Did you know that the color of uniforms can influence the performance of an athlete? It may sound strange, but a study suggests this might be true.

    Two British scientists studied the results of four sports in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games where the athletes had been given either a red or a blue uniform. They discovered that when there was a big difference in the score, color had no influence on the result. But if it was a close match, the athlete in a red uniform was more likely to win. Then they looked at the uniforms of the soccer teams at the Euro 2004 tournament. Again, teams wearing red won more games.

    The two scientists got their idea from earlier studies of wild animals. It had been discovered that when a male show red on its body, it sends a signal of its power and strength. For example, in many kinds of monkey, the more the male shows off its red scare, the more females it can attract

    Based on this fact, the British scientists thought that the idea might work for humans, too. According to them, when an athlete sees a competitor in a red uniform, he gets a feeling that his competitor could be stronger than him. And that kind of feeling may have a bad influence on the player's performance in the actual game.

    Although the idea is Interesting, most people don't accept that color signals in the animals world can really be useful to humans in sports. They think that it is unreasonable to develop an Idea based on such a small number of examples. Much more research has to be done to prove the influence of uniform colors on the performance of athletes.

    The pursuit of longevity has long been on people's minds, prompting an abundance of research on the effects of food and diet on the human lifespan. According to recent research from the UC Irvine Institute, drinking coffee and wine could help you live longer.

    The 90+ Study evaluated more than 1,600 people over the age of 90 for their lifestyle habits and other qualities that might have contributed to their longevity.

    Participants were visited every six months, when they were given various tests. Researchers also collected information about the participants' diets, lifestyles, and medical histories.

    They found out that two of the habits that helped preserve lives the most are drinking alcohol and coffee. “I have no explanation for it,” admitted Dr Claudia Kawas, “but I do firmly believe that moderate (适度的) drinking improves longevity.” So should we all be drinking more coffee and wine? While that would be great news, the research may not be as definitive as it seems.

    “Most studies about alcohol consumption, including The 90+ Study, are observational, so we  can only say that something about drinking is associated with health and longevity,” registered dietitian Jennifer Markowitz told The Daily Meal.

    “I'd be curious to see if the coffee and alcohol drinkers shared other important habits or lifestyle factors that might also play into their longevity.”

    In other words, it might not be the wine and coffee that's helping people live longer, but the two substances do have some considerable health benefits. “Wine and coffee are packed with antioxidants(抗氧化剂) which are known to protect our bodies from damage caused by free radicals,” explained registered dietitian Keri Gans to The Daily Meal. “Research on antioxidants has shown several heath benefits, including the possibility they may lower the risk of type 2 diabetes, improve cognitive function, decrease the risk of dementia, and lower the risk of heart disease.”

    Moderate drinking can be beneficial according to other studies—so long as it's moderate.

Low-Cost Gifts for Mother's Day

Gift No. 1

    Offer to be your mother's health friend. Promise to be there for any and all doctor's visits whether a disease or a regular medical check-up. Most mothers always say "no need," but another set of eyes and ears is always a good idea at a doctor's visit. The best part? This one is free.

Gift No. 2

    Help your mother organize all of her medical records, which include the test results and medical information. Put them all in one place. Be sure to make a list of all of her medicines and what times she takes them. "Having all this information in one place could end up saving your mother's life," Dr. Marie Savard said.

Gift No. 3

    Enough sleep is connected to general health conditions. "Buy your mother cotton sheets（床单）and comfortable pillows to encourage better sleep," Savard said. "We know that good sleep is very important to our health."

Gift No. 4

Some gift companies such as Presents for Purpose allow you to pay it forward this Mother's Day by picking gifts in which 10 percent of the price you pay goes to a charity (慈善机构). Gift givers can choose from a wide variety of useful but inexpensive things —many of which are "green" — and then choose a meaningful charity from a list. When your mother gets the gift, she will be told that she has helped the chosen charity.

    Many people, both men and women in the world love drinking. The popular wisdom for years has been that drinking in moderation (适度) —that's one “standard” drink a day for women and two for men—is linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular (心血管的) disease. But recent studies are casting some doubt on that long-held learning. Science now says it depends on your age and drinking habits.

    A 2017 study of nearly 2 million British with no cardiovascular risk found that there was still a modest benefit in moderate drinking, especially for women over 55 who drank five drinks a week. Why that age? Alcohol can influence the substance in the blood in positive ways, experts say, and that's about the age when heart problems begin to occur.

    Also, a 2018 study found that drinking more than 100 grams of alcohol per week—equal to roughly seven standard drinks in the United States or five to six glasses of wine in the UK—surely increases your risk of death from all causes and in turn lowers your life expectancy. Links were found with different forms of cardiovascular disease, with people who drank more than 100 grams per week having a higher risk of stroke, heart failure.

    Another 2018 study found that consistently drinking moderately, within the recommended amount of alcohol, had a protective effect on the heart over time. Unstable drinking habits were associated with a higher risk of heart disease, which the authors reflected might indicate broader lifestyle changes, such as poor health or stress. Former drinkers were also at greater risk.

    Overall, however, the latest thinking is that any heart benefit may be outweighed by other health risks, such as high blood pressure, certain cancers and liver damage.

    Women who drink are at a higher risk for breast cancer; alcohol contributes about 6% of the overall risk, possibly because it raises certain dangerous hormones in the blood. Drinking can also increase the chance you might develop liver, mouth and oral cancers. One potential reason： Alcohol weakens our immune systems, making us more likely to inflame (发炎)—a driving force behind cancer.

    Since we've headed into the snowy part of the year, it seems like a good time to solve a language puzzle that Eskimos have a huge number of words for snow. The idea was popularized by the now well-known expert Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1940s. His number was approximately five Eskimo words for snow, but somehow the story was so wide spread and romantic that it got out of control and grew bigger and bigger.

    There are two problems with the concept of Eskimos having tons of words for snow.

    First, Eskimos speak at least two different languages—Inuit and Yupik. Just as we have talked about how English and many other languages developed from a common language called Proto-Indo-European, Inuit and Yupik come from a different common language called Eskimo-Aleut. So saying Eskimos have 100 words for snow is like saying Europeans have 100 words for kings or queens. It might be telling you something broad about culture, but it isn't really telling you much about language.

    The second problem is "What is a word?” The Inuit and Yupik languages make words in different ways from how we make words in English. For example, the West Greenlandic word 'siku,' (sea ice), is used as the root for 'sikursuit (pack ice), 'Sikuliaq (new ice), and 'sikurluk (melting ice). But it's not that West Greenlandic has so many more words for describing snow than English, it's just that West Greenlandic expresses ideas by combining meaningful units of language together into one word while English uses more phrases and compounds. We express all the same ideas; we just do it a little differently because of the way our language is built.

    So you're probably still wondering, "If it's not 50 or 100 or 400 words, how many is it?" Well, Woodbury lists 15 that are present in a Yupik dictionary published in 1984, but he says that depending on how you look at it this is not an exact number. It could be 12; it could be 24. But it's certainly not 100.

    Sometimes, the "hundred words for snow" puzzle is used to argue that because Eskimos have so many words for snow, they think about snow in ways that we can't even begin to imagine—that your language decides or limits your thoughts. Languages are just different. They don't decide what we are able to think about or are not able to think about. I can think about snow floating on water even if we don't have a word for that in English.

    So when you're out skiing or snowboarding or just shoveling your driveway this winter, don't believe the people who try to tell you that Eskimos have 100 words for snow.

    It's a common belief that the roles actors play might somehow reflect their true personalities. It's usually not true, but British actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge, 34, is an exception.

    Just like Fleabag, the character she played in the comedy-drama series of the same name, Waller-Bridge feels that her life is a mess. "It's just really wonderful to know that a dirty and messed up woman can make it to the Emmys," she said. She may be "messed up", but Variety magazine calls her an "all-around icon".

    Last month, Waller-Bridge took home three Emmy awards for her work on Fleabag — best writing in a comedy series, best lead actress, and best comedy series.

    Her success is partly because of her family. Waller-Bridge was brought up in a free environment. Her mother always told her, "You can be whatever you want if you imagine it." So Waller-Bridge broke all the rules about what a "good" girl should do. "Our laws and moral codes don't apply — she lives without fear of consequence," The Sun noted.

    That fearlessness extends to being authentic (真实的) in her writing and acting. Unlike the can-do heroines and strong, successful women in many TV dramas, Waller-Bridge shows a flawed but real character. The character Fleabag was a screw-up who always found a way to say or do the wrong thing. "It resonated with the lives of stressed-out women everywhere in reality — doing their best to find balance in their lives," a viewer wrote on US movie website.

    Villanelle in Killing Eve, another hit TV series developed by Waller-Bridge, was a little bit violent but showed no interest for the rules others created, which make many people see themselves in her.

    "People have been scared to write characters like these. But I think, now, women are so relieved to have this new template (样板). And, aren't we all a bit of everything?" Waller-Bridge said in an interview with Indian Express.

    With such courage and sincerity, Waller-Bridge is, without a doubt, a "golden girl" in Hollywood, Australian news website The New Daily commented.