Research is now starting to reveal some puzzling ways in which music influences us. Why, for instance, are relaxing or uplifting effects sometimes only fully experienced after listening? Does a change of tempo in a sound track, or even silence itself, have a delayed impact on nervous system? Dr. Luciano Bernardi measured the heart rates, breathing rates, and blood pressure of 24 men as they listened to sections of slow and fast classical music, techno, rap, and more. To Bernardi’s surprise, bodily functions only drop significantly when the music slowed down or ended—or when he inserted an unexpected two-minute pause into each track. This delayed response occurred whatever music the subjectslistened to, or was most noticeable during gaps in slower music. 

    According to Bernardi, listening to music involves some focus of attention, and it’s only when that focus ends that the body fully relaxes. Bernardi claims we could tackle physical and mental stress by creating our own music, alternating between fast and slow rhythms, creating our own music to reduce stress and anxiety. It may not be what we listen to, but how we listen to it that turns music into therapy. 

      In modern recycling plants, 18 can handle the metals and the glass, but people must separate the plastic by hand,so when people put out the garbage, they must separate the recyclable 19 the non-recyclable materials. Recycling is not a new idea. In emergencies like droughts and wars, people have recycled all kinds of materials andhave been very 20 about how much water and electricity they used. Today we must protect our planet Earth bybringing back the old habit of recycling.

　　Maritza, a professional yoga trainer, is one of almost 100,000 users of Bliive－a Brazil-based website that brands itself as the world’s largest online time-exchange platform. Bliive looks and feels like a social media platform. Its users trade services, including guitar lessons, air conditioner repairs and tarot card readings, without any cash or creditcard transactions. For each hour of service provided, the user receives Time Money, with which they can buy another service. Maritza earned almost 40 hours’ worth of Bliive services. With that much Time Money, she was able to create her own website about breathing techniques, including her own branding. Each person offers his help in one-hourchunks, and people who have “exchanged” Time Money can rate and review the quality of the service provided.

　　Bliive was founded a year and a half ago by Lorrana Scarpioni, a 24-year-old public relations student. She now employs a team of about a dozen people in Sao Paulo. She came up with the idea after watching documentaries about the sharing economy and alternative currencies. “If people were willing to engage in couch surfing－letting complete strangers into their houses－surely there was a potential for exchanging something as simple as one hour of a service,”Lorrana says.“Bliive is a collaborative network of time exchange. We see this platform as a movement that shows people the real value of exchanges and how they can develop themselves this way.”

　　Bliive takes the concept of the sharing economy－popularized by platforms including Uber and Airbnb－a stepfurther. It creates a new channel between the supply and demand of services, and does away with conventional cash altogether. More than 90,000 services are on offer on the website, making it larger than other barter-based sites. “Theno-money-involved transferences can be a great alternative to keep people developing themselves. We see a lot ofpeople who have graduated with very nice degrees, but they don’t have jobs,” she says. While Bliive aims to become more profitable, Lorrana is keen to retain its core values. “We use these talents and values to create a world that ismore collaborative and less competitive, more focused on the value of people, not just the value of money,” she says.

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     The Australian crocodile is the largest crocodile in the world. It can grow up to seven meters long, and the biggest can weigh up to 1,000 kilogram. It has only two muscles to open its mouth but 40 to close it! What makes crocodiles so dangerous is that they attack extremely quickly, and they take their victims under the water to drown them. They usually attack in the water, but they can suddenly come out of a river and attack animals or people. And they can run on land as fast as 17 kilometers per hour.
     Every year in Australia there are crocodile attacks on humans. Two years ago a 24-year-old German tourist died when she went for a swim in a lake. Although there were signs warning people that there might be crocodiles, the woman and her friends decided to go for a midnight swim. The woman suddenly disappeared, and the next morning her body was found. Near it was a four-meter long crocodile. And only last month two Australian boys watched in horror as their friend was killed by a crocodile when they were washing their bikes in a river. They climbed a tree and stayed there for 22 hours while the crocodile waited below.
      But you can survive a crocodile attack. Last year Norman Pascoe, a 19-year-old, was saved from a crocodile when his aunt hit it on the nose. Norman’s aunt said: “I hit it and I shouted, ‘Help!’ The crocodile suddenly opened its mouth and my nephew escaped.”