children to crawl through.

The nearby seating overlooking the space offers a place for parents to relax and keep an eye on their kids.

“Having a kid-centric place where kids can work off a bit of energy can be a real lifesaver,” said Rowan Kelleher. “The beach theme attempts to offer a sense of place, too, which is nice.”