Most Incredible Stadiums (体育馆) in North America

If you are a big fan of massive stadiums and are unaware of where these beautiful stadiums are located, here is a list of four largest stadiums in North America.

Michigan Stadium

Would you be surprised to know that the second largest stadium in the world is a college football stadium? That’s right. Michigan Stadium, home of the University of Michigan Wolverines, is the largest stadium in the United States and the second-largest stadium in the world. It has a capacity of 107,601. When you see Michigan Stadium, you know you’re talking about college football.

Olympic Stadium

Located in north Canada, this stadium was used for the Montreal Expos, but now is carefully used for soccer games. In fact, it’s set to host some World Cup games in 2026, but anybody who’s been inside can tell you it’s not a stadium fit to host such a big event.

Estadio Azteca

Maybe it’s not the nicest, but it is a must-visit stadium in Mexico. Lying in the suburbs of Mexico City, it is the stadium that hosts the national soccer game in Mexico. When the 1970 World Cup was there, it hosted 10 matches, including the semi-final, and the final between Brazil and Italy. Estadıo Azteca is the largest stadium in Mexico, with a capacity of 87,523.

Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden is one of the best stadiums in North America, and not just for sports, but for concerts and other events as well. If you are traveling into New York City by train, you will see the stadium right as you enter the city, above the train station. Before you get to your seats, the outskirts of the stadium actually look like a high-end hotel. It won’t disappoint you.

One night, during the first of my eldest son’s three basketball games, we happened to be sitting next to a lady with a young son. The little boy looked slightly younger than my youngest son. At one point in the game, the little guy looked over to my son, and said, “Wanna be my friend?” My husband leaned over to tell me what he heard. I spent the next 20 minutes taking pictures of my oldest son on the court, and my youngest son, with his new buddy, playing games two seats down from where I sat. It was a heart-warming scene and reminded me how easy it can be to make new friends.

A few hours earlier, we went to a downtown cafe for an afternoon treat. There were no free tables for four, so we took a table for two, and crowded into the small space, each taking a bite of everyone else’s order. We were loud. We were likely annoying the college students with open laptops, drinking coffee and working hard to finish midterm papers. One such young lady came over to our table and said, “I have more room at my table. I am happy to trade with you guys so you can spread out.” It was a simple act but it showed a selfless heart. We politely refused her offer, but her kindness stuck with me for hours after it happened.

These are just two examples of everyday kindnesses I often take for granted. I could name so many more. Although often overlooked, these small acts of service, friendliness and human care are what it takes to make the world go round.

Have you ever wondered what animals are talking about? With the development of AI, we may be able to understand their languages!

In Professor Karen Bakker’s new book, The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology Is Bringing Us Closer to the Worlds of Animals and Plants, she talks about how AI is helping us to make an animal version of Google Translate.

All around the animal kingdom, there are sounds that we can hardly pick up and understand. Elephants for example talk with each other using infrasound (次声波) — far below our human hearing range. Coral in the ocean also sends sound waves to attract baby coral to safer areas to grow. This is surprising as coral doesn’t have any ears! Scientists have placed listening equipment into these environments to pick up the sounds humans cannot hear.

After the sounds are recorded, AI can study their meaning, according to the news website Vox. For example, Israeli researchers used AI to translate bats’ 15,000 calls. They found that more than 60 percent were arguments about four things: food, sleep positions, invasion of personal space, and unwanted advances.

This technology can not only understand the animals but communicate back to them. For example, bees use dances to communicate. A research team in Germany, therefore, put the bee language AI system into a robot bee. They asked the robot to create a dance routine to tell the bees where the flowers were, Vox reported.

As the days are getting colder, you might wish you could magically turn into a bear and spend the winter sleeping. But don’t be too jealous of the bear, as scientists are looking for ways to let humans hibernate, too!

Hibernation is a state where an animal’s heart rate, breathing and metabolism slow down.Then they can save energy during winter months to survive a shortage of food.

Japanese researchers have found the secret behind hibernation-the “Q neurons”. These neurons in animals’ brains can put them into a hibernation state. The researchers also did surgeries on mice after turning on the mice’s “Q neurons”. It turned out that during hibernation, the surgeries did less damage to the mice’s organs.

According to the team, humans’ “Q neurons” cannot be turned on and off as easily as the mice’s. But they are confident in copying the mice’s hibernation in humans. That means we could let people “hibernate” when having surgery, causing less damage to their bodies.

In recent years, more scientists are waking up to the benefits of hibernation. For example, US scientist Katherine Grabek found that when the thirteen-lined ground squirrel hibernates, it cleans out harmful brain plaques that are related to Alzheimer’s in humans. The animal’s blood pressure also goes up and down greatly before and after hibernating. But it doesn’t suffer from any illness related to blood pressure.

Grabek and her team found molecules from the squirrel that can protect against high blood pressure and heart disease. They hope to find more that may affect human health, and then design drugs.

Some studies in bats showed that, during hibernation, their bodies age more slowly. This also provides new ideas for making humans live longer in the future, according to New Scientist magazine.