With exploding consumer demand for Greek yogurt, production is up. That’s great for food companies’ bottom lines, but it also leaves them dealing with a lot more acid whey (酸乳清), a problematic byproduct(副产品)of the Greek yogurt—making process.

Acid whey, if not properly dealt with, can cause environmental problems. At present, food companies typically pay to landspread it on farmers’ fields or dump it down the drain(下水道). Some factories are starting to send it to some professional companies, where it’s used to produce methane (甲烷). Scientists at the University of Wisconsin－Madison are developing a better choice, one that will transform this waste into treasure, but that’s no easy task.

Compared to sweet whey, however, acid whey from Greek yogurt is hard to work with. Similar to sweet whey, it’s mostly water—95 percent—but it contains a lot less protein, which is considered the valuable part. Some of the other“solids”in acid whey make it a lot more difficult to process. For example, it turns into a sticky mess when it’s dried down.

 Instead of drying it, scientists are developing technologies to separate out the various components.“We’re developing a process that allows us to get some value-added ingredients out at the other end，”says technologist Karen Smith, who is working on the project. Scientists have set their sights on an ingredient that food companies will pay good money for in food-grade form.

 The technology is quite far along. While Sommer, a food technologist, can’t give away names, he says a number of companies are already carrying out lactose-separating(乳糖分离) technology in their commercial factories. Separating the other components will come later, part of the long-term goal for this technology. When it’s perfected, explains Sommer, there will be nothing left in acid whey. It will just be water.

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Daydreaming was viewed as a waste of time．Or it was considered an unhealthy escape from real life and its duties．Daydreaming has always had a bad reputation，but now scientific research has showed that daydreaming may actually improve your mental health and creativity．It can even help you achieve your desired goals．

Now some people are taking a fresh look at daydreaming．Some think it may be a very healthy thing to do．Researchers are finding daydreaming，they tell us，is a good means of relaxation．But its benefits go beyond this．A number of psychologists have conducted experiments and have reached some surprising conclusions．   

Dr．Joan T．Freyberg has concluded that daydreaming contributes to intellectual growth．It also improves concentration，attention span，and the ability to get along with others，she says．In an experiment with school children, the same researcher found that daydreaming led the children to pay more attention to details．They had more happy feelings．They worked together better．Another researcher reported that daydreaming seemed to produce improved self-control and creative abilities．

But that’s only part of the story．The most remarkable thing about daydreaming may be its usefulness in shaping our future lives as we want them to be．Industrialist Henry J．Kaiser believed that much of his success was due to the positive use of daydreaming．He maintained that “you can imagine your future．”Florence Nightingale dreamed of becoming a nurse．The young Thomas Edison pictured himself as an inventor. For these famous achievers，it appears that their daydreams came true．

Of course daydreaming is no substitute(代替者)for hard work．You have to work hard to develop skills．Daydreaming alone can’t turn you into your heart’s desire．But in，combination with the more usual methods of self-development，it might make a critical difference．And who knows：You might see your own daydreams come true．

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       Some of the best research on daily experience is rooted in rates of positive and negative interactions, which has proved that being blindly positive or negative can cause others to be frustrated or annoyed or to simply tune out.

    Over the last two decades, scientists have made remarkable predictions simply by watching people interact with one another and then scoring the conversations based on the rate of positive and negative interactions. Researchers have used the findings to predict everything from the likelihood a couple will divorce to the chances of a work team having high customer satisfaction and productivity levels.

    More recent research helps explain why these brief exchanges matter so much. When you experience negative emotions as a result of criticism or rejection, for example, your body produces higher levels of the stress hormone, which shuts down much of your thinking and activates (激活) conflict and defense mechanisms (机制). You assume situations as being worse than they actually are.

    When you experience a positive interaction, it activates a very different response. Positive exchanges increase your body’s production of oxytocin, a feel-good hormone that increases your ability to communicate with, cooperate with and trust others. But the effects of a positive occurrence are less dramatic and lasting than they are for a negative one.

    We need at least three to five positive interactions to outweigh (超过) every one negative exchange. Bad moments simply outweigh good ones. Whether you’re having a conversation, keep this simple short cut in mind: At least 80 percent of your conversations should be focused on what’s going right.

    Workplaces, for example, often have this backward. During performance reviews, managers routinely spend 80 percent of their time on weaknesses and “areas for improvement”. They spend roughly 20 percent of the time on strengths and positive aspects. Any time you have discussions with a person or group, spend the vast majority of the time talking about what is working, and use the remaining time to address weaknesses.

“Donˈt worry if you have problems!” It is easy to say until you are in the midst of a really big one. The only people who donˈt have troubles are gathered in little neighborhoods. Most communities have at least one. We call them cemeteries（墓地）. If youˈre breathing, you have difficulties. Itˈs the way of life. And believe it or not, most of your problems may actually be good for you! Let me explain. 

Maybe you have heard the Great Barrier Reef(大堡礁), stretching some 1,800 miles from New Guinea to Australia. Tour guides regularly take visitors to view the reef.

On one tour, a traveler asked the guide an interesting question. "I notice that the lagoon(环礁湖)side of the reef looks pale and lifeless, while the ocean side is vibrant(充满生气的) and colorful," the traveler observed. Why is this?

The guide gave an interesting answer, "The coral around the lagoon side is in still water, with no challenge for its survival. It dies early. The coral on the ocean side is constantly being tested by wind, waves and storms. It has to fight for its survival every day. As it is challenged and tested, it changes and adapts. It grows healthy. It grows strong. And it reproduces."

Then he added, “Thatˈs the way it is with every living organism.”

Thatˈs how it is with people. Challenged and tested, we come alive! Like coral pounded by the sea, we grow. Physical demands can cause us to grow stronger. Mental and emotional stress can produce tough-mindedness and resiliency（弹回）. Spiritual testing can produce strength of character and faithfulness. So, you have problems? No problem! Just tell yourself, "There I grow again!" 

Remember: A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner（水手）.

Brrriiinnng. The alarm clock announces the start of another busy weekday in the morning. You jump out of bed, rush into the shower, into your clothes and out the door with hardly a moment to think. A stressful journey to work gets your blood pressure climbing. Once at the office, you glance through the newspaper with depressing stories or reports of disasters. In that sort of mood, who can get down to work, particularly some creative, original problem-solving work?

The way most of us spend our mornings is exactly opposite to the conditions that promote flexible, open-minded thinking. Imaginative ideas are most likely to come to us when we’re unfocused. If you are one of those energetic morning people, your most inventive time comes in the early evening when you are relaxed. Sleepy people’s lack of focus leads to an increase in creative problem solving. By not giving yourself time to tune into your wandering mind, you’re missing out on the surprising solutions it may offer.

The trip you take to work doesn’t help, either.The stress slows down the speed with which signals travel between neurons （神经细胞）, making inspirations less likely to occur. And while we all should read a lot about what’s going

on in the world, it would not make you feel good for sure, so put that news website or newspaper aside until after the day’s work is done.

So what would our mornings look like if we wanted to start them with a full capacity for creative problem solving?

We’d set the alarm a few minutes early and lie awake in bed, following our thoughts where they lead. We’d stand a little longer under the warm water of the shower, stopping thinking about tasks in favor of a few more minutes of relaxation. We’d take some deep breaths on our way to work, instead of complaining about heavy traffic. And once in the office—after we get a cup of coffee—we’d click on links not to the news of the day but to the funniest videos the web has to offer.

It is not only praise or punishment that determines a child’s level of confidence. There are some other important ways we shape our kids, particularly by giving instructions and commands in a negative or positive choice of words. For example, we can say to a child “Don’t run into traffic!” pr “Stay on the footpath close to me.” In using the latter, you will be helping your kids to think and act positively, and to feel competent in a wide range of situations, because they know what to do, and aren’t scaring themselves about what not to do.

 Why does such a small thing make a difference? It is all in the way the human mind works. What we think, we automatically rehearse (预演). For example, if someone offered you a million dollars not to think of a blue monkey for two minutes, you wouldn’t be able to do it. When a child is told “Don’t fall off the tree,” he will think of two things: “don’t” and “fall off the tree”. That is, he will automatically create the picture of falling off the tree in his mind. A child who is vividly imagining falling off the tree is much more likely to fall off. So it is far better to use “Hold on to the tree carefully.”

 Clear, positive instructions help kids to understand the right way to do things. Kids do not always know how to be safe, or how to react to the warning of the danger in negative words. So parents should make their commands positive. “Sam, hold on firm to the side of the boat” is much more useful than “Don’t you dare to fall out of the boat?” or worse still “How do you think I’ll feel if you drown?” The changes are small but the difference is obvious.

 Children learn how to guide and organize themselves from the way we guide them with our words, so it pays to be positive.

For many people, leisure time is an opportunity to get outdoors, have some fun and meet interesting people. Add two pieces of advanced 21st century technology — global positioning system (GPS) devices and the Internet — to get “geocaching”.

The word geocaching comes from “geo” (earth) and “cache” (hidden storage). Geocachers log onto a website to find information about the location of a cache — usually a waterproof plastic box containing small items such as toys and CDs — along with a notebook where “finders” can enter comments and learn about the cache “owner”, the person who created and hid the cache. Finders may take any of the items in the cache but are expected to replace them with something of similar value. They then visit the website again and write a message to the owner.

Geocaching became possible on May 1, 2000, when a satellite system developed by the U.S. Department of Defense was made public. Using an inexpensive GPS device, anyone on earth can send a signal to the satellites and receive information about their position. This is basically a high-tech version of orienteering, the traditional pastime which uses maps and compasses instead of GPS to determine one’s location.

Geocachers are a very considerate group. Owners carefully choose a cache’s location to give finders an enjoyable experience, such as a beautiful view or a good campsite. They also consider the environmental impact of their cache since it could result in an increased number of visitors to an area. As for the content of the caches, owners and finders must only use items that are suitable for the whole family, as caches are found by geocachers of all ages.

Reading can be a social activity. Think of the people who belong to book groups. They choose books to read and then meet to discuss them. Now, the websiteBookCrossing.comturns the page on the traditional idea of a book group.

Members go on the site and register the books they own and would like to share. BookCrossing provides an identification number to stick inside the book. Then the person leaves it in a public place, hoping that the book will have an adventure, traveling far and wide with each new reader who finds it.

    Bruce Pederson, the managing director of BookCrossing, says, “The two things that change your life are the people you meet and books you read. BookCrossing combines both.”

    Members leave books on park benches and buses, in train stations and coffee shops. Whoever finds their book will go to the site and record where they found it.

    People who find a book can also leave a journal entry describing what they thought of it. E-mails are then sent to the BookCrossing to keep them updated about where their books have been found. Bruce Pederson says the idea is for people not to be selfish by keeping a book to gather dust on a shelf at home.

    BookCrossing is part of a trend among people who want to get back to the “real” and not the virtual(虚拟). The site now has more than one million members in more than one hundred thirty-five countries.

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Be honest, when was the last time you cried? If you’re one of those who say they never cry, the statistics are against you. Women reportedly cry 64 times a year on average, while men shed（流）tears about 17 times. Everyone from professional athletes such as Michael Jordan to politicians like Barack Obama has been caught crying at least once. But why do we cry?

Some psychologists believe crying is our body’s response when we’re helpless. Even if we’re surprised by happy news, we may still cry. Other psychologists say that when we cry, we’re trying to get others to help us out when we’re surprised, sad, angry, scared, or in danger.

Therapist（临床专家）Judith Kay Nelson says that our experience with crying as babies may determine how we view crying when we’re older. Some parents are quick to try and calm their kids down whenever they start crying. Those children will likely find crying in their adult years brings a similar comfort. On the other hand, those whose parents became angered by their crying probably won’t feel crying has the same calming effect.

Many people believe crying can actually make a person feel better. But according to studies, whether it makes us feel better or not depends on the reactions of others. If others react positively, we’ll feel better. On the contrary, we’ll feel worse.

People’s reactions to crying have a lot to do with the gender（性别）of the person weeping. In the West, it’s generally acceptable for women to be seen crying. In Britain boys are taught not to cry. Even though people are becoming more enlightened about tears, crying in males is still viewed as a sign of weakness. Philip Hodson, an expert on male emotions, has a different viewpoint. “In truth, crying isn’t weakness; it’s a relaxation system,” he says. “If we don’t use this system, we’re not being very intelligent.” After all, everybody cries.

      If you are a fruit grower — or would like to become one — take advantage of Apple Day to see what’s around. It’s called Apple Day but in practice it’s more like Apple Month. The day itself is on October 21, but since it has caught on, events now spread out over most of October around Britain.

      Visiting an apple event is a good chance to see, and often taste, a wide variety of apples. To people who are used to the limited choice of apples such as Golden Delicious and Royal Gala in supermarkets, it can be quite an eye opener to see the range of classical apples still in existence, such as Decio which was grown by the Romans. Although it doesn’t taste of anything special, it’s still worth a try, as is the knobbly (多疙瘩的) Cat’s Head which is more of a curiosity than anything else.

       There are also varieties developed to suit specific local conditions. One of the very best varieties for eating quality is Orleans Reinette, but you’ll need a warm, sheltered place with perfect soil to grow it, so it’s a pipe dream for most apple lovers who fall for it.

At the events, you can meet expert growers and discuss which ones will best suit your conditions, and because these are family affairs, children are well catered for with apple-themed fun and games.

       Apple Days are being held at all sorts of places with an interest in fruit, including stately gardens and commercial orchards (果园). If you want to have a real orchard experience, try visiting the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale, near Faversham in Kent.