2 . Humans have many unique behaviors among animals. For example, we have a formal language that permits communication about things that exist in the past, present, and future. Yet we share at least one emotion with many other species fear.

To really understand our fears we have to go further to study how animals long before humans came into being assessed (评估) and managed predation (捕食) risk in the wild. All animals, past and present, must assess life-threatening predation risks (风险) and make decisions to avoid or otherwise manage those risks. It is a proper balance: being too fearful is costly if fear means that you miss out on getting food, mates, or other important resources. However, being too brazen could end very poorly indeed. It is the context that influences all decisions. If they’re hungry, it’s wise to take more risks or they will go hungry. And, if they’re powerful and can steal food from others at will, perhaps it’s OK to be a bit more careful. Successful individuals are those that make right assessment, and because of this, leave more descendants.

Natural expressions of fear influence the structure of ecological communities, and the removal of predators changes entire ecosystems. To manage predation risks, animals modify(调整) their activity patterns, habitat selection,   and their diet. Fear of predators can also reduce an individual’s reproductive(繁殖)success. All of these fear-driven modifications can have a great influence on both the environment and the diversity of many species. Fear, as it turns out, is an essential part of healthy ecosystems and helps keep biodiversity.

Fear is a natural emotion, and that it’s impossible to completely avoid it. It is comforting to know that fear comes from a long line of ancestors, both human and nonhuman. It is a compass(指南针)that, when used I properly, guides us away from danger and toward opportunity.

3 . Visit Iceland — A Space-like Odyssey (奇幻历险)

With all of its unique experiences, a trip to Iceland will take your breath away. Iceland is truly an outdoor enthusiast’s paradise. If you are planning to visit Iceland, choose one from the handpicked tour operators.

ELDHESTAR-Volcano horse-riding

At Eldhestar we develop activities to combine pleasure, comfort and adventure in a way of respecting nature. We offer various riding tours all year round. For experienced riders, the adventure of 6-7 days on horseback in the Icelandic highlands is highly recommended.

CONTACT: 480-4800; info@eldhestar.com; www.eldhestar.is

ADVENTURE VIKINGS

Just join our great selection of scheduled day tours available all year round! We provide diverse adventures from easy hiking to extreme sports and we can even plan a customized adventure for you. We are also the first to offer surfing school for beginners in Iceland.

CONTACT: 571-2900; info@adventurevikings.com; www.adventurevikings.is

EXTREME ICELANDIC ADVENTURES

We are a tour operator, with a focus on tours and adventures in the north of Iceland. If you want to explore Iceland by hiking, snowmobiling, driving super jeeps or parachuting (跳伞), send us an email and we fix what you need.

INTO THE GLACIER

Join Into the Glacier for an adventure that will lead you to the untouched beauty and raw nature of Langjokull, Iceland’s second largest glacier It’s an opportunity of a lifetime as we journey up the white slopes and go deep inside the man-made ice tunnels.

CONTACT: 578-2550; info@intotheglacier.com; www.intotheglacier.is

There is always an adventure waiting to happen in Iceland. Click here and look for more things to do in Iceland!

4 . Family vlogging — the frequent recording and uploading of personal videos of the family, usually on video sharing website — has become big business nowadays, especially among parents of young children. The more viewers such videos can get, the more money the family can make. At first thought, it does seem like an easy way to make money. However, are we doing right by putting their lives up for public attention?

For one thing, as the children grow up, they increasingly become aware that what they do needs to be admirable enough for the public to enjoy — Being young children, they also would want to do whatever it takes to please others. They then feel the pressure to be perfect, and as that is something not always possible, they become anxious and stressed. Comments from viewers and the expectations of sponsors (赞助者) can also affect the parents’ reactions towards their children.

Another problem is the lack of privacy in the children’s lives. As the children reach adolescence, there is a greaser need for personal space. At 12 or 13, very few children would appreciate being filmed while eating or having a conversation with their friends. Teenhood is a time of significant change in an individual, both physically and emotionally, and is a time when parents need to protect their children and guide them, instead of exposing them to the eyes of the public.

Family vlogging can be irresistible, given how it allows parents to bring greater fun to their family lives. There is also the easy money and the fame to look forward to. Indeed, all would probably go well, but only as long as parents keep in mind that, if not managed well, making their children live their lives in the unforgiving eyes of the public could prove to be a big mistake.

6 . How Did Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Die?

On November 20th, 1791, Mozart suddenly came down with fever and was wracked with pain. His arms and legs were severely swollen. In the following days his health significantly deteriorated. He died on December 5 after lapsing into a coma. The death certificate states he died of “severe miliary fever”. Exactly which disease led to Mozart’s death has been a mystery for the last 200 years.

Many myths —some more plausible than others — entwine (缠绕) Mozart’s early demise. One of the most popular myths — that Mozart was poisoned by his rival Antonio Salieri — rose to prominence due to the popularity of the film Amadeus. This theory is supported by the fact that Mozart had been living through a phase of depression before his death, suffering from paranoia and existential fear. Mozart himself suspected that the cause of his deteriorating health was being poisoned over a long time. However, it is highly likely that this was just his subjective view of reality.

Many other speculations circulate. Syphilis and trichinellosis are frequently mentioned. In 1905, a French physician assumed uric acid poisoning due to a never fully healed nephritis. In 1961, lead poisoning was suggested as a possible cause of death.

In 2000, a group of American scientists proposed rheumatic fever caused by a strep infection after conducting meticulous detective work. The symptoms stated in literature and the reports of Mozart’s contemporaries yielded the clues. Without antibiotics, such an infection would inevitably lead to death. Rheumatic fever causes a weakening of the heart, which could explain Mozart’s swollen limbs.

In 2009, the Dutch scientist Richard Zegers extensively studied surviving documents and concluded that Mozart had been suffering from pharyngitis, a throat infection with symptoms including cramps, fever, rashes and a swollen neck. Mozart’s sister-in-law Sophie Haibel had described these symptoms. The death registry of Vienna for winter 1791 lists several deaths caused by this disease.

Whatever the cause of Mozart’s death, it came far too early. Let us thank him for his manic urge to create art and remember him on December 5th!

7 . 43-year-old John Chadwick started live-streaming (直播) life of the birds with their chicks.But just weeks after uploading the videos to YouTube, he gained millions of views from around the world.

John said, “To think that tens of millions of people have been watching the birds from around the world is just incredible and quite overwhelming.”

The sound engineer bought the bird box by accident. He placed it on a willow tree in his back garden in March, and within hours two blue tits (蓝冠山雀) moved in and they had five chicks. At first, he only wanted to show his family what the birds were up to.

John said, “Within a day the birds moved in, and I wanted to know what was going on inside. I started to livestream and do video highlights every day-on the first day 100 people watched it. It showed things like the chicks being fed in the nests as the parents carried in caterpillars (毛毛虫). After three months, I had 2, 000 subscribers.”

John decided to put a final video together and keep it as short as possible-showing the birds going into the nests, the eggs hatching, and the chicks fledging(长羽毛).

Now despite the huge global success of the videos, John is unlikely to make enough for a nest egg of his own. He still needs to struggle for his family. But some people say they find it quite relaxing and genuinely fascinated by John’s videos.

He said, “My personal challenge to myself was to get out of my comfortable zone. And I enjoy exploring new areas. But I keep in mind that I need to care for my family.”

9 . A new study found that 15-year-olds told more coherent (连贯的) stories about turning points in their lives if their mothers had been taught the new conversational techniques 14 years earlier. These adolescents also reported fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety compared to adolescents in the study whose mothers had talked with their toddlers (初学走路的孩子) as usual.

In the research,115 mothers of toddlers were assigned to either a control group without any training or an experimental group given training in elaborative reminiscine (详尽回忆) for a year. The training involves open and responsive conversations with young children about every day past events.

Project lead Professor Elaine Reese says adolescents whose mothers had participated in the earlier coaching sessions narrated difficult events from their lives — such as parental divorce or cyber-bullying with more insight into how the experience had shaped as people.

Professor Reese says, “Our findings suggest parents’ sharing memories early in children’s lives can have long-lasting benefits, both for the way adolescents process and talk about difficult life events and for their well-being. For example, it helps children develop more complete, specific, and accurate memories of their experiences, providing a richer store of memories to use when telling their own stories. It also teaches children how to have open discussions about past feelings when they’re no longer in the heat of the moment.”

Professor Reese hopes parents and policy makers realize the importance of early childhood as the ideal time for starting to have positive conversations with children, and to know that these conversations can make a difference as children grow older. “The ultimate goal is to encourage parents to have more sensitive and responsive conversations about events in their children’s lives.”

The researchers intend to continue the study, following up with participants in emerging adulthood to determine any ongoing effects of their theirs mother’s elaborative reminiscine.