【推荐1】A few years ago, when I was caring for my seriously ill father, I lost my voice. At first, I just sounded hoarse when I was having difficult conversations about Dad’s condition. But before long, I couldn’t even say “Yes please” to a cup of tea without sounding like an unusually breathless Minnie Mouse. After consulting an ear, nose and throat specialist, I was told that I had lost my voice due to stress.

We’re all familiar with the muscle tightening that comes with the body’s natural response to stress. The muscles in and around the voice box are no exception, and a long period of stress can lead to lasting damage to the vocal cords(声带). Perhaps the most obvious thing you can do to protect your voice is to give it a rest. That doesn’t mean you have to keep silent. Just try to avoid places, such as noisy bars and restaurants, where you have to speak up or shout to be heard, and move closer to people so you can talk in your normal voice. While some of the advice seems like common sense, there are a few surprises. It’s important to resist the urge to cough or clear your throat before attempting to speak, for example. Coughing pushes the vocal cords together with force, which can increase the risk of losing your voice. Instead, experts suggest taking a few big yawns, making sure to breathe deeply from the bottom of your lungs. Yawning helps create more space in your throat and relaxes the muscles.

Whispering may seem the obvious way to communicate when your voice is failing, but for most of us, it causes more problems. It’s far better, the researchers advise to aim to speak softly in your normal voice.

Interestingly, a University of Missouri study found that introverts (内向者) are more likely to suffer from speech-related stress reactions, which affect their vocal control. Simply taking a deep breath before you speak can go a long way towards calming the nerves, says study lead author Professor Maria Dietrich.

In my case seeking more support with Dad’s care helped me sound more like myself and less like Minnie within weeks.

【推荐3】In a study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, a team of French researchers at the University of Sorbonne Paris North demonstrated that ants have the potential to act as early stage cancer detectors.

“We knew that ants can be easily trained,” Baptiste Piqueret, who led the study, said. “Furthermore, they have an efficient sense of smell. We then combined these two abilities and tested whether ants were able to detect the smell of cancer or not.”

Tumor (肿瘤) cells produce specific chemical compounds that allow them to be distinguished from healthy tissues. These are known as cancer biomarkers. Animals can be trained to sniff out (嗅出) these chemicals and thus identify when a patient has cancer.

In the present study, worker ants of the species Formica fusca — commonly known as the silky ant —were trained to recognize cancer biomarkers of an extremely aggressive human breast cancer. The urine (尿液）of mice carrying these tumors was collected and presented to the trained ants, alongside urine from tumor — free mice.

After just three rounds of training, where the ants learned to associate the smell of cancer biomarkers with a sugary treat, they spent approximately 20 percent more time near the urine from the tumor - bearing mice than the urine from those who were tumor-free.

In the past, dogs and mice have also been shown to sniff out cancers. But ants would provide a particularly attractive alternative as they are relatively easy to keep, they don't require expensive rearing (饲养) facilities, and it appears that they can be trained to recognize specific odors in relatively few trials.