1 . Many college students turn to ADHD (注意缺陷障碍) medicine during the exam week, which is regarded as “smart drugs” that will help their academic (学术的) performance. The thinking is that if the drugs help students with ADHD improve their focus, they should provide the same benefit for people who don’t have the disorder.

But a new study shows that drugs can actually damage brain function of healthy students who take the drug hoping to boost their intelligence. “It’s not a smart drug which will suddenly improve their ability to understand information they read,” said Lisa Weyandt, a professor at the University of Rhode Island.

To test whether this effect is real or not, researchers organized 13 students to take part in two five-hour study sessions(一段时间)in the lab. The students took the standard 30mg ADHD drugs before one session, and a sugar pill before the other. Students on ADHD drugs did experience an increase in their blood pressure and heart rates. “The medicine was having an effect on their brain,” Weyandt said. The students also showed an improvement in their ability to focus, the researchers found.

However, students on ADHD drugs experienced no improvement in reading comprehension, reading fluency or knowledge reviews, compared to when they’d taken a sugar pill. “We read aloud stories to them and asked them to recall information from the stories,” she said. “That didn’t improve.”

Worse, the ADHD drug actually harms students’ memory. It’s often misused because people pull all-nighters and they’re tired, and they think it’s going to keep them awake. Maybe it does, but it’s certainly not going to help their academic work. The brain is still developing until the mid to late 20s. It’s important to keep it healthy. There’s also a chance that ADHD drugs could endanger a student’s heart health.

2 . Liu Jichen, 23, a student from Tsinghua University, has developed a WeChat mini-program called “Clear Your Plate”. After a meal, users can open the mini-program and take a picture of their empty plates. Once the image is recognized by the AI(Artificial Intelligence), students can collect points and use them to buy gifts or purchase charity meals to children in impoverished(贫困的) rural areas.

Liu and his team, together with other organizations, launched the “Clear Your Plate” campaign in November for the third year. It has swept over 1,017 universities across the country. The one-month campaign attracted almost 1.6 million participants and collectively reduced food waste by 862 tons and carbon emissions(碳排放) by 3,337 tons.

“Technological innovation is a good way to reduce food waste,” Liu thought. He organized a team of 20 members to work on the project at the end of 2017. To solve the AI’s problem of identifying photos of empty plates, the team spent half a year collecting over 100,000 samples in canteens and restaurants. In 2018, the mini-program was officially put into operation on Oct 16, World Food Day. They then launched a campaign later that year.

“There were so many unknowns in research and development. For our team members, the biggest challenge was whether we were confident enough to complete it,” Liu said. They not only achieved their goal, but now, the mini-program has more than 5 million registered users, according to Liu. “We hope our efforts can start a new trend among the younger generation by encouraging them to cherish(珍惜) their food and develop the habit of thrift(节约),” Liu added.

8 . Yawning (打哈欠) is something we all do - maybe because we’re bored carrying out boring tasks or because we’re tired. Sometimes, just seeing other people yawn can set you off. But is this biological function really contagious (传染的), and why do we do it in the first place?

Many of us think we open our mouths when we yawn to take in more oxygen, but in fact it appears there is no clear biological reason. According to BBC Bitesize, new research suggests it might be because yawning cools the brain down and prevents it from overheating, much like the fan in your laptop. This might be why we’re more likely to feel sleepy and yawn in warm temperatures.

What is clear is that we yawn more when we’re exhausted and ready for a nap, and we can’t control when we do it - once we start, there’s no stopping us! But it’s also true that yawning is a very contagious behavior. John Drury, a researcher from Sussex University found in his research that there is a connection with our social group and how close we are to the people in it. If we identify with the person who exhibits the behavior, we are likely to copy it too.

Another research by the University of Nottingham in 2017 found similar results. They asked volunteers to watch other people yawn. They found their ability to resist yawning when others around them yawned was limited. And the urge to yawn was increased when people were told they couldn’t. They also found, when using electrical stimulation, that they were able to increase people’s desire to yawn. These findings, they say, could be useful in treating other conditions like Tourette’s, which involve the same area of the brain.

What is certain is that a yawn can creep up on us at any time even when we think we’re not tired -but, I hope, not when you’re reading this article!

I am so delighted to receive your e-mail.

Yours,

Li Hua

10 . It can be incredibly difficult to encourage ourselves to go for a run during winter, particularly when it’s wet and windy outside. But new research has found that even a super-quick run could have great health benefits. In fact , it seems that just a 10-minute session will not only make us feel better, but could actually improve brain health, too. Now, we all know that exercise can improve mental and physical health in many ways.

But when it comes to mental well-being, there’s been relatively little research done on the specific benefits of running, compared with other physical activities, such as cycling. So this was something put to the test during a recent study. Researchers from University of Tsukuba in Japan asked participants (参加者) to run on a treadmill (跑步机) for just 10 minutes. They then had to take a Stroop Color and Word Test which is used to measure reaction time in brain processing. Results showed there was a highest point in self-reported pleasure and an increase in degree of activity of the brain.

In other words, runners were found to have an increase in blood flow in the part of the brain that’s associated with dealing with functions and controlling mood (情绪). Researchers then compared these results to a similar study on cycling, which also showed improved cognition (认知), but no mood improvement. Therefore, it seems various types of exercise can make us feel differently.

The authors noted, “Given exercise is medicine, the effects of drugs differ depending on the type of drug, and different types of exercise such as running and cycling should be observed to have different effects on mental health and brain functions as well.”

So pushing ourselves to get outside for a run really will make us feel better, probably more than other fitness activities. And these findings show that we don’t necessarily need to do a lot of exercise to feel the benefit of it