1 . Your guide to a no-spend challenge

A no-spend challenge isn’t about total deprivation (剥夺) or freezing your bank account.     1    . The most common form of the challenge is to purchase only necessities and restrain from buying wants and impulse desires.

Before delving (深入探究) into the no-spend challenge, take the time to assess and differentiate your essential needs from your wants. Identify recurring bills, necessary expenditures and essential items. Distinguish them from free spending on non-essential products and services. This initial step lays the foundation for a realistic and sustainable challenge.     2    .

A successful no-spend challenge is rooted in the development of a well-crafted budget that reflects your financial reality.     3    . Allocate specific amounts for variable expenses such as groceries and bills, enhancing accountability and providing a clear roadmap for responsible spending during the challenge.

    4    . A firm support system that understands and respects your financial goals creates a positive environment, fostering motivation and solidarity. Share tips, experiences and celebrate milestones together, turning the challenge into a shared journey towards financial consciousness.

As your challenge concludes, take enough time to reflect on the entire experience. What insights did you gain into your spending habits and priorities? Identify positive changes you want to maintain and integrate them into your long-term financial strategy.

The no-spend challenge is not merely a temporary exercise; it serves as a catalyst for enduring financial wellness. Embrace the journey, learn from the experience and watch as your financial goals transform into realities.

2 . With a fragrance (芳香) through the bedrooms of older adults for two hours every night for six months, memories skyrocketed. Participants in this study by University of California, Irvine (UCI)neuroscientists gained a 226% increase in cognitive capacity compared to the control group. The researchers say the finding transforms the long-known tie between smell and memory into an easy, non-invasive technique for strengthening memory and potentially preventing dementia (痴呆).

The project was conducted through the UCI Center for the Neurobiology of Learning & Memory. It involved men and women aged 60 to 85 without memory impairment. All were given seven small containers, each containing a single and different natural oil. People in the enriched group received full-strength oils. Control group participants were given the oils in tiny amounts. Participants put a different container into their room each evening prior to going to bed, and it activated for two hours as they slept.

People in the enriched group showed a 226% increase in cognitive performance compared to the control group, as measured by a word list test commonly used to evaluate memory. Participants also reported sleeping more soundly. The researchers say the results from their study bear out what scientists learned about the connection between smell and memory.

Scientists have long known that the loss of ability to smell, can predict development of nearly 70 neurological and psychiatric diseases. These include Alzheimer’s and other dementias, Parkinson’s and alcoholism. Researchers have previously found that exposing people with moderate dementia to up to 40 different smells twice a day over a period of time improved their memories and language skills, eased depression and improved their sense of smell.

The team would next like to study the technique’s impact on people with diagnosed cognitive loss. A product based on their study and designed for people to use at home is expected to come onto the market this fall.

3 . When trash sculptor Stephanie Hongo meets friends for drinks or dinner, it’s not unusual for one of them to hand her shopping bags full of lids, empty soap bottles, and even a Barbie leg or two. By now, she’s used to neighbors, friends and even strangers giving her their recyclable rejects.

But Hongo doesn’t need any more garbage. She has a large collection of her own at home. “You don’t need to be a trash picker to do this,” she says. “Trash is everywhere.” And for Hongo, where there is trash, there is art. Since 2017, Hongo has crafted complex sea creatures, realistic-looking jungle animals and other creatures out of everything from plastic forks to plastic tubing as well as a hair dryer, a purse, a tooth brush, and even a hair straightener.

Starting with her first piece—a blue deer named Yandoo that she fashioned out of odds and ends laying around her flat, which she screwed together and spray painted in a makeshift basement art studio—she’s gone on to create more than 160 trash sculptures.

“I feel very fortunate,” says Hongo, who loves making a living as an artist. “I care about our environment. The upcycling aspect of it is a lovely byproduct.” Though she doesn’t consider herself a true eco-artist, she hopes she’s inspiring others to reuse items that usually end up in landfills. But for her, she says, “The art comes first.”

Before starting each project, Hongo figures out exactly what pieces of scrap (废旧的) metal, tubing and plastics she’ll need to transform the pile of junk on her worktable into something fantastic, like a majestic octopus (章鱼) rocketing through the coral or a cute koala hugging a tree.

Since her funky creations sell on line at prices starting at $400, she’s been fortunate enough to make trash sculpting her full-time career. “It’s so much more than I ever expected,” she says.

4 . Successful wildlife conservation goes hand in hand with community education and engagement. Volunteers work with community leaders and schools to share their passion for conservation and the environment.

The project is home to an internationally renowned Black Rhino Breeding and Release Programme which has supported Zimbabwe’s rhino population since the mid 1980s. To date, 20 rhinos have been born at the conservancy, with 12 rhinos successfully released back into the wild. Volunteers play a role in securing the future of this once-again endangered animal, working alongside anti-poaching rangers (反偷猎护林员), working on rhino research projects and getting involved in the daily care of both black and white rhino.

Our Rhino Conservation Programme is a unique hands-on opportunity to get behind the scenes and experience day-to-day life on a private conservancy, and be involved with the protection and conservation of Zimbabwe’s endangered black rhino.

The aim of the programme is to assist the reserve’s established Black Rhino Breeding and Release Programme, collect meaningful data and information relating to rhino and wildlife conservation and animal behaviour, and engage with the local community about wildlife conservation.

In 2021, two captive-born male cheetah were introduced to the conservancy as part of an international rewilding programme. The cheetah are now free-wandering in the reserve, and volunteers play an important role in monitoring and observing their behaviour, tracking their movements and recording their hunting rate.

Volunteers contribute to a long-term conservation project and get involved with a variety of conservation activities:

·Work alongside rhinos, cheetah and elephants

·Conservancy management

·Wildlife monitoring

·Anti-poaching patrols and snare sweeps

·Educate school-children about conservation, wildlife and the environment

·Learn about what is involved in running a conservancy

5 . Researchers have proposed a novel method for counting and tracking vehicles on public roads, a development that could improve current traffic systems and help travelers get to their destinations faster.

Using the cameras already installed on campus buses at the Ohio State University, researchers proved that they could automatically and accurately measure counts of vehicles on urban roadways, detect objects in the road and distinguish parked vehicles from those that are moving.

In previous studies, Ohio State researchers found that using these mobile cameras provides much better spatial and temporal (时间的) coverage than relying on often temporarily placed sensors that don’t provide a view of many streets and roads in a city.

“If we collect and process more high-resolution (高清) spatial information about what’s happening on the roads, then planners could better understand changes in demand, effectively improving efficiency in the broader transportation system,” said Keith Redmill, lead author of the study.

“If we can measure traffic in a way that is as good or better than what is conventionally done with fixed sensors, then we will have created something incredibly useful extremely cheaply,” he said. “Our goal is to start building a system that could do this without much manual intervention because if you want to collect this information over lots of potential vehicles and lots of time, it’s worth fully automating that process.”

While still a long way from total implementation (实施), the study suggests the system’s results bear promise for the future of intelligent traffic surveillance. Transportation planners, engineers and operators make vital decisions about the future of our roadways, so when designing transportation systems to work over the next 30 to 50 years, it’s necessary that we give them data that allows them to improve the efficiency of the system and the level of service provided to travelers.

6 . Many Silicon Valley parents are becoming more concerned about preventing their children from using screens. Some parents think that even a little screen time can be extremely addictive, so it is better if their children avoid using or seeing these devices completely. However, it is difficult for working adults in the 21st century to give up using a phone at home. So, it’s simpler to employ someone to do this.

“Silicon Valley nanny (保姆)”, who takes children back to a time without screens every day is widely needed. From Cupertino to San Francisco, it’s widely agreed that screen time is harmful to youngsters. Therefore, parents are requesting nannies to keep phones, tablets and computers in a hidden place. Others even offer no-phone agreements.

Research shows that spending too much time on technology can harm young minds. For example, teenagers who use social media frequently are more likely to feel depressed and anxious. Insomnia (失眠) rates have also increased amongst this age group, and an increasing number of children display the signs that they can’t focus attention. These seemingly minor (轻微的) problems could become significant challenges for future generations.

“Many parents come back home and focus on their smartphones, ignoring whatever their children are trying to say,” said Shannon Zimmerman, who works as a nanny in San Jose for families that forbid screen time. “As a nanny, I also call on more parents to spend more time with their kids.”