2 . Some ants have figured out how to avoid getting lost: build taller anthills, according to a recent study.

Desert ants living in the hot, flat salt pans of Tunisia spend their days looking for food and reach as far as 1.1 kilometers from their nests. To find their way home, desert ants use a navigation system, relying on the sun’s position and counting their steps to track their location relative to their nest.

But this system becomes increasingly unreliable as the distance from the nest increases. “We realized that, whenever the ants in salt pans came closer to their nest, they suddenly pinpointed the nest hill from several meters distance,” says Markus Knaden, a researcher at Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology. “This made us think that the hill serves as a nest-defining landmark.”

So Knaden and colleagues captured ants from nests in the middle of salt pans and from along their shorelines. Only salt-pan nests had distinct hills, up to 40 centimeters tall, whereas the hills on shoreline nests were lower or barely noticeable. Next, the team removed any hills and placed the captured insects some distance away from their nests. Salt-pan ants struggled more than shore ants to find homes. Shore ants relied on the shoreline for guidance and weren’t affected by the hill removal, the researchers concluded.

The team further conducted another study to see if desert ants were deliberately building a taller hill when their surroundings lacked any visible landmarks. So, the researchers removed the hills of 16 salt-pan nests and installed (安装) two 50-centimeter-tall blocks near eight of them. The other eight nests were left without any artificial visual aid. After three days, the researchers found that seven ants from the unaided nests had rebuilt their hills. But only two ants from the nests with man-made blocks nearby had bothered to rebuild.

“It implies that ants regularly assess the complexity of their environment and change their decisions based on their conclusion,” says ecologist Judith Bronstein of the University of Arizona.

3 . The needs of plus size consumers have long been the elephant in the room of the fashion industry until body positivity and fat acceptance movements promoted the slogan (口号) that large-bodied people are not those who are left behind. This size-inclusive (尺码包容) trend has become so popular that it is influencing mainstream culture. As a result, fashion brands have finally decided to extend their size ranges. In 2022, the plus-size market grew twice as fast as the standard size market in both North America and the UK.

Yet, many consumers say fashion brands broadening their ranges are not truly inclusive. “Inclusive sizing means that all bodies are included in fashion, not just the ones who fit in standard sizes,” says Marie Southard Ospina, a UK-based journalist who covers body-image issues. “However, what many designers do right now is pick a number that they think is big enough to include plus sizes and stop. This is even more disrespectful.”

Researchers also criticize that some brands are just taking advantage of the trend. “Brands that used to promote so-called perfect bodies in their advertisements are now trying to get in on the trend by adding a few sizes. It doesn’t feel like they really care about plus-size people,” says Tom Burgess, analyst in fashion industry. “If brands cared about large-bodied consumers, then it wouldn’t have taken until now to acknowledge that they exist,” he says. “It gives the impression that companies are just trying to gain a share of the market without a real commitment to the community.”

The fashion industry must go beyond merely producing clothing in a range of sizes if they hope to succeed with a body -diverse world. The whole industry has to connect on a personal level with consumers. That involves showing shoppers that they are seen, understood and important to brands. “Consumers care about values, and so they want to buy from brands that reflect the values they believe in. Everyone should enjoy the same range of fashion options,” says Ludovica Cesareo, professor of marketing at the College of Business in the US.

4 . One of the cores of emotional intelligence is self-regulation, an important skill in the workplace. Like any skill, mastery of emotional self-control requires intentionality and practice.     1    .

Pause to Mentally Distance

When you notice your typical physiological experiences associated with strong negative emotion, what should you do? Mentally step out of your immediate experience. Asking yourself any question, or imagining what you might look like to others right now, will do the trick. At that point, although still physiologically keyed up, you will be able to ask yourself, “What is the best course of action right now?” or “What advice would I give someone else who is in my shoes?”     2    .

Take Control of Your Self-Talk

We’re frequently unaware of how much self-chatter is going on in the background of our minds. Such self-talk might not be in fully articulated (铰接式的) words or phrases, but instead little flashes of thought. Becoming aware of your self-talk can be difficult. Why is this an important skill to develop?     3    . To genuinely ease a strong negative emotion requires tackling the source by examining the underlying belief and how accurate, reasonable, or useful it is.

Seek Support from Partners

Ask others you trust to help you recognize when your emotions seem to be getting the best of you.     4    . Agree on a gesture or word that might serve as a signal that your trusted individual wonders whether you’re riding the led-by-your-limbic-system train. Of course, there will be times they’re wrong. So, it’s important not to respond defensively when you get that signal. Reacting with anything other than gratitude ensures that your partner won’t take that risk again.

Cultivate (培养) Curiosity

Our brains are wired to draw conclusions and form judgments at lightning speed, and those are frequently the cause of our negative emotions.     5    , but we tend to run with them, sparking the self-talk that follows. Generally working to be more curious about other people’s experiences, including their self-identified motives for their behavior, helps avoid making hasty judgments.

5 . The UK has a rich literary heritage, with cities packed with bookshops, literary landmarks and comfortable cafes. If you love books, try one of these city breaks.

York

Earning a remarkable “bookspiration” score of 9. 4/10, York has claimed the title of the best UK city for book lovers. Having the highest number of reading spots per 100, 000 people among all cities analysed, literary lovers will find themselves spoiled for choice in this city. Home to 20 libraries and 33 highly-rated bookshops, this serves as a significant literary resource for a city of its population size.

Books inspired by York include: The Secret Garden, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre

Bath

Bath comes second, receiving a final “bookspiration” score of 8. 1/10. Beyond its plentiful quiet reading spots, more than seven libraries and 16 bookshops per 100, 000 people, the city also offers sufficient green spaces, perfect for eager readers to dive into their favourite books. It’s a dream destination for those with a preference for Jane Austen’s works. It’s also host to the annual Jane Austen Festival in September, featuring many immersive(沉浸式的)Regency-themed experiences.

Books inspired by Bath include: Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Vathek

Belfast

In third place is Belfast, scoring a respectable 7. 3/10. The Northern Irish city has 18 libraries and 55 charming bookshops to choose from. Serving as the backdrop of inspiration for CS Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, Belfast also has a bookish culture as it plays host to an annual book festival drawing in the nation’s biggest bookworms.

Books inspired by Belfast include: Eureka Street, Mystery Man, The Star Factory

Bristol

Bristol with a score of 6. 8/10 secures fourth place to be a literary lover’s paradise. Thanks to its treasure of bookshops from independent to second-hand, over 17 bookshops per 100, 000 people, the lively South West city makes an incredible destination for book-shopping.

Books inspired by Bristol include: Shadow Dance, Birdcage Walk, Keep Him Close

I’ve had a hobby of growing big fruit and vegetables, and my tomatoes, peppers, carrots and many other vegetables always grow well.

Watching the product in my garden, I was proud, yet over time, the smooth planting life felt too ordinary and lacked something. Then one morning I read the news that a woman went on a long river journey by pumpkin (南瓜) boat. I’d never heard of anyone floating by in a pumpkin before, but once the idea was in my head, I had to try it. If there’s one thing I’ve never lacked, it’s optimism, and I decided that with the right pumpkin, I could do better.

I put a lot of effort into pumpkin seeds. Eventually, I noticed one particular sample of the Atlantic Giant variety was overtaking the others. My wife called her Berta, and we watched with excitement over the next few weeks as Berta put on weight. I finally cut her off when she was big enough for me to fit inside. First, I had to test Berta on the water. Using a vehicle, I lowered her into a pond to see how she was going to float, marked the water level and then cut her open.

On 27 August this year, we set out early for the Missouri River with Berta in the back of a truck. I had a paddle (船桨) and was wearing a life jacket. Berta was eased into the river and I carefully climbed in, setting out toward the 6-mile point — the goal I set myself. My main task was to keep the pumpkin upright, away from obstacles. There were markers every mile along the river, so it was easy for the crew of the rescue boat following me — my wife, my sister and my son — to keep track of how far I’d gone and help me when necessary.

The trip passed uneventfully until an unexpected rock appeared.

The experience inspired me to make more fun attempts with my vegetables.

8 . A vast majority of people usually argue that cycling can make a significant contribution to our world. In reality, there is a gap between desired and actual numbers. In Germany, for instance, only 20% of the everyday short-distance trips are covered by bicycle. When enquiring about the causes, researchers found one point repeatedly tops the list: the perceived or potential risk on the bike routes used. Increasing the share of cycling trips thus depends crucially on well-developed bike paths.

However, designing efficient bike path networks is a complex task that involves balancing a variety of limitations while meeting overall demand. In addition, many districts are confronted with a shortage of funds available for improving the infrastructure. Researchers propose a new approach to generating efficient bike path networks. This considers demand distribution and the route option of cyclists based on preferences for secure outings. Typically, minimizing the travel distance is far from the solely goal. Aspects such as attractiveness of a route are also taken into account.

Under real conditions, a bike path network is created by constantly adding bike paths to more streets. This time, researchers start with an ideal, complex network, in which all streets in a city are equipped with a bike path. In a virtual process, they gradually remove less used bike path sections from this network. The route selection of cyclists is continuously updated. Thus, a series of bike path networks is created and is always adapted to the current usage. Each stage of it corresponds to a variant that could be carried out with less financial support.

“We illustrate the applicability of this demand-driven planning for crowded urban areas of Dresden and Hamburg,” explains researcher Christoph Steinacker. “We are approaching a real-life issue here using the theoretic toolbox of network dynamics and compare efficient bike path networks under different conditions.”

9 . “I like pigs,” Winston Churchill supposedly once said. “Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” Whether Churchill’s contemporary George Orwell also liked pigs is less clear. But he, too, surely saw something in them that was lacking in many domestic (驯养的) animals, for it was they who ended up running the show in his novel, Animal Farm. Pigs, then, are intelligent social creatures.

And, like all animals, they sometimes fight. Some pigs tend to be attackers; others tend to be victims. Who is what depends largely on weight. Among pigs, pounds mean power. The attacker might bite, kick or push the victim. Most conflicts end in seconds, but some last a minute or two.

In most animal species fights would be like that. However, many of the conflicts among pigs Dr Norscia, a biologist, observed had interested parties beyond the fighters. He therefore wanted to understand the role of these bystanders in solving conflicts—and what this says about pigs’ cognitive (认知的) abilities.

Since there was usually not enough time for a bystander pig to become involved in the heat of a conflict, though this did occur, Dr Norscia looked at what happened in the three minutes immediately following a fight. Sometimes, he found, the fighters reconciled with each other on their own. The more distantly related the fighters were, the more frequently this happened. Dr Norscia guessed that relations between close relatives are more secure to start with, so rebuilding friendly relations rapidly is less necessary for them.

On other occasions, however, a third pig stepped in. Sometimes this bystander interacted with the attacker, which reduced the number of attacks coming after. Sometimes, the bystander interacted with the victim. This appeared to calm the victim down, for it reduced anxiety-related behavior.

Social intelligence need not, though, be entirely selfless. Pigs are more likely to step in after a conflict if they are closely related to either the attacker or the victim. This is probably an example of kin selection (亲属选择), which favors the development of behavior.