A study, published in European Heart Journal, is the first to assess how different movement patterns throughout the 24-hour day are linked to heart health.

In this study, British researchers analyzed data from six studies, involving 15,246 people from five countries, to see how movement behavior across the day is associated with heart health. Each participant used a wearable device, a key novelty, on their thighs (大腿) to measure their activities throughout the 24-hour day and had their heart health measured.

The researchers identified a series of behaviors that make up a typical 24-hour day, with time spent doing moderate-vigorous activity providing the most benefit to heart health, followed by light activity, standing and sleeping compared with the negative impact of sedentary (久坐) behavior. The team modeled what would happen if an individual changed various amounts of one behavior for another each day for a week, in order to estimate the effect on heart health for each scenario. When replacing sedentary behavior, as little as five minutes of moderate-vigorous activity had a noticeable effect on heart health.

Dr. Jo Blodgett, first author of the study, said, “The big takeaway from our research is that while small changes to how you move can have a positive effect on heart health, intensity of movement matters. The most beneficial change we observed was to replace sitting with moderate-vigorous activity, which could be a run, a brisk walk, or stair climbing, basically any activity that raises your heart rate and makes you breathe faster, even for a minute or two. ”

Dr. Jo Blodgett also pointed out that although time spent doing vigorous activity was the quickest way to improve heart health, there are ways to benefit for people of all abilities — it’s just that the lower the intensity of the activity, the longer the time is required to start having a reliable benefit. Using a standing desk for a few hours a day instead of a sitting desk, for example, is not only a change over a relatively large amount of time but is also one that could be combined into a working routine fairly easily as it does not require any time commitment.

Humans are not the only ones that like gold. Australian scientists have discovered a new fungus(真菌)that decorates its long,thread-like tendrils(卷须)with gold collected from the soil. The experts desperately hope the “gold digger” will provide information on the locations of gold deposits(沉淀物)and make searching for the precious meal easier, and more environmentally friendly.

The gold-loving fungus was discovered accidentally by a team of researchers led by Dr. Tsing Bohu, a scientist at Australia national science agency, CSIRO, when they were examining the microbes(微生物) in the soil at Boddington,a tiny town home to Australia’s largest gold mine.

A closer analysis suggested that the fungus uses chemical interactions with underground minerals to accumulate gold from its surroundings. Though fungi often interact with other things in nature, the reaction with gold was unexpected. “Fungi are well-known for playing an important role in the recycling of organic material, such as leaves and bark, as well as for the cycling of other metals,” Dr. Bohu explained. “But gold is so chemically inactive that this interaction is both unusual and surprising.”

The fungi are not wearing the gold for beauty. “There is a biological benefit from this reaction.” Dr. Bohu said, “Gold-loving fungi can grow faster and bigger relative to other fungi that don’t work with gold.”

The researchers still need to conduct further analysis to understand the relationship between the fungi and the precious metal. More importantly, they need to determine if its presence is a sure sign of the existence of large deposits of the metal underground. The scientists also believe the fungi could be used to detect the presence of gold in waste products and man-made electronics.

However, those hoping to get free gold from the fungi are in for a disappointment,for the delicate fungus is hard to see. Also, its gold can only be seen under a microscope.

Nothing succeeds like success, as every parent of a straight-A student knows, but trying to stress academic excellence by telling your child, “You’re so smart!” may be counterproductive. Why? According to a 2017 study, children who think their intelligence is fixed are less likely to pay attention to and bounce back (重新振作) from mistakes than children who think intelligence can grow and change.

In the study, researchers looked at 123 children. The team assessed the children to determine whether they had a “growth mindset” (believing that you can work harder to get smarter), or a “fixed mindset” (believing that your intelligence is unable to change). They then asked the children to complete a fast-paced computer accuracy task while their brain activity was recorded. During the recording, researchers noted that brain activity stopped within a half-second after making a mistake, as children became aware of their mistake and paid closer attention to what went wrong. The larger the brain response was, the more the child focused on the mistake. Based on the data, they concluded that children with a “growth mindset” were much more likely to have a larger brain response after making a mistake. While children with a “fixed mindset” were able to "bounce back”, only if they gave their full attention to the mistake.

For parents, the lessons are clear: Don’t pay your children compliments that suggest that intelligence is fixed. If your child hands you an A⁺ score, don’t say, “You’re so smart!” Instead, say, “Wow, that studying really paid off!” or “You clearly mastered this material-way to go!” Note the effort, not the intelligence.

Besides, many parents shy away from addressing a child’s mistakes, telling them “It’s OK. You’ll get it the next time.” without offering them the chances to figure out what goes wrong. Instead, it’s better to reassure your children that mistakes happen, and work to figure out where and how they make the mistake.