Charity Cycling UK has recently launched a campaign to raise awareness of dooring after discovering that many people don’t know what it is and those that do seem to think it’s a joke. Dooring happens when a driver or passenger opens the door into another road user - typically a cyclist - without looking for other road users.

Cycling UK’s chief executive Paul Tuohy told Gloucestershire Live, “Some people seem to see car dooring as a bit of a joke, but it’s not and can have serious consequences. Cycling UK wants to see great awareness made about the dangers of opening your car door, and people to be encouraged to look before they open.”

The charity says 2,009 of the 3,000 injuries were sustained(遭受) by cyclists, resulting in five deaths but says this might not be the full extent of the dangers.

Cycling UK says not all car dooring incidents will be attended by police, so the charity has written to transport minister Jesse Norman calling for a public awareness campaign urging all drivers to look before opening vehicle doors. One of the ways that the charity suggests could prevent injuries through dooring is the “Dutch Reach”, where people leaving a vehicle reach over and use the non-door side hand to open the door.

Cycling UK also suggests serious laws and advice on safer road positioning for people who cycle.

Mr Tuohy said, “In the Netherlands they are known for practising a method, known sometimes as the ‘Dutch Reach’, which we think could be successfully encouraged in the UK.”

“Cycling UK has written to the Department for Transport asking them to look into this, and stress the dangers of ‘car dooring’ through a public awareness THINK style campaign.”

If you’re really concerned about opening a door into the path of a cyclist coming behind you, consider using what’s known as the “Dutch Reach” to open the door. That will naturally turn you in your seat and give you a much better view of what’s coming up alongside the car.

Reaching the top

Many social scientists have studied the phenomenon of success. One American study claims that your social network is the key to success. 【小题1】 Perhaps this boosts your self-confidence or perhaps you have more people to support you. Another study links height and success: every extra centimeter is worth another $300 per year. The trouble is that for every person to whom these theories apply, there is an exception.

However, in his book Outliers — The Story of Success, author, Malcolm Gladwell, has come up with a theory that he claims is true in every case. 【小题2】He has calculated exactly how many hours work you need to do in order to become ‘the best’ in your field: 10,000 hours apparently or about four hours a day for ten years. Without this kind of determination and hard work you probably won’t reach the top, regardless of your talent.

Researchers looked at violin players in a music school to test this theory. Teachers put the players into three groups: average players in group C, good players in group B and outstanding players in group A. It turned out that all the players in group A had done around 10,000 hours of practice in their lifetime. The good players had done around 6,000 hours and the average players only 4,000 hours. However, all the players had entered the school with similar levels of ability.

【小题3】 Mozart, for example, is always considered a ‘born genius’. He performed in public at the age of four and by six, he had composed several pieces. Surely his success was down to natural talent, not hard work? In fact, Gladwell argues, Mozart had a very strict father who made him practice for hours each day from an early age. And the music that Mozart composed when he was six wasn’t outstanding. 【小题4】 By that time, he’d done at least 10,000 hours of practice and had ‘become’ a genius.

Talent, argues Gladwell, is nothing without hard work. So next time you dream of scoring the winning goal in the World Cup or winning an Oscar, ask yourself this question: are you really prepared to put in the hours necessary to achieve your goal?

Japan is aging faster than any other nation. By the end of this decade, there will be three retirees for every child under 15 and before long, one in six people will be over 80. Its population will soon be falling by nearly a million people every year and some people predict that, some time in the next century, the last Japanese person will die. Other countries are encouraging immigration to deal with their demographic woes. But not Japan, which is using different ways to reduce pressure put on health care and social services.

The Toto-made toilet, common in Japanese hotels, can push up to help the elderly. Now Toto is working with Daiwa House, Japan’s largest house builder, to equip toilets for retirees. These have medical sensors that measure blood sugar levels, the blood pressure and body fat of the user. The data is emailed to the local GP through a built-in internet device (装置). So make sure you eat your greens and stay regular, or the doctor will be in touch.

The over-75s account for more than a quarter of the deaths in car accidents on Japanese roads. Toyota is working with Professor Kawashima, who developed brain training games for Nintendo, to create intelligent cars that monitor brain activity in the elderly. Other technologies could also work to keep elderly drivers cautious.

Japan has twice as many pets as it has children. But real animals are difficult to look after as their owners age. Paro is a furry white baby seal robot which responds to petting by moving its tail and opening and closing its eyes. It shows emotions such as surprise, happiness and anger, and has sold well in nursing homes where it is reported to stimulate (刺激) responses among those with dementia (痴呆).

Japan’s Institute of Physical and Chemical Research has developed Riba, a nursing care robot that can lift the elderly out of bed.