2 . A recent study reveals that flat-faced dogs, such as French bulldogs, have difficulty sleeping because of an unusual feature: their head shape. French bulldogs specifically suffer from increased daytime sleepiness, probably due to not getting enough night-time sleep.

With their big eyes staring right back at the owner, and wrinkles rolled over their noses, French bulldogs have shot up in popularity in recent years. But their distinct features and small size come with a number of health issues.

The researchers studied the sleep patterns of 92 dogs accompanied by their owners. They found that compared with other dogs, the flat-faced dogs experience a longer period of rapid eye movement (REM), regarded as the stage of sleep with most vivid dreams where the brain is active while the body remains still. Researchers said this was similar to the way babies sleep, suggesting that dogs, like French bulldogs, keep up the sleep patterns of puppyhood. Their night-time sleep is shorter and flat-faced dogs are also more likely to snoring (打鼾). “Sleep deprivation is increasingly recognized as a major cause of suffering in dogs with extreme brachycephaly (短头畸形),” said Dan O’Neill, an associate professor from the University of London.

The researchers employed an electroencephalogram (脑电图) throughout the dogs’ sleep. They looked particularly at sleep spindles (睡眠纺锤波). They found that dogs with brachycephaly had an increase in sleep spindles, which in dogs has been associated with poorer learning when it comes to training.

A researcher said, “We know that some of these dogs will sleep with a ball in their mouth, and people think it’s cute, but they’re actually doing it in order to keep their airways open.” O’Neill agreed, “Many owners find this phenomenon very funny and post videos online showing how comical their dogs are as they sleep with a toy in their mouth or with their neck extended or repeatedly waking up to breathe during sleep.”

3 . Dogs have a different way of seeing the world compared to human beings. As a result of this, they heavily rely on their body language to pass their messages to people.     1     . You will be shocked at some of these signs from your dog, because believe it or not, there are some that you might have never thought of.

    2     when you see your dog raising its paw. This is a behavior displayed mostly by puppies and other small dogs. Whenever puppies want to eat, they will raise their paws or put them out for their mother. So when it does the same to you, it just means they need some attention and affection.

If you pay close attention to your dog, you will notice that at some point it will curl up just like a fox. In such cases, the paws will be curled up underneath their bodies and their tail will be well wrapped around them. This shows that the dog is probably feeling cold. Curling up helps them keep more body heat.    3    .

    4    . But unfortunately this mostly means that the dog lacks some important nutrients. It could also mean that they are trying to digest their food well considering how fibrous（含纤维的） grass is. You should also be very careful because this could also indicate that your dog has worms in their intestines（肠道） or is dehydrated and it is trying to get water from the grass.     5     .

4 . Sleep-deprived human parents know the value of a quick nap, but it turns out chinstrap penguins have us all beat. When nesting, these Antarctic birds take four-second-long “micro- sleeps”, a strategy that allows parents to keep constant watch over weak eggs and chicks, all while having 11 hours of total sleep a day, according to a new study.

Like other penguins, chinstrap parents take turns guarding the nest. While one bird protects the chicks, the partner finds food at sea. Then the penguins trade places. For two months between egg laying and fledging(羽化) , it’s a series of nonstop demands.

To study how penguins manage to accomplish all this and get the necessary sleep, Lee, a leader researcher, first stuck biologgers, small battery-powered devices, to the backs of 14 nesting penguins of both sexes. This device functions like a smart-watch, measuring physical activity, pulse, and the ocean depths of foraging birds.

Next, the team humanely arrested each of the penguins, attaching the devices temporarily into their skull to measure brain activity. When an animal is awake, the brain constantly buzzes with activity. During sleep, however, brain waves slow down and stretch out. When Lee started reviewing the data, he was surprised to discover the birds, slept in four-second intervals throughout the day and night while looking after their eggs or chicks.

“In both humans and penguins, micro-sleeps occur during times of exhaustion, yet nesting chinstrap penguins seem to have a near-exclusive reliance on it,” Cirelli, another scientist, says. Studying sleep in natural environments is difficult, so “the simple fact that they were able to record data in these conditions is incredible. ”

While the data is convincing, Cirelli notes that the researchers only studied the penguins during nesting periods, making it impossible to tell if the birds micro-sleep when they’re not parenting. The other challenge is understanding how micro-sleep impacts the brains and bodies of the pen-guins. Sleep deprivation in humans causes a range of health problems, and it’s not clear whether penguins experience this, too.

5 . The speedy lizard (蜥蜴) was moving quickly across the tabletop when suddenly one foot hit a slippery spot. It just made a split-second adjustment as it moved onward. Afterward, its movements, recorded with Hollywood-style motion-capture technology, were played back in slow motion.

This is the lab of Tonia Hsieh, a Temple University biologist who studies life on the move. The goal of the lizard study is to use the animals as a model for humans, to figure out better ways to prevent falls among the aged. The scientists are using two species — the frilled dragon and the brown basilisk — that share an unusual characteristic with humans: the ability to run on two legs.

If the scientists can figure out how these lizards remain upright in different situations, they hope some of the lessons can be used to guide human treatment.

The lizards run on a tabletop covered with sandpaper except for one slippery spot in the middle: a square of poster board covered with contact paper.

In the lab recently, the scientists filmed one of the frilled dragons in action and played it back at slow speed on a computer screen, the lizard’s movements reduced to a series of colored dots on a gray background. At the moment the lizard stepped on the contact paper, its left foot slid to the side, and its upper body twisted in the opposite direction. It barely seemed to lose its balance.

Could some clue in those colored dots be used to improve stability in older adults? Every year, thousands of older, adults die from injuries sustained in falls.

The work is still ongoing, but early indications are that. tendons (肌腱) in the lizards’ feet play . a key role in balance, acting as springs that counteract (抵消) small changes in the surface. It’s a valuable first line of defense that kicks in even before the brain has time to react, Hsieh said.

If the scientists can figure out what factors are most important in keeping the lizards upright, perhaps someone can work out strategies to enhance those factors in people.

“I think this is a great first step,” said Hsieh.

7 . Fifteen years ago, Pilots N Paws was founded by Debi, an animal lover, and Jon, a pilot. Debi wanted to _________ a dog from a shelter and needed to get it from Florida to South Carolina, so Jon helped her make it _________. Most animals were transported on the ground back then, but the two had the idea of transporting the animals via _________. Thus, Pilots N Paws _________. Pilots N Paws is a nonprofit organization that works with pilots all throughout the United States. Since its foundation, more than 200,000 animals have been _________. The Pilots N Paws pilot network has grown to _________ over 6,000 pilots. The organization also _________ Cirrus Aircraft, who supports it financially.

Though Pilots N Paws _________ transports dogs and cats, the organization has actually helped all kinds of animals. Pilots have flown dolphins, a baby bear badly burned in a wildfire, eagles, and snakes.

Pilots N Paws _________ the gap between the pilot and the person wanting to adopt the animal. The __________ is not to make the pilots go significantly out of their way to save an animal, but rather to have them rescue the animal on a flight they would take __________. The customer needing transportation of an animal has to __________ a request on the Pilots N Paws website, and the pilots can view the requests like a forum. Once a pilot __________ one, they coordinate (协调) the __________ of the animal. When filling out a transport request, the requester is asked if they are willing to drive the animal to the airport, making the __________ much smoother for the pilots.

8 . Crouching on all fours on Widdybank Fell in Teesdale, Margaret Bradshaw, a 97-year-old botanist, calls out the names of some rare plants. This part of the uplands is a seemingly empty landscape, heavily grazed (吃草) by sheep, but it hides botanical treasures that have been here for more than 10,000 years. Some of the plants can’t be found anywhere else in the UK and —until Bradshaw arrived on the scene—many were unaccounted for.

Bradshaw is the chief caretaker of some of the country’s rarest flowers. She has spent seven decades studying the unique flora (植物群) of Teesdale, in the north of England. Although once they were widespread in Britain, now only a few remain, and 28 species are threatened with extinction.

Bradshaw has just written a 288-page book on the subject, Teesdale’s Special Flora: Places, Plants and People, published as part of the Princeton Wild Guides series.The Teesdale fora is celebrated because it is a mix of alpine-arctic (高寒的) flowers and southern European species; nowhere else in Britain do they all grow together.

Now, though, the area’s unique features are under threat. Bradshaw has been recording rare

She says, “We’ve got various buildings in the country—Stonehenge, Durham Cathedral, and others; if they were falling apart, there would be groups and money helping stop it, because people would say we can’t let this happen. “These flowers’ communities are much older, and in some respects they are more beautiful.

The main reason for the decline of these plants is an unusual one—not enough sheep. The number of sheep on the areas had been reduced by half by 2000, as the uplands were generally believed to be overgrazed. Bradshaw says while some upland areas are damaged by sheep, reducing grazing on Teesdale has been devastating. Longer grass overshadows the delicate flowers, taking away the light they need to grow.