You and your partner have gotten into an argument. You are both upset and, in the heat of the argument, start making personal attacks you don't really mean. What's the best thing to do? The most common answers are as follows: apologize (and ask your partner to do so, too!), go silent, or stop for a moment and state your side of the argument as calmly as possible. According to the experts, however, the best thing is to take a twenty-minute break and then continue the conversation. Apparently, it takes this long to clear the body of the effects of anger. Once both people have been given some time to calm down, a more peaceful discussion can be expected!

Every year in Bali, Indonesia, there is an international kite festival held in July. It is a kind of harvest festival that asks the Hindu gods to provide the people with healthy crops. At this event, it is possible to see enormous traditional kites. Some are up to four meters wide and ten meters long. They are flown competitively by teams of ten or more kite fliers. Popular kite designs include fish, birds, and leaves. The most difficult kind of kite to fly is the leaf-shaped kite, which is very unstable. Although many colors are used for the kites, the traditional combination of red, white, and black is most frequently used.

Most wouldn't think of zebra stripes as good camouflage, but they actually are. One way stripes protect zebras from predators is with pattern-camouflage. Since lions are colorblind, it makes no difference whether their stripes match the color of the grass. The key is how their stripes' curvy shapes blend with the grass, thereby enabling zebras to go unseen. Even more important is how stripes help zebras in herds. Lions typically like to prey on weaker zebras in a herd, but lions struggle to pick them out when they're in a big group. This is because the herd is able to blend together as if it were one entity. Surprisingly, zebra stripes are actually helpful to zebras because they help them identify specific members of their herd, making it possible for family members to locate one another even in large groups.

Many students from abroad have difficulty adjusting to their new lives. Everything seems so strange. I don't know what to say to people, and I'm afraid of going out. This is what Maria from Guatemala said when she was asked how she was adjusting to life in Boston. Many people like Maria feel like staying inside all the time to protect themselves from an unfamiliar environment. They don't like the new food, the new smells, the new climate, and the new social relationships. This often results in homesickness, loneliness, or even fear.

You might have enjoyed staring into a bright sky, but you probably soon saw some tiny objects floating around your sight. These were eye floaters. This phenomenon causes moving spots to appear in your vision. They are easier to see after you look at something bright. These spots are pieces of gel-like vitreous humor that separated from the back part of your eye. The vitreous has the consistency of gel while we are young. As we get older, it slowly turns into liquid and the center becomes watery. Undissolved gel particles sometimes remain in the center of this liquefied vitreous. These remaining fragments, or eye floaters, cast shadows on the retina when light passes through the eye, and these shadows are what we actually see when we see these spots. Floaters are considered a normal part of aging, so don't panic if you see these strange things.

In 1973, the Chipko movement was begun in India as a nonviolent protest by villagers against the destruction of their forests. It started in the Chamoli district, but quickly spread throughout the country. Activists challenged logging companies by hugging trees and preventing the workers from cutting them down. It is from this action that the movement got its name, as chipko means to embrace in Hindi. Interestingly, most of the Chipko participants were women from rural villages, as they were the people most directly affected by the loss of trees.

Multitasking behavior is increasingly prevalent in our technology-driven world. Unfortunately, when numerous activities divide our attention, our mental processes lose efficiency, which negatively affects learning and memory. A Stanford neuroscientist studying these effects determined that information learned while multitasking is stored in the wrong area of the brain. For example, if a student simultaneously watches television and studies a textbook, his brain will send the new information to the striatum, an area used for learning skilled movement, not facts. If the student turns off the television and concentrates on studying, his focused brain will properly route the new information to the hippocampus, an essential part of the brain for keeping and recalling data. Though many habitual multitaskers believe they aren't affected, research shows that multitasking is detrimental for everyone.

It was the day of the big game. The two best soccer teams in the region, the Limetown Lightning and the Teaville Thunder, gathered at the local field. This game would decide who the champions would be. Many fans arrived to watch, and no one doubted that the Lightning would win. After all, that was the team with the best player, Mike Jones. Sure, the Thunder had some good players, but they were no match for Mike.↵
And sure enough, during the first half, people's expectations were met. Mike scored three goals against the Thunder, while the Thunder only scored one. This is boring, yawned one spectator. We knew they were going to win easily. In fact, the only people at the field who weren't convinced that the Lightning would win were the Thunder players and their coach. We can do it, guys! yelled the coach. Just stay focused and try your hardest.󰡓↵
When both teams came back on the field for the second half, the spectators noticed something had changed in the game. Mike was still playing well, but the Thunder players were running faster and playing harder than the rest of the Lightning. And while Mike tried to move the ball all over the field by himself, the Thunder players were able to pass the ball back and forth. The crowd began to get more interested. Go Thunder! the crowd cheered. Surprisingly, they scored two goals in a row. There was a glimmer of hope in an apparently hopeless situation.↵
Mike was exhausted and so was the rest of his team. They could not reach the Thunder players' level of energy and cooperation. During the last few minutes of the game, the Thunder passed the ball from player to player until finally one player got close to the Lightning's goal. He kicked the ball hard, and in it went. The whistle blew. The Thunder had won the game! As the Lightning players started to walk sadly off the field, confused about how they had lost a game they were sure they would win, the Thunder players cheered loudly.

And sure enough, during the first half, people's expectations were met. Mike scored three goals against the Thunder, while the Thunder only scored one. 󰡒This is boring,󰡓 yawned one spectator. 󰡒We knew they were going to win easily.󰡓 In fact, the only people at the field who weren't convinced that the Lightning would win were the Thunder players and their coach. 󰡒We can do it, guys!󰡓 yelled the coach. 󰡒Just stay focused and try your hardest.󰡓

When both teams came back on the field for the second half, the spectators noticed something had changed in the game. Mike was still playing well, but the Thunder players were running faster and playing harder than the rest of the Lightning. And while Mike tried to move the ball all over the field by himself, the Thunder players were able to pass the ball back and forth. The crowd began to get more interested. 󰡒Go Thunder!󰡓 the crowd cheered. Surprisingly, they scored two goals in a row. There was a glimmer of hope in an apparently hopeless situation.

Mike was exhausted and so was the rest of his team. They could not reach the Thunder players' level of energy and cooperation. During the last few minutes of the game, the Thunder passed the ball from player to player until finally one player got close to the Lightning's goal. He kicked the ball hard, and in it went. The whistle blew. The Thunder had won the game! As the Lightning players started to walk sadly off the field, confused about how they had lost a game they were sure they would win, the Thunder players cheered loudly.