When Russell Lyons volunteered for the first time, he read “Goodnight Moon” to a class of San Diego preschoolers. And it wasn't reading — he'd memorized the book and was reciting it out loud. He was 4. Still, he said it felt good there, in front of the other kids, lending a hand. He wanted more of that feeling.
Thirteen years later, he's getting a lot of it. He's on a five-month road trip across America — not sightseeing, but volunteering.
The University City resident has spent time at an animal reserve in Utah, a women's shelter in St. Louis, a soup kitchen in New York, a retirement home in Tucson. This week he's in Los Angeles, at a program that supports disabled youth.
“I just like helping people and feeling that something I do is making a difference,” he said. He resists the idea that his “Do Good Adventure” is all that unusual. It bothers him that the media often describe young people as lazy, self-centered. So he sees his trip as a chance to make a statement, too. “About 55 percent of teens do volunteer work, higher than the rate for adults” he said, according to a 2002 study. “Not everybody knows that. ”
Of course, some teens do volunteer work because it looks impressive on their college applications. Lyons said he mentioned his trip on his applications. But charity work is a habit with him. Even before the cross country trip, he was volunteering about 200 hours a year at various places. He's made sandwiches for homeless families in Washington D.C. He's taught math to fifth-graders in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
He gets some of that drive from his mother, Lesley Lyons, who has been involved in nonprofits for much of her life. She was there when her son “read” to the preschoolers — a memory of hers “that will never go away.”
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Anyone can write a baby poem, and everyone enjoys reading them, young and old. Baby shower(婴儿洗礼) poems can have rhythm and rhyme, but they certainly don't have to. Poems can be either long or short, but short is probably best for your typical baby shower needs. You can add a little humor as well!
The people who are most often touched by baby shower poems are those who have had children themselves. Sweet poems can remind them of the time when their little ones were still young. No one will appreciate them more than the family members themselves. If you are a creative writer or have a special talent for putting words together in a special way, then you should try writing your own baby shower poems. This would make a great gift idea as well.
If you decide to write your own baby poems, even common things can inspire you. Inspiration can be found anywhere. Look to your own memories from the past. What was special about your childhood? What special object have you treasured over the years? What words of wisdom(智慧) of advice could you pass on to the next generation? Look around the house and imagine a baby being there. What do you see, hear, or feel? Let those thoughts be the source of your best baby poems.
When writing a baby poem, you do not have to write like Shakespeare, you just have to be sincere. Years later when the baby has grown,think of how special they will feel knowing the words were just for them.
If you are not the creative type — don't worry! There are lots of places online where you can look for poems saying just the things you want to say. Poems have been written on all subjects throughout the ages, and baby poems and baby shower poems are no exception. A quick search online doesn't have to take any time at all.
The digital revolution is both launching us into a no-handwriting future, and also sending us backwards in time to when the spoken words ruled. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.
"I don't think kids should be assessed on their ability to master cursive(草书). It's not something that they are going to use much in their lives as they grow older. It's not something most of us adults use in our lives today. " Anne Trubek, an author, suggests that schools offer handwriting or cursive as an elective or art class in the future.
"Focus on how to teach kids to express their ideas, how to organize their thoughts, how to make arguments" she says. "The forming of the letters are less important. And there are certainly many ways to individualize what you write beyond the way you've circled the 'I' or crossed your 'T'."
"This myth that handwriting is just a motor skill (运动技能) is just plain wrong," Virginia Berninger said. "We use motor parts of our brain, motor planning, motor control, but what's very critical is a region of our brain where the visual and language come together and actually become letters and written words."
"A lot of people are very stubborn about the importance of handwriting, but at the same time will admit they never write themselves," Trubek says.
Trubek suggests, however, that handwriting keeps some value – for now. " For us today, in the 21st century America, handwriting represents something individual and unique about a person. It doesn't always mean that in previous times in history, and it won't always mean that in the future, but right now for us we relate our sense of self to our handwriting."
Elephants might be the most well-known and well-loved animal in African wildlife. But conservation (保护) of the African elephant faces special difficulties. While the elephant population is half of what it was 40 years ago, some areas of Africa have more elephants than populated areas can support. That's why AWF scientists are studying elephant behavior, protecting habitats and finding ways for humans to live peacefully with elephants in Africa.
Years ago, overhunting and the ivory trade were the biggest threats to elephants' survival. Luckily, ivory bans (禁令), hunting rules and protected areas protect elephants from these dangers today.
The 21st century brings a different challenge to elephant conservation — land-use. Elephants walk across borders and outside parks and other protected areas. So they often destroy crops, causing conflicts (冲突) between local farmers and these big animals.
Successful conservation strategies (策略) must allow elephants to walk freely in their natural habitats while reducing conflicts between elephants and local people.
AWF researchers are searching for a way to give both elephants and people the space they need. The AWF is collecting information on elephant habitats and behavior. The information they gather will help to develop the widest possible space for elephants.
The AWF is helping elephants by protecting their habitats. And they also work with local famers to improve their life in order to encourage them to protect rather than destroy elephants.
A six-wheeled robot travels underground in Hefei to discover warning signs of faults inside the pipeline network, "It looks like a toy car at first, but it's much more complicated than that," said Xu Mao, the robot's operator.
The pipeline robot, developed by Wuhan Easy-Sight Technology, is made up of four parts — crawler, camera, cable reel, and controller. A full charge can enable the robot to work for four to five hours, covering a distance between 800 and 1,000 meters in the underground p ipeline.
The robot made its appearance last month in Shushan District. It will carry out inspections of the underground pipeline network stretching 150 kilometers." Whether the pipe is leaking, damaged or blocked, we can clearly see its situation through high-definition(高清晰度的)cameras fixed into the robot, " said Qi Chuanshuai from the provincial construction engineering and testing institute.
The real-time data including video images of the pipe will be up loaded and displayed on a computer. "If we find any problems, we stop the robot and record the flaws," Xu said. "We report the faults to local government, who will arrange the repair as soon as possible."
With the rapid develop merit of cities, it is becoming increasingly difficult to manage underground pipelines. Among all the difficulties, discovering faults in the sewage (污水)and rainwater pipelines comes first. Many other cities such as Wuhan, Nanjing, Shenzhen, and Shanghai are using the robots to inspect their pipelines, the robot's developer said.
Equipped with environmental detection sensors, the robots can monitor temperature and damp, poisonous gases, oxygen levels and smoke density, while providing color diagram in real time. "Compared with human workers, robots are able to enter smaller pipes and are immune (有免疫力的)to poisonous gases in sewage pipes," said Ge Shengli from Shushan District' s city management company." No digging is required and there is no need to interrupt traffic," Ge added.
A telescope, called Gaia, is being designed by astronomers in Europe, and it couldn't be more different from Pan-STARRS, which is another telescope being designed. While Pan-STARRS will be looking for asteroids (小行星) and comets headed for Earth, Gaia will be looking at our entire galaxy (银河系).
Gaia is designed to draw a map of the Milky Way, our home galaxy. Just as a map of your town gives you a picture of where things are located, Gaia's map of the galaxy will tell astronomers where the stars are. Over five years, Gaia will observe (观察) about a billion stars and other objects in our galaxy. Each object will be observed about 70 times.
Gaia will be sent into space connected to a rocket. It contains two telescopes, each focused at a different angle (角度). These two telescopes act like Gaia's “eyes”. The reason why humans can see things in 3D is that we have two eyes focused on the same object, at slightly different angles. By using two telescopes like eyes, Gaia can produce the first 3D map of the positions of the stars it views.
Gaia, which is to be sent into space, will be a powerful telescope. If you were to use it on Earth, for example, you could stand 600 miles away from your best friends and still get a clear picture of their hair.
Gaia is one of more than a dozen telescopes being designed by scientists right now. The next generation of telescopes will reveal new parts of our universe that will seem surprising. The universe, with all its planets, stars and other strange objects, is a puzzle with pieces that we can see by using powerful telescopes.
We have recently heard some interesting ways that 5G wireless technology might change our lives in the future. One project in Britain is testing this superfast technology, but not on humans. Instead, the experiment involves an unlikely group of Internet users—cows. The system connects the animals to 5G in an effort to automate the milking process.
The project was developed by American technology company Cisco Systems. It is part of a Cisco-led program called 5G Rural First. Cisco says the program seeks to explore the future of 5G connectivity in rural communities around the world. Rural areas are expected to be the last to receive 5G service.
Testing areas were set up on farms in three rural areas of England. The cows are equipped with 5G-connected devices that link up to a robotic milking system. The system uses sensors and machine learning to fully automate the process, System designers say the technology takes over after a cow feels ready to be milked and walks toward an automatic gate. The device is designed to recognize each individual cow. It then positions equipment to the right body position for milking. During the process, machines release food for the cow as a reward.
One of the test areas is in the town of Shepton Mallet, in southwest England. There about 50 of the farm's 180 cows are fitted with 5G smart collars and health-observing ear sensors. Project officials say the devices do not harm the cows and the sensors permit farmers to immediately identify any problem or health concerns.
Other technology tools powering the 5G smart farms include automated brushes that work automatically when the cow rubs up against them. Sensors also control the amount of light to the cows' living areas depending on the weather. And, an automatic feeding system makes sure the animals always get enough to eat.
Nick Chrissos works on the project for Cisco. He said the system could connect every cow and every other animal on the whole farm. "That's what 5G can do for farming—really release the power that we have within this farm, everywhere around the United Kingdom, and everywhere around the world."
Bottled water is a booming industry in New Zealand, but it's terrible for the environment —each bottle thrown away adding to the 190,000 tons of plastic New Zealanders throw into landfills each year.
But now one company has created water storage that they hope will prove to be just as convenient as a plastic bottle—but contains no actual plastic.
Skipping Rock Labs make Oohos, flexible membranes filled with water that are constructed using a seaweed extract—meaning they, re totally edible and biodegradable, wrapping and all.
There aren't any known side effects from digesting the membranes, which are tasteless—though Ooho! says flavors can be added to make them more appetizing.
The company took to crowdfunding site CrowdCube with the idea, and it has since gone viral— with more than 900 investors bagging them A£ 751,700 to develop and launch the Ooho! balls ( $ 1.35 million).
Skipping Rock Labs create the balls by dipping ice into brown algae and calcium chloride, with the membrane taking shape around the ice—and while that may sound complicated, the company says it, s more cost-effective than producing a plastic bottle.
A layer atop the membrane can be peeled off just before drinking, for hygiene purposes. Skipping Rock Labs are hoping their new product takes off—and that it starts to put a dent into the plastic packaging industry.
Once again DC Comics and Warner Bros. have divided fans and critics over their latest superhero film.
There had been worrying news about Justice League in the months before its release, with a lot of reshoots of scenes, a new director being brought in to finish the film after original director Zack Snyder's tragic loss of his daughter and, of course, a lot of talk about Ben Affleck's future in the role of Batman.
Some people are saying that Justice League is another big disappointment, that it could have been incredible and instead fails to really entertain. Others say that Warner Bros. have finally got it right and that the future for the League looks bright.
My opinion lies somewhere in the middle. The film was by no means a disappointment: it was exciting, funny and a lot of fun to watch. There's something special about watching the heroes from your childhood brought to life on the big screen and maybe that is affecting my opinion.
However, I will say that a lot of work needs to be done if the producer wants to make a great success. Although the film was good, it was obvious which scenes had been reshot and how the characters had been changed. I also have to mention the several scenes in which the special effects were very badly done; these are the kinds of problems that you don't expect to see in a film with such a big budget.
Another point to add is that it is good to see the producer making Superman slightly a brighter character and adding some jokes to the plot to keep things fun. But the producer must be careful not to make the mistake that another film producer—here, not mentioning the name—is coming very close to doing: turning all of the films into bright and colorful shows and losing a lot of seriously good stories.
In the end, Justice League is not a perfect film but it is definitely not a terrible one. A lot of work is still to be done but I hope that DC does not completely lose its darker side.
Most scientists are now certain that global warming is taking place. Gases such as carbon dioxide are creating a warm blanket around the earth. This blanket is trapping heat in the atmosphere, and so raising the temperature of the earth.
In Europe, eight of the last ten years have seen record high temperatures. On the other hand, the countries around the Mediterranean Sea are receiving even less rain than before. In Sub- Saharan Africa the crops are drying out in the fields and people are dying of starvation. In 1999, the southern United States was struck by a serious of destructive (毁灭性的) hurricanes. Scientists expect such trends to continue, and to worsen, if global warming cannot be stopped.
In addition to worrying about rising global temperatures and extreme weather conditions, scientists are closely monitoring sea levels around the world. They are slowly rising, as the northern and southern polar ice caps start to melt. This will have serious consequences for low-lying countries near the sea. Already parts of these places are disappearing under the rising sea water.
According to a new research, one contradictory feature (特征) of global warming is that it will probably lead to a period of much colder weather. Scientists base their theory on what happened the last time the world warmed up, 8,300 years ago. They have discovered that when the ice melted from the northern polar ice cap it became trapped in a lake in northern Canada. As more ice melted, this lake suddenly burst open, pouring millions of tons of freezing fresh water into the North Atlantic. This flood of water prevented the normal flow of water in the Atlantic, which takes warm water from the tropics(热带地区) north to Europe. When this flow of warm water was cut off, temperatures in Europe dropped by between three and eight degrees over the next 200 years. ''That's the concern here,'' says Richard Alley, an American climate expert. ''The climate hasn't varied much in 8, 000 years. But big changes could come back!''
Tell a child they need to experience another painful medical procedure, and you'll probably have a kid filled with fear and anxiety. Tell that same child they'll have a chance to strike flying cheeseburgers in outer space while their doctor works on them, and they might feel a little different.
That night-and-day difference in how kids respond to the treatment of their doctors is the reason for Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford's innovative use of virtual reality technology. Packard Children's lets kids participate in experiences that can significantly reduce their anxiety — and even their pain.
This isn't the first time Packard Children's has introduced those innovative methods. In 2015, Thomas Caruso, M.D., the founder of Packard Children's Childhood Anxiety Reduction through Innovation and Technology (CHARIOT) program, introduced the Bedside Entertainment and Relaxation Theater (BERT). The system projects videos on a large screen attached to patients' gurneys(装有轮子的床) so they can watch movies and music videos all the way to the operating room. And in early 2017, CHARIOT launched an interactive video game called Sevo the Dragon, which projects on the BERT screen, so the tiniest patients have something fun to do while breathing medicine through a mask.
“Children shouldn't grow up being afraid to go to the doctor to have a shot, but certain experiences can cause strong unreasonable fear that last into adulthood. Needle phobia(晕针) is a common example of that, and it is the primary reason adults avoid important immunizations(免疫) like flu shots.” Caruso told Stanford Medicine News Center.
VR distraction therapy is being used for kids at Packard Children's as young as age 6 in specific areas like the emergency department, and the tool will be widely used in all of the Children's Health's surgery clinics by the end of 2020.
Forests are always losers at the Olympics, and that's unlikely to change anytime soon.
For the winter games in PyeongChang, South Korea, virgin forest was destroyed on Mount Gariwang to accommodate ski runs. For the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, a ski run is set to wipe out part of the Songshan National Nature Reserve. And let's not forget the 240 acres of Atlantic Forest that were leveled for the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro to make way for a golf course.
For the upcoming Tokyo games, environmental and human rights advocates have been raising alarms about the use of tropical (热带的) wood to build the New National stadium. Activists have fought against such environmental destruction. The damage is often permanent, threatens endangered plants and animals and in some cases, causes conflicts with native people. But frequently the country's organizing committee, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have found ways to make it reasonable — despite a paragraph in the Olympic Charter (宪章) that states that the IOC's role is to "encourage and support a responsible concern for environmental issues".
"As it stands now, the IOC has little authority over a city's local organizing committee, which finally plans the event," Chappelet, professor of public management at the University of Lausanne, told Earther. "Even if the IOC is dissatisfied with the way host cities have prepared for the games, they have no built-in systems to watch them so that they strictly follow the Olympic Charter." The only thing they can do if they're not happy is to withdraw (= take back) the right to organize the game. "But the IOC could include more enforcement (执行) systems into the contract they make with the host city," he added. That contract must be signed and obeyed by everyone and those who break it must be fined.
Boykoff, the author of several books on the Olympics, suggested a similar solution. "The IOC could insist that host cities take their ecological (生态的) promises into account first, but instead they look the other way, time and time again," he said.
As they reach school age, about 90 percent of children will have experienced a condition in which fluid (液体) fills the middle ear, muffling (使模糊) sound and sometimes causing infection. The fluid usually clears on its own, but if not, it can lead to a painful ear infection called acute otitis (中耳炎) media. In some cases the fluid can persist for more than a year, causing hearing loss during this period, and slowing down their development of language and social skills.
Diagnosis usually requires a visit to a specialist—but researchers have now developed an app that detects this fluid just as accurately, with only a smartphone and a paper funnel (漏斗).
Doctors typically detect the problem by peering into the ear for a visual assessment. Yet, this method has only a 50 percent accuracy rate. "Right now, if you bring your child to a pediatrician, or to any urgent care family doctor, the way they look at whether or not there's fluid in the middle ear is by looking at the eardrum," says Sharat Raju, a surgeon in the department of head and neck surgery at the University of Washington.
For a cheaper and more accessible alternative, researchers at the University of Washington turned to smartphones. First the user follows a template to cut and tape a piece of paper into a funnel, which can be placed between a smartphone and the patient's ear. Next the app plays a chirping sound through the phone's speaker; the sound waves bounce off the eardrum and hit the phone's microphone, where they register and are analyzed by the app. An eardrum with fluid behind it will vibrate (振动) differently than if the middle ear is full of air, as it normally is.
To develop the app, the researchers first played chirps for patients with and without fluid in their ears. They recorded the echoes (回音), which indicate the eardrum's mobility. Then they used a machine learning model to classify the returning sound waves, determining which audio characteristics indicated a normal ear and which suggested the presence of fluid. Once they tested the app on 98 children, ranging from 18 months to 17 years old, at Seattle Children's Hospital. It correctly detected fluid in 85 percent of cases, and correctly identified fluid-free ears in 82 percent.
The researchers are currently trying to get FDA approval for the app, and have founded a company to commercialize it. They hope to make it available by the end of the year, to help parents track children's ear health at home.
On April 12th, two African American men walked into a Starbucks in Philadelphia, and sat down to wait for their friend. Because they had not bought anything, an employee asked them to leave. When the two men refused, the employee called the police, and in minutes, they were arrested. It was not until later that day that they were let go.
The video of this incident posted on Twitter went viral. People across the US were outraged. Unfortunately, these practices are not uncommon today. This incident is just one example of implicit bias(内隐偏见), something that is a part of human nature.
Most of the time, implicit bias refers to people showing negative associations towards people of a different race. Starting from a young age, these feelings develop unconsciously and naturally, because our brain draws associations based on our background, cultural environment and personal experiences.
Implicit bias affects our everyday speech and actions and these unconscious decisions can be harmful to our society. There have been many examples of blacks unfairly killed by white officers, such as in the cases of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, which happened only two years ago. Implicit bias affects the justice system, our medical system where studies show minorities are less likely to be taken seriously, and job placements where white males are likely to be judged as more capable compared to women and other minorities.
Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson and the police have publicly apologized to the two men, and Starbucks will be holding an anti-bias training meeting on May 29th. All Starbucks stores will be closed on that day. However, critics and experts have said that such training is done "for show" rather than to promote change.
To address this issue, many experts agree that what the world needs is a long-term program that targets the root cause. It also starts with promoting diversity in children from an early age when they have friends and playmates from different races and cultures.
The outbreak of the novel corona virus pneumonia (NCP) has disrupted the lives and work of nearly every Chinese person. However, a new trend has been on the rise: many have turned themselves into livestreaming users or followers.
According to Questmobile, a professional big data intelligence services provider in China, the audience for Douyin, Kuaishou and other livestreaming platforms surged to 574 million during the Spring Festival holiday, up 35 percent from 2019.
Confined at home, away from their friends and loved ones, people turn to livestreaming to reach out to the world. For them livestreaming can help them share their lives and interest with a global audience, which will give them the sense of being "in the moment". Even as viewers, they can also engage immediately with livestreamers by commenting and making suggestions.
"When I comment on the livestreaming videos, I'm not simply an audience member, but also an active part of the program. That gives me a sense of engagement," an Internet user named Wang Hao told People's Daily.
Livestreaming is not only for fun, but also a new tool for many businesses. Affected by the pandemic, many businesses had to stop their sales in physical stores. To meet their business goals and survive during these trying times, many chose to livestream to revive their businesses.
Joyoung, a leading maker of small kitchen appliances, is a good example. The company not only added a number of broadcasts each day to advertise their products, but also shared the menus that were beneficial to health. "The responses to our livestreaming shows have been well beyond expectations," Kang Li, who oversees the company's livestreaming unit, told China daily. "It's a natural opportunity to truly bond with our followers."
Like it or not, livestreaming is likely to go mainstream in China for both entertainment and business.
We already know that salt can lead to heart disease. But could it also affect our mind? Scientists found that a high-salt diet caused cognitive impairments in mice» and it could produce the same effect on humans.
Costantino Iadecola, director of the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research the Institute, said they fed the mice eight to sixteen times their normal salt intake and then tested the mice. After about three months, the mice had a big change in their behavior. Mice are very curious, and they like to look for new things. However, the tested mice lost the ability to identify a normal object. When the mice were put in their cage and asked to find a quiet spot, they did not remember where the quiet spot was. Then when the mice were building a nest, which is something the mice do daily, they, were unable to do so. The research suggested humans would experience a similar response.
Studies have shown Australians eat around double the recommended amount of salt each day, most of it coming from processed food. Dr. Ladecola said the estimated two teaspoons of salt the average Australian eats each day could affect the brain function in the long term. However, the decline might not be as obvious as in the mice, who were given extremely high levels of salt. "But probably over years and perhaps decades—as opposed to a few months for the mouse—even lower levels of salt may have a terrible effect," Dr ladecola said.
"High levels of salt cause serious immune changes in the organs in and around the stomach, resulting in an almost autoimmune effect on the brain. It is part of a growing body of evidence that we really are what we eat," Bryce Vissel, director of the Centre for Neuroscience at the University of Technology Sydney, said. "Those changes in turn cause all sorts of responses in the body, which over time certainly contribute to cognitive impairments. "
After years of heated debate, gray wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in1995.Fourteen wolves were caught in Canada and transported to the park. By 2007, the Yellowstone wolf population had grown to more than 170.
Gray wolves once roamed throughout the Yellowstone area. But they were gradually displaced by human development and hunted by farmers for killing livestock(牲畜). By the 1920s, wolves had practically disappeared from the Yellowstone area. They moved farther north into the deep forests of Canada, where there was less contact with humans.
The disappearance of the wolves had many consequences. Deer populations — a major food source for the wolf — grew rapidly without their usual enemy. These animals consumed large amounts of vegetation, which reduced plant diversity in the park. In the absence of wolves, coyote(小野狼) populations also grew quickly. The coyotes killed a large percentage of the park's red foxes.
As early as 1966, biologists asked the government to consider reintroducing wolves into Yellowstone, hoping that they would be able to control the deer and coyote problems. Many farmers opposed the plan, worrying that wolves would kill their livestock or pets. Other people feared that the wolves would not be well-protected in Yellowstone.
The government spent nearly 30 years coming up with a plan to reintroduce the wolves. They included many compromises to help people accept the wolves' presence. For example, they promised to pay farmers for livestock killed by wolves.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service carefully monitors and manages the wolves in Yellowstone. Certain wolves wear special collars to help biologists gather information about how the wolves live, hunt, and reproduce. Each year the wolf population is counted.
Today, the debate continues over how well the gray wolf is fitting in at Yellowstone. Deer and coyote populations are down, while red foxes have made a comeback. The Yellowstone wolf project has been a valuable experiment to help biologists decide whether to reintroduce wolves to other parts of the country as well.
If you have a chance to talk with a historical figure, who would you like it to be? What would you like to know about the past or share from today? China in the Classics, a new TV show based on Chinese classics started by China Central Television (CCTV) in February, is exploring such possibilities.
In the first episode (集), the host of the show, Sa Beining, meets ancient Confucian scholar Fu Sheng, who interpreted Shangshu — The Book of Documents. Regarded as one of the five classics of ancient Chinese Confucianism masterpieces, the book records many firsts in the country. Even the expression zhongguo (China) is used there first.
The episode ends with the host bringing Fu to today's modern society, where the scholar is happy to find children learning the same things he had learned in his childhood. It increased the rating of the series with viewers giving it 9 out of 10 on Douban, a film and TV show reviewing website popular among young people.
The success of China in the Classics doesn't surprise Shen Haixiong, head of the China Media Group. Shen said in an article in the journal Qiushi, "We are happy to see the program is popular among the public, but we are more proud to find that innovative interpretation of Chinese classics are arousing young people's interest in Chinese culture."
Therefore, TV channels have been making bold attempts in recent years to attract today's younger generations. The Nation's Greatest Treasures, CCTV's cultural show in 2017, showcased China's history and culture through antiques in the top-class museums, and fired up the audience. The treasures include the 3,300-year-old Yinxu Ruins in Henan Province and the 1,300-year-old Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region.
CCTV should make a variety of programs showcasing classics and cultural traditions to appeal to the young generation's aesthetics (美学), said Zhou, a professor at the School of Arts and Communication, Beijing Normal University.
Chinese volleyball superstar Zhu Ting has inspired a new English word. "Stay awesome and ZHUperb!" wrote a blogger at a US-based volleyball website. The word combines "Zhu" and "superb (卓越的)", to describe the 27-year-old player.
Zhu's excellent scoring performances put her among the Top 10 Global Outstanding Athletes for this year's Heracles Prize of the Big Ben Award. As the captain, Zhu "created the new golden age of women's volleyball in China", the award said. Zhu is considered a national hero by many in China, with good reason. Before this year's World Cup victory, she helped the national volleyball team win the 2015 FIVB World Cup, the 2015 Asian Women's Volleyball Championship, and the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
Although she's a superstar now, it hasn't been easy for Zhu to get to where she is. Born to a farming family in Henan province, Zhu earned a chance to attend a local sports school at age 13. She became well known to the public by helping China's U20 team win the 2013 FIVB U20 World Championship. Shortly after, Zhu joined the national team and began playing under legendary coach Lang Ping.
At first, the 1. 98-meter-tall Zhu found it difficult to move quickly and stay balanced. But Lang Ping took advantage of her height and trained her to jump high and smash balls. Her work paid off. Zhu is now an outstanding player. "Hard work and talent are equally important. I'll move forward step by step, " she told People's Daily.
The heavy use of fossil fuels (化石燃料) over the last 150 years has caused the Earth to warm up. That pattern will continue and get worse unless we stop the pollution very, very quickly. And even if we do end fossil fuel use, there's still way too much of a polluting gas called "carbon dioxide" (CO2) in our atmosphere. Recent reports by scientists make it clear that this CO2 must be removed from the atmosphere and stored.
Plants and trees do this naturally. But there's so much CO2 in the atmosphere that planting trees and protecting forests won't come close to solving the problem. That means humans need to come up with ways of removing carbon from the air and storing it. This is called Direct Air Capture (DAC).
Last September, the world's largest carbon capture factory opened in Iceland. Called Orca, the project is run by Climeworks, which works on capturing the CO2. Experts say that by 2030, we need to be able to remove 85 million metric tons of CO2 from the air. It would take 1, 000 factories like Orca over 20 years to remove that much. Factories that can remove even more CO2 are being planned, but it will take time for them to be built.
Until recently, scientists working on capturing carbon had a hard time finding support for their research. Now, because of the crisis, there are many scientists working on the problem, and many companies willing to pay for it. Governments worldwide have promised nearly $4 billion to develop carbon capture methods and factories.
Some people worry that there's not enough time left for DAC technology to be developed and become powerful enough to make a big difference. Others worry that focusing on removing carbon could take attention away from more important climate actions, like switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy.