4 . The voice within can guide you toward development and optimism. But sometimes, that inner dialogue also presents a critical voice.     1     Having control of your inner voice can be a powerful tool for creating cycles of positive thinking. Here are some good ideas that help control your thoughts in a healthy way.

    2     People who don’t believe in themselves can go through life allowing negative thoughts to guide them. So, have you ever realized that negative chatter is filling your head? For example, “I’m not worthy” or “I have no skills to take on this challenge”. Write down all negative thoughts that may be coming to your mind so that you may begin to replace these with healthy ones as you begin to change your way of thinking.

Choose your friend circle wisely. If you want to live a happy life, it’s important to surround yourself with people who want to see you do good.     3     Well, science backs this up! So surround yourself with friends who express healthy thoughts and a positive mindset.

Shift your mindset toward growth. A growth mindset is a belief that your talents are developable over time. A person with a growth mindset tends to be less likely to suffer mental health problems. So do develop a growth mindset!     4    

Choose to respond rather than react. Often, when someone feels triggered (激怒), they react without thinking.     5     However, by choosing to respond carefully rather than react, you’re exercising control over your thoughts in healthy ways. So next time you notice a strong thought coming up, do reflect before responding.

5 . In a new study with 22 pairs of identical twins, Stanford Medicine researchers have found that a vegan diet improves cardiovascular (心血管) health.

Although it’s well-known that eating less meat improves cardiovascular health, diet studies are often hampered by factors like genetic differences, upbringing and lifestyle choices. By studying identical twins, however, the researchers were able to control genetics and limit the other factors, as the twins grew up in the same households and reported similar lifestyles.

The trial consisted of 22 pairs of identical twins. The study authors selected healthy participants without cardiovascular disease and matched one twin from each pair with either a vegan or omnivore (杂食) diet. The vegan diet was entirely plant-based, including no meat or animal products while the omnivore diet included chicken, fish, eggs and other animal-sourced foods.

During the first four weeks, a meal service delivered 21 meals per week. For the remaining four weeks, the participants prepared their own meals. The participants were interviewed about their dietary intake and kept a record of the food they ate. 43 participants completed the study.

“Our study used a generalizable diet accessible to anyone, because 21 out of the 22 vegans followed through with the diet,” said Christopher Gardner, a professor in the Stanford Prevention Research Center. “This suggests anyone who chooses a vegan diet can improve their long-term health in two months, with the most change seen in the first month.”

The researchers found the most improvement over the first four weeks of the diet change. The participants with a vegan diet had significantly lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (脂蛋白胆固醇)   levels, which are associated with improved cardiovascular health than the omnivore participants. The vegan participants also showed approximately a 20% drop in fasting insulin (胰岛素) —a higher insulin level is a risk factor for developing diabetes. The vegans also lost an average of 4. 2 more pounds than the omnivores.

“Based on these results, most of us would benefit from going to a more plant-based diet,” Gardner said. But that doesn’t mean going completely vegan. Adding more plant-based food into your diet is the key to better heart health.

6 . Denmark has one of the lowest rates of bullying (欺凌) in schools. But this is something that didn’t happen overnight. Anti-bullying programs were introduced in Danish schools over 15 years ago, according to Euronews, but it’s something that has to be constantly updated to meet the changing times.

Programs begin in primary grades where children are taught empathy (共情) and how to avoid bullying. At the Sluseholmen Skole school in Copenhagen, meditation and hugs are part of the morning routine. According to Maja Hindsgaul, a teacher at the school, this is the key to well-being.

“I’m the one they can talk to if something is difficult. And I’m actually talking a lot about who I am and what I like and it’s OK if they like to hug. I like that, too,” she told Euronews. “Of course, they have to learn to read and write and things like that, but they can do that if they feel safe. It’s my task to make them feel safe so that they can develop social skills at school.”

Learning how to live with one another is a large part of the anti-bullying programs and this appears to be working well in the younger grades. “We’re always trying to get the kids to work together in different types of groups, across genders and not always with their best friends,” said teacher Louise Ibsen. “They’re also practicing social skills for how to communicate.”

A new program was rolled out in the 2021/22 school year according to a Mary Foundation news release. Our School Strength is a joint effort from the Mary Foundation, Borns Vilkar, a Danish child organization, and Save the Children Denmark. The program is the result of four years of research and cooperation by the nonprofit groups. It’s designed to deal with bullying up to grade 10 and focuses on students’ well-being and to help the youth feel that they are accepted and play an active role in the community. Anti-bullying programs that teach children empathy for others at a young age can make a big difference when these students become teenagers.

7 . The Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge is a science competition for U. S. middle-school students. It's run by Society for Science, which also publishes Science News Explores. The 30 finalists in this year's competition traveled to Washington, D. C. and also showed off their research projects.

Sharanya Chudgar, 14 years old, is one of the finalists in the competition and built a trash-collecting robot. The wheeled machine of the robot uses sensors to spot litter and a pan to pick it up. The robot's metal-detecting sensor helps it sort garbage from recyclables. And a light sensor can let the robot's solar panel angle itself toward the sun, collecting as much energy as possible.

Sharanya got the idea to build her trash collector by participating in litter cleanups. "When I signed up to volunteer at our local trash cleanup, I saw how much litter poliution there was and I knew that I had to fix this problem," Sharanya says. "People do have very limited time and resources, right? But robots don't. So it was then that my project idea formed in my head."

"Building the robot is my favorite part of this project," Sharanya says. "Ever since first grade, I've loved building Legos and building my robot felt just like building a Lego. But this project was a completely new experience since I hadn't ever had any experience in robotics before. Throughout the project, I had to use tons of power tools and I even had to cut pieces of metal to certain lengths. Whenever I needed to use a power tool, I had to turn to my dad who was always there to help out if necessary."

"It might seem difficult at times, but sticking to this and changing just one variable at a time gets you the best results," Sharanya says. This middle school scientist is solving global problems of litter pollution. For some, a science project might be an assignment or a fun hobby. But for Sharanya, doing research can also be a chance to help others and make the world a better place.

8 . Four Coolest Inventions From the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show

The annual Consumer Electronics Show is upon us. This year is as sci-fi cool as always with various innovative inventions. Here we’ve chosen four to share with you.

Smart Mirror

How do you feel when you look into the mirror in the morning? Paris-based company Baracoda says its BMind Smart Mirror can take a look and tell how you’re feeling. The technology uses artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing to analyze expressions and gestures and then provides guided meditations (冥想) and light therapy. The mirror can also guide you through tooth brushing and analyze your skin’s needs.

Ampera

LifeSpan’s Ampera Bike combines the health benefits of a pedal desk with the energy savings of a body-powered phone charger. A half-hour of pedaling can charge the average phone about 50 percent and cycling over 60 revolutions (转数) per minute can charge a laptop. The bike allows workers to complete the same tasks as they did sitting still while enjoying the physical and mental benefits of staying active.

Squad Mobility’s Electric Vehicle (E. V.)

On roads crowded with ever-bigger trucks and cars, Squad Mobility’s tiny solar-powered E. V. almost looks like a children’s toy. In a sunny environment, the 6.6-foot-long car can go about 13 miles just on solar charge from its 250-watts-peak rooftop panel (面板); it can also be plugged in like a regular E. V. With top speeds around 25 miles an hour, the car could be used to make a short commute (通勤).

Delta Pro Ultra

Power failure is annoying and can even be dangerous. Delta Pro Ultra from EcoFlow is a backup battery generator that runs on solar power, keeping houses powered in emergencies. At 186 pounds, it’s portable enough to hit the road, powering recreational vehicles or tiny homes.

10 . Reflecting on your day is something most of you feel too busy to do. Yet, without it, you’re left continuing to feel at a loss and unable to live intentionally.     1     ? The following are some practical tips.

Create a Plan

    2     . Get out your calendar and schedule enough time to reflect. It can be as little as 10 minutes and as much as an hour. When you schedule it and make it part of your routine, you'll actually do it.

Show up Consistently

It means that you regularly reflect on your day — not just randomly, when you remember or aren’t busy. Daily reflection can become a habit if you do it enough in the beginning. Sit down every day for 10-50 minutes and reflect.     3    .

Do a Brain Dump (清空)

Think about your room you need to clean: you start by taking everything out of the room and putting it into another room; then you decide what to add back, item by item.     4     . Write down what you’re thinking and feeling about the day, as well as what you did during the day, which is enough to create awareness around what you're thinking about, feeling, acting and creating in your life.

Separate out the Facts From Your Thoughts

Write out all your facts on one side and all your thoughts on the other side. Separating out facts from thoughts shows you what you’re thinking about.     5     . You can see they’re choices and these choices lead to your results in your life. Changing your thoughts and choosing them on purpose is hard work, but it’s 100% worth the effort.