A long-term American study shows the importance of early education for poor children. The study is known as the Abecedarian (初步的) Project. It involved more than one-hundred young children from poor families in North Carolina.

Half of the children attended an all-day program at a high-quality childcare center. The center offered educational, health and social programs. Children took part in games and activities to increase their thinking and language skills and social and emotional development. The program also included health foods for the children.

The children attended the program from when they were a few weeks old until the age of five years. The other group of children did not attend the childcare center. After the age of five, both groups attended public school.

Researchers compared the two groups of children. When they were babies, both groups had similar results in tests for mental and physical skills. However, from the age of eighteen months, the children in the educational child care program did much better in tests.

The researchers tested the children again when they were twelve and fifteen years old. The tests found that the children who had been in the childcare center continued to have higher average test results. These children did much better on tests of reading and mathematics.

A few years ago, organizers of the Abecedarian Project tested the students again. At the time, each student was twenty-one years old. They were tested for thinking and educational ability, employment, parenting and social skills. The researchers found that the young adults who had the early education still did better in reading and mathematics tests. They were more than two times as likely to go to college or to have completed college. In addition, the children who received early education were older on average, when their first child was born.

The study offers more evidence that learning during the first months and years of life is important for all later development.

The researchers of the Abecedarian Project believe their study shows a need for lawmakers to spend money on public early education. They believe these kinds of programs could reduce the number of children who do not complete school and are unemployed.

Identifying the chemical makeup of pigment (颜料) used in ancient documents, paintings, and watercolors is critical to restoring and conserving the precious artworks. However, despite numerous efforts, scientists had been unable to determine the source of folium, a popular blue dye used to color manuscripts (手稿) in Europe during the middle ages—from the 5th to the 15th century. Now, researchers from Portugal have finally uncovered the mysterious ingredient responsible for the gorgeous bluish-purple color that helped bring ancient illustrations to life.

“This is the only medieval (中世纪的) color based on organic dyes that we didn’t have a structure for,” says Maria João Melo, an associate professor at the Department of Conservation and Restoration at NOVA University of Lisbon. “We need to know what’s in medieval manuscript illustrations because we want to preserve these beautiful colors for future generations.”

The research team began by poring over instructions penned by European dye makers from the 12th, 14th, and 15th centuries. They found what they were seeking in a 15th-century text entitled The Book on How to Make All the Color Paints for Illuminating Books. However, translating the instructions was no easy task. It was written in the now extinct Judaeo-Portuguese language, and though the source of the dye was traced back to a plant, no name was mentioned.

However, by piecing together suggestions from the text, the scientists were able to determine that the dye was made from the bluish-green berries of the chrozophora tinctoria plant. After an extensive search, the team found a few varieties of the plant growing along the roadside near the town of Monsaraz in south Portugal.

The detailed instructions gave the researchers critical clues to successfully recreate the dye. “You need to squeeze the fruits, being careful not to break the seeds, and then to put them on linen (亚麻布).” The scientist says the detail was important since broken seeds polluted the pigment, producing an inferior quality ink. The dyed linen, which was left to dry, was an efficient way to store and transport the pigment during ancient times. When needed, the artist would simply cut off a piece of the cloth and dip it with water to squeeze out the blue color.

Once the key ingredient had been identified, the researchers began the next step and the primary purpose of their study—determining the dye’s chemical structure. To their surprise, they found that folium was not like any other known permanent blue dyes—it was an entirely new class of color, one they named chrozophoridin. “Chrozophoridin was often used in ancient times to make a beautiful blue dye for painting.” the team wrote in the study. Now, the researchers can further study the stability of the dye, as well as how it responds to factors that may wear and break it down over time. “This is essential if we desire to make these colors last forever—or at least as long as possible,” Melo said.

Motion Sickness

Motion sickness occurs when certain kinds of motion make an individual feel ill. It is not a rare disorder. 【小题1】 Although all people can develop motion sickness if exposed to a sufficiently intense stimulus, some people are more likely to be affected.

【小题2】

Motion sickness typically arises from inconsistencies between the sensory systems involved in the perception of motion, including the vestibular, visual, and proprioceptive (本体感受的) systems. The vestibular system is responsible for one’s sense of balance and movement direction while the proprioceptive system carries sensory information from the joints and muscles all over the body.

What are the symptoms of motion sickness?

The earliest symptom of motion sickness is usually a feeling of discomfort in the abdomen, known as stomach awareness. This is often followed by vomiting. Some individuals may also experience a cold sweat, headache, spatial disorientation (空间定向障碍), and a sense of sleepiness that may continue well after the motion stimulus has ended. 【小题3】

How is motion sickness treated?

Certain behavioral strategies are often recommended, such as avoiding travel in bad weather conditions, and when traveling, sitting in areas that experience the least amount of movement. 【小题4】 Other tips that may help prevent motion sickness include avoiding focusing on phones or other screens, maps, or books while traveling in a moving vehicle.

How long does motion sickness last?

Symptoms of motion sickness can occur within minutes of experiencing motion and may last for hours after the motion stimulus has ended. Many children feel better as soon as the vehicle they are riding in stops, and they’re able to get out and walk around. 【小题5】 In some children, motion sickness symptoms can last for several hours.