【推荐1】Poet Wadsworth Longfellow said “music is the universal language of mankind”, and there’s growing evidence that he was right. New research shows people with Alzheimer’s (老年痴呆) disease often respond to familiar music or song lyrics, even when their memories and ability to participate in conversation may be flagging.

Jonathan Graff-Radford,Doctor of Medicine,explains on The Mayo Clinic website why this may be: “Musical memories are often preserved in Alzheimer’s patients because key brain areas linked to musical memory are relatively undamaged by the disease.”

When English senior Ted McDermott was diagnosed with Alzheimer in 2016, his son Simon McDermott found Ted became verbally and physically violent as the disease progressed. Grateful for the resources provided by the Alzheimer’s Society, Simon and 80-year-old Ted made videos of their daily car duets (二重唱) for a fundraising ‘‘Singing for the Brain” program in 2019. Truly remarkable,considering that some days Ted didn’t recognize Simon.

The songs brought them to the attention of the public. In just a few months their efforts had considerable success on YouTube, raising over 100,000, and resulting in a contract with Decca Records for 80-year-old Ted. Although Ted has begun to decline a little in the last years, he always remembers the words to his favorite songs and is happy to go with Simon daily in the car to sing. Different music-related programs and projects are offered by the U.K. Alzheimer’s Society organizations. These programs are designed for people with Alzheimer to provide mental stimulation in a supportive social environment.

Social engagement and keeping your brain active, along with a healthy diet and exercising, may seem like obvious good habits to follow for your health in general. They’ve also been proven to be factors in reducing the risk of developing Alzheimer.

It’s never too late to start taking care of your body and your brain — so make music appreciation or singing part of the routine of your loved one struggling with Alzheimer. As William Shakespeare said, “If music be the food of love,play on.”

【推荐2】Six people are about to find out what it would be like to live on Mars—without ever leaving the Earth.

Three men and three women will spend eight months living in a special habitat on the side of a volcano in Hawaii. They are part of an experiment being done by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) that is designed to mimic (模仿) life on Mars.

Some people may become unhappy or bored living under those conditions. Certain personality types may not get along, and living together for a long time could cause them to argue.

By studying people living in similar conditions here on Earth, NASA hopes to learn how to choose the best people for a space mission, and how to help them get along.

The crew (全体工作人员) will live in a two-story dome-shaped (圆顶形) building. The dome is located in an area about 2,400 metres up the side of Mauna Loa, the second biggest volcano in the world. Mauna Loa is an active volcano, but it has not erupted since 1984. It is monitored all the time for signs of volcanic activity. NASA chose the location because the environment there looks very similar to Mars.

During the experiment, the crew will only be able to communicate by email. To make it more like being on Mars, there will be a 20-minute waiting time between the time a message is sent and when it is received. That means it will take 40 minutes to get a reply to an email.

The crew will be performing scientific work while they are there, including some trips outside the dome. When they go outside, they will have to wear spacesuits, just as if they were on Mars.

The commander of the crew is Martha Lenio, a 34-year-old Canadian. Lenio studied engineering and is interested in space exploration and environmental problems. During the mission, she will run experiments on growing food and making compost (堆肥) inside the dome.

The other crewmembers have backgrounds in physics and astronomy. They were chosen from about 150 people who applied to take part in the experiment. None of them are astronauts.

【推荐1】If you’re short of money and don’t mind selling the rights to your face, you can make £100,000 by licensing (准许) your face to a robotics company.

According to a blog post by a London-based engineering company Geomiq, a robotics company is looking for a “kind and friendly” face to put on a human-like robot once it goes into production. This will probably need using this person’s face on thousands of robots around the world, so the company is willing to pay no less than £100,000 in licensing fees. The robot in question is designed to be a “friend” for elderly people, and is scheduled to go into production this year.

Geomiq is not free to give too much information about the robotics company or its project, because of a non-disclosure agreement they’ve signed with the designer and his financial backers. “We know that this is an extremely special request, and signing over the licenses to your face is probably an extremely big decision,” Geomiq said, adding that interested people can send a photo of themselves by email.

The robotics company has reportedly been working on this human-like robot for five years, and because of the secretive nature of the project, anonymity (匿名) is of great importance. However, interested people with the right kind of face chosen for the “next stage” will be given full details on the project.

The search for a suitable face to be used has met with mixed responses from the public. Some of them say that the company should create a false face using information from data sets (数据集) that have over 100,000 realistic but not actually real faces, much like the famous human-like robot, Sophia. However, others think here is a chance of seeing robots as an important source of income.

【推荐2】You don’t have to brave the crowds at the Tidal Basin to enjoy the glories of cherry blossom (樱花), which always runs for one month. The delicate pink and white blooms decorate the district. Washington-based nonprofit Casey Trees has a detailed map of where to find them.

Using the map’s explanation, you can check out a neighborhood’s list of trees. The map is color-coded by a variety of cherry blossom, and there are several: Yoshino, Okame, Oshi-ma, and Sour Cherry, just to name a few.

Michaila Musman, the Geographic Information Systems manager at Casey Trees，suggests tracking down the Sargent Cherry, which develops pinkish white blossoms and is called the “cream” of flowering cherries by the Arbor Day Foundation. “They can also support bird species around the city, which is a wonderful bonus.” says Musman.

The map is an annual tradition at Casey Trees. The organization plans to use it to help protect Washington’s trees. To build the map, staff and volunteers walked into the city’s parks to identify and measure every tree they came across. “We can do better advocacy and tree protection if we know what our trees across the city look like.” said Musman.

Other data points for the map come from DDOT’s Urban Forestry Division and from cherry trees that Casey Trees has planted. Most of the trees on the map are located on public land. So if your yard or your neighbor’s yard is the proud home of a cherry tree, it may not appear (considering it as your own secret garden).

And if you miss the cherries this time around, the organization also maintains a separate map of all the flowering trees in the city. Musman recommends checking out the Eastern Red bud. “They are native to this area and they have very beautiful blossoms.” she says, “It seems as though they came right out of a Dr. Seuss’ book.”

【推荐2】CHINADAILY—In 2011, scientists moved eight Rothschild's giraffes to Longicharo Island. They hoped it would save the endangered animals from hunters and allow their numbers to increase. However, the large amount of rain in August 2020 caused the lake water level to rise, cutting the area off from the mainland and reducing the once 100-acre habitat to about 8 acres, which made it necessary to relocate（转移）the animals to a safer habitat.

In December 2020, the rescuers teamed up with UK -based non-profit organization Save Giraffes Now to construct a barge（驳船）, which is designed and built specifically to carry tall, heavy giraffes. It floats atop a series of empty drums with its sides made higher to keep the animals from jumping out as the barge was gently pulled by boats.

Their first giraffe to be saved was Asiwa, who was trapped alone with no food sources. However, making the gentle giant get on the barge was not easy. The giraffes don't know that you're trying to help them," O'Connor, president of Save Giraffes Now, says. "They think you'll hurt them. So they're really trying to work against you, which makes it even harder."

After several attempts to lead Asiwa on board the barge with treats failed, the scientists had no choice but to sedate（注射镇定剂）her. While it's often used to transport large animals, it is not the preferred method for giraffes since the change in blood pressure could damage their brains.

To prevent any accidents, the rescuers gave the giraffe a light sedative and then quickly guided her onto the barge. To ensure Asiwa would not frighten, they covered her head with a hood and put socks in her ears to block out sound. "The wonderful part was watching her gently walk off the boat once the hood was removed as if nothing had happened," said photographer Ami Vitale.

Weather permitting, the rescuers hope to relocate the island's remaining seven giraffes by March 2021 to the 44, 000-acre Ruko Community Wildlife Conservancy. Once we rescue them, that's not the end of it," O'Connor says. "That's actually just the beginning of trying to repopulate the entire Western Rift Valley with this type of giraffe, where they became locally extinct 70 years ago."