Old age may not sound exciting.But recent findings offer good news for older people and for people worried about getting older.Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of fifty.In fact，they say by the age of eighty­five，people are happier with their life than they were when they were eighteen years old.

    The findings came from a survey of more than three hundred forty thousand adults in the United States.The Gallup Organization questioned them by telephone in 2008.At that time，the people were between the ages of eighteen and eighty­five.The researchers asked questions about emotions like happiness，sadness and worry.They also asked about mental or emotional stress.

    Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study.His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty­two and twenty­five.The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties.

    The study also showed that men and women have similar feeling patterns as they grow older.However，women at all ages reported more sadness，stress and worry than men.

    Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older.One theory is that，as people grow older，they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their feelings.They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.

    Professor Stone says the emotional patterns could be linked to changes in how people see the world，or maybe even changes in brain chemistry.

    The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children，being unemployed or being single.But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well­being related to age.

    The latest study by the University of Florida has found that eating from smaller, less beautiful, and even paper plates will help prevent overeating. Eating with a fork instead of a spoon can help you lose weight, the researchers say. Much to their surprise, they find that putting mirrors in the dining room will also help reduce weight.

    The researchers asked 185 college students to choose a chocolate cake or a fruit salad, and evaluated the taste. Those who ate in a room with a mirror scored the taste of junk food much lower than those in a room without a mirror. But the taste of fruit salad remained the same in any case.

    Lead scientist, Dr. Ata Jami, says that a glance in the mirror tells people more than just about their physical appearance. It enables them to view themselves objectively (客观地) and helps them to judge themselves and their behavior in the same way that they judge other people.

    The mirrors were found to push people to compare and match their own behavior with accepted social standards. The researchers believe it proves that people don't want to look in the mirror when they feel they are following the social standards. When they look in the mirror with mouths full of junk food, feelings of discomfort and failure can be increased. Therefore, the presence of the mirror lowers the taste of unhealthy food.

    However, researchers say this is only the case if people select the food they are eating, because they are responsible for that choice. The researchers suggest that mirrors be placed in dining rooms and other eating spaces, so that people will start eating more healthily.

    TRINOLONE ORAL PASTE

    COMPOSITION:                Each gram contains 1 mg Triamcinolone Acetonide.

    INDICATIONS:                 Trinolone oral paste provides curative, suppressant or arneliorative action in acute and chronic lesions of the oral mucosa.

    ADVERSE EFFECTS:        Intolerance to the preparation is rare. When used as recommended, systemic effects are very unlikely. However, if any unusual symptoms such as weakness or dizziness should occur, they should be called to the attention of the patient's physician.

    CONTRAINDICATIONS:         Because it contains a corticosteroid, the preparation is contraindicated in the presence of fungal or bacterial infections of the mouth or throat. Corticosteroids given in high dosage during pregnancy may affect adrenal development in the child.

    DOSAGE:                  Apply a small dab to coat the lesion with a thin film. Do not rub in. It should be applied at bedtime to permit steroid contact with the lesion throughout the night. Depending on the severity of symptoms, it may be necessary to apply the preparation 2 or 3 times a day, preferably after meals. If significant repair or regeneration has not occurred in 7 days consult the doctor.

    INCOMPATIBILITIES:           There is no known incompatibilities to the use of Trinolone oral paste.

    DRUG INTERACTIONS:         There is no known drug interactions to the use of Trinolone oral paste.

    STORAGE:                 Store in well closed containers, at room temperature. Protect from light.

    MANUFACTURED BY:          NIDA PHARMA INCORPORATION CO. LTD. Wang Noi, Ayutthaya, Thailand.

    Researchers are trying to figure out exactly when and where a lizard got trapped in the sap(汁、液) of a tree. Over time, the tree sap turned into amber (琥珀), preserving the lizard's mains, which a man discovered and donated to the Miller Museum of geology at Queen's University. But the man didn't report the amber's age and where he got it.

    “The man who donated it died, unfortunately,” said Ellen Handyside, an undergraduate student at Queen's University. “We are really starting from scratch in determining its history Ellen Handyside is leading the research into the amber-surrounded lizard. She and her colleagues analyzed the chemical composition of the 4.7-inch -long piece of amber and learned some facts. “The amber wasn't actually artificial,” she told Live Science, “and we found that it did match up quite well to an amber sample.”

    The researchers analyzed the amber's carbon and hydrogen isotopes(同位素) and the results indicated that the amber was formed from the sap of a flowering tree. Moreover, the results suggested that the tree and the lizard, for that matter, lived in an area with a lot of rainfall and dated to the Neogene, a period that lasted from the end of the Paleogene Period 23.03 million years ago to the beginning of the present Quatemary Period. Next, the scientific team realized that the 2.7-inch-long lizard was likely a gecko(壁虎), according to a detailed, 3D, digital model of the animal's body that the researchers created through X-ray microscopy scans.

“We looked at the skull —the teeth are in place and the ear bones are there too. And we've even got some flesh, skin and its long toes,” Handyside said. “It's fantastic!” She said she hoped that they could figure out how the creature fit into the gecko family tree. “When you think of a gecko, you think of short and fat toes and sticky pads. That isn't what we're looking at, but it's more likely to live in trees. If it were a tree-living creature, then its death actually could make more sense,” Handyside said.

    Everyone knows that if a dog's ears are up and its tail is wagging vigorously, it is definitely pleased to see you, but now scientists using a robot have found that the way dogs use their tails is more complicated than we thought, and that dogs which wag them to the left may he more friendly. The animal psychologists discovered that when real dogs approached a life-sized robot dog, they were less cautious about it when it was wagging its tail to the left, while if it was wagging its tail to the right, far fewer dogs approached it in a confident manner.

    In the first experiments, 56 percent of the animals approached the model without hesitation when the tail was wagged to the left, while only 21 percent did so in the other situation. When the researchers excluded (排除) owners from being present, the result were: 31 percent of the dogs approached continuously when the tail was wagging to the left, while only 18 percent did so when it was on the right.

    Animal psychologist Roger Mugford said it added to the growing evidence that does were even more complicated communicators than the animals more closely related to man such as monkeys. He said, "We know that dogs, in a sense, have languages, but it is more complicated because it is not just them wagging their tails, but also giving out chemical displays."

    He adds, "The research confirms earlier studies suggesting that dogs, like humans, had a left-side preference. If you are going to present a signal to a dog, it is sensible to put it on your left-hand side because that is where dogs, unlike most other animals, tend to look. It is another example of the similarity between dogs and humans. They are a lot more human than we give them credit for."

Must-see in Guangxi

A Hotel in Nature

Chaoranpai International Hotel is only 2 kilometers away from the Lijiang River Source Grand Canyon. By taking both the ecological design and standards of 5-star hotels into account, this hotel has integrated modern services with nature, especially bamboo. The hotel also offers entertainments such as go-carting, cosplay of counter strike (反恐精英), and Chinese-style tea houses. Besides, the mountain itself is like a natural oxygen bar. 

Hemlock Spruce—a Living Fossil from the Ice Age

Hemlock spruces (铁杉树) are found at altitudes (海拔) between 1, 600 and 1, 800 meters, with one area recognized as China's only hemlock spruce forest, having as many as 130 of them. Hemlock spruce, along with dawn redwood and ginkgo (银杏), is "a living fossil". Immune (免疫) to all cold-weather risks, it stays green throughout the year. 

A Heaven of Animals and Plants

Mao'er Mountain is rich in rare animals and plants. Inhabited (栖息) by 2, 484 species of plants and 345 species of vertebrates, this place can serve as a natural gene bank. And surprisingly, a rare alpine wetland featuring evergreen broad-leaved trees has found a way of surviving in the dwarf forest at a high altitude. 

The "Millennium Kiss" Wonder

It's a miracle that two trees have existed together and grown for around a thousand years. It's even more breathtaking to see the two trees gradually getting close to each other and having a little "kiss". What a lovely sight it is in the natural beauty of Mao'er Mountain!