Are you content with the shape of your nose? If not, the climate may be to blame, not your parents.

This is according to a recent study carried out by scientists from Pennsylvania State University, US. They found that climate played a key role in shaping our noses. The findings were based on an examination of the size and shape of noses of 476 people from four regions—West Africa, East Asia, South Asia and Northern Europe, using 3-D facial imaging technology.

     “People have thought for a long time the difference in nose shape among humans across the world may have arisen as a result of natural selection because of climate,” Arslan Zaidi, one of the lead authors of the study, told The Guardian. But while previous studies were based on measurements from human skulls, Zaidi and his team looked at nose shape itself.

    The result showed that wider noses are more common in warm and humid climates, while narrower noses are more common in cold and dry climates. That, Zaidi said, could be because narrower nasal passages help to increase the moisture (潮湿) content of air and warm it，which is easier on our lungs. This, in turn, led to a gradual decrease in nose width in populations living far away from the equator.

    More study is still needed to test the link between climate and nose shape, but Zaidi believes the current findings are valuable in understanding potential health issue. “As we become more of a global community, we are going to come across climates that we are not adapt to,” he told the Guardian. This means moving to a very different climate might increase the risk of breathing problems.

    However, he added, “This may not be necessarily true for various reasons such as of modern medicine and the fact that our current climate is very different from what it used to be.”

    In the mid-nineteenth century, as iceboxes became increasingly common in American homes, there were efforts to find cheaper and more reliable sources of ice. In the eighteen-thirties, scientists discovered a way to make ice, which is similar to how a refrigerator works. In 1860, there were four artificial-ice plants in the United States; in 1889, there were about two hundred; by 1909, there were two thousand. Ice now came from factories, not ponds, and it was turned out in three-hundred-pound blocks by lowering steel cans of pure water into tanks of refrigerated salted water. Kept below thirty-two degrees, the salted water did not freeze, but the water in the cans did. Those cans were then lifted from the tank, and the ice was taken out of them.

    The ice blocks were delivered to home users, and to the fishing and chemical industries. On the railroads, trains carrying fruit and vegetables had cars at each end filled with blocks of ice. It was a growing industry.

    The great trade began to fall away in the middle years of the twentieth century. The railroad business shrank, and, in the immediate postwar period, block ice lost out to home refrigerators and then to small commercial ice machines. By the nineteen-sixties, things looked very dark. “It was scary,” Dan Ditmar, an ice expert in San Antonito, told me. “Your biggest customers were cafeterias and country clubs, and you'd go out there and they'd say, 'We don't need you anymore; we've got ice machines.'”

    Then the companies that survived the slump（a slump is a period when there is a reduction in business）began investing（投资）in newly developed ice-cube machines, and by the late sixties American ice was becoming a packaged-ice business. And packaged ice was exactly what the country needed. These were years of increased leisure time—more barbecues, more cars, and more houses by the lake. “Things exploded in the nineteen-seventies, Paul Handler said. Ice cubes evolved. They became hugely popular^ shoveled（铲）here and there into picnic coolers and fast-foof sodas. They became noisier.

    It's no secret that your personal characteristics directly affect how you interact with the world-but you might be surprised at just how deep it goes. Experts think that your personality can even affect how you exercise and influence what sports are suitable for you.

    Highly Sensitive

    Highly sensitive people may be more uncomfortable with group exercise classes or team sports where they feel their every move is being observed. Additionally, they may feel more upset over an ineffective or poor workout, says researcher Elaine Aron.

For such people, individual or non-competitive activities like biking, running and hiking are ideal.

    Type A Personality

    Type A individuals often have an "all or nothing approach" to exercise. This personality type is known for sticking closely to their plan, not to mention being super competitive. However, this can cause them to stick too closely to a fitness routine, which means they might try to push past an injury.

    To get better exercise results, Type A people need to be aware that following an exercise plan too strictly may limit their progress. They should be more flexible and listen to their body, especially when they are in pain.

    Type B Personality

    This laid-back group may get too lazy about their exercise plan, which prevents them from seeing results. They are often less willing to devote enough time and energy to their fitness goals, especially if exercise is something that makes them anxious.

    Type B individuals succeed in creative and co-operative environments, so team sports and group gym classes may be perfect.

    Remember, there are plenty of ways you can adapt a fitness plan to suit your needs, regardless of your characteristics. Just keep in mind what you like.

    Jon Pedley is making a big change. He is giving up his life as a successful businessman for life of helping others. He is trading his beautiful farmhouse in England for life in a mud hut it Uganda, East Africa.

    Pedley admits that he has not always led a very positive life. At times he drank too much and got in trouble with the law. "I've always put the pursuit(追求) of money in front of everything else. As long as I was all right, I didn't care who I was hurting," says Pedley.

    But a visit to Uganda in 2007 gave Pedley a new outlook(观点) on life. He was amazed at what he saw and how much the people there appreciated the work he was doing. "I worked there for a few days and these people who have nothing thanked me by giving me bags of potatoes, which are a fortune for them," he said.

    Now Pedley is selling his business, his $1.5 million farmhouse, and his expensive car — and moving into a hut made of mud and boards in a small Ugandan village. There he will help run an organization that hopes to improve the quality of life for people in the village of Kigazi. He will help to build schoolrooms for children and tanks to hold clean water for villagers. Today, people in Kigazi must walk two miles to a hospital, so Pedley will help to build doctors' offices, too.

    Pedley's organization will also work with English teenagers who are in trouble. The teens will be sent to a "camp" in Uganda that Pedley will run. The teens will live in mud huts and help to build water, health and education facilities(设备) for kids in Kigazi, many of whom have lost their parents due to poverty or disease. Pedley hopes the teens will see a side of life that might help them turn around their own lives and set them on a new and more positive path.

Western monarch butterflies(帝王蝶)spend their winters on the central California coast. A few months later, they produce young in the Central Valley and as far north and east as Idaho. But where they go in between remains an open question to biologists. Therefore, a group of biologists call on anyone who spots a monarch north of Santa Barbara this spring to get a quick shot(镜头)and email them the photo with a date and a location.

"Something's going on in early spring," said Cheryl Schultz, a professor at Washington State University Vancouver. "Winter survival isn't the problem in the short term, but they don't know whether the monarchs are not making it producing places, not finding plants to feed themselves along the way," she said.

The Western monarch population stood in the millions in the 1980s. In 2017, an annual count found 200,000 butterflies. In 2018, the number fell to about 30, 000-a figure that held steady last year. The monarchs' decline is part of a large trend among dozens of butterfly species in the West. What exactly caused the decline? Biologists attach it to a variety of reasons. Many chemicals are sprayed on the milkweed(乳草)monarchs will feed on. Climate change also plays a role in challenges facing monarchs. Yet, they're not nearly as threatening as those leading to loss of their living room. Farms used to have rough borders that were grounds for the plants monarchs love and live in. However, newly applied practices pushed crops to the edge of fields.

"Butterflies often have good and bad years. We do think there's potential to turn the situation around." Dr. Schultz said. And she said she saw two reasons for that. First, the population decline seen in 2017 ~ 2018 wasn't repeated last year. And second, she's seen butterfly populations recover before.

Columbia Engineering's Summer High School Academic Program for Engineers (SHAPE) is a selective pre-college program for high school students and recent graduates. SHAPE is tailored for students with a gift for STEM: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Each 3-week session offers college-level, project-based courses in engineering taught by celebrated professors at the university. 

SHAPE gives students a more realistic picture of what it means to be an engineer and its professional development components help students develop the skills they need to get there.

Courses

SHAPE features creative problem-solving courses and exposes students to innovative engineering techniques and knowledge presented by professors. Please note that SHAPE does not provide college credit. 

Students gain access to the famous MakerSpace and state-of-the-art research laboratories after completing the safety training and will only do so under close guidance. 

SHAPE also provides students with workshops to explore career fields, professional development, and guidance on sharpening one's college application from admissions officers. Students in the program will be visiting companies and organizations that show the classroom content in practice. 

Application

Students are selected based on the following criteria: 

⒈Strong academic record 

⒉Personal statement to demonstrate excitement and interest in STEM through engagement in challenging courses, activities, projects, etc. 

⒊Enthusiastic letter of recommendation submitted by a math or science teacher 

⒋Creative responses to two required questions and one of the three optional questions 

We encourage all students to apply by the priority deadline of June 15, 2023, so there is no application fee. After the priority deadline, a $50 application fee is required. 

SHAPE is dedicated to supporting students and their families in need of financial assistance. We offer a limited number of need-based scholarships, which cover the full cost of SHAPE. To be considered for a need-based scholarship, families will need to provide a recent pay receipt and complete a Family Income and Expense Worksheet.

Email: shape@columbia.edu for more information.