Doctors and nutritionists have been telling that one should not eat right before going to bed. However, one should also not eat late at night, according to a recent study. It has been said that when we eat late at night, we're going against our body's rhythm.

According to the researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital, eating late at night increases the risk of obesity and weight gain. The analysis of the study revealed that the time when a person eats their last meal impacts the calories burned, appetite and how the body stores fat.

To conduct their study, a total of 16 participants with the body mass index (BMI)that is of the obese range or considered overweight were studied. Every one was given the same meals and they were divided into two groups: The first group was required to eat their meals early in the day and the other with each meal 250 minutes late.

The team of researchers found that eating late had a significant impact on the regulation of hunger hormones. The level of leptin (瘦蛋白) inhibits the human appetite. It was reduced across the period of 24 hours due to late eating. It was observed that eating late doubled the chance of being hungry. When participants ate later, they burned calories at a much slower rate.

In a press release the first author Nina Vujovic said, "In this study, we asked a simple question, 'Does the time that we eat matter when everything else is kept consistent?' and we found that eating four hours later makes a major difference to the hunger levels, the way calories burn after we eat, and the way our body stores fat."

This study adds to a growing body of evidence showing just how important meal timing can be when it comes to body weight. Based on what this and other studies have shown, people who are watching their weight may want to get rid of the late night snacks and eat most of their meals earlier in the day.

In many casual discussions of language and the Internet, it^'s common to hear about how "social media language^" is ruining language. Some people argue that technology has made us lazy about how we speak and write. And major media such as the BBC and The Daily Mail have all bemoaned the way in which people communicate through technology.

Of course, language does change when ifs used to write messages online. Social media language is an evolution (进化) of language. It's even the focus of the field of linguistics (语言学) called Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC). This field concentrates on the study of interaction brought about by technology like computers, mobile phones and tablets.

People have been making complaints about language being ''ruined" for as long as ttiey⁵ve been writing and speaking. In a TED Talk, linguist John McWhorter shared stories of people being annoyed about language change through the ages. In A. D. 63, for example, a Roman scholar complained that students of Latin were writing in an "artificial language^". In fact, this writing was a new language that would become French!

Today, people are able to communicate rapidly using a wide variety of tools and technologies. Perhaps no linguistic development better indicates changes in the ways we communicate than the popular emoticon (表情符号).

The emoticon ":)" is a visual prefinance of a smiley face turned sideways. Although an emoticon may look like a smile, a frown or any other kind of facial expressions, it doesn't really represent a face. Instead, it's intended to express a feeling, such as "I'm happy. "or"just joking".

Words that represent these feelings are what linguists call discourse particles (话 语 小品词). These are little pieces of language that offer information about the tone of the statement.

Far from ruining language, these examples indicate how people can now communicate complex feelings in a simple, direct maimer. This kind of change is perfect for our modern, fast-paced world.

I was about 13 when an uncle gave me a copy of Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World. It was full of ideas that were new to me, so I spent the summer with my head in and out of that book. It spoke to me and brought me into a world of philosophy (哲学).

That love for philosophy lasted until I got to college. Nothing kills the love for philosophy faster than people who think they understand Foucault, Baudrillard, or Confucius better than you — and then try to explain them.

Eric Weiner's The Socrates Express: In Search of Life Lessons from Dead Philosophers reawakened my love for philosophy. It is not an explanation, but an invitation to think and experience philosophy.

Weiner starts each chapter with a scene on a train ride between cities and then frames each philosopher's work in the context (背景) of one thing they can help us do better. The end result is a read in which we learn to wonder like Socrates, see like Thoreau, listen like Schopenhauer, and have no regrets like Nietzsche. This, more than a book about understanding philosophy, is a book about learning to use philosophy to improve a life.

He makes philosophical thought an appealing exercise that improves the quality of our experiences, and he does so with plenty of humor. Weiner enters into conversation with some of the most important philosophers in history, and he becomes part of that crowd in the process by decoding (解读) their messages and adding his own interpretation.

The Socrates Express is a fun, sharp book that draws readers in with its apparent simplicity and gradually pulls them in deeper thoughts on desire, loneliness, and aging. The invitation is clear: Weiner wants you to pick up a coffee or tea and sit down with this book. I encourage you to take his offer. It's worth your time, even if time is something we don't have a lot of.