Most gardeners will probably say gardening     1     (be) good for you. According to a study, people who garden have a     2     (healthy) diet, get more exercise, and feel less stress. Researchers studied the benefits of gardening in shared community gardens     3     people work together. They suggest gardening may reduce stress because it exposes people to nature, while community gardens also provide     4     (chance) for social interaction. Therefore, they hope the results will encourage doctors and government leaders to regard community gardens as a vital part of the public health system.

7 . Elephant Transit Home

In both Africa and Asia elephants are being threatened by changes in their natural habitats (栖息地). People are moving into the elephants’ habitats and endangering their survival. In the country of Sri Lanka, there is one place where elephants are not only protected but also respected. It is called the Elephant Transit Home (ETH).

Set up in 1995, the ETH aims to protect and nurture baby elephants that are found injured or living without their mothers in the wild. Every year about 30 baby elephants in Sri Lanka need help. As many as possible are brought to the ETH. There they are given food, shelter, and medical care. Most importantly, they are given the chance to be with other elephants and become part of a herd (象群).

A day at the ETH begins early in the morning when the baby elephants are given their first feeding of milk. During the day, each baby will drink an average of 13 gallons of milk. Older elephants are fed mostly coconut leaves and other native plants. Then the elephants are allowed to walk around, eating the grass and forming a herd. The cost of caring for the baby elephants is high. The ETH spends about $125,000 each year on powdered milk for the baby elephants.

At the ETH, workers try to reduce human connection with the elephants. They also try to increase bonds (联系) between the elephants. It usually takes three years for a baby elephant to be set free into its natural habitat. The elephants are sent back to the wild together with other orphans with whom they have bonded. This program helps them return to the wild as members of a herd that will communicate with each other and take care of each other.

The ETH is considered one of the best animal protection sites in the world. Not only are the elephants cared for, they are treated with respect. Most importantly, they go back to live in the wild, where they belong.

Horses are picky eaters

Horses have an even better sense of smell than humans do. When horses raise their noses and open their nostrils (鼻孔), their nervous system allows them to sense smells we can’t sense. This might explain why they refuse dirty water and carefully move around meadows, eating only the tastiest grasses, experts say.

Whale says thanks

In 2018, a whale expert spotted a humpback whale trapped in a fishing net and spent an hour freeing it. Afterward, in an hour-long display of thanks, the whale swam near their boat and leaped into the air about 40 times.

Pandas like to be naughty

Is there anything more lovely than a baby panda, except maybe a human baby? In fact, baby pandas sometimes behave like human babies. They sleep in the same positions and value their thumbs. Pandas are shy by nature for its shy behaviors such as covering its face with a paw or ducking its head when confronted by a stranger.

A cat honors its owner

Paper towels, and a plastic cup are just a few of the gifts that Toldo, a devoted three-year-old gray-and-white cat, has placed on his former owner Iozzelli Renzo’s grave every day since the man died in September 2018. Renzo adopted Toldo from a shelter when the cat was three months old, and the two formed an inseparable bond. After Renzo passed away, Toldo followed the coffin to the cemetery, and now “stands guard” the grave for hours at a time.

9 . When you’re on a fishing boat, you may see flocks of birds following your tracks, hoping to catch a snack. Now scientists say they can use those birds’ behavior to track illegal fishing boats.

Here’s how it worked: Researchers attached data recorders to the backs of 169 albatrosses (信天翁) in the Southern and Indian oceans. The devices weighed only an ounce and a half, but they included a GPS and were able to detect the presence and intensity of radar signals coming from boats. That information was then transmitted by satellite, so the researchers could track the locations of the birds — and thus the radar-emitting boats — in real time.

The scientists then cross-checked the data against the known locations of boats, gathered from a system that boats use to declare themselves, called the Automatic Identification System (AIS). And differences appeared frequently.

More than a third of the times the birds’ recorders detected radar signals, and therefore a boat, no such boat appeared in the official log — meaning that the vehicles had likely switched off their Automatic Identification Systems — something the researchers say probably happens in illegal fishing operations.

The work suggests birds could be an effective boat-monitoring tool, as long as illegal fishing operations don’t target the birds. Fortunately, such a task would be difficult.

“Around fishing boats, you can get hundreds of birds at any one time that are all flying around. So it’s not really possible to target a specific bird. And the birds with recorders on are not marked in any way. So it’s difficult for fishermen to pick out a specific bird,” said study author Samantha Patrick, a marine biologist at the University of Liverpool.

Patrick’s bigger concern is that albatrosses are often trapped by fishing lines. And though regulations have been established to prevent that happening, illegal boats don’t necessarily obey.

10 . Have you ever heard of agritourism where you can experience the farm life? If not, Dr. Cindy Ayers Elliott will tell you the real story of Foot Print Farms.

The original concept of building Foot Print Farms was simple. When Ayers Elliott returned to her hometown after graduation, she didn’t have to look any further than her state’s alarming health statistics to find a mission. Everywhere she turned, there were reports of high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and heart disease. “The problem was already identified,” explains Ayers Elliott. “Too many Mississippians were seriously unhealthy and it didn’t do research to see that. And many of the state’s greatest health challenges could directly result from poor diet.”

These days, Foot Print Farms, which started with a few raised beds of herbs and vegetables, is making fresh , naturally grown food. “Speaking of the key to my success, the co-op(合作商店) model works because we share the work and rewards,” notes Ayers Elliott. “A perfect example is the Wingfield High School football team. To earn the money for equipment and other items, players committed to working five hours a week on the farm, and by the end of the summer they produced 1,000 melons and the profits from their sales helped to buy weights, T-shirts, sweatsuits and pregame meals. But the lessons they learned about the rewards of hard work and working together to accomplish something were even more valuable products of their efforts.”

“It’s a model that can easily be learned in other places and I’m looking forward to seeing some of our current partners do just that — to take what they have learned here and spin it off in other communities,” Ayers Elliott remarks. She is now looking forward to developing an agritourism area, where visitors can experience the farm life, learn new skills and take with them seeds of inspiration they can sow in their own communities when they return home.