Jolly Joe always arrived at my neighborhood at exactly half past noon. The clang (叮当声) of the bell on his red and black truck was then the sweetest sound in the world. Brightly colored stickers advertising his amazing kinds of treats could be found on all sides of his truck. The whole neighborhood would magically come to life.

    Holding a nickel (五分镍币), I'd run to the back of the vehicle, where children were already gathering. Jolly Joe would jump out of his truck, the sun shining on his hair. He was an older man, short and round, with a pleasant face and a welcoming smile.

    I don't know how, but he knew us all by name, as well as which treats we preferred. My favorite was the Buried Treasure. By eating all the ice cream, you'd discover the treasure inside: a lion, a dog or even a funny clown — printed onto a plastic stick.

    When it was finally my turn, he'd put his arm deep inside one of the boxes, and pause (停顿) for a moment, a puzzled look crossing his face. Then, suddenly, he'd pull it out: the Buried Treasure! I couldn't wait to enjoy the cool, sweet ice cream.

    As quickly as he arrived, it was time for Jolly Joe to go, leaving behind laughing, excited children with sticky hands and faces. Soon the sound of his clanging bell would slowly disappear in the distance.

    I always hated to see Jolly Joe go, because I knew the rest of the day would be as hot and boring as before. But I took some comfort in knowing that the next day he'd come round the corner at half past noon and once again spread his magic.

    A new study from the Georgia Institute of Technology finds that older and younger people have a varying preference for what they would want a personal robot to look like. And they change their minds based on what the robot is supposed to do.

    Participants were shown a series of photos, either robotic, human or mixed human-robot faces, and were asked to select the one that they would prefer for their robot's appearance. Most college-aged adults in the study preferred a robotic appearance, although the others were also generally open to them. However, nearly 60 percent of older adults said they would want a robot with a human face, and only 6 percent of them chose one with a mixed human-robot appearance.

    "We found that participants, both younger and older, will assign emotional traits to a robot based on its face, which will determine what they are most comfortably interacting with," Akanksha Prakash, a psychology graduate student at Georgia Tech who led the study, said in a statement. So when participants were told the robot was helping with personal care, chores, social interaction or helping to make decisions, something interesting happened.

    Preference was less strong for helping with chores, although the majority of older and younger participants chose a robot with a robotic face. But for decision-making tasks, such as getting advice on where to invest money, younger participants tended to select a mixed human-robot appearance. A robotic face was their least favored choice for this task. Older adults generally preferred a human face. Personal care tasks such as bathing caused the most divisive preferences within both age groups. Those who chose a human face did so because they associated the robot with human-like care capabilities — such as nursing — and trustworthy traits. Many others didn't want anything looking like a human to bathe them due to the private nature of the task.

    Based on this early research, the researcher says that if a robot is designed to help only with a specific task, its appearance should fit in with the task. For instance, if the robot is designed to specifically assist the user with critical decisions, the robot should be given an intelligent look instead of a funny one. However, if the robot is tasked with a variety of jobs in the home, allowing for appearance customizability(可定制性) might be the best option.

    The researcher next plans to expand the study to other age groups and people with more diverse educational backgrounds.

    They aren't great artists like Leonardo da Vinci or Vincent van Gogh, but their paintings are just as popular on Chinese social media, with millions of Chinese people willing to pay for them.

The 36 works were painted by ordinary Chinese people who live with autism (自闭症) or cerebral palsy (脑瘫), aged from their early teens to late thirties. They all studied art at World of Art Brut Culture (WABC), which is a Shanghai-based non-profit organization (非赢利组织) for art education. The project was started by WABC and supported by the Tencent Charitable Foundation. Users could buy a digital copy of each painting by donating (捐赠) 1 yuan or more. By Aug 29, donations totaled more than 15 million yuan, with about 5.8 million people participating (参与).

    “The paintings by these autistic kids and adults are beautiful: the style is similar to that of the Dutch artist Van Gogh. I'm really impressed by their talent,” Feng Li, a customer service officer in Shanghai, told the South China Morning Post.

    However, the popular campaign also led to certain questions.

    Li Laoxi, an experienced special education teacher in Hangzhou, said that based on his experience, people with autism could only draw a few lines or fill in colors under the guidance of their trainers. “Maybe there are some geniuses out there, but I've never met them”. Others questioned where the money would go, as the donations went to WABC instead of the painters. In response to these concerns, Miao Shiming, founder of WABC, said the money would be used to employ art teachers, buy supplies, and rent facilities. Meanwhile, Tencent said that all donation information would be open to the public.

    These days, I walk down the steps leading toward the south end of the All England Club in Wimbledon, and still look for the Crow's Nest, a small green observation tower with an outer ladder that I used to climb on for a wide view of the grounds, but which has since been knocked down.

    The Crow's Nest was a particularly useful point, because it allowed a tennis writer to keep track of the action on as many as 10 outside courts at a time. At days end, reporters from different nations would share notes on what they had observed all over the grounds.

    Twenty-seven years later, the press room has touch screens that allow us to watch live videos from any court, and even go back to watch key moments in key matches long after they have finished. You could cover Wimbledon without leaving your seat. But that is a bit like spending all your time ordering room service and looking up fun facts on Wikipedia.

    More than at any other tennis tournament, there is also an appetite for stories that deal with the setting, the history and the traditions.

    If they change the price of the fish tacos (鱼肉卷饼) at the United States Open, it's not a story. If they change the price of the strawberries and cream, the signature treat at Wimbledon. It's time to email your editor using capital letters.

    The new retractable (可伸缩的) roof was put in place in 2009. Until then, you always had to have a rainy-day story in your notebook because there were no guarantees any matches would be played. Now tennis is a sure thing on Centre Court, which has made tennis reporters a bit less creative. But at least it guarantees us daily access to the most atmospheric place in the sport.

    So much has changed, but Centre Court remains true to its original spirit: more a theater than a stadium. Catching that feeling is part of covering Wimbledon, too.

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."

    We often hear stories of animals rescuing people. But now someone has managed to return the favor.

    The event took place one snowy January morning Thomas Smith was walking his dog, Jack, in the park." As I was walking, I just saw Jack running onto the ice towards the ducks in the middle, and then he fell into the water and couldn't climb out, "said Smith. He realized he had no choice but to try and save his dog. "Someone else told me the lake was only one-meter deep, but it was at least twice that. I had to break my way through the 6-cm ice. Finally, I got Jack by the neck, and pulled him out. I don't think I have ever felt so cold by the time we got back to dry land. And when we got there, everyone was asking if Jack was okay no one was particularly worried, about me!"

    A neighbor, Julie Brown, saw it all happen. "The dog went onto an icy lake. All of a sudden, it started to go under. There were crowds of people around, and they were all shouting and screaming. Before I knew it, the owner Smith was in the water forcing his way through the ice. I can't begin to imagine how cold it was. Everyone was very nervous, but he was as cool as a cucumber he just crawled back out, put the dog on its lead, and went home."

    Many regard him as a hero, but Mr. Smith is quite laid-back about it. "Most dog owners are the same as me. They would do what I did without a second thought. But in the future, I'm going to make sure he's on lead near any ice ponds, Pets are members of our family. Would you do the same for them?