1 . Zhang Zening, a hanfu supporter and lover in Nanjing, East China’s Jiangsu Province, started a surprising journey eight years ago to restore (使复原) this traditional Chinese clothing. Inspired by ancient murals (壁画), Zhang, 41, studied the artistry of hanfu in various museums, changing paintings into touchable and wearable pieces.

Upon graduating from college, Zhang first worked in material research, burying herself in the laboratory, conducting chemical experiments for the study of raw materials. At the time, she was one of the earliest lovers of hanfu in China, frequently organizing various hanfu activities in her spare time. Now as the owner of a hanfu studio, Zhang has worked with women’s re-employment organizations, looking for full-time stay-at-home women with sewing (缝纫) skills. This matched with her need for the production of hanfu.

Around 2015, Zhang began to focus independently on the process of hanfu restoration. In that year, she visited Dunhuang, Northwest China’s Gansu Province where she was attracted by the beautiful murals there, wondering how she could possibly change them into beautiful costumes.

In the past years, she has traveled to more than 10 cities across China, constantly studying murals and conducting research to restore hanfu from different dynasties. She managed to restore more than 50 sets. She referred to different materials including various murals, other cultural relics and literature to make sure that the restoration is as correct as possible. Thanks to her work, many young people wear restored hanfu when they visit museums, and Zhang is excited to see more of them doing so.

2 . Take A Scenic Ride On The World’s Steepest Railway For Passengers—If You Dare!

Originally built for mining in 1878, the Scenic Railway is now a tourist ride that can take your breath away! In the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, the former mining railway became a tourist attraction in 1945. It currently holds the Guinness World Records as the steepest passenger train with the steepest railway gradient (坡度).

The gradient of 52 degrees is comfortably viewed from inside an 84-seat, glass-enclosed carriage car. The passenger car travels along on a cable-driven system of rails as it navigates the steep terrain. During the tour, passengers will see the train travel through sandstone cliffs and a rock tunnel next to Orphan Rock.

Orphan Rock was once available for trail climbing. Following rock slides in the 1950s, the trail was partially closed. The trail access was completely closed in 1974 and never reopened due to potential risks.

On the Scenic Railway, you will see stunning views from a slightly different angle than Orphan Rock. The railway is open every day of the year, making the trip along the rails every ten minutes.

Sight-seeing passengers can ride the steepest railway up from the Jamison Valley or travel on the cable car. Either option affords incredible scenic views of the Blue Mountains. The glass roof in the passenger cars allows for a fantastic view from every seat on the train.

Just take a look for yourself!

3 . Plastic, which is now common, contains endocrine-disrupting chemicals, or EDCs (内分泌干扰物), that has been linked to increased risk of many chronic diseases. Parental exposure to EDCs, for example, has been shown to cause metabolic (新陈代谢的) disorders, including obesity and diabetes, in the later generations.

Led by Changcheng Zhou, a professor of biomedical sciences in the School of Medicine at the University of California, the researchers investigated the impact of fathers’ exposure to a phthalate called dicyclohexyl phthalate, or DCHP (邻苯二甲酸二环己酯), on the metabolic health of first generation (F1) and second generation (F2) in mice. Phthalates are chemicals used to make plastic more durable.

The researchers found that fathers’ DCHP exposure for four weeks led to high insulin (胰岛素) resistance and impaired insulin signaling in F1. The same effect, but weaker, was seen in F2 .

“We found fathers’ exposure to EDCs may have intergenerational and transgenerational detrimental effects on the metabolic health of their later generations, ”Zhou said. “To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to demonstrate this.”

In the case of fathers’ exposure in the study, intergenerational effects are changes that occur due to direct exposure to a stressor, such as exposure to DCHP of fathers (F0 generation) and his F1 generation. Transgenerational effects are changes passed down to later generations that are not directly exposed to the stressor (for example, F2 generation).

“This suggests that fathers’ DCHP exposure can lead to sex-specific transgenerational effects on the metabolic health of their later generations,” Zhou said.

Zhou stressed that the impact of exposure to DCHP on human health is not well understood, even though DCHP is widely used in a variety of plastic products and has been detected in food, water, and indoor particulate matter.

“It’s best to minimize our use of plastic products,” Zhou said. “This can also help reduce plastic pollution, one of our most pressing environmental issues.”

4 . Face blindness, a mystifying condition that can trick us into believing we recognize people we’ve never met or make us fail to recognize those we have, has been previously estimated to affect between 2 and 2.5 percent of people in the world.Now, a new study by researchers at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and the VA Boston Healthcare System is providing fresh insights into the disorder, suggesting it may be more common than currently believed.

Published in February 2023 in Cortex, the study findings indicate that as many as one in 33 people may meet the criteria for face blindness, or prosopagnosia (面孔失认症).“This translates to more than 10 million Americans,” the research team said.

The study found similar face-matching performance between people diagnosed with prosopagnosia using stricter vs looser criteria, suggesting that diagnostic criteria should be expanded to be more inclusive. That could lead to new diagnoses among millions who may have the disorder but don’t realize it.

The study results are based on a web-based questionnaire and tests administered to 3,341 individuals.First, the researchers asked participants whether they experience difficulties recognizing faces in their everyday lives.Then they administered two objective tests to determine whether they had difficulties learning new faces or recognizing highly familiar famous faces.

The results showed that 31 individuals out of the 3,341 had major prosopagnosia, while 72 of the 3,341 had a milder form. The researchers also observed that there were no neatly divided separate groups of people with poor or good ability to recognize faces. Rather, the ability to recognize faces appeared to lie on a continuum (连续体).

Finally, the researchers compared face-matching scores among people with prosopagnosia diagnosed using different criteria and found that using stricter diagnostic cutoffs did not correspond with lower face-matching scores.

In the new study, the researchers provide diagnostic suggestions for identifying mild and major forms of prosopagnosia based on guidelines for major and mild neurocognitive disorders in the DSM5, the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

5 . Studies continue to show how important strong friendships are to our overall health. Here’re the rules you are supposed to know to keep strong and healthy friendships.

    1     Everyone needs a support network. When you consider yourself the friend of another, you’re implicitly offering to be a part of his or her support network. What’s more, without trust and honesty, there is no authenticity (真实性) to the friendship.

Be all ears to your friends. Too often, we only “half hear” what others are telling us, and have a hard time making space for caring about others’ conditions.     2     If we don’t truly know what our friends need or can’t clearly express how we feel or what we need, friendships won’t survive or continue.

Throw away the judgment.     3     Good friends are able to realize that everyone is human. Friends don’t have to necessarily “like” or “approve” of their friends’ choices, but good friends will accept their friends’ choices no matter what.

Forgive (原谅) where you can — and seek forgiveness when you make a mess of something. No one promises to bring perfection to a relationship, so being willing to accept and forgive the weaknesses of others makes you more likely to build a lasting friendship.     4    

Respect your friends and their boundaries. Everyone has a right to set up personal boundaries to feel safe and respected. Some friends may have a difficult time letting people get close to them for fear of being hurt.     5     Give them the space they need to feel comfortable, and let the relationship deepen over time.

6 . Top Wonders of the World

From India to Rome, these sights will inspire your next historical vacation.

Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Constructed from 1632 to 1648, the property covers 42 acres, including its beautiful gardens.

Best time to go: Late spring and early summer in this part of India has often severe heat. Then come monsoons. November to February is your best chance for pleasant weather. The sunrises here are highly admired.

The Great Wall

The Great Wall of China is the world’s longest wall and one of the most famous landmarks in China. Dating back to about 700 BCE, it stretches over 13,000 miles and was designed to protect the country from invaders.

Best time to go: Plan for a spring or fall trip when the weather is nicer and fewer people visit. Summertime is often hot and crowded, and winter can be extremely cold in northern China.

Petra

Located in the Kingdom of Jordan, Petra was built directly into the cliffside around 312 BCE by the Nabataeans. The city includes temples, tombs, and its most well-known building — the Treasury.

Best time to go: Summer can get very hot in Jordan, and winter is much colder than you may realize. Weatherwise, aim for spring or fall.

The Colosseum

The Colosseum remains Rome’s top attraction. Built in the first century by Emperor Vespasian, the massive theater spans 620 by 513 feet, which would hold 80,000 people.

Best time to go: You’ll find fewer tourists there during Rome’s low season (winter), weekdays and during the opening hour or near closing time. If you show up in summer at midday, it’s going to be hot!

7 . Kiley Crisp, a 15-year-old teenager, has Williams syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes learning and developmental issues. Despite her outgoing personality, Kiley sometimes struggles to make friends. Last year, however, she met two amazing girls at a summer camp she went to. The girls, who live far away from her, daily contact Kiley. They call her, check in on her using social media, and make her feel deeply loved.

Kiley was out to dinner with family to celebrate her turning 15. She was extremely moved to find that her friends drove three hours to celebrate her birthday! In a video posted by her sister Ashley on social media, Kiley is seen moved to tears at how kind her friends were to surprise her on her birthday.

In the video, the 15-year-old is seen happily dancing around in a cafe. Then she feels two girls coming towards her. She realizes they are her two good friends. Kiley widens her eyes, unable to believe it, because both had told her that they felt sorry for not being able to come to observe her birthday. Then the two friends are seen comforting Kiley as they offer her hugs and wish her a happy birthday!

The video has acquired over 5.2 million views since it was posted, through which Kiley has received a lot of love. And in an update, she expressed her hearty thanks to those who left sweet comments. One of them said, “Really sweet of those girls to support their friend like that.” Another said, “The world would be a much better place if more people were like these girls. They are inspiring role models. We should all try to be so nice.”