Can eating a chocolate bar every day really prevent age-related memory loss? No. But a new research shows that large amounts of flavones, substances found in cocoa, tea and some kinds of vegetables, may improve age-related memory failure.

    Dr. Scott Small is a professor of neurology (神经病学) at Columbia University in new York City. He is the lead writer of a research paper describing the effects of cocoa flavones on brain activity. His study involved 37 volunteers aged between 50 and 69. Researchers gave them a high-level flavones drink made from cocoa beans or a low-level flavones drink. For a period of three months, some subjects got 900 milligrams of flavones a day. The others got 10 milligrams of flavones each day. Brain imaging and memory tests were given to each study subject before and after the study. Dr. Small says that the subjects who had the high-level flavones drink showed much improvement on memory tests.

    The researchers warn that more work is needed to be done because this study was performed only on a small group. Dr. Joann Manson is the lead researcher of a four-year study involving 18,000 adults. This study will use flavones capsules(胶囊). The study subjects will be divided into two groups and will take two pills per day. The capsules used will all look the same. But one group's capsules will contain flavones, while the other group will take capsules made of an inactive substance, or placebo

    Dr. Manson says it's not necessary for people to start eating more chocolate, because a person would have to eat a huge amount of chocolate to get the same level of flavones given to the rest subjects. He adds many manufacturers have planned to remove the flavones from their chocolate products. Similarly, Dr. Manson says a cocoa-based flavones extract(提取)may be developed in the future But he says that more studies are needed to see how much flavones is good for our health.

    They like using the Internet. They have lots of pocket money to spend．And they spend a higher proportion of it online than the rest of us. Teenagers are just the sort of people an online seller is interested in, and the things they want to buy — games, CDs and clothing — are easily sold on the Web.

    But paying online is a tricky business for consumers who are too young to own credit cards. Most have to use a parent's card. They want a service that allows them to spend money.

    That may come sooner than they think: new ways to take pocket money into cyber (网络的) space are coming out rapidly on both sides of the Atlantic. If successful, these products can stimulate (刺激)online sales.

    In general, teenagers spend huge amounts: $153bn (billion) in the US last year and ￡20bn annually in the UK．Most teenagers have access to the Internet at home or at school — 88 percent in the US, 69 percent in the UK. According to the Jupiter Research, one in eight of those with Internet access has bought something online — mainly CDs and books.

    In most cases, parents pay for these purchases with credit cards, an arrangement that is often unsatisfactory for them and their children. Pressing parents to spend online is less productive than pressing on the high street. They are more likely to ask “Why?” if you ask to spend some money online.

    One way to help teenagers change notes and coins into cyber cash is through prepaid cards such as Internet Cash in the US and Smart cards in the UK. Similar to those for pay-as-you-go mobile telephones, they are sold in amounts such as￡20 or $50 with a concealed (隐藏的) 14-digit number that can be used to load the cash into an online account.

    This may be music to your ears. Researchers P. Jason Rentfrow and Samuel Gosling gave 3,500 people a personality（人格、个性）quiz. "We found that the musical styles people like are closely linked to their personalities," Gosling says.

    RAP/HIP-HOP

    Known for their quick speech, some rappers can say more than 700 syllables（音节）a minute! If you like rap/hip-hop, you are energetic and have a way with words. You put a fresh spin on things, whether it's new moves on the dance floor or your hip style.

    CLASSICAL

    In the 18th century, classical musicians were like rock stars. Beethoven and Mozart, for example, played in crowded concert halls. If you like classical, you are open to new ideas and like debating with friends. Creative and imaginative, you can easily spend many hours scrapbooking（剪贴）, writing or painting.

    COUNTRY

    Country music came from the folk songs of English, Scottish, and Irish settlers of the southeastern United States. If you like country, you express your opinions well, which makes you the ideal class president or team captain. Traditional and loyal, you enjoy spending time with your family.

    POP

    Pop music is designed to attract almost everyone, and it does. Each year, the industry brings in about 30 billion dollars! If you like pop, you are attractive to your friends. You can make big things happen, like planning for a huge party or inspiring your team to victory.

    ROCK/ALTERNATIVE

    In the 1950s, rock music created a brand-new culture. Teenagers, for the first time, had an identity separate from adults and children. If you like rock/alternative, you are a risk-taker who never accepts no for an answer. You rise to any challenge, like doing very well in a big exam or landing the lead in the school play.

    If these personality profiles（人格剖析）don't match you, that's OK. These are just for fun.

    A walker seriously injured in a mountain­top lightning strike which killed two others is showing signs of improvement, the police have said. A major rescue operation was performed on Sunday following two strikes which hit the Brecon Beacons, South Wales. Two men died, while two others were taken to hospital.

    A police spokeswoman said, "A man in a serious condition in hospital, following simultaneous(同时发生的)incidents in the Brecon Beacons, has now improved and he is recovering. Officers are continuing to get in touch with the next of relatives of the dead men and enquiries are ongoing. All men were believed to be from England."

    Mark Jones,of the Brecon Mountain Rescue Team, described the lightning strike as a freak accident, and something he had not been called out to in 30 years of service.

    The walking group Ramblers Cymru said that while incidents involving thunder and lightning were rare  electrical storms should be taken seriously by walkers.

    The organisation's delivery officer, Elly Hannigan Popp, said, "We'd advise everyone to check the weather forecast before starting a walk. If you hear thunder, see lightning or if your hair stands on end, postpone activities even if the sky looks blue and clear. Lightning will strike as far as 10 miles away from any rainfall. Lightning can strike the same place repeatedly—especially tall, pointed, isolated objects."

    "If there is no shelter you should keep moving. And if you become the tallest object, crouch(蹲)in the open twice as far away from the nearest pointed object as it is tall. Make yourself as small as possible, stay on your toes and keep your heels together, as it will allow electricity to go up one foot, through the heels and back into the ground through the other."

    A great number of species make their home in the vast waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Although the entire ocean makes up an ecosystem, many smaller habitats are found within, including an open-water habitat off the coast of the Northern Atlantic Ocean known as the Sargasso Sea. Sargassum is an alga(海藻) that floats in masses that can continue for miles. The waters of the Gulf Stream push the water in a northward move into this area. This constant move and varying temperature support the accumulation of the brown-colored seaweed.

    The Sargasso Sea is so enormous that one method of information collection has not been enough for scientists to obtain an accurate picture of what takes place within this ecosystem. Researchers have needed to employ several methods of sampling. Methods such as dragging nets over the surface of the water and videotaping beneath areas of sargassum have served scientists well. Information collected has shown that the Gulf Stream pushes brown algae from open water into the Sargasso Sea area, creating a diverse floating habitat in an area that would otherwise not support that wildlife.

    In the most recent study of the sargassum community off the shores of North Carolina, eighty-one fish species were documented as using the area as a microhabitat. This is an increase from previous studies. The types of fish found here are both commercially and environmentally important. The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is working to regulate the harvesting of sargassum. The Council hopes to have the area classified as an Essential Fish Habitat. Which would afford it certain protections.

    Further research needs to be done before scientists understand how to best protect the Sargasso Sea as well as understand how it goes about supporting so many important types of wildlife.