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    An interesting study posted on Facebook recently shows how men and women develop new interests as they mature(成熟).

    While women tend to take exercise seriously from the age of 34, men will wait until their 45th birthdays before working hard to get in shape.The average woman spends more time talking about sports, politics, career and money as she gets older.

    Women's interest in books reaches its peak(顶峰) at the age of 22, while that of men does so when they are in their 50s.

    Men start to change their focus from the workplace to other things after age 30, while women do not do so until eight years later. Both, however, care most about fashion at age 16.

    The research used anonymous(匿名的) data donated by thousands of Facebook users, recording the statuses, 'likes' and 'interests' they had posted on their profiles.

    It found the average woman talks about television most at 44, while men peak much younger, at age 31.

    Men are also most likely to see a film in a cinema at age 31, while women go out to see films most when they are only 19.

    Men are most interested in travel at 29, women at 27, while women talk most about food and drink at 35, and men at 38.

    And if you are middle aged, a safe topic for any audience is the weather, which is a key interest for many as they approach 60.

    Stephen Wolfram, the British scientist who carried out the research, says, “It's almost shocking how much this tells us about the changes of people's typical interests.

    “People talk less about video games as they get older, and more about politics.”

    The effects of coffee consumption on health have long been a subject of conflict and uncertainty.Since the 1980s,some have spoken out against coffee as harmful to health,while others have welcomed coffee for its supposed benefits to health.

    According to a scientific report,mild coffee consumption,three to five cups per day,can he taken as a healthy dietary pattern,along with other healthful behaviors.The report also says that coffee consumption helps reduce the risk of heart disease and it protects against Parkinson's disease.

    According to Dr.Donald Hensrud of Mayo Clinic,high consumption of coffee has health risks.Dr.Hensrud mentions the dangers of high coffee consumption for people with a certain illness that slows the breakdown of caffeine in the body.Some studies said that drinking two or more cups of coffee daily can actually increase the risk of heart disease in these people.

    According to conclusions from a recent study led by Dr.Gregory Marcus,a doctor from the University of California San Francisco,daily moderate consumption of caffeine,less than 4 cups,is not associated with these issues.

    Until the scientific community reaches a general agreement on the effects of coffee consumption on human health,it will be up to the individual to decide whether the benefits of drinking coffee are greater than the risks.

    When informed of these possible health benefits and harms of drinking coffee,Harwood,a high school student stated,"Even though there might be some negative effects of drinking coffee,for the most part,coffee drinking sounds good for health.Not to mention I need coffee to stay awake."

    BEIJING, China —Pollution in China remains very serious as the country's rapid economic growth brings new environmental problems, a minister said Saturday.

    Vice Environment Minister Zhang Lijun said China has made progress on environmental protection, but admitted that its rapid economic growth over the past decade has had a negative effect on the environment.

    "Our rapid economic development has continuously brought our country new environmental problems, particularly dangerous chemicals, electronic waste and so on. These environmental pollutants (污染物) bring new problems and affect human health," Zhang told a news conference.

    He said that emissions(排放)of traditional pollutants remain high and some areas have failed to meet government standards.

China has pledged to continue reducing emissions this year of three key air pollutants— ammonia nitrogen, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. The government has also promised to bring down demand for chemical oxygen—a measure of water pollution by l.5 percent from the 2010 levels.

    In the last five years, there were 912 "environmental emergencies" involving heavy metal pollution, including several well-publicized instances of mass contamination, Zhang said. Thousands of children were affected by lead poisoning in several provinces in 2009 and 2010 because they lived near metal smelters or battery factories.

    The minister noted that rapid development in the next five years would increase the need for China to improve environmental protection and shift to a more sustainable(可持续的) model of economic development from its dependence on industries which consume huge quantities of energy.

    China is focusing on clean energy, including solar, wind and nuclear power, as one way to reduce its dependence on coal, which generates three-quarters of its electricity and is also used for winter heating in northern cities. China also hopes the strategy will reduce its demand for oil and gas and increase economic growth and jobs.

    Zhang told reporters there was no plan to adjust China's overall strategy for nuclear development but he said Beijing will learn lessons from Japan after a violent earthquake resulted in a radioactive leak(放射能泄露).

    "Some lessons we learn from Japan will be considered in the making of China's nuclear power plans," he said. "But China will not change its determination and plan for developing nuclear power."

Hot Air Balloons

    The basis of how the balloon works is that warmer air rises in cooler air. This is because hot air is lighter than cool air as it has less mass per unit of volume. Mass can be defined by the measure of how much matter something contains. The actual balloon has to be large as it takes a large amount of heated air to lift it off the ground.

    The burner uses propane gas to heat up the air in the envelope to move the balloon off the ground and into the air. The pilot must keep firing the burner at regular intervals throughout the flight to ensure that the balloon continues to the stable. Naturally, the hot air will not escape from the hot at the very bottom of the envelop as firstly, hot air rises and secondly, the floating power keeps it moving up.

    To move the balloon upwards, the pilot opens up the propane value which lets the propane flow to the burner which in turn frees the flame up into the envelope. It works in much the same way as a gas grill: the more you open the valve, the bigger the flame to beat the air and the faster the balloon rises.

    The “Parachute Valve” at the very top of the balloon is what is used to bring the balloon down towards the ground. It is a circle of fabric cut out of the top of the envelop which is controlled by a rope which runs down through the middle of the envelope to the basket. If the pilot wants to bring the balloon down, he or she simply pulls on the rope which will open the valve, letting hot air escape, decreasing the inner air temperature. This cooling of air causes the balloon to slow its rise.

    The pilot can operate horizontally by changing the vertical position of the balloon because the wind blows in different directions at different altitudes. If the pilot wants to move in a particular direction, he or she simply arises and falls to the appropriate level and rides with the wind.

    There was a lot of news related to artificial intelligence, or AI, and machine learning. Among the stories were two dealing with direct competitions between humans and machines.

    In one competition, machines that used AI performed better than human beings in a high-level reading test. Two natural language processing tools beat human in the experiment. One of the tools was built by the American technology company Microsoft. The other was created by Chinese online seller Alibaba Group.

    In another competition, a computer took on humans in live, public debates.

    The event demonstrated how AI-powered computers are increasingly being developed to think ' and sound like humans. The organizer of the debates, U. S. technology company IBM, announced split results. It said a majority of those watching said they felt the machine had done more to improve their knowledge of the subject. But, the human got more praise for communicating their ideas.

    This year, we also explored the many ways AI and machine learning are now being used. For example, some U. S. judges use machine learning systems to help them decide when, and for how long, criminals should be jailed. The system uses computers to examine data from thousands of court cases.

    One fast-growing area of AI is facial recognition, which is increasingly being used for security purposes. Recently, Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport became the first in the U. S. to permit passengers to use facial recognition technology to get on flights. A Chinese company showed off an AI system it developed to recognize individuals by body shape and walking movements. The system is already being used by Chinese police in Beijing and Shanghai.

    In addition, machine learning was used during 2018 to predict results of the World Cup soccer competition. The technology also created artwork that sold for a large amount of money. And it is being used to help farmer save time and money, while reducing environment-harming chemicals. Other technology systems are being used to follow farm animals and wildlife to collect information on their activities.