While the U.S. is still debating about getting rid of the penny, Sweden is rapidly moving towards abolishing currency altogether. Though this may sound radical(过激的), it is a natural evolution in this digital society.

    Sweden, which was the first European country to introduce banknotes in 1661, has just been working harder to convince its residents that digital payments are a safer alternative to carrying cash.

Over the years, the idea has gained popularity with residents, especially the younger generation that is much more comfortable with technology. Today many banks don't even have ATMs and some have stopped handling cash altogether!

    Tickets to ride public buses in most Swedish cities can only be purchased via cell phones. Numerous businesses are also moving towards accepting only digital payments. Even the homeless that sell street paper to make ends meet have to start accepting this mode of payment!

But despite its growing popularity, some people don't like this radical idea. They include the homeless, elderly people as well as those living in rural areas who are still uncomfortable with mobile phones and computers. But the officials are confident that in the very near future, they will be able to convince everyone to move this safe and more cost-effective payment system.

    Sweden is not the only country trying to abolish paper currency and coins. The movement is rapidly gaining ground in Denmark and Finland as well. In 2014, Israel announced a three-step plan to go cashless and just last week the vendors(小贩)of a popular street in Sydney declared they would stop accepting currency from customers. Whether this phenomenon spreads remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure—With increasingly advanced payment systems being introduced every day, pulling out cash is rapidly becoming “uncool”.

Building Trust in a Relationship Again

    Trust is a learned behavior that we gain from past experiences. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Trust is a risk. But you can't be successful when there's a lack of trust in a relationship that results from an action where the wrongdoer takes no responsibility to fix the mistake.

    Unfortunately，we've all been victims of betrayal. Whether we've been stolen from，lied to，misled，or cheated on，there are different levels of losing trust. Sometimes people simply can't trust anymore. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} It's understandable，but if you're willing to build trust in a relationship again，we have some steps you can take to get you there.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Having confidence in yourself will help you make better choices because you can see what the best outcomewould be for your well-being.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you've been betrayed，you are the victim of your circumstance. But there's a difference between being a victim and living with a “victim mentality”. At some point in all of our lives，we'll have our trust tested or violated.

    You didn't lose “everything”. Once trust is lost，what is left? Instead of looking at the situation from this hopeless angle，look at everything you still have and be thankful for all of the good in your life. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Instead，it's a healthy way to work through the experience to allow room余地 for positive growth and forgiveness.

A. Learn to really trust yourself.

B. It is putting confidence in someone .

C. Stop regarding yourself as the victim.

D. Remember that you can expect the best in return.

E. They've been too badly hurt and they can't bear to let it happen again. .

F. This knowledge carries over in their attitude toward their future relationships.

G. Seeing the positive side of things doesn't mean you're ignoring what happened.

    For anyone still doubting the belief that our emotions influence our physical health, a new study from New Zealand should be able to settle the matter. It reports that the physical wounds of healthy seniors healed more quickly if they wrote about their most upsetting experiences.

    This confirms the results of a 2010 study, and extends those findings to cover older adults—a group that is likely to suffer wounds (as from surgery), and one with less access to other ways of lowering tension (such as exercise).

    Reported in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, a research team led by the University of Auckland's Elizabeth Broadbent made a study featuring 50 healthy adults ranging in age from 64 to 97. They were asked to write for 20 minutes per day for three consecutive (连续的) days.

    Half were asked to write about the most upsetting experience in their life, describing their deepest thoughts, feelings, and emotions about the events, ideally not previously shared with others. The others were asked to write about their daily activities without mentioning emotions, opinions or beliefs.

    Two weeks after the third day of writing, all participants received a standard 4mm skin biopsy (皮下活体组织检查) on their inner arm. The very tiny wounds caused by the biopsy were photographed regularly over the following days to determine the rate at which they healed.

    On the 11th day after the biopsy, the wounds completely healed on 76.2 percent of those who had done the expressive writing. That was true of only 42.1 percent of those who had written about everyday activities.

    “The biological and psychological mechanisms (机体) behind this effect remain unclear,” the researchers wrote, noting that those who had done the expressive writing did not report lower stress levels or fewer depressive symptoms than the others in the control group. Even if they weren't consciously aware of feeling more relaxed or positive, the expressive writing appeared to have caused some sort of bodily reaction—probably involving their immune systems—that hastened their recovery.

Cure for tiredness?

    Staying up late is a potential battle between parents and kids. But the solution could be as simple as changing your meal time.

    Researchers at the University of Surry, UK, found that delaying meals could help change one of the internal body clocks. Besides a “master” clock in the brain, there are clocks in other parts of the body. They are usually synchronized according to factors including light.

During the study, researchers tested 10 participants to examine the effect of changing meal times on their body clocks. The participants were given three meals —breakfast, lunch and dinner. In the first stage, participants received breakfast 30 minutes after waking. Lunch and dinner followed, after 5-hour intervals. In the second stage, each meal was delayed by 5 hours. Right after each stage, blood and fat samples were collected.

    Results showed that later meal times greatly influenced blood sugar levels. A 5-hour delay in meal times caused a 5-hour delay in the internal blood sugar rhythms.

    The discovery showed that meal times are in line with the body clock that controls blood sugar levels.

    This is a small study but the researchers believe the findings could help jet lag sufferers and night-shift workers.

    In a study by the University of Surrey in 2013, researchers explored what happened when a person's body was changed from a normal pattern to that of a night-shift worker's.

    After people work through the night, over 97 percent of the body's rhythmic genes are disrupted（扰乱，使混乱）.

    These findings explain why we feel so bad following a long flight, or after working at night, according to Simon Archer, one of the study's researchers.

    “It's like living in a house. There's a clock in every room in the house and in all of those rooms those clocks are now disrupted, which of course leads to chaos in the household,” fellow researcher DerkJan Dijk told the BBC.

Changing meal times didn't affect the “master” body clock — the one controlling when we get sleepy — but it can reset the body clock that controls blood sugar levels. This wouldn't necessarily cure jet lag completely, but it might reduce the negative effects.

A study published earlier this year suggested that just a weekend camping trip could be enough to reset our body clocks. And now this latest research shows regular food schedules could play a key part too.

    Parents complain that children outgrow their clothes so fast that it costs a fortune（￡12, 000 on average per year）, going through seven different sizes in the space of their first two years. There could now be a solution：a new high－tech fabric（织物）that expands as the wearer grows.

    Ryan Yasin, who is studying for a master's degree at the London Royal College of Art, came up with the idea after purchasing clothes for his newborn nephew, only to find the baby had outgrown them by the time they arrived. In addition to the expense Yasin was also concerned about the environmental influence. The process of making and distributing just l kilogram, or 2. 2 pounds, of new fabric results in an average of 23 kg, or 50 pounds of greenhouse gases. To make matters worse, the “fast fashion” trend worldwide has caused garment production to double since 2000, with more than half of the clothing ending up in landfills annually!

    To find a solution, Yasin used his previous experience designing satellites to invent a way to fold synthetic（合成的）material such that it stretches in all directions.

    The first design, a pair of tiny pants, not only fit his baby nephew, but also his 2－year-old niece! After spending a lot of time perfecting the process and testing the design, Yasin is now awaiting a patent for his design and seeking investors（投资者）to bring the clothing to market.

    For his new line of Petit Pli, the designer plans to produce outerwear that is both waterproof（防水的）and windproof. The clothing will be machine washable and fold small enough to fit in a jacket or pant pocket. Yasin plans to establish a take－back system so that worn－out Petit Pli clothing can be recycled into new fabric.

    The designer does not expect parents to dress their children only in his expandable clothing, particularly since the current designs use synthetic materials. But he plans to soon produce the wear in “a wider variety of garments” and hopes that Petit Pli will be able to have an “influence on over-consumption. ”We surely hope he succeeds!

    The secret to living longer could be as simple as picking up your walking pace, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Sydney found that walking at a brisk (快的) or fast pace was associated with a risk reduction of 24 percent for any cause of death.

    This effect was even more obvious in older age group, with fast walkers over the age of 60 reducing their risk of death by a surprising 53 percent. Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, who led the study, explained, "A fast pace is generally five to six kilometers per hour, but it really depends on a walker's fitness levels; an alternatives indicator is to walk at a pace that makes you slightly out of breath or sweaty."

    In the study, the researchers looked at the results of 11 surveys from 1994 to 2008, in which participants recorded their walking pace, as well as age, sex and BMI. The analysis showed that walking at an average pace was associated with a 20 percent risk reduction for all-cause mortality (死亡率) compared with walking at a slow pace, while walking at a brisk or fast pace was associated with a risk reduction of 24 percent.

    The researchers hope the findings will encourage the development of public health message about the benefits of walking pace. Professor Stamatakis added, "These analyses suggest that increasing walking pace may be a straightforward way for people to improve heart health and risk for premature mortality—providing a simple message for public health campaigns to promote.

    "Especially in situations when walking more isn't possible due to time pressures or a less walking-friendly environment, walking faster may be a good option to get the heart rate up—one that most people can easily add to their lives."