How do you feel about nature? After spending hours indoors, do you feel better when you visit your local park? Most people think that nature is good for our bodies and brains. However, humans are spending more time inside and less time outside. For example, the number of visitors to Canada’ national parks is getting lower every year. And in countries such as the USA, only 10% of teenagers spend time outside every day. Many doctors feel that this is a problem in the twenty-first century.

As a result, some doctors are studying the connection between nature and health: one example of this is the work of Dr Matilda in Sweden. The doctor gave people a maths test. During the test, their heart rates were fast. After the test, one group of people sat in a 3D-virtual-reality room for fifteen minutes with pictures and sounds of nature. Their heart rates were slower than people’s in the other group.

The virtual touch with nature helped them feel more relaxed. Another good example of how nature is good for health comes from Canada. In Toronto, researchers studied 31, 000 people living in the city. In general, they found that healthier people lived near parks.

Because of studies like these, some countries and cities want nature to be part of people’s everyday life. In Dubai, for example, there are plans for a new shopping mall with a large garden so shoppers can relax outside with trees, plants and water. In Switzerland, “forest schools” are popular. School children study their subjects in the forests and do lots of exercise outside. And South Korea is another good example: it has new forests near its cities and around 13 million people visit these forests every year. So after building cities for so long, perhaps it’s now time to start rebuilding nature.

Around the world, artificial intelligence(AI，人工智能) has slowly become a part of our everyday lives. One of the biggest usages is facial recognition(FR) technology.

After enabling people to make payments and open bank accounts, FR has now been put to use in the subway of Zhengzhou, Henan province. Introduced in September, FR is useful for passengers who link their online payment systems to the subway’s smartphone app. China Daily reports that other cities in China, including Beijing, are testing a similar system.

However, the use of facial recognition has caused discussions over privacy and financial(金融的) security risks.

According to China Daily, many people feel uncomfortable using facial recognition. They doubt the necessity of using facial details and worry the information could be let out.

Their concerns aren’t unreasonable. In August, a face-changing app called ZAO allowed user to imitate famous people from films and TV series through the use of facial recognition. Fun as it was, users worried that the app was collecting more personal information.

Sometimes people can refuse the app if they don’t want their facial information let out, but sometimes people don’t have a choice.

Zhao Zhanling, a legal researcher at the China University of Political Science and Law, said the growing public concern over facial recognition is understandable. Once this information is let out, it’s hard to take effective measures.

There is no law in China to regulate the use and collection of facial information, Zhao said, suggesting that app operators, public service providers and government should be more careful in preventing free use of the technology.

Gao Zicheng, a lawyer, said the law is a “must” but will require amount of time, because it is difficult to define(定义) what personal data is private information can be disclosed.

As everyone knows, World Reading Day is celebrated on April 23 every year, organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It was celebrated for the first time on April 23, 1995. In the United Kingdom, the day is usually celebrated on the first Thursday in March.

A new survey by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication shows that Chinese adults read an average of 7.86 books in 2016, of which 4.65 were traditional books and 3.21 were e-books. The survey, made known to the public on April 18, was carried out in 52 cities. And 22,415 people were surveyed.

The survey also shows that the time Chinese adults spent reading through the use of mobile phones has increased. They spent an average of 74.4 minutes reading on mobile phones every day. In 2016, 62.4 percent of Chinese adults reported reading on WeChat, increasing by 9.1 percent from the 2015 figure.

25.2% of respondents said they would be willing to pay for reading materials. The average cost on reading materials in 2016 was 16.95 yuan per person, up by 5.76 yuan from 2015. The chart below is about popular reading materials among mobile readers.