Music for Humans and Humpback Whales   

    As researchers conclude in Science, the love of music is not only a universal feature of the human species, but is also deeply fixed in complex structures of the human brain, and is far more ancientthan previously suspected.

    In the articles that discuss the field of bio-musicology, the study of the biological basis for the creation and appreciation of music, researchers present various evidence to show that music-making is at once an original human "business", and an art form with skillful performers throughout the animal kingdom.

    The new reports stress that humans hold no copy right on sound wisdom, and that a number of nonhuman animals produce what can rightly be called music, rather than random sound. Recentin-depth analyses of the songs sung by humpback whales show that, even when their organ would allow them to do otherwise, the animals converge on the same choices relating to sounds and beauty, and accept the same laws ofsong composition as those preferred by human musicians, and human ears, everywhere.

    For example, male humpback whales, who spend six months of each year doing little else but singing, use rhythms (节奏) similar to those found in human music and musical phrases of similar length—a few seconds. Whales areable to make sounds over a range of at least seven octaves (八度音阶), yet they tend to move on through a song in beautiful musical intervals, rather than moving forwards madly. They mix thesounds like drums and pure tones in a ratio (比例) which agrees with that heard in much western music. They also usea favorite technique of human singers, the so-called A-B-A form, in which a theme is stated, then developed, and then returned to in slightly revised form.

    Perhaps most impressive, humpback songs contain tunes that rhyme. "This suggests that whales use rhyme in the same way we do: as a technique in poem tohelp them remember complex material," the researchers write.

    According to a team of researchers, an animal's ability to perceive(感知) time is linked to their pace of life.

    “Our results lend support to the importance of time perception in animals where the ability to perceive time in a very short time may be the difference between life and death for fast moving creatures.” commented lead author Kevin Healy from Trinity College Dublin.

    The study was done with a variety of animals using phenomenon based on the maximum speed of flashes of light an individual can see before the light source is seen as constant. Dogs, for example, have eyes with a refresh rate higher than humans.

    One example of this phenomenon at work, the authors say, is the housefly and its ability to avoid being hit. The research showed flies “observe motion in a shorter time than our own eyes can achieve,” which allows them to avoid being hit.

    Professor Graeme Ruxton of the University of St Andrews in Scotland, who worked jointly on the research project, said in a statement, “Having eyes that send updates to the brain at much higher frequencies than our eyes do is of no Value if the brain cannot process that information equally quickly. Thus, this work highlights the impressive abilities of even the smallest animal brains. Flies might now be deep thinkers, but they can make good decisions very quickly.”

    In comparison, the tiger beetle (虎甲虫) runs faster than its eyes can keep up, basically becoming blind, which requires it to stop periodically to re-evaluate its prey's(猎物) position.

    Our results suggest that time perception offers an as yet unstudied dimension along which animals can specialize and there is considerable range to study this system in more detail.

    Rainforests, it turns out, are not created equal. Take the Amazon rainforest, an area that covers about 7 million square kilometers. But within that huge expanse are all kinds of ecological zones, and some of these zones, says Greg Asner, are a lot more crowded than others.

    “Some forests have many species of trees,” he said, “others have few. Many forests are unique from others in terms of their overall species composition…” And all of these different small areas of forest exist within the giant space that is the Amazon Rainforest.

    So Asner, using the signature technique called airborne laser-guided imaging spectroscopy, began to map these different zones from the air. “By mapping the traits of tropical forests from above,” he explains, “we are, for the first time, able to understand how forest composition varies geographically.”

    The results show up in multicolored maps, with each color representing different kinds of species, different kinds of trees, the different kinds of chemical they are producing and using, and even the amount of biodiversity, the animal and plant species that live within each zone.

    Armed with this information, Asner says decision-makers now have “a first-time way to decide whether any given forest geography is protected well enough or not. If not, then new protections can be put in place to save a given forest from destruction.”

    Asner says the information is a great way for decision-makers to develop a “cost-benefit ratio type analysis.”  Conservation efforts can be expensive, so armed with this information, government leaders can ensure they are making the most of their conservation dollars by focusing on areas that are the most biologically diverse or unique.

    The next step, Asner says, is to take his project global, and to put his eyes even higher in the sky, on orbital satellites. “The technique we developed and applied to map Peru is ready to go global.” Asner said. “We want to put the required instrumentation on an Earth-orbiting satellite, to map the planet every month, which will give the best possible view of how the world's biodiversity is changing, and where to put much needed protections.

    It is a cold and dry winter morning. When you wake up, you feel that your throat hurts. You begin to sneeze and later you may cough. You must have a cold! Wait a moment. Could it just be a common cold or the flu that's been going around?

    A cold gives you a runny nose and cough. But it's usually easy to deal with. Some take medicine while others drink herbal tea or chicken soup. Usually you feel better after a week.

    On the other hand, the flu can be much more dangerous. It usually gives you fever.

    Sometimes it can cause death. According to an American magazine, the worst flu killed about 50 million people from 1918 to 1919.

    Don't worry. If you get a flu vaccine（疫苗）, it can stop you from getting the virus. Flu vaccines work by giving the body a small amount of flu viruses. This causes your body to develop antibodies. So next time you get the flu, the antibodies should help you.

    The flu virus changes every few years. Therefore, there are so many types of flu, such as H1N1 and H5N1. The antibodies for one type of flu can't help us against all types of flu. That's why we need to get vaccine every year.

    However, good health habits may also help stop you developing a cold or flu. Washing your hands often helps stop you from getting viruses. It is also important to get regular exercise and eat healthy food. All these can help you strengthen your immune system.

    Staying up late is a potential battle between parents and kids. But the solution could be as simple as changing your meal time.

    Researchers at the University of Surrey, UK, found that delaying (延迟) meals could help change one of the internal (内部的) body clocks. Besides a “master” clock in the brain, there are clocks in other parts of the body. They are usually synchronized (同步的) according to factors including light.

    During the study, researchers tested 10 participants to study the effect of changing meal times on their body clocks. The participants were given three meals – breakfast, lunch and dinner. In the first stage, participants received breakfast 30 minutes after waking. Lunch and dinner followed, after 5-hour intervals (间隔). In the second stage, each meal was delayed by 5 hours. Right after each stage, blood and fat samples (样本) were collected.

    Results showed that later meal times greatly influenced blood sugar levels. A 5-hour delay in meal times caused a 5-hour delay in the internal blood sugar rhythms (规律性变化).

    The discovery showed that meal times are in line with (与……一致) the body clock that controls blood sugar levels.

    This is a small study but the researchers believed the findings could help jet lag (飞行时差反应) sufferers and night-shift (夜班的) workers.

    In a study by the University of Surrey in 2013, researchers explored what happened when a person's body was changed from a normal pattern to that of a night-shift worker's.

    After people work through the night, over 97 percent of the body's rhythmic genes are disrupted (扰乱).

    These findings explain why we feel so bad following a long flight, or after working at night, according to Simon Archer, one of the study's researchers.

    “It's like living in a house. There's a clock in every room in the house and in all of those rooms those clocks are now disrupted, which of course leads to chaos (混乱) in the household,” fellow researcher Derk-Jan Dijk told the BBC.

    Changing meal times didn't affect the “master” body clock – the one controlling when we get sleepy – but it can reset the body clock that controls blood sugar levels.

    This wouldn't necessarily cure jet lag completely, but it might reduce the negative effects.

    A study published earlier this year suggested that just a weekend camping trip could be enough to reset our body clocks. And now this latest research shows regular food schedules could play a key part too.

    One of the most important aspects of an image is color. People are very sensitive to color, and different colors have different on people.

    In general, red is an exciting color, which creates an image of action, energy danger. Red is also the most frequently used color in flags. Eighty percent of the world's flags contain red. A study in Germany showed that football teams wearing red are more successful. Blue is a very calm color. Business executives usually wear dark blue suits. Blue is also a peaceful color. The flag of the United Nations is light blue. Yellow is associated with openness and freedom. Green is a very relaxing color. Surgeons nowadays wear green, because it's less tiring than white. Black creates an image of power and authority. It can also be a very threatening color. Gangsters and vampires often wear black, white is a pure and strong color. This is one reason why doctors wear white coats. We trust them more. Grey is a very anonymouscolor. People wearing grey don't want other people to notice them. Brown is the opposite of black. It's warm and friendly, while black is threatening