People climbing Mount Everest are two times as likely to reach the top and less likely to die on the climb than 20 years ago, a new study finds. Everest, high in the Himalayans, is the tallest mountain above sea level on Earth. It reaches 8,848 meters into the sky.

Between 2006 and 2019, around two thirds of climbers were successful in their attempt to reach the top. In the 15 years before that, only about one-third went all the way to the top.

The number of attempts to reach the top of Everest has risen sharply over the years, leading to a 300 percent increase in overcrowding. In 2019, 955 climbers tried to reach the mountaintop. Only 222 people did so in 2000.

The study noted that on a single day in May of last year, 396 climbers had gathered at the narrow path just below the top. The area, known as the “death zone,” is so narrow that only a small number of climbers can pass through, one directly behind another.

Nine climbers died on Everest in May 2019. It was the deadliest Everest climbing season since 2015 when an earthquake killed at least 18 people on the mountain.

A picture of climbers waiting their turn to go up and down through the death zone became famous as it was shared online. Yet researchers say the crowds were not the main reason for the deaths last year.

“Surprisingly crowding has no evident effect on success or death” of Everest climbers, the study said.

However, overcrowding does make the climb more dangerous.

“If crowding slows climbers (as is expected), this increases their exposure to the elements, which should increase risk of an accident or illness,” said Raymond B. Huey, lead writer of the report.

An unexpected storm, earthquake, or landslide could be disastrous, he told Reuters by email.

Climbers have expressed concern that was giving anyone willing to pay the government $11,000 permission to climb Everest. Nepal plans to change its policy to require climbers to use guides, and meet physical fitness and experience qualifications, said tourism department official Mira Acharya.

Nepal temporarily closed its mountains to climbers because of the coronavirus health crisis. Now they are open again. However, Acharya noted that flights into and within Nepal have not restarted.

More than 6,000 people have climbed Mount Everest since 1953, when New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers known to reach the top. At least 311 climbers have died trying.

Being mistreated at work can out their negative emotions on loved ones at home. But a new study suggests that getting more exercise and sleep may help people better cope with them by leaving them at work where they belong.

Previous research shows that employees who are looked down on or insulted by colleagues are likely to go express their frustrations and behave angrily toward people outside of work, says study co-author Shannon Taylor, a management professor at the University of Central Florida’s College of Business.

The new study backs up this idea, but offers a bit of good news as well: Employees who averaged more than 10,500 steps a day or burned at least 2, 100 calories were less likely to mistreat their cohabitants than those who averaged fewer steps of burned fewer calories.

The findings also revealed that when employees felt they had a bad night’s sleep because of work issues, they were more likely to be grouchy at home. “When you’re tired, you’re either less able or less motivated to regulate yourself”, says co-author Larissa Barber, a professor of psychology at Northern Illinois University.

Physical activity seems to counterbalance poor sleepy, Barber says, because it promotes healthy brain functions needed to properly regulate emotions and behaviors. “This study suggests that high amounts of exercise can be at least one way to improve the situations brought by sleep troubles that lead to negative behaviors at home,” she says.

Barber acknowledges that finding time to work out and get a full night’s sleep can be difficult when work pressure is mounting, and that often, job stress can be directly related to sleep quality. But she says making the effort to burn some extra calories and blow off some steam can be worth it. “It’s not only good for you”, says Taylor, but it can benefit the people you live with as well.

We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.

What’s the problem? It’s possible that along with the rapid development of society, we all focus on our phone and desktop, and therefore it results in our compromised conversational intelligence. However, it’s more likely that none of us start a conversation because it’s awkward and challenging, or we think it’s annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it’s an invaluable social practice that results in big benefits.

Dismissing small talk as unimportant is easy, but we can’t forget that deep relationships wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for small conversation. “Small talk is the grease (润滑剂) for social communication,” says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. “Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk,” he explains. “The key to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them.”

In a 2014 study, Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at UBC, invited people on their way into a coffee shop. One group was asked to seek out an interaction with its waiter; the other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. “It’s not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband,” says Dunn. “But interactions with peripheral (边缘的) members of our social network matter for our well-being also.”

Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a significantly greater sense of belonging, a bond with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. “Small talk is the basis of good manners,” he says.