How Room Designs Affect Our Work and Feelings

    Architects have long had the feeling that the places we live in can affect our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. But now scientists are giving this feeling an empirical(经验的，实证的) basis. They are discovering how to design spaces that promote creativity, keep people focused and lead to relaxation.

    Researches show that aspects of the physical environment can influence creativity. In 2007, Joan Meyers-Levy at the University of Minnesota, reported that the height of a room's ceiling affects how people think. Her research indicates that higher ceilings encourage people to think more freely, which may lead them to make more abstract connections. Low ceilings, on the other hand, may inspire a more detailed outlook.

    In additions to ceiling height, the view afforded by a building may influence an occupant's ability to concentrate. Nancy Wells and her colleagues at Cornell University found in their study that kids who experienced the greatest increase in greenness as a result of a family move made the most gains on a standard test of attention.

    Using nature to improve focus of attention ought to pay off academically, and it seems to, according to a study led by C. Kenneth Tanner, head of the School Design & Planning Laboratory at the University of Georgia. Tanner and his team found that students in classrooms with unblocked views of at least 50 feet outside the window had higher scores on tests of vocabulary, language arts and maths than did students whose classrooms primarily overlooked roads and parking lots.

    Recent study on room lighting design suggests than dim(暗淡的) light helps people to loosen up. If that is true generally, keeping the light low during dinner or at parties could increase relaxation. Researchers of Harvard Medical School also discovered that furniture with rounded edges could help visitors relax.

    So far scientists have focused mainly on public buildings. "We have a very limited number of studies, so we're almost looking at the problem through a straw(吸管)," architect David Allison says. "How do you take answers to very specific questions and make broad, generalized use of them? That's what we're all struggling with."

    Custom tattooed fish (纹身鱼) may be big sellers at markets, but an animal expert say it is a cruel and potentially lethal practice.

    In Laitai Flower and Fish Market near the Lufthansa Center in Beijing, four of over 20 fish stores sell marine ornamental fish that are tattooed using laser (激光) guns with beautiful images in order to make them more attractive to customers. Many people just love these kinds of fish, which gives them a unique visual impression. The price of these fish ranges from 50-100 yuan. Some customers are willing to pay an additional 100 yuan to have Chinese characters tattooed on to the fish. The most popular characters are “zhaocai” (attracting fortune) and “fu” (blessing). The color of tattooed fish won't fade away, and the fish can be cared for as regular fishes:

    But Ye Zhenjiang, a professor from the Ocean University of China, said “the practice would damage a fish's mackerel scale, which is its protective layer. Although I haven't done any research on the impact of the laser on mackerel scale, it is obvious that the mackerel scale may be infected or even destroyed under the exposure of laser,” Ye said. “It's like tattooing a human being's body, and it breaks the physiological balance of the fish and damages: the skin's protective surface, It may even cause death among fishes which have thin mackerel scale.”

    A specialist in aquatic(永生的) animal study surnamed Xu, from the Beijing Fisheries Research Institute, said, “We have no specific regulations to prevent fish from being tattooed. An official surnamed Bai from the Fishery Surveillance and Administration Bureau(FSAB), said there is no study showing that the laser threatened a fish's health. He said a regulation on small animal protection, to be passed in the near future, doesn't include regular aquatic animals. He said the institution is only responsible for aquatic animals that are on the verge of extinction. He said tattooed fish are mainly from south China's Guangdong province because Beijing does not have the laser technology to tattoo a fish.

    “It's too brutal to tattoo pictures or characters on fishes, even if it makes them more beautiful,” many tropical fish buyers told METRO yesterday. “We would never buy fish like that and we prefer them with natural beauty.”

    A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin (顽童) was walking around the shining car. “Is this your car, Paul?” he asked.

    Paul answered, “Yes, my brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was surprised. "You mean your brother gave it to you and it cost you nothing? Boy, I wish…"He hesitated.

    Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He wished he had a brother like that. But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly.

    “I wish,” the boy went on, “that I could be a brother like that.” Paul looked at the boy in surprise, and then he said again, “Would you like to take a ride in my car?” “Oh yes, I'd love that.”

    After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes shining, said. “Paul, would you mind driving in front of my house?”

    Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the boy wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked.

    He ran up to the steps. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast.

    He was carrying his little. crippled (残疾) brother. He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car.

    “There he is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm going to give you one just like it… Then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas window that I've been trying to tell you about.”

    Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his cat. The shining-eyed elder brother climbed in and three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride.

    If you want to learn anything at school, you need to listen to your teachers. Unfortunately, millions of kids can't hear what their teachers are saying. And it's not because these students are goofing off. Often, it's the room's fault. Building architecture and building design can create echo(回声)-filled classrooms that make hearing difficult.

    Children with hearing impairments（损伤）suffer most from noisy classrooms. They sometimes can't hear questions that other students ask in class. Compared with kids with healthy hearing, they have a harder time picking up new vocabulary words by hearing them in talking.

    Even kids with normal hearing have a harder time in the classroom when there's too much noise. Younger children in particular have trouble separating important sounds – like a teacher's voice – from background noise. Kids with learning disabilities and speech impediments（障碍）and kids for whom English is a second language also have a harder time learning in noisy situations.

    In recent years, scientists who study sound have been asking schools to reduce background noise, which may include loud air-conditioners and pipes. They're also targeting outdoor noises, such as highway traffic. Noise reduction is a big deal. Why? Because quieter classrooms might make you smarter by letting you hear your lessons better.

    “It's so obvious that we should have quiet rooms that allow for access to the lesson,” says Dan Ostergren, a hearing scientist. “Sometimes it surprises me that we spend so much time discussing this topic. I just want to go. Why is this hard for anyone to grasp?”

    Consider the tomato: easy to grow, healthy to eat, tasty in just about any dish and pleasant to look at. And come late summer, in steady supply. Though you can find it during the coldest winter months.

    August is the tomato's season to shine. Farmers' markets and stores are bursting with less known but tastier varieties, including purple cherries and big heirlooms.

    "Heirlooms ripened on the vine(藤) are the tastiest of all tomatoes," says Amy Goldman Fowler, author of The Heirloom Tomato. "I think their beauty is more than skin-deep." Heirloom seeds have been around for at least 50 years, often passed down from generation to generation. You may hear cherry or heirloom used to describe a tomato at hand, but there are many different kinds of tomatoes, and growers have fun giving fancy names to varieties: Mortgage Lifters, Beefsteaks, Oxhearts, Early Girls.

    And all of them come with health benefits. Tomatoes are a good source of the antioxidant lycopene (抗氧化番茄红素), which is thought to help lower a person's risk for heart problems and cancer. Tomatoes also contain healthy vitamins A and C. For the best fruit, choose tomatoes with shiny, firm skin and a little give, and store them at room temperature away from direct sunlight. Keep them out of the fridge, since cold temperatures can affect the original taste.

    "They satisfy something more than just taste," says Fowler. "Tomatoes feed your soul."

    Teenagers who talk on the phone a lot and hold their cell phones up to their right ears score worse on one type of memory test. That's the finding of a new study. That memory damage might be one side-effect of the radiation that phones use to keep us connected while we're on the go.

    Nearly 700 Swiss teens took part in a test of figural memory. This type helps us recall abstract symbols and shapes, explains Milena Foerster. She's an epidemiologist(流行病学家). She worked on the study as part of a team while Foerster was at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute in Basel, Switzerland. Teens participated memory tests twjce, one year apart. Each time, they had one minute to memorize 13 pairs of abstract shapes. Then they were shown one item from each pair and asked to match it with one of five choices.

    The study volunteers also took a test of verbal memory. That's the ability to remember words. The two memory tests are parts of an intelligence test.

    The researchers also surveyed the teens on how they use mobile phones. And they got call records from phone companies. The researchers used those records to estimate how long the teens were using their phones. This allowed the researchers to calculate how big a radiation exposure each person could have gotten while talking.

    All cell phones give off energy in the form of radio frequency electromagnetic fields, or RF-EMFs. Radio and TV broadcasts also use this type of energy. So do microwave ovens and some other gadgets(配件).

    "For a phone, that energy carries information, in the form of calls or texts between phones and cell phone towers. That radiation also can travel into people's bodies as they use their phones. And some of its energy can be absorbed by the body. So far, scientists have not shown that radiation from phones causes harm," says the Federal

    Communications Commission. Research is ongoing, this agency notes.