An inability to stand on one leg for 10 seconds in later life is linked to nearly double the risk of death from any cause within the next decade, according to a new study. The simple balance test may be useful to be included in routine physical exams for people in middle and old age, the research, which was published in British Journal of Sports Medicine, suggested.

While aging leads to a decline in physical fitness, muscle strength and flexibility, balance tends to be reasonably well-preserved until a person’s 50s, when it starts to decline relatively rapidly, the research noted. Previous research has linked the inability to stand on one leg to a greater risk of falls and to cognitive decline.

The study involved 1,702 people aged 51 to 75 living in Brazil, who were asked to balance unsupported on one leg during an initial check. Researchers told the participants to place the front of the free foot behind the standing leg, keep their arms by their sides and eyes. Fixed straight ahead. Up to three attempts on either foot were permitted.

The study participants had an average age of 61 and two-thirds of them were men. Around 1 in 5 failed to balance on one leg for 10 seconds at the initial checkup. Researchers monitored the participants after the initial checkup for a period of seven years, during which 7% of the people died. The proportion (比例)of deaths among those who failed the test (17.5%) was significantly higher than deaths among those who were able to balance for 10 seconds(4.5%).

The research was observational and didn’t reveal cause and effect. The study didn’t look at any possible biological mechanisms that might explain the link between poor balance and longevity.

The study noted that, overall, those who failed the test were in poorer health, with greater proportion of suffering from obesity, heart disease and high blood pressure. Diabetes was also more common among those who failed to complete the test.

The alligator gar (鳄雀鳝) was a mystery to most people in China, but now it has become famous as a high-risk, invasive fish species.

The fish hit the headlines following the tracking of two alligator gars in a park in Ruzhou, Henan province. Filming of the search, which was live-streamed on Aug 23, attracted about 37 million viewers at its peak. The capture of the fish wasn’t too simple, but they were finally caught on Aug 26.

Gu Dang’en, a scientist associated with a national program on invasive species control, said that the exotic fish was brought into China two to three decades ago for its strange spotted look.

As a predator at the top of its food chain, the alligator gar has already appeared in many places across China. It can eat all the other creatures living in the water, damage local ecosystems and pose risks to humans. A boy in Taizhou Jiangsu, was bitten by an alligator gar on three of his fingers while playing by a community pool on Aug 17. Experts also warn that the alligator gar’s guts and eggs are poisonous.

The Biosecurity Law, which took effect in April 2021, requires that the government must draft a list of invasive species and work out rules for their management. “Authorities have announced a national plan to conduct surveys of 10 invasive species, including the alligator gar, ”said Mu Xidong, a researcher with the Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute at the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences.

Ren Dapeng, a professor from China Agricultural University, said that, under the new law, institutions and individuals cannot import, release or abandon exotic species without official approval. If institutions and individuals break the Biosecurity Law, they can face fines of between 10,000 and50,000 yuan. He said that if people no longer want to raise exotic species like the alligator gar, they should send them to the authorities and turn to them for help.

The Flynn Effect

The Flynn effect， first described in the 1980sby researcher James Flynn， refers to the finding that scores on IQ tests have increased in the past century. One research paper， published by psychologist Lisa Trahan and her colleagues， combined the results of other published studies and found that IQ scores have indeed increased since the 1950s.【小题1】Trahan and her colleagues observed， “The existence of the Flynn effect is rarely disputed.”

【小题2】One explanation has to do with improvements in health and nutrition. For example， the past century has seen a decrease in smoking and alcohol use in pregnancy， improvements in the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases， and improvements in nutrition. As Scott Barry Kaufman writes for Psychology Today， “The Flynn effect serves as a reminder that when we give people more opportunities to prosper， more people do prosper.”

【小题3】In a TED talk， Flynn explains that the world today is “a world where we've had to develop new mental habits， new habits of mind.” Flynn has found that IQ scores have increased the most rapidly on questions that ask us to find similarities between different things， and more abstract types of problem solving， both of which are things that we need to do more of in the modem world.

Several ideas have been brought up to explain why modern society might lead to higher scores on IQ tests. For example， today， many more of us have demanding， intellectually rigorous jobs. Schools have also changed：whereas a test at school in the early 1900s might have been more focused on memorization， a recent test might be more likely to focus on explaining the reasons for something.【小题4】Family sizes tend to be smaller， and it has been suggested that this may allow children to pick up on new vocabulary words while interacting with their parents. I's even been suggested that the entertainment we consume is more complex today. 【小题5】

Therefore， both the education we receive and the society we live in shape our IQ in a way that we cannot imagine.