1 . “Don’t be a victim.” That’s a phrase you’ll hear a lot if you take a crime-prevention class. Basically, it means that there are steps you can take to reduce the likelihood that you’ll be mugged, assaulted, or otherwise attacked. Don’t wave your cash around like you’re a billionaire. Don’t be distracted on the subway. Walk with a purpose.

That last one is particularly important, because according to a new study from the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, some criminals are very good at sensing weakness based on the way you walk. Actually, serial killer Ted Bundy admitted in a personal interview in 1985 that “he could tell a victim by the way she walked down the street, the tilt of her head, the manner in which she carried herself, etc…” Unfortunately, research demonstrated the reality that criminals do in fact look for, or at least notice certain characters when selecting potential victims. While nothing excuses crime, knowledge is power in the sense that there are things we can do to protect ourselves when we are out alone.

In the report titled “Psychopathy and Victim Selection” the researchers surveyed 47 criminals at a maximum-security prison in Ontario and found that social predators are very good at picking victims based on their posture and gait(步伐). They noted that people might be releasing vulnerability to criminals through their postures, gestures, and exaggerated movements.

The researchers secretly filmed 12 people walking — eight women and four men, some of whom had been attacked before. Then, they showed the video to a group of criminals and asked them whether or not each person would make a good victim. These “victim ratings” were then compared against each person’s actual history of victimization. Sure enough, the people whom the criminals picked as “likely victims” were usually the ones who had been victimized in the past. These people were often said to have “walked like an easy target” — slowly, unfocused, with short steps.

The sample size here is really small. Maybe we shouldn’t give this study’s findings too much weight. Nevertheless, it emphasizes something that seems pretty unconscious. Criminals aren’t looking for a challenge. Rather, they want someone timid and inattentive. So stride down the street like you own it. Your new, aggressive gait may scare off criminals. And even if this study turns out to be total bullshit, you’ll still get where you’re going a lot faster.

2 . Most parents will remember their little ones grasping their leg or being unwilling to speak to someone new. But when does this stop being a natural part of a child’s growing up and become something to worry about?

Here, Heidi Gazelle, a senior lecturer in developmental psychology from the University of Melbourne, explains how shyness is of more concern if it is persistent rather than temporary.

Shyness with other children is of more concern than shyness with adults. It is common for children to be on the alert for adults, particularly men, but less common for children around their own age.

Children who engage in very little social interaction in comparison to children of their age are missing out on these important cumulative learning experiences. As a result, their social cognition, social skills and sense of self may be less mature than those of other children around their age.

Being excluded and bullied is damaging children’s emotional health and sense of self, especially when these conditions persist over time. Children need help from adults to stop exclusion and being bullied by other children. When parents become aware that their child is being excluded or bullied by other children at a childcare center or a school, they should contact the childcare center or school on their child’s behalf.

Shyness is of concern if it interferes with your child’s or family’s routines or activities, or if your child often appears miserable or complains of being lonely. For instance, if shyness prevents your child from attending other children’s birthday parties or school, or prevents your family from visiting friends, then you should consider seeking help from a child psychologist.

If a child is upset about a problem with a friend, parents can encourage the child to try to resolve the problem in a way that preserves the friendship, instead of ending the friendship, as well as encourage the child to develop other friendships.

3 . Leah Brown aged 36 fell several hundred feet from Oregon’s highest mountain right before the eyes of a group of volunteer rescue workers who rushed to her aid and helped save her life.

The woman was coming down a popular path (小路) on Mt. Hood, about 70 miles east of Portland, on Saturday morning, according to the local police. Mt. Hood is the highest in Oregon, standing at around11.240 feet.

The fall was seen by members of Portland Mountain Rescue (PMR), a volunteer organization focused on helping people in mountainous areas. The group called 911 and rushed to the woman, providing medical care. They helped keep the woman warm for seven hours as the police worked to get her off the mountain safely. Finally, the woman was evacuated (转移) to a parking lot at 9:30 pm and taken to a hospital.

The climber, Leah Brown, said she didn’t know what caused her fall. “I can only guess it was either an ice tool or a crampon (冰爪) that didn’t land and stick like it should have, so I became detached from the mountain,” Brown said. “The thing I’d like to most stress is my appreciation for the members of PMR who evacuated me and took good care of me the whole time,” Brown added. “They saved my life. ”

In a statement after the rescue, PMR warned of the dangerous winter conditions at the mountain. “The short days and lower temperatures mean that the snow tends to be very hard and icy, and the conditions tend to be much steeper. Climbing the mountain in icy conditions is much more difficult,” the group said.

5 . Earlier this month, TikTok announced that it will be introducing screen time limits for the accounts of users aged under 18. Children under 13 will require a parent or guardian to type in a password to continue scrolling (滚屏) through their feed, and those aged 13-17 will be asked to set their own passwords when the viewing time goes beyond the limit.

Studies suggest that 30 minutes may be the sweet spot for social media use, where users are able to stay connected with friends and family and view entertainment. However, many other studies show that overly-heavy social media use can lead to a lot of problems, such as physical issues and depression.

By suggesting 100 minutes as a hard line where a password is required to be created by the user, TikTok is gradually making the standards clear as to what may be regarded as problematic social media habit in young people. Although these passwords for older teenagers can obviously be bypassed, they are a step in the right direction in encouraging children to use social media responsibly.

Also, parents who own their own TikTok accounts will be able to link with their children’s accounts, gaining additional, such as muting notifications (消息免打扰) and customizing time limits for different days in the week.

Algorithms (算法) that could tell parents if the child has been viewing dangerous material could soon be put into use. However, the difficulty in this is the amount of content available on the internet.

Ultimately, apps such as TikTok and Instagram will need to continue introducing more measures to improve online safety for children.

Lawmakers around the world are paying close attention to the effect social media has on the young, meaning that the development of new tools to improve its use will no doubt take place soon if big tech wishes to avoid additional legal issues.

6 . New emojis (表情符号) appear every year. The updates come from a California-based nonprofit called Unicode Consortium. Each year, the emoji committee releases new emojis that will update the existing keyboard.

Jennifer Duniel, chair of the committee, says that it’s not the organization coming up with these new characters. It’s the public.

The first emoji keyboard was created in Japan in the 1990s by mobile phone company designer Shigetaka Kurita. Kurita created emojis because the company offered email communications that were limited to 250 characters and an emoji is only one character each but can be used to say more. Emoji have become popular around the world— 92 percent of the online population uses them.

“They aren’t tied to any language. They aren’t tied to any region of the world.” she says.

Anyone is allowed to submit (提交) new emojis, and if they make a strong enough case, Unicode will accept them. “We do get suggestions in lots of different languages from around the world,” says Daniel.

An emoji idea has to meet certain criteria (标准). These criteria include its clear differences, whether it can be used with existing emojis and whether it can have multiple meanings. The popular face with “tears of joy” emoji, for example, is easy to identify, which makes it distinct. You can pair it with many other emojis to convey how you are feeling. Additionally, this emoji has adopted many meanings.

Kids today are very familiar with emojis and how to use them. And the keyboard has got more than 3,600 emoji characters. “They became more and more comfortable and confident using emojis, which means they’re more willing to take risks,” Daniel says of younger generations who grow up with the keyboard.