When people reunite with their loved ones, it's usually all extremely happy moment. But what is their most common response to seeing them again? It may seem strange，but most of the time they break down in tears.

    Now a group of psychologists from Yale University say they have found the reason why, and that crying tears of joy may well be the body's way of keeping emotional balance. “They seem to take place when people are overtaken by strong positive emotions, and people who do this seem to recover better from those strong emotions,” Oriana Aragon, the lead researcher said.

    Aragon and her fellow psychologists looked at hundreds of participants' emotional responses to different things, including happy reunions and cute babies. Many participants said they would react in a negative or aggressive way to the positive things —— to cry at happy moments and want to pinch(捏)a cute baby's face or even tell them “I want to eat you up!” But then researchers found that these people were able to calm down from strong emotions more quickly.

    There are many other examples of times when people respond to a positive experience with a negative emotional reaction. At an exciting concert, fans scream at their idols(偶像). People who have just had a big lottery win are often in floods of tears. “These findings advance our understanding of how people express and control their emotions, which is importantly related to mental and physical health, the quality of relationships with others, and even how well people work together.” said Aragon．

    At one time, computers were expected largely to remove the need for paper copies of documents(文件) because they could be stored electronically. But for all the texts that are written, stored and sent electronically, a lot of them are still ending up on paper.

    It is difficult to measure the quantity of paper used as a result of use of Internet-connected computers, although just about anyone who works in an office can tell you that when e-mail is introduced, the printers start working overtime. “I feel in my bones this revolution is causing more trees to be cut down,” says Ted Smith of the Earth Village Organization.

    Perhaps the best sign of how computer and Internet use pushes up demand for paper comes from the high-tech industry itself, which sees printing as one of its most promising new markets. Several Internet companies have been set up to help small businesses print quality documents from a computer. Earlier this week Hewlett-Packard Co. announced a plan to develop new technologies that will enable people to print even more so they can get a hard copy of a business document, a medical record or just a on-line e-mail, even if they are nowhere near a computer. As the company sees it, the more use of the Internet the greater demand for printers.

    Does all this mean environmental concerns (环境问题) have been forgotten? Some activists suggest people have been led to believe that a lot of dangers to the environment have gone away.

    “I guess people believe that the problem is taken care of, because of recycling（回收利用）,” said Kelly Quirke, director of the Rainforest Action Network in San Francisco. Yet Quirke is hopeful that high-tech may also prove helpful. He says printers that print on both sides are growing in popularity.

    The action group has also found acceptable paper made from materials other than wood, such as agricultural waste.

Visitor Guide to Birch Aquarium General Information

Thank you for respecting the health of our animals and the experience.

◆ Keep voices low in exhibit areas.

◆ No tapping on marine life displays.

◆ As a courtesy, please silence cell phones.

◆ Please use trash and recycling bins.

◆ Birch Aquarium is smoke-free facility.

Photography

    For the safety of our live animals, please do not use flash photography. Visitors may be photographed or videotaped by aquarium staff for professional use, or by the media covering aquarium news. Entry into the aquarium grants permission for use of these images.

Refreshments

    Splash Cafe offers a variety of gourmet, sustainable, and organic sandwiches, snacks, and beverages.

Drinks, food, and gum are not permitted inside the aquarium.

Restrooms ＆ Baby Care

Changing tables are located in both the men's and women's restrooms.

Re-entry

    Please keep your ticket or have hand stamped at the Visitor Service Office if you plan to exit and re-enter the same day , including visits to Splash Coffee Shop.

Visitors with Disabilities

    See the Visitor Information Center for assistance. All exhibits are wheelchair accessible. Wheelchairs are available at no charge.

Emergencies /First Aid/ Lost ＆ Found

Go to the Visitor Service Office or alert the nearest staff member.

Don't Miss!

    Watch a diver hand-feed the fishes—including three species of sharks—during our Kelp Tank Dive Show.

Learn about this unique and beautiful undersea world during a live, interactive presentation. After your visit, view the exhibit at home through our live, online Kelp Cam.

    Kung fu is one of the most popular topics of discussion among foreigners talking about China. As a discipline of kung fu with the largest number of practitioners in China, Tai Chi is gaining popularity worldwide. Tai Chi is sweeping the world thanks to its deep cultural roots and the health benefits coming from practicing it.

    The philosophy of Tai Chi features the concept of yin and yang, which is typical of Confucianism and Taoism. Tai Chi also takes in ideas from traditional Chinese medicine, including anatomy (解剖学) and physiology (生理学). It is a practice that couples hardness with softness, and it is a perfect example of traditional Chinese culture.

    Through lasting practice, learners begin to feel the positive impact (影响) of Tai Chi on their health. Unlike kung fu practices that focus on attacking and defending against enemies, Tai Chi focuses more on shaping good characters and keeping fit. By practicing Tai Chi, people will feel an improvement in their physical and psychological health by promoting a balance between yin and yang within their bodies. This is similar to Western medicine's improving people's self-healing ability and immune system.

    Tai Chi is playing an important role in presenting Chinese culture to the rest of the world, acting like a bridge between China and other countries. Recent years have seen a lot of international communication on Tai Chi. In provinces like Hebei, Henan, Shanxi and Shaanxi, where Tai Chi teaching and learning are particularly active, local governments and non-governmental institutions often organize activities and competitions for learners and fans to attend and participate in. Large sporting events hosted by China such as the Asian Games and Olympics have featured Tai Chi performances or contests. These activities have opened a window for the outside world to know more about Tai Chi, paving the way for its overseas wide spread.

    Today, Tai Chi not only belongs to China, but also to the whole world and to everyone who loves it.

    My two- and four-year-old boys love to win, whether they're racing their bikes down the sidewalk or just finishing their snacks. It's true that those with high status, from world leaders and prize winners to athletes and movie stars, are people we like and respect. A recent study published in Nature Human Behaviour showed that we seem to have an innate (天生的) preference for high-ranking peoples—but only if those people aren't hurtful toward others.

    Researchers showed toddlers (aged 21 to 31 months) a scene where two puppets (木偶) approached one another from opposite sides of a stage and one bowed to let the other pass first. Asked which puppet they liked better, 18 of the 21 toddlers in the experiment reached for the puppet who had been allowed to pass. Because respect from others is a marker of status, this suggests that children have a preference for those with a higher status—even before age three.

    However, the results were quite different when two puppets approached one another and one used force to knock the other down before continuing to the other side. In this case, 18 of the 21 toddlers reached for the one who was knocked down. As the researchers concluded, "When approaching others, very young children care not only who wins, but also how." The previous experiment has shown that toddlers know about social status, but this experiment went one step further by proving they have an obvious preference for high status. Since the participants were so young, this might even be an innate human preference.

    In a word, this new research suggests that young children appreciate people who do well while at the same time doing good to others. So, when my four-year-old thinks that he has to get his shoes on first, I'll keep reminding him that helping his brother so they both finish faster is what winning is all about.

    Skiing has always been a big part of Kamikaze shiffrin's life. Her dad ski raced all through college and her mom raced and coached skiing. The Siffrins taught Mikaela and her brother, Taylor. To ski at a very young age. At two and a half years old, Mikaela made her first ski run down her driveway on plastic skis.

    Mikaela loved skiing. From ages 8 to11, she did hundreds of training runs on small hills to learn the skills of slalom skiing (障碍滑雪). When Mikaela was 11, she began to learn at the Burke Mountain Academy, a Vermont boarding school for skiers. She took classes, studied, and practiced her skiing. According to Burke Mountain Academy headmaster Kirk Dwyer, "What separated Mikaela from others was the degree of her commitment (投入) to be the best. Mikacla practiced more than anyone and believed in herself then and now." At age 14, Mikaela began her international career when she raced in the world championship for13 and 14 -year-olds. And she won!

    By the time she was17, she had already won her first World Cup race. "Living away from home four and five months at a time can be difficult" Mikaela says. "But it can also be exciting. I'm getting to see the world." When Mikaela began ski racing in Europe, her mother, Eileen, stayed with her. She worked as her high school teacher while they were on the road. "She has always been a super-hard worker," says Eileen.

    For Mikaela, working hard is a full-time job. Even her off-season is work time. "If you want something, just try your best," she says. At the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, 18-year-old Mikaela Siffrin became the youngest slalom skier ever to win an Olympic gold medal.