1 . Falling birth rates are a major concern for some of Asia’s biggest economies. Government s in the region are spending hundreds of billions of dollars trying to reverse the trend. Will it work?

Japan began introducing policies to encourage couples to have more children in the 1990s. South Korea started doing the same in the 2000s, while Singapore’s first fertility (生育) policy dates back to 1987. China, which has seen its population fall for the first time in 60 years, recently joined the growing club.

While it is difficult to quantify exactly how much these policies have cost, South Korean President YoonSuk-yeol recently said his country had spent more than $200bn (£160bn) over the past 16 years on trying to boost the population. Yet last year South Korea broke its own record for the world’s lowest fertility rate, with the average number of babies expected per woman falling to 0.78. In neighbouring Japan, which had record low births of fewer than 800,000 last year, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has promised to double the budget for child-related policies from 10tn yen ($74.7bn; £59.2bn).

Having a bigger population who can work and produce more goods and services leads to higher economic growth. And while a larger population can mean higher costs for governments, it can also result in bigger tax revenues (税收). Also, many Asian countries are ageing rapidly. Japan leads the pack with nearly 30% of its population now over the age of 65 and some other nations in the region are not far behind. Compare that with India, which has just overtaken China as the world’s most populous nation. More than a quarter of its people are between the age of 10 and 20, which gives its economy huge potential for growth. And when the share of the working age population gets smaller, the cost and burden of looking after the non-working population grow. “Negative population growth has an impact on the economy, and together with an ageing population, they won’t be able to afford to support the elderly,” said Xiujian Peng of Victoria University.

2 . Opening Notice for the National Museum of China (NMC)

NMC is open from Tuesday to Sunday,9:00-17:30(no entry after 16:30), and is closed on Mondays(except for public holidays). All visitors are required to book online 1-7 days in advance via the NMC official website or WeChat platform.

Audio guide devices are available at the West Hall Service Desk for RMB40, with a RMB100 deposit. A valid ID is necessary. Damage to an audio guide causes a fee based on the level of damage. Lost devices are subject to payment of the full purchase cost.

Wheelchairs and strollers are available for free use on the day of visit at the Service Desk. A valid ID card and a deposit of RMB500 are required.

Photography is allowed in the NMC collection exhibitions without using flash, selfie sticks, or tripods. Temporary exhibits may have specific photo policies, indicated by clear signs put up at both the entrance and the corresponding exhibit halls.

Bus Route:

You can take the No.1, No.2, No.52, No.82, No.120 buses, or Sightseeing Line 2, Tourist Bus Line 1 and Line 2 and get off at Tian’an men East Station.

Metro:

You can take Metro Line 1, get off at Tian’anmen East Station, and exit the station through Exit C.

3 . When Mark Anthony Gonzales saw a police officer in need of assistance, every element of the moral code installed in him through his Brazilian jiu-jitsu (巴西柔术) training — morality, courage, benevolence (仁爱) — told him to stop his car and lend a hand, even though his wife, Rachel Ortiz, and his four kids were in the car.

The suspect, a balding man of medium build, was running from a police officer in San Antonio, Texas. Gonzales slowed down. So did the man being chased — to avoid running into Gonzales’s minivan. That hesitation allowed the officer to catch up and take the suspect to the ground. But Gonzales quickly realized that the officer did not have control of the situation with the suspect struggling fiercely.

Gonzales put his vehicle in park and jumped out, as did Ortiz. The first thing Gonzales did was identify himself and spell out his intention to make it two-on-one in the officer’s favor and not the other way around.

Then, with the man on his back and the officer struggling to control the man’s upper body, Gonzales put his weight on the man’s legs. Seconds later, when the suspect rolled onto his stomach, Gonzales used techniques he’d learned in the gym: digging his knee into the suspect’s el bow and pulling the suspect’s head toward him to maintain control from the side. He then applied an underhook — a jiu-jitsu move where the hands are placed under the opponent’s arm to control the shoulder and upper body — and tugged until, after a few seconds, the suspect’s shoulder gave out. The officer clicked on the handcuffs and the threat was over.

Gonzales had asked his wife to record everything to protect him just in case anything was called into question. But Ortiz posted the video on Facebook, where it attracted over 56 million views.

Among those awed by the video was Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor Rener Gracie, a fourth-degree black belt, who stated: “The combination of Gonzales’s technique and his calm communication with both the officer and suspect is the stuff of legends!”

4 . The polar research vessel (船舰) RRS Sir David Attenborough, which will always be thought of by some as Boaty McBoatface, is currently on an Antarctic task to find out how sea ice influences the cycle of nutrients and carbon in the world’s oceans.

The 12 researchers on board are using autonomous underwater vehicles to explore huge areas of free-floating sea ice. This will help us better understand how climate change is impacting organisms from microscopic plankton (浮游生物) to penguins and orcas. .

Last week, the vessel collected samples from around the A23a mega iceberg (a scientific term) . The largest iceberg in existence is almost 4, 000 sq km, equal to an area twice the size of Greater London, weighing close to a trillion metric tonnes and towering up to 1, 312 feet above the sea.

It originally broke away from a main ice shelf connected to Antarctica in 1986, but had remained stuck against the seabed ever since. Until last month. Now, A23a is drifting into the Southern Ocean.

Of course, one iceberg floating into warmer waters and melting is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the climate crisis. At COP28, billions and billions were promised to fund global I climate solutions, especially in developing nations. More than 130 countries agreed to deal with emissions in agriculture, with 118 promising to triple renewables too.

But more needs to be done. Forget the A23a iceberg being a threat to shipping, it’s a sign we may be all sunk.

6 . “Given that signs of Alzheimer’s disease (老年痴呆症) start to accumulate in the brain several decades before the disease begins, understanding the connection between sleep and cognition (认知) earlier in life is critical for understanding the role of sleep problems as a risk factor for the disease,” said study author Yue Leng, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco.

The study involved 526 people with an average age of 40. They were followed for 11 years. Researchers looked at participants’ sleep duration and quality. Participants wore a wrist activity monitor for three continuous days on two occasions approximately one year apart to calculate their averages. Participants slept for an average of six hours. Participants also reported bedtime and wake-up time in a sleep diary and completed a sleep quality survey with scores ranging from 0 to 21. A total of 239 people reported poor sleep with a score greater than five.

Researchers also looked at sleep fragmentation (碎片化), a measure of restlessness during the sleep period expressed as a percentage. The higher the value, the more sleep is interrupted. Participants were divided into three groups based on their sleep fragmentation score. Of the 175 people with the most interrupted sleep, 44 had poor cognitive performance 10 years later, compared to 10 of the 176 people with the least interrupted sleep.

After adjusting for age, sex, race, and education, people who had the most interrupted sleep had more than twice the possibility of having poor cognitive performance when compared to those with the least interrupted sleep. There was no difference in cognitive performance at midlife for those in the middle group compared to the group with the least interrupted sleep.

However, due to the small sample size, the researchers were unable to fully investigate potential race or sex differences. “More research is needed to assess the link between sleep disturbances and cognition at different life stages and to identify if critical life periods exist when sleep is more strongly associated with cognition,” Leng said.

7 . With more people concerned about the environment, you can expect to see many more electric vehicles( EVs电动汽车) on the road in future.     1     Drivers say there are a few things to get used to when switching to a vehicle powered by electricity. First of all, there’s no clutch (离合器). Instead, drivers use a simple selector to put EVs in park, drive, and reverse.

Since they’re powered by electricity, EVs also apply full power as soon as the driver hits the accelerator (加速器).     2     Also, EVs slow down as soon as the driver lifts their foot off the accelerator. Drivers end up using their brakes much less.

    3     The most obvious is that EVs don’t rely on gas. This means drivers of electric cars don’t need to stop at the gas station—in the long run, this can save a great deal of money. EVs are also low maintenance (维护). For example, they don’t need oil changes.     4     This is likely because of the placement of the battery, which sits just below the seats. This helps keep the vehicle’s center of gravity low.

Of course, there are also disadvantages. Most EVs can drive over 200 miles on one full charge.     5     With limited charging stations in many areas, this could cause problems on long trips. Additionally, the batteries are expensive to replace. Finally, while EVs may save drivers’ money on gas and maintenance in the long run, the price of buying an EV is often higher than that of a gas-powered vehicle.

8 . Counting stars is pretty difficult in areas with lots of light, like major cities. A study says even in the clearest skies, you’re still seeing turbulence (涡流) in the atmosphere that makes stars twinkle. Want a truly perfect view of outer space? An international research team has found the spot, but you’ll need to wrap up warm. It’s in Antarctica!

According to the University of New South Wales, turbulence causes light coming from stars to bend as it reaches the Earth’s surface. That instability( 不稳定) in the air makes stars twinkle.

The location in Antarctica, however, has so little turbulence that it hardly interferes (干扰) with the light from stars, making the view extraordinarily clear. The Chinese-led research team built a system of telescopes on the top of a plateau(高原), named Dome A, which sits 4,000 feet above sea level.

“Dome A is the highest point in the central plateau of Antarctica, and the atmosphere is extremely stable here, much more so than anywhere else on Earth,” says UNSW Professor Michael Ashley. “The result is that the twinkling of the stars is greatly reduced, and the star images are much sharper and brighter. In fact, this special place even has advantages over the famous Hubble Space Telescope.”

“Satellites are a lot more expensive,” the astronomer explains. “But another advantage of making Earth-based observations is that you can always add the latest technology to your telescope on the ground. In space, everything is delayed (延迟). So you end up with technology in space lagging that on the ground by 10 years or more.”

One of the biggest advantages Dome A’s location has is that winter nights in Antarctica are very long. In fact, scientists will be able to track stars continuously since some nights in midwinter last for almost 24 hours.

10 . It is natural to compare ourselves to others and to get caught in a mental comparison loop, and yet this seldom is beneficial. You may have heard the expression. “Comparison is the thief of joy. “To me, this rings true as I have found it is quite difficult to compare myself to others and feel joy at the same time.

Comparison not only robs us of joy, but it can also fuel self-criticism and a lack of self-acceptance. Typically, comparison leads to perceiving others as superior to you in some way and feeling inadequate or inferior. “I am not as successful, competent, attractive as they are. “Why don’t I have what they have?” We use comparison as an avenue for self-criticism, “What’s wrong with me? I must be an inadequate loser.” This hinders(阻碍)self-acceptance.

We often tell ourselves we are acceptable only if we meet certain standards, and we evaluate how we measure up by looking at others. The tendency is to conclude that we are not measuring up, particularly if we have a low sense of self-worth, and we worry that others are going to judge or criticize our perceived failures. We don’t just ask ourselves. “What’s wrong with me?” We worry what others will think: “What’s wrong with them?” The looming(迫近的)sense of possible rejection creates uneasiness and anxiety.

Comparison is deceptive(造成假象的). It tells us that if we meet the expectations, lose weight, get a promotion, or buy the house, we will feel better, calmer, more self-assured, and stop comparing ourselves. This may be temporarily true, yet, a comparison is an internal process that is ultimately based on our thoughts and sense of self, not external circumstances. We can always find something else to compare, another expectation we tell ourselves we are not meeting.

To stop comparing ourselves to others, we have to recognize that the comparison game is unwinnable and exhausting and stop playing. We should shift from being guided by comparison to being guided by personal values.