3 . The pandemic (疫情) has changed the shape of global happiness

Politicians and officials frequently talk about how COVID-19 affects public health and the economy. But for most people, those are abstract considerations. What they experience each day are moods. To mark World Happiness Day on March 20th, researchers have tried to find out these moods and examine the way the pandemic has changed them in the World Happiness Report.

Globally, between 2021 and 2022 happiness was boosted by 0.22 points on the Cantril ladder among people over the age of 60. Video-conferencing software enabled many old people to stay in touch with their families. In countries under lockdown, they experienced the pleasure of knowing that society made sacrifices to protect them.

Meanwhile the young had a rough year. Many lost their jobs — in America the unemployment rate for people aged 20 to 24 shot up from 6.3% in February to 25.6% two months later. In some rich countries young women had a particularly hard time. They often worked in sectors, such as hospitality (食宿娱乐), which were shut down. When schools closed, many were troubled with more than their fair share of child care.

The most interesting finding in the World Happiness Report is that some links between COVID-19 and happiness operate in both directions. The authors do not suggest that happiness helps countries resist COVID-19. Rather, they argue that what sustains national happiness also makes places better at dealing with the pandemic. Surveys by Gallup show that many of the places that have coped best with COVID-19, such as the Nordic countries and New Zealand, have widespread faith in institutions and strangers. Large majorities of their residents believe that a neighbour will return a wallet if they find it.

4 . It happens sometimes— the forecast says it’s going to rain, but you carry the umbrella with you all day only to find that it isn’t. It’s natural for weather forecasts to make mistakes, but hopefully the launch of Fengyun 4A, China’s new weather satellite, on Dec. 12 will make things better.

Although it is 36,000 km above Earth, Fengyun 4A could be an important part of our lives.

According to Dong Yaohai, the chief designer of the satellite at the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, the satellite has four instruments, including a lightning mapping imager and a radiation imager.

The lightning mapping imager can take 500 pictures of lightning within one second. These pictures will greatly improve thunderstorm forecasts as well as the research on lightning’s frequency and effects. The radiation imager will be used to find out the amounts of PM 10 and PM2. 5 in the air. Both of these are harmful particles (颗粒) that can damage our health.

The satellite is also very sensitive. It is able to tell if there has been a temperature change of 0.1 C on the ground.

Since 1988, China has launched 14 satellites in the Fengyun series. Each satellite has had a different job, and each generation of satellite has been more accurate and updated data more often than the one before.

According to Qu Yan, deputy head of the academy, since 2000 all typhoons formed and developed in the Western Pacific and South China Sea have been successfully found and followed. “Forecasting of typhoons has become increasingly more accurate, and the Fengyun satellites can be credited for this,” said QU.

And the technology is shared with the world. China’s weather satellites, together with those from the US and Europe, are used by the World Meteorological Organization, which means weather data collected by the satellites is made available to more than 3,000 weather forecast outlets in more than 90 countries and regions worldwide.

5 . Nowadays, we are very worried about such COVID-19 variants as Delta and Omicron. To relieve our anxieties, we should have a look at our own cell and the original COVID-19 virus.

First of all, our cell isn’t stupid. If any virus wants to enter our cell, it must figure out a way for its spike (触手) to hold tightly to the spike on the cell’s surface. You can imagine this connecting as a secret handshake.

At the early stage, the COVID-19 virus figured out a way to connect to a specific spike on the surface of human cell, called ACE2. But the connecting wasn’t perfect. However, it was good enough to trick the ACE2 to let it in.

Once the virus was inside the cell, it kept copying itself in order to find more cells to infect. During this time, the immune (免疫) system started making antibodies to fight back. Some of those antibodies acted like little caps that stick to the ends of the virus’s spike. Once “capped”, the infection couldn’t move forward, and the body won!

But every time the virus copies itself inside a cell, it has the chance of changing its spikes slightly. Most of the variations are actually harmful to the virus. So these variants disappear. However, once the virus hits upon a set of variations that actually help the virus to connect more tightly to the cell or more quickly, a person’s cell gets infected more easily.

Then what about the antibodies? Aren’t they coming to save us again? Well, yes... and no.

Scientists found that a person who was infected with the earlier version of the virus may not be protected as well against these new variants. He still can be infected, again. However, the antibodies’ spikes come in different shapes, too. So even though some antibodies become less useful, others will get the job done—or at least, hold back the infection long enough so the body can make new antibodies that fit perfectly on the changed spike.

7 . Chinese astronauts have performed the country’s first tandem spacewalk (双人太空行走), working forseven hours on the outside of the new Tiangong Station in orbit around the earth. Tiangong’ s construction is a significant step in China’s ambitious space programme.

On June 17, 2021, three astronauts became the first crew of the station, where they’ll remain for threemonths in China’s longest crewed mission to date. On the morning of July 4, two of them left the station for about seven hours of work in the first spacewalk at Tiangong. “The safe return of astronauts Liu Boming andTang Hongbo to the Tianhe core module (核心舱) marks the complete success of the first spacewalk in our country’s space station construction, ”the agency said. “Their task included testing a camera outside the Tianhecore module and testing the station’s robotic arm, which will be used to transfer future modules around the station. . The astronauts installed (安装) foot stops on the robotic arm and with its support, carried out other assembly work, ”the space agency added. Liu and Yang were supported from inside the station by the mission commander, Nie Haisheng, who’s on his third space mission.

This was the first of two spacewalks planned for the mission, both expected to last six or seven hours. It was the first time since 2008 that Chinese astronauts had gone outside their spacecraft. Back then, Zhai Zhigang made China the third country to complete a spacewalk after the Soviet Union and the US. This is China’s first crewed mission in nearly five years and a matter of huge honor as the country marks the 100th anniversary of the ruling Communist Party. The Chinese space agency is planning a total of 11 launches through to the end of next year, including three more crewed missions.

. President Xi Jinping has said the construction of China’s first space station and continuous devotion in crewed space missions are opening “new horizons”in humanity’s attempts to explore the universe.

9 . To keep social distancing and work at home during the pandemic (流行病) has led to less time moving around, and more time sitting and looking at screens. For many office workers, working at home means spending hours sitting at our desk.     1    . Therefore, exercise experts suggest things must be changed. Some tips here are to help you move more.

Start small

People trying to start exercising often get caught up in an “all or nothing” thinking which means either I do zero or I do two hours. And if I don’t get two hours, then it doesn’t count, or it’s not good enough.     2    . Going from no activity at all to even a little bit will indeed get some health effects.

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Part of developing a good exercise habit is to know yourself well. Knowing what’s possible and what’s not realistic for you. For instance, if you’re not a morning person, don’t plan to exercise in the morning. And if you hate running, don’t run just because someone tells you it’s good for you.     4    . Arranging with a friend to work out will help you avoid struggling to get started.

Walk whenever you can

Sitting less and walking more will make a big difference. Use your stairs instead of an elevator. And if you don’t have to go out, just walk room to room back and forth to get those extra steps. If you have a meeting, use the break of that meeting to walk around.     5