What's your opinion on spicy food? Some people cannot handle even the smallest amount of chili(辣椒) in their dinner while others can't get enough of it.       

Scientists have long been puzzled by why some people love chili and others loathe it. Plenty of research has been done on the subject, dating back to as far as the 1970s. Previous results showed that a love of chili is related to childhood experiences, and cultural influences affect our taste buds, too. But the latest study has found that a person's love of spicy food may be linked to his or her personality more than anything else, CBC News reported.

“We have always assumed that liking drives intake—we eat what we like and we like what we eat. But no one has actually directly bothered to connect these personality traits with intake of chili peppers,” said Professor John Hayes from Pennsylvania State University, who led the study.

But before you look at the study, you should first know that “spicy” is not a taste, unlike sour, sweet, bitter and salty. It is, in fact, a burning sensation that you feel on the surface of your tongue. This got scientists thinking that maybe a love of spicy food is brought about by people's longing for thrill, something they usually get from watching action movies or riding a roller coaster.

In the study, 97 participants, both male and female, were asked to fill out questionnaires about certain traits of their personality, for example. Whether they like new experiences or tend to avoid risks. They were then given cups of water with capsaicin(辣椒素), the plant chemical that makes chili burn, mixed into them.

By comparing the answers to questionnaires and what participants said they felt about the spicy water. Researchers found that those who most tended to enjoy action movies or take risks were about six times more likely to enjoy the spicy water.

    Interestingly, we used to believe that the reason some people can withstand spicy food is that their tongue have become less sensitive to it. However, this latest study has found otherwise. It's not that it doesn't burn as badly, it's that you actually learn to like the burn,” Hayes explained.  

Events

Long March exhibit

    The Shanghai History Museum is putting on an exhibition to mark the 60^th anniversary of the Long March. On show are more than 220 photos and 40 items that explain with pictures how the communist Red Army drew back from its besieged(被围困的) bases in Jiangxi Province and fought its way to northern Shanxi province in the mid-1930s. Explanations are all in Chinese. The show will end on November 20.

Time: 10:00 am—4:00 pm.

Address: 1286 Hongqiao Road

Admission: 8 Yuan for Chinese/ 15 Yuan for foreigners

Thai elephants

    Eight elephants from Thailand are entertaining visitors at Changfeng Park by riding bikes, playing basketball, balancing on a beam, dancing and blowing a mouth-organ. People are encouraged to have a tug-of-war(拔河比赛) with the animals or lie on the ground and have the elephants walk over them. The elephants give three shows a day at 9:30 am, 3:30 pm and 8:00 pm and there is an additional show at 1:30 pm at weekends. The show will end on November 15.

Address: 189 Daduhe Road

Admission: 30-40 Yuan

Dancing dolphins

    Dolphins jumping from the water to touch a ball, swaying their bodies to music, kissing people and doing math by tapping their tails have made the dolphinarium in Peace Park an attraction for children. Seals and sea lions also perform.

Hours: 10:30 am, 4:00 pm, and 7:30 pm

Admission: 20 Yuan for adults and 10 Yuan for children.

    My family lived in a motel for two years. Like most families living there, we stayed in a two- bedroom suite. We were living from paycheck to paycheck, so when Christmas approached, we didn't know if we could be able to purchase gifts for our children.

    A few days before Christmas someone dropped off presents for all the kids that lived in the motel. It brought so much joy to all the children, most of whom knew that they wouldn't be receiving anything.

Five years ago, we moved out of the motel. After that, my husband and I were working hard at the Joe's Crab Shack to support our family. A few days before Christmas, I was working a “big top” and a single table. The man at my table could see that the large table was taking most of my time, but I was very patient and friendly. Between drinks and food I was able to chat with him about his family and mine. He left me $10, then walked out. About 10 minutes later, I turned around and there he was again. He gave me a hug, and put something in the side of my coat, telling me “Have a Merry Christmas”. I reached into my coat and pulled out $800.

    I was so moved by his generosity that I burst into tears. He had given me more than enough money to help my family catch up on our bills. After discussing what we should do with the money we had left over, we decided to buy presents for the families living at the motel, so we could pass on the blessing that we had received. Since then, it has been a tradition for us to give Christmas gift to the families in need.

    Last year we were able to give presents each of the 80 children at a school in our community, and throw a Christmas party for them. This year our goal is to add at least 20 children.

    Developed by researchers and designers specializing in typography(印刷术)and behavioral science, Sans Forgetica is a new font(字体)designed to help readers better remember the information they read by forcing them to spend a bit more time on each word.

    The design of Sans Forgetica is based on a font called Albion, but with substantial  modifications(修改)to reduce familiarity and attain its goal of engaging the brain more and helping the reader retain(保留) more information. It was developed by scientists at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, who believe it could help students studying for exams.

    “We believe this is the first time that specific principles of design theory have been combined with specific principles of psychology theory in order to create a font, ”Behavioral economist Jo Peryman told DW.

    If fonts are too familiar, readers often glance over them without their brain creating may  memories of what was read. At the same time, if a font is too outlandish, the brain has to struggle too much to decipher(破译)it while neglecting the retention of information. According to its developers, “Sans Forgetica lies at a sweet spot where just enough obstacle has been added to create that memory retention.” Its modifications force readers to spend more time, but not too much time, reading each word, allowing the brain to engage in deeper cognitive processing.

    So does Sans Forgetica actually work? Does it help readers better remember the information they read? So far, studies have shown that it can make a difference, although not a significant one.

    One experiment had 96 participants recall word pairs presented in three different fonts. They remembered 69 percent of the word pairs written in Sans Forgetica, compared to 61 percent for the other fonts. In a different experiment, 303 students took a mock(模拟)multiple-choice exam, and whenever the text was presented in Sans Forgetica, they remembered 57 percent of the text, compared to only 50 percent of the surrounding text written in Arial font.

    So Sans Forgetica won't give you the memory of an elephant, but if you're the kind of person who believes every little bit helps, it might be worth a try.

    You probably know who Marie Curie was, but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson. Of the outstanding ladies listed below, who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?

    Jane Addams (1860-1935)

    Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of community(社区) by creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need. In 1931, Addams became the first American women to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

    Rachel Carson (1907-1964)

    If it weren't for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world's lakes and oceans.

    Sandra Day O'Connor (1930-present)

    When Sandra Day O'Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School in 1952, she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman. She became an Arizona State Senator(参议员) and in 1981, the first woman to join the US Supreme Court（高等法院）. O'Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 24 years on the top court.

    Rosa Parks (1913-2005)

    On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks would not give up her seat to a white passenger. Her simple act landed Parks in prison. But it also set off the Montgomery bus boycott. (抵制行动) It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil-rights movements. "the only tired I was, was tired of giving in." said Parks.