The Indian government may use 3D paintings as virtual (虚拟的) speed-breakers on major highways and roads, in an attempt to check speeding and careless driving, and eventually make its deadly roads a little safer. “We are trying out 3D paintings used as virtual speed breakers to avoid unnecessary requirements of speed breakers (减速带),” India's transport minister Nitin Gadkari tweeted.

    The visual illusions (幻象) are supposed to encourage drivers to slow down automatically. Earlier this month, India bad ordered the removal of all speed breakers from highways, which are considered to be a danger to safety for high-speed vehicles.

    India has the highest number of road accident deaths in the world According to the World Health Organization, over 200,00 people are killed by road accidents due to poor application of road safety laws. This is considerably higher than its official figures of 141,526 for 2014.

    The use of visual illusions as speed breakers was first pioneered in the American city of Philadelphia in 2008, as part of a campaign against speeding motorist. The technique has also been tried out in China to create floating 3D crossings.

    India, cities such as Ahmadabad and Chennai have already experimented with 3D zebra crossings in the last one year. In Ahmadabad for instance, two artists, mother and daughter have painted 3D crosswalks in the first few months of this year. The artists say their motto is “to increase the attention of drivers”, and that the concept has been successfully tested in zones where accidents easily occur on a highway.

    However, critics argue that once divers know that these speed briers are visual illusions, they may ignore them. Others also point out that India's decision does not consider the safety of a large walkers. In the end, the new policy may be just one step towards improving road safety.

    Women are friendly. But men are more competitive. Why? Researchers have found it's all down to the hormone oxytocin （荷尔蒙催生素）. Although known as the love hormone, it affects the sexes differently.

    "Women tend to be social in their behavior. They often share with others. But men lend to be competitive. They are trying to improve their social status," said Professor Ryan.

    Generally, people believe that the hormone oxytocin is let out in our body in various social situations and our body creates a large amount of it during positive social interactions （互动） such as falling in love or giving birth.

    But in a previous experiment Professor Ryan found that the hormone is also let out in our body during negative social interactions such as envy.

    Further researches showed that in men the hormone oxytocin improves the ability to recognize competitive relationships, but in women it raises the ability to recognize friendship.

    Professor Ryan's recent experiment used 62 men and women aged 20 to 37. Half of the participants（参与者）received oxytocin. The other half received placebo （安慰剂）.

    After a week, the two groups switched with participants. They went through the same procedure with the other material.

    Following each treatment, they were shown some video pictures with different social interactions. Then they were asked to analyze the relationships by answering some questions. The questions were about telling friendship from competition. And their answers should be based on gestures, body language and facial expressions.

    The results indicated that, after treatment with oxytocin, men's ability to correctly recognize competitive relationships improved, but in women it was the ability to correctly recognize friendship that got better.

    Professor Ryan thus concluded: "Our experiment proves that the hormone oxytocin can raise people's abilities to better distinguish different social interactions. And the behavior differences between men and women are caused by biological factors （因素） that are mainly hormonal. "

    Road trip

    Motorhome delivery offers great family holidays. For just $1 a day, you can hire a fully﹣equipped motorhome, which you deliver to a specific destination within some days and kilometers. You then hire another one to get home or take a bus or train. Your only other expense will be fuel and about﹩20 a day for parking fees. To learn more, visit apollocamper.com.

    Plan ahead

    For a comfortable break, flexibility with times, dates and places helps lower the cost. Find a few hotels you like, ask about their vacant rooms, then wait a few weeks and call again. If they still have rooms, you're at an advantage to ask for a better price. Lots of last﹣minute deals are online. Watif （watif.com.au） has deals on hotels that have dropped their prices so slow. You don't know where you're staying until it's booked, but anywhere with four or five stars has to be fairly good.

    Back to nature

    Wild camping appeals to nature lovers and costs nothing. This is forbidden on beaches and parks in most urban areas, but you can turn up in more distant area as long as nobody owns the land. You'll need to take everything with you and may need to shop on eBuy （ebuy.com.au）.If you're a camping beginner, be aware of safety measures and get your questions answered on the Internet.

    Swap meet

    How about a home swap？For a $250 yearly joining cost, you can stay in someone's home in an international place of your choice while they or someone else stays in yours. Find out more at familylink.com.au.

    Volunteering abroad is a great way to help others, improve your skills and become a more confident, independent person. If you are interested in volunteering abroad, here are some places to go.

    Australia

    If you seek a life on the beach, in a great climate with friendly people, Australia might be your best bet. With thousands of volunteers already signing up to leave for Australia during the holidays, it will be a very popular option.

    Brazil

    This vast country has some great opportunities on offer and is especially popular this year. A lot of volunteer work is available in Brazil centers on conservation and ecological projects. With the world's largest rainforest in Brazil, of which huge part is in danger, there are lots of different jobs you can do.

    Kenya

    Kenya is the destination for those seeking an African experience. Generally volunteers in Kenya work in orphanages (孤儿院) or with local children living in slums (贫民窟). There is a great demand for volunteers in Africa because many people live in poverty, so if you truly feel like making a difference to a community, Kenya should be at the top of your list.

    Costa Rica

    Golden sandy beaches, clear coastlines and beautiful cities are what Costa Rica is all about. Because of its small size, you can see a lot of the country in just a short time. You can really make the most of your time as a volunteer. A lot of work is needed with wildlife and ecological work, so if you want to look after turtles (海龟) on the beach, Costa Rica could be just the place for you.

    Older women who walk a little over three kilometers each day might live longer than less active women of the same age, a new study suggests.

    Many Americans hoping to stay healthy set a daily goal of 10, 000 steps, or about eight kilometers. They often have this goal because they are wearing electronic devices which set that target, note researchers in the United States. Their findings appeared recently in the publication JAMA Internal Medicine.

    But it is not clear how much intensity(强度)or speed matter when counting the health benefits of every step, the researchers write. They add that 10,000 steps per day might not be the right goal for everyone.

    For the study, researchers observed 17,000 women, all in their early 70s. They asked the women to wear accelerometers for at least four days. Accelerometers are small devices that measure the number of steps and the intensity of movement. The researchers followed up with the women much later, around 4. 3 years later, on average. Since the beginning of the study, 504 women had died. Compared to women who took no more than 2, 718 steps daily, the women who took at least 4,363 steps per day were 41 percent less likely to die.

    "Even a modest amount of steps is associated with lower death rates," said I-Min Lee, the lead writer of a report on the study. "The rate of stepping did not matter in these older women: it was the number of steps that mattered.

    The study had a few limitations. For example, the researchers only measured women's movements once, at the start of the study period. It is possible that the women's behaviors changed over time. Still, the results are "good news for older adults who may have difficulty walking at faster paces, "said Keith Diaz, a researcher at Columbia University. He was not involved in the study.

    "Any walking is better than nothing," Diaz said by email. "With even small amounts of walking, your risk of death will be sharply reduced "For those who have difficulty walking, other research shows that any form of aerobic activity provides health benefits," he added. "Swimming, bicycling or any form of activity that is continuous in nature will provide health benefits.

    At first, Michael Surrell didn't see the black smoke or flames shooting from the windows of his neighbors' home. He and his wife had just parked around the corner from their own house in Allentown, Pennsylvania, when they got a call from one of his daughters, "The house next door is on fire!" He went to investigate. That's when he saw two women and a girl hysterical (歇斯底里的)on their porch.

    "The baby's in there!" one of the women cried. Though the fire department had been called, Surrell, then 64, instinctively ran inside. "The baby" was 8-year-old Tiara Roberts, the woman's granddaughter and a playmate of Surrell's three youngest kids, then 8, 10, and 12. The other two on the porch were Tiara's aunt and cousin.

Entering the burning house was like "running into a bucket of black paint," Surrell says. The thick smoke caused him to stumble blindly around, burned his eyes, and made it impossible to breathe. The conditions would have been hazardous for anyone, but for Surrell, who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (慢性阻塞性肺疾病), they were life-threatening. He was the last person who should have run into a burning building— he has lung disease. But that didn't stop him.

    After a few minutes in the smoke filled house, he retreated outside to catch his breath. "Where is Tiara?" he asked desperately." The second floor." her aunt shouted back.

    Surrell knew he couldn't hold his breath for long. So he uttered a little prayer, "Well, Lord, this is it. You gotta help me, because I'm not coming out without that little girl." Taking a deep breath, he went in a second time.

    The darkness was overwhelming. Yet because the house had a similar layout to his, he found the stairs and made it to the second floor. He turned to the right and was met by intense heat. He was already out of breath.

    "Baby girl, where are you?" His throat and lungs burned as if he'd inhaled fire instead of the smoke and soot in the air. Every blink stung his eyes. All he could hear was the crackling and popping of burning wood. ①.Still unable to see, Surrell fell to his knees on the hot wood floor. He crawled toward the sound, feeling around for any sign of the girl. An ominous thought crossed his mind: I'm probably gonna die up here.

    Finally he touched something. A shoe, then an ankle. He pulled Tiara toward him. ②Her body was limp and she wasn't breathing. He scooped her into his arms and stood. He felt the heat of the flames on his cheeks. Turning, he fought through the smoke and ran blindly into the blackness. The next thing he knew, he was at the front door, then outside. Surrell put Tiara down on the porch.

    ③. A voice told him, "You have to breathe for her." He started CPR -the first time he'd ever done so. The women stood behind him, praying silently. Soon a soot-filled cough came from Tiara's throat. Surrell gave five more breaths. She coughed again. Her eyes flickered. He gave one final breath. She opened her eyes and took a breath on her own.

    ④.Their eyes met. Surrell hugged her tight and said, "Uncle's got you.^" Soon after, his throat closed off.

    Surrell woke up in the hospital a couple of days later, having suffered severe burns to his windpipe and the upper portion of his lungs. He spent over a week in the hospital. Tiara was released from the hospital after a few days. The fire exacerbated Surrell's pulmonary condition, and he feels the effects even two years later. As a result, he takes extra medication that helps open his airways. "It's a small price to pay," he says. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Wouldn't give it a second thought."