Have you ever wished you could be better organized or more sociable? Or more inventive and original? Perhaps you’re a constant worrier, and you’d prefer to be a little more carefree? If any of these thoughts ring true, you are not alone. Many surveys show that at least two-thirds of people would like to change their personality. In the past, such desires appeared to be impossible. Our personalities were thought to be formed in childhood and to remain fixed throughout lives. Recent research, however, suggests that with the right psychological strategies and enough effort, people can successfully mould (塑造) their core traits into the shape they desire. That is what psychology professor Nathan Hudson and his colleagues have shown with studies.

The research has centered on fivetraits (特点) that are thought to contain our most fundamental characteristics. Known as the “big five”, they are: extraversion-how outgoing and sociable you are; conscientiousness-how organized and disciplined you are; agreeableness- how concerned you are with social harmony; neuroticism-how nervous and sensitive you are; and openness to experience-how imaginative and curious you are. People’s scores for the big five can predict important outcomes. People who score highly on conscientiousness, for example, get better grades at school and earn more. Those who score highly on neuroticism, meanwhile, are more sensitive to stress.

In the study, someone who wished to be more conscientious might be asked to carefully read an email before sending it, or to write a to-do list before going to bed. A neurotic person might be given exercises to improve emotional regulation, such as writing down feelings when they are hard to control. The aim is for the thinking patterns and behaviours they make to become habitual. And the evidence so far suggests it works well. Similar results could be seen in a later experiment, which used a smartphone app to coach participants in their desired big five traits.

As Aristotle argued more than 2, 300 years ago, we become what we repeatedly do.

Endeavour (奋进号航天飞机) successfully completed 25 missions into space, including the first service mission to the Hubble Space Telescope as well as the first mission to add a U. S. component to the International Space Station.

When first launched in 1981, it became the world’s first reusable spacecraft to carry humans into orbit. Over the thirty-year course of the space shuttle program, the shuttles and their crews assembled parts of the International Space Station, deployed and serviced the Hubble Space Telescope, repaired and relaunched satellites, sent probes to Venus and Jupiter and more.

The space shuttle was actually made up of several separate components. What people call the “shuttle” is the orbiter—the part of the shuttle that held the crew. The main engines are part of the orbiter. In addition to the orbiter, each shuttle included two solid rocket boosters and an external tank. All were reusable except for the external tank, which by design burned up in the atmosphere.

Many newer features were added to Endeavour during construction, such as updated steering mechanisms, upgraded electrical connections to allow for longer missions and a drag chute that reduced wear and tear on the shuttle’s brakes and tires. Many of the innovations were added later to the other shuttles.

Endeavour made several historic missions to the International Space Station, including STS-88, in which the crew added the first U. S. component to the ISS. On STS-100, Endeavour delivered the Canadarm2 robotic arm and hand. On STS-123, Endeavour added a robotic arm—Dextre. Endeavour’s final mission, in May 2011, delivered spare parts to the International Space Station. Endeavour leaves an amazing legacy in space.

The top four novels of 2018 are based on Christmas selections in national newspapers---the London Standard, the TLS, he Spectator and the New Statesman.

Normal People by Sally Rooney

Sally Rooney’s first novel, Conversations with Friends, was one of last year’s most talked-about books, response to the Irish writer's follow-up has, if anything, been even more excited. The 27-year-old was praised for her ability to convey subtle adjustment of emotion. The novel was long listed for the Man Booker Prize—but many felt that it should have done better.

Vietnam by Max Hastings

This long-awaited historical novel is a real hit which follows the Vietnam War over three decades. Hastings, who reported from the battlefield in Vietnam as a journalist in his thirties, was praised for his profound knowledge of the conflict.

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

Pat Barker’s novel is a retelling of The lliad—but with women at the heart of the action. The central character is Briseis. Best-known for her First World War Set Regeneration Trilogy (1997), Barker, in her fifties, again focuses on the harmful effects of war.

A Certain Idea of France by Julian Jackson

This biography by British historian Julian Jackson born in 1954 records the life of Charles de Gaulle who is regarded as one of the greatest ever Frenchmen. While acknowledging that Charles de Gaulle wasn’t very likeable, Jackson respects his imagination and boldness---qualities that helped him lead France through its liberation from the Nazis and the war in Algeria. Critics suggested it would become the standard biography.