Can anyone be an astronaut?

Of course not. You don’t have to have a science degree but most astronauts do. Most of them are pilots too. Life in a spaceship is hard so you must have a healthy body and mind. You need to be easy-going, patient, and helpful to spend so much time in a small space with other people.

What’s the training like?

People have to train for a year to learn how to stay healthy and safe. They practise space walking and living in zero gravity(重力). They train in difficult conditions to learn how to solve problems and to work in a team. Everyday tasks like eating, washing and sleeping can be difficult on a spaceship. There is no running water so you have to wash with wet tissues: it’s hard to enjoy the dry food that astronauts have to eat. And to sleep you must cover your eyes because the sun rises every 90 minutes on the International Space Station. You also have to tie yourself to something so you don’t fly away!

What health problems do astronauts have?

Life in zero gravity causes changes to our bodies. Bones and muscles(肌肉) become thin and weak so you must do a lot of exercise in space to stay fit and to help the heart move blood around your body. Astronauts often get backache because you grow in space— up to 8 centimeters! It’s also common to have headaches and to feel sick, especially at the beginning. You must have vitamins to take the place of fresh fruit and vegetables. But you don’t have to put on sun cream because space suits can protect your skin (皮肤).

Are you still interested?

So now you know. If you want to go to space, study hard, learn to fly and take care of your body and mind.

How was your sleep last night? Let’s check out some sleep habits that may accidentally be harmful to your health.

“Jump scares from alarms”

A young woman recently shared online that she felt uncomfortable after her loud alarm woke her up. It was because the blood supply to part of her brain was shortly prevented, according to her health examination.

“The body changes during sleep, making people vulnerable in the early morning,” Chris from the Edinburgh Sleep Center told Daily Mail. During the later part of the night, the nervous system is less active and most of the body activities slow down. When a sudden noise appears, blood pressure, heart rate and breathing will react more quickly.

Waking up suddenly by an alarm is not a good habit, but it’s difficult for most people to wake up by themselves naturally. A softer alarm may be helpful, giving the body some time to adjust. Another way is to leave the curtains half open before sleep—the sunshine in the morning can slowly wake you up.

“Sleep late, get up late”

Although the 8-hour golden rule of sleeping is valuable, some young people may go to bed late and then get up late, such as sleeping from 2 am to 10 am. However, this can be problematic since human bodies can tell the time.

An expert said that waking up late the next day could also lead to sleep inertia (惯性), which is a state between sleep and waking. This is why, after oversleeping, people may feel even more tired.

If this habit is serious enough to influence a person’s study, work and other aspects (方面) of life, it may turn into a special illness. Special treatments have already been developed to treat the illness, such as using light to gradually change one’s sleeping habit.

One day you open the fridge and find some moldy (发霉的) food. But before you can throw it away, your mother stops you. She doesn’t want to waste food. She cuts off the moldy part and eats the rest. Is it safe to do this?

Mold can grow on almost all kinds of food. Mold is usually green, white, black or grey. Mold makes food soft and changes its color. Moldy food tastes quite bad.

If you find mold in soft food, just throw it away. Soft food, such as bread, tomatoes or hot dogs usually has water. This allows mold to easily grow below its surface (表面) . Bacteria (细菌) can also grow along with it.

But it’s easy to take away mold from hard food. Mold can’t grow very deeply inside this kind of food. According to the BBC, you should cut about 2. 5cm around and below the mold to clear it. It’s OK to cut the moldy parts out of hard food and eat the rest. But if the food is totally covered with mold, you should still throw it away.

Most kinds of mold are bad for us. But some kinds of mold can be used to make food. For example, penicillin (青霉菌) can be used to make many types of cheeses, and they’re quite delicious as well.