1 . Clubs

3 . Monkeys Show a Sense of Fairness

Most humans expect to receive fair treatment. How about other species? To test whether or not such behavior is found in other species, scientists designed an experiment for brown capuchin monkeys. The study showed that brown capuchin monkeys might feel the same way. This is the first time scientists have seen this kind of behavior in a species except humans.

Sarah Brosnan, the leader of the study, chose brown capuchin monkeys for the research because capuchins are known to have strong social bonds. In other words, they have close relationships (关系) with other capuchins. They also cooperate, for example, they share responsibilities for food-gathering activities such as finding fruit trees.

Individuals were drawn from two large social groups of captive (人工饲养的) brown capuchins from colonies at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and paired with a partner. Pairs were placed next to each other and trained to exchange (交换) a small rock with researchers within 60 seconds to receive a reward, in most cases, a piece of cucumber. “That may actually sound simple, but not very many species are willing to relinquish things,” Brosnan said,   “Think of trying to take a large bone from a dog’s mouth.”

Only female capuchins were tested because they most closely monitor equity, or fair treatment, among their peers. Partners of capuchins who made the exchange either received the same reward (a cucumber slice), or a better reward (a grape, a more desirable food), for the same amount of work or, in some cases, for performing no work at all.

Brosnan said the response (反应) to the unfair treatment was surprising. When a capuchin saw its partner get better treatment, it was unhappy. Some capuchins did not want to continue the test or eat the cucumbers they received. Some threw their food at the researchers.

Brosnan’s research suggests there is a connection between animal cooperation and a dislike of unfair treatment. However, as Brosnan explains, “We don’t know whether monkeys become cooperative and then learn to not like being treated unfairly, or the other way around. But that opens up a whole new research field.”

4 .

Now, programs for kids to read to dogs are popular around the world to help improve their reading. Does the idea really work? Would students get the same benefits by reading to an adult, or to a teddy bear?

In 2014, a group of scientists in South Africa decided to find it out. Their experiment (实验) looked at a hundred third graders. The students were divided into four groups. One group read to the dog. A second group read to a teddy bear. A third group read to an adult. And the fourth group followed normal school activities, with no extra reading time. The students were tested on reading skills before the program began. They were tested again after ten weeks.

The results are amazing——the dog group won! Students in the dog group understood what they were reading better than students in the other groups. When the students were tested eight weeks after the study ended, the students in the dog group were still the winners.

Why did the students who read to dogs do best? Understanding that starts with the brain. A part of the brain is called Broca’s area. Scientists believe the size of this part is important for reading and it’s greatly affected (影响) by things like stress. And a comfortable environment is exactly what reading to dogs provides. When kids read to dogs, their stress levels usually go down.

Stress levels affect the learning and memory areas of the brain. There is a chemical marker (化学标记物) of stress named cortisol in our bodies, and studies show that petting dogs reduces cortisol levels. Petting dogs also typically increases (提升) a feel-good chemical called oxytocin. So adding a friendly dog to reading practice acts as a shield against the effects of stress.

Robriq, a student from Colorado, reads to a dog named Nella each week. “It is unusual to catch me reading a book, and I usually only read the first few pages. But I like it when I read to Nella. I like the company, and she really enjoys being read to.” Robriq says that his idea about reading has changed since starting the program. “It has encouraged me to read.”

Good news! Virtual (虚拟的) tours are becoming a hit now. Click your way through different museums and interesting places, and open yourself up to a new world at home!

6 . Steve was making salsa (辣番茄酱) for the family. He worked slowly, making perfect slices of onions and peppers.

“Mom, do we have more tomatoes?” he asked.

“Oh, we need some,” she replied. “Let’s run down to the market.”

As they hurried past the playground, neighborhood boys were playing basketball. Mom knew they didn’t often invite Steve to join them, and she noticed how sad her son looked as they passed.

“Steve, what do you think about basketball?” she asked gently.

“I like it, Mom,” he answered, “but I’m short. And my hands aren’t so good at dribbling (运球), either.”

“Well,” Mom said, “your hands may not be the best for basketball, but they are great with peelers (削皮刀).”

Steve nodded. He knew he was a star in the kitchen and he could make a delicious meal.

As they arrived at the market’s vegetable stands, Steve searched for juiciest tomatoes. At the first stand, he saw ugly tomatoes. “Ugh! Not buying them,” he called to his mother.

The farmer, hearing him, walked over. “Smell this,” he said. Steve breathed in and was surprised by its rich, earth y aroma (香味). “Wow, if this tastes as good as it smells…”

But then Steve noticed round, rosy tomatoes at the next stand, so he took one. Seeing that, the farmer called out, “Before you buy any tomato, smell it first.”

Steve’s nose quickly told him it would not taste as good. “Hmm,” he said, turning back to the first stand, “I guess not-so-pretty on the outside doesn’t tell you anything about what’s inside.”

“Now you’re talking, young man,” said the farmer. “Seems like you’ve got a good eye—and a sharp nose!”

“That’s right!” Steve’s mom said, looking proudly at her son. “He’s got a sharp mind, too!” Steve smiled happily.

7 .

In our dining room was a large painting. I asked two three-year-old guests, “What do you see in my father’s painting?” “It’s water,” said one of the children. The other added, “There are rocks in the water.” In their eyes, water and rocks were the outstanding parts in the painting. But when they saw another large painting of trees in autumn in the kitchen, neither child saw the trees. One said the painting was “lots of colors.” Why did the kids not see the trees? The answer may have to do with the way they looked at the painting.

In 2017, some scientists studied the way children and adults looked at five paintings by Vincent Van Gogh. As the participants (参与者) looked freely at the paintings, their eye movements were recorded. The children in the study were eleven years old. However, there were still differences in their eye movements from those of the adults. The children first looked at the most outstanding parts of the paintings.

In an older paper, psychologists J. S. Bruner and N. H. Mackworth, also studied the way adults and six-year-old children looked at pictures. They reported that adults were better than kids at picking out the informative (提供信息的) parts of a picture. But how do adults do that? Past experience works, as well as the way the adults looked at the pictures. By moving their eyes back and forth across the same areas of the picture, adults could compare and correlate (关联) different parts of the picture with each other.

Whenever my adult friends come to my house, they have no trouble understanding my father’s painting of autumn trees. As they look through the painting, they pick up and follow the long dark lines (线条) that are the trees. But my two three-year-old guests may have fixed their eyes on the bright colors and did not look at the pictures the same way as adults do.

These studies make us realize something important about vision. In order to understand a picture or a real-life scene, we need to pay enough attention to the details (细节) to identify the objects, but we must also take in the wider view to understand the relationship of one object to another. There is no seeing without looking. As we learn to look, we improve our ability to see throughout life.

8 .

“When a snow leopard walks to its prey (猎物) among the mountain walls, it moves...softly, slowly,” explains a scientist. “If it knocks a stone loose, it will reach out a foot to stop it from falling and making noise.” One might be moving silently right now, maybe close by. But where?

The snow leopard is one of the world’s most special animals. People can only find them in the mountainous areas of Central Asia.

Snow leopards have been protected since 1975, but it has been not easy to do that. Many people kill them for their fur and body parts to sell on the black market. When snow leopards hunt (狩猎) at night, they may kill the animals of herders (牧民). So in recent years, conflict (冲突) with local herders has also led to a number of snow leopard deaths .

As a result, the actual number of snow leopards may already have dropped below 3,500. The only way to change this, say conservationists (自然保护主义者), is to make them more valuable alive than dead.

To solve this problem, local government has called for an end to snow leopard killings. They’ve also tried to make people realize that the leopards are endangered, and it is important to protect them. Some officials are also helping to slow snow leopard killings. An organization (组织) has set up Himalayan Homestays, a program that sends visitors to herders’ houses. Visitors pay about ten dollars a night. So herders can earn enough money to make up for the lost because of snow leopards. It also provides herders with environmental classes at village schools, and trains them as nature guides. In exchange, the herders agree not to kill snow leopards.

In Mongolia, a project called SLE helps herders earn extra money to stop them from killing the endangered cat. SLE buys hand-made things from herding families and sells them abroad. However, herders must agree to protect the snow leopards and to encourage neighbors to do the same.

Projects like the Homestays program and SLE’s business are doing well. They make the leopards more valuable to more people each year. If these programs continue to do well, the snow leopard may just have a fighting chance.