It’s a common belief that over time, pet owners start to look like their animals, and vice versa (反之亦然). Now comes the terrifying news that cats look up to their owners as role models and copy their behavior. Next time you reach for your fridge, think twice. If your kitty is watching, she is likely to overeat as well.

What is your cat’s IQ?

In a new study from the University of Messina, it turns out that indoor cats who live closely to their owners “mirror” the lives of their caregivers. They sleep at the same time, eat at the same time, and can even become more or less social depending on the behavior of their owners.

“Cats are intelligent animals with a long memory, ”Jane Brunt, the executive director of the Catalyst Council, told Discovery News. “They watch and learn from us, noting the patterns of our actions, knowing where their food is kept and what time to expect to be fed, how to open the cupboard door that's been improperly closed, and where their feeding and toileting areas are. “Because cats copy our habits, if you spend a lot of time raiding the fridge, your cat will return to its food bowl for that midnight snack, too. According to the study, this explains why “human and cat overweight rates often seem to match”．So, if you feel guilty about leaving your precious kitty at home while you go to work, now you can feel even worse：you are making your cat fat!

There’s no word if drinking green tea and making sure you go to yoga will benefit your cat, but based on the study, it sounds like sticking to a healthy eating and sleeping schedule is best for both of you.

There’s a lot we can learn from our cats in return. “When they sit on our laps softly purring with rhythmic breathing and half-closed eyes, the sense of peace and calm that comes over us is like a private lesson in inner meditation (冥想),” Brunt said. Sure. But cats don’t have to sit in rush hour traffic for an hour a day or worry about their in-laws. They’re probably pretty good at remaining calm.

So, according to science, even though we assume that cats are not close to us all these years, it turns out they are in fact learning from us and looking up to us. Scary, huh?

Have you ever heard of the Northward Family, a herd of Asian elephants that made their journey in Yunnan? They were a bit naughty for they invaded villagers’ fields. Scientists who took part in scientific research and conservation have also used unmanned aerial vehicles (无人机) and other advanced means to carry out monitoring and early warning of the herd’s arrival. The government also made fences around villagers’ houses, which make effective protection of elephants from humans, making sure the safety of humans and elephants.

In addition, safety signs, warning signs and solar-powered street lights have been fixed along the roads where the herd may appear, to remind passers-by to be careful. The government has also set up a “canteen” for the elephants, providing them with food such as banana, corn and so on.

Is this amazing “migration” just a journey or a “survival revolution” in search of a new home? A lot of friends who care about the Northward Family are wondering: Is elephants’ migration related to the destruction of their living environment? Only time will tell.

What do humans think of the elephant’s journey? On the one hand, it is no accident. We humans can help elephants by respecting their activities. It is within our power to respect science, follow the advice of experts, guide and urge our friends and children to keep their distance. If elephants really become our “neighbors”, how to deal with the “neighborly relations” will certainly become a problem we have to face.

On the other hand, the elephant’s journey has shown China’s achievements in protecting its natural environment and wildlife in recent decades. There is no doubt that the normal rotation of the earth cannot depend on the human species alone. The preservation of biodiversity is the “secret” of the earth’s ecological sustainability. When nature becomes something that animals and plants desire, humans will live a wonderful life too.

A sustainable (可持续的) neighborhood in the Dutch town of Nieuwkoop is leaving on the welcome light for bats. And if all goes well, they’ll never even notice it.

The neighborhood, based on research showing that light-shy bats are impacted by white and green light, but not red, uses street lighting that features specialized bat-friendly LEDs. This particular network of lights shines with a somewhat strange red color. To light-sensitive nocturnal (夜间活动的) creatures, however, this specialized red light preserves the night condi-tions important to their well-being.

“Bats don’t see red light as particularly bright,” said Maurice Donners, a senior scientist at Signify, which designed the new streetlights. “So if you have certain bat species that are really avoiding light, I think the obvious thing to do is use red light which is visible to us, but is much less visible, or perhaps even invisible, to bats.

The motivating factor behind using the new streetlights came after Nieuwkoop decided to create a new neighborhood of 89 homes near a nature reserve for rare and threatened species, which was also home to many light-sensitive bats. To reduce the impact the new community would have on the bats’ nocturnal feeding habits without compromising the safety of local people, developers reached out to Signify to find out more about the use of the bat-friendly lights.

The bat-friendly lights in Nieuwkoop are networked and have energy-saving features like dynamic dimming (调光) and scheduling. Additionally, people there can also request changes in brightness to individual lights outside their homes. As an added bonus, the red lights also don’t attract insects.

“When developing our unique housing program, our goal was to make the project as sustainable as possible, while preserving our local bat species with little impact on their living place,” Guus Elkhuizen, a city council member, said. “We’ve managed to do this and kept our carbon footprint and energy consumption to a minimum. I’m so proud.”