"It's absolutely safe to say that animals are beneficial to our mental and physical health," says Nancy, director of the Center for Human-Animal Interaction at Virginia Commonwealth University. Nancy says evidence is accumulating that levels of the stress drop in people after just 5 to 20 minutes' interaction with dogs — even if it's not their pet. And it's not just humans that benefit from these brief exchanges. "We see the same thing in the dogs when they interact with humans," Nancy says.

Now, the therapy dogs used in research are screened for things like friendliness, good behavior and responsiveness. They're not necessarily going to be great for every single person. But for people who get it and connect with the animals, they can make a big difference.

Research on the health benefits of human interactions with animals, especially with dogs, has exploded in recent years. Though the field is still young, the quality of the evidence is improving as new research begins to include more randomly controlled trials looking at short interactions.

So how does hanging out with dogs help us focus? Mueller, whose research focuses on the psychology of human-animal relationships, says dogs drive us to experience the world more like they do. Animals, particularly dogs, live in the moment, experiencing their environment with wonder all the time. Watching dogs sniff the grass or explore the world around them cues us to pay more attention, too. There's some evidence that the act of actually touching a dog might be an important part of their calming effect.

But it's not just how we clue to dogs that makes the relationship special. They can connect with another human being. And they do it without the ability to use words. As my dog-loving 9-year-old kid recently told me, dogs just have a way of speaking to our hearts.

Desperate to help his 96-year-old mother to speak her mother tongue again, Keith McDermott made an appeal on social media and was met with a flood of kind responses. The old lady, Ray, was moved to tears after talking on the phone with one of the enthusiastic respondents in Welsh.

Ray moved to America after meeting her husband when she was only 18, hence waving goodbye to her life in Wales. She continued to speak Welsh with her mum- keeping a little bit of home. But she lost her beloved mum four decades ago and hadn't spoken Welsh since.

Despite suffering from short-term memory loss and sometimes not remembering what she has done recently, Ray's childhood memories in Wales remain crystal clear. "She wants to return but I know, given her age, such long-distance travel is out of the question." said Keith, "Once she mentioned ‘I wish I could speak Welsh again but l suppose I never will' It was then that I thought I should make her-wish happen."

So Keith, 70, posted on social media in the New York Welsh area asking for any Welsh speakers that could speak Welsh with his mum. And he was touched, as-well as-a little shocked, to receive over 30 responses within half an hour. Keith thanked everyone and eventually asked Melisa to give his mum a phone call. Speaking with Melisa, her (Ray's) Welsh was a little rusty. A few more Welsh conversations and I think she'd be fluent again," added Keith.

"When you have a parent in their nineties, you-will find you two have something in common: you're both old, So I am very sympathetic to my mother? feelings of loneliness and isolation (孤立). I'm feeling it myself." Keith hopes to set up more Welsh phone conversations for his-mum and Melisa has promised to send Ray some short stories in Welsh to remind her of her life in Wales.

World Book Day author A.M. Dassu shares some tips

While helping out at her children's swimming lessons, author A.M. Dassu noticed that one boy always put on his socks too soon afterwards. He inspired her to write a picture book that she called Soggy Socks.

Today, many years later, Dassu has published lots of children's books. Every day, after taking her children to school, Dassu goes to her desk to write. "I leave my phone upstairs so I don't get distracted, and try to write 800 words every day," she says. Dassu believes that the key to being a successful writer is not necessarily talent but "getting your bottom on the seat".

The cyclist with far to go

After 527 days, Liam Garner has completed an amazing achievement. He has cycled almost 20,000 miles from Alaska, in the very north of the US, to Ushuaia-the world's southernmost city-in the South American country of Argentina. Garner, who was 17 years old when he set off, said his trip was inspired by a book he read about a similar journey.

Garner always wanted to have a "big adventure". During his trip, Garner travelled through 14 countries. He camped outside, stayed in hostels or was hosted by local families. He faced some challenges, including an accident that meant he had to take some time off. However, he recovered and finally reached his goal of being the youngest person ever to cycle from Alaska to Argentina.

A plastic-waste warrior

Licypriya Kangujam won an international award which celebrates people who spark global change. Licypriya, who is 11 and from India, won it for her Plastic Money Shop, where people can trade in their single-use plastic waste for useful items such as stationery, rice or young trees to plant.