Ever get that feeling you're being watched? Well, if you're a dog-owner, you may have a point. Dogs are able to watch people's interactions with one another to determine who holds yummier treats, according to a new study. This study joins others that show dogs are good observers of human behaviors and feelings. It offers evidence that dogs use information not only from people's direct interactions with them, but also their interactions with one another.

    In the study, dogs watched a man ask two women for some of their corns. Both women gave the man corns when he asked, but in response to one woman, the man showed his enthusiasm and said the corns were so delicious. In response to the other woman, he gave the corns back and called them gross（in Spanish；the study was conducted in Argentina）. After these interactions, the man left and an assistant holding the dog let the dog go. While many dogs didn't approach either woman, the dogs that did have a preference tended to prefer the woman with the yummier(美味的) food.

    Other studies of dogs' people-watching ability have found dogs are able to tell the difference between happy and sad faces in their owners. They prefer people who give others food when asked over people who don't give others food. And in one study, dogs turned toward crying people more often than toward talking people.

    So how much do dogs really understand about the humans around them? That's not totally settled yet. In a strange twist to the Argentine study above, when the researchers tried an experiment in which they put two plates of corns on a table and had a man react to each plate, dogs didn't preferentially approach the tastier plate afterward. You could say dogs watch for the interaction between two persons, not just how a person reacts. Yet a previous study found dogs will choose boxes that people reacted to happily, but not boxes people reacted to with a disgusted face.

    Well, either way, you can be sure Fluffs is keeping an eye on you, to the best of her ability. The study was published in the journal PLOS One.

    Soaping up your hands may do more than just get rid of germs. It may wash away the inner confusion you feel right after being forced to make a choice between two appealing choices, according to a new study. The study builds on the past research into a phenomenon known as “the Macbeth effect” (麦克白效应）.

    It turns out that Shakespeare was really onto something when he imagined Lady Macbeth trying to clean her conscience by rubbing invisible bloodstains from her hands.

    A few years ago, scientists asked people to describe a past wrong act. If people were then given a chance to clean their hands, they later expressed less guilt than people who hadn't cleaned.

    This finding interested W. S. Lee, a researcher. “Anything from the past, any kind of negative emotional experiences, might be washed away,” says Lee.

    He decided to test hand washing's effect on one kind of bad feeling：the tension we feel after being forced to choose between two attractive choices, because picking one choice makes us feel that we've lost the other. People usually try to calm this inner conflict by later exaggerating (夸大）the positive aspects of their choice.

    He had students rank 10 different music CDs. Then he offered students two of the CDs and told them to select one as a gift. Some students then used liquid soap. Others only looked at the soap or sniffed (闻)it. “Actually, you do not need water and soap,” says Lee.

    Later, the students again had to rank all the music CDs. People who didn't wash their hands had the normal response — they scored their take-home CD higher, suggesting that they now saw it as an even more attractive one than before. But this wasn't true for the hand washers. They ranked the music about the same. “They feel no need at all to justify (证明…正确）the choice,” says Lee.

    But the effects of it just aren't clear. Schwarz says it's too soon to know whether people should head for a sink after making a tough choice. He says washing may help decision-makers by cleaning away mental disorder. But perhaps if they don't go through the usual post-decision process of justifying their choice, they might feel more sorrow in the long run.

    SPECIAL EVENTS THIS WEEKEND

    Captain Good Fellow

    Do your children enjoy interesting stories, funny games, and exciting dances? Captain Good Fellow will be ready to teach all these things to children of all ages at the City Theatre on Saturday morning at 10:00, Free.

    Walking Tour of the Town

    Forget your worries on Saturday morning. Take a beautiful walk and learn about local history. Meet at the front entrance of City Hall at 9:30. Wear comfortable shoes!

    Films at the Museum

    Two European films will be shown Saturday afternoon at the Museum Theatre. See Broken Window at 1:30. The workers will be at 3:45. For further information, call 4987898.

    International Picnic

    Are you tired of eating the same food every day? Come to Central Park on Saturday and enjoy food from all over the world. Delicious and not expensive. Noon to 5:00 pm.

    Take Me out to the Ballgame

    It's October, and tonight is your last chance to see the Redbirds this year. Get your tickets at the gate. It might be cold；don't forget sweaters and jackets.

Do You Want to Hear “The Zoo”

     “The Zoo”, a popular rock group from Australia, will give their first US concert tomorrow night at 8:00 at Rose Hall, City College.

    A lot of kids have dreams they will never achieve due to the limitations of their little bodies. They want to fly, or to become a dinosaur, or to learn how to shoot webs out of their fingers like Spiderman.

    Luka Tavcar, 12, has muscular dystrophy(萎缩) and is totally dependent on his wheelchair. Nevertheless, late last year, he had an inspired plan: to be photographed walking around and having fun.

    He approached Matej Peljhan, an amateur photographer and a psychologist at CIRIUS rehabilitation(康复) center near Ljubljana, Slovenia, where Luka is a patient.

    At first, Peljhan was perplexed. How could he photograph a boy who can not move or act in motion? "Luka wanted to see himself playing and having fun, but it seemed impossible," he says.

    Then Peljhan had a brainstorm: Luka could lie down on a piece of cloth and, with the help of an assistant, Peljhan would pose the boy as if he were jumping, climbing stairs, moving downhill on a skateboard, and playing basketball. Then Peljhan would shoot these images from above. The photos took about a month to produce; all were shot early this year.

    Peljhan, who lost his right arm and left eye as a child, says his disabilities motivated him to make the photographs. "I understand people with limitations," he says.

    He named the series the little Prince after the French story by Antoine de Saint-Exupery in which a boy teaches a man about trust, hope and friendship. Luka loves the photos.

    Peljhan himself understands what it is like to live with limitations- he lost his right arm and left eye as a child. "He wants to stay positive," the photographer explains. "Luka's imagination helps him forget his phisical limitation", says Peljhan. "He's fragile, but he can see the world differently."

    One of India's top engineering schools has restricted Internet access in its boarding houses, saying addiction to surfing, gaming and blogging was affecting students' performance, making them lonely and even suicidal.

    Authorities at the best Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Mumbai said students had stopped socializing and many were late for morning classes or slept through them. "Now, a student doesn't even know who lives two doors away from him because he is so busy on the Internet," said Prakash Gopalan, dean of Student Affairs. "The old dormitory culture of companionship and socializing among students is gone. This is not healthy in our opinion."

    IIT-Mumbai, with about 5,000 students, is one of the seven IITs across India which are considered to be among the finest engineering schools in the world. They are also a talent pool for global technology giants. But their hard courses, tough competition and lonely campus lifestyle have taken an effect on students. Depressive and dysfunctional lifestyles are known to be common among IIT students, and at least nine have committed suicide in the past five years. Students have unlimited free Internet access in their boarding houses to help them in their studies, but many also use it to surf, chat, download movies and music, blog and for gaming.

    "Starting Monday, Internet access will be banned between 11 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. at IIT-Mumbai's 13 boarding buildings to encourage students to sleep early and to try and force them out of their shells." Gopalan said. But the move has not gone down well with students who say they hate their lives being regulated. "Now they will say we need to listen to a lullaby (摇篮曲) to go to sleep." said Rajiv, an electronics student.

    The University of Birmingham is the first excellent UK Russell Group university to announce that it will accept the "Gaokao" exam for high­flying Chinese students wishing to join its undergraduate courses in 2019. High school students who complete the "National Higher Education Entrance Examination", or Gaokao, with top grades will be able to apply for direct entry onto Birmingham degree programmes without first completing a foundation year which is a routine for the freshman.

    Gaokao is usually taken by students in their last year of senior high school and, every year, each province in China sets the grades required to gain admission to its universities. It is usually held across China in early June. Students are tested in Chinese, Mathematics, a Foreign Language and social sciences or natural sciences.

    University of Birmingham Vice­Chancellor Professor Sir David Eastwood said: "The University of Birmingham has been challenging and developing great minds for more than a century. We welcome people from around the globe to study at Birmingham and Chinese students form an integral part of our education and research community. We are further opening access to Birmigham's wealth of education opportunities for the brightest and most dedicated Chinese students by accepting this strict and important qualification. I look forward to welcoming these high­flying students to the University of Birmingham."

    Gaokao is increasingly accepted by universities in Australia, the USA, Canada and mainland Europe. Birmingham will only be considering high quality students who achieve a minimum 80% Gaokao score and meet additional academic and English language requirements.

    Professor J on Frampton, Director of the University of Birmingham's China Institute said: "The University of Birmingham has a long history of educating students from China and one of our most famous graduates is Li Siguang­the founding father of Chinese geology. I am delighted that the University is now accepting the Gaokao. This gives the brightest and best Chinese students an opportunity to move straight into the first year of our undergraduate programmes and experience the benefits of studying at a global Top 100 university, such as Birmingham."