If you’ve reached the end of the year feeling as though you didn’t read enough, we’ve got you. Here are some of the best books of the year according to notable artists, image-makers and other cultural taste makers.

“This collection of nine short stories probes into many of the same themes in Lisa Taddeo’s beloved ‘Three Women’, but discusses them in a sharper, more disagreeable way. She ruthlessly explores jealousy relationships between women, aging, revenge and, of course, desire. Taddeo never lets you come up for air -- making you laugh while simultaneously horrifying you all when you least expect it.”

“This is a portrait of artist and writer Barbara Chase-Riboud, through the letters she wrote to her mother, Vivian Mae, between 1957 and 1991. In this remarkable title, Barbara Chase-Riboud tells her mother about her development as an artist, her love stories, and her trips around the globe, from Africa to China. In these memoirs (回忆录), Chase-Riboud frankly and passionately describes her aspirations, her ambitions and creative inspiration，while also showcasing love and tenderness to her mother.”

“‘Who is Wellness For?’ is a book that works as part social observation and part memoir. It explores the commercialization of healing and ritual and asks questions about the industry of wellness I found the read insightful, thoughtful, and unafraid. Wellness isn’t for anyone if it’s not for everyone.”

Traffic jam is a problem for cities around the world, with some looking to electric scooters（踏板车）to ease the problem, and others to AI-enabled traffic lights. But one company believes the solution is to build a network of driverless high-speed pods（吊舱）that ride around cities suspended（悬挂）from a steel track.

In June, Belarus-based uSky Transport opened a 400-meter test line in Sharjah（沙加）.From the outside, the electrically powered pods are white while the inside is designed to feel like a first-class airline suite, including mood lighting, music and floor-to-ceiling windows. With two padded armchairs and two foldable seats, the vehicle being tested can carry up to four passengers. A complete city-wide network could support 10, 000 passengers per hour, uSky says, with vehicles at present able to travel up to 150 kilometers per hour.

The company says its aim is to free up roads and ground spaces that could be used for greenery, walkways and public leisure spaces," The ground space is completely oversaturated, and people are tired of traffic jams. People are tired of emissions," says Oleg Zaretskiy, uSky Transport's CEO.

According to uSky, while one kilometer of subway can cost up to $ 150 million to construct, this system costs around $ 10 million. And by using less structural materials, it reduces carbon emissions. The company has also developed a similar technology to transport goods containers, carrying up to 48 tons at a top speed of 90 kilometers per hour.

Although she cautions that it would require careful planning to avoid traffic jam in a busy city-wide network, Haag believes it could still be a widely adopted solution if the promises of improved mobility and sustainability（持续性）are kept.

Zaretskiy says uSky is also looking beyond Sharjah. "We can see that the most promising areas for us are in the Middle East and Asia-places where there is natural growth of population, such as India and Pakistan," he says. Haag adds that pods are more suited to countries where public transportation is under-developed and there is increasing demand for mobility solutions. The company hopes to finalize its first commercial contract（商业合同）by the end of the year in Sharjah, Zaretskiy adds, meaning uSky pods could be running properly by 2024.

George Headley would have been a dentist in the USA rather than one of the greatest cricketers (板球运动员) if he had got his papers from Panama on time. The Indian legend was born in Colón, Panama and a period of unemployment in Jamaica caused him to begin the process of seeking a career elsewhere.

The delay, however, gave Headley time to make his first-class debut (首次亮相) for Jamaica against the visiting Lord Tennyson’s XI from England. These were his scores in the three first-class games in the series: 16, 40, and 71. The rest, as they say, is history. Yet, consider what might have occurred if his documents had arrived on time and he had migrated to America. There would have been a missing chapter in cricket.

Headley’s ta le brings to the fore the role that happenstance (偶然情况) plays in life. In the song A Different Comer, George Michael lamented (哀叹) that a romantic union went wrong and suggested that it might have been better if circumstances had worked to prevent their first meeting: “Take me back in time; maybe I can forget. Turn a different corner and we never would have met.”

Our lives are the result of much planning and deliberate action. But they are the result of chance as well. “The harder I practice, the luckier I get” is a quote normally used by sportsmen to discount the occurrence or consequence of luck. Athletes like to think that whatever success they’ve had is only down to them. To admit otherwise is to devalue the skills and efforts.

The changes in luck are a large part of why we watch sports. It fosters uncertainty, which, in turn. enhances interest in the process and the result. On any given day, the underdog can be at the champion. Whenever that occurs, luck is likely to have played some significant part, and sport is better for it.

“Going wireless is the future for just about everything!” That is a quote from scientist Sreekanth Chalasani, and we can’t help but agree. Realizing this, a team of scientists has made a breakthrough toward wirelessly controlling human cells using sound, in a technique called “sonogenetics (声遗传学).” This concept may seem strange but let us explain.

Basically, the term “sonogenetics” means using ultrasound (超声波) to change the behavior of cells in a non-invasive manner. “We already know that ultrasound is safe, and that it can go through bone, muscle and other tissues, making it the ultimate tool for controlling cells deep in the body,” says Chalasani.

Low-frequency ultrasound waves can target a particular protein that is sensitive to the signal. This research, published in Nature Communications, focused on TRPA1. When this protein is stimulated through the ultrasound waves, it also stimulates the cells which carry it. What type of cell is being stimulated depends on the outcome. For example, a muscle cell may contract with stimulation, or a neuron (神经元) in the brain will fire. In this experiment, scientists genetically marked cells with an increased concentration of TRPA1, making them the key targets of the ultrasound waves.

Currently, treating conditions like Parkinson’s disease requires scientists to implant electrodes (电极) in the brain which stimulate certain disordered cells. Researchers hope that sonogenetics can one day replace these invasive treatments.

In the future, the team wants to adjust the placement and amount of TRPAI around the body using the gene treatment. Gene delivery techniques have already been shown to be successful in humans, such as in treating blindness. Therefore, it’s just a case of adjusting this theory to a different sound-based setting.

“Gene delivery techniques already exist for getting a new gene—such as TRPA1—into the human heart,” Chalasani says. “If we can then use an external ultrasound device to activate those cells, that could really change pacemakers.” There is still a while to go before this treatment can become a reality. The future for sonogenetics, though, looks bright.