【推荐2】Aristotle once wrote that “happiness is a state of activity”. In other words, whether you’re Seeking life-long satisfaction or a few moments of good cheer, you’ve got to move forward. We’ve interviewed the experts and found five steps to take toward a sunny mood:

Over a 30-year period, University of Illinois researchers asked nearly 120,000 people how income, education, political participation, volunteer activities and close relationships affected their happiness. Reported Newsweek^’s Sharon Begley on the findings, “The highest levels of happiness are found with the most stable and satisfying relationships.”

Singing aloud, talking to a stranger, raising your hand: all may increase a feeling of happiness, according to a study from Wake Forest University. Participants followed the development of their moods for two weeks and reported feeling happier when they were more outgoing and less happy when reserved or withdrawn.

The editors of forbes.com gave $5 or $20 to 46 strangers by chance. Half the group was told to spend the money on themselves, while the other half was told to spend it on others. Those who’d shared the wealth felt much happier at the end of the day than those who^’d spent it on themselves. There was no difference in happiness between those who spent $5 or $20, suggesting that it^’s not how much money you spend, but how you spend it, that inspires the spirit.

Studies from the Positive Psychology Center showed that discouraged people who wrote down three good things that happened to them each day for six months reported an improved attitude.

       Drinking water really can help keep you cheerful. A small 2012 study from the University of Connecticut suggested that even slight dehydration affected the moods of its female participants.

【推荐1】New research suggests that a gene that governs the body’s biological (circadian) clock acts differently in males versus females and may protect females from heart disease. The study is the first to analyse circadian blood pressure rhythms(节奏)in female mice.

The body’s circadian clock-the biological clock that organizes bodily activities over a 24-hour period—contributes to normal variations in blood pressure and heart function over the course of the day. In most healthy humans, blood pressure dips(下降)at night. People who do not experience this temporary drop, called “non-dippers”, are more likely to develop heart disease. The circadian clock is made up of four main proteins (encoded by “clock genes”) that regulate close to half of all genes in the body, including those important for blood pressure regulation.

Previous research has shown that male mice that are missing one of the four clock genes (PER1) become non-dippers and have a higher risk for heart and kidney disease. A research team studied the circadian response and blood pressure of female mice that lack PERI and compared them with a healthy female control group. On both low-and high-salt diets, both groups “kept an apparent circadian rhythm” of blood pressure, the researchers explained. Unlike the male mice in previous research, the females without PERI showed normal dips in blood pressure overnight.

These results suggest that the lack of PER1 acts differently in males and females. The findings are consistent with research showing that women are less likely to be non-dippers than men of the same age. “This study represents an important step in understanding sex differences in the regulation of cardiovascular(心血管的)function by the circadian clock,” the researchers wrote.

【推荐2】The documentary “Under the Dome” went viral online just before Chinese lawmakers opened their yearly meeting. The film examines the health effects of China’s massive air pollution, or smog problem. It also presents the difficulties environmental officials face in enforcing laws.

A former reporter for China’s state-run television, Chai Jing, produced the documentary. It argues that state-run businesses, especially energy companies, are part of China’s pollution problem.

At the end of National People’s Congress meeting, a reporter asked Prime Minister Li Keqiang whether he thought the film was correct. Are big oil companies barriers to environmental law enforcement? Mr. Li said under this year’s Environmental Protection Law officials are committed to taking legal action against those who add to the pollution problem. He said anyone involved in acts of illegal production and emissions will be brought to justice. He said the government must make businesses that illegally emit and dump pay a price too heavy to accept.

Others also commented on the film before it was banned, including former basketball star Yao Ming. Mr. Yao served as a representative at the legislative meetings. He said he had watched the film and was thankful for the information film producer Chai Jing made public. He said the film expressed the feelings in many people’s hearts.

A respiratory expert and representative at the legislative meetings also spoke to VOA about “Under the Dome.” Zhong Nanshan said Chai Jing’s film takes a good look at where smog comes from, how harmful it is and the efforts being taken to deal with it. Previously, Mr. Zhong said that China’s smog is an even scarier problem than the serious illness SARS.

【推荐1】For two centuries, the famous University of Cambridge debating society has hosted many outstanding figures, from world leaders to scientists to comedians.

On Nov 21, 2019, the Cambridge Union hosted its first-ever non-human guest. Designed by IBM, Project Debater is a machine that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to form a spoken argument. It can even listen to and answer opposing statements, much like a real person.

Speaking with a voice similar to Siri, Project Debater uses AI to search journals, newspapers and other information sources. It then filters out useless information, picks the strongest arguments, and arranges them into a persuasive argument.

In the Cambridge test debate, it argued the topic: AI will do more harm than good in the long term. According to IBM, it is the first machine that can debate complicated topics with humans.

Before the debate, more than 1,100 arguments for the positives and negatives of AI were submitted to the IBM website. The machine then analyzed these sources and formed the basis of its arguments in minutes. Project Debater then showed off its AI by arguing for both sides of the debate.

Over a four-minute speech, it argued first that, “AI can only make decisions that it has been programmed to solve, while humans can be programmed for all situations.”

In support of AI, it then argued that AI would create new jobs and “bring a lot more efficiency” to the workplace.

According to New Scientist, on both occasions, Project Debater repeated points and didn’t always sufficiently support them.

Speaking to Cambridge Independent, Noam Slonim, the project’s lead engineer, said, “The AI is not perfect, but it’s going in the right direction.”

【推荐2】Getting less sleep has become a bad habit for most American kids. According to a new survey(调查) by the National Sleep Foundation, 51% of kids aged 10 to 18 go to bed at 10 pm or later on school nights, even though they have to get up early. Last year the Foundation reported that nearly 60% of 7- to 12-year-olds said they felt tired during the day, and 15% said they had fallen asleep at school.

How much sleep you need depends a lot on your age. Babies need a lot of rest: most of them sleep about 18 hours a day! Adults need about eight hours. For most school-age children, ten hours is ideal(理想的). But the new National Sleep Foundation survey found that 35% of 10- to 12-year-olds get only seven or eight hours. And guess what almost half of the surveyed kids said they do before bedtime? Watch TV.

“More children are going to bed with TVs on, and there are more opportunities(机会) to stay awake, with more homework, the Internet and the phone,” says Dr. Mary Carskadon, a sleep researcher at Brown University Medical School. She says these activities at bedtime can get kids all excited and make it hard for them to calm down and sleep. Other experts say part of the problem is chemical. Changing levels of body chemicals called hormones not only make teenagers’ bodies develop adult characteristics, but also make it hard for teenagers to fall asleep before 11 pm.

Because sleepiness is such a problem for teenagers, some school districts have decided to start high school classes later than they used to. Three years ago, schools in Edina, Minnesota, changed the start time from 7:25 am to 8:30 am. Students, parents and teachers are pleased with the results.

If you're looking for a moving story that explores themes of mental illness, grief (悲痛), and love, pick up a copy of How It Feels to Float and follow Biz as she comes of age. This moving novel will stay with you long     after you finish reading it.

Put on your crime-solving cap and get swept away in this thriller about a girl, a boy, and a string of unsolved murders. As threats and clues pile up, you’ll be burning the midnight oil trying to finish the book before dawn.

The first book in the Rise of the Empress series takes the bones of a traditional fairy tale — a poor girl fated for power, an evil queen determined to stop her, love for someone who doesn't love back and magic — and gives them a richly imagined East Asian setting.

If the Star Wars movies have made you fall in love with the space opera, eventually you're going to read Frank Herbert's most famous creation. The story of centuries-old political plotting — about warring factions (派系) battling over control of the extremely valuable planet Arrakis — is a classic and remains a wonderful introduction to the larger, more complex world of science fiction just beyond the Star Wars trilogies.

【推荐1】“Heaven is where the police are English,the cooks are French the mechanics are German,the lovers are Italian and everything is organized by the Swiss.Hell is where the.police are German,the cooks are English,the mechanics are French,the lovers are Swiss,and everything is organized by the Italians.”

Obviously the national stereotypes（模式化的思想）in this,old joke are generalizations,but such stereotypes are often said to "exist for a reason".Is there actually a sliver of truth in them?Not likely,an international research team now says.

"National and cultural stereotypes do play an important role in how people see themselves and others,and being aware that these are not dependable is a useful thing,"said study author Robert McCrae of the National Institute on Aging."These are in fact unfounded stereotypes.They don't come from looking around you,"McCrae said.

If national stereotypes aren't rooted in real experiences,then where do they come from?One possibility is that they reflect national values,which may become known from historical events.For example,many historians have argued that the spirit of American individualism has its origins in the experiences of the pioneers on the Old West.

We may be "hard-wired",to some degree,to keep incorrect stereotypes,since we are less likely to notice and remember information that is different from our stereotypes.Generally,according to Robins,when we meet people who are different from our stereotypes,we see them as unique individuals rather than typical national or cultural groups.

【推荐2】The view you adopt for yourself significantly affects the way you lead your life. It can determine whether you become the person you want to be and whether you achieve the things you value. How does this happen? How can a simple belief have the power to transform your psychology and, as a result, your life?

Believing that your qualities are carved in stone—the fixed mindset—creates an urgency to prove yourself over and over. Some of us are trained in this mindset from an early age. Even as a child, I was focused on being smart, but the fixed mindset was really stamped in by Mrs. Wilson, my sixth-grade teacher. She believed that people’s IQ scores told the whole story of who they were. We were seated around the room in IQ order, and only the highest-IQ students could be trusted to collect homework, or take a note to the principal. She was creating a mindset in which everyone in the class had one consuming goal—look smart, don’t look stupid.

I’ve seen so many people with this one consuming goal of proving themselves—in the classroom, in their careers, and in their relationships. Every situation calls for a confirmation of their intelligence, personality, or character. Every situation is evaluated: Will I succeed or fail? Will I look smart or stupid? Will I feel like a winner or a loser?

But doesn’t our society value intelligence, personality, and character? Isn’t it normal to want these qualities? Yes, but...

There’s another mindset, the growth mindset, which is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can develop through your efforts. Although people may differ in every which way—in their inborn talents, interests, or characters—everyone can change and grow through efforts and experience. Did you know that Darwin and Tolstoy were considered ordinary children? That the photographer Cindy Sherman, who has been on almost every list of the most important artists of the twentieth century, failed her first photography course? That Geraldine Page, one of our greatest actresses, was advised to give it up for lack of talent?

You can see how the belief that valuable qualities can be developed creates a passion for learning. Why waste time proving how great you are, when you could be getting better? Why hide weaknesses instead of overcoming them? And why seek out the tried and true, instead of experiences that will stretch you? The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even when it’s not going well, is the feature of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to achieve success during some of the most challenging times in their lives.

【推荐3】Messages in honor of Stan Lee are pouring in on social media and other online sites.

Lee is the creator of famous comic book (连环漫画) characters, including Spider-Man, the Hulk, Black Panther and others. He died in Los Angeles, California, Monday. He was 95 years old. Marvel Entertainment and its parent company, Walt Disney, posted a video about the late writer, editor and publisher on their websites. Disney chairman and chief Bob Iger said Lee is "a super hero in his own right to Marvel fans around the world." He compared Lee to his comic book characters with "the power to inspire, to entertain, and to connect."

Lee was born Stanley Martin Leiber in New York City. He began writing for comic books at 19. He wrote under the name Stan Lee. He explained that he used a false name because he wanted to write a serious and great piece of literature someday. He did not want his link with comic books to be known when that happened. But it never did happen. As the pride in his work grew, he decided to legally change his name to Stan Lee.

Lee's comic book heroes stand apart from its competitor DC, the company that produced the seemingly perfect heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman. Lee's character often had super power, but they also had weaknesses and moral (道德的) failings. In a piece for Marvel in 1969, Lee discussed the importance of creating these balanced characters. Nobody is all good, or all bad, he wrote, like Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man. He is a deeply gifted inventor with serious mental health issues; or, Peter Parker, a sensitive, brainy high-school student who has no idea how to deal with the frightening abilities he gets from the bite of a radioactive spider. Even Steve Rogers, whose Captain America was the most Superman-like of the Marvel group, had problems. Rejected as a candidate for the armed forces, he volunteers to take a "supersoldier" substance to make him a super-fighting machine.

Actor Chris Evans has played that character in several Hollywood films. He posted a tribute (悼念) to Captain America's creator on Twitter Monday."There will never be another Stan Lee," he wrote. Actor, writer and funny man Seth Rogen never played one of Lee's characters but he remembered him with thanks in a Tweet."Thank you Stan Lee for making people who feel different realize they are special," he wrote.