1 . The school hallway between classes may seem disordered. But there’s likely more order in the crowd than you think. In a heavy crowd with people going in opposite directions, there’s often a pattern. People tend to sort themselves into lanes (队伍) that run parallel to each other. If a space is wide enough, two groups of people passing each other head-on will form multiple lanes. Each lane will be about the width of two people. If two groups cross paths at right angles, they still form lanes. But these lanes behave differently. Each person stays in their lane, but the lane shifts to the side as the groups cross. Attempts to direct the crowd may not help, and it will mess up this natural flow. This slows everybody down.

Tim Rogers and Karol Bacik reported these results in a journal. They began working on crowds during the pandemic. They were working to design spaces where people could stay socially distanced to prevent viral spread. Decades ago, Dirk Helbing, a physicist in Switzerland, created a mathematical model that describes the direction a walker plans to go. Rogers and Bacik added factors related to crowd patterns to Helbing’s software. The resulting model describes lane formation as a result of two processes.

The first process is drift. As soon as a line of people starts to form headed one way, others going the same way are drawn to it. This encourages lane formation. The second one is diffusion (扩散) which causes people to spread out from a crowded space. In a crowd, the end result is lanes about two people wide — just big enough to resist diffusion.

The model’s predictions stood the test of a real crowd. The researchers filmed a group of 70 people walking through an open space. People consistently ordered themselves into lanes as expected, while past work has shown that crash and other problems are more common where more routes intersect (交叉). Public spaces can be designed to help prevent such disasters. The takeaway: When people are traveling two ways, trust the wisdom of crowds. When there’s a three-way or four-way intersection, watch out.

2 . With video meetings, taking selfies (自拍) and posting on social media, it’s easier to see one’s own image online. And for some people, this can lead to feelings of appearance dissatisfaction. In the past few years, screen time has increased for both adults and children. What’s worse, recent research suggests that the video and photo images we see of ourselves are distorted (扭曲的).

One study found that those who spent more time comparing their appearance during a video call experienced lower appearance satisfaction. This study also found that people who used more photo-editing features in video chat were more likely to compare themselves with others and spend more time looking at themselves on video calls.

A 2023 study found that discomfort with one’s appearance during video meetings led to an increased attention to appearance, which in turn led to poor work performance. Researchers also suggest that appearance dissatisfaction is connected with boredom in online meetings. The research reports that this could be due to negative attention to oneself and worry about being looked at or being negatively treated based on appearance.

If you find yourself criticizing (批评) your appearance every time in a video call, it may be time to be intentional about paying more attention to what other people are saying instead of looking at your own face.

When it comes to helping others who have difficulty with appearance dissatisfaction, it is important to care more about the person’s qualities beyond appearance. When viewing yourself or your partners on video and social media, try viewing the person as a whole and not as parts of a body.

Reducing screen time can make a difference as well. Research shows that reducing social media use by 50% can improve appearance satisfaction in both teens and adults. When used in a right way, video chatting and social media are tools to connect us with others, which finally is a key piece in satisfaction and well-being.

3 . Many youngsters in China enjoy gathering a couple of good friends and taking a relaxing walk through the streets, which is a popular form of visiting a new city, that is, Citywalk. They can follow a special urban route (路线), exploring old building, drinking a cup of coffee, or eating local snacks. It can be a special guided trip for a small group of people, or simply a relaxing walk for one or two to explore new areas, sticking to the key point: avoiding famous tourist attractions and big crowds to get a more interesting experience of the places you visit.

In China, the Citywalk trend (趋势) is spreading from big cities like Beijing and Shanghai to other cities, encouraging more people to take part. Xiao Yiyi is a young visitor from Changsha exploring new possibilities while traveling. Recently she tried six Citywalk routes to walk in different cities and posted them on her social media account, with the aim of sharing experiences to “walk in open-air museums”.

Citywalk not only offers a way for young people to interact with a city but also provides an opportunity for people who share the same interests and ideas to easily make friends. Xiao Yiyi said her group usually includes a few or so people and her trips last around half a day.

Even though Citywalk is a new trend, industry insiders say that its future possibility is huge. It is offering a beneficial change to travelers as they can better choose the experiences that suit their interests and needs. At the same time, Citywalk gives an opportunity for tour guides and travel service providers to offer a more professional service to meet ever-changing market needs.

4 . After Alexander Pushkin was shot in a duel (决斗) in 1837, crowds of mourners formed in Saint Petersburg. When the wagon carrying the much loved poet’s body reached Pskov province, where he was to be buried, admirers tried to pull the vehicle themselves.

Today’s celebrity funerals tend to involve the public largely digitally rather than in person. But people are passionate all the same. In the past few months, grief has coursed around the Internet for Milan Kundera, and most recently, Michael Gambon. If you stop to think about it, such expressions of strong feelings for writers and actors are odd, even irrational.

Unlike other kinds of grief, this one is not rooted in personal intimacy (亲密关系). If you ever interacted with a cherished author, it was probably during a book tour when she signed your copy of her novel. Maybe you once locked eyes with a musician during a live concert and he smiled at you, but actually he did not even know you.

Objectively, sorrow makes sense when a star dies young or violently. Had she not died at 27, who knows what music Amy Winehouse would have added to her already impressive collections of work? The death of a long-lived and fulfilled artist, however, is far from the saddest item in an average day’s headlines. And while most ordinary people sink into oblivion, these celebrities live on in their output. Why, then, are these losses felt so widely and keenly?

One interpretation is that departed celebrities are merely the messengers. Part of your past —the years in which the musician was the soundtrack, the writer your ally (盟友) — can seem to fade away with them. The grief can be seen as a form of gratitude for the harmony and joy they supplied.

More importantly, the passing of an artist is an occasion for exchanges of ideas. In an atomized age, in which the default (默认) tone is critical, a beloved figure’s death is a chance to share positive feelings and memories with fellow admirers. These sad occasions are the parting gifts of these artists.

5 . From AI-made jokes to Harry Potter fashion videos, AI can be used to make funny stuff. But can it be as funny as a human? And if it can, does it present a danger to comedy writers in the future? That’s something performers have been looking at in this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, running from Aug. 4 to Aug. 28.

Anyone can put on a show at the Fringe, and this year even robots were getting in on the act. One of Fringe’s big shows used a small robot to come up with jokes from audiences’ suggestions, which were then performed by humans. The results could be very funny, but sometimes they weren’t funny at all. That was part of the point, explained Piotr Mirowski, the show’s co-maker. “We do not use humans to ‘show off’ AI; instead, we use AI ‘to show’ its limitations, to showcase human creativity on the stage,” said Mirowski, according to The Guardian.

Comedian Pierre Novellie said that it will take a long time for AI to get good at creating comedy. “Comedy is the last thing that AI is going to get near,” Pierre told Sky News. “Even normal human comedians struggle to ‘tune’ their jokes ‘for’ the right crowd at the right time, every time. But that’s what’s interesting about stand-up (独角喜剧) and fun.”

But Peter Bazely, a performer at the Fringe, said he’s using AI to make jokes for him because he’s out of ideas. One of Bazely’s shows had him playing a supporting role to “an entirely computer-generated comedian” called AI Jesus.

The Fringe review website, Chortle, talked about today’s AI concerns: “In a world where artists are worried that AI could end up doing their jobs for them, Bazely is said to be praying this one will do exactly that.”

The reasons for companies wanting to use AI are certainly understandable, but the dangers they present to many people’s jobs are becoming more and more real, and that’s not very funny. In May, leaders in the AI industry signed a document warning that AI could present an extinction-level danger and “should be a global priority alongside pandemics and nuclear war”.

6 . The “selfie” is not new; many people have always produced self-portraits (自画像). Personally I didn’t enjoy art at school, but I did remember that we were always drawing pictures of our faces. However, I think this shows just how old the self-portrait is. The only thing that has really changed is the technology which we use to create self-portraits. We have gone from pencil to the digital camera. The digital version has now become “selfie” (a word now so popular that it is named the Oxford English Dictionary Online’s “Word of the Year”).

Traditionally, the best way to take a selfie was to stand in front of a mirror. This was fine though it did look a little silly as, no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t hide the camera. Of course, phones now have cameras on both the back and the front so you don’t need a mirror to guide you. The drawback (缺点) to this more modern method is that you can usually see the photographer’s arm in the photo.

I don’t really understand the attraction of the selfie. Taking a photo of yourself in the bathroom doesn’t provide the best scenery (especially if you forget to put the toilet seat down, gentlemen).At famous tourist attractions, it always saddens me to see people take selfies; travelling on your own is fine, but are you so mistrustful of strangers that you cannot ask a passer-by to take the photo for you?

However, there have been a lot of arguments over the selfie. Recently, one New York tourist took a selfie with a man threatening to commit suicide (自杀) on the edge of a bridge behind her; and, even more recently, Barack Obama, along with David Cameron and the Danish prime minister, Thorning Schmidt, took a “group selfie at Nelson Mandela’s funeral.

7 . Contrary to the impression that grandmothers are delighted to help their grown daughters and care for their grandchildren, a study of multigenerational families shows that many older women hate the frequent demands that the younger generations make on their time and energy.

“Young women with children are under a lot of pressure these days, and they expect their mothers to help them pick up the pieces,” noted Dr. Bertram J. Cohler, a behavioral scientist at the University of Chicago. “This is often the strongest source of complaint on the part of Grandmother, who has finished with child caring and now has her own life to live. Grandmothers like to see their children and grandchildren, but on their own time.”

Dr. Cohler is director of a study, sponsored by the National Institute of Aging, of 150 working class families that live in a Midwestern suburb. He and Dr. Henry U. Gruebaum of Harvard Medical School, have already completed their study of four such families in New England.

Dr. Cohler tells of a middle-aged Boston woman who works as a cook all week and for her parish (教区) on Sundays. Every Saturday, her one day off, her daughter and family visit, expecting mother to make lunch, shop, and visit. “That’s not how she wants to grow old,” said Dr. Cohler, who was told by the older woman, “My daughter would never speak to me if she knew how angry and unhappy I get.”

In all the four New England families studied, the older women disliked the numerous phone calls and visits from their grown daughters, who often turned to the mothers for advice, physical resources, love, and companionship as well as baby-sitting services. “American society keeps increasing the burdens for older people, particularly those in their 50s and 60s,” Dr. Cohler said in an interview here. “They’re still working and they’re taking care of their grown children and maybe also their aged parents. Sometimes life gets to be too much.”

8 . In the race to catch up with the changing time, we are forgetting how to live without the support of our phones, laptops, and tablets.    1    

The first thing you need to do to unplug is to turn off your phone notifications. As soon as we hear a notification drop on our phones — whether it is something of importance or not — we are attracted to check it. When you’re not working and are not required to call, text, or return an email, turn off your phone (or put it on silent mode).     2    

I know it’s hard to stay away from your phone when it keeps buzzing with incoming texts, calls, and emails.     3     Create a rule: no phone on the dinner table, no replying to work emails after work hours, etc.

One of the best ways that I believe can help you disconnect is being in nature.     4     Just be in the moment. Listen to the songs of the birds, breathe in some fresh air, soak in the warm rays of the sun. Did you know that Vitamin D — which we can get from sunlight — is amazing for our mind, body, and soul?

    5     One of the best ways to unplug is to learn a new hobby. Read a book (a paperback not an e-book), listen to some music on your radio or vinyl record player, cook with your loved one, or create some art. Keep yourself engaged; this way you won’t get the time to constantly check your phone.

9 . Survivor bias (偏见，偏差), occurs when you tend to assess successful outcomes and disregard failures. This sampling bias paints a more promising or even misleading picture of reality.

Survivor bias is a sneaky problem that tends to slip into analyses unnoticed. For starters, it feels natural to emphasize success, whether it’s entrepreneurs, or survivors of a medical condition. We focus on and share these stories more than the failures.

Think about the famous college dropouts who became highly successful, such as Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates. These successful examples might make you think a college degree isn’t beneficial. However, that’s survivor bias at work! These famous individuals are at the forefront of media reports. You hear more about them because they are extraordinary. You’re not considering the millions of other college dropouts that aren’t rich and famous. You need to assess their outcomes as well.

Survivor bias has even occurred in medical studies about severe diseases. Younger, healthier, and more fit patients tend to survive a disease’s initial diagnosis more frequently. Hence, they are more likely to join medical studies. On the contrary, older, weaker patients are less likely to survive long enough to participate in studies. Consequently, these studies overestimate successful disease outcomes because they are less likely to include those who die shortly after diagnosis.

Undeniably, successful cases are usually more visible and easier to contact than unsuccessful cases. However, focusing on the high-performing successes and disregarding other cases introduces survivor bias. After all, you’re leaving out a significant part of the picture as it’s harder to collect data from the less successful members of a population. Incomplete data can affect your decision-making process. Put simply, survivor bias produces an inaccurate sample, causing you to jump to incorrect conclusions.

To minimize the impact of survivor bias, you should find ways to draw a representative sample from the population, not just a few of successful samples. That process might call for more expense and effort, but you’ll get better results.