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!

    Since the first Earth Day in 1970, Americans have gotten a lot “greener” toward the environment. “We didn't know at that time there even was an environment, let alone that there was a problem with it,” says Bruce Anderson, president of Earth Day USA.

    But what began as nothing important in public affairs has grown into a social movement .Business people, political leaders, university professors, and especially millions of grass-roots Americans are taking part in the movement. “The understanding has increased many， many times,” says Gaylord Nelson, the former governor from Wisconsin, who thought up the first. According to US government reports, emissions (排放)from cars and trucks have dropped from 10.3 million tons a year to 5.5 tons .The number of cities producing CO beyond the standard has been reduced from 40 to 9. Although serious problems still remain and need to be dealt with, the world is a safer and healthier place. A kind of “Green thinking” has become part of practices.

    Great improvement has been achieved. In 1988 there were only 600 recycling programs; today in 1995 there are about 6,600. Advanced lights, motors, and building designs have helped save a lot of energy and therefore prevented pollution.

    Twenty –five years ago, there were hardly any education programs for environment. Today, it's hard to find a public school, university, or law school that does not have such a kind of program. “Until we do that, nothing else will change!” say Bruce Anderson.

    One of the United States' social problems is the breakdown of the two-parent family. Today, millions of American children grow up without fathers. Too often, these children lack the love and help they badly need and which they would ordinarily receive from not one but two parents. In the old days, American parents placed the needs of their children above their own. At present, however, nearly one half of all new marriages end in divorce(离婚), with often troubling results for their children. Worse, every year, thousands of teenage, unmarried Americans become mothers outside marriage. However, Chinese continue to value whole marriages. This is not to say that Chinese marriages are all perfect - they certainly are not, there are increasing more divorces in China - but the willingness of Chinese to set aside their own needs and stay together for the sake of the children is highly respected and worthy of study.

    Families are important to Americans. If one was to ask a group of Americans what is the dearest to them, the majority would say “family”. And yet, so many Americans spend much more time at work- that is, beyond the formal forty-hour work week - than they do with their own families. It seems to me that Chinese generally find a better balance between work and family needs than many Americans do. Average Chinese usually head home right after work，have meals together, and spend time with their family members. What's more, Chinese try to make more time for grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins than many Americans; in many cases, multigenerational families live together. Of course, like many facts of Chinese society, this is all changing; increasing numbers of “New Chinese” are working longer hours and spending less time with their families than ever before. Still, while Americans do value their loved ones, I think we have something to learn from the Chinese about finding the proper balance between work and family.

    How much weight a baby gains during its first month could determine its IQ, new research found. The study found that children who gain more weight, and whose heads grow quickly during the first month of life, tend to have a higher IQ when they start school.

    Researchers at the University of Adelaide, in Australia studied 13, 800 children who were born at full-term. They found that those who put on 40% of their birth weight in the first four weeks had an IQ 1.5 points higher than those who only put on 15% of their birth weight. Those who experienced the biggest growth in head circumference(头围) also had the highest IQs by the age of six.

    "Head circumference is an indicator of brain volume, so a greater increase in head circumference in a newly-born baby suggests more rapid brain growth, "says the author of the study, Dr. Lisa Smithers. She added, "Overall, newly-born children who grew faster in the first four weeks had higher IQ scores later in life. Those children who gained the most weight scored especially high on the verbal IQ at age 6. This may be because neural (神经的) structures for the verbal IQ develop earlier in life, which means the rapid weight gain during the first month could be having a direct cognitive benefit for the children."

    Previous studies have shown the association between early postnatal (产后的) diet and the IQ, but this is the first study of its kind to focus on the IQ benefits of rapid weight gain in the first month of life. Dr. Lisa Smithers says the study further highlights the need for successful feeding of newly-born babies." We know that many mothers have difficulty establishing breastfeeding in the first week of their babies' life,” Dr. Lisa Smithers said.

    "The findings of our study suggest that if babies are having feeding problems, there needs to be early intervention(干预) in the management of that feeding."

    Do you jump out of bed early, wide awake and ready to start your day？ If so, you would be called an "early bird". Perhaps, you hate the sound of your alarm clock（闹钟） each morning and have little energy until afternoon. If so, you're probably a "night owl".

    Most people can be divided into such two groups, but what makes us this way？ And is one better than the other？ There are different opinions.

    Usually, early risers have been praised as hard-working while those who prefer to get up late are considered lazy. Most people believe the early bird catches the worm.

    Yet some scientists now believe "night owls" can really focus(集中) longer and produce more than early risers.

    Research has found that the early bird does not always get the worm. In a Belgian study, both "morning people" and "evening people" were watched during their normal asleep and awake routines(常规).After 10 hours of being awake, the "evening people" became more alert(思维敏捷的). However, the "morning people" became sleepy and less focused. Researchers believe the reason for this difference is that night owls receive a last-minute increase from their brains. This added energy allows them to stay alert for longer periods of time.

    Environment, lifestyle, activities and childhood routines all may have an effect on sleeping habits, yet genetics(遗传学)may play the biggest role.

    It is possible to change your sleeping habits through regular bedtimes, early exercise and by avoiding midnight snacks. But if you're happy rising early or staying up late, you're probably doing what works best for your own personal body clock.

    Many people like traveling, but they cannot take their dogs wherever they go. Some people let their dogs stay alone at home while others ask someone else to take care of their pets. If you're leaving your beloved pet at home for a holiday, it can turn into a bad experience. Luckily, you don't have to worry about your dogs anymore because Rover can cover for you while you are on leave. Rover is the latest service to offer at home dog boarding. It's a good alternative (替代物) to boarding your dog at a dog boarding kennel (狗舍) or your neighbor's house.

    The way Rover works is sort of like Airbnb. Dog owners surf the Rover website or app for pet sitters (照看者), which can be organized by zip code (邮政编码) and available dates. Information of pet sitters is provided, complete with many reviews, specific services and rates. Now Rover has over 25,000 pet sitters in more than 5,000 US cities. And they're all experienced pet sitters.

    After finding someone that meets your needs, just send messages to the pet sitter to arrange a meeting. Then, like Rover says, all that is left to do is relax! Rover's pet sitters are encouraged to send text and picture information throughout the day, and if there's a medical emergency, the site will send a vet (兽医). Besides, don't worry about a pet sitter who fails to help you, because someone else will soon take his or her place.

    Happy doggie, happy travels—that sounds good to us. To learn more about Rover, click here.