Baby girls make their way to dolls as soon as they can crawl, while boys will head for the toy cars,  a study has shown. The findings, the first to show consistent differences in very young babies, suggest there is a biological basis to their preferences.

    Psychologists Dr Brenda Todd from City University London carried out an experiment involving 90 babies aged nine months to 36 months. They were allowed to choose from seven toys. Some were boys' toys - a car, a digger, a ball and a blue teddy.  The rest were girls' toys: a pink teddy, a doll and a cooking set. They were placed a meter away from the toys, and could pick whichever toy they liked. Their choice and the amount of time they spent playing with each toy were recorded.

    Of the youngest children (nine to 14 months), girls spent much longer playing with the doll than boys, and boys spent much more time with the car and ball than the girls did. Among the two-and three-year-olds, girls spent 50 percent of the time playing with the doll while only two boys briefly touched it. The boys spent almost 90 percent of their time playing with cars, which the girls barely touched. There was no link between the parents' view on which toys were more appropriate for boys or girls, and the children's choice.

    Dr Brenda Todd said: “Children of this age are already exposed to much socialization. Boys may be given ‘toys that go' while girls get toys they can care for, which may help shape their preference. But these findings agree with the former idea that children show natural interests in particular kinds of toys. There could be a biological basis for their choices. Males through evolution have been adapted to prefer moving objects, probably through hunting instincts（本能）, while girls prefer warmer colors such as pink, the color of a newborn baby.”

    Inside the pleasingly fragrant café, So All May Eat(SAME) in downtown Denver, the spirit of generosity is instantly noticeable: A donation box stands in place of a cash register. Customers here pay only what they can afford, no questions asked.

    A risky business plan, perhaps, but SAME Café has done one unchangeable thing in the Mile High City for six years: Open only at midday, the restaurant provides poor local people with healthy, delicious lunches six days a week. Those unable to pay for their meals can instead volunteer as waiters and waitresses, and dishwashers, or look after the buildings and equipment for the cafe.

     “It's based on trust, and it's working all right” , says co-owner Brad Birky , who started the café in 2006. With his wife Libby. Previously volunteering at soup kitchens, the Birkys were dissatisfied with the often unhealthy meals they served there.

     “We wanted to offer quality food in a restaurant where everyone felt comfortable ,regardless of their circumstances,” Birky says. SAME's special lunch menu changes daily and most food materials are natural and grown by local farmers.

    The café now averages 65 to 70 customers (and eight volunteers) a day. And the spirit of generosity behind the project appears to be spreading. In early 2007,one volunteer who had cleared snow for his meals during the long winter said goodbye to the Birkys,” He said he was going to New Orleans to help with the hurricane cleanup,” says Birky.

    On the first day of my new high school, I almost had a nervous breakdown. Everything about the school seemed so difficult. When I got home, my parents said, “You're nervous and that's okay. Everyone is afraid of high school. ”I denied it. I wanted to be strong, so I refused to let anyone know about my fear, even my closest friends.

    On the first day I was late for every class and was constantly lost. The school seemed like a puzzle that I couldn't figure out. Was this how the whole year was going to be？ I didn't think I could rise to this challenge, especially carrying a huge backpack that I could hardly lift. It was so big that I could knock someone out with it！The schoolmates seemed to regard me as a fool, and they were probably right.

    Despite my fears, after the first week I finally had my schedule figured out.

    With the exception of falling up and down the stairs a couple of times and getting laughed at, high school was turning out to be not so bad.  It was actually much better than middle school and much more challenging.

    Since then, I've been elected vice president of my class, which wasn't much of a victory since only three people ran for the four positions.

    It is normal to be scared about a new school. Take a deep breath and relax. High school is something that any student can overcome. Make sure you participate in some out-of-class activities because you'll find it easier to make friends. Try to do your best, even if it isn't straight A's.

    Most important of all, be who you are , whether you're a “fool”, an athlete, or a lower grader. Don't try to pretend to be someone you're not. Now you know the true secrets of high school.

    It's difficult to know the exact answer to whether babies dream and what they dream about. However, sleep experts have shown that newborns dream the most in the first two weeks after birth. Babies spend most of their sleeping time in REM(rapid eye movement) stage. As dreaming takes place in a light state of sleep, newborns tend to wake up due to noises, movements and other factors. When dreaming, newborns make a few noises and their eyes move. They may move around the sides or up and down. They may laugh, scream, or cry during the REM sleep. Also, their facial muscles, hands, and legs move, due to which they may wake up. So wrapping a baby in swaddling(裹紧的) clothes can keep the baby's body from moving and help them sleep better. As babies grow, their body movement decreases when dreaming.

    Studies say that the brain activity associated with dreaming is essential for the babies' mental development. During the REM stage, the flow of blood to the brain increases. As a result, certain nerve proteins are produced, which are the building units of the brain. Babies get stimulation from what they see, hear, or feel. The brain processes the information acquired while awake, and stores what is essential to the individual. A study concludes that babies learned while they were dreaming.

    What's the time for babies to start dreaming? Researchers say that before birth, babies start experiencing REM sleep around week 25, and so they may start dreaming at the point. On the contrary, some psychologists believe that children start having dreams when they are about 5 years old. At that age, they start becoming aware of themselves and begin to understand the things around them, which is what dreams are actually made of.

On Monday, a scientist and doctor Robert Winston is to formally ask a question in congress about what assessments the government has made "for requiring adults riding bicycles in city centres to heave a licence and third-party insurance". The letter below is the entirely imagined response I would like the government to make to him.

Dear Robert,

You ask what assessments we've made for your proposal about obliging cyclists to have licences and insurance. The brief answer is: none. Nor do we have any plans to do so.

Why? Again, the short answer is this: it's a silly and pointless thing to suggest, as evidenced by the fact that practically no countries or territories anywhere in the world require cyclists to be licensed, or to have compulsory insurance.

I suppose it's only fair if I explain why I think it is such a non-issue. It's pretty simple: such a plan would achieve pretty much nothing, while causing significant problems. More widely, any sensible governments will do everything in their power to get more people cycling, not to put pointless obstacles in their way.

Let's just take one example. As I'm sure you know as a doctor, one of the problems facing our nation is that the National Health System is likely to collapse under the caring for an increasingly overweight population. Inactive living is central to this. Even a fairly brief daily bike trip can have miraculous benefits for people's health.

Next, how would such rules even work? Would the licensing and insurance be just for adults, or also children? How would the system even be enforced-would it also require all bikes to be registered with number plates?

Finally, what would you hope to achieve by this? If you believe licensing transport users stops wrongdoing, can I point to you the data showing how a third of drivers admit to using handheld phones while driving, despite the law forbidding it.

So, to summarize：your plan would be to introduce a hugely new administrative scheme that would most likely have limited effect on the behaviour of averagely law-abiding (守法的) transport users who rarely harm others, while putting people off from this beneficial type of transport.

I'm afraid I just don't get it.

Coding(编码) apps and programming apps for kids are becoming increasingly popular. Here are some of the best apps for teaching kids to code.

Scratch

Scratch is by far the most popular coding app for kids, and it is now used in many schools all over the world. It is available for free on the web as well as for Android and iOS, which is why it is so popular. Created in 2003 by MIT students and staff, its coding language is designed for children aged 7 to 16.

The language employs visual blocks or bricks that can be dragged and dropped on a workspace to construct logical chains. As a result, the child will have a better understanding of the fundamental principles of coding.

Daisy the Dinosaur

Daisy the Dinosaur is a free iPad and iPhone programming app. What distinguishes it from the rest is that it is designed specifically for children aged 4 to 7. The app was developed by the same team that created the Hopscotch coding app for kids. If you've ever used that app, Daisy the Dinosaur has a similar user-friendly interface with limited features that is best for beginners.

Cargo-Bot

Cargo-Bot is a free coding app that is available for both Android and iOS devices. It is appropriate for children aged 10 and up. This app specialises in puzzle challenges involving a robotic arm that must be programmed to perform various tasks, most notably moving coloured boxes to create a specific design or pattern.

Kodable

Another relatively well-known coding app for kids is Kodable.' It is free for: both the iPhone and iPad, but there is no option for Android or the web. Kodable is appropriate for both younger children and older teenagers(from 8 years old and up). It is also remarkable for guiding users from a basic to a complex level of coding.

The approach is very game-like, with users able to select a character to guide them through the levels.