【推荐2】Have you ever climbed a tree? When was the last time you took a walk in a park? When you’re busy with schoolwork, it can be hard to find time to spend outdoors. However, this can really be bad for your health. Spending time in nature can do good to their future life.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that more than 450 million people around the world have some kinds of mental disorders (精神失常). But spending time outdoors might be good for them.

According to researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark, children who spend more time outside are less likely (可能性较小) to have mental disorders later in life.

Researchers mapped the number of “green space” around the homes of 1 million Danes (丹麦人) who were born between 1985 and 2003. They compared this data with the risk of developing one of 16 different mental disorders later in life. They found that people who grow up in “green” areas are 55 percent less likely to develop mental disorders after they grow up.

“Having more green space in a special area means there are probably fewer roads and less pollution. This gives people more chances to exercise and communicate with each other. Simply being in a green area can help people relax. All of these can have an influence on mental health,” the lead scientist Kristine Engemann told Science Daily.

Have you heard that humans only use 10 percent of their brain power, and that if you could unlock the rest of your brainpower, you could do so much more? A 2020 study showed that about 65 percent of Americans believe the idea. But it is wrong!

Scientists have shown that humans use their brain throughout each day and every part of the brain is necessary for our daily functioning(功能), whether it’s about colors or problem solving. Research has not find a brain area that is completely inactive, even during simple activities. Many brain imaging studies show how different parts of the brain work together when a person is doing a task.

However, some brain images seem to support the 10 percent idea, because they often show small bright spots on a gray brain. This may suggest that only the bright spots have brain activity, but that isn’t the case. Those bright spots represent brain areas that are more active when someone’s doing a task compared to when they’re not. The gray spots are still active, just to a lower level.

A more direct counter to the 10 percent idea lies in people who have suffered brain damage. These people can no longer do as a result of that damage, or can still do just as well. If the 10 percent idea were true, damage to 90 percent of the brain wouldn’t affect daily life. Yet studies show that damaging even a very small part of the brain may make people disabled or even dead.

The main power of the 10 percent wrong idea is that you could do so much more if only you could unlock the rest of your brain. It’s unclear how the myth spread in the first place, but it has been popular on self-improvement books, which tell you that you can do better.

【推荐1】Known as the birthplace of kites, Weifang in Shandong province has a long history of making kites. According to local artisans (工匠), the Weifang kite-making can date back to 2,000 years ago. At first, they were often used for measuring distances and communicating. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), kites started to be popular among ordinary people as entertainment(娱乐). In 2006, the Weifang kite-making was included in the national-level intangible cultural heritage(非物质文化遗产) lists.

Yang Hongwei, 56, was born into a kite-making family. Yang often saw kites with bright colors and different shapes in her grandfather’s workshop. “Every time I see these beautiful kites, my sadness and down feelings go away,” said Yang. Yang started to learn the skill from her grandfather at the age of 16. After practicing the skill for 10 years, she started her own shop in 1992.

On Yang’s kites, people can see not only common styles like butterflies and swallows, but also some prints telling Chinese traditional stories, legends and history. For example, she once made a kite showing a phoenix head (凤头) lined with paintings of 50 famous women in Chinese history on each side. Though the idea was cool, the process was not easy. Yang said that each woman had different characters in appearance, clothing and the makeup style. To create their images, she spent much effort and time checking historical records or discussing the details with experts.

In her spare time, she also travels to different countries including Germany, Australia, the US and New Zealand to tell people about Chinese stories seen on kites and the traditional ways of making kites. “I’m an inheritor of the culture. It’s also one of my important jobs to spread the heritage around the world and onto the next generation(一代人).”   she said.

A lost Buddha (佛像) head statue, which recently made the journey back to China, appeared during the Spring Festival Party of China Central Television. It was its first public show after being successfully sent back from Japan on the second Saturday of December, 2020.

The head, dating back to the Sui Dynasty (581-618), was originally placed on the northern wall in the No.8 Tianlongshan Grottoes on the suburbs of Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi Province, according to a statement from the National Cultural Heritage Administration (国家文物局).

It was believed to be stolen and lost overseas around 1924, along with about 240 Buddha images that were robbed in the 1920s. This 44.5-cm-high Buddha head is the first among these stolen items to be returned from Japan.

The National Cultural Heritage Administration learned in September a Chinese Buddha head statue labeled as from Tang Dynasty (618-907) was about to be sold in Tokyo, and was thought to be a stolen piece from Tianlongshan.

The administration soon began the process of returning it home. In October, the auction house in Tokyo, whose board chairman Zhang Rong is a Chinese from Hangzhou, agreed to stop the auction.

After discussions between the National Cultural Heritage Administration, Zhang, and the local holder of the relic in Japan, the Buddha head was bought by Zhang and finally gave away to the administration.

The transfer ceremony (交接仪式) for the statue was held in the Chinese Embassy (大使馆) in Tokyo in November, and it arrived in Beijing in December.

After being shown on the Spring Festival Party, the Buddha head statue will be displayed in Beijing Lu Xun Museum from the first day of the Lunar New Year to March 14.

【推荐1】

China’s flying cars take wing on world stage

BY TOM GREEN|WORLDDAILY|Updated:2024-01-1708:31

With innovative (革新的) technological experience, Chinese high-tech products, from new robots, electric cars, to smart phones and so on, have shown a strong ability on the international stage and become the new favourites of CES participants.

At the CES 2024 in Las Vegas, which is the most powerful tech event in the world, China’s flying cars attracted media and people from all over the world.

According to the vice-president of a Hi-tech company, their flying car is for both road, driving and flying and has completed its first flight.“Drivers can easily switch between flying and driving modes,” he said. “When you’re driving on the road, it operates as an intelligent car. It’s about the size of a regular car. In flight mode, it can take off and fly over traffic jams and rivers.”

During the research and development process of flying cars, Chinese super-car companies have faced various challenges and difficulties. These challenges could be either good or bad, but they are normal. Challenge is a natural part of operating in any country. “Facing the challenges,” the manager of a super-car company said, “Our first method is to stick to our goal: Developing products to solve problems for human beings and consumers and building a new mode of transportation for the future—giving cars wings. Second, in key technologies, we insist on complete self-development. In this way, we not only can better control our costs and quality, but also improve our competitive strength.”

The influence of flying cars on human life could be great, affecting everything from daily routines to global transportation networks. However, achieving smarter travel will require further efforts.