3 . Screen time is often considered the enemy when it comes to teaching kids to be active. However, a new research found that for 9 and 10 years old children greater social media use was related to some positive effects, including increased physical activity, less family conflict (冲突) and fewer sleep problems.

The findings come from an analysis of data from about 4,500 young people and their parents collected by the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study. The study gathered information about how young people’s brains develop.

In the study, children self reported activities like watching TV, texting or visiting social media sites — and the time spent on each. They were also asked about whether they play mature (成年的) video games. They rated their time on them as never, once in a while and all the time. Kids and parents report on family conflict. Parents also kept track of how well the kids slept and filled out a checklist that assessed (评定) their children’s behavior.

The results haven’t been published yet, but are being presented Tuesday at the Research Society on Alcoholism in San Diego. Previous research has been done. largely in older kids or teenagers with less focus on younger kids. Communities and social networks can have beneficial effects, so kids who are using social media to build connections may see positive outcomes.

Do these findings mean that parents should ban TVs and sign their kids up for Twitter? Probably not. Psychologist Chris Ferguson of Stetson University says that the differences identified in the research are small.

4 . He was the last person who should have run into a burning building—he had lung disease. But that didn’t stop him. Michael Surrell and his wife was parking when they got a call from their daughter: “The house next door is on fire!” He went to investigate.

Though the fire department had been called, Surrell ran inside. The thick smoke burned his eyes and made it impossible to breathe. The conditions were life-threatening for Surrell.

After a few minutes, he went outside to catch his breath. Taking a deep breath, he went in again. The house was similar to his, so he made it to the second floor. He couldn’t see anything. Then a soft moan (呻吟声) came. Still unable to see, Surrell crawled (爬行) toward the sound, feeling around for any sign of the trapped.

Finally, he touched something. He pulled the kid toward him and held her into his arms and stood. He fought through the smoke and ran into the blackness. The next thing he knew, he was at the front door, then outside. Surrell put Tiara down on the porch. He started CPR. Soon a cough came from Tiara’s throat. Surrell gave five more breaths. She coughed again, opened her eyes and took a breath on her own.

Surrell woke up in the hospital days later, having suffered severe burns to his lungs. He spent a week in the hospital. The fire worsened Surrell’s condition, and he feels the effects even two years later. “It’s a small price to pay,” he says. “I’d do it again without a second thought.”

6 . Although we benefit from deep and meaningful conversations that help us build connections with one another, we often stick to small talk with strangers because we underestimate (低估) how much others are interested in our lives and wrongly believe that deep conversations will be more awkward and less enjoyable than they actually are, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

Nicholas Epley, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and his colleagues designed a series of experiments with more than 1, 800 participants. The researchers asked pairs of people — mainly strangers — to discuss either relatively deep or shallow topics. In the first experiment, people received shallow or deep questions to discuss. Before the conversations, participants predicted how awkward they thought the conversations would be, how connected they thought they would feel to their conversation partner and how much they would enjoy the conversations. Afterward, they rated how awkward the conversations actually were, how connected they actually felt and how much enjoyment they actually experienced.

The researchers found that both deep and shallow conversations felt less awkward than the participants had expected. That effect tended to be stronger for deep conversations.

Deep conversations were also more enjoyable and led to a stronger sense of connection. In the second experiment, participants who had a deep conversation with one partner and a shallow conversation with another partner initially expected to prefer the shallow conversation but actually preferred the deep conversation after having both of them.

“Our participants’ expectations about deep conversations were greatly mistaken in a way that could keep people from interacting deeply with others in their daily lives,” Epley said. “As the pandemic (疫情) wanes and social distance restrictions become less strict, and we all get back to talking with each other again, being aware that others also like deep conversations might lead you to have more pleasant interactions.”

7 . Barnaby, the Lawrence family’s cat, had been missing for eight months. On January 11, 2022, Rachel Lawrence was on the phone with her vet (兽医). Her younger cat, Torvi, had just received an operation and she was asking how he was.

During the call, Lawrence heard a meow (喵喵叫). It may have been a standard meow to anyone else’s ears, but to Lawrence, there was something distinct about this sound. She asked the vet if that was Torvi and was told that was just a stray (走失的宠物) that had been brought in a week before.

Lawrence put down the phone and could not stop thinking about that. Could that be long-lost Barnaby? Unable to dismiss that unlikely thought, she called the vet back a few hours later. She asked if that meow came from a black cat and if the cat had a white dot on his back foot. The reply was “Yes”. “That had to be Barnaby,” Lawrence concluded.

When she went to pick up Torvi, she brought photos of Barnaby, nicknamed Fatman by her three kids. When the vet brought Barnaby to her, Lawrence broke down in what she described as tears and cries, but not with sadness.

She couldn’t wait to video-call her three children and said, “Look who I found.”

“Fatman,” they cried out with joy!

Lawrence had previously put a chip into Barnaby, but it did not work and so when he was lost, they had no hope of finding him again. Yet, thanks to the kindness of the person who found Barnaby and took him to the vet, and to the incredible hearing of his pet owner, this cat is back.

Barnaby is safely home with the Lawrence family and Torvi. He returned home thin with little fur and many scars. Barnaby is eating well, and with all the love and attention, the family hopes he will grow back into Fatman.

8 . The Mississippi State University Extension Service is offering the Master Gardener training and certification online again this year,

Participants take 40 hours of instruction in horticulture and related topics to become expert volunteers. Learn more and register for the first Master Gardener class of 2022 from February 1 to February 28 at http://msuext.ms/mg. Instruction for all classes is online and self-paced. The online class material is offered from March 15 to May 15.

About Volunteering

“The Master Gardener program trains active volunteers who exchange the 40 hours of educational training they receive for 40 hours of volunteer service within one year of their training,” said Jeff Wilson, a horticulture specialist of the Master Gardener program. “These Master Gardeners continue to be assets to their communities as, in future years, they continue to receive training and spend a minimum of 20 community service hours a year to maintain their certified status.”

The volunteer work of Master Gardeners helps local Extension offices reach a broader audience than is possible through just the efforts of Extension agents. Volunteers take on a variety of community beautification projects and extend the educational arm of the university to the public by providing horticultural information based on university research and recommendations.

“Master Gardener volunteers experience the personal satisfaction of serving their community, gaining horticultural expertise and connecting with their local gardening community,” Wilson said.

Fees

The cost for Master Gardener training is $ 125 for those who want to become certified volunteers and provide 40 hours of service. For $ 200, the same material is available for those not interested in the volunteer service component.

For More Information

For questions about the Master Gardener program, contact Jeff Wilson at 662-566-8019 or jeff.wilson @ msstate.edu.