3 . Soap (肥皂) might seem like a reasonable way to avoid mosquito bites (蚊子叮) on the basis that if mosquitoes can’t smell you, they can’t bite you. However, a recent study has found that rather than protecting you, certain soaps might actually make you more attractive to mosquitoes.

In the study, conducted at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, four volunteers were asked to wear a sleeve before and after washing with four different brands of soap. The researchers then watched female mosquitoes as only females feed on blood landing on the fabric sample to show their preference. They found that some people washing with some brands of soap, increased their attractiveness to mosquitoes, while washing with other brands of soap tended to repel (驱除) mosquitoes. The repellent effect of some soap may be due to its coconut scent, as coconut oil is known to act as a natural mosquito repellent. The reason behind this attraction is believed to be related to mosquitoes’ sugar intake. When mosquitoes are not feeding on blood, they add their diet with plant juice or sweet water from flowers, “The fact we are taking those flowery and fruity smells and putting them on our bodies means that now the same object smells like a flower and a person at the same time,” said Clément Vinauger, who led the study. It would be like waking up and smelling the smell of coffee and bread, very attractive.

Interestingly, the effects of the soap varied among people, possibly due to the interaction (相互作用) between the soap and each person’s unique body scent. “It’s remarkable that the same person that is extremely attractive to mosquitoes when he is unwashed, but he becomes even more attractive to mosquitoes with one soap, and then become repellent to mosquitoes with another soap,” said Vinauger. Further research is needed to better understand the interaction between different soap and body scents, as well as to develop more effective mosquito repellents.

4 . The design theory behind a pair of tiny robots may one day find its way into environmental monitoring, as well as search and-rescue tasks. Modeled after a water strider (水黾), an insect, the two robots each weigh in at 8 and 55 milligrams, and may mark the smallest, lightest, and fastest fully functional micro-robots in the world, according to Washington State University (WSU).

Developed by a team of WSU researchers, the robots’ tininess largely relies on a material known as a shape memory alloy (合金). Although shape memory alloys change form when heated, they can “remember” their original shapes and return to them after cooling. Because of this, the two micro-robots do not require standard motors, and they use light and small ones instead of bulky moving parts.

Both the robots’ motors are each made up of two shape memory alloys, allowing them to move their fins as fast as 40 times a second while also lifting over 150 times their weight. “They’re very technologically sound. The development of the very lightweight robots opens up new possibilities in micro-robotics,” said Conor Trygstad, a material engineering PhD student and study lead author. “Although the robots are impressive when compared to other robots, the pair still fall behind their biological relatives’,” Trygstad said. They can currently move at a speed of about six millimeters a second; a water strider, by comparison, speeds along at about a meter per second. For now, the robots also require wired (连线的) power sources, thus seriously preventing any real-world applications for the moment.

Going forward, however, the team plans to copy other small insect species while also creating a new water strider robot which can move at a higher speed. Depending on using small batteries could also greatly increase the robots’ areas of use, If the breakthrough designs continue improving, similar micro-robots could one day be employed to monitor hard-to-reachor dangerous environments.

5 . One of the most commonly asked questions in the English language is “How are you?” and whether a person is feeling happy or sad, excited or lonely, fantastic or heartbroken they will just about always answer “Fine”. Why is this? Is it because humans are not good at expressing their emotions? Maybe it is just that emotions are often too personal or too complex to be shared in a casual conversation. However, for centuries, people have often expressed their emotions on paper, in the form of poetry.

The beauty of poetry is that the emotions the poet is trying to convey are often disguised in images so that the poet can maintain a feeling of privacy. For example, in Li Bai’s poem, “Seeing Meng Haoran Off at Yellow Crane Tower”, the poet describes the sail of his friend’s boat rules disappearing into the distance while he watches the river rolling by. This could seem merely like the description of a beautiful scene, but by reading into the poem, you can sense the deep sadness and loneliness that his friend’s leaving has caused him.

Poetry is also written to celebrate positive human emotions like joy, love and happiness. Throughout history, men and women have written poems to their loved ones to express their deep feelings. Poems about nature, which express the poet’s appreciation of the beauty in the world around him or her, are also common. Sadly, many poems have also been written to express anger at the destruction of nature and reactions to horrific events like war and death.

The interesting thing about poetry is that anyone reading a poem can have their own view or feelings about it and heated discussions can often arise over what the poet was originally trying to say or express. Poetry can be interpreted in many different ways. Often, a poem that one person loves another hates. Equally, a poem that one person understands and relates to, may turn another person off.

8 . Dallas-based Knit Wits is made up of a group of grandmothers with a strong love for knitting (编织) who tum their love for crafting into a purposeful attempt. Meeting regularly, they pour their collective love into every stitch (针法) they make. The group has been working for over ten years, meeting every Friday, to support organizations that help others, locally and around the world. Over the years, they’ve crafted thousands of items insupport of the important things.

Recently the Knit Wits member Mary Ann Stover was inspired to have the group knit hats for infant (婴儿) patients with heart disease at Children’s Health Hospital. The hats, each a unique work of art, designed with holiday themes, reflect the skill of the Knit Wits. More importantly, the special of Knit Wits is its understanding of the emotional effect these small objects can have on the infants experiencing medical treatments.

Bealle, a certified child life specialist at Children’s Health Hospital, explained how the hats are making a difference to the tiny patients and their families. “Caregivers are able to wear the hats on their body to move their smells before placing the hats back on the infants, encouraging connecting and making the infants less stressful,” he said.

Throughout the infants’ admission, many holidays are celebrated. At times, some infants are seriously ill and unable to dress up for holiday photos the families have planned. Thanks to the donations from Knit Wits, the hospital team is able to prove the family with a suitable themed infant hat the family can use for their photos and holiday celebrations.

9 . Loss of slow-wave sleep as you age may increase your risk of developing dementia (痴呆), according to a new study.

“We found that aging was associated with a decline in the amount of the deepest stages of sleep, known as slow-wave sleep. We then found that people with greater declines in slow-wave sleep over time had a higher risk of getting dementia over the next 17 years of follow-up,” said Matthew Pase, senior author of the study.

Slow-wave sleep is the third and fourth stages of sleep, which is important for brain health. During this stage, the body removes unwanted or harmful materials from the brain. “For the brain, this deep sleep is thought to be the most restorative,” said Dr Richard Isaacson, who wasn’t involved in the study.

The researchers wanted to know whether chronic (慢性的) reductions in slow-wave sleep over time are linked to dementia risk in humans and whether dementia-related processes in the brain may contribute to getting less of this type of sleep. They studied 346 people with an average age of 69 and completed two overnight sleep studies—one between 1995 and 1998 and the second between 1998 and 2001—during which their sleep was monitored. The researchers also investigated whether any change in the amount of slow-wave sleep that participants got was associated with developing dementia up to 17 years after they completed the sleep studies. By that time, 52 participants had been diagnosed with dementia. Each percentage decrease in slow-wave sleep per year was linked to a 27 percent increased risk of developing dementia. The rate of slow-wave sleep loss accelerated (加速) from age 60, peaked from ages 75 to 80and slowed afterwards.

“This is an important study yet again showing the impact of quality of sleep on a person’s risk of cognitive decline and dementia,” Isaacson said. “It’s important to not only pay attention to the total amount of sleep a person gets each night, but also monitor sleep quality as best as possible.”

10 . “Beijing’s Forbidden City can be at risk of being flooded, but it’s not because modern technologies and repairs have deteriorated the drainage (排水) system,” Beijing News Radio reported.

The report is in response to a popular online view: The Forbidden City, the royal palace of Ming and Qing dynasties also known as the Palace Museum, has never been flooded throughout its history of more than 600 years.

Earlier, a video showed ankle-deep water near the Forbidden City’s Cining Palace, where the royal women used to live. Some netizens have questioned whether modern drainage repair works have made the system much weaker.

Di Yajing, an official in control of affairs relating to the site, told Beijing News Radio that the Forbidden City has a complex (复杂的) drainage system. “Rain coming down from roofs was guided to the basement and then to the drains,” she said, adding that rainwater would flow from the central of the palace to both sides, and from north to south, due to differences in heights.

“The drains were cleared once a year in springtime in ancient times and nowadays they are cleared three times a year except in winter,” the report said. “Although the number of clearing increased every year, it’s not modern technology that worsened the ability of the drainage system,” the report said. During the clearing process, workers found lots of modern objects such as plastic bottles and bags, even towels and clothing, and these things resulted in the blocking of the drainage system.

In addition, there are plenty of records that have recorded occasions in which the palace was flooded and some roofs or walls were damaged by floodwaters, according to the report. For example, a rain in 1885 led to floodwaters of about 1 meter deep. Every time people would have to find out the place of blockage, clear it and then the drainage system would work well right away.