A new study has discovered that meditation（冥想）and oxygen sport together reduce depression. The Rutgers University study found that this mind and body combination, done twice a week for only two months, reduced the symptoms for a group of students by 40 percent.

    “We are excited by the findings because we saw such a meaningful improvement in both clinically depressed and non-depressed students,” said lead author Dr. Brandon Alderman. “It is the first time that both of these two behavioral ways have been looked at together for dealing with depression.”

    Researchers believe the two activities have an interactive effect in combating depression. Alderman and Dr. Tracey Shors discovered that a combination of mental and physical training (MAP) enabled students with major depressive disorder not to let problems or negative thoughts defeat them.

    Rutgers researchers say those who participated in the study began with 30 minutes of focused attention meditation followed by 30 minutes of oxygen sport. They were told that if their thoughts drifted to the past or the future they should refocus on their breathing, enabling those with depression to accept moment-to-moment changes in attention.

    Shors, who studies the production of new brain cells in the hippocampus—part of the brain involved in memory and learning—says scientists have shown in animal models that oxygen sport exercise keeps a large number of certain cells alive.

    The idea for the human intervention（干预）came from her laboratory studies, she says, with the main goal of helping individuals acquire new skills so that they can learn to recover from stressful life events.

    By learning to focus their attention and exercise, people who are fighting depression can acquire new learning skills that can help them process information and reduce the overwhelming recollection of memories from the past, Shors says.

    “We know these treatments can be practiced over a lifetime and that they will be effective in improving mental health.” said Alderman. “The good news is that this intervention can be practiced by anyone at any time and at no cost.”

    Soaping up your hands may do more than just get rid of germs. It may wash away the inner confusion you feel right after being forced to make a choice between two appealing choices, according to a new study. The study builds on past research into a phenomenon known as “the Macbeth effect”.

    It turns out that Shakespeare was really onto something when he imagined lady Macbeth trying to clean her conscience（良心）by rubbing invisible bloodstains from her hands. A few years ago, scientists asked people to describe a past wrong act. If people were then given a chance to clean their hands, they later expressed less guilt than people who hadn't cleaned.

    This finding fascinated W. S. Lee, a researcher. “Anything from the past, any kind of negative emotional experiences, might be washed away,” says Lee.

He decided to test hand washing's effect on one kind of bad feeling: the tension we feel after being forced to choose between two attractive choices, because picking one choice makes us feel that we've lose the other. People usually try to calm this inner conflict by later exaggerating（夸大）the positive aspects of their choice.

    He had students rank 10 different music CDs. Then be offered students one CD as a gift. Some students then use liquid soap. Others only looked at the soap or sniffed（噢）it. “Actually, you do not need water and soap,” says Lee.

    Later, the students again had to rank all the music. People who didn't wash their hands had the normal response — they scored their take-home CD higher. Suggesting that they now saw it as even more attractive than before. But this wasn't true for the hand washers. They ranked the music about the same. “they feel no need at all to justify the choice,” say Lee.

    But the implications of it just aren't clear. Schwarz says it's too soon to know whether people should head for a sink after making a tough choice. He says washing may help decision-makers by cleaning away mental disorder, but perhaps if they don't go through the usual post-decision process of justifying their choice, they might feel more sorrow in the long run.

    Banker Chip Paillex had never planted so much until he moved to the countryside in Pittstown, New Jersey, seven years ago. Surrounded by working farms, he quickly became interested in the grow-it-yourself idea and rented a piece of 30-by-30-foot land. He planted tomatoes, eggplants and other vegetable—enough to feed his family of four for the summer. He ended up with so much produce; he couldn't give it away. He found a local food factory and donated 120 pounds of fresh vegetables.

    The following year, with a handful of volunteers and a memorable name—America's Grow-a-Row, Paillex harvested 1, 500 pounds of fresh vegetables, all of which he donated to area food banks--places that give food to poor people. Soon Paillex had a hundred volunteers and needed more land. He visited Meredith and Jeremy Compton, who farm Peaceful Valley Orchards in Pittstown. Could he work their land?

    “I guess we were feeling honored, " says Meredith. Not only do the Comptons welcome Grow-a-Row volunteers, they also work on the land.

    What began with a few empty fields has turned into a large local farm. This year, Grow-a-Row will deliver about 250, 000 pounds of fresh produce to food banks. Their secret for getting all of this done? Family power. " Each week, a couple of families 'own' the garden, " says Paillex." They water, pick, and deliver, and then hand it off on Sunday night to the next group of families."

    Paillex also welcomed local school kids. On a Friday morning in May, some kids worked on a field. "We' re growing food, " one fifth grader said proudly.

    "The program shows kids that there are people in need, " says Paillex. “When these kids become tomorrow's leaders, they'll be much more likely to encourage their co-workers or employees to get involved in something like this. “

    "Chip makes people want to help, " says Colleen Duerr, a mother of two. "And families love this. Chip has given us a way to raise our kids with a giving heart. "

    Bamboo is one of the world's most useful plants. For thousands of years, bamboo has been used in many different ways-from food to medicine to clothing and, in small ways, as a building material.

    However, bamboo is not often used as a building material in the developed world. A professor at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania is trying to change that. The professor and his students are testing the strength of bamboo.They are testing how much pressure or weight it can take before breaking.

    Kent Harries is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Harries says that testing methods for bamboo need to be the same for all. They need to be standardized. Standardizing test methods for bamboo will help to bring the plant into common use. It will also give engineers and builders around the world a dependable standard.

    Harries says that bamboo is strong in nature. The strength of at least three species of bamboo is similar to steel.Besides its strength, bamboo has other features that make it very useful in building. He says it is resilient(有弹力的), meaning it keeps its shape and strength even under pressure.

    Bamboo also grows quickly. Bamboo that is suitable for construction needs much less resources than wood. The harvest cycle of bamboo is about 3 years. Softwoods such as cedar, pine and spruce have a harvest cycle of about 10 years. And hardwoods that come from flowering plants such as oak and walnut need more than 30 years.

    Bamboo is widely used as food for panda bears. It is also used for flooring and window covers. However, for building, bamboo is not used much outside its native growing area. This is mostly because of its round shape. But there are other reasons too. People think -- or have the mentality--that bamboo is a low quality building material.

    Just like rice and noodles are different from bread, snacks in China are a world apart from those in the UK and the US. For one thing, I never imagined that sunflower seeds (瓜子) would be so popular here. I spotted people having them while waiting for tables outside restaurants, before dinner and, of course, while watching TV. I also saw that a plate of sunflower seeds is always on offer during the Spring Festival holidays.

    I had seldom tried sunflower seeds when I came to China. In the UK, though, young people love their snacks. In fact, young people in Britain eat more snacks than people of the same age in other European countries. A recent survey has discovered that 64 percent of under 20-year-olds snack between meals, according to an article on the British Council website. In comparison (对比), 58.7 percent of young people snack in Germany, 53 percent in France, and only 40.7 percent in Spain.

    British snacks are generally unhealthy. Our favorites are probably potato chips, which we call crisps, and chocolate bars. From a very young age, we always looked forward to our crisps and chocolate bars after school, perhaps even included with sandwiches and fruit in our school lunches that our parents made for us.

    Snacks are also popular in the US. One of the things that I found the most extraordinary when I first visited the US was the number of snacks in their supermarkets; I was surprised to find huge aisles (过道) just for snacks that were bigger than some stores I'd been to in the UK. Snack tastes in the US are much the same as those in the UK, except there's much more choice – every kind of fatty, sugary food is available (可获得的) to everyone all the time.

    All in all, it's probably best for your health if you like sunflower seeds rather than potato chips and chocolate. But eating these delicious treats at times couldn't possibly be wrong, could it?

    Being "young is associated with all the good things in life - beauty, hope, and energy. But youth also has negative associations - impulsiveness, trouble -making, and irresponsibility. This negative side seems to be what society focuses on more, which is why young people have mostly been considered as idle and difficult.

    But when it comes to Generation Z - those born between 1996 and 2010 - this stereotype doesn't seem to apply anymore.

    In Japan, for example, Gen Z-ers are less likely to buy on impulse, but take into consideration more a product's true value. They're looking at the companies, not just the products, "Masahiko Uotani, CEO of Japanese cosmetics company Shiseido, told Bloomberg. They're asking, 'Are they really delivering value to the society? Are they promoting diversity and inclusion?"

    Gen Z-ers are also more grounded than we've expected them to be. According to a recent survey by Bank of America, more than half of young adults aged between 18 and 23 said they were planning to buy a house within five years. And they're not just saying it - they are willing to make sacrifices for it, including getting a second job and saving money for down payment instead of spending it on a vacation.

    "Despite their young age, this group is pragmatic and actively planning for their future," D.Steve Boland, head of Consumer Lending at Bank of America, told USA Today. "They have a clear vision how they are willing to help themselves in order to make it happen."

    Social issues are also at the center of concern of Gen Z-ers, who take themselves as a changing force of the world. In India, for example, young people who have just reached the voting age are eager to vote for a new leader who is capable of solving problems that matter the most to them, including pollution, unemployment and women's safety.

    As a Gen-Zer yourself, what is your plan for the future?