Bad news sells.If it bleeds,it leads.No news is good news,and good news is no news.Those are "the classic rules for the evening broadcasts and the morning papers.But now that information is being spread amt monitored（监控）in different ways,researchers are discovering new rules.By tracking people's e-mails and online posts,scientists have found that good news can spread faster and farther than disasters and sob stories.

    "The ‘if it bleeds 'rule works for mass media,"says Jonah Berger,a scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. "They want your eyeballs and don't care how you're feeling.But when you share a story with your friends,you care a lot more how they react.You don't want them to think of you as a Debbie Downer."

    Researchers analyzing word-of-mouth communication—e-mails,Web posts and reviews,face-to-face conversations—found that it tended to be more positive than negative,but that didn't necessarily mean people preferred positive news.Was positive news shared more often simply because people experienced more good things than bad things?To test for that possibility,Dr.Berger looked at how people spread a particular set of news stories: thousands of articles on The New York Times' website.He and a Penn colleague analyzed the "most e-mailed" list for six months.One of his first findings was that articles in the science section were much more likely to make the list than non-science articles.He found that science amazed Times' readers and made them want to share this positive feeling with others.

    Readers also tended to share articles that were exciting or funny,or that inspired negative feelings like anger or anxiety,but not articles that left them merely sad.They needed to be aroused（激发）one way or the other,and they preferred good news to bad.The more positive an article,the more likely it was to be shared as Dr.Berger explains in his new book,"Contagious: Why Things Catch On."

    A member of our class told us of a request made by his wife. She and a group of other women in her church were involved in a self-improvement program. She asked her husband to help her by listing six things he believed she could do to help her become a better wife. He reported to the class," I was surprised by such a request. Frankly, it would have been easy for me to list six things I would like to change about her—my heavens, she could have listed a thousand things she would like to change about me—but I didn't. I said to her, 'Let me think about it and give you an answer in the morning.'”

    “The next morning I got up very early and called the florist (花商) and had him send six red roses to my wife with a note saying, 'I can't think of six things I would like to change about you. I love you the way you are.”

    “When I arrived at home that evening, who do you think greeted me at the door? That's right. My wife! She was almost in tears. Needless to say, I was extremely glad I had not criticized her as she had requested. ”

    “The following Sunday at church, after she had reported the results of her assignment, several women with whom she had been studying came up to me and said, 'That is the most considerate thing I have ever heard.' It was then that I realized the power of appreciation.”

    Lincoln once began a letter saying, “Everybody likes a compliment (赞扬).” William James said, “The deepest principle in human nature is the desire to be appreciated.” So, let's give honest, sincere appreciation to others instead of criticizing them. This will make a great difference to your life as well as others' life.

    The first person in the world to receive two facial transplants says he is feeling well, three months after his latest groundbreaking operation.

    Jerame Hamon had his first transplanted face removed last year after signs of rejection following a treatment with an antibiotic (抗生素) during a cold.

    The 43 year old remained in a hospital in Paris without a face for two months while a compatible donor was sought.

    He said: “The first face I accepted immediately. This time it's the same.”

    Mr. Hamon suffers from neurofibromatosis (多发性神经纤维瘤), a genetic condition that spoiled his face severely.

    His first transplant, in 2010, was a success, but he caught a common cold in 2015 and was given antibiotics. The drug was incompatible with the immunosuppressive (免疫制疫的) treatment he was having to prevent a rejection of the transplanted material.

    The first signs of rejection came in 2016 and last November, the face, suffering from the death of most of cells, had to be removed.

    Mr. Hamon lived without a face in a room at Georges-Pompidou hospital in Paris without being able to see, speak or hear until January, when a face donor was found and the second transplant carried out.

    To avoid further rejection, Mr. Hamon—dubbed “the man with three faces” by French media ―had special treatment to clean the blood prior to the transplant.

    His new face remains smooth and motionless, and his skull, skin and features are yet to be fully matched. But he is positive about his recovery.

    “If I hadn't accepted this new face it would have been terrible. It's a question of identity… But here we are, it's good, it's me,” he told AFP news agency from the hospital, where he is still recovering.

    The hours-long operation was led by Prof Laurent Lantieri, a specialist in hand and face transplants who carried out Mr. Hamon's initial surgery eight years ago.

    “Today, we know that a double transplant is practicable, it's no longer in the field of research,” he told Le Parisien newspaper.

    Anaesthetist Bernard Cholley said: “Anyone who loses their face and then has to wait for a possible and imagined transplant for an unknown length of time—that's something that nobody has ever had to go through here.”

    “I'm amazed by the courage of a patient who has been able to get through such a different experience.”

    The first face transplant was carried out in 2005 in northern France. Since then, some 40 operations have been performed around the world.

    In 1994 I wrote a letter. I stuck it in an envelope, put it away and completely forgot about it. It wasn't until we moved into our new home in 2006 that I found it again. It was addressed to me with explicit instructions not to open until my birthday 2005. It was now 2006 so I decided to open it. This is what it said: Dear Sherri.

    By the time you read this you will be 30. At the age of 18 I had so many hopes and dreams about where you'd be, what you'd be doing and with whom you'd spend your life with.

    Right now I hope that you have traveled and seen everything you've always wanted to, both in Canada and overseas, and maybe even settled down somewhere in Australia doing some research in the field of biology (genetics).I hope you're married to the man of your dreams. The man of mine is Gwynn. He is originally from South Africa (another place I wish to visit).

    However, if things don't go according to plan for you, I wish you all the love, happiness and joy in the world and don't settle for anything less than the best since that is absolutely what you deserve.

    Live long, be happy and live life to it's fullest.

    Love Sherri "18"

    When I read this for the first time since writing it I was floored. Even now having dug this up again another 4 years later I still can't help but think this is really cool. So much of what I wanted for myself has materialized. I did travel to a few more places in Canada although I haven't seen everything I'd like to.

    I did marry the man of my dreams and yes he still is my one and only. I lived in Australia for nearly 4 years, I had a career in Biology in the field of genetics for 10 years. I have two lovely kids I have not one dog but two dogs. Gwynn is a computer programmer.

    I suppose these were things that I really did want. Having never strayed too far from home overseas travel was a huge deal. Having never been away from my family moving to Australia for several years was an huge decision. I find it fascinating how the dreams of a young and naive little girl can become a grown woman's reality.

    How about writing a letter now to yourself in, say, 10 years from now? It's an interesting experiment.

    Two heads are better than one. After all, when trying to make decisions, it's good to have a second opinion. But what about a third, fourth — even twelfth? What group size is best for making decisions quickly? For ants, four to six heads surpass one and also outperform 12 or 24. That's what Sylvia Zamescu now reports.

    The 18-year-old senior at Catalina Foothills High School in Tucson, Arizona isn't generally into ants. She's interested in decision-making, especially by people. Last summer, Sylvia read that social insects such as ants and bees can be used to model decision-making. Ants, for example, forage for food. When an ant finds it, it takes a bite and heads back to the nest. On the way; the ant leaves a scented trail for other ants to pick up. Back at the nest, the ant vomits up its meal into the mouth of other ants. Those nest-mates then decide with the first ant whether the food is good enough to deserve a trip back for more. If it is, they follow the first ant's scented trail to lunch.

    When there are too few ants, it could take a long time for one ant to spread the word. If there are too many, it's hard to "tell" each about the find. What's the right number for foraging success? Sylvia decided to find out. She contacted professors at the University of Arizona in Tucson to look for someone who would let her study decision-making by ants in their lab. Professor Wulfila Gronenberg answered her email.

    Working with one of Wulfila's graduate students Sylvia set up an experiment. She tested the behavior of one, two, four, six, twelve and twenty-four ants. Each group was placed in a large box al taped "starting line". At the other end of the box were two bricks of sweetened gelatin (动物胶) one contained only 3 per cent sugar, and the other 30 per cent. Sylvia timed how long it took each group of ants to find the food. She also measured how much time they spent around each sweet treat.

    When there were just one or two ants, the discovery was slow. The same was true when she set twelve or twenty-four ants loose. But four to six ants? Perfect! These medium-size groups found the food forest. They also figured out quickly that the sweeter food was better.

    Similar work has been done on bighorn sheep, fish and fruit flies. "It may not be four to six animals, but it's the same principle," Sylvia says. A medium-size group "is optimal". So when faced with a new decision, two heads are better than one. But too many heads are too much. Like the ants, a good decision may just require a happy medium.

After months of expectation and secrecy, the official mascot (吉祥物) of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games－a giant panda-inspired cartoon character－made its first public debut with cheers at Beijing's Shougang Ice Hockey Arena.

The panda is named “Bing Dwen Dwen” in Chinese. Bing means “ice” in Chinese, while Dwen Dwen suggests “health and cleverness”－characteristics also shared by pandas. Pandas are perhaps the most recognized animal species in China, organizers said.

“Pandas combine China's traditional culture and its modern appearance together with winter sports elements in a fascinating image (形象) that shows our great expectations for the Games and shows that we welcome the world,” said Beijing Mayor Chen Jining, who also serves as an executive president on the organizing committee.

“I have already seen the mascot and from what I've seen, it's a wonderful choice,” IOC President Thomas Bach said before introducing the character.” “The mascot really takes in the best elements and characteristics of China and the Chinese people. It will be a great ambassador (大使) for the country and the 24th Winter Olympics.”

The ring of light surrounding the mascot's face is suggestive of ice and snow tracks, as well as the flowing “ribbons” of the National Speed Skating Oval. The oval is one of two new competition sites in downtown Beijing expected to become a landmark of the Games, according to its chief designer Cao Xue.

The introduction of the mascots marks the key point of a journey that began in August 2018, when Beijing organizers started a global design competition for the mascots. A total of 5,816 designs were received from 35 countries, and were reviewed by Chinese and international experts in a comprehensive evaluation and selection process.

The new mascot will serve as spirited symbol of the Games that will take place in the three zones of downtown Beijing, the suburban district of Yanqing and co-host city Zhangjiakou in surrounding Hebei province.