There are apps for almost everything. Here are some of the best free apps that are well received by smartphone users.

StorySign

StorySign is designed to help deaf children learn to read. With a book in hand, just point your phone’s camera at the page and an animated character in StorySign will read the page in sign language. And children will both enjoy the books and learn to read in the process. Even in its limited form, StorySign is well worth trying if you have a deaf child young enough to appreciate it, but we expect this app will keep getting better as its library grows.

PlantNet

Wherever you are, chances are there are hundreds of different plant species within walking distance, and most of us have no idea what all but the most common are called. PlantNet aims to make identifying them easier — simply take a photo and the app will attempt to identify what kind of plant you’re seeing.

Google Photos

Google Photos stands out among hundreds of photo apps, as it gives you unlimited storage for photos and videos. But with basic editing tools and the ability to make albums, it’s more than just photo and video storage. It aims to be your first and last stop after taking a picture. To achieve that, it will need a few more steps, but it’s well on its way.

Soon

Soon is an app that lets you create lists of books you want to read, movies you want to watch, restaurants you want to try and more. You can select from a number of categories, including games, shops, bars, museums and TV shows and then make a list of the ones that interest you. It’s a great app for anyone struggling to remember the things they want to watch, visit, read, play and listen to.

It is interesting when you think about how Japan is a nation that appreciates silence and good manners, and yet when it comes to eating noodles, Japanese people can be the loudest in the world.

According to lifestyle website gm/Tee.jp, slurping (发出“哧溜”声) when eating noodles is encouraged in Japanese culture. It is believed that taking air into your mouth can improve the flavor of the noodles, and that it helps cool down the noodles. It is also considered to be a way to show appreciation for the dish. Sometimes, just making the noise alone seems to make the noodles more enjoyable.

It was not until a new expression “noodle harassment (骚扰)” or “hu-hara” in Japanese came out last year on social media that Japanese people started to realize that the slurping noise is making some foreign visitors uncomfortable.

As a response, Japanese instant noodle maker Nissin introduced a so-called noise-canceling fork last month. The fork, which looks like an electric toothbrush, is connected to a smartphone. When the person using the fork starts to slurp, the fork sends a signal to the person’s phone, making it play a sound to mask the slurping noise. “The fork is a solution to the ‘noodle harassment’ issue, particularly as the number of tourists visiting Japan increases,” said the company, according to Euronews.

But is it really necessary?

Dining traditions do vary. What is considered to be proper table manners in one country is likely to be seen as rude in another. In India, for example, people eat with their hands because they think in this way they build a connection with the food. However, people who are used to eating with utensils (餐具) might find it uncomfortable to get their hands covered in oil and bits of food. But this eating method is part of India’s culture, just like Japan’s slurping. It is common and an everyday part of the nation’s culture.

Reporter Brian Ashcraft on blog Kotaku wrote “if anyone gets annoyed while you are slurping, pay them no mind because they are missing the point entirely.”

Climate change demands a food revolution. Faced with heat, drought, pests and diseases, the crops we eat every day might disappear in a generation or less, at least where they are currently grown. From beef and fish to chocolate and wine, one beloved food after another is joining the at-risk list.

Take coffee. Right now, Arabica and Canephora, the most popular two species in the industry, are under urgent threat worldwide — as are the 125 million people who depend on coffee crops for their income. Coffee Arabica plants, which produce 70% of all commercial coffee, can be negatively affected by even a half-degree change in typical weather conditions. This sensitivity to temperature puts the plant at increased risk of the effects of climate change.

In Central America the average temperature has risen by a full degree Celsius since 1960. In Ethiopia the average temperature has increased by 1. 3 degrees. This increase is enough to have significant effects on the plants. In Tanzania the productivity per hectare of coffee has fallen by 45% since the 1960s due to changes in temperature.

Indeed, studies claim that by 2050 the area of the world suitable for growing coffee will be cut by 60%. Coffee production is likely to then be pushed to higher elevations (海拔) to take advantage of lower temperatures, but this will not be enough to make up for lost lowland areas.

Coffee is the second most traded goods by developing nations, and the inability of producer nations to export it could cause dramatic chain reactions in their economies. Millions of people make a living in the production, processing, transport, and sale of coffee; their livelihoods would stand to take a blow as growing areas decrease and prices rise.

As the temperature keeps rising, your cup of coffee will become much more expensive, and it may also carry an aftertaste bitterer than usual, for all those workers in the coffee belt left without the means to make a living as conditions worsen. Not only that, but the economic effects will cost the West millions in increased foreign aid.