【推荐1】Many people experience problems with their spine(脊椎) as they age. The tissue that protects the joints in the spine gradually breaks down. As a consequence, the bones, in the spine begin to rub against each other. This further harms that issue as well as the bones. The result is pain in the joints and, sometimes, in nerves near the spine

This painful problem is actually a disease called osteoporosis. Some people are more at risk of osteoporosis because of genes that they inherited from their ancestors. Extremely heavy people are also more likely to suffer from this disease because their extra weight puts much pressure on their joints. Fortunately, there are steps that people can take to help prevent osteoporosis from developing in their spine.

The most important step is exercise. Stretches can help the muscles around the spine relax and allow bones to shift into better alignment(排列), Strength exercises with light weights or bodyweight exercises like pushups can also help by strengthening the muscles around the spine. However, people should not overdo these exercises as repeated motions can strain the muscles around the spine. Trying to lift heavy weights with poor technique can have the same effect.

Another important factor is diet. It affects the health of spine because many vitamins are necessary for bones and nerves. These include B vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids, all of which helps keep nerves healthy. People can get more B vitamin and omega 3 fatty acids by taking supplements sold by stores. Another important factor is vitamin D. which is essential for strong bones. All of these vitamins and acids can be obtained from food. Thus people can help themselves by including them in their daily diets

【推荐2】Eyesight is the sense that you rely upon the most. Since we live in a world that requires your eyes to routinely stare at the small type and images on cell phones, computer screens, and televisions, it is important for you to improve and protect your eyesight.     1    

Eyes are just like any other part of the body.     2    Similar to other organs, a diet high in fruits and vegetables and low in sugar and fatty foods will go a long way in maintaining healthy eyes.

    3    Plan to exercise your eyes when you wake up, before going to bed, or when your eyes are tired. Make sure your hands are clean so that you do not hurt your eyes and your mind is relaxed before starting.

Since you use your eyes every waking moment, give them lots of rest and relaxation by taking breaks throughout the day and getting enough sleep every night to fully rest, repair, and recover your vision.     4     In the short term, it can cause eye strain (疲劳) or dry eyes. In the long term, it can lead to damage to the optic nerve (视觉神经), which can cause pain and damage your vision.

Besides, most jobs nowadays involve some degree of computer usage, meaning almost everyone will be spending time in front of a computer.     5    To avoid this, you’ll have to properly try to limit your screen time by routinely taking breaks and exercising your eyes.

【推荐3】Unless you’re very young or very old,it's likely you have some kind of relationship with email, whether you get hundreds of messages a day or a few dozen a week. A new study suggests that how we deal with these incoming messages could be affecting our stress levels and overall health.

A team from the Future Work Centre in the UK surveyed 2,000 people across various industries, sectors, and job roles, asking participants how they managed their email and how much associated stress they felt as a result. Overall, those who spent the most time organising and staying on top of messages felt the most email-related pressure too.

“While email can be a valuable communication tool, it’s clear that it’s a source of stress of frustration for many of us. The people who reported it being most useful to them also reported the highest levels of email pressure!” said one of the team, Richard MacKinnon.

Two of the habits linked to more email-related stress were checking for messages first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Half of those surveyed had push notifications (消 息推送）set up for new email, while 62 percent of respondents left their email app open all day and all night. Both were linked to higher levels of email pressure. The survey also found that managers suffered more than non-managers.

Stress is not just a problem when it comes to our mood—it’s been linked to a lot of disorders such as heart disease， weight gain， memory impairment (减弱），digestive problems,and depression.

The researchers suggest that the relationship between email-related stress and the negative impact on home life is not the same for everyone.

【推荐1】With renewable energy the big problem is storing the electricity for when the sun does not shine and the wind does not blow. A solution, one group of scientists thinks, could have lain beneath our feet all along. Michael Harbottle from Cardiff University is leading the project, which seeks to turn soil into a kind of battery by using the microbes (微生物) within.

The planned system involves running a current between buried electrodes (电极) .This makes certain bacteria come alive in the soil. Just as sunlight provides the energy for plants to make sugar from carbon dioxide and water, the electrical energy lets the bacteria transform carbon dioxide into a chemical. This chemical becomes in effect a chemical store of energy, and when the energy is needed, a different circuit (电路) is switched on, giving different bacteria the energy to break down the chemical. This process frees electrons, which flow through the circuit, providing electricity on demand.

“The bugs will eat the food, pass the electrons, and it will power the lightbulb at the same time,” said Harbottle, “It’s no real difference from what they’re doing when they’re consuming food and producing energy to grow. It’s just we are making use of that energy to get a little bit for ourselves.”

For now, though, there are more fundamental questions. As with all energy storage systems, the viability (可行性) could depend on how much energy is lost in the process. Unlike in other energy storage systems, it also depends on whether anything else eats these bacteria and what happens when it rains. “It’s not in a box. It’s not contained. The things you reuse can be moving around; they can be spreading to all sorts of places. The challenge,” Harbottle admitted, “is that it’s an uncontrolled environment.”

【推荐2】If you’re homeless and looking for a temporary shelter in Hawaii’s capital, expect a visit from a robotic police dog that will scan your eyes to make sure you don’t have a fever. That’s just one of the ways public safety agencies are starting to use Spot, a new robot that runs around with quick movement.

The police officials experimenting with the four-legged machines say they’re just another tool to keep emergency responders out of harm’s way as they search for dangers.

Joseph O’Neal, an officer of the Honolulu Police Department, said the robot has protected officers, shelter staff and residents by scanning body temperatures between mealtimes at a shelter where homeless people could quarantine (隔离) and get tested for COVID-19. The robot is also used to remotely interview individuals who have tested positive.

The company that makes the robots, Boston Dynamics, says it’s trying to do a good job of explaining to the public and its customers what Spot can and cannot do. “One of the most difficult tasks is accurately explaining the state of the technology to people who have never had personal experience with it,” said Michael Perry, vice president of the company.

There are roughly 500 Spot robots now in the wild. Perry said they’re commonly used by companies to check dangerous areas. Spot is also used to monitor construction sites, mines and factories, equipped with whatever sensor is needed for the job.

It’s still mostly controlled by humans, though all they have to do is tell it which direction to go and it can climb stairs or cross over rough areas. It can also operate autonomously, but only if it’s already memorized a road and there aren’t too many surprise obstacles (障碍). “The first value that most people see in the robot is taking a person out of a dangerous situation,” Perry said.

【推荐1】More than a billion people around the world have smart phones, almost all of which come with some kind of navigation app such as Apple Maps or Amap. This raises the age-old question we meet with any technology: What abilities is our brain losing to these apps? But also, importantly: What abilities are we gaining?

Talking with people who are good at finding their way around or good at using paper maps, I often hear a lot of annoyance with digital maps. North/south direction gets messed up, and you can see only a small section at a time. I can really understand that it may be quite disturbing for the already skilled to be limited to a small phone screen.

But consider what digital navigation aids have meant for someone like me. Although being a frequent traveler, I'm so terrible at finding my way that I still use Apple Maps almost every day in the small town where I have lived for many years.

In many developed nations, street names and house numbers can be meaningful, and instructions such as go north for three blocks and──then west’’ make sense to those familiar with these rules. In Istanbul, however, where I grew up, none of those hold true. For one thing, the locals seldom use street names. Besides, the city is full of winding and ancient alleys(小巷) that cross with newer avenues at many angles. In such places, you’d better turn to the locals. In the countryside, however, there is often nobody outside to ask. In fact, along came Apple Maps, like a fairy grandmother whispering directions in my ear. Since then, I travel with a lot more confidence, and my world has opened up.

Which brings me back to my original question: While we often lose some skills after depending on new technology, this new equipment may also allow us to gain new abilities. Maybe when technology closes a door, we should also look for the doors it opens.

【推荐2】Have you ever heard such kind of complaint from the parents that the child is so secretive and never tells them anything? But they seldom realize that they have brought this on themselves.

Parents are often upset when their children praise the homes of their friends and regard it as an evil speaking on their own cooking, or cleaning, or furniture, and often are foolish enough to let the adolescents see that they are annoyed. They may even accuse them of disloyalty, or make some spiteful remark about the friends’ parents. Such a loss of dignity and descent into childish behavior on the part of the adults deeply shocks the adolescents, and makes them decide that in future they will not talk to their parents about the place or people they visit.

Disillusionment(幻灭) with the parents, however good and adequate they may be both as parents and as individuals, is to some degree unavoidable. Most children have such a high ideal of their parents, unless the parents themselves have been unsatisfactory, that it can, hardly hope to stand up to a realistic evaluation. Parents would be greatly surprised and deeply touched if they realized how much belief their children usually have in their character and ability with no fault, and how much this faith means to a child. If parents were prepared for this adolescent reaction, and realized that it was a sign that the child was growing up and developing valuable powers of observation and independent judgment they would not be so hurt, and therefore would not drive the child into opposition by hating and resisting it.

The adolescent, with his passion for sincerity, always respects a parent who admits that he is wrong, or ignorant, or even that he has been unfair or unjust.

Parents in Victorian times believed that they kept their dignity by holding an unreasonable authoritarian attitude. The adolescent at that time tended to go to the other extreme though today we will bravely respond to the parents in some way. On the whole this is a healthier attitude both for the child and the parent. It is always wiser and safer to face up to reality, however painful it may be at the moment.