Ask most people anywhere in the world what they want out of life and the reply will probably be“to be happy”. Ed Deiner，an American psychology professor，has spent his whole life studying what makes people happy，comparing levels of happiness between cultures and trying to find out exactly why we enjoy ourselves.

Many people would say that this question does not need an answer. But Professor Deiner has one anyway. “If you’re a cheerful，happy person，your marriage is more likely to last，and you’re more likely to make money and be successful in your job. On average，happy people have stronger immune systems（免疫系统），and there is some evidence that they live longer. ”

So who are the world’s happiest people？It depends on how the word is defined. There is individual（个人的）happiness，the sense of joy we get when we do something we like. But there is also the feeling of satisfaction we get when we know that others respect us and approve of how we behave. According to Professor Deiner，the Western world pursues individual happiness while Asia prefers mutual satisfaction.

“In the West，the individualistic culture means that your mood matters much more than it does in the East. People ask themselves if they are doing what is fun or interesting. They become unhappy when they can’t do any of these things. If you ask people from Japan or China whether they are happy，they tend to look at what has gone wrong in their lives. If not much has gone wrong，then they are satisfied. ”

“People from Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries have the happiest culture，”Professor Deiner found. “The biggest cultural difference is to do with pride and shame. Hispanic cultures report much more pride and much less shame than others. ”

Income（收入）also makes a big difference to people’s happiness，but only at the lowest levels. Average income earners in the US are much happier than people in poverty. But millionaires are only a little bit happier than people on average incomes. It seems that money makes us happy when we have enough to feel safe.

   A new study says that the faces on Lego minifigures have become less happy and more often mad or sad. The study was designed to find out if the Lego characters have become grumpier over the years.

Christoph Bartneck works at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. He loves Lego and even worked for the company in the 1990s. He worked with another researcher on the project. They looked at all of the 6,000 figures made between 1975 and 2010. They made a note of each figure’s facial expression: happy, grumpy, afraid, surprised or satL They discovered that while in 1980, all of the figures were described as “smiley”, and that by 1990, only about 80 per cent of them had been “smiley” . And by 2010, just 50 per cent of the figures had had a smile on their little plastic faces.

The researchers are wondering how the increasingly sad, angry and unhappy faces on the Lego figures will affect the children who play with them. “Children’s toys can have an important influence on children,” said Bartneck on the university’s website. While Lego hasn’t issued an official response to the study, Bartneck said he thought the reason why Lego was producing angrier-faced characters was that children wanted them. He said it was likely that people wanted Lego characters to have different expressions, rather than just being sunny all the time. He said most of the unhappy faces were on characters based on a specific theme such as Harry Potter or pirates (海盗).

Bartneck will present his findings at the International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction in Sapporo.

   A calorie is a unit of energy, not a measure of weight or nutrient density. The calories you see on nutrition labels，however，are actually kilocalories. The calories on food packaging always refer to kilocalories, even though it just says “calories”. One kilocalorie is the amount of energy required to heat 1 kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius. Calories in our food all come from one of the three nutrients: fats, carbohydrates and proteins.

In 1990, the U. S. government passed the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, which means that before any packaged food in the U. S. hits the shelves, food scientists have to measure its nutrients and calories. One way to do this is using a tool called bomb calorimeter（弹氧热卡计）. This tool directly measures the amount of energy that a food contains. To use this tool, scientists place the food in question in a sealed（密封的）container surrounded by water and heat it until the food is completely burned off. Scientists then record the rise in water temperature to determine the number of calories in the product.

Food scientists also rely on a calculation developed by the 19th-century U. S. chemist Wilbur Olin Atwater to indirectly estimate the number of calories in food products. Calorimeters don’t take into account that humans lose some calories through heat and feces（类便）. Atwater’s experiments found that proteins and carbohydrates each have about 4 calories per gram and fats have 9 calories per gram.

However, some experts say that the Atwater system is outdated and inaccurate. A 2012 study found that the energy content of certain foods, such as nuts, could not be accurately calculated by the Atwater system. Besides, it does not take into account the digestive process, but assumes the complete conversion of nutrients to energy.

Amazing Benefits of Listening to Music

If you love listening to music, you’re good company. 【小题1】

★Music makes you happier.

When you listen to music, your brain produces a special matter. It biologically (生物学上) causes listeners to feel emotions like happiness, excitement, and joy. So next time you need an emotional increase, listen to your favorite tunes for 15 minutes.

★【小题2】

Listening to music you enjoy reduces levels of the stress in your body. This is an important finding since stress causes many illnesses. To stay calm and healthy during a stressful day, turn on the radio.

★Music helps you sleep better.

A study showed that students listening to classical music for 45 minutes slept better than students who did nothing. If you’re having trouble sleeping, try listening to a little Bach or Mozart before bedtime.

★Music helps you eat less.

【小题3】If you’re looking for ways to reduce your appetite (食欲), try dimming the lights and listening to soft music next time you sit down for a meal.

★Music strengthens learning and memory.

Researchers discovered that music can help you learn and recall information better. 【小题4】 Memorize these results. You now have a strategy to study more effectively for your next test.

★Music raises IQ and school performance.

Research shows that taking music lessons predicts higher school performance and IQ in young children. 【小题5】