While residents of wealthy nations tend to have greater life satisfaction, new research shows that those living in poorer nations report having greater meaning in life.

    These findings, published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological science, suggest that meaning in life may be higher in poorer nations as a result of greater religiosity (笃信宗教). As countries become richer, religion becomes less central to people's lives and they lose a sense of meaning in life.

    “Thus far, the wealth of nations has been almost always associated with longevity, health, happiness or life satisfaction,” explains psychological scientist Shigehiro Oishi of the University of Virginia. “Given that meaning in life is an important aspect of overall well-being, we wanted to look more carefully at differential patterns, correlates (相关物), and predictors for meaning in life.”

    Oishi and colleague Ed Diener of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign investigated life satisfaction, meaning, and well-being by examining data from the 2007 Gallup World Poll, a large-scale survey of over 140,000 participants from 132 countries. In addition to answering a basic life satisfaction question, participants were asked: “Do you feel your life has an important purpose or meaning?” and “Is religion an important part of your daily life?”

    The data revealed some unexpected trends: “Among Americans, those who are high in life satisfaction are also high in meaning in life,” says Oishi. “But when we looked at the societal level of analysis, we found a completely different pattern of the association between meaning in life and life satisfaction.”

    When looking across many countries, Oishi and Diener found that people in wealthier nations were more educated, had fewer children, and expressed more individualistic attitudes compared to those in poorer countries — all factors that were associated with higher life satisfaction but a significantly lower sense of meaning in life.”

    The data suggest that religiosity may play an important role: Residents of wealthier nations, where religiosity is lower, reported less meaning in life and had higher suicide rates than poorer countries.

    According to the researchers, religion may provide meaning to life to the extent that it helps people to overcome personal difficulty and cope with the struggles of working to survive in poor economic conditions:

    “Religion gives a system that connects daily experiences with the coherent whole (连贯的整体) and a general structure to one's life … and plays a critical role in constructing meaning out of extreme hardship,” the researchers write.

    Oishi and Diener hope to reproduce these findings using more comprehensive measures of meaning and religiosity, and are interested in following countries over time to track whether economic prosperity gives rise to less religiosity and less meaning in life.

    Sydney Trains is one of the most economical, reliable and convenient ways to travel throughout Sydney and its surrounds.

    Our network, the NSW Trains Intercity, covers suburban Sydney and extends to the Hunter, Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Southern Highlands and South Coast regions.

    The network is made up of several colour-coded lines. Trains from different lines can share the same platform, so check display screen and listen to announcements.

    Ticket prices are generally based on the distance traveled. You can visit Transportnsw.Info for details.

    Getting to the City

    In Sydney, if you're near a train station, you're on your way to the city. Every rail line leads directly or indirectly to the City Circle. It's the loop around the central business district of Sydney. Most City stations are underground so look out for the sign on street level.

    Automatic ticket gates

    Large stations have automatic gates for entry to, and exit from, the station. If you have an Opal card or a ticket which has a magnetic stripe (磁条) you must use the automatic gates. You may use the wide gate for wheelchair, pram or luggage access. Station staff will assist you.

    Night Ride buses

    Most trains do not operate between midnight and 4:00 a.m. For your convenience a special Night Ride bus service is available between these hours on most Sydney suburban lines.

    Track work

    In order for the tracks to the maintained, we sometimes have to replace train with buses, particularly at weekends. Please check the track work section for the latest service changes on your line.

    While there are a few ways to make use of your old smartphone, one of the better ways is to convert into a dash cam (行车记录仪) that you can use on your bicycle. With the camera, you can record your rides, which is especially helpful if you are involved in a crash with another vehicle.

    To use your smartphone as a dash cam on your bike, you will need to make sure it is properly secured to your bike. To do this correctly, you must take two strips of heavy-duty Velcro (a kind of cloth used as fastening) along with two pipe Clamps (管夹) and a flat corner brace (角撑) to properly attach it. You will start by attaching the comer brace to your smartphone.

    Next, attach a Velcro strip to your phoned back. You will put the second strip on the end of the brace comer and cut any extra Velcro off and away from the brace. By using heavy-duty Velcro, you shouldn't have to worry about the camera brace must be attached to the bicycle directly.

    Take two pipe clamps so you can attach the part of the corner brace so the phone can be held up and used. The pipe    clamps must be positioned near the center of the handlebar, which will enable you to get a better picture when videotaping.

    To run a dash cam app on your old phone, you will just need to download a dash cam app onto the old phone. You will then just start the app at any time you head out on the road. There is always the chance of flaws, but you will be giving yourself a way to protect yourself in a friendly, eco-friendly manner that is much less expensive than purchasing a dash cam.

    Music icon Bob Dylan will not attend the Nobel ceremony in December because he has other commitments(承诺), the Swedish Academy said on Wednesday.

    “The Swedish Academy received a personal letter from Bob Dylan yesterday where he explained that he could not make himself available in December …,” it said in a statement.

    “He wishes that he could accept the award personally, but other commitments make it unfortunately impossible. He said that he felt very honored by the Nobel Prize,” it added. The Swedish Academy said it respected Dylan's decision, but that it was “unusual” for a Nobel laureate(获得者) not to come to Stockholm to accept the award in person. Nobel laureates are honored every year on December 10 ─ the death anniversary of the prize's founder Alfred Nobel, a Swedish industrialist，inventor and philanthropist.

Several other literature prize winners have skipped the Nobel ceremony in the past for various reasons —- British writer Doris Lessing because of ill health, British playwright Harold Pinter because he was under treatment in the hospital and Austrian p laywright and novelist Elfriede Jelinek due to social phobia(社交恐惧症).

“We look forward to Bob Dylan's Nobel lecture, which he must carry out — it is the only requirement — within six months starting from December 10,2016,” the academy said.

    It seems that in many places storms visit more often. When a storm is coming, most people leave the area as quickly as possible and head for safety. But there are a few people who will get into their cars and go straight for the center of the storm. These people are willing to risk being killed by floods or 100-kilometer-an-hour winds for the excitement of watching the storm close up.

    "Storm chasing" is becoming an increasingly popular hobby, especially in the Midwest of the United States, where there are frequent storms between March and July. A storm chaser begins the day by checking the Internet for the latest weather reports, and then drives up to 1,000 kilometers to where the storm will be and waits for it to develop.

    Although anyone can do it, storm chasing is extremely dangerous. The power of a big storm can throw a cow into the air or destroy a whole house in seconds. Storm chasers are also often hurt in accidents caused by driving in a heavy rain. If you are a beginner, it is much safer to join a group for storm-chasing vacations during the storm season.

    Even then, storm chasing is not all adventure and excitement. "Storm chasing is 95% driving," says Daniel Lynch, who spends most of his summer storm-chasing. "Sometimes you can sit around for hours waiting for something to happen, and all you get is blue sky and a few light showers."

    However, for storm chasers, it is all worth it. "When you get close to a storm, it is the most exciting sight you will ever see in your life," says Jasper Morley. "Every storm is an example of the power of nature. It is the greatest show on Earth."

    Dutch officials toasted on Tuesday the opening of what is being called the world's first 3D-printed concrete bridge, which is meant to be used by cyclists. There was applause as officials wearing hard hats and workmen's jackets rode over the bridge on their bikes at the opening ceremony in the southeastern town of Gemert.

    "The bridge is not very big, but it was rolled out by a printer which makes it unique," Theo Salet, from the Eindhoven University of Technology, told Dutch broadcaster NOS. Work on printing the bridge, which has some 800 layers, took about three months after starting in June and it is made of pre-stressed concrete, according to the university. "One of the advantages of printing a bridge is that much less concrete is needed than in the conventional technique in which a mould (泥浆) is filled," it said on its website, adding "a printer deposits the concrete only where it is needed."

    The eight-metre (26-foot) bridge crosses a water-filled channel to connect two roads, and it was tested for safety to bear loads of up to two metric tons in cooperation with the BAM Infra Construction company. Although designed for bikes, it could take up to 40 trucks, the designers said "We are looking to the future," said the head of BAM, Marinus Schimmel. "3D printing meant fewer rare resources were needed and there was significantly less waste," he added.

    The Netherlands is among countries, with the United States and China, taking a lead in the cutting-edge technology of 3D printing, using computers and robotics to construct objects and structures from scratch without using much traditional manpower. Last year a Dutch architect unveiled (提示) a unique 3D printer with which he hopes to construct an "endless loop" building. And a Dutch start-up called MX3D has begun printing a stainless-steel bridge, of which a third is already completed. The aim is to finish printing by March and lay the bridge over an Amsterdam canal in the future.