Look into hunters' eyes

    Have you ever been face to face with a cat or a sheep? If you have,you probably noticed that cats narrow their eyes to vertical (垂直的) slits (狭缝),while sheep have horizontal pupils (瞳孔).

     Why is the difference?

    Scientists from the Universities of California Berkeley and Durham in Britain may have the answer. Their research, published recently in the journal Science Advances, suggested that pupils' shapes could tell whether an animal is a hunter or gets hunted.

    The researchers took a close look at the eyes of 214 land animals.The challenge was to see if they could find a relationship between an animal's role in the food chain and the pupils' shapes.

    They found a pattern. Species with pupils that are vertical slits are more likely to be small ambush predators (捕猎者) – creatures that lie in wait for their lunch.In contrast,those with horizontal pupils are more likely to be plant-eating prey (猎物) species.

    Evolution chose the arrangement for a good reason.For hunters such as household cats,it appears that vertical pupils not only improve their ability to keep track of moving objects like mice,but also maximize (使最大化) their ability to judge the distances of the animals they hunt.

    However, an interesting discovery from the study is that the slit pupils are mostly linked to hunters that are close to the ground. Therefore, bigger cats who actively hunt down their prey, like tigers and lions, don't have slit pupils.

    On the other hand, for plant-eating prey animals, horizontal pupils give them a wider field of vision.When stretched (伸展) horizontally,the pupils allow for more light to enter from the front, back, and sides. Meanwhile, they also limit the amount of light from the sun above so the animal can see the ground better.“ Once they do find a predator,they need to see where they are running,” said leading researcher Martin Banks,a UC Berkeley professor of optometry (视光学).“They have to see well enough out of the corner of their eye to run quickly and jump over things.”

    But what happens when they bend down to eat? Researchers checked this by watching prey animals in the Oakland Zoo in California, US. They believe that when goats lower their heads to eat,their eyes rotate (旋转) to keep their pupils horizontal.

    So it seems that the eyes are indeed the window to the soul!

    Are you looking for some new and exciting places to take your kids to? Try some of these  places:

    Head to a natural history museum. This is where kids can discover the past from Dinosaur (恐龙) models to rock collections and pictures of stars in the sky. Also, ask what kind of workshops and educational programs are prepared for kids and any special events that are coming up.

    Go to a Youtheater. Look for one in your area offering plays for child and family visitors. Pre-show play shops are conducted by area artists and educators where kids can discover the secret about performing arts. Puppet (木偶) making and stage make-up are just a couple of the special offerings you might find.

    Visit art museums. They offer all kinds of activities to excite your kids' interest. Many offer workshops for making hand-made pieces, traveling exhibits, book signings( 签名) by children's favorite writers, and even musical performances and other arts.

    Try hands-on science. Visit one of the many hands-on science museums around the country. These science play-lands are great fun for kids and grown-ups alike. They'll keep your child mentally and physically active the whole day through while pushing buttons, experimenting, and building. When everyone is tired, enjoy a fun family science show, commonly found in these museums.

    Love to sink into your chairs and relax when you get to school. Then you will not be happy to hear that schools all over the world are seriously considering exchanging traditional desks for ones with no seats at all — Yes, that means you will be encouraged to stand through those already too long math and science lessons! Why would anyone even think of putting kids to such cruelty. Experts say it improves their health and helps fight obesity. While that may seem a little far-fetched (牵强的), the officials at the few schools around the world seem to agree.

    Among them are educators from the College Station Independent School District in Texas, who recently completed a week-long experiment involving 480 students across three elementary schools. The 374 kids that agreed to participate in the study were provided a device that helped record step count and calorie consumption over the entire period.

    All 25 teachers involved in the study reported that students appeared to be more alert and concentrate better, when allowed to stand. The one thing that did surprise the researchers was that younger kids were more willing to stay standing than kids in higher grades. They believe this may have something to do with the fact that after years of being asked to “sit still”, older kids have a harder time adjusting to this unexpected freedom.

    American schools are not the only ones reporting success with stand-up desks. Four schools in Perth, Australia, which have been testing them since October 2013, have seen similar results. In May 2014, Grove House Primary School in West Yorkshire, became Europe's first test one, with a seven-week trial that involved the use of desks made by Ergotron in their fifth-grade classrooms. While official results are not out yet, early reactions from both teachers and students, have been extremely encouraging.

    The findings of these studies and others done previously, all seem to mean that allowing kids to move around in classrooms is a win-win for students and teachers — it helps kids get healthier and provides educators with a more attentive audience.

    I have never been a fan of the phrase, "No pains, no gains." I prefer the alternative version, "No pains, no pains!" When it comes to exercise, for example, I learned years ago that pushing through pain was more likely to lay me up with an aching back than to leave me feeling strong and healthy.

    But there are times when stressful situations actually do lead to greater happiness. A new study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies found that people who pursue (追求) goals that are tough to achieve feel more stress in the moment, but greater happiness in the aftermath particularly if they feel connected to others along the way.

    The researchers concluded that happiness increases when people develop greater competence in something and greater competence only comes when people keep on working through the stress-inducing phase of trying, fighting, and trying again to learn and grow. If the psychological needs to be autonomous or self-directed, and to be connected to others are met, the momentary stresses will be less acute, and the resulting happiness will be more lasting.

    This idea reminds me of another often quoted phrase, which I have heard in reference to challenging tasks, such as exercise —"Fill-in-the-blank-stressful-task is the worst thing to do, but the greatest thing to have done." In other words, suffering from the stress of an exercise class that leaves us feeling sweat-drenched shouldn't lead us to walk away from exercising. And if we can pass those stressful moments with a friend, colleague or family member who is trustworthy and supportive, all will be better.

    As I travel my positive path, I'm certainly not seeking out stress. But life will offer me plenty of it, whether I ask for it or not. My task is to choose wisely when and how to face it head-on, knowing that happiness awaits on the other side.

There are reasonable dependencies that are healthy for an individual's development. However, other dependencies bring unhappiness. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} In this article, we're going to be talking about some of them.

Other people's opinions

Depending on other people's opinions means letting your behavior, likes and desires be determined by the approval of those that surround you, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} As a result of this, you guide your life projects, dreams, and behavior according to what others may think.

Fashion

Few are able to tell apart their own tastes and style from the current fashion trends. Now, we're not only talking about clothing or accessories here but about general preferences and even philosophies. That desire to hop on a train and be part of the majority sometimes leads to dependency. Some become truly concerned about not being "in style". {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Physical appearance

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} As a result, they end up believing that their worth as human beings is defined by the way they look. We can't lie; beauty opens doors to some individuals. Also, it makes it easier for some to climb to the top. However, it doesn't serve much beyond that initial chapter.

Money

When the individual begins associating their personal value with the amount of money they have, it becomes a problem. Relying on money sometimes means believing that happiness equals consumption. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} To those who think this way, not having money is equivalent to losing everything, including themselves.