【推荐1】Monarch butterflies migrate (迁徙) by the millions each year, making the trip from northern areas of the Continent to California and Mexico and back.

As monarch butterflies are a threatened species with their population numbers in decline, Patrick Guerra, an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati, and his colleagues wanted to see what types of environmental stress might be linked to their decline.

“We use monarch butterflies as a model system to understand long-distance animal migration. Our goal was to understand how environmental stress, such as different types of stress caused by urbanization, impacts animal migratory phenomena,” Guerra says.

For their study, researchers conducted lab studies where they reproduced the effects of artificial light pollution with butterflies using a flight simulator (模拟器).

Butterflies stayed quiet and unmoving when they were first placed in the flight simulator in the dark. But as soon as scientists turned on the light, they started flying. The light made them believe that night was day and this can cause them to fly longer at night or start flying too early.

The study has found that the internal circadian clock of butterflies functions normally when they are exposed to natural day: night lighting cycles, but artificial light, such as a streetlight, at night can throw off a monarch butterfly’s internal compass. It can affect their circadian rhythms (昼夜节奏), which can make the monarch butterflies get lost when they try to fly the next day. This shows without darkness, the circadian clock of butterflies cannot function properly.

“When exposed to artificial light, the light can perturb the normal functioning of the animal’s circadian clock,” Guerra says. “Light pollution, particularly nighttime light pollution, causes animals to experience light at a time when they are not supposed to, e.g., at night when they are normally in the dark, and are at rest. Exposure to such light can prevent the behavior and microbiological of animals which they rely on or that are regulated by the circadian clock.”

Actually, streetlights and other artificial night lights can do more than mess up the insects’ wake/sleep cycle and migration.

【推荐2】HOW PETS BOOST YOUR HEALTH

Your furry friend may be a wellness support you didn’t know you had! Here are four benefits you get from caring for a critter.

Lower stress levels

    1    , you know the kind of stress relief we’re talking about. In fact, a 2019 study found that it took just 10 minutes of petting a cat or dog to lower people’s levels of the stress hormone cortisol.” Touch is a very important feature of human-animal interaction,“ says Patricia Pendry, Ph.D., an associate professor of human development at Washington State University and the lead author of the stud

Higher self-esteem

This may be surprising but pet owners report having more self-esteem than people without pets    2     . “Providing a safe environment and responding to this animal’s needs — those are ways in which you’re giving loving support,” says Pendry. “You matter because you’re responsible for that animal’ well-being.”

    3    

Pendry says pets are often referred to as “social lubricants” because of the way they can help people make friends. Just think about how hard it is not to say hi when you see someone walking down the street with a super cute puppy.     4    . Pets have also been a saving grace for some people who have been isolated during the pandemic.

Maybe even a healthy heart!

Research shows that people who own pets have better cholesterol (胆固醇) levels, reduced risk of high blood pressure and lower rates of heart disease than those who don’t. However, it’s hard to say whether that’s due to the animals themselves, notes Pendry. But researchers aim to do studies to look into this,   she says, “because we want to really understand if there is a pet effect.” While we wait for results, give your cute ball of fluff a cuddle and a treat.    5    .

【推荐3】The British may be made fun of for their weather-related small talk, but a recent study suggests that just four minutes of chatting can reveal aspects of our personality and influence subsequent social interactions.

Researchers divided 338 participants into two groups before meeting in person and asked each participant to complete a personality and IQ test. Within each group, participants were paired and either conversed by text for 4 minutes or had no contact with their partner. Participants were then required to infer aspects of their partner’s personality and predict whether they would act cooperatively or selfishly in two money-based strategy games.

The results showed that those who chatted scored higher in predicting their partners’ IQ and personality test responses, but were also more likely to project their own personality characteristics on to their partners. “Our research suggests that in just a few minutes of small talk, we begin to form a mental model of the person we’re talking to,” says Professor Sgroi.

Participants then met and played with their conversation partner or, in the case of the no-contact group, met and played with strangers.

The researchers then gave each participant £20 and asked them to contribute to a joint pot (罐) shared with their partners, an experiment called the Public Goods Game.

The team says people who have chatted with their partners are more likely to correctly predict their contributions to the pot. In addition, those who chatted beforehand contributed 30% more than those who did not. The results also depended on the relationships they established through small talk.

Georgie Nightingall, founder of Trigger Conversations, says that small talk is a great way to encourage cooperation in the workplace. “People are bad at small talk because it feels like there is no end to it. It can feel awkward and pointless once you have all the information you need. While asking questions helps build relationships with people, people will be happy to have a chat if you show that you care about others. My advice is to be sincere (真诚) and considerate.”