When learning a foreign language, most people use traditional methods: reading, writing, listening and repeating. But people can also remember the vocabulary better by making gestures while studying. Linking a word to brain areas that are responsible for movement can strengthen the memory of its meaning. "Our results provide evidence for why learning techniques”, Mathias said.

As Mathias and his colleagues described, they had 22 adults learn a total of 90 invented artificial words over four days. While these adults first heard the new vocabulary, they were shown a video of a person making a gesture that matched the meaning of the word. When the word was repeated, they performed the gesture themselves. Five months later, they were asked to translate the vocabulary they had learned in a multiple-choice test. The researchers found that the motor cortex contributed to the translation of the vocabulary learned with gestures. This applied to concrete words, such as "camera," as well as abstract ones, such as "thought."

“There have been quite a lot of studies showing that gestures play a role in learning. I think this study takes a step further as it is trying to understand why," says Susan Goldin-Meadow, a psychologist at the University of Chicago who studies the effects of gestures on learning. Research like this, as well as brain imaging, suggests the activation of the brain's motor areas could contribute.

Children — unlike adults — seem to benefit from pictures as much as gestures in the long run. In an experiment published in 2020, the Leipzig research group had young adults and eight-year-old children listen to new vocabulary for five days, sometimes paired with matching pictures or videos of gestures. After two months, the two methods were still tied. But after six months, the adults benefited more from the gestures than the pictures, while the children were helped equally by both.

Children start out as natural scientists, eager to look into the world around them. Helping them enjoy science can be easy; there’s no need for a lot of scientific terms or expensive lab equipment. You only have to share your children’s curiosity.

Firstly, listen to their questions. I once visited a classroom of seven-year-olds to talk about science as a job. The children asked me “textbook questions” about teaching, salary(薪水) and whether I liked my job. When I finished answering, we sat facing one another in silence. Finally I said, “Now that we’re finished with your lists, do you have questions of your own about science?” After a long pause, a boy raised his hand, “Have you ever seen a grasshopper(蚱蜢) eat? When I try eating leaves like that, I get a stomachache. Why?” This began a set of questions that lasted nearly two hours.

Secondly, give them time to think. Studies over the past 30 years have shown that, after asking a question, adults often wait only one second or less for an answer, no time for a child to think. When adults increase their “wait time” to three seconds or more, children give more logical(符合逻辑的), complete and creative answers.

Thirdly, watch your language. Once you have a child involved in a science discussion, don’t jump in with “That’s right” or “Very good”. These words work well when you encourage their good behavior(行为). But in talking about science, quick praise can mean that discussion is over. Instead, keep things going by saying “That’s interesting” or “I’d never thought of it that way before”, or coming up with more questions or ideas.

Lastly, show and don’t tell. Real-life impressions of nature are far more impressive than any lesson children can learn from a book or a television program. Let children look at their fingertips through a magnifying glass(放大镜), and they’ll understand why you want them to wash before dinner. Rather than saying that water evaporates(蒸发), set a pot of water to boil and let them watch the water level drop.

A study led by a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology has updated the fossil (化石) record of mosquitoes (蚊子) by nearly 30 million years and has discovered that ancient male mosquitoes also fed on blood.

The study was published online on Monday in the journal Current Biology, which discovered the oldest-known mosquito fossils --- two males dating back 130 million years near the town of Hammana in Lebanon.

Dany Azar, who led the study, said the fossils not only told us the ancient origins of mosquitoes but also their feeding habits during the early stages of their growth. “We find that the mosquito group is developing, which gives us an idea about their behavior of feeding on blood” said Azar, who has been working on the subject for more than 25 years.

Before the recent findings and their study, only female mosquitoes were known to feed on blood, which they need for protein to produce their eggs. Males, which lack skin-piercing (刺入皮肤的) mouthparts, mostly feed on honey and plant juices.

“The feeding habits of insects, such as feeding on blood, are believed to have developed from their piercing mouthparts. However, studying the development of this behavior has been challenging due to the lack of insect fossil records.” Azar said.

While reexamining the mosquito fossils last year, Azar found that their unique piercing mouthparts, very similar to those of female mosquitoes today, had been kept well. Their sharp mandibles (下颌骨) gradually disappeared over the centuries.

Based on the findings, the researchers agreed that male mosquitoes fed on blood 130 million years ago. Azar, who is now a professor at the Nanjing institute, said he hopes that joint scientific explorations can be widely carried out in the future to promote more discoveries.