Many of the psychological benefits of outdoor play are already well established. Our brains evolved in natural landscapes, and our perceptual(感知的)systems are particularly well suited to wild outdoor spaces. 

This means that natural scenes provide the perfect level of stimulation, which is thought to help recharge the brain when it is tired and easily distractible. Supporting this theory, one study found that children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were better able to concentrate following a 20-minute walk in the park, compared to a 20-minute walk on the streets of a well-kept urban area. Being exposed to grass and trees seemed to have had a beneficial effect on their minds. The authors recommended using such "doses(剂量)of nature" as a safe and accessible way of supporting children with ADHD, alongside other tools.

Besides these restorative effects, outdoor play can offer valuable learning experiences. For example, playing with mud or sand can help children develop the way their senses and movement interact, which allows the child to gradually understand his or her body signals. 

Such activities — away from the house or classroom — may also help children to find ways to cope with emotions that maybe hard to explore in other environments. So-called "sand tray therapy", which involves using sand and clay to express one's thoughts and feelings, is an accepted form of counselling for children who are struggling to verbalise their emotional state.

When it comes to the child's physical health, the most obvious advantage of outdoor play maybe the exercise A child may find it easier to buildup strength and endurance in a large open space resulting in a reduced risk of overweight, according to one study led by Elizabeth Gershoff, professor of human development and family sciences at the University of Texas at Austin, US.

The latest findings, however, suggest there could be a host of other advantages to playing in natural environments — and the secret maybe alive in the mud itself. 

Sarah Park has known about the impact of music on the brain since a young age. The 13-year-old, who has been playing the violin since she was 4, says she noticed its positive effect on those around her, especially her grandmother, who suffered from mental illness.

Now, the Jacksonville, Florida, middle-schooler hopes to use music therapy (疗法) to help others struggling with mental illness. Her invention, Spark Care + , earned her the title of "America's Top Young Scientis" at the 3M Young Scientist Challenge on October 19, 2021.

Spark Care+ requires participants to respond to a series of questions based on the Hamilton Anxiety and Depression Scale, designed to assess the person's mental state. The device's inbuilt sensors record vital mental health indicators? such as heart rate and blood pressure. Spark Care+'s Al component analyzes the information and recommends the appropriate music to help lift the participants' spirits. It also monitors its impact on the listeners.

Sarah Park hopes to make her invention accessible to all. The ninth-grader hopes to turn it into a wristband with inbuilt sensors, a heart-rate monitor, and Bluetooth. She also wants to build an app to make Spark Care+ accessible to everyone. "I hope to be able to distribute it around the world to people of all ages," Park says.

In addition to being an inventor, Park is also a musical prodigy who has won several violin competitions, including the Florida state championship. She also plays the piano and is a math champion. The teen hopes to be an innovator and researcher in the medical field using technology and robotics. Her advice to other young scientists? "Dream big, ask questions, and anything is possible."

Pollution,Pollination and the Sensitive Rules of Attraction

【The New York Times (Feburary 20, 2024)】

The damage that air pollution can do is wide-ranging and well known: The chemicals produced by human activities can trap heat in the atmosphere, change the chemistry of the oceans and harm human health in myriad ways. Now, a new study suggests that air pollution might also make flowers less attractive to pollinating insects.       Compounds called nitrate radicals, which can be abundant in nighttime urban air, severely degrade the scent emitted by the pale evening primrose, reducing visits from pollinating hawk moths, researchers reported in Science this month.

The study focuses on the pale evening primrose, a plant with delicate flowers that open at night. Its key pollinators include hawk moths, which have exquisitely sensitive odor-detecting antennae(触角). A flower's scent is a complex olfactory bouquet that contains many chemical compounds. To identify the ingredients in the signature primrose scent, the scientists fastened plastic bags over the blooms, capturing samples of the fragrant air. When the team analyzed these samples in the lab, it identified 22 distinct chemical components.

The scientists then recorded the electrical activity of the moths' antennae when they were exposed to these scent compounds. They found that the moths were especially sensitive to a group of compounds called monoterpenes, which also help give conifers their fresh, evergreen smell.

The researchers used these attractive aromas to concoct their own simulated primrose scent. Then, they added ozone and nitrate radicals, both of which can form when pollutants produced by fossil-fuel combustion enter the atmosphere. Ozone, which forms in the presence of sunlight, is abundant during the day, whereas nitrate radicals, which are degraded by sunlight, are more dominant at night.

The scientists added ozone to the primrose scent first and observed some chemical degradation, with concentrations of two key monoterpenes dropping by roughly 30 percent.They next added nitrate radicals to the mix, which proved far more damaging, reducing these key moth attractants by as much as 84 percent compared with their original levels. They were"almost completely gone," Dr. Thornton, the leading researcher said.

The researchers believe that the problem extends far beyond the hawk moth and the primrose. Many pollinators are sensitive to monoterpenes, which are common in floral odors. Using computational modeling, the researchers calculated that in many cities around the world, pollution has reduced scent-detection distances by more than 75 percent since the preindustrial age.