When you hear the word “shapeshifting” (变身), you may think of science fiction movies, not the climate (气候). But that’s what animals are doing to deal with climate change.

A new study shows that some animals are gradually growing larger beaks, legs and ears. In this way they can lose heat more easily to cool themselves down as Earth gets warmer.

“A lot of the time when we talk about climate change, we ask ‘Can humans overcome this?’ or ‘What technology can solve this?’ But we should know that animals also have to adapt (适应) to these changes,” said the study’s author, Sara Ryding, from Deakin University, Australia. If animals can’t control their body temperature, they can overheat and die.

In one example, the beaks of some Australian parrot species (物种) have grown 4 to 10 percent larger since 1871. The study says it’s closely related to rising summer temperatures over the years. Similar examples include wood mice. They have longer tails. Masked shrews (假面鼩鼱) are getting longer tails and legs, and bats in warm climates have bigger wings. Although the changes are still small, Ryding said they could be more obvious as the days become hotter. “Body parts like ears are predicted to be bigger, so we might end up with a live-action Dumbo (big-eared elephant from a Disney cartoon) in the near future,” Ryding told BBC.

People keep flat-faced (扁脸的) dogs such as French bulldogs (法国斗牛犬) as pets because they are cute. Some people call these dogs “lazy” because they sleep more easily than other dogs during the day. However, these cute dogs are having a hard time.

Scientists in Hungary watched 92 family dogs of different types while they were sleeping. During the study, the dogs spent about three hours with their owners in the sleep lab. When the dogs fell asleep, scientists recorded the dogs’ brain activities.

The study found that the flat-faced dogs slept more than the other kinds. Maybe they don’t get enough sleep at night because of sleep apnea, which only happens in French bulldogs. During their sleep, they can’t get enough air and may find it difficult to breathe, which makes them often wake up.

Some French bulldogs may sleep while holding a toy ball in their mouths. Owners may think this is funny. But they’re doing it to keep their airways (呼吸道) open so they can breathe more easily.

French bulldogs have this health problem because of breeding (培育). According to Pet Helpful, a lot of pet dogs are bred based on what people like, such as shorter legs, heavier bodies, and larger ears. Bulldogs are one of the victims (受害者).

Lots of pet lovers are calling for people to respect dogs as they are. Breeders must take the health of dogs seriously instead of just for cuteness.

My grandmother died when I was a child. I couldn’t understand why I had no tears. But that night when my dad tried to cheer me up, my laugh turned into crying.

It was reported that crying and laughing came from the same part of the brain. Just as laughing has many health advantages（益处）, scientists are discovering that so does crying.

Reducing pressure is good for our emotional（情感的）health, and crying seems to work well. One study found that 85 percent of women and 73 percent of men said they felt better after crying.

Besides, researchers agree that when we cry, people around us become kinder and friendlier and they are more ready to give us advice and comfort us. Tears also enable us to understand our emotions better; sometimes we don’t even know we’re very sad until we cry. We learn about our emotions through crying, and then we can deal with them.

Just as crying can be healthy, holding back tears of anger, pain or suffering can be bad for physical health. Studies have shown that too much control of emotions can lead to high blood pressure, heart problems and some other illnesses. If you have a health problem, doctors will certainly not ask you to cry. But when you feel like crying, don’t hold it back. It’s a natural and healthy emotional response（反应）.