【推荐2】More than 40% of the insects around us could become extinct in next few decades. Simultaneously, the population of the adaptable and general species like that of houseflies, cockroaches and fleas is likely to bloom.

Although some species of insects are vectors (带菌者)of serious diseases, or others destroy crop, but a world without insects is inconceivable. Their importance in interconnected ecosystems and food chains can never be undermined. Insects have essential roles in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems as herbivores, carnivores and decomposers.

There are 17 times as many insects as humans, and these numbers are essential for proper functioning of all ecosystems. Insects are responsible for pollinating around 75% of the crops in the world and also serve as food for other creatures. They replenish soils and keep the number of pests in check.

The primary cause of this extinction is loss of habitat. Be it the grasslands or wetlands, everything is vanishing in man's quest towards intensive agriculture and urbanization.

Another cause of this decline is the excessive use of pesticides, fertilizers and introduced invasive species. As if this wasn't enough, climate change and pollution of all sorts have already started worsening their lives. Climate change may also cause emergence of new pests and other vector-borne insects.

The biggest threat of Insect Armageddon comes from Germany, where 75% of insect population have declined in just 30 years and from Puerto Rico, where due to 2 degree rise in temperature, there has been 60 fold decline in invertebrate (无脊椎的)population since the 1970s.

However, the fact that insects getting extinct is a global crisis is undisputed. But the neat thing about insects is, we all can do our bit to save them. We all can maintain pesticide-free kitchen gardens and organic farms. We can plant flowers and trees and invite them to nest again.

Maybe this tragedy would have never arisen in the first place and you would not have to read this article, if the world had stopped using all kinds of pesticides immediately after Rachel Carson had published the Silent Spring. Conserving the insect biodiversity is not our responsibility. It is a necessity because if they go, so will we.

【推荐2】Denmark is only about half the size of South Carolina, but it produces more   of its electricity from wind than any other country in the world. That's not because it's a country with particularly strong wind; it has pretty ordinary wind speeds. The reason why the Danes now get 47% of their electricity from wind, with more to come, comes down to a combination of history and policy.

First, the history: Paul la Cour was a scientist and inventor who experimented with and built early wind power machines at the start of the 20th century. So it's not surprising that Denmark spent money building wind power plants early, beginning at a national level in the 1970s. In the 1980s, because of a strong movement against nuclear （原子核的）power plants, Denmark increased production before many other countries were even considering it.

Denmark has also had important government support for wind-energy projects, as well as support from the country 's technology-focused universities. Even back in 2002, the country was taking climate change warnings seriously, successfully cutting greenhouse gas emissions （排放）by 20%.

Some of the world's largest companies—including Vestas, which builds turbines （(涡轮）， and Orsted, which specializes in offshore wind projects—are Danish. European countries are global leaders in using wind power but Denmark is far in front of its nearest competitor Ireland, which sourced 28% of its power from wind in 2018 according to industry group Wind Europe.

At the end of 2019, lawmakers in Denmark set a new goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030 and increase the share of electricity sourced from renewable power to 100%.

【推荐3】As an oceanographer (海洋学家), I’ve spent many years developing robots to explore the ocean, and now we’re putting that technology to use in our JASON Project, a program that’s designed to inspire students and get them interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. In theaters throughout the country, we bring kids together and send back to them on large screens our live explorations of large areas of the globe. Not only are the kids observers, but they can operate robots moving across the area while broadcasting images back to them. The kids have the sensation (感受) of really being at the site with us.

I believe advances in robot technology will one day be the key to a new kind of travel. In the next 10 or 15 years, people will have rooms in their houses that will be able to simulate (模拟) other environment. I like to call this rooms “home domes” — small theaters with screens and advanced equipment that can reproduce the sights, sounds, smells, and feel of a desert or a forest. Hand in hand with these rooms, I can see a market for travel robots located in countries around the world. You could rent (租) a robot working in a rain forest, then go into your home dome, where you yourself operate the robot’s movements. The equipment in the room will receive the sensations in the robot’s environment and simulate them for you.

Today, much of the world’s population never travels more than 50 or 60 miles from home. And even a person with enough time can see only a part of the earth’s sights. But this new way of travel will cost so much less in both time and money and allow people to see a lot more of the globe. And simulated travel will also help protect our planet. You can’t take large groups of tourists to look at Dian Fossey’s gorillas (大猩猩). But a small robot, with no animal smell, can get very close to a gorilla and send the sights, sounds, and smells back to a million people.

【推荐2】For several months, Cara has been working up the courage to approach her mom about what she saw on Instagram. Not long ago, the 11­year­old girl, like all the other kids in this story, discovered that her mom had been posting her photos for much of her life. “I’ve wanted to bring it up. It’s strange to see myself up there, and sometimes there are pictures I don’t like of myself, ”she said.

Like most other modern kids, Cara grew up immersed(沉迷…之中) in social media. While many kids may not yet have accounts themselves, their parents, schools, sports teams, and organizations have been organizing an online presence for them since birth. The shock of realizing that details about your life have been shared online without your permission or knowledge has become an important experience in the lives of many teenagers. Recently a parenting blogger(博主) wrote in a Washington Post essay(散文) that despite(不顾) her 14­year­old daughter’s horror at discovering that her mother had shared years of highly personal stories and information about her online, she simply could not stop posting on her blog and social media. The writer said that promising her daughter that she would stop posting her publicly on the Internet would mean shutting down a vital part of herself, which isn’t necessarily good for herself or her daughter.

But it’s not just crazy mommy bloggers who construct a child’s online identity; plenty of average parents do the same. There’s even a special word for it: sharenting. Almost a quarter of children begin their digital lives when parents upload their photos to the Internet, according to a study conducted by the Internet­security firm AVG. The study also found that 92 percent of kids under the age of 2 already have their own unique digital identity.

【推荐1】Best Wine Club Gifts

Here are the best wine club gifts that you can give to yourself or your beloved ones this month.

To get started with Vinebox, you’ll just take a quiz on your favorite flavors and tastes. Then Vinebox will select 3 or 6 different brands of wines and send them straight to your door. Enjoy their surprise!

Cost: $ 27 a box

Just note that when you’re gifting a Winc subscription, the gift receiver isn’t going to get a box. Instead, it will be a Winc gift card that offers him a variety of choices.

Cost: You choose the amount that you want to gift.

From international to local wines, and all the way from sweets to 90+ point offerings, there’s an amazing wine club out there. For lovers of sweet wines, its Sweet Club series, which offers sweeter wines, like moscato d'asti and rieslings, is perfect.

Cost: $29-$79 a month.

You can choose between a red blend, a white blend, a rosé blend, or all three in their variety pack subscription.

Cost: Get the first 3 blends at only $27 for subscription, or $12 per blend.

【推荐2】From the V&A’s landmark fashion exhibitions to a collection of Vincent van Gogh’s finest works: these are the London exhibitions you can’t miss right now.

Mary Quant

The fashion exhibition at the V&A this summer moves to street-smart designer Mary Quant, who’s considered highly influential in the trends of the 1960s, playing a big part in the popularity of the mini-skirts and hot pants. In this exhibition, see more than 200 clothing pieces as well as photographs and designs that will transport you back to the decade.

Tickets: £12

Dates: Sunday, 6 April, 2019-Sunday, 16 February, 2020

Van Gogh and Britain

The exhibition at the Tate Britain brings together 50 pieces Van Gogh’s classic works. His relationship with Britain is an early focus: he spoke and read English well and was devoted to British literature. “My whole life is aimed at making the things from everyday life that Dickens describes,” he wrote. See Van Gogh’s collection of British books before arriving at his paintings.

Tickets:£22

Dates:Wednesday, 27 March-Sunday, 11 August, 2019

Diane Arbus: In the Beginning

This display of Diane Arbus’ works has been put on by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Titled Diane Arbus: In the Beginning, it covers the first half of her career, featuring more than 100 photographs taken across New York landmarks such as Times Square and Coney Island, more than two-thirds of which haven’t been seen in the UK before.

Tickets:£14

Dates: Until Thursday, 6 May,2019

DonMccullin

More than 250 photos taken by British photojournalist DonMcCullin over the past six decades are on display at the Tate Britain. See shots from one of the UK’s most famous war photographers reporting in Vietnam, Northern Ireland and Syria, as well as photos taken of working-class life in London’s East End. The pictures offer a fascinating insight into more than 60 years of conflict and poverty around the world.

Tickets:£18

Dates: Tuesday, 5 February-Monday, 6 May, 2019

【推荐3】In six states in the USA, drivers are forbidden to use cell phones while operating a vehicle. In 19 states, anyone who is behind the wheel of a car will get a ticket for text messaging. While cell phone may distract people when they are supposed to be paying attention to traffic, some feel that these laws are an invasion of privacy.

With the increase in the popularity of cell phones, more and more people are using them while driving. Police officers have found talking on hand-held or even hands-free phones while driving is becoming the cause of more and more crashes. As a matter of fact, talking on a cell phone does reduce the brain activities associated with driving by 37 percent. In nearly 25 percent of crashes, police officers have reported that cell phones have had a distracting effect on the drivers. Although evidence shows that using a cell phone while driving can cause traffic crashes, many people believe that they have a right to privacy in their own vehicle.

Privacy advocates have been attempting to define privacy as a fundamental human right. In America privacy is not guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States, but the Supreme Court has ruled that citizens be granted a right against government intrusion (侵犯). This is one of the reasons why advocates believe that giving fines for doing something as simple as talking on the phone goes against the privacy of the individual. People are free to do what they feel like doing, but if it has the potential to harm others, then there should be laws stopping this behavior.

Just as a citizen of a country has freedom of speech but it is still not allowed to yell “fire” in a crowed movie theater, people should not be allowed to talk on a cell phone while navigating their way through traffic. Last year at any time during the daytime, there were 800,000 individual text messaging or making phone calls with hand-held cell phones. That same year, 6,000 people died in automobile accidents related to cell phone use. These statistics show that cell phone use in a vehicle can put one's life in danger.