At the Hangzhou Asian Games, Xiangqi (Chinese chess) grandmaster Zuo Wenjing spent five days at the Asiad fighting through seven rounds in the women’s individual competition to take her second gold at the Games at the Hangzhou Qi-Yuan Chess Hall on Saturday after claiming the top spot in the mixed team event on Oct. 1.

Born in 1993 in Zibo city in China’s Shandong province, Zuo was diagnosed (诊断) with the condition that causes dwarfism (侏儒症) at age 3. Her parents encouraged her to learn piano, painting and singing before she took up Xiangqi in 2001. At first, her father taught her in the discipline and even quit his job as a factory head to focus on training her. In 2003, at age 10, she became Zibo’s Xiangqi champion. Her family then moved to Wuhan, in Central China’s Hubei province, so that she could study under higher-level masters there.

Under the guidance of coaches Zhou Yi and Li Zhiping, Zuo took the No.1 national spot in 2005, which brought her to the attention of grandmaster Liu Dahua, known as the “Oriental Computer” for his ability to memorize and recall Xiangqi games and moves and, consequently, play blindfolded. At Liu’s recommendation, Zuo became the youngest signed athlete in Hubei’s provincial-level chess academy at age 12. And she has continued to progress, earning the master title in 2006 and becoming a grandmaster in 2022 after winning the women’s individual event at the 17th World Xiangqi Championships.

Zuo said she owes her two golds at the Hangzhou Games and her previous success to her parents’ encouragement following her childhood diagnosis.

Her mastery and personality have, in turn, won fans’ hearts and minds. She displayed that confidence and optimism coupled with humility (谦卑), when discussing her hopes for future competitions.

“I hope I can do better step by step, focus on each game and perform at my best,” she said.

【推荐2】Winter on the Tibetan Plateau in Asia is unfriendly to pikas (鼠兔). Its empty, windy highlands often decrease to -30° Celsius. It would seem like the perfect time for them to hibernate (冬眠) or stay warm by chewing grasses in their holes. That’s what North American pikas do.

But not the plateau pika. These creatures continue searching for food in winter. To save energy, plateau pikas drop their metabolism   (新陈代谢) by about 30 percent. Some also turn to eating an unusual food: yak poop (牦牛粪便) .

Cameras at four sites on the Tibetan Plateau captured the pikas’ winter routine. That footage showed that pikas often brave the cold to find food. “Clearly they’re doing something fancy with their metabolism that’s not hibernation,” says John Speakman, an expert who studies links between the environment and how an animal’s body works.

Speakman and his colleagues measured how much energy 156 individual pikas spent each day in summer and winter. The team also implanted 27 animals with temperature sensors. What they found surprised them. Many animals that don’t hibernate keep warm in winter by using more energy. But these pikas did the opposite. On average, in winter they used 29.7 percent less energy per day. They did this in part by cooling their bodies by a couple of degrees overnight. The animals also were less active than in summer.

Sites with yaks had more pikas. And those pikas were even less active than the others. That puzzled the researchers. But then, “we found a sort of half-eaten yak poop in one of the pika hole,” Speakman says. Eating poop can cause sickness. But yak poop could be an ideal meal for pikas with few options. It would greatly cut down how long pikas needed to spend out in the cold, Speakman says.

DNA from the animals’ stomach contents confirmed that this diet is common. Whether dining on poop has downsides remains to be seen. But clearly, not being too picky (挑剔) is a wise decision for pikas.

【推荐1】Police work is often a thankless job, so when a community member goes out of their way to show thanks, officers certainly take notice. For many years, the Medford Police Department in Massachusetts frequently found plates of pizzelles（Italian cookies）waiting for them in the hall. Nobody knew who made these delicious pizzelles, but that didn't keep them from feeling the love!

It wasn't until the sweet treats stopped coming that they learned the story behind the unknown "Pizzelle Lady". Antonietta Manganiello, a local woman, had done the baking until she fell ill. But she wasn't going to let that stop her from showing the police her appreciation! So she called her daughter and insisted that she take a bag of her garden tomatoes to the station instead of the usual cookies.

When her daughter arrived, the officers finally learned Antonietta's identity! Naturally, they wanted to thank her for everything she had given them over the years, so Chief Jack Buckley arranged a special surprise.

One Saturday morning, dozens of Medford police officers volunteered to show up outside Antonietta's home in uniform. When they did, they lined the streets to show their appreciation for the woman who went out of her way to revere them for so long. When Antonietta saw them, her face lit up. "Are you coming to get me?" she joked. Holding the flowers, Chief Buckley explained what her kindness meant to the men and women in blue. He said, "We are so thankful for everything you've ever done." As if that gesture wasn't enough, Buckley then presented Antonietta with a special plaque（匾牌）made out to "The Pizzelle Lady".

It might not seem like much, but it clearly meant a lot to Manganiello. It's evidence that it's the little things that really matter in life. Sometimes, it only takes one small gesture to make someone feel truly loved.

【推荐3】More and more Chinese are having English names, but not everyone is good at finding one. Why not offer them some help? An American girl called Lindsay Jernigan is now teaching people how to get better English names.

While working in Shanghai, Lindsay met many Chinese people with strange English names. Some of them chose a lucky number of “Seven,” a favorite fruit, “Apple,” and a cartoon character, “Snow White.” Others had names like “July” and “Rabbit.”

After noticing the problem, Lindsay had an idea. She quit her job and set up a website (bestenglishname.com) to help Chinese people get better English names.

The website helps people in two ways. After they take an online quiz, people will get five English names based on their personal information, such as age, job and even future plans. This costs 18 yuan. People can also meet with Lindsay to talk about their English name. But that costs more.

Now, about 2,000 people each day visit the website. Most of them are preparing to study or work abroad. Lindsay is planning to offer them more help, such as helping them write resumes (简历).