2 . It’s really a challenge for people to find consistent motivation to exercise regularly. Wishing not to hit gyms, you can invent tons of excuses. However, out of most people’s expectation, a certain amount of physical exercise every week can stop your IQ from declining.

IQ, to a large degree, is determined by genes. It has long been established that genes account for about 70 percent of IQ. And environmental factors, like diet, quality of education and brain stimulation, affect the other 30 percent.

IQ can be put into two types — “fluid” and “crystallized” intelligence. The former refers to the ability to reason and think flexibly, while the latter refers to the build-up of knowledge, facts, and skills that are acquired throughout life. The two have a dynamic relationship: fluid IQ decides how much information you can take in and how fast you can take it in, which means a higher fluid IQ contributes to your crystallized IQ. They keep growing until your early twenties, when they both reach the peak. Unfortunately, this will not keep the same for the rest of your life. Fluid intelligence declines rapidly with age.

What causes this decline? It all comes down to your cardiovascular (心血管的) system. It calls for a large amount of oxygen for the brain to function well. The less exercise you have as you get old, the less oxygen your heart provides to supply your brain. Exercise also promotes the release of certain chemicals that are critical to the brain’s health, bringing about better concentration and memory.

Taking proper physical exercise can help to prevent IQ from declining as you get older. Why not choose to hit the gym for the sake of IQ intelligence?

3 . Following its recent success in hosting the 19th Asian Games, Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, celebrated the opening of a related grand sporting event, the 4th Asian Para Games, with an emotohally engaging opening ceremony on Sunday night.

The ceremony, themed “Hearts Meet, Dreams Shine”, was held at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium. also known as the “Big Lotus”.

While the opening ceremony on Sept 23 of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou showcased to the world the host city’s rich cultural heritage, picturesque scenery and technological prowess (造诣), the opening ceremony of the Asian Para Games focused more on the softer side of Hangzhou and its people.

The ceremony featured the osmanthus (桂花), the city flower of Hangzhou, as the key element to convey the “sunny, harmonious, persevering and sharing” spirit of the Para Games.

Following an opening show featuring a first-person narration by a partially sighted young girl who welcomed guests from a long distance while the osmanthus is in full blossom, spectators cheered as Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang declared the opening of the sporting gala.

Twenty-two massive bunches of golden osmanthus, which represent the 22 sports featured in the event, served as the centerpiece of the ceremony.

With the help of technology, the bouquets took on different configurations —sometimes as water, sometimes as arched bridges —before eventually turning into a giant crown hung in the air, welcoming the athletes as they entered the stadium.

Majid Rashed, the president of the Asian Paralympic Committee, expressed appreciation for the Chinese host’s thorough organization. “The huge efforts of the Chinese government and the organizing committee in making these Games a success, is helping us to get closer to achieving our vision of creating an inclusive Asia through sport,” said Rashed, who thanked the organizing committee for its “tireless efforts, which will make these the best ever Asian Para Games, I’m sure”.

In the next six days, the Para Games will see 3,100 athletes from 44 countries and regions compete in 564 medal events in 22 sports.

4 . Formula One Lenovo Chinese Grand Prix 2024

From April 19 to 21, the much-anticipated 2024 Formula One Lenovo Chinese Grand Prix will come alive with the roar of engines at the Shanghai International Circuit. Details about tickets for the event are as follows.

Ticket Price:

[Grandstand]              [Session]                                        [Price (RMB)]

A Platinum                    3 Day Ticket                                        3880

• A High                    3 Day/Fri./Sat./Sun. Ticket              2880/490/890/2490

• A Low                    3 Day/Fri./Sat./Sun. Ticket              2280/390/690/1990

• H/K                           3 Day/Fri./Sat./Sun. Ticket              1480/290/590/1290

• C/F/J/L                    3 Day Ticket                                        480

Ticketing Instructions:

• This event adopts electronic tickets with one ticket per person. Children require a full-priced ticket, and children under the age of three are not allowed entry.

• For each session of this event, a maximum of 4 tickets per mobile phone number and 1 ticket per ID card number can be purchased. When purchasing tickets, buyers must provide the audience’s real name, a valid personal ID, and a valid mobile phone number. After a successful purchase, ticket purchasers should retain e-ticket seat information appropriately.

• Ticket refunds can be requested without fees from the date of purchase until 24: 00 on February 29, 2024. From 00:00 on March 1, 2024, to 24: 00 on April 15, 2024, refunds will invite a 10% handling fee. No refunds will be accepted from 00: 00 on April 16, 2024. Returned within 7 working days.

• This event implements real-name verification with ID card and facial recognition for entry.

• The schedule and arrangement of the competition may be subject to changes, and please stay tuned to Formula One Lenovo Chinese Grand Prix official WeChat and Weibo for the latest information.

6 . Scientists from Georgia Tech have developed a new robot named ESTHER (Experimental Sport Tennis Wheelchair Robot), which can move around the court and even return human serves.

The team believes the robot could serve as a training partner (搭档) for professional players in the future, lowering the pressure of training with another human.

The robot is the brainchild of Georgia Tech’s Matthew Gombolay, professor of robotics in the School of Interactive Computing. He wanted to develop a better training challenge than a ball feeder that stays in one place, one that would act like an always on-call partner or even team up with someone in doubles matches. The result is ESTHER, an adapted wheelchair tennis chair that can race to balls at ten metres per second and probably outplay a human.

Mr Gombolay explains: “The wheelchair has the ability to rapidly move around the court and get into position (恰当位置) to hit a ground stroke (击落地球). ESTHER can move up to two metres after a ball is struck to hit a successful return, which is comparable to the longest distance moved by human players for 80 per cent of shots (击球).”

The robot was named in homage to well-known wheelchair tennis player Esther Vergeer, who held the world No. 1 position in women’s wheelchair tennis for almost 13 years straight.

The team placed a network of cameras around a tennis court and used computer vision algorithms (视觉算法) to help ESTHER recognise an incoming tennis ball. Using cameras from different positions, they could know where the ball is in the air and feed this information to ESTHER. The team reached a breakthrough when they successfully and continually programmed ESTHER to track the tennis ball coming toward it and to hit a return.

ESTHER will now be developed to act as a highly-skilled tennis player.

9 . Common Mistakes New Runners Make

Running is a great way to get in shape and just about everyone can do it. However, many make a number of common mistakes, which can interfere (妨碍) with training or lead to injury.     1     , keep these things in mind to help you increase your chances of running success.

·Doing too much too soon

One of the biggest mistakes new runners make is doing too much too soon. Slowly easing into a training program will help reduce the risk of injury, so you can continue on with your new running routine     2     .

·     3    

Beginners might think they need to run every day (or nearly every day) to meet their fitness or weight-loss goals, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Running is a high-impact activity which can be really hard on your body. So it’s important to give your body a rest between workouts.

·Not wearing the right equipment

    4    , it’s important that you wear properly for your workouts. The most important piece of equipment for running is a good pair of running shoes, so be sure to do some research before you purchase a pair. Visit a running specialty store and ask an employee to fit you for a shoe.

•Running through pain

    5     If something hurts when you run, you need to stop and treat the pain. Remember: It doesn’t make you less of a runner if you listen to your body to keep it healthy.