1 . The Stanford marshmallow (棉花糖) test was originally done by psychologist Walter Mischel in the late 1960s. Children aged four to six at a nursery school were placed in a room. A single sugary treat (甜食), selected by the child, was placed on a table. Each child was told if they waited for 15 minutes before eating the treat, they would be given a second treat. Then they were left alone in the room. Follow-up studies with the children later in life showed a connection between an ability to wait long enough to get a second treat and various forms of success.

As adults, in fact, we face “the marshmallow test” every day. We’re not tempted (诱惑) by sugary treats, but by our computers, phones, and tablets — all the devices that connect us to the global delivery system for various types of information that do to us what marshmallows do to preschoolers.

We are tempted by sugary treats because our ancestors lived in a calorie-poor world, and our brains developed an ability to respond to these treats that reflected their value — a feeling of reward and satisfaction. But as we’ve reshaped the world around us, greatly reducing the cost and effort involved in getting calories, we still have the same brains we had thousands of years ago, and this mismatch is at the heart of why so many of us struggle to resist (抑制) tempting foods that we know we shouldn’t eat.

A similar process is at work in our response to information. Our formative (发展的) environment as a species was information-poor, so our brains developed a system that prized new information. But global connectivity has greatly changed our information environment. We are now constantly bombarded (轰炸) with new information. Therefore, just as we need to be more thoughtful about our intake of calories, we also need to be more thoughtful about our intake of information, and refuse to accept the temptation of the mental “junk food” in order to manage our time most effectively.

2 . Parkinson’s disease (帕金森病) is the second most common neurodegenerative (神经退行性) disease worldwide. It affects about 1% to 2% of people aged 65 and over. As the global population ages, the prevalence (流行率) of Parkinson’s disease will increase greatly. Nowadays, more than 6 million people worldwide have Parkinson’s disease, and there are about 60,000 new patients each year.

A recent study was carried out by Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. The study monitored the health of hundreds of Parkinson’s patients for up to five years. They studied two groups of people. One group of 147 people practised regular (有规律的) tai chi, aided by training class to improve their technique. The traditional Chinese exercise combines slow gentle movements with deep breathing and relaxation. The other group of 187 patients continued with their common care, but didn’t practise tai chi.

After five years of study, the researchers found that Parkinson’s disease progressed more slowly in the tai chi group. This group also saw fewer falls, less back pain and fewer memory problems than the other group. At the same time, sleep and quality of life continuously improved. An earlier test of people with Parkinson’s who practised tai chi for six months found greater improvements in walking, posture (姿态) and balance than those not on the programme. Experts say the findings support earlier studies on the benefits of exercise for those with Parkinson’s.

Writing in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, researchers say their study shows that tai chi has the long-term beneficial effects on Parkinson’s disease, which include making quality of life last longer, reducing the task on nursing care and drug (药物) use, while still helping to keep patients active. Tai chi has a potential improvement effect on both motor and non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease patients. They also find that tai chi training is safe for patients with early primary Parkinson’s disease.

This was an observational (观察性的) study, so the relationship between tai chi and improvement in Parkinson’s disease could not be sure. But the researchers will continue to study it.

3 . What exactly is intelligence? There aren’t any easy answers. Despite the progress that has been made in genetics and psychology, human intelligence has remained one of the most areas of modern science that causes public discussion until now, for the discovery of a gene (基因) linked to intelligence has made the experts think again.

Robert Plomin of the Institute of Psychiatry in London and his colleagues in the US have been looking into genetic make-up. From their research, they have discovered that a slightly different gene is more common in those with a high IQ. Plomin analyzed DNA from two groups of 51 children aged between 6 and 15. What he found was that the first group had an IQ of 136, putting them in the top 5% of the population, while the other group had an average IQ of 103. An analysis of their genes showed that 32% of children in the higher group had the gene in question, while only 16% in the second group did. However, there is a lot more research to be done, and Plomin himself is cautious at this early stage. He suggests that there are probably many genes connecting to intelligence, rather than just one.

Several studies have shown a strong link between IQ and career success, although some psychologists are not sure about this. Professor Michael Rowe, who has written a book called Genius Explained, is one of these. “The people with the highest IQs are not usually the ones who do best in their careers.”             

Many psychologists now believe that when it comes to intelligence, IQ isn’t everything. Many different views have been put forward recently. One example is the idea of multiple intelligences (多元智能), which was developed in the 1980s by Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner. This offers a much broader view than the IQ theory, including creativity and communication skills as related factors in intelligence.

Tony Buzan, a brain expert and author of Master your Memory, is excited about this belief, arguing that true geniuses do indeed appear to combine high levels of each type of intelligence. He lists Alexander the Great, Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein as examples. At the same time, Buzan believes that everyone can develop their intelligence, only if they take the trouble to exercise their brain. Perhaps there’s hope for us all!

4 . When almost everyone has a mobile phone, why are more than half of Australian homes still paying for a landline (座机)?

These days, it would be hard for you to find anyone in Australia over the age of 15 who doesn’t own a mobile phone. In fact, plenty of younger kids have one in their pocket. Practically everyone can make and receive calls anywhere, anytime.

Still, 55% of Australians have a landline phone at home and only just over a quarter (29%) rely only on their smartphones, according to a survey. Of those Australians who still have a landline, a third concede that it’s not really necessary and they’re keeping it for a feeling of safety-19% say they never use it while a further 13% keep it in case of accidents. I think my home falls into that group.

More than half of Australian homes are still choosing to stick with their home phones. Age is naturally a factor—only 58% of Generation Ys (出生于1980至1990年末的一代人) still use landlines now and then, compared to 84 % of Baby Boomers (二战后生育高峰期出生的人) who’ve perhaps had the same home number for 50 years. Age isn’t the only factor. I’d say it’s also to do with the makeup of your family.

Generation Xs (出生于1960至1970年的一代人) with young families, like my wife and I, can still find it convenient to have a home phone rather than providing a mobile phone for every family member. To be honest, the only people who ever ring our home phone are our Baby Boomers parents. Sometimes, we play a game and guess who is calling before we pick up the phone (using Caller ID would take the fun out of it).

How much do you depend on your landline? How long will they be used before going the way of gas street lamps and morning milk deliveries?

5 . If you ever have the desire to break out into song in the shower, in the car, maybe at your neighbor’s karaoke night—you should embrace it whole-heartedly. This ancient art not only makes you feel good, but it can also improve your well-being, reduce your feelings of pain, and even extend your life.

Using your voice to sing, rather than simply carrying out a conversation, offers unique benefits because singing affects our bodies. Also, studies link singing with a lower heart rate decreased blood pressure and reduced stress according to Patricia Preston-Roberts, a music therapist (治疗师). She uses the song to help patients who suffer from a variety of problems.

Singing, particularly in a group, seems to benefit the elderly particularly well. As part of a three-year study examining how singing affects the health of those fifty-five and older, a Senior Singers Chorus was formed by the Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C. The seniors involved in the chorus, as well as seniors in two separate arts groups about writing and painting, showed significant health improvements compared to those in the control groups (控制组). Obviously, the arts groups reported thirty fewer doctors’ visits, fewer eyesight problems, less depression, and less need for medication.

Even lead researcher Dr. Gene.D.Cohen director of the Center on aging at George Washington University, was surprised at how big an effect the seniors’ arts participation had on their health. Cohen said, “The average age of all the subjects was eighty. This is higher than life expectancy. So, if an effect were to be achieved, one would ordinarily expect to see less decline (下降) compared to the control group. The fact that there was so much improvement in many areas was the surprising factor.” The seniors also noticed health improvements and they reported feeling better both in daily life and while singing.

The part of the brain that works with speech is different from the part that processes music. “People seem to enjoy doing something jointly with other people. There are a lot of facts that being socially involved is good for people with dementia (老年痴呆).” Ballard said.

The arts are showing up as a treatment tool in hospitals across the country. If you are thinking of volunteering, singing at a hospital may be a good choice—not only for the patients, but also for yourself.

6 . Kite flying is the sport of sending up into the air, by means of the wind, a light frame covered with paper, plastic or cloth. The frame can be one of many different shapes and is attached to a long string held in the hand or wound on a drum. Kites have a long history of practical application and many different types of kites have been developed to serve various purposes.

The ancient Chinese used bird-kites to carry ropes across rivers and valleys. The present folding kite which will dive excitingly is an improved type of such a kite. With its long flat body and single pair of bird-like wings, it looks just like a large bird in the air. The modern version is usually made of tissue-paper rather than the traditional silk.

Man-lifting kites were developed in ancient times, again by the Chinese, for getting information from walled cities and army camps. In fact, as recently as World War II, German U-boats (德国U型潜艇兵) flew kites from their towers to lift people into the air to watch the land. These kites, which are no longer in existence, were made of light-weight cloth. They were much larger and stronger than the Chinese ones. Their design, however, was simply that of the cutter kite. Smaller in size, this type of kite is still very popular as a toy for children, being easy to make with a diamond-shaped frame, no wings and brown-paper covering.

Box-kites are another type of kites found in toy shops today. The first box-kite, named for its box-like body, was developed in the nineteenth century to test theories of flight and this type of cotton-covered kite greatly led to the success of early planes. These kites are the ancestors of a heavier version of the box-kite, which consists of two main sections, placed side by side. Developed for the peacetime purpose of fishing in strong sea wind, it is the only modern kite described which has practical value. A long-lasting plastic material has to be used for this kite, which carries fishing lines.

10 . Nowadays electronic devices are becoming wireless (无线的). We can listen to songs by using earphones without wires. A mouse or keyboard can be run on a computer without wires. Many of them use Bluetooth. Bluetooth is the technology that allows the exchange of data between different devices. However, have you ever wondered why it is called Bluetooth?

Bluetooth was named after Harald Bluetooth, a 10th-century king of Denmark (丹麦). He was famous for uniting Denmark and Norway into one kingdom. His dead tooth, which was a dark blue color earned him the nickname Bluetooth. In 1996, Jim Kardach from Intel suggested Bluetooth as the name because King Harald Bluetooth united two kingdoms just as people wanted to connect computers with other electronic devices. The Bluetooth logo is a combination of Harald’s initials (首字母) ‘H(ᚼ)’ and ‘B(ᛒ)’ written in Nordic runes (古代北欧文字).

Developed in the late 1990s, Bluetooth has become increasingly popular. On May 20, 1999, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) was set up and the first Bluetooth specification (标准), Bluetooth 1.0, was published in the same year. The Sony Ericsson T36 became the first mobile phone to include Bluetooth in 2001. The Bluetooth SIG published the latest Bluetooth 5.3 on July 13, 2021.

Besides Bluetooth headsets, there are more things people can do with Bluetooth. Bluetooth can connect up to seven devices to one master device at the same time and allows users to exchange voice and data transmissions (传送) between two or more devices. For example, we can print wirelessly across the room with a Bluetooth printer. Without Bluetooth, each device would have to be joined together by wires, meaning we could never sit more than a few meters away from the screen.

Bluetooth offers many advantages, but there are drawbacks, too. We have to charge (充电) Bluetooth devices more often because Bluethooth shortens battery life. Besides, Bluetooth technology easily finds nearby devices so hackers (黑客) can see which devices are nearby and attack them, especially in public places like airports, trains and cafes. What’s more, most Bluetooth devices must be within about 10 meters of each other and has slow data speed.