Last summer, Katie Steller pulled off the freeway on her way to work in Minneapolis. She stopped at a traffic light, where a man was sitting with a sign asking for help. She rolled down her window and shouted. "Hey. I'm driving around giving free haircuts. Do you want one right now?" The man laughed, then paused. "Actually," he said, "I was really hoping to get a haircut." Steller pulled out a red chair from her car and helped the man cut his hair immediately. After the work was done, the man looked in a mirror. "I look good!" he said.
Up to now, Steller has given 30 or so such haircuts around the city to people with little influence, and she is strongly aware of the power of her cleanup job.
As a teen, she suffered from a severe disease, causing her hair to get thinned, so her mother arranged for Steller's first professional haircut. "To sit down and have somebody look at me and talk to me like a person and not just an illness, it helped me feel cared about and less alone," she says. After that, Steller knew she wanted to have her own barbershop so she could help people feel the way she'd felt that day. Not long after finishing cosmetology (美容术) school in 2009, she began what she now calls her Red Chair Project, reaching out to people on the streets. Her aim was that by doing some kind acts, others would be inspired to spread their own.
"Part of what broke my heart was just how lonely people looked," she said. "I thought maybe I'd go around and ask if people want free haircuts. I can't fix their problems, but maybe I can help them feel less alone for a moment."
It all began with a belief in simple acts of kindness, such as a free haircut. "The way you show up in the world matters," said Steller. "You have no idea what people are going to do with the kindness that you give them."
From Mozart to Metallica, tons of people enjoy listening to various types of music while they paint, write, or draw. Most believe that music helps increase creativity, but an international study conducted by English and Swedish researchers is challenging that view. The study results were echoed by scientists from Lancaster University, and the University of Gavle, saying their findings show music actually weakens creativity.
To reach their conclusions, researchers had volunteers complete verbal problems designed to inspire creativity while sitting in a quiet room, and then again while music played in the background. They found that background music significantly weakened the volunteers' ability to complete tasks connected with verbal creativity. The team also tested background noises like those commonly heard in a library, but found that such noises had no influence on subjects' creativity.
The tasks were simple word games. For example, volunteers were given three words, such as dress, rise, and flower. Then, they were asked to find a single word connected with all three that could be combined to form a common phrase or word. The single word, in this case, would be "sun" (sundress, sunrise, sunflower). Volunteers completed the tasks in either a quiet room, or while listening to two different types of music: rock music or light music
"We found strong evidence of weakened performance when playing background music in comparison to quiet background conditions," says co-author D. Neil McLatchie of Lancaster University. He and his colleagues find that music negatively influences the verbal working memory processes of the brain, preventing creativity. Also, as far as the library background noises having seemingly no effect, the study's authors believe that was the case because library noises create a "regular state" environment that doesn't affect concentration.
"To conclude, the findings here challenge the popular view that music increases creativity, and instead show that music, whatever type it is, is always a disadvantage for creative performance in problem solving," the study reads.
In the age of social distancing, using robots for some health care interactions is a promising way to reduce in-person contact between health care workers and sick patients. However, a key question is how patients will react to a robot entering the room. Researchers from MIT and Brigham and Women's Hospital recently set out to answer that question.
In a study, the team found that a large majority of patients reported that interacting with a health care provider through a video screen fixed on a robot was similar to an in-person interaction with a health care worker.
"We're working on robots that can help provide care to ensure the safety of the patient and the health care workforce. The results of this study give us some confidence that people are ready and willing to join us. In a larger online survey carried out nationwide, we also found that a majority of respondents were open to having robots perform small tasks such as taking a nose swab (拭子)." says Giovanni Traverso, an MIT assistant professor and the senior author of the study.
After the COVID-19 pandemic began early last year, Traverso and his colleagues turned their attention toward new strategies to reduce interactions between potentially sick patients and health care workers. To that end, they created a mobile robot that could interact with patients as they waited in the emergency department. The robots were equipped with sensors that allow them to measure vital signs, including skin temperature, breathing rate, and pulse(脉搏) rate. The robots also carried an iPad for remote video communication with a health care provider.
The study suggests that it could be worthwhile to develop robots that can perform tasks that currently require a lot of human effort, such as turning a patient over in bed. These days, turning COVID-19 patients onto their stomachs requires several people. Doing Covid-19 tests is another task that takes a lot of time and effort from health care workers, who could be arranged for other tasks if robots could help.
Go on the Safest Trip
While travelling, there are many safety measures that all travellers should take, even if they're heading out a nearby mountain for a camping trip, renting a seaside Airbnb, or choosing any other destination. Advice is highly needed on everything from what to pack to how to protect yourself.
Don't take the unfamiliar road. While part of the joy of exploring nature is seeing new and beautiful views, if your road trip includes a hike, stay on the marked path. Never give in to your curiosity to hike off-trail and in unfamiliar or unmarked areas. " " Warned by Dr. Velimir Petkov.
Pack clothing. In the morning, when you set out on your adventure, your temperature will likely be comfortable. As the sun reaches its highest point, you'll start to sweat inside your car. That's why experts recommend packing everything you need to stay comfortable, including clothing for different temperatures.
Make sure you get enough sleep. While many people have difficulty sleeping, plenty rest is necessary before a long car ride." Do not drive while you are feeling sleepy. " Petkov recommended. He also noted that even if you get the benefits of seven to eight hours of sleep, a little coffee can never hurt.
Protect your skin. You may not consider the sun while sitting in the car. The sunlight can go right through window glass and cause you to burn. Bahar Schmidt, founder of Eluxit Travel Agency, recommends making more efforts to protect your skin with sunscreen and drugs against insects.
A. You could get lost, injured or both.
B. It is a wise choice to wear strong shoes.
C. You would never enjoy the views without the tips.
D. If you feel like a rest, pull over and take a short break.
E. And at night, certain areas experience a sharp drop in degrees.
F. And mosquitoes are also drawn when you're outdoors at night.
G. We spoke with travel experts for safety guide to getting on the road.
One of the greatest things about getting out of the city is heading into nature and really communing with(与……融为一体)the Earth and wildlife. But sometimes, the 1 finds its way into the city.
A man named Tom Bell lives in London. When he went up to his rooftop to take a break one day, he realized he wasn't 2 . But don't worry. His 3 was of the fuzzy(毛茸茸的)variety. A wild fox had made its way up to the roof just in time to 4 the sunset. It was getting 5 and cold, but fortunately, there was a 6 laid out and ready for it! The tired fox just 7 to have a sleep.
Tom quickly 8 the event online with the world and received many 9. People were obviously 10 by the truly unbothered fox. 11 the lucky man, the fox got up there through the fire escape. A man named Steve even played it some music to make sure the fox had the 12 evening!
In fact, London is home to many foxes, 13 not all of them are this cute and beautiful. They've come to be called urban foxes and they began to make themselves 14 in London back in the 1930s when the city' s growth started 15 their natural territory(领地).And they live in cities all over England. It is 16 that there's a population of about 33,000 urban foxes in total in the country.
Once Tom shared his 17 house guest, others around London also started 18 photos of their urban foxes! Well, it's probably safe to say that we're a little envious(羡慕的) of these lucky persons and their fuzzy visitors. It is 19 to see that people and the wilderness can live together 20 .
Humans have been eager to travel to space to learn more about the universe. They make diverse kinds of (vehicle) to carry brave people into space to explore the universe. On October 1957, the Sputnik I satellite (launch) by the USSR and successfully orbited around the Earth. Afterwards, the USSR focused on (send) people into space, and on 12 April 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first person in the world (go) into space. Over eight years later, American astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon.
Despite the huge successes, exploring the universe can be dangerous and (challenge). Some astronauts even lost their lives during their missions to the space. it is risky, people will continue to explore the final frontier.
China's space programme started (late) than those of Russia and the US, but it has made rapid progress in a short time. China became the third country in the world to (independent) send humans into space in 2003, Yang Liwei successfully orbited Earth in the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft. Since then, China has made series of achievements in the field of space technology. It's hoped that future discoveries will make us understand how the universe began and also help us survive well into the future.
