For grown-ups, an afternoon snooze(打盹) is often easier said than done. But many of us have probably experienced just how simple it can be to catch some sleep in a gently rocking hammock(吊床). By examining brain waves in sleeping adults, researchers reported in the June 21 issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, that they now have evidence to explain why that is.

    “It is a common belief that rocking causes sleep: we fall asleep in a rocking chair soon and, since ancient times, we cradle our babies to sleep,” said Sophie Schwartz of the University of Geneva. “Yet, how this works had remained a mystery. The goal of our study was made up of two parts: to test whether rocking does indeed improve sleep, and to understand how this might work at the brain level.”

    Schwartz, Michel Mühlethaler, and their colleagues Laurence Bayer and Irina Constantinescu asked twelve adult volunteers to nap on a custom-made bed or “experimental hammock” that could either remain still or rock gently. All participants were good sleepers who didn't typically nap and did not suffer from excessive sleepiness during the day. Each participant took two 45-minute afternoon naps, one with the bed still and one with the bed in motion, while their brain activity was monitored.

    “We observed a faster transition to sleep in each and every subject in the swinging condition,” Mühlethaler said. “Surprisingly, we also observed a dramatic boosting of certain types of sleep-related brain waves.”

    More specifically, rocking increased the length of stage N2 sleep, a form of non-rapid eye movement sleep that normally occupies about half of a good night's sleep. The rocking bed also had a lasting effect on brain activity, increasing slow brain waves and bursts of activity known as sleep spindles(纺锤体).

    Schwartz and Mühlethaler say the next step is to find out whether rocking can improve longer periods of sleep and to find out whether it may be useful for the treatment of sleep disorders, such as insomnia(失眠).

    Home gardening is an enjoyable family activity. It brings many benefits to your body's health, your wallet and the environment. There is the fun of growing whatever pleases you all year round. And you can get the freshest and safest vegetables.

    However, being a home gardener in modern society is tricky. As you have too much to do every day and have no time to take good care of them, all your plants may die. Luckily, there are many gardening apps that are helpful in teaching the art of growing a wonderful garden.

    One of them is Gardenia. It can provide a great deal of information for crazy gradeners who want to increase their gardening skills and continue growing fresh produce. If you've got a smart phone with this app, everything becomes a lot easier, whether you are a beginner or an expert in home gardening.

    Gardenia is designed to teach you the best gardening tips, and it can predict how fast the plants much have grown and what needs to be done. It is light with a beautiful interface (界面), user - friendly and easy to use. Anyway, Gardenia is a perfect planting organizer for you to use and plan your green tasks. It was developed by an experienced home gardener.

    The best thing about this app is its over 90,000 different plants library for you to choose and the right way of planting each of them. More importantly, it helps everyone recognize a plant that grows well in their local area. So it's always something you deserve to enjoy! Do use it on your phone if you're really interested in gardening.

    Emily and Zach are confused! Their parents told them they could choose between Massachusetts and Arizona for their vacation this summer.

    Emily has always wanted to visit Boston, the capital of Massachusetts. Zach and she both agree that walking along the Freedom Trail would enable them to see Boston's most famous places of historic interest, like the site of the school Ben Franklin attended and the Old State House. If Emily and Zach went to Massachusetts, they could spend a few days at the beaches on Cape Cod. Emily loves body boarding, and Zach is great at body surfing. They both enjoy building sandcastles .

    Zach finds learning about Native Americans wonderful and has always wanted to travel along the Apache Trail in Arizona. This mountain highway passes Native American ruins in Tonto National Forest. Emily is not as interested in traveling along this trail as Zach, but they both would like to visit Phoenix, the capital, and then travel to Grand Canyon National Park and Meteor Crater (陨石坑). Zach learned in science class that Meteor Crater is a hole over 4,000 feet wide and 520 feet deep that was created when a huge object from space fell to Earth. The object went so deep that it has never been found. Zach would really like to try to discover it. But Emily thinks if experienced scientists and researchers cannot find it, Zach might as well not even bother (费工夫) to try.

    The only drawback for Zach and Emily if they choose Arizona would be the heat. It is very hot and dry in this southwestern state. Massachusetts, on the other hand, is in the northeastern United States. Here Zach and Emily and their parents could enjoy mild (温和的) temperatures. Their parents love hot weather, but Zach and Emily do not really like to sweat.

    How will they ever decide to which state they should travel? If only they could take two trips!

    When many people are worried that there are no more heroes in the modern times, two university students who lost their lives to rescue drowning children have shown that heroes still exist (存在).

    According to the Inner Mongolia Morning Post. the tragedy (悲剧) occurred on the afternoon .December 14,2002 when three school students skating on a frozen lake in Qingcheng Park in Hohhot fell through the ice into the freezing water. More than 20 university students who happened to be near the Spot immediately went to the rescue of the children. Two children were quickly rescued, but the third died. The child's body was not found for three hours. Two of the rescuers, Liu Ye and had Longbiao, also died of cold and exhaustion. The body of Hao who took the lead in jumping into the lake was not found until the next day. A student who was unwilling to tell his name said he and his Classmates from the local college were taking photos at the lake. When they heard the children's criestor help, they went to the ice hole hand in hand to rescue the children. But the ice kept breaking, causing most of them to fall into the icy water.

    Local residents held mourning ceremonies (祭莫仪式) at the lake. Eight of the students were seriously affected by the freezing water and were being kept in hospital for further observation, but their lives were no longer in danger.

    When the telephone rings late at night, most women guess it must be one of only four or five people calling. A sister? Maybe. An emergency? Possibly. A mother? Probably not at that time of night. Much more probably it is a close female friend calling to tell you that she has split up with her boyfriend again or perhaps simply that a good movie has just started on TV.

    At a time when families are spread far and wide and marriages often end in divorce, friendships are becoming more and more important. Erika, a 32-year-old lawyer, is strengthened by her ten-year friendship with her married friend Jane. “I was very sick one night, so I called Jane at about 3:00 a.m. to talk about it,” she says. “She was very supportive and even came over to take me to the doctor's the next morning.”

    As American TV shows like Friends, which follows the lives of a very close group of young friends, have become more popular, many of us are beginning to see the value of such friendships. TV shows like this tell us that our romantic relationships may not last, but we need to keep in touch with our close friends if we want to survive.

A TV show called Real Women is about the lives and relationships of five former school friends. In this show, family, husbands, and work are all less important than friendships. One of its actresses says the show reflects her own experience. “Friendship is about commitment. I don't see some of my friends for ages but when we get together, it is as if time hasn't passed.”

    This is true of Erika and Jane's friendship. With Erika's family 200 miles away, it is Jane who keeps a spare set of keys to Erika's apartment and waters her plants whenever she is away. “Having Jane around gives me a certain amount of freedom. It is not the kind of thing that you could ask anyone to do, but she knows I would do the same for her.” Erika feels that because she no longer sees her family every day, she now enjoys a closer relationship with her best friend. Jane, who may move to a different city soon, is worried about leaving such a support system of friends. “My friends have more to do with my life than my parents and, therefore, I don't have to spend a lot of time explaining things to them. Friends are more up to date with what is happening.”

    “How can we live longer?” many people wonder. Being sociable looks like a good way to add years to your life. Relationships with family, friends, neighbors, even pets, will all do the trick, but the biggest longevity (长寿) boost seems to come from marriage or an equal relationship. The effect was first noted in 1858 by William Farr, who wrote in 1858 by William Farr, who wrote that widows and widowers (鳏夫) were at a much higher risk of dying than their married peers. Studies since then suggest that marriage could add as much as seven years to a man's life and two to a woman's, The effect holds for all causes of death, whether illness, accident or self-harm.

    Even though the odds are stacked against you (the conditions are not favourable to you), marriage can more than compensate. Linda Waite of the University of Chicago has found that a married older man with heart disease can expect to live nearly four years longer than an unmarried man with a healthy heart. Likewise, a married man who smokes more than a pack a day is likely to live as long as a divorced man who doesn't smoke. There's a less pleasant side, however, as partners are more likely to become ill or die in the couple of years following their spouses; death, and caring for a spouse with mental disorder can leave you with some of the same severe problems. Even so, the odds favour marriage. In a 30-year study of more than 10,000 people, Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical School describes how all kinds of social networks have similar effects.

    So how does it work? The effects are complex, affected by socioeconomic factor, health-service provision, emotional support and other more physiological mechanisms (机制). For example, social contact can boost development of the brain and immune system, leading to better health and less chance of depression later in life. People in supportive relationships may handle stress better. Then there are the psychological benefits of a supportive partner.

    A life partner, children and good friends are all recommended if you aim to live to 100. The best social network is still being mapped out, but Christakis says: “People are interconnected so their health is interconnected.”