A new study, conducted by British company Mindlab International, has found that listening to music at work increases accuracy and speed, The Telegraph reported. Perhaps, some parents disagree with this idea, saying, "Switch off the music and concentrate!" Well, if that's the case with your parents, you might now be able to convince them that you have science on your side.

    The company gave 26 participants a series of different tasks for five days in a row, including spell checking, mathematical word problems, data entry, and abstract reasoning. The participants completed these tasks while listening to music or no music at all.

    The results showed that while music was playing, 88% of participants produced their most accurate test results and 81% completed their fastest work. David Lewis, chairman of Mindlab International, told The Telegraph, "Music is a very powerful management tool if you want to increase not only the efficiency of your workforce but also their emotional state... they are going to become more positive about the work."

    However, you may have a list of your favorite songs, but not all kinds of music match all homework. For maths or other subjects involving numbers or attention to detail, you should listen to classical music, the study found. In the study, pop music enabled participants to complete their tasks 58% faster than when listening to no music at all. If you are reviewing your English writing, pop music is the best choice, as it is the best kind for spell checking. It cut mistakes by 14%, compared to listening to no music. After finishing your homework, do you often take time to check your answers? Maybe, some dance music is suitable for you.

    If you watch British television on Friday March 15,you might be surprised to see celebrities wearing funny red noses and joking around. But don't worry. They're not mad. It's all part of a biannual fund-raising event called Red Nose Day.

    Organized by the charity Comic Relief, founded in 1985 by two British comedians, the aim of the event it is to raise money to fight poverty and injustice in the UK and Africa. Celebrities and public figures support the event by making appearances on comic TV shows broadcast by the BBC. This year, for example, UK Prime Minister David Cameron appeared in a music video by One Direction, which the band produced for the event.

    But Britons don't just raise money for charitable causes on one day a year. They do it all year round. One way of doing so is-by shopping in charity shops. These small, inconspicuous shops sell clothes, books and household goods just like any other shop But there's one big difference—everthing sold in the shops is second-hand.

    There are nearly 10,000 charity shops in the UK, according to the Charity Retail Association. Their business model is simple: Anybody who has things they don't want anymore can donate them to a charity shop, where they are checked for damage, cleaned and priced. Most items go back on sale at a small part of their original price and the money that is made by selling them is used for a charitable cause.

    The idea of buying used clothes may sound off-putting, but for shoppers who have less spending money, such as the elderly or those in low-paying jobs, it has been a welcome option for years. Now, shopping at charity shops is also becoming popular with young people looking for alternative fashion." You can find very unique clothes for a very cheap price. It doesn't bother me that other people may have worn them. I simply wash them before I wear them," said Anne Marie, a 19-year-old Internet user from the US, in a comment on a Yahoo forum.

    So next time you spot a charity shop, why not go inside? Who knows, you might find a lovely dress for just a few pounds. Even better, you can enjoy wearing it in the knowledge that your money helped a good cause.

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    Driving could soon be a far more pleasant experience thanks to a personal in-car robot being developed by researchers. The robot, which is called “Affective Intelligent Driving Agent (AIDA)” will be able to tell you the best route home based on traffic reports, remind you to pick up petrol and suggest places you may like to visit. The robot, which sits on the dashboard, is being developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in collaboration with Volkswagen.

    AIDA communicates with the driver through an expressive robot screen and will even appear sympathetic if you're having a bad day. Cynthia Breazeal, director of MIT's Personal Robots Group, said: “We are developing AIDA to read the driver's mood from facial expression and other cues and respond in a proper way.”

    AIDA works by analyzing the driver's mobility patterns, keeping track of common routes and destinations. The creators say the robot should be able to work out home and work locations within a week of driving. Soon afterwards, the system will direct the driver to their preferred supermarket, suggesting a route that avoids traffic-clogged roads. AIDA might recommend a petrol stop en route if the fuel tank is nearly empty. The robot will also incorporate real-time information about traffic jams, the weather report, commercial activity, tourist attractions, and residential areas.

    “In developing AIDA we asked ourselves how we could design a system that would offer the same kind of guidance as an informed and friendly companion.”

    “AIDA can also give you feedback on your driving, helping you achieve more energy efficiency and safer behavior,” Assaf Biderman from SENSEable City Lab added.

    A great white shark in a California aquarium attacked two soupfin sharks(翅鲨), causing their deaths. The attack was not a natural action for food, but a kind of response when the two sharks swam too close to the great white. The great white didn't attacked other fellows, but the officials had to move other soupfin sharks to another tank(贮水池)for their safety.

    These attacks had given rise to calls for the freedom of the 88-pound, 5-foot-3- inch shark. The aquarium housed the shark in a huge tank. However, according to experts, the tank was not big enough for the shark. Its nose was bloody from striking the glass of the aquarium. Great white sharks in the wild had a big amount of migration, sometimes traveling 50 miles a day. Because the shark was still young, there was possibility of his growing. As it grows, it can became more troubled in the limited space.

    Aquarium officials said that keeping the shark in the aquarium allowed them to study their behavior that they cannot study with free great white sharks. When they studied behavioral patterns, scientists believed that they can help great white sharks in the wild.

    Since the shark had been on display, the number of people who visited aquarium increased greatly. The one-year-old shark was the longest surviving great white living here. It had been at the Monterey Bay Aquarium for six months. Other great whites did not survive for longer than 16 days in the aquarium.

    Everybody hates it, but everybody does it. A recent report said that 40%of Americans hate tipping. In America alone, tipping is a $ 16 billion-a-year industry. Consumers acting politely ought not to pay more than they have to for a given service. Tips should not exist. So why do they? The common opinion in the past was that tips both rewarded the efforts of good service and reduced uncomfortable feelings of inequality. And also, tipping makes for closer relations. It went without saying that the better the service, the bigger the tip.

    But according to a new research from Cornell University, tips no longer serve any useful function. The paper analyzes numbers they got from 2,547 groups dining at 20 different restaurants. The connection between larger tips and better service was very weak. Only a tiny part of the size of the tip had anything to do with the quality of service.

    Tipping is better explained, by culture than by the money people spend. In America, the custom came into being a long time ago. It is regarded as part of the accepted cost of a service. In New York restaurants, failing to tip at least 15% could well mean dissatisfaction from the customers. Hairdressers can expect to get l5%-20%, and the man who delivers your fast food $ 2. In Europe, tipping is less common. In many restaurants the amount of tip is decided by a standard service charge. In many Asian countries, tipping has never really caught on at all. Only a few have really taken to tipping. According to Michael Lynn, the Cornell papers' author, countries in which people are more social or outgoing tend to tip more. Tipping may reduce anxiety about being served by strangers. And Mr. Lynn says, “In America, where people are expressive and eager to mix up with others, tipping is about social approval. If you tip badly, people think less of you. Tipping well is a chance to show off.”

    A university in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, has installed facial recognition systems in classrooms to monitor students' behavior, sparking a heated debate online. China Pharmaceutical University recently installed the systems in two pilot classrooms as well as school gates, dormitory entrances, the library and laboratory buildings.

    Xu Jianzhen, director of the university's library and information center, told TbePaper.cn that the systems will help teachers check student attendance and monitor behavior during the lectures. "In the past, some students just checked their attendance and ditched the class or asked other students to check the attendance for them. Now with facial recognition, that would no longer be a problem," he said. "The moment you enter the classroom, the camera will monitor you all the way through and can tell how long you lower your head, whether you're playing with a smart phone, whether you're dozing off or reading other books," he added.

    The news has raised wide debate on Chinese social media, with many questioning if the cameras will violate students' privacy. A Sina Weibo user said: "I oppose such methods, and it is not clear whether the systems are developed by the school itself or by third parties. If it is the latter, is there any regulation of security? Where will the information be sent and stored?"

    Gan Xiangsi, a senior student from the university, said she welcomed the systems being applied in dormitories and libraries as this can help prevent personal belongings being stolen，but it is not necessary to use such technology in the classroom. "If the teacher teaches well，the students will be interested," she said. "On the contrary, this kind of monitoring will make everyone feel resistant."

    China Pharmaceutical University is not the first university to use facial recognition technology on campus. Many universities across the country have installed cameras at campus entrances to ensure safety. But many are also hesitant when it comes to applying such technology in classrooms.

    "This issue has been debated for quite a long time," Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences, told China National Radio. According to Chu, teachers and students who are under observation might not behave as they normally would since they know they are being watched. "Cameras should not be installed in classrooms merely for effective teaching purposes," Chu said, as teachers are also being observed. He agreed that "students' privacy needs to be protected". He also said that not putting classrooms under control is an important principle. "If you don't follow this principle, students will falsify and disguise their state of listening，and teachers may also not perform as well. Then real teaching will not occur," he added.