Are you preparing for a big test? If so, you may want to go play some basketball in between hitting the books. Doctors are starting to find more and more information that suggests a connection between exercise and brain development. Judy Cameron, a scientist at Oregon Health and Science University, studies brain development. According to her research, it seems that exercise can make blood vessels, including those in the brain, stronger and more fully developed. Dr. Cameron claims this allows people who exercise to concentrate better. As she says, “While we already know that exercise is good for the heart, exercise can really cause physical changes in the brain.”

    The effects of exercise on brain development can even be seen in babies. Babies who do activities that require a lot of movement and physical activity show greater brain development than babies who are less physically active. With babies, even a little movement can show big results. Margaret Barnes, a pediatrician（儿科医生）, believes in the importance of exercise. She thinks that many learning disabilities that children have in elementary school or high school can be traced back to a lack of movement as babies. “Babies need movement that stimulates their five senses. They need to establish a connection between motion and memory. In this way, as they get older, children will begin to associate physical activity with higher learning,” says Margaret.

    Older people can strengthen their brains as well. Columbia University studied a group of seniors ranging in age from seventy to seventy-nine. Their study showed a short-term memory increase of up to 40 percent after exercising just three hours a week. The exercise does not have to be very difficult, but it does have to increase the heart rate. Also, just like the motion for babies, exercise for older people should involve some complexity. Learning some new skills or motions, such as with yoga or tai-chi, helps to open up memory paths in the brain that may not have been used for a long time.

    For most people, any type of physical activity that increases the heart rate is helpful. The main goal is to increase the brain's flow of blood. And your brain can benefit from as little as three to four hours of exercise a week.

    Flat Holm, a small island in Britain's Bristol Channel, has no permanent residents and minimal infrastructure（设施）. The pretty land mass is now, however, becoming increasingly popular with tourists wishing to explore the rural landscape and view the island's seabird colonies.

    Though this is welcome news, meeting the island's growing energy needs without ruining its environment poses a challenge. Flat Holm team leader Natalie Taylor says, “As we promote the island more and we get more visitors here, there's going to be a lot more demand for electricity so it's really important that we've got a really high functioning system that can provide for those people. From an environmental point of view, we want to reduce the use of diesel（柴油）generators so that we can have as small ecological footprints as possible.”

    While the Cardiff Council, which oversees the island, considered traditional solar and hydroelectricity, it was reluctant to carry out either, due to their high cost and permanent nature. According to energy and sustainability manager Gareth Harcombe, the officials were seeking a portable option that could be moved if the site was needed for another purpose.

    Fortunately, the UK-based company Renovagen had the perfect solution. A small panel can provide 11kW of power within two minutes. A more extensive version, unrolled from a shipping container, can yield 300kW of electricity in less than an hour.

    The solar panel “carpets”, laid on the island in early October, are being used to provide electricity to its sole pub and lighthouse. The Cardiff Council also plans to use them to charge two Nissan e-NV200 electric vehicles in the future.

    In addition to providing power to remote islands like Flat Holm, Hingley hopes the Rapid Roll technology will be useful in areas affected by natural disasters. A good example is Puerto Rico, where most residents have been without electricity since Hurricane Maria destroyed the power lines in late September.

    International Robotics Forum（论坛）

    Tokyo Big Sight, Tokyo, Japan, December 4-5

    The Robotics Society of Japan ( RSJ) , to provide opportunities for young robot lovers to learn more about industrial and service robots, is going to hold the International Robotics Forum that will cooperate with this year's International Robot Exhibition.

    The lectures and explanations throughout the Conference will be given in Japanese but will be interpreted into English at the same time. The Conference will offer a great opportunity for senior high school students from all around the world to communicate with each other through robots. Therefore, we look forward to your active participation.

    The event will take place two days. On the morning of Day One, Prof. Shin' ichi Yuta of the Shibaura Institute of Technology will give a lecture on basic mobile robotics and learning through robots.  This will be followed by a talk by Mr.  Kazuhiko Yokoyama of Yasukawa Electric Corporation who will explain the mechanism and control of robots and also point out the highlights(最精彩的部分）of the International Robot Exhibition.

    We will prepare a challenge for all the participants.  We will send you themes for robot research. You will study them in advance, and on the afternoon of Day One, you wi11 visit the Tokyo International Exhibition Center and investigate (详细研究）real robot . You will be able to experience fun and excitement of advanced robot technologies.  On the morning of Day Two, you will present your study and investigation results.

    On the afternoon of Day Two，as the final event, awards will be given by the RSJ to groups that have given outstanding presentations.

We hope that many future robot researchers and engineers will be born today.

    Teachers' Day is, interestingly, not celebrated on the same day all over the world. In some countries it is marked by a holiday, in others it is a working day.

    International Teachers' Day is celebrated on October 5. Being held ever since 1994, it is in honor of teachers' organizations worldwide. Its aim is to encourage supports for teachers and to meet the needs of students.

    China   In 1939, Teachers' Day was set for August 27, Confucius' birthday. In1951, the celebration was stopped. However, it was founded again in 1985, and the day was changed to September 10.

    India   Teachers' Day is celebrated on September 5 in honour of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the second president of India, whose birthday falls on that day.

    Russia   In Russia, Teachers' Day was celebrated on the first Sunday of October between 1965 and 1994. Since 1994, the day is observed on the October 5, just the same day as World Teachers Day.

    The US   In the US, Teachers' Day is non-official holiday. It is celebrated on the Tuesday of the first full week of May. A number of activities are organized in schools to honor teachers. The celebrations can continue for the whole week of May.

    Thailand   In Thailand, National Teachers' Day is celebrated every year on January 16. The first Teachers' Day was held in 1957. The day is a holiday in schools.

    School days are supposed to be the best days of your life and part of that experience usually involves some unforgettable physical activities. I asked some people to give me their memories of what happened to them on the sports field and beyond, and this is what they told me.

    Cup winners

    When I was about ten, the football team from our year unexplainably made it to the cup final of the local schools' league. I say unexplainably because I only remember us losing nearly every match we played. Anyway, in the final I set up the winning goal, a brilliant cross to my mate David who headed the ball in just before the final whistle. I still have a photograph of the team holding the cup.

    Forest hike

    I remember having to lead a group of eight boys on a school expedition for the best part of two days when I was a teenager. Even though we got lost at one point, I managed to keep them all together and get them from one end of a large forest to the other and back by sheer(纯粹的)force of will. I was chosen to be the leader, I think, because I was the only one who knew how to read a map!

    When we arrived back at the campsite, we found out that all the other groups had cheated and hitched(搭便车)most of the way instead… I felt a bit stupid, but also rather proud of myself at the same time for having done it properly.

    Learning to swim, learning to drown

    I learned to swim comparatively late, I suppose. I was maybe nine years old but my brother had a painful experience which nearly put him off for life. We lived in the USA for a while and had access to a university pool where the coaches had trained the American Olympic team. In those days, though, their idea of teaching kids how to swim was to tie a can to their ankles with a bit of string, throw them in the deep end and shout "Swim!". I am surprised my brother survived at all. He could only have been about six at the time.

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