【推荐1】We don't choose our siblings（兄弟姊妹）the way we choose our partners and friends. Of course，we don't choose our parents either，but they usually make that up to us by accompanying us on the way to adulthood. Brothers and sisters are just sort of there. And yet，when it comes to our development，they can be more influential than parents.

Whether these relationships make our life better or worse is a more complicated question. On the upside，positive interactions with siblings during adolescence foster（培养）empathy，prosocial（亲社会的）behavior，and academic achievement. However，when a sibling relationship is bad，it can be really bad. Tense sibling relationships make people more likely to be depressed and anxious in adolescence. Moreover，sibling bullying makes a kid involved in self-harm as a teen and develop mental problems in adulthood.

Whether a person models himself after his siblings or tries to distinguish himself has particularly important consequences. One study found that siblings who felt positive about each other tended to achieve similar education levels while those who spent unequal time with their dad and got unequal parental treatment had different educational fortunes. That difference is changeable. One the one hand，as siblings' relationships with their parents grow more different over time，their relationship with each other may become warmer. On the other hand，following your sibling can be a mistake: teenagers are more likely to be involved in risky behavior if an older sibling did so first.

One way or another，sibling influence is lasting. A study of more than 1 million Swedes found that one's risk of dying of a heart attack multiplies after a sibling dies of one，due not only to shared DNA but also to the stress of losing such a key figure. The findings make sense: Most of us are different people than we’d have been if our brothers or sisters were never born.

【推荐2】Three young American men were on a crowded train when they came across a dangerous robber. Ignoring their personal safety, they rushed the robber and controlled him. Only some people seem capable of this sudden form of heroism (英雄主义). Why some men rise to the occasion — and others don’t — has been a bit difficult to explain. Psychologists have explored this question through biological and personality psychology.

Of course, heroism and courage can appear in many forms, and men and women risk their reputation (名声), health, and social recognition to do what they think is right. When it comes to physically risky bravery, people assume that men will take the lead. There are sound biological reasons for this fixed image. One of the most common fears in men is that they will be viewed as a coward (懦夫), and a man who fails to display physical courage will suffer damage to his reputation in a way that a woman will not. Throughout history, gaining a higher position among peers (同龄人) has been the ticket that needs to get punched for a man to attract future wife and father children.

People tend to have an idea of what heroes are like. When rating (打分) the personalities of movie heroes, participants expected them to be more hard-working, open to experience, approachable, and emotionally stable than the average person. But some studies suggest that people who show heroic behavior usually have the personalities of madmen: risk-taking, coolness under stress, and an eagerness to take over in social situations.

The study of the relationship between personality and heroism is at an early stage. Psychologists are still at a loss to predict in advance who will heroically step up when needed. Often, the hero is an otherwise ordinary person who finds himself on an extraordinary occasion. Meanwhile, some individuals trained to behave heroically might hesitate in a dangerous situation. Various factors like identities, occasions and specific training will influence the final heroism. Hopefully, the right mix of occasion and personalities enable courage to carry the day.

【推荐3】The last few months have seen record numbers of us working from home, which begs the question: are offices still needed?

The likelihood is that you or a family member may have spent at least some time working from home since lockdown began. According to Finder.com, a huge percent of us were working from home, which has led commentators to dub the last few months a mass-work-from-home experiment.

Many people soon noticed positives such as increased productivity as a result of no office distractions,   and more free time because there’s no need for commuting(上下班往返). For some, parents in particular, the ability to work from home with flexible hours has been a huge positive. Home working also cuts pollution levels due to fewer of us embarking on the daily commute and would save companies the costs of renting office space.

Some argue the shift to remote working is long overdue, with broadband technology now widely available and an ever-increasing number of people balancing working with childcare.

“Hopefully it will show employers who were resistant that it is possible to work effectively from home,” says Mandy Garner, managing editor of Workingmums.co.uk. Mandy adds that flexible working was regarded mainly as a bit of a favour done to mums. There was little research about it. Now we have countless studies showing the benefits.

A key concern, however, is loneliness, with Finder.com reporting 19 percent of remote workers were experiencing this. Even with video calls, it is difficult to recreate the buzzing dynamic of an office. Many people also have a daily battle with poor Wi-Fi. And there’s the challenge of switching off once the working day is over—an office creates a physical and mental line between work and home, which can be easily blurred(变得模糊) when working from home.

The future of offices is uncertain but with the benefits—to employees and employers—of remote working, it may be that a real shift has taken place and we won’t be going back to work in the same way again.