People always think men are more skilled than women in driving. Nowadays women appear to have a positive image of themselves as safer drivers than men.

    In a survey done for insurer MetLife, 51% of women said they drive more safely. The evidence is on their side: Men are 3.4 times more likely than women to get a ticket for careless driving and 3.1 times as likely to be punished for drunk driving. “Women are on average less aggressive and more law abiding (守法的) drivers, which leads to fewer accidents.” the report says. However, not all male drivers share the same opinion. Of the men surveyed by MetLife, 39% claimed male drivers were safer. The findings did back them up on one point: automotive knowledge. The report showed that more men are familiar with current safety equipment such as electronic stability control, which helps prevent rollover accidents.

    Auto safety unavoidably matters to money. Insurance companies focus on what classes of drivers have the lowest dollar amounts of claims, and for now, that mainly includes women. In general, women pay about 9% less for auto insurance than men. A study by the website Insweb also showed that auto insurance rates are lower for women in most states. Among individual states, women get the greatest advantage in Wyoming (where they pay 20% less), South Dakota and Washington, D. C., where their insurance costs are 16% lower.

    “More than 11,900 male drivers died in U.S. traffic accidents in 2009, compared with just under 4,900 women drivers,” according to the study. “Based on miles traveled, men died at a rate of 2.5 deaths per 100 million miles traveled, v.s. 1.7 deaths for women.”

    Webber is a labor economist. His latest research offers guidance on how to keep students on target to earn a degree from a college or university. Among his findings: It is important, whenever possible, for college students to complete their degree program in four years. Also, getting a part-time job is probably a good thing to help finance a college education. But too much time spent working on a job makes it less likely the student will graduate.

    One thing, Webber said, is financial aid that helps many students pay for college. Scholarships and other assistance generally stop after four years. So the cost of each additional year in school is likely to come almost entirely from the student and/or parents.

    But there are other reasons why taking more than four years is a problem, as Webber notes. It's because life gets in the way, other things happen. He means the longer you stay in college, the more likely that some unexpected event will affect your studies. It could be a loved one getting sick, a parent losing a job, or the student running out of money for college.

    Only about four in 10 graduated within four years. It is also important that students have enough time to complete their college classes, Webber added. His research suggests part-time work of 15 hours or less will not cause harm to the student's scholastic performance. But his research shows students who work 20 hours or more a week are about 15 percent less likely to graduate on time, or to graduate at all.

    His belief is that students active in college athletic programs would face the same problem. It is common, he said, for student athletes to spend 20 hours or more for training, travel and to compete against athletes or teams from other schools.

    You know the feeling—you have left your phone at home and feel anxious, as if you have lost your connection to the world. "Nomophobia(无手机恐惧感)" affects teenagers and adults alike. You can even do an online test to see if you have it. Last week, researchers from Hong Kong warned that nomophobia is infecting everyone. Their study found that people who use their phones to store, share and access personal memories suffer most. When users were asked to describe how they felt about their phones, words such as "hurt" (neck pain was often reported) and "alone" predicted higher levels of nomophobia.

    "The findings of our study suggest that users regard smartphones as their extended selves and get attached to the devices," said Dr Kim Ki Joon. "People experience feelings of anxiety and unpleasantness when separated from their phones." Meanwhile, an American study shows that smartphones separation can lead to an increase in heart rate and blood pressure.

    So can being without your phone really give you separation anxiety? Professor Mark Griffiths, psychologist and director of the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University, says it is what is on the phone that counts—the social networking that creates Fomo (fear of missing out).

    "We are talking about an Internet-connected device that allows people to deal with lots of aspects of their lives," says Griffiths. "You would have to surgically remove a phone from a teenager because their whole life is ingrained in this device."

    Griffiths thinks attachment theory, where we develop emotional dependency on the phone because it holds details of our lives, is a small part of nomophobia. For "screenagers", it is Fomo that creates the most separation anxiety. If they can't see what's happening on Snapchat or Instagram, they become panic-stricken about not knowing what's going on socially. "But they adapt very quickly if you take them on holiday and there's no Internet," says Griffiths.

    Artificial intelligence (AI) technology may soon be a useful tool for doctors. It may help them better understand and treat diseases like breast cancer in ways that were never before possible.

    Rishi Rawat teaches AI at the University of Southern California's (USC) Clinical Science Center in Los Angeles. He is part of a team of scientists who are researching how AI and machine learning can more easily recognize cancerous growths in the breast. Rawat provides information about cancer cells to a computer. He says this data helps the machine learn. “…You can put the data into them and they will learn the patterns and the pattern recognition that's important to making decisions.”

    David Agus is another USC researcher. He believes that “machines are not going to take the place of doctors.” He adds, “Computers will not treat patients, but they will help make certain decisions and look for things that the human brain can't recognize these patterns by itself.”

    Once a confirmed cancerous growth is removed, doctors still have to treat the patient to reduce the risk of cancer returning. The form of treatment depends on the kind of cancer. Currently, researchers take a thin piece of tissue, put it on a small piece of glass and add color to better see the cells. This process could take days or even longer. Scientists say artificial intelligence can do something better than just count cells. Through machine learning, it can recognize complex patterns, or structures, and learn how the cells are organized. The hope is that machines will soon be able to make a quick diagnosis（诊断）of cancer that is free of human mistakes.

    “All of a sudden, we have the computing power to really do it in real time...We couldn't have done this, we didn't have the computing power to do this several years ago, but now it's all changed.” Agus adds that the process could be done “for almost no cost in the developing world.” He says that having a large amount of information about patients is important for a machine to effectively do its job in medicine.

    A doctor faces a series of critical decisions every day. The best a doctor can do is to make those decisions as informed as possible. Some of them are still hard to make. A doctor can ask people of whom he values their opinions and that's it. Imagine discussing these with an AI system that is even more rational（理性的）than anyone else.

    The University of Southern California researchers are now only studying breast cancer. But doctors predict artificial intelligence will one day make a difference in all forms of cancer.

    Mid-afternoon on a particularly busy Tuesday, I took leave of my desk at work and walked into a local Starbucks, only to find a space where neither my clients (客户) nor my children would ask me to do something.

    Inside, I ran into Kate, a co-worker of mine. The topic of parenthood came up. I complained about how packed my schedule was. From the minute I woke up to the minute I fell asleep, I was constantly in demand and always had someone knocking at the door. But a bit of sadness seemed to come over Kate's face.

    "Well, my daughter's in San Francisco and she doesn't seem to need me at all these days." Kate said. It was in that moment that I realized although I might often feel in high demand, there will come a day when I'll actually miss that same stress I now complain about.

    And as our conversation continued, it turned to our children's younger years, with Kate smiling proudly, thinking of the little boy and girl she raised who are now a man and a woman. But I noticed her smile was marked with regret. She explained that she often wondered about what she could have done differently when her children were in their earlier years.

    This got me thinking Is regret an unfortunate footnote (注脚) to parenthood? With that in mind, I asked six older parents one question: What is your biggest regret from your early days as a parent?

    It turned out that all of them thought they could have done it better. But, each of them also has a strong, healthy relationship with their kids. Whatever regrets their parents might have had about their upbringing, one thing is clear—it didn't affect them in a meaningful way.

    The bottom line is, we all feel like we could be doing this parenting thing better, And quite clearly, years later, we're still going to look back and wish we tried things differently. But the past can't be changed, and neither should it.

    Your house may have an effect on your figure. Experts say the way you design your home could play a role in whether you pack on the pounds or keep them off. You can make your environment work for you instead of against you. Here are some ways to turn your home into part of your diet plan.

    Open the curtains and turn up the lights. Dark environments are more likely to encourage overeating, for people are often less self­conscious (难为情) when they're in poorly lit places—and so more likely to eat lots of food. If your home doesn't have enough window light, get more lamps and flood the place with brightness.

    Mind the colors. Research suggests warm colors fuel our appetites. In one study, people who ate meals in a blue room consumed 33 percent less than those in a yellow or red room. Warm colors like yellow make food appear more appetizing, while cold colors make us feel less hungry. So when it's time to repaint, go blue.

    Don't forget the clock—or the radio. People who eat slowly tend to consume about 70 fewer calories (卡路里) per meal than those who rush through their meals. Begin keeping track of the time, and try to make dinner last at least 30 minutes. And while you're at it, actually sit down to eat. If you need some help slowing down, turn on relaxing music. It makes you less likely to rush through a meal.

    Downsize the dishes. Big serving bowls and plates can easily make us fat. We eat about 22 percent more when using a 12­inch plate instead of a 10­inch plate. When we choose a large spoon over a smaller one, total intake (摄入) jumps by 14 percent. And we'll pour about 30 percent more liquid into a short, wide glass than a tall, skinny glass.