8 . It is strange how a single moment can change a person’s life. My adult son walked to the table this morning for breakfast and as he did he opened his arms to me. I opened my arms too and gave him a big hug (拥抱). And when I did, a beautiful memory (回忆) came back to me.

My mom had grown up in a reserved (保守的) family. She hugged me sometimes but less often as I grew into my teenage years. My dad didn’t hug me much either. By the time I was a teenager then, I hadn’t been used to hugging.

When I was sixteen I left on a trip with a group of boys to tour a college in the Mid-West. And on our way we stopped by a place where monks (僧侣) live. As we entered, we were welcomed by the largest monk I had ever seen. He was over six and a half feet tall with huge arms. As he welcomed us he gave everyone a huge hug. When my own turn came, I felt frightened but stepped in and hugged him back. I felt warmth in my heart. It was amazing. Later that day I began to wonder why I had ever stopped giving and receiving hugs when they brought so much joy.When my own children were born, I decided never to stop hugging them and telling them I loved them.

I will be forever thankful because that monk showed me how much love a single hug can share. What use are arms if we don’t use them to hug each other?

9 . Online event: Why is laughter funny?

Laughter（大笑）is more like an animal call than it is like speech but it’s also one of our most important forms of communication.

In this talk, Sophie Scott will explore the natural history and neuroscience (神经学) of laughter addressing its role in social contact and play, as well as its role in emotion (情感) expressions and communication. She will focus on what we should know about the neural basis of laughter production, and a little of what we should know about laughter and humor (幽默). Sophie will also address some of the reasons why so few people study laughter scientifically.

Sophie has pioneered the study into the human voice as a social communication, and she has recently started to address the ways that emotional expressions like laughter are used socially. At night, she will turn theory (理论) into practice in a talk show.

What’s included in your ticket

A live lecture lasting 60 minutes including Q&A with Sophie Scott

A recording of the lecture and Q&A for 12 months

Booking content from New Scientist at a special price

Health and Wellbeing Series

The Health and Wellbeing series from New Scientist events will include four online talks in September (Sleep Engineering),October(Healthy Eating),November (Brain Power),and December (Laughter), covering the latest developments in health from some of the finest minds in science.

Each lecture costs £13. You can buy a single ticket to one lecture, or save 25% off the standard (标准的) ticket price by buying a full-price ticket to all 4 live online Health and Wellbeing series lectures.