The clock struck eleven at night. The whole house was quiet. Everyone was in bed except me. Under the strong light, I looked sad before a huge pile of troublesome stuff that were called “books”. I was going to have my exam the next day. "When can I go to bed?" I asked myself. I didn't answer; as a matter of fact, I dared not.

    The clock struck twelve. "Oh, dear!" I cried, "five more books to read before I can go to bed!” We pupils are the poorest in the world. Dad does not agree with me on this. He did not have to work so hard when he was a boy.

    The clock struck one. I was quite hopeless now. I forgot all I had learnt. I was too tired to go on. I did the only thing I could. I prayed, “Oh, God! Please help me pass the exam tomorrow. I do promise to work hard afterwards, Amen.” My eyes were so heavy that I could hardly open them. A few minutes later, with my head on the desk, I fell asleep.

    Babies teach their older brothers and sisters empathy (移情), according to a new research. Empathy means understanding and entering others' feelings. Until now, younger kids have generally been regarded to learn plenty from their older brothers or sisters but don't give back much. But this study, published in Child Development, confirms that younger siblings (兄弟姐妹) ensure their big brothers and sisters don't grow into disgusting people—no easy task.

    “Although it's assumed that older siblings and parents are the primary socializing influences on younger siblings' development but not vice versa, we found that both younger and older siblings positively contributed to each other's empathy over time,” study co-author Marc Jambon said in a statement. Prior sibling studies have focused on the influence of older brothers and sisters, probably because their impact is most obvious. As one review of literature notes, studies have shown that older siblings influence everything from their younger siblings' motor development to their risk of smoking later in life. And although separated studies have tried to pin down effects that younger siblings have on their older siblings, the influence of baby brothers and sisters remains unclear.

    For this new study, Jambon and his colleagues recruited (招募) a diverse group of 452 Canadian sibling pairs between the ages of 18 months and four years. At the start of the study, individual researchers assessed children's baseline empathy levels by visiting the kids at home and then pretending to hurt themselves or break a valuable item. Eighteen months later, they found small but significant increases in empathy.

    One unexpected exception—older sisters did not appear to experience increased empathy after 18 months living with their little brothers, specifically. The researchers aren't sure why this exception appeared, and they recommend that future studies dive into more complex phenomena.

    However exciting space exploration sounds, there's a necessary and important point about it that needs to be considered: food supplies. Right now, astronauts typically rely on dry food in airtight bags and cans, since there are strict weight limits on items taken into space. Foods that we take for granted, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, are out of the question for space explorers.

    For those who've made an effort to try to grow food during space flights, they've faced many difficulties, including the absence of gravity, and a lack of soil, air and humidity (湿度). However, growing food to add and minimize (最小化) the food that must be carried to space will be increasingly important on long-duration flights into space. Great efforts have been made to explore the concept (idea) of space farming. Recently, a team led by Federico Maggi at the University of Sydney in Australia have worked out how plants can absorb nutrients from human urine (尿), as was reported by New Scientist on March 27.

    After over 20 years of experiments, the results suggested that human urine could supply three to four out of the six nutrients that plants need. The researchers also found out that urine-fertilized plants produce no harmful by-products, such as carbon dioxide or ammonia.

    According to New Scientist, human urine is 95 percent water, with the other 5 percent made from nutrients which are harmful to the human body but not to plants. The advantage of this urine-fueled life support system is obvious: By recycling liquid waste and producing food, an efficient cycle will be created.

    And most importantly, said New Scientist，the duration of space flights will be greatly extended to “20 years of flight”, meaning we may be soon sending astronauts on flights to Mars, or even beyond.

    Families should reduce exposure to synthetic chemicals found in food colorings, preservatives and packaging materials as a growing body of research shows they may harm children's health, according to a policy statement and technical report from the American Academy of Pediastrics released online.

    The statement also suggests improvements to the food additives regulatory system, including updating the scientific foundation of the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations safety assessment retesting all previously approved chemicals.

    Leonard Trasande, the author of the policy statement, to tell us more about these concerns.

Q: What are the growing number of studies showing us?

A: Over the past two decades, an accumulating body of science suggests some food additives can interfere with a child's hormones, growth and development.

    Potentially harmful effects of food additives are of special concern for children because they are more sensitive to chemical exposures because they eat and drink more relative to body weight, than adults do and are still growing and developing. An early injury to their organ systems can have lifelong and permanent consequences.

Q: What additives does the statement highlight?

A: The additives of most concern, based on rising research evidence cited in the report, include:

    Bisphenols, such as BPA, used to harden plastic containers and line metal cans, can act like estrogen（雌激素）in the body which may potentially change the timing of puberty, decrease fertility, increase body fat and affect the nervous and immune systems. BPA is now banned in baby bottles.

    Phthalates, which make plastic and vinyl tubes used in industrial food production flexible, may affect male genital development increase childhood obesity and contribute to cardiovascular disease. In 2017, the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the use or some phthalates in child-care products such as teething rings.

    Psychology has a new application in the field of medicine. Many doctors, together with their patients, are looking for alternative methods of treatment of physical problems. In large hospitals, modern therapy(疗法)seems to focus on the physical disease. Patients may feel they are treated like broken machines. Some doctors have recognized this as a problem. They are now using psychological therapy, in which the patient is working with the doctors against the disease with the help of medicine. The patient does not wait for the medicine and treatment to cure him or her, but instead the patient joins in the fight.

    The doctor knows that a disease affects a patient's body physically. The body of the patient changes because of the disease. He is not only physically affected, but also has an emotional response to the disease. Because his mind is affected, and his attitude and behavior change. The medical treatment might cure the patient's physical problems, but the patient's mind must fight the emotional ones. For example, the studies of one doctor, Carl Simonton, M.D., have shown that a typical cancer patient has predictable attitudes. She typically feels depressed, upset, and angry. Her constant depression makes her acts unfriendly toward her family, friends, doctors, and nurses. Such attitudes and behaviors prevent recovery. Therefore, a doctor's treatment must help the patient change that. Simonton's method emphasizes treatment of the "whole" patient.

    The attitude of a cancer patient receiving radiation therapy, an X-ray treatment, can become more positive. The physician who is following Simonton's psychological treatment plan suggests that the patient imagine that he or she can see the tumor(肿瘤)in the body. In the mental picture, the patient "sees" a powerful beam of radiation like a million bullets of energy. The patient imagines the beam hitting the tumor cells and causing them to shrink. For another cancer patient, Dr. Simonton asks him to imagine the medicine going from the stomach into the bloodstream and to the cancer cells. The patient imagines that the medicine is like an army fighting the diseased cells and sees the cancer cells gradually dying and his blood carrying away the dead cells. Both the medical therapy and the patient's positive attitude fight the disease.

    Doctors are not certain why this mental therapy works. However, this use of psychology does help some patients because their attitudes about themselves change. They become more confident because they use the power within their own minds to help stop the disease.

    Another application of using the mind to help cure disease is the use of suggestion therapy. At first, the doctor helps the patient to concentrate deeply. The patient thinks only about one thing. He becomes so unaware of other things around him that he is asleep, or rather in a trance(催眠状态). Then the physician makes "a suggestion" to the patient about the medical problem. The patient's mind responds to the suggestion even after the patient is no longer in the trance. In this way, the patient uses his mind to help his body respond to treatment.

    Doctors have learned that this use of psychology is helpful for both adults and children. For example, physicians have used suggestion to help adults deal with the strong pain of some disease. Furthermore, such treatment may help the patient with a chronic diseases. Suggestion has been used to change children's habits like nail­biting, thumb­sucking, and sleep­related problems.

    Many professional medical groups have accepted the medical use of psychology and that psychology has important applications in medicine.

    It's one of the most common questions adults ask children: what do you want to be when you grow up? Although childhood is supposed to be fun, kids also discuss important topics regarding their futures. Now, a new study finds that children who set big goals regarding their future status and education often set themselves up for success as they age. 

    The findings, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, are the first to reveal a connection between life goal development and future success in school or the workplace. Rodica Damian, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Houston, and other researchers discovered that as children grow up, their goals naturally begin to change. However, as some childhood goals fall away, other goals related to a family stay strong. These include being close to relatives, building more friendships or finding a romantic partner, and even becoming more involved in your community or helping others. 

    During the study, researchers compared how their goals evolved as children moved from adolescence to adulthood and how a person's goals impacted their success in school and as an employee later on. Overall, a child's goals focusing on their education and future status were the most consistent predictors (预测因素) of income in adulthood. Simply put, when a child dreams big about doing well in school or achieving great success as an adult, these goals accurately paint a picture of how successful these children will be. So, the message is simple: dream big and dream of success, kids! Those goals can drive you to success when you grow up! 

    "Our work proves a strong connect ion between a child's life goals, educational achievement, and future occupational outcomes. This information is valuable for parents and educators who can use it to encourage children to set ambitious goals. Additionally, it helps develop strategies to support individuals in achieving their goals and reaching their full potential," Damian concludes.