If a woman has an extra piece of cake, don't blame it on greed, blame it on her brain.

    Scientists have found that women's brains react to food very differently—and much more strongly—than men's. Academics found that decades of dieting pressure on women and advertising have programmed certain parts of the female brain to react strongly when faced with any kind of food. Men, on the other hand, are not usually as obsessive (着迷的) about what they eat.

    Dr. Rudolf Uher and his colleagues at the Institute of Psychiatry in King's College London used brain scanning technology, known as functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI), to look at the brains of eighteen men and women.

The volunteers were given images of food to look at, as well as food to taste. Their brain reactions were observed by the scientists.

    They found that the female brains reacted much more strongly than those of males.

    The same reaction did not happen when they were shown non-food images. The team believe this means women think more about food than men tend to do.

    Dr. Uher said, “This could be related to biological differences between men and women. But the more likely explanation is that women have a more complicated reaction to food because of social pressure.

    Professor Carey Cooper, psychology and health professor at Lancaster University, said, “For centuries women have had a providing role — preparing and cooking food for their families. And it is part of that rule to make sure the food is safe. They will therefore be much more sensitive to food than men are, and I would not be surprised if that was now built into their DNA. If the female brain reacts to food because it historically has developed neural (神经的) pathways to do this, then food will be the way they express their stress. Food actually, is a comfort for women.”

    But other experts have said that more research must be done before the results can be proved. American scientist Angelo del Parigi of the John B. Pierce Laboratory in New Haven, Connecticut, said, “Looking at an FMRI alone cannot make sure whether the stronger reaction in women is due to innate (天生的) differences or a learned process.

    “How far is the next village？” the American asks a man standing by the edge of the road. In some countries, because the man realizes that the traveler is tired and eager to reach his destination (目的地), he will politely say “Just down the road.” He thinks this is more encouraging, gentler, and therefore the wanted answer. So the American drives through the night, getting more and more angry, feeling “being tricked”. He thinks the man on purpose lied to him, for obviously he must have known the distance quite well.

    Had conditions been reversed (颠倒过来), the American would have felt he was “cheating” the driver if he had said the next town was not too far, and if he would be sorry to the weary driver, he would say “You have a good way to go yet, it is at least fifteen miles.” The driver might be disappointed, but he would know what to expect.

    Whether to be accurate or polite leads to many misunderstandings between people of different cultures. If you know the situation in advance, it is sometimes easier to recognize the problem.

    During this shopping season, salesmen will come up with different strategies to get your business. Many product companies use specific colors to cause positive emotions and compete for a sale. However, sight is not the only sensory (感官的) retail that companies use. Sounds and smells can also influence consumers' purchasing decisions.

    Nobel Prize-winning research shows that our sense of smell has great power to cause an emotional response. A study published earlier this year compared purchasing in a French flower shop when the smell of lavender (薰衣草) was given off and when it wasn't. It found that the smell increased the number of consumers' purchasing items and the amount of their purchases. An earlier study using Nike shoes found that consumers desired the shoes more, and were willing to pay more, when the room had a mixed smell of flowers. Realizing the subconscious impact of smell, many stores apply artificial scents (气味) through their heating and air-conditioning vents (通风口) or place scent machines above their doors. For instance, a coconut scent might make that bikini more appealing as you long for a vacation.

    Ever felt frenzied due to a store's fast-paced music? Or calmed by a piece of light music? A retailer's choice of music can have a big impact on consumers' moods. One study found that when subjected to loud music, consumers will spend less time in a store. But interestingly, the researchers did not find a difference in sales or customers' satisfaction. Another interesting finding from a recent study was that customers actually shop longer when exposed to unfamiliar music. Just as department stores use different scents in certain departments, many use different music in some areas to appeal to varying consumers.

    Well, you could always leave the store and take a break, but the food court probably isn't your best choices as brands like Cinnabon and Panera Bread also use scents as part of their customers' experience. Online retailers (零售商) use a variety of other strategies to get your business, but you can always neglect those and enjoy the familiar scents of home.

    (CNN)—This photograph of two men sharing a drink 30 meters below the water is part of an art project exploring the mysterious world of freediving—a form of underwater diving that relies on a diver's ability to hold his or her breath until resurfacing rather than on the use of oxygen tanks (氧气瓶).

    Each man, dressed in shirt, jeans and sunglasses, sits in a chair at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea with local sharks—harmless to humans—swimming just meters away. Of course, these aren't ordinary men, but freedivers: extreme athletes who dive on a single breath of air.

    American photographer Lia Barrett had been taking pictures of brave divers competing at the Caribbean Cup off the coast of Honduras, when she decided to create a fantastic underwater world in which humans go about everyday tasks—such as drinking coffee or riding bikes.

    "After the competitors had a great time in the new national and world records set at the competition, I took advantage of their breath-holding skills to do photo shoots I had only dreamed of before," said the 29-year-old.

    Perhaps unsurprisingly, Barrett is often asked whether the amazing pictures are Photoshopped. She laughs quietly as she insists they're 100% real.

    The picture of two men having coffee took 50 minutes to create, with the men receiving oxygen from standby assistants around every three minutes.

    "On the way back up, we were holding onto the table during our decompression (减压) stop in the strong current (水流)—it was quite a scene."

    The underwater models made an 11-minute stop on the way back to the surface, making sure they didn't rise too quickly and suffer decompression sickness—which can cause deadly blackouts (眩晕).

After years of teachers asking for the right answers, students aren't used to someone asking for the wrong ones. Students' failure tends to create mental burden that negatively affects learning. Lifting the burden requires us to face failure bravely and encourage students to accept it as a natural part of getting educated. While educators have to make sure that students have the right content and support to avoid long-term failure, it is just as important to accept mistakes as a normal part of education.

Sadly, our culture is so focused on success or perfection that students generally aren't taught about failure. To fill the gap, I share with students a Samuel Beckett quote "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better". It suggests one becomes better after each failure. I also play a video on game designed by Extra Credits, which shows people can quickly declare their ways as a failure if they don't work out and then learn from. them to move on. Both the quote and the video can help students get a more positive attitude towards failure.

Teachers can help students accept failure better. In her piece "5-Minute Film Festival: Freedom to Fail Forward", Edutopia author Amy Erin Borovoy had a set of videos-and articles on the subject of failure. Borovoy reminds readers that "a true thinker learns as much from failure as from success." Taking these short videos as monthly or weekly reminders can, be a great way to start "how have we failed and what have we learned" discussions with students.

Teachers can actually use a technique called "Effective Failure" to teach about failure at any time. In my writing class, I often have students volunteer to pick out the worst writing of their own. This lets writers deepen their understanding of why a sentence, word choice, or paragraph construction has failed, and it inspires a sincere interest in better writing. This makes failure work well in class.

Also, remember that students are not the only ones who can learn from their mistakes. As those who teach students, we should do that too.