The elderly residents(居民) in care homes in London are being given hens to look after to stop them feeling lonely.

The project was dreamed up by a local charity(慈善组织) to reduce loneliness and improve elderly people's wellbeing. It is also being used to help patients suffering dementia, a serious illness of the mind. Staff in care homes have reported a reduction in the use of medicine where hens are in use.

Among those taking part in the project is 80-year-old Ruth Xavier. She said: "I used to keep hens when I was younger and had to prepare their breakfast each morning before I went to school."

"I like the project a lot. I am down there in my wheelchair in the morning letting the hens out and down there again at night to see they've gone to bed."

"It's good to have a different focus. People have been bringing their children in to see the hens and residents come and sit outside to watch them. I'm enjoying the creative activities, and it feels great to have done something useful. "

There are now 700 elderly people looking after hens in 20 care homes in the North East, and the charity has been given financial support to roll it out countrywide.

Wendy Wilson, extra care manager at 60 Pen fold Street, one of the first to embark on the project, said: "Residents really welcome the idea of the project and the creative sessions: We are looking forward to the benefits and faun the project can bring to people here."

Lynn Lewis, director of Notting Hill Pathways, said: "We are happy to be taking part in the project. It will really help connect our residents through a shared interest and creative activities."

Oriol Mas is a young Spanish man who loves Chinese martial arts, or more widely known as Chinese kung fu. Originally, he was in poor health, and accidentally came into contact with traditional Chinese kung fu, and learned to practice, which has much improved his physical state.

In addition to his own practice, Mas also teaches Chinese kung fu to Spanish youth. He said the martial arts has led him into Chinese philosophy, such as Taoism, and made him feel that China is a modern country that preserves its traditional culture.

Shaqliah said that Chinese kung fu not only gives the trainees strength, speed and felicity in controlling their bodies, helps them link their muscles with their minds, but also helps them to get rid of negative energy resulting from life stresses.

Five-year-old Hasifa Nakirijja is becoming well known in Uganda because of her amazing skills in kung fu. The person behind Nakirijja's skills is her father, Manisuru Ssejjemba, who in 2017 made a jourmey to the Shaolin Temple, thousands of kilometers away in China, to explore more of martial arts.

Ssejjemba set up a temporary training center behind his house where he trains youngsters to help promote the kung fu culture in Uganda.

Chinese kung fu highlights the harmonization between body and spirit and combines the inner and outer qualities. By bringing up a good temperament (气质) that fills one with energy and life force, and offering exercises to help lead a longer life, kung fu has long been considered as an effective way to maintain good health.

The core philosophy of kung fu is drawn from the Confucius principle of physical and mental blend mixed with neutralization; the Taoist principle of dynamic balance; the Buddhist principle of showing cultural join of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism in China.

Parents, teachers and caregivers have long believed in the magic of storytelling to calm and comfort kids. Researchers working in pediatric (儿科) have now quantified the physiological and emotional benefits of a well- told tale.

"We know that narrative has the power to transport us to another world," says Brockington, who studies emotions and learning at Brazil's Federal University. He adds, "Earlier research suggested that stories help children process and regulate their emotions- but this was mostly conducted in a lab, with subjects answering questions while lying inside functional MRI machines. There's little research on physiological and psychological effects of storytelling in a more commonplace hospital setting."

So the investigators working in several Brazilian hospitals split a total of 81 patients aged 4 to 11 into two groups, matching them with storytellers who had a decade of hospital experience. In one group, the storyteller led each child in playing a riddle game. In the other, youngsters chose books and listened as the storyteller read them aloud. Before and after these sessions, the researchers took saliva (唾液) samples from each child, then asked them to report their pain levels and conducted a free association word quiz and analyzed samples.

Children in both groups benefited measurably from the interactions.

Those who heard stories also reported pain levels dropping almost twice as much as those in the riddle group, and they used more positive and light words to describe their hospital stay. The study demonstrates that playing games or simply interacting with someone can relax kids and improve their outlook but that hearing stories has an especially dramatic effect. "The researchers really tried to control the social interaction component of the storyteller, which I think was key," says Mar, a psychologist at York University.