Teachers say the digital age has had a good influence—and a not-so-good influence—on this generation of American teenagers. More than 2,000 middle and high school teachers took an online survey. Researchers also spoke with teachers in focus groups. Three-quarters of the teachers said the Internet and digital search tools have had a "mostly positive" effect on their students' research habits and skills. But 87 percent agreed that these technologies are creating an "easily distracted generation with short attention spans." And 64 percent said the technologies "do more to distract students than to help them academically." Many students think "doing research" now means just doing a quick search on Google. The Pew Internet Project did the survey with the College Board and the National Writing Project. A majority of the teachers came from Advanced Placement classes, which provide college-level work for high school students. Judy Buchanan is deputy director of the National Writing Project and a coauthor of the report. Ms. Buchanan says digital research tools are helping students learn more, and learn faster. But one problem the survey found is that many students are lacking in digital literacy. In other words, they trust too much of the information they find on the Internet. Judy Buchanan says these students have not developed the skills they need to judge the quality of online information. "It's just a lot to learn about how to discern credible sources. And it's something that really has to be taught and paid attention to. It's like everything else—in a world in which things can happen quickly, you really do need to have a way to step back, reflect, and analyze the information you have. And teachers can do a lot to teach that." Another problem the survey found is blamed on something that might not seem like a problem at all: being able to quickly find information online. Teachers say the result is a reduction in the desire and ability of their students to work hard to find answers. They say students are overly dependent on search engines and do not make enough use of printed books or research librarians. Many teachers are also concerned that the Internet makes it easy for students to copy work done by others instead of using their own abilities.
一項新的研究指出，人類壽命逐漸延長，不過很多人雖然長壽，但健康情況卻很差。研究人員發現：自1990 年以來，人類平均壽命增加了約五歲。全球男性預期可活到67.5 歲，女性則為73 歲。 約有500 位來自50 多個國家的研究人員，參與這項全球疾病和殘疾的研究。調查結果以系列文章的形式，刊登在Lancet 醫學期刊上。李查．荷頓（Richard Horton）是該期刊的總編輯。
「關於全球健康議題，我們全都聚焦在疾病和壞消息上。但其實『2010 年全球疾病負擔』研究，帶來的大多都是好消息。」 該研究發現，和1990 年相比，2010 年死於麻疹、破傷風、呼吸道和腹瀉疾病的人數大幅降低。而因感染、生育問題，和營養不良而死亡的人數，降至1320 萬，足足下降了17%。 全球致力於減少愛滋病、結核病，和瘧疾等相關死亡人數。2006 年開始， 愛滋病死亡人數逐漸下降，而結核病死亡人數自1990 年以來，更下降了近20%，但這兩項疾病每年仍各奪去超過百萬人的生命。而
瘧疾死亡人數估計攀升約20%，在2010 年奪去了近120 萬條人命。 「這三大疾病目前還沒辦法徹底根除。」 麥可．柯恩（Mike Cohen）是位於北卡羅來納大學教堂山校區全球衛生研究的負責人。雖沒有直接參與這項研究，但他說該研究顯示影響人類壽命長短的改變，正在世界各地發生。 「隨著傳染性疾病獲得有效控制，人們活得更久了。但因為民眾飲食和生活方式的改變，未來無可避免的要更常面對高血壓、心臟病與糖尿病等疾病。」 研究發現， 2010 年全球因疾病衍生的醫藥負擔，半數以上導因於慢性疾病。 兩種人民健康頭號殺手，心臟病和中風，佔總體疾病死亡人數的比率，從1990年的五分之一，攀升到2010 年的四分之一。而因肺癌死亡的人數增加了48%，通常是由抽菸引起。 而2010 年導致殘疾的主因，多半是生理狀況，例如關節炎和背部問題，以及心理和行為問題，如憂鬱、焦慮和濫用藥物所引起。哈佛大學教授喬許．所羅門（Joshua Salomon）是該項殘疾研究的合著者。 「我認為整體而言，目前醫學在降低死亡率上極有成效，但在處理慢性殘疾問題上，則尚待加強。」 | 
