A new study shows students who write notes by hand during lectures perform better on exams than those who use laptops(笔记本电脑).

    Students are increasingly using laptops for note-taking because of speed and legibility(清晰度). But the research has found laptop users are less able to remember and apply the concepts they have been taught.

Researchers performed experiments that aimed to find out whether using a laptop increased the tendency to make notes "mindlessly" by taking down word for word what the professors said.

     In the first experiment, students were given either a laptop or pen and paper. They listened to the same lectures and were told to use their usual note-taking skills. Thirty minutes after the talk, they were examined on their ability to remember facts and on how well they understood concepts.

    The researchers found that laptop users took twice as many notes as those who wrote by hand. However, the typists performed worse at remembering and applying the concepts. Both groups scored similarly when it came to memorizing facts.

    The researchersˈ report said, "While more notes are beneficial, if the notes are taken mindlessly, as is more likely the case on a laptop, the benefit disappears."

In another experiment aimed at testing long-term memory, students took notes as before but were tested a week after the lecture. This time, the students who wrote notes by hand performed significantly better on the exam.

These two experiments suggest that handwritten notes are not only better for immediate learning and understanding, but that they also lead to superior revision in the future.

About 1.3 billion years ago, in a galaxy far, far away, two massive black holes broke into each other and appeared into one. The energy released by the collision created a ripple(波纹, 涟漪) in the fabric of space-time and spread outward in gravitational waves.

    Then, on Sep.14, 2015, a group of scientists detected the waves. On Feb. 11, an announcement came from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational- wave Observatory (LIGO) in the US that, for the very first time, a gravitational wave was directly observed and recorded.

    It’s exactly what Einstein’s 1915 theory of general relatively predicted.

    According to Einstein, the framework for the universe—or the space-time fabric—is not static(静态的) and fixed, but distorted(歪曲的) by matter and energy. Compared with the other three forces in the universe, gravity is relatively weak, making gravitational waves hard to detect.

    These waves cause tiny changes in the dimensions of whatever they pass through. Everything on the earth, including your own body, expands and contracts in concert with the waves. But these expansions and contractions are unbelievably tiny, far smaller than a single atom.

    The LIGO detector is able to detect shifts of less than 1/10,000th the width of an atom, according to Vox.com. It can capture gravitational waves up to 225 million light-years away.

   “Everything else in astronomy is like the eye.” “ Finally, astronomy grew ears. We  never had ears before.” Said Szabolcs Marka, a Columbia University professor who is one of the LIGO scientists. The discovery by LIGO would open a new chapter in astronomy.

 I have two kids, a boy and a girl. I don't worry about my girl; I'm sure she'll be well trained in mixed martial arts. I worry about my son. I'm pretty sure he's going to be feminine (女性化的). Sorry to say that, but let's face it. No dad wants his son to go feminine.

   At the rate we're moving in a couple of years you won't be able to tell the difference between boys and girls. Sound extreme? Think about this. In every movie where advanced time-traveling beings come to our planet there's one constant: You can't tell the male aliens from the female aliens!

   But that's the future. Kids today are soft and fat. People ask why. Is it junk food? No. Junk food has been around for fifty years. Is it video games? No. Video games have been around for thirty years. None of the kids playing them back in the day were terribly obese. We're all scratching our heads trying to figure out what we've introduced to society to ruin our kids. But it's not anything we've added that has ruined our kids. It's stuff we've gotten rid of.

   Take the gym rope for example. Remember that thing that stretched from the floor to the ceiling in your gym class that you could never climb? Most of the kids couldn't make it to the top. But that wasn't the point; the point was you had to try while some middle-aged guy who couldn't make it up a flight of stairs shouted at you. We should have put our son on that rope, and given him a head start, But we didn't want to shame the boy, so we took it down.

   Taking down the rope would be a good idea if there were no ropes in life. But they're everywhere. You just can't see them. They're in every goal unrealized and expectation not met. The point everyone missed about the rope is you weren't supposed to make it to the top. It was there to create a fire that burned in the oversized belly of every kid.

As common as it is, scratching to relieve an itch has long been considered a biological mystery: Are cells at the surface of the skin somehow tired in need of outside stimulation? Or is the relief of the stimulation centered in the brain?

Perhaps neither one, a new study suggests. Neuroscientists report that specialized cells in the spinal cord appear to be critically involved in producing the feeling of an itch and the feeling of relief after the application of fingernails, at least in healthy individuals.

“It’s a very important study; itching is a major problem for millions of patients,” said Dr. Gil Yosipovitch.

Dr. Yosipoviteh cautioned that the findings may not apply to chronic itches. “But this is the kind of work that should help open this area up to more research.”

The researchers isolated in monkeys cellular(细胞的) connections that run from the surface of the foot to the spinal cord and then to the part for feelings in the brain. They caused the feeling of itchiness by injecting something under the skin. They chose some cells at the base of the spinal cord. Most are sensitive to pain and some to both pain and itchiness. And when the researchers scratched the itchy skin on the monkeys’ feet, it quieted the cell’s activity.

Scientists argue that itching is most likely related to grooming(动物的梳毛), and evolved to protect animals against poisonous plants. But the biology of the itch has been a mystery and ignored for years by researchers who have been far more focused on pain.

It is suggested that itch, like pain, may be a “gated” system where signals from other nerve cells can interfere with the feeling. Scratching the skin near, but not directly on the spot, it often provides relief, just as rubbing an aching arm can reduce pain.

As with some kinds of pain, small reminders of an itching feeling can get people scratching, often without being entirely aware of it. “I give lectures about itching.” Dr. Giesler said, “and I’ll stand up there in front of a whole roomful of people, show a few slides and pretty soon I’ll look out and 90 percent of the audience is scratching.”

Dr. Yosipovitch said there was a long way to go before doctors could expect treatments. For one thing the miserable, chronic itch common in many medical problems most likely involves other mechanisms. “But I feel excited about this finding,” he said. “It’s a sign that this field is really evolving,”

There have been big changes in the attitudes of most parents over the last few years. Physical punishment is banned(被禁止) in schools in most countries, and in many countries, there are moves to ban all physical punishment of children even at home. However, many parents still believe that they have the right to use some physical punishments to deal with certain misbehavior at certain ages.

Itˈs easy to find reasons to allow some physical punishments. One issue is that many parents find it very difficult to give up physical punishment completely. Parents argue that this was the way they were brought up and that it didnˈt do any harm to them. They believe that for the childˈs sake they have the right to discipline (惩罚) the child in any way they consider fit, including using some physical punishments. The other one is that physical punishment can be quick and effective. There is not much point reasoning with a screaming child in the supermarket.

However, there are several reasons why we should stop using physical punishment. One point is that most parents are not trained to deal with misbehaving children. They donˈt have enough resources or choices to handle the situation. As a result, they immediately react by hitting the child even if there are other solutions to the problem. Another point is that unless people are challenged or forced to change their belief, they may keep following negative habits. An example is seat belt use—now most people wear seat belts without thinking, while years ago the idea of using seat belts was strange to most people. In the same way, banning physical punishment will force people to change their habits.

In conclusion, parents have to change some of their belief and ideas about how children should be raised. It is possible to avoid the use of physical force, and doing so will help us move closer to the dream of removing violence from our society.

How to Study Smarter, Not Harder

Here are some of our favorite study tips that will help any student study smarter, not harder:

Recite As You Study

Reciting—saying things out loud should first take place as you read through each paragraph or section. Test yourself. This will help you to understand as well as learn faster because it is more active than reading or listening. It will also help you to notice your mistakes and the topics you have trouble understanding.

Take Fuller Notes

Notes should be in your own words, brief and clear. They should be tidy and easy to read. Writing notes will help you better than just underlining as you read, since it forces you to rewrite ideas in your own words.

Study the Middle

The best time to review is soon after you’ve learned something. You are more likely to remember the material at the beginning and the end of the lesson, so make sure you focus on the middle when you review.

Sleep On It

Study before going to bed, unless you are very tired. It’s easier to remember material you have just learned after sleeping than after an equal period of daytime activity, because your brain continues to think even after you’ve fallen asleep.

Combine(结合) Memory and Understanding

There are two ways to remember: by memorizing and by understanding. Multiplication tables, telephone numbers, and math formulas are better learned by rote. Ideas are best learned by understanding.

The more ways you have to think about an idea, the more meaning it will have; the more meaningful the learning, the better you can remember it. Pay attention to similarities in ideas and concepts, and then try to understand how they fit in with things you already know. Never be satisfied with anything less than a completely clear understanding of what you are reading. If you are not able to follow the thought, go back to the place where you first got confused and try again.

If you’re locking into your career plans, college counselor Nancy has three words for you: Don’t do it. Actually, Nancy isn’t the only counselor advising students to take their time in discovering who they are and what they want to do when they get out of college.

“Preparing broadly makes sense to me,” she explains, “and that the best preparation for a future that is still unfolding, is a broad preparation. It shouldn’t prevent you from following areas that light you up, but a broad preparation will prepare you for multiple careers.” That’s important because jobs change more frequently due to changes in technology and business competition. Some jobs that are available today may be on their way out in 10 years. “The best thing about preparing broadly is that you get to live in a big world,” says Nancy. “You avoid getting stuck in a job or business area, and if your job becomes out of date, you can move on.”

Many students make the mistake of working on "the next step in front of them," avoiding time to explore their interests or reflect on what theyˈre learning about themselves. For example, students will look at a college and try to figure out what the college is looking for in a student. Then they try to remake themselves into that student, even though it might go against who they really are.

Students let the “next-step mentality” hold back their learning aswell.Many students don’t take courses outside their comfort zone for fear it will ruin their GPA(平均成绩) and their chances of getting into a certain college. “You may be unwilling to go outside your areas of strength for fear you’ll get a low grade,” says Nancy. “But if you think one grade in one class will ruin your chances of admission, you’re doing harm to yourself. Colleges look at a number of factors in addition to grades. Students often think requirements of colleges are much stricter and narrower than they really are.”

Since colleges work to admit a diverse group of students, the best thing to do is be yourself and explore your options. There are many people in their late 20s who are unhappy in their careers and who regret that they didn’t pursue a wider range of interests while in college.

In a society such as the United States or Canada, which has many national, religious and cultural differences, people highly value individualism—the differences among people. Teachers place a lot of importance on the qualities that make each student special. The educational systems in these countries show these values. Students do not memorize all possible basic knowledge. Instead, they work individually and find answers by themselves. There is often discussion in the classroom. At an early age, students learn to form their own ideas and opinions.

  In most Asia societies, by contrast, the people have the same language, history and culture. Perhaps for this reason, the educational system in much of the orient reflects societyˈs belief in group goals and purposes rather than individualism. Children in China, Japan and Korea often work together and help one another on assignments.

  There are advantages and disadvantages of both systems of education. For example, one advantage of the system in Japan is that students there learn much more about math, physics, biology and chemistry than American students by the end of high school. They also study more hours each day and more days each year than North Americans do. The system is difficult, but it prepares students for a society that values discipline and self-control. There is, however, a disadvantage. Memorization is an important learning method in Japanese schools, yet many students say that after an exam, they forget much of the information that they have memorized.

  The advantage of the educational system in North America, on the other hand, is that students learn to think for themselves. The system prepares them for a society that values creative ideas. There is, however, a disadvantage. When students graduate from school, they havenˈt memorized as many basic rules and facts as students in other countries have.