【推荐1】The Chinese paddlefish (白鲟)-one of the world’s largest freshwater fish-has been announced extinct. Scientists say the paddlefish, also called the Chinese swordfish, is believed to have a lineage dating back at least 34 million years. With its long nose and mouth, the paddlefish could grow as long as seven meters.

But a research paper recently published in Science of the Total. Environment reported the paddlefish was now extinct. The researchers include scientists from the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Britain’s University of Kent and the University of South Bohemia in the Czech Republic.

The paper says the paddlefish was announced extinct for two reasons. It said that the fish was not able to survive because of widespread overfishing and damage to its native environment in the Yangtze River.

Researchers discovered 332 different species of fish in the Yangtze River in 2017 and 2018. But they did not find a single Chinese paddlefish They guessed the fish disappeared between 2005 and 2010. The extinction of the Chinese paddlefish was “a huge loss” to nature.

Pan Wenjing is a forest and ocean expert with Greenpeace East Asia. “The ecology of the Yangtze River is almost in ruins due to human activity in past decades” Pan said. She stressed that China had taken measures to improve the Yangtze’s environment, including a 10-year ban (禁令) on fishing.

After the extinction was reported in the news, some Chinese media and Internet users took a look back at the large creatures. Many people appeared to have not heard of the Chinese paddlefish before it was announced extinct.

“Every time I see the news of another species going extinct, heart starts to ache,” wrote one Weibo user. “Humans should not live alone on this planet,” the user added.

【推荐2】The findings, described this week in the journal Nature Communications, shed light on the physiological effects of close companionship in chimpanzees — and could have implications for human health too.

Researchers have long known that stress can worsen health and raise the risk of early death in humans as well as other social mammals.

“It can have effects on immune function, cardio function, fertility (繁殖力), cognition, and even your mood,” said study coauthor Kevin Langergraber, a primatologist at Arizona State University.

Maintaining close social bonds can help these animals (humans included) reduce some of that stress, potentially minimizing some health risks. But scientists have yet top in down the exact physiological mechanisms at work.

“Social bonds make you survive and produce better-but how do they do that?” Langergraber said.

To find out, the international team of researchers studied members of the Sonso chimpanzee community in Uganda’s Budongo Forest, a group consisting of 15males, 35 females and 28 juveniles and infants during the study period from February 2008 to July 2010.

Like humans, chimpanzees tend to have besties — bond partners with whom they appear to feel close. The researchers wanted to see whether interactions with these bond partners led to lower stress levels during particularly stressful situations, such as when fighting rival groups, or whether time spent with friends helped lower stress levels more generally, throughout the day.

The scientists observed the chimps perform three types of activities: resting, grooming or quarrelling with other groups of chimps. The researchers kept track of whether the chimps were doing any of these three things with their bond partners or with other chimps in their group.

A team of up to six observers watched the chimps and followed them around to collect urine (尿液) samples. The samples, collected from nine adult male and eight adult female chimps, were tested to see how much of the stress hormone cortisol they contained.

The scientists found that chimpanzees’ levels of urinary cortisol were 23% lower, on average, during the activities when they were with their bond partner. This was especially true for stressful activities, such as the intergroup rivalries, where any chimp on the frontline might face physical harm or even death.

The findings in chimpanzees, some of our closest living relatives, could shed light on the role such close social relationships play in human health too, he said. Such friendships maybe just as important during good times as bad—though more research needs to be done before any conclusions can be drawn.

“This has interest for a lot of people in a medical context as well,” Langergraber said.

【推荐1】April 22^nd every year marks the start of Earth Day, a day that is celebrated every year to raise awareness(意识)about our home planet and how we can save it from being damaged.     1    

1. Green up your home

This is one of the most common things that people do whenever Earth Day rolls around, that is , switch off their lights.     2    Conserve (节约)energy by switching off all power of electricity points whenever they are not on use. In addition, take out all the plugs(插头) from plug points even after switching them off.

2.     3    

Cars, being the greatest source of air pollution, can be left at home this weekend.     4    Other greener choices are carpooling, riding a bike or you can also walk if you want a healthier choice and if your workplace is not that far away from your home.

3. Be a little dirty

No, we don’t mean it ‘that way’. We simply mean to say, don’t take a bath. Yes, saving water is super important. A day or two without a bath won’t harm you, but it will certainly do a lot of good for our planet. A daily shower isn’t a matter of health; it’s a matter of comfort.     5    

The future of our planet is in your hands!