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    The Verizon Innovative App Challenge gives kids a chance to create apps that can solve problems in their community.

    Do you want to make a difference in your community? The Verizon Innovative App Challenge can get you started. The first step is to think of a problem in your community. The next step is to create an app that can solve the problem.

    Groups of five to seven students in middle school or high school, led by a teacher, can enter the contest. First, teams compete on a local level. Teams that make it to the next round receive $5,000 for their schools. Finalists present their app ideas to judges in a live webinar (网络研讨会)．

    Next, the judges pick national winners. The top eight teams receive an additional $15,000 for their schools, and each team member receives a Samsung tablet. Plus, the winning teams get the chance to bring their app to life.

    A group of six girls from Los Fresnos, Texas, won the second annual Verizon Innovative App Challenge. They came up with the Hello Navi app concept, short for “hello navigation”. The app was designed to help visually­impaired (视力受损的) students navigate their school by using an internal compass and voice­over technology. Read more about the team in September 19, 2016 issue of TIME For Kids: Edition 3－4.

    Do you have an app idea that could help solve a local issue? The deadline to register is November 24, 2016. Find more information and register your team at www. verizonfoundation. org/appchallenge.

    Here are some tips from the Verizon Foundation to get you started：

•Get your team together for a brainstorming meeting. Write out all the ideas that come to mind.

• Don't ignore challenges. Think of the problems that exist in your community.

•Ask family, friends, and people in your community to share their thoughts about problems that they want to see solved.

    Have you ever found yourself in this situation：You hear a song you used to sing when you were a child-a bit of nostalgia（怀旧）or "blast from the past，"as we say．But it is not a distant childhood memory．The words come back to you as clearly as when you sang them all those years ago．

    Researchers at the University of Edinburgh studied the relationship between music and remembering a foreign language．They found that remembering words in a song was the best way to remember even one of the most difficult languages．

    Here is what they did. Researchers took 60 adults and randomly divided them into three groups of 20．Then they gave the groups three different types of "listen-and-repeat" learning conditions．Researchers had one group simply speak the words．They had the second group speak the words to a rhythm，or beat．And they asked the third group to sing the words．

    All three groups studied words from the Hungarian language for 15minutes．Then they took part in a series of language tests to see what they remembered．

    Why Hungarian，you ask ? Researchers said they chose Hungarian because not many people know the language．It does not share any roots with Germanic or Romance languages，such as Italian or Spanish．After the tests were over，the singers came out on top．The people who learned these new Hungarian words by singing them showed a higher overall performance．They did the best in four out of five of the tests．They also performed two times better than those who simply learned the words by speaking them．

    Dr．Katie Overy says singing could lead to new ways to learn a foreign language．The brain likes to remember things when they are contained in a catchy 3，or memorable 4，tune 5．

    Dr．Ludke said the findings could help those who struggle to learn foreign languages．On the University of Edinburgh's website Dr．Ludke writes，"This study provides the first experimental evidence that a listen-and-repeat singing method can support foreign language learning，and opens the door for future research in this area．"

    For many parents, raising a teenager is like fighting a long war, but years go by without any clear winner. Like a border conflict between neighboring countries, the parent-teen war is about boundaries: Where is the line between what I control and what you do?

    Both sides want peace, but neither feels it has any power to stop the conflict. In part, this is because neither is willing to admit any responsibility for starting it. From the parents “point of view, the only cause of their fight is their adolescents” complete unreasonableness. And of course, the teens see it in exactly the same way, except oppositely. Both feel trapped.

    In this article, I'll describe three no-win situations that commonly arise between teens and parents and then suggest some ways out of the trap. The first no-win situation is quarrels over unimportant things. Examples include the color of the teen's hair, the cleanliness of the bedroom, the preferred style of clothing, the child's failure to eat a good breakfast before school, or his tendency to sleep until noon on the weekends. Second, blaming. The goal of a blaming battle is to make the other admit that his bad attitude is the reason why everything goes wrong. Third, needing to be right. It doesn't matter what the topic is - politics, the laws of physics, or the proper way to break an egg - the point of these arguments is to prove that you are right and other person is wrong, for both wish to be considered an authority - someone who actually knows something - and therefore to command respect. Unfortunately, as long as parents and teens continue to assume that they know more than the other, they'll continue to fight these battles forever and never make any real progress.

    A California family drives a car that could help protect the environment. When Jon and Sandy go to the store or to their daughters' soccer games, they drive in high-tech style. They drive a $1 million, fuel-cell-powered car. It may be the world's most expensive car and one of the most environmentally friendly cars. The FCX is the first fuel-cell-powered car to be used by a family anywhere in the world. The FCX uses hydrogen and oxygen for fuel. Car makers have been working to develop vehicles that are better for the environment. They are developing cars that use fuel other than gasoline.

    And then what is fuel cell technology? Fuel cell technology works by changing the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water. This process produces electricity, and water vapor which comes out of the exhaust pipe. Most cars release dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Many scientists say these gases are major contributors to global warming. “The FCX is driven just like any other vehicle on the road, but without the gases which pollute the environment,” scientists say. Fuel cell technology has been around since the 1800s, but scientists have yet been to perfect it. They say it may take years before the technology is ready for widespread use. Another earth-friendly car is already on the market. Hybrid cars use both gasoline and an electric motor. They are becoming more popular with customers because they cut pollution and improve fuel efficiency.

    There are around 600,000 vegans (素食者) in the UK. That's just over 1% of the population — an amount expected to increase to 25% by 2025. And if there's one type of food that Brits love, it is fast food. People in the UK love it so much that there was a 34% increase in the number of fast food outlets from 2010 to 2018. It's no surprise, then, that vegan fast food is also on the rise.

    Vegan fast food has become big business. At Just Eat, an online food delivery company, vegan orders more than doubled in 2018. Greggs, a chain of high-street bakeries, named its vegan sausage roll the "fastest - selling product in six years". And big franchises such as McDonald's and KFC have announced meat-free chicken nuggets (鸡块) to come in the future.

    What's. driving this popularity? Katrina Fox, founder of Vegan Business Media, believes it's the result of the breaking down of stereotypes (成见). "Vegan food is no longer seen as a bit of lettuce and lentils — you can eat pretty much anything".

    It's also claimed that there are health benefits. John Marulanda, owner of Mooshies is a vegan burger bar in London — wants to implement "a change to a healthy version of fast food. Something, he claims, that comes as a result of the inherent nutritional value of the ingredients they use.

    But, is vegan fast food actually healthy? Azmina Govindji of the British Dietetic Association says "not to assume" that is the case, "It's fine if those products have got vitamin B12, iodine or calcium added to them, but they can still be fried, it can still have lots of creamy, fatty sauces and lots of salt.

    Given the current growth in orders, the trend for vegan fast food isn't likely to disappear any time soon, Health — wise, it may not be any more nourishing than regular fast food, but for many, the lack of animal suffering involved in the process is a big plus.

    World Book Day falls on April 23^rd every year, but do you know that it is also Shakespeare Day? Everybody may have heard of Shakespeare, but do you know how many plays he wrote?

    Shakespeare's plays have three kinds: tragedies, comedies and histories. His most famous play is the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet, which deals with two young lovers who are not allowed to marry by their parents. Other tragedies include Hamlet, Othello, and Macbeth.

    Shakespeare's comedies include Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night is a play about unclear identities. Two twins are shipwrecked (遭海难)and the sister, Viola, dresses up as her brother, Sebastian, who she thinks is dead. It's funny, because the brother reappears and there's a big love problem going on:Viola is in love with the Duke, who is in love with Olivia, who falls in love with Sebastian except that she doesn't realize that Sebastian is actually Viola dressed up! Everybody falls in love with the wrong person, but it is all made right in the end.

    Some of his history plays, such as Antony and Cleopatra, Richard III and Henry V, are based on the lives of real historical people. In Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra becomes Antony's girlfriend and Antony becomes so crazy about her that he loses control of the army. Cleopatra kills herself in the end and Antony kills himself too.

    Shakespeare's plays can be very difficult sometimes. Some of the themes they deal with are heavy, so they almost always include a lighter subplot with characters that are not so important. They are often used in tragedies to lighten the mood of the play and to keep the audience interested in the main plot.

    Have you ever heard someone say, "you totally look like you're a Jessica" or something similar? People seem to think that they know what kind of person a "Jessica" or a "Michael" looks like. Why is this?

    According to a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, humans tend to associate people's names with their appearance, and can even guess someone's name based on how they look.

    Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, collected thousands of photos of people's faces. They labeled each photo with four names. Then, they asked volunteers to guess which of the four names was correct.

    The volunteers were able to guess the right name 38 percent of the time. It seems that certain characteristics of faces give them clues about someone's name  Reader's Digest reported.

    However, this only worked when the volunteers looked at names from their own culture. In addition, the volunteers were not as good at guessing the real names of people who used nicknames more often than their real names. This may show that a person's appearance is affected by their name only if they use it often.

    This kind of face-name matching happens "because of a process of self-fulfilling prophecy (自我实现预言), as we become what other people expect us to become." Ruth Mayo from the university told science news website EurekAlert.

    Earlier studies have shown that gender and race stereotypes (刻板印象) can affect a person's appearance. The researchers believe there are also similar stereotypes about names. For example, people tend to think that men named Bob should have rounder faces because the word itself looks round. People may think that women named Rose are beautiful. They expect them to be "delicate" and "feminine(女性的)", just like the flower they are named for.

    “Shine in the dark” dolphins may seem like something straight out of a science fiction movie. However, that is precisely what Newport Coastal Adventures' Captain Ryan Lawler and professional videographer Patrick Coyne witnessed, when they set out to explore the spectacular blue tides that have been lighting up the waters off Southern California's coast since mid-April.

    The partner scanned the ocean for hours and was returning to shore when they spotted the “electric” dolphins swimming through the bloom of shining plankton(浮游生物). The videographer, who had seen the phenomenon only once before in a Netflix show, says catching the scenes proved to be a lot harder than he had expected. “For starters, the shining plankton has sweet spots to where it shows up and then fades away, so while on the water, it's impossible to just find it,” Coyne says. “Also, conditions have to be absolutely perfect for the shining plankton to show and for animals to swim through it so we can film it.”

    Though witnessing shining sea life is rare, the electrifying blue ocean scenery is a fairly common sight around Southern California between February and September. The phenomenon can be attributed to the presence of millions of plankton, which tend to gather and reproduce in large quantities in the warm coastal waters during this time.

    Though a majority of California's red tides are caused by plankton species that do not produce deadly poison, some algal blooms(藻花)can be dangerous for sea animals, especially when they stay for long periods of time. In 2018, an almost year-long “red tide” along Florida's Gulf coast caused by the excessive growth of microalgae Karenia Brevis, killed hundreds of fish and other sea animals.

    We all have our bad days. No one is going to wake up each and every morning in a cheery mood. Sometimes we all feel just a little bit grumpier (脾气暴躁的) than usual, and that's just a part of being human. Yet once we get to the office, many in the workforce feel it necessary to hide their emotions, whether they are in frustration, anger, or sadness. Interestingly, a new study finds keeping one's behavior at the office authentic will result in greater productivity and a better relationship with co-workers. In other words: act how you feel, and don't fake it.

    It's extremely common for the average workspace to preach an attitude of continuous positivity. While this may be beneficial from the CEO's viewpoint, it just isn't realistic when applied to real people with real problems and daily hardships. That's why, the research team have concluded, employees will actually feel better, work harder, and connect more with their colleagues if they don't hide their feelings with a fake smile.

    Over 2,500 working adults, from a variety of industries such as finance or engineering, took part in this research via surveys. The questionnaires measured two distinct types of on-the-job emotional regulation: surface acting and deep acting. Surface acting means faking happiness while interacting with other employees; and deep acting refers to actively trying to change one's emotions and feelings in order to be more pleasant at work. The study's authors were interested to see how common it is for working adults to regulate their emotions while on the clock, and if so. Why? What benefits are employees gaining from such behavior?

    After analyzing all of the survey responses, researchers identified four distinct types of individuals who hide or regulate their emotions around co-workers. "Non-actors" rarely hide their true feelings, and if they do, only to a very small extent. "Low actors" usually take part in only slight deep and surface acting. "Deep actors" perform lots of deep acting and low levels of surface acting, and "Regulators" exhibit high levels of both surface and deep acting.

    By far non-actors were the smallest identified group in the study. Regulators, or employees who tend to hide their true feelings most often, are usually motivated by feelings of self-interest. These people believe that by hiding their feelings they will gain access to additional work resources and look good in front of their managers and co-workers. Deep actors, on the other hand, are usually more motivated by "pro-social" factors. This means they choose to hide their emotions because they believe it develops a healthier working environment. Regulators are the most likely of the four to experience great emotional tiredness and exhaustion. Meanwhile, deep actors tend to achieve improved well-being most frequently.

    After a five - year pause, the Billboard Music Awards officially returned to the United States. Two of the big winners at this year's Billboard Music Awards were Rihanna and Taylor Swift. But a major symbol of the show's popularity came from others such as Beyonce, U2, the Black Eyed Peas, and First Lady Michelle Obama.

    This year marks the Billboard Music Awards' rebirth. The Billboard Music Awards had been a big event since 1989, but the award in 2006 seemed to be its last award.

    This year the show was brought back in Las Vegas, broadcast live on ABC, and hosted by "The Hangover 2" star Ken Jeong. However, like many other award shows, the three - hour awarding ceremony served more as a marketing tool for today's pop stars than an award presentation.

    The show was packed with fans. Cee-Lo Green floated in the air with his piano. Surprising duets (二重唱) between Rihanna and Britney Spears, and this year's Billboard Icon Award winner, Neil Diamond made the fans sing along to "Sweet Caroline" and "America".

    Rihanna's two wins were Radio Artist of the Year and Top Female Artist. Taylor Swift won the evening's first award, as Top Album Artist, as well as Top Country Artist.

    Beyonce received a special "Millennium" Award for her career achievements. The 29-year-old star was praised in a video by a series of other stars, including Lady Gaga and Michelle Obama. She also performed her new song, "Run the World".

    The Billboard Music Awards are given to the most popular artists in the mainstream music scene. The finalists and winners are determined by their rank in the Billboard charts.

    Children with long-term health conditions, such as asthma (哮喘), may be at greater risk of developing a mental health disorder in early adolescence compared to healthy children, according to a new study.

    The findings, published in the journal Development and Psychopathology, show that kids with chronic illness exhibit higher rates of mental problems at age 10, and these health issues continue to be associated with poor mental health at ages 13 and 15.

    In the study, the research team reviewed a sample of approximately 7,000 children to investigate the occurrence of mental health disorders, including anxiety or depression, and chronic illness. They found that children with chronic health conditions were approximately twice as likely at 10 and at 13 to present with a mental health disorder than healthy children. At age 15, children with chronic health problems were 60% more likely to present with such disorders.

    “Although the link between chronic health conditions and mental health problems in childhood has been made before, this study provides the strongest evidence of it to data in the years of late childhood and early adolescence," said study author Dr. Ann Marie Brady. “The difference chronic illness makes to mental health is concerning, and the first impact can be seen even before adolescence, in late childhood."

    The researchers also found that bullying and health-related absence from school were two most significant additional factors for children with mental health issues. The second one was identified as the most consistent factor predicting mental health problems over time.

    “If children with chronic illness are more likely to miss school, or experience bullying, that can make the situation worse. Keeping an eye on school attendance and looking out for evidence of bullying amongst those children may help to find out who are most at risk.", said Dr. Brady.

    What is the first thing you notice when you walk into a shop? The products displayed (展示) at the entrance? Or the soft background music?

    But have you ever notice the smell? Unless it is bad, the answer is likely to be no. But while a shop's scent may not be outstanding compared with sights and sounds, it is certainly there. And it is providing to be an increasing powerful tool in encouraging people to purchase.

    A brand store has become famous for its distinctive scent which floats through the fairly dark hall and out to the entrance, via scent machines. A smell may be attractive but it may not just be used for freshening air. One sports goods company once reported that when it first introduced scent into its stores, customers' intension to purchase increased by 80 percent.

    When it comes to the best shopping streets in Pairs, scent is just as important to a brand's success as the quality of its window displays and goods on sales. That is mainly because shopping is a very different experience to what it used to be.

    Some years ago, the focus for brand name shopping was on a few people with sales assistants' disproving attitude and don't-touch-what-you-can't-afford displays. Now the rise of electronic commerce (e-commerce) has opened up famous brands to a wider audience. But while e-shops can use sights and sounds, only bricks-and-mortar stores (实体店) can offer a full experience from the minute customers step through the door to the moment they leave. Another brand store seeks to be much more than a shop, but rather a destination. And scent is just one way to achieve this.

    Now a famous store uses complex man-made smell to make sure that the soft scent of baby powder floats through the kid department, and coconut (椰子) scent in the swimsuit section. A department store has even opened a new lab, inviting customers on a journey into the store's windows to smell books, pots and drawers, in search of their perfect scent.

Tell a child they need to experience another painful medical procedure, and you'll probably have a kid filled with fear and anxiety. Tell that same child they'll have a chance to strike flying cheeseburgers in outer space while their doctor works on them, and they might feel a little different.

That night-and-day difference in how kids respond to the treatment of their doctors is the reason for Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford's innovative use of virtual reality technology. Packard Children's lets kids participate in experiences that can significantly reduce their anxiety — and even their pain.

This isn't the first time Packard Children's has introduced those innovative methods. In 2015, Thomas Caruso, M.D., the founder of Packard Children's Childhood Anxiety Reduction through Innovation and Technology (CHARIOT) program, introduced the Bedside Entertainment and Relaxation Theater (BERT). The system projects videos on a large screen attached to patients' gurneys(装有轮子的床) so they can watch movies and music videos all the way to the operating room. And in early 2017, CHARIOT launched an interactive video game called Sevo the Dragon, which projects on the BERT screen, so the tiniest patients have something fun to do while breathing medicine through a mask.

“Children shouldn't grow up being afraid to go to the doctor to have a shot, but certain experiences can cause strong unreasonable fear that last into adulthood. Needle phobia(晕针) is a common example of that, and it is the primary reason adults avoid important immunizations(免疫) like flu shots.” Caruso told Stanford Medicine News Center.

VR distraction therapy is being used for kids at Packard Children's as young as age 6 in specific areas like the emergency department, and the tool will be widely used in all of the Children's Health's surgery clinics by the end of 2020.

As climate change affects the planet, the world is turning to seaweed (海草)as a possible settlement and play a huge role in fighting climate change. It is used to create natural fuel and renewable plastics. It helps improve oceanic ecosystems.

People think of forests as the best defense(防护)against climate change. But some researchers say seaweed is a better settlement. Unlike trees, seaweed doesn't need fertilizers or fresh water. It grows faster than trees do. And it doesn't require any land. Most importantly, it absorbs carbon from the environment.

Seaweed could also become a key global food source. Many worry about the environmental influence of eating meat. Could seaweed farms provide enough protein for the world? Carlos Duarte, a professor of oceanic ecology thinks so. When you look at how we are going to feed the world population by 2050, in a way that doesn't harm the environment, there is only one pathway," he says. "Seaweed fanning."

In the past decade or so, global seaweed production has doubled. In British Columbia, seaweed farming becoming popular. For thousands of years, First Nations people, the native people of Canada, have farmed on land and in the ocean. Seaweed farming helps them create economies of their own that agree with their traditions. Their role has always been to connect with the land and repair it.

Seaweed might fight climate change but it isn't without risks. If it isn't harvested, it can go bad and give off carbon back into the air or water. Growing too much of it could also affect the amount of light that reaches species living deeper in the water. That would be dangerous for underwater ecosystems. So some scientists think seaweed can be a part of the settlement to climate change, but it's not a perfect one on its own.

Light is a complex phenomenon classically explained with a simple model based on rays and wavefronts. Many of the aspects of light have been explored, but few people notice them happening in their real lives. For example, most of us observe some type of optical interference almost daily, but usually don't realize the events in play behind the ever-changing display of colors produced when light waves interfere with each other. One of the best examples of interference is shown by the light reflected from a film of oil floating on water. Another example is the thin film of a soap bubble, which reflects a series of light with beautiful colors when shined by natural or man-made light sources.

Electromagnetic radiation(电磁辐射), the larger family of wave-like phenomena to which visible light belongs, is the primary vehicle transporting energy through the vast reaches of the universe. The means by which visible light is sent out or absorbed, and how it predictably reacts under different conditions as it travels through space and the atmosphere, form the basis of the existence of color in our universe. The human eye is sensitive to a form of electromagnetic radiation that lies in the wavelength range between 400 and 700 nanometers(纳米), commonly known as the visible light spectrum, which is the only source of color. When combined, all of the wavelengths present in visible light form colorless white light. Red, green, and blue colors are classically considered the primary colors because they are fundamental to human vision. Light is observed as white by humans when our eyes are affected by equal amounts of red, green, and blue light at the same time.

The concept of color temperature is of great importance in photography and digital imaging, regardless of whether the image capture device is a camera or a microscope. A lack of proper color temperature balance between the microscope light source and the image sensor is the most common reason for unexpected color shifts in photomicrography(显微照相术）and digital imaging. If the color temperature of the light source is too low for the film, photomicrographs will have an overall yellowish or reddish cast and will appear warm. On the other hand, when the color temperature of the light source is too high for the film, photomicrographs will have a blue cast and will appear cool. As problematic as these color shifts may seem, they're always easily corrected by the proper use of conversion and light balancing filters(滤光器）。

Do you continue to be healthy in social isolation? NASA is looking for people to spend 8 months locked in a Russian lab for a new experiment.

When humans go to the moon and travel to Mars, they will need to be prepared for long-term space travel and even longer stays on these far-off destinations. Currently, NASA's Artemis program aims to land humans on the moon for the first time since NASA's Apollo 17 mission landed in 1972.

While the moon is the main goal of NASA's Artemis program, the agency's larger goal is to send people to Mars. But long-term space travel and habitation won't be easy. Such missions will present both physical and mental challenges as astronauts work to not only survive, but perform important scientific research in uniquely difficult environments.

In the upcoming NASA-Russia experiment, a group of people will live in a closed facility at Russia's Institute for Biomedical Problems, which is in Moscow. This habitat facility was used in2011 for notable series of Russian mock (模拟的) Mars missions known as Mars 500. During these missions, groups of people spent 520 and 105 days on two separate missions in the facility.

The facility, according to the statement, will have "environmental factors similar to those astronauts are expected to experience on future missions to Mars". The group of people will spend 8 months living together in isolation and working on scientific research.

By living and working in this Mars-like environment, participants in this study will help NASA researchers better understand the psychological and physiological (心理和生理的) effects of isolation. These missions help researchers not only perform relevant science experiments but also see how people might get on under strange conditions for long periods of time.

So, if you're finding that living in social isolation works for you, you might be particularly well-suited for living in a Mars-like environment and this could be for you. But first, you have to qualify. NASA is looking for "highly motivated" Americans between the ages of 30-55, who must speak both Russian and English fluently and have a Master of Science, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Medicine, or military officer training. Applicants with other related experience may also be considered. Those who are chosen to be a part of this group will be paid for their work.

This is What's Trending Today.

Francie Lubbe of South Africa awoke one morning during her safari trip to an impressive sight. Two female lions were licking (舔) the outside of her tent！The lions were licking small drops of water left over from a rain storm.

Lubbe quickly began taking video of the wild animals. She posted the video on Facebook this week. People from around the world commented about how calm she and her friend in the tent remained when they saw the lions so close. People were also impressed that they decided to take a video.

Lubbe was camping in a tent at a national park on the northern border of South Africa near Botswana. The lions are the most famous creatures in the national park. They are called Kalahari lions. They get their name for their home-the Kalahari Desert. It covers parts of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. Female Kalahari lions weigh about 150 kilograms.

Lubbe responded to the many comments about her video. She called the experience "very special", She said the cloth door of her tent was open, but the lions did not enter.

Along with the 36-second video, she posted photos to her Facebook page of the lions exploring her camp. There are images of the lions looking into the tent from outside, and looking at a barbecue grill where campers cook.

People around the world reacted to the video on Facebook.

A netizen named Miller, wrote: "Shocking experience, but I think I would have wetted myself!"

Facebook user Mariana, said that her mother saw the lion video. Her mother then warmed her to not go camping anymore, even though New Jersey is very, very far away from the Kalahari Desert.

And that's What's Trending Today.

What would you have done if you woke up to see lions licking your tent？ We want to know. Write to us in the Comments section and on our www.hxen.com

Children grow taller in rural households where their mothers are supported to grow their own food, according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA). The research, which looked at households in some developing countries, showed growing their own food helped mothers to prevent their children from being stunted (发育不足的 ), wasting away and underweight. Their children's food was more varied, meaning these children had access to different classes of food nutrients (营养素).

The team from UEA analyzed studies that introduced women to home farming in some African and Asian countries. The home farming included growing brightly colored vitamin A-rich fruit and vegetables, and sometimes also included chicken farming. The health of these women's children was assessed over the next year or more, and they did better than children of other women. No studies, however, reported on children's eye health. The researchers concluded that high-quality trials are needed to assess the impact of home food production on nutritional blindness in children, which is caused by an insufficient intake of vitamin A.

Around 250 million pre-school children are deficient in vitamin A, according to the World Health Organization. Vitamin A deficiency is the main global cause of childhood blindness, which also increases the risk of dying from other childhood diseases and vitamin A plays a significant role in normal immune function (免疫功能). It remains one of the most widespread micronutrient deficiencies globally. Mrs Chizoba Bassey led the team conducting the systematic review. She said, "Well-evidenced interventions such as vitamin A supplementation programs should be adopted and expanded to children at greatest risk to prevent nutritional blindness. "

Currently there is not enough evidence of the effects of home gardening on xerophthalmia (干眼症), night blindness or the death rate in children, but the evidence from the research shows that if women take up home gardening, the risk of being stunted, wasting away and underweight in their children will be reduced. Home farming may help to achieve sustainability in controlling vitamin A deficiency and can assist vitamin A supplementation programs where they are available.

"Patience" is a word that you have probably heard a lot! But you may wonder "What on earth is patience, and why does everyone keep telling me to have it?"

※Patience is waiting for something or someone. It is accepting delay without getting angry or upset!

※ It is waiting for someone else to speak when you have something to say!

※ It is waiting to eat before everyone is at table!

※It is waiting for your birthday even though you may want a present now!

※ Patience is trying something again when you want to give up.

Patience doesn't sound like much fun. And to be truthful, sometimes, it's not. And with so much technology in the world, we don't always have to be patient. For example, we are able to stream our favorite TV shows on our cell phones, go to restaurants where food is served hot and fast, among many other things.

So, why wait when we can have everything right now? Because just about any successful person has patience. Many good and important things take patience. For example, most great inventors and explorers have a lot of patience!

※When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, it took him over 1,000 tries!

※It took the Wright Brothers years to invent the airplane!

※It took 8 years to send a man to the moon!

※ It takes between 150 and 300 days to travel from Earth to Mars!

If great inventors did not have patience and self-control, you would likely not be reading this right now. In fact, you might be living in a cave or tent somewhere. You would have no electricity, no car, no school and almost certainly no Internet!

In 1992, Teen Talk Barbie was released with the controversial voice fragment, "Math class is hard." While the toy's release met with strong public reaction, this underlying assumption persists, spreading the myth that women do not thrive in science, technology, engineering and mathematic (STEM) fields due to biological inadequacies in math aptitude. However, in 2019 Jessica Cantlon at Carnegie Mellon University led a research team that comprehensively examined the brain development of young boys and girls and found no gender difference in brain function or math ability.

Cantlon and her team conducted the first neuroimaging study to evaluate biological gender differences in math aptitude of young children. Her team used functional MRI (核磁共振) to measure the brain activity in 104 young children (3-to-10-year-old; 55 girls) while watching an educational video covering early math topics, like counting and addition. The researchers compared scans from the boys and girls to evaluate brain similarity. In addition, the team examined brain maturity by comparing the children's scans to those taken from a group of adults (63 adults; 25 women) who watched the same math videos.

After numerous statistical comparisons, Cantlon and her team found no difference in the brain development of girls and boys. In addition, the researchers found no difference in how boys and girls processed math skills and were equally engaged while watching the educational videos. Finally, boys' and girls' brain maturity were statistically equivalent when compared to either men or women in the adult group.

Cantlon said she thinks society and culture are likely steering girls and young women away from math and STEM fields, as previous studies show that families spend more time with young boys in play that involves spatial cognition（空间认知）. "Typical socialization can make worse small differences between boys and girls that can snowball into how we treat them in science and math," Cantlon said. "We need to be aware of these origins to ensure we aren't the ones causing the gender inequities."

However, this project is focused on early childhood development using a limited set of math tasks. Cantlon wants to continue this work using a broader scope of math skills, such as spatial processing and memory, and follow the children over many years.