A new study finds that young females in one group of African chimps(黑猩猩) use sticks as dolls more than their male peers (同龄) do, often treating pieces of wood like a mother chimp caring for a baby. In human cultures around the world, girls play with dolls and pretend that the toys are babies far more than boys do.

    Chimp observations, collected over 14 years of field work with the Kanyawara chimp community in Kibale National Park in Ugandan, provide the first evidence of a nonhuman animal in the wild that exhibits sex differences in how it plays. This finding supports an argument that biology as well as society underlies boys' and girls' different toy preferences.

    Stick play occurred most commonly between ages 3 and 9. Females spent a lot more time carrying sticks than males did. Young male chimps occasionally used sticks to mimic(模仿) childcare. "Far more often, they fought with sticks, an infrequent behavior among females," say Sonya Kahlenberg of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, and Richard Wrangham of Harvard University.

    "Biological differences between the sexes make female chimps more receptive to stick-mothering than males," says Wrangham.

    Consistent with reported cultural traditions among adult chimps, Kanyawara youngsters learned from each other to play with sticks as if caring for babies. Stick play among young chimps showed no evidence of being directly influenced by older chimps. Child-bearing females never played with sticks and thus didn't model such behavior for younger chimps.

    Young females carried sticks for anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. They often rested in nests with their sticks, sometimes playing with them much as chimp mothers play with their babies though they didn't get any form of teaching from the adults.

    Welcome to our third newsletter of the year!

    Our major activity for March is our Walk for the Woods fundraising event on Saturday, 17^th March, starting any time between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. We will be walking the distance between Warley Woods and Tipperary. It is indeed a long way—80 miles. The more people that you can get to sponsor you, the more money we can raise to help look after our beautiful woodland. More information is available on our website.

    The Sunday volunteers planted two beeches and an oak last week. This was thanks to the money from the Big Tree Plant and to Lisa and Gordon Whitaker, whose friends gave money for the big trees instead of for their wedding presents. Thanks to everyone who took part.

    There were 15 volunteers at the Oral History Training Day which was led very ably by Julia Letts. The group will be meeting again and will start to interview the local people who have offered to tell their stories. We are happy to hear from others who would like to be interviewed about their memories of the Woods for the project. If you or anyone you know is interested, please call Viv Cole at the office. This project is financed by Heritage Lottery Fund.

    There was a huge response to the Forest Schools activities held at half term. These will be held again during the Easter holidays on the following dates: 4^th April from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for over 8s. On 12^th April from 10 a. m. to 12 noon, there will be a Teddy Bears' Picnic for the under 8s. All these must be booked in advance.

    Finally, don't forget the Easter Egg Roll on Bank Holiday, 9^th April, starting at 11 a.m. Bring your own hard-boiled and decorated egg to roll down the hill in the woods. The first past the finishing line will win a large chocolate egg! This year, due to popular demand, there will also be an Adults' Easter Egg Roll following the children's competition.

    We look forward to seeing you all soon, at one of our many events!

    The sky is large place, and though it has been carefully examined for centuries, new features still turn up. Last March it was the rule of Uranus (天王星), and last week astronomers announced what may turn out to be a new planet, though a very small one, in the solar system.

    The object was first sighted last month by Charles Kowal, an astronomer at the Hale Observatories in Pasadena, Calif. Mr. Kowal observed a faint trail of light on photographic plates, indicating that something was moving in relation to the background of stars. Other observers have confirmed the discovery.

    The “mini-planet”, identified for the time being as “Object-Kowal”, appears to be about 1.5 billion miles away, between the orbit of Saturn and Uranus, and its diameter (直径) has been estimated at between 100 and 400 miles. Its orbit has not been determined yet, but if the orbit proves to be roughly circular, like that of the major planets, the new object would probably take 66 to 70 years to make a circuit of the sun.

    Some astronomers have speculated that Mr. Kowal's discovery may be the first indication of an asteroid (小行星) belt beyond Saturn.

    Have you grasped the information taught by your teacher in class? Have you understood what you saw on the screen? Maybe everyone has their own learning style.

    Generally speaking, we gather information with our minds and bodies in different ways, such as seeing, hearing and doing. Then our brains deals with that information, organizing it and connecting it to things we are already aware .In other words, our brains will deal with the information in different ways. Sometimes we think in pictures or words. Sometimes we remember details or the big pictures.

    For different people, their learning styles are different too. One person may find it hard to make out the information in written forms but easy to know it immediately in an oral description. However, another person might find difficulties with the picture but the written message.

    Now scientists say there exist seven basic learning styles.

    Linguistic: These people learn through listening, reading, speaking and writing.

    Logical: These people learn with formula (公式) and principles (原理).

    Visual: These people learn by seeing what they are studying.

    Musical: These people learn well when information is presented through music.

    Kinesthetic: These people learn from movement and physical activities.

    Intrapersonal: These people learn best by linking new information directly with their own experiences.

    Interpersonal: These people learn well by working with others.

    Therefore, if you know what learning style is your strength, you can balance your weakness, and get a more successful learning experience.

    To make sure that you enjoy your visit to the Hamper Hot Springs(泉) and that you are safe during your visit, please take time to read the following:

    Do not place your head under the hot water, because it may be bad for your health.

    Do not run around because the floors may be slippery.

    Do not leave your children alone.

    Do not leave your things about. Just ask one of our workers look after your things.

    Do not eat or drink anything in the area because we want to keep here clean. There is a place for you to eat and have soft drinks when you want to have a rest.

    Do not bring into the area anything made of glass, because it maybe easily broken when you fall.

    Do not bring any hard drinks into the area.

    Do not smoke in the area.

    Do not stay in the sunlight for too long.

    We hope that you will enjoy your visit here.

    Angus, Doris, Gabriel and Kamil are some of the 21 names that have been chosen to be given to storms in the UK in the 2016/17 season.

    The Met Office, the UK's national weather service, decided to give storms boys' and girls' names in 2015 in the same way as they did in America.

    The Met Office hopes that naming big storms will mean people are more aware (意识到) of them and how dangerous they can be. Derrick Ryall, from the Met Office, said, "We have seen how naming storms elsewhere in the world raises people's awareness of storms before they break."

    In the past, the same UK storm could be given different names by different organisations. "We noticed that many organisations during the last couple of winters, when we have had bad storms, started giving names to them. Think back to the St Jude's Day storm in 2013, and the so­called Hurricane Bawbag in Scotland in 2011. But it led to confusion (混乱)," a Met Office spokeswoman said.

    According to the Met Office, there is a name for each letter of the whole alphabet (字母表), except for Q, U, X, Y and Z. That is the same as the naming tradition used in America. And not all storms will be big enough to get names — only those expected to cause great damage.

    If there are more than 21 storms in a year, the Met Office will start again with another name beginning with "A". However, according to Met Office spokeswoman Lindsay Mears, "It's unlikely we would get through the whole alphabet in one season. We had 14 storms in the very bad winter of 2013/14, and if the naming system had been in operation then we wouldn't have used the whole alphabet."