We were on the way from Hutchinson to Chicago for a short spring break. For many years I had wanted to take my family on the train. We all had been to Chicago four years ago, and the kids loved it. Chicago is one of my favorite cities, too, so the thought struck me again last fall to ride the train to Chicago. Of course, flying would have been faster. But I don't think flying is easier, especially these days, with all the security and waiting in lines at airports.

    Though we were tired in the middle of the night, the kids got on the train with the exhilaration of this adventure. “We're moving,” my son William shouted happily with big eyes as the train began to pull away from the Hutchinson station.

    I removed my shoes and lay down to try to finish my night's sleep. The sleeper car would have better enabled that, but the ordinary train seats were not too bad. An airline flight is a more miserable experience for me: not enough room, two hours of pain with my knees almost touching my chin, the hard seatback in front cracking my kneecaps (膝盖) with every move of the body planted in front of me. On the train I could almost outstretch all of my 6-foot-2-plus body in the generous legroom.

    The journey didn't feel at all as long as it was. We all found the train ride a joy. The car ride would have felt every minute of 13 hours. But on the train you are free to walk around, sit in the observation carriage for a while and enjoy the scenery out the windows, have a nice meal in the dining car, read a book, or play a board game.

    In short, the train is all about enjoying the trip, which isn't something I do so much when traveling by airline or by car, when the trip seems more of a mission (任务) to get there than an experience to enjoy along the way.

    Chicago offers much to do for a family. This time, getting there was half the fun.

    As Internet users become more dependent on the Internet to store information, are people remember less? If you know your computer will save information, why store it in your own personal memory, your brain? Experts are wondering if the Internet is changing what we remember and how.

    In a recent study, Professor Betsy Sparrow conducted some experiments. She and her research team wanted to know the Internet is changing memory. In the first experiment, they gave people 40 unimportant facts to type into a computer. The first group of people understood that the computer would save the information. The second group understood that the computer would not save it. Later, the second group remembered the information better. People in the first group knew they could find the information again, so they did not try to remember it.

    In another experiment, the researchers gave people facts to remember, and told them where to find the information an the Internet. The information was in a specific computer folder (文件夹). Surprisingly, people later remember the folder location (位置) better than the facts. When people use the Internet, they do not remember the information. Rather, they remember how to find it. This is called “transactive memory (交互记忆)”

According to Sparrow, we are not becoming people with poor memories as a result of the Internet. Instead, computer users are developing stronger transactive memories; that is, people are learning how to organize huge quantities of information so that they are able to access it at a later date. This doesn't mean we are becoming either more or less intelligent, but there is no doubt that the way we use memory is changing.

    A warm drink of milk before bed has long been the best choice for those wanting nights sleep. But now a study has found it really does help people nod off-if it is milked from a cow at night.

    Researchers have discovered that" night milk" contains more melatonin(褪黑激素) which has been proven to help people feel sleepy and reduce anxiety.

    The study, by researchers from Seoul, South Korea, involved mice being fed with dried milk powder made from cows milked both during the day and at night.

    Those given night milk, which contained 10 times the amount of melatonin, were less active and less anxious than those fed with the milk collected during daytime, according to the study published in The Journal of Medicinal Food.

    Night milk quickened the start of sleep and caused the mice to sleep longer.

    While the effect of cows milk harvested at different time has not been tested on humans up to now, taking melatonin drugs has been suggested to those who are struggling to fall asleep at night.

    Early studies have also showed that milk can be excellent for helping sleep because of containing Ca., which helps people to relax.

    Milk is also sugar-free and additive-free(不含添加物的) with experts advising skimmed (脱脂的) milk as the best choice before bed as it is the least fattening. The more fat you take in before bedtime, the greater burden you will put on your body at night.

    There are excellent reasons for anyone to seek out the optimistic. Optimists experience better health outcomes, live longer and are more satisfied with their relationships. Optimism enables people to hold on in the face of difficulty, while pessimism leaves them depressed and even expecting failure.

    I want that hopeful, optimistic outlook for my children. But many times we may feel pessimistic. The result of negativity makes me worry that my kids' future will be uncertain. Fortunately, research suggests ways to help our children grow up with an optimistic attitude and maintain a happier outlook ourselves.

    Humanity has improved by many measures, but that success has become the water in which we swim, and like fish, we take the water for granted. While we fail to notice the positive, our brains naturally emphasize on the negative. With practice, we can help our brains to give the good stuff equal weight. Dr. Hanson's advice: when you hear a great story or achieve something in your own life, deliberately rest your mind on that experience and stay with it. Sink into that feeling as it sinks into you. Describe what you're doing to your kids, and encourage them to dwell on their joys and pleasures as well.

    Following the "big scary" news can leave us feeling helpless. Find something in your area that makes you feel hopeful, and make it a part of your family life. Researchers found that when people with a pessimistic outlook use positive language to describe situations they find upsetting, their feelings about the situation become more positive. That's something we can try at home.

    Raising optimistic kids is hard because it demands that parents abandon the pessimistic perspective that's the easiest response to pessimistic times. Put your energy into making sure you and your family are a part of the world around you. That might mean simply joining and being part of local clubs that feed our natural human need for connection (not of the digital kind).

    I study English literature at university and have always been proud of Britain's literary heritage(文学遗产). Some British authors that you may have heard of are Charles Dickens and Jane Austen. These writers are famous all over the world because their books have been translated into many different languages. In the UK, their novels are celebrated as some of the best that have ever been written. We say that these novels are "classic" because they are still read and enjoyed years after their publication.

    I read classic novels because they are part of my university lessons but also because I enjoy them. They can teach you a lot about how people used to live and what society was like in the past. Novels like Hard Times by Charles Dickens remind us of the poverty in London during the Industrial Revolution while Jane Austen's fiction shows us what family life was like in the 18th century.

    Classic novels usually have memorable stories land interesting characters. One of my favourite books is Charles Dickens Great Expectations. It is about a boy called Pip who suddenly receives a lot of money from a mysterious supporter. As he grows up, his character changes: he becomes quite selfish and mean. Another important character is Miss Havisham. When she was young, her fiancé ran away on their wedding day. She lives in a dark house and still wears her wedding dress. She is a fascinating character, both sad and scary.

    Reading classic novels enriches my knowledge and life experience. And it has become part of life.

    Laughter is a kind of universal body language that is shared by people of all nationalities, skin colors, cultures and traditions. But did you know that the ability to tell real laughter apart from fake (假的) laughter also varies among cultures?

    Greg Bryant, a professor of communication at the University of California, published a study in late July. In the study, 884 people from 21 countries were asked to listen to random recordings of laughter. Some of the recordings were made up of laughs from the bottom of the heart, while others were made by people who were asked to laugh on command.

    The study showed that people around the world have the ability to pick out real laughter, although their abilities vary from country to country. Residents of the Samoan Islands, were particularly good at it, correctly identifying real laughter 56 percent of the time. According to Bryant, people from smaller, less industrialized nations “are more accurate in identifying a natural smile” because they rely heavily on emotional engagement in order to predict others' behavior and create stronger social relationships.

    But how do people from different cultures detect natural laughter so easily? And what characters does real laughter have? As Professor Jessica Wolf of the University of California told the Association for Psychological Science, in real laughter, we produce qualities, such as higher pitch (音调) and volume, as well as faster bursts of no clear sounds.

    By contrast, fake laughter will "sound like speech". According to Science Daily, fake laughter is controlled by the same brain system that controls the lips and tongue. Bryant further explained that this system has active ability, saying "with this speech system, you can make a lot of different noises, including crying, laughter or scream. That's where fake laughter comes from".

    So that? s something to think about: next time one of your friends laughs at something you say, will you be able to tell if it's real or fake?