【推荐1】Dr. Faisal Zawawi, an Otolaryngologist and member of the McGill Auditory Sciences Laboratory, notes that when a person is exposed to loud noises, it can cause short­term hearing loss but that under normal circumstances the body typically is able to repair the loss of hearing within 72 hours. However, Zawawi warns that if symptoms are not reversed (倒转) in the first 72 hours the damage could become permanent. Due to findings in previous studies about it, Zawawi says that the team of researchers has suspected that something may stop this repair process. Therefore, the team set out to determine if caffeine could be a contributing cause to hearing loss. According to the Medical Daily, the researchers tested what they suspected on female guinea pigs (FGP)(豚鼠).

To perform the test, 24 female guinea pigs were split into three equal groups with each group exposed in different levels to caffeine, and loud noise. The researchers found that the guinea pigs subjected to only sound had their full hearing recovered by day eight. However, the guinea pigs that were subjected to both caffeine and loud noise never fully regained their hearing. Therefore, the researchers concluded that caffeine is a likely contributing cause to permanent hearing loss.

“This research confirms that while a cup of coffee may seem appealing after a long night at a loud concert, drinking caffeine produces more of a risk than benefit when it comes to a person’s hearing. Although further research is required to understand the effects on humans, the results are promising,” says Zawawi. If the research proves successful, the removal of caffeine from your diet following noise exposure could prevent permanent hearing loss as the body will be more able to repair itself naturally.

【推荐1】I first visited China in 1979, a few months after our countries normalized relations. China was just beginning to remake its economy, and I was in the first Senate Delegation (参议院代表团)to witness it. Traveling through the country last month, I could see how much China had changed in 32 years.

Then , as now there were concerns about what a growing China meant to America and the world. Some here see China's growth as a threat. Some Chinese worry our aim in the Asia-Pacific is to contain China's rise. I don't agree to these views. We are clear about concern like China's growing military abilities. That is why we are working with the Chinese military to understand and shape their thinking. It is why the president has directed the United States to keep a strong position in the area. I am sure that a successful China can make our country more prosperous(繁荣的),not less. We share common challenges and responsibilities. The Chinese leaders I met with know their country must shift from an economy driven by exports, investment and heavy industry to one driven more by consumption and services. As Americans save more and Chinese buy more, this change will speed up, opening opportunities for us. Even as the United States and China cooperate, we also compete. I strongly believe that the United States can and will benefit from this competition.

Maybe more important, the nature of 21^st century competition favors the United States. In the 20^th century, we measured a nation's wealth mainly by its natural resources, its land mass, its population and its army. In the 21^st century, the true wealth of a nation is found in the creative minds of its people and their ability to innovate (创新).As I told students in Chengdu, the United States is born for innovation. Competition is the base of our society. We owe our strength to our political and economic system and to the way we educate our children. We not only tolerate but celebrate free expression and debate. Our universities remain attractive to the world's students and scholars.

Fundamental rights are universal. Liberty unlocks a people's full potential , while its absence causes unrest. Open and free societies are best at promoting long-term growth. We have our own work to do. We need to ensure that any American willing to work can find a good job. We need to keep attracting the world's top talent. I've traveled half a million miles around the world. I always come home feeling the same confidence in our future . Some may warn of America's failure, but I'm not among them. And let me reassure you : based on my time in China, neither are the Chinese.

【推荐2】In a policy address to lawmakers, Japan’s Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, said the country’s population problem was a case of solving the issue “now or never”, and that it “simply cannot wait any longer because it can affect social functions”.

“In thinking of the sustainability and inclusiveness (包容) of our nation’s economy and society, we place child care support as our most important policy,” he said, adding that he wants the government to double its spending on child-related programs, and that a new government agency would be set up in April to focus on the issue.

Japan has one of the lowest birth rates in the world, and it recorded fewer than 800, 000 births in 2022 for the first time since records began in 1899. The country also has one of the highest aging of population in the world; in 2020, nearly one in 1, 500 people in Japan were age 100 or older, according to government data.

These trends have driven a growing population problem, with a rapidly aging society, a shrinking workforce and not enough young people to fill the gaps in the stagnating (停滞) economy. The country’s high cost of living, limited space and lack of child care support in cities make it difficult to raise children, meaning fewer couples are having kids. Experts point to the pessimism young people in Japan hold towards the future, many frustrated with work pressure and economic stagnation.

How about other parts of East Asia? South Korea recently broke its own record for the world’s lowest birth rate, with data from November 2023 showing a South Korean woman will have an average of 0.79 children in her lifetime-far below the 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population. Japan’s birth rate stands at 1.3, while the United States is at 1.6. Meanwhile, China’s population shrank in 2022 for the first time, adding pressure to its economic growth.

【推荐3】If you want to disturb the car industry, you'd better have a few billion dollars: Mom-and-pop carmakers are unlikely to beat the biggest car companies. But in agriculture, small farmers can get the best of the major players. By connecting directly with customers, and by responding quickly to changes in the markets as well as in the ecosystems(生态系统）, small farmers can keep one step ahead of the big guys. As the co-founder of the National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC, 美国青年农会）and a family farmer myself. I have a front-row seat to the innovations among small farmers that are transforming the industry.

For example, take the Quick Cut Greens Harvester, a tool developed just a couple of years ago by a young farmer, Jonathan Dysinger, in Tennessee, with a small loan from a local Slow Money group. It enables small-scale farmers to harvest 175 pounds of green vegetables per hour—a huge improvement over harvesting just a few dozen pounds by hand—suddenly making it possible for the little guys to compete with large farms of California. Before the tool came out, small farmers couldn't touch the price per pound offered by California farms. But now, with the combination of a better price point and a generally fresher product, they can stay in business.

The sustainable success of small farmers, though, won't happen without fundamental changes to the industry. One crucial factor is secure access to land. Competition from investors, developers, and established large farmers makes owning one's own land unattainable for many new farmers.

From 2004 to 2013, agricultural land values doubled, and they continue to rise in many regions.

Another challenge for more than a million of the most qualified farm workers and managers is a non-existent path to citizenship — the greatest barrier to building a farm of their own. With farmers over the age of 65 outnumbering(多于）farmers younger than 35 by six to one, and with two-thirds of the nation's farmland in need of a new farmer, we must clear the path for talented people willing to grow the nation's food.

There are solutions that could light a path toward a more sustainable and fair farm economy, but farmers can't clumsily put them together before us. We at the NYFC need broad support as we urge Congress to increase farmland conservation, as we push for immigration reform, and as we seek policies that will ensure the success of a diverse and ambitious next generation of farms from all backgrounds. With a new farm bill to be debated in Congress, consumers must take a stand with young farmers.

【推荐1】France, which prides itself as the global innovator of fashion, has decided its fashion industry has lost an absolute right to define physical beauty for women. Its lawmakers gave approval last week to a law that would make it a crime to employ ultra (过分的)-thin models on runways.

The parliament also agreed to ban websites that “ encourage unreasonable thinness” by promoting extreme dieting.

Such measures ;have a couple of uplifting motives. They suggest beauty should not be defined by looks that end up impinging on health. That’s a start. And the ban on ultrathin models seems to go beyond protecting models from starving themselves to death - as some have done.

The bans, if fully carried out, would suggest to women (and many men) that they should not let others be arbiters (仲裁人) of their beauty. And perhaps faintly, they hint that people should look to qualities like character and intellect rather than dieting their way to size zero.

The French measures, however, rely too much on severe punishment to change a culture that still regards beauty as skin-deep and bone-showing. Under the law, using a fashion model that does not meet a government-defined index of body mass could result in a $85,000 fine and six months in prison.

In contrast to France’s actions, Denmark’s fashion industry agreed last month on rules regarding the age, health, and. other characteristics of models. The newly revised Danish Fashion Ethical Charter clearly states: “We are aware of and take responsibility for the impact the fashion industry has on body ideals, especially on young people.” The charter’s main tool of enforcement (执行) is to deny access for designers and modeling agencies to Copenhagen Fashion Week, which is run by the Danish Fashion Institute.

Relying on moral persuasion rather than law to address the misuse of body ideals may be the best step. Even better would be to help uplift notions (观念) of beauty beyond the material standards of a particular industry.

【推荐2】Many people wrongly think that cities don't have farms and that fruits and vegetables are only grown in the country. Believe it or not, more and more urban farms are popping up in cities all over the world.

Alexandra Sullivan, a food system researcher in New York City, studies urban agriculture. Urban agriculture is another name for farming and gardening in a city environment. Ms. Sullivan studies everything from tiny gardens in empty lots between buildings to bigger fields that have been planted and grown. According to Ms. Sullivan, "Urban agriculture has existed since cities have, across the world."

The number of humans living in urban areas, or cities, is increasing. The amount of people who want to garden in urban areas is also rising. Ms. Sullivan says, "In small gardens, on rooftops and indoors, they grow fruits, vegetables, grains, and herbs, and raise animals to produce milk, eggs, honey, and meat. They use these foods as supplements to food produced by rural agriculture." Even though some people who live in urban areas grow crops, urban residents still need to rely on food grown in rural areas. This is because a city doesn't have enough space to grow enough food for everyone living in it.

In New York City, urban farmers have come up with many different ways to grow their own produce, even though there isn't a lot of room. For example, Brooklyn Grange is a farming operation that has two rooftop vegetable farms in New York City. All together, the farms are made up of 2.5 acres of rooftop space. This makes Brooklyn Grange one of the largest rooftop farming operations in the world.

Brooklyn Grange grows all kinds of things. The farming company sells its vegetables to local residents and restaurants. And because the farms are on rooftops, they are specially adapted to their urban location. They use available space that is not needed for anything else. As more urban farmers find ways to grow food in cities, urban residents will be better able to get fresher materials for their meals.

【推荐3】A new study has discovered that meditation (冥想) and oxygen sport together reduce depression. The Rutgers University study found that this mind and body combination, done twice a week for only two months, reduced the symptoms for a group of students by 40 percent.

“We are excited by the findings because we saw such a meaningful improvement in both clinically depressed and non-depressed students,” said lead author Dr. Brandon Alderman. “It is the first time that both of these two behavioral ways have been looked at together for dealing with depression.”

Researchers believe the two activities have an interactive effect on combating depression. Alderman and Dr. Tracey Shors discovered that a combination of mental and physical training (MAP) enabled students with major depressive disorder not to let problems or negative thoughts defeat them.

Rutgers researchers say those who participated in the study began with 30 minutes of focused attention meditation followed by 30 minutes of oxygen sport. They were told that if their thoughts drifted to the past or the future they should refocus on their breathing, enabling those with depression to accept moment-to-moment changes in attention.

Shors, who studies the production of new brain cells in the hippocampus—part of the brain involved in memory and learning—says scientists have shown in animal models that oxygen sport exercise keeps a large number of certain cells alive.

The idea for the human intervention (干预) came from her laboratory studies, she says, with the main goal of helping individuals acquire new skills so that they can learn to recover from stressful life events.

“We know these treatments can be practiced over a lifetime and that they will be effective in improving mental health.” said Alderman. “The good news is that this intervention can be practiced by anyone at any time and at no cost.”