【推荐2】The connection between people and plants has long been the subject of scientific research. Recent studies have found positive effects. A study conducted in Youngstown, Ohio, for example, discovered that greener areas of the city experienced less crime. In another, employees were shown to be 15% more productive when their workplaces were decorated with houseplants.

The engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) have taken it a step further changing the actual composition of plants in order to get them to perform diverse, even unusual functions. These include plants that have sensors printed onto their leaves to show when they’re short of water and a plant that can detect harmful chemicals in groundwater. “We’re thinking about how we can engineer plants to replace functions of the things that we use every day,” explained Michael Strano, a professor of chemical engineering at MIT.

One of his latest projects has been to make plants grow(发光)in experiments using some common vegetables. Strano’s team found that they could create a faint light for three-and-a-half hours. The light, about one-thousandth of the amount needed to read by, is just a start. The technology, Strano said, could one day be used to light the rooms or even to turn tree into self-powered street lamps.

In the future, the team hopes to develop a version of the technology that can be sprayed onto plant leaves in a one-off treatment that would last the plant’s lifetime. The engineers are also trying to develop an on and off “switch” where the glow would fade when exposed to daylight.

Lighting accounts for about 7% of the total electricity consumed in the US. Since lighting is often far removed from the power source(电源)-such as the distance from a power plant to street lamps on a remote highway-a lot of energy is lost during transmission(传输).

Glowing plants could reduce this distance and therefore help save energy.

【推荐3】"We must learn not to take traditional morals（道德）too seriously." So said the biologist J. B. S. Haldane in a 1923 talk on science and the future. Haldane forecasted that scientific progress would destroy every belief and value. The future would be bright only "if mankind can adjust its morality to its powers". Haldane had a point: our powers have led to challenges that have never existed before. Climate change is a threat unlike any we have ever seen. Our machines might become smarter than us. Genetic engineering（基因工程）could change humanity forever.

In the face of such challenges, our evolved moral sense often proves not enough. Part of the problem is scale（规模）.The anthropologist Robin Dunbar says we can keep no more than about 150 meaningful relationships at once. But today, all 7 billion of us are connected—if not in meaningful relationships, not in meaningless ones, either. “Society" is now too big a concept for our brains to analyze.

One result is conflicting demands that are hard to solve. The bad situation of our fellow humans makes us use every possible way to deal with climate change. But that could hurt our own way of life. And then there's the urge to just forget all that pressure and get on a plane to somewhere sunny. Given this cognitive（认知的）overload, our original emotional responses tend to win out. We do what feels right. But such responses don't necessarily produce the best results. So how can we make sure we do what really is right?

It's a hard nut, but never fear: moral philosophers are on the case. Some, such as those based at the Centre for Effective Altruism in Oxford, UK, aim to maximize the good we can do by quantifying the results of our actions. Many of their suggestions have raised eyebrows: that it may be better to become a generous banker than work for a charity, for example.

Others suggest modifying our moral brains directly, through drugs. The difficulties with this idea are obvious: who decides what makes improvement? Given the practical difficulties of large-scale morality hacking（入侵），we should perhaps stick to education. We are not simply prisoners of our emotions: we can reason our way to workable solutions. Science alone will not get us there. So no, we shouldn't take traditional morality too seriously where it fails to address modern problems.

【推荐1】If there is one thing I'm sure about, it is that in a hundred years from now we will still be reading newspapers. It is not that newspapers are a necessity. Even now some people get most of their news from television or radio. Many buy a paper only on Saturday or Sunday. But for most people, a newspaper has become a habit passed down from generation to generation.

The nature of what is news may change. What basically makes news is what affects our lives-and the big political stories, the coverage of the wars, earthquakes and other disasters, will continue much the same. I think there will be more coverage of scientific research, though. It's already happening in areas that may directly affect our lives, like genetic engineering. In the future, I think there will be more coverage of scientific explanations of why we feel as we do-as we develop a better understanding of how the brain operates and what our feelings really are.

It's quite possible that in the next century, newspapers will be transmitted electronically from the Fleet Street and printed out in our own home. In fact, I'm pretty sure that is how it will happen in the future. You will probably be able to choose from a menu, making up your own newspaper by picking out the things you want to read-say, sport and international news.

I think people have got it wrong when they talk about competition between the different media. They actually feed off each other. Some people once foresee that television would kill off newspapers, but that hasn't happened. What is read on the printed page lasts longer than pictures on a screen or sound lost in the air. And as for the Internet, it's never really pleasant to read something just on a screen.

【推荐3】Most Americans are worried about new technology. They are concerned that machines, including robots, will take over work now done by humans. These findings come from a new report by the Pew Research Center of Washington D. C.

About 75 percent of Americans questioned by Pew said automation will increase income inequality between the rich and the middle class and poor. And 64 percent of people expect automation to be so common in America that people will face difficulty finding things to do with their lives.

Some of the concerns about technology come from a distrust about whether machines will always make the right decision. Many Americans believe humans have better judgement in dealing with. complex matters. One example is selecting a person for a job. Three-quarters of Americans said they would not want to apply for a job that uses a computer program to choose the most qualified person.

“Most Americans want the government to limit automation. For example, 87 percent support a requirement that all driverless vehicles have a human in the driver’s seat who can take control when an emergency occurs. And 85 percent want to limit machines to mostly doing jobs that are dangerous or unhealthy for humans. And only 25 percent expect more jobs to come from automation,” Pew said.

Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook, spoke last May to graduating seniors from Harvard University in Massachusetts. His talk centered on the uncertain future facing young people. “Our generation will have to deal with tens of millions of jobs replaced by automation like self-driving cars and trucks.” Zuckerherg told the graduates.

Zuckerberg said young people had better launch(发起)projects that will bring both jobs and direct benefits to the people of the world. He said in his speech that 30000 people worked to put a man on the moon, and millions of people built the Hoover Dam as well as other great projects over the last 100 years.

【推荐2】Internet communication is having a positive influence on education in and out of the classroom. The Internet provides the opportunity for people anywhere in the world to access quality educational services from the comfort of their home. The Internet allows you to have access to educational opportunities on your schedule, and at your own pace.

Classroom usage of computers in the United States began in the early 1980s, with applications limited to software packages that provided drill and practice by students. By the early 1990s, most classrooms in the United States had a computer the teacher could use to aid in the presentation of academic material. By the late 1990s Internet usage became widespread, becoming a significant factor in classroom instruction. The late 1990s also saw the rise of Internet based post-secondary educational programs that allow students to earn a college degree without attending a class in a traditional institution.

Internet usage opens the entire world of information and communication to students. Students can access libraries from any city of the world at any time day or night. Students can have 24 hour access to all materials needed to complete an assignment.

Students using computer technology and communication tools to research, develop and publish school projects develop critical thinking skills that are essential in decision making processes. Teachers need to equip students with a new set of skills which will enable them to locate, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize the vast amounts of information available. Students must become information managers.

Students who learn to use computers and the Internet proficiently (熟练地) develop competencies that are required in the 21st century workplace. Internet usage allows students and workers to communicate efficiently, increasing productively and facilitating creative thinking. The pace of technological change is forcing students to continue learning new skills and responsibilities. The reality of rapid change will challenge established instructional methods, and will transform schools into technological training centers.

【推荐3】Amazing concept images have shown what homes of the future could look like, as preparations are made for the world’s first freefrom 3D-printed property (房产).

Experts will build a house called Curve Appeal, which will be 3D-printed off-site before being put together on-site to create two outside walls, a roof and an inside part. These four main sections will then be joined together.

Although 3D-printed buildings have been made before, this home — to be constructed in Chattanooga, Tennessee, later this year — will be the first of its kind, as it will contain no regular shapes or angles. The house is the creation of the design company WATG, based in London and California. The design for Curve Appeal draws inspiration from the Case Study House program.

The architects leading the program were famed for constantly pushing the limits in terms of minimalist (极简主义) materials, and trying to create open-plan spaces that focused on enhancing (增强) natural light. In a written statement, a spokesman for WATG said, “Employing many of the same modern design principles, Curve Appeal is the next evolutionary step. It’s important that the architecture and the environment work together harmoniously. The chosen site is steps away from the Tennessee River in a beautiful wooded, sunlit area.”

WATG was awarded the first prize in the Freeform Home Design Challenge in 2016 and given prize money of $ 8,000 to make its plans a reality. The competition was aimed at architects, designers, engineers and artists. Participants were challenged to design a 600 to 800sq ft single-family home that rethinks traditional aesthetics (美学), ergonomics, construction, building systems and structure.

Over the last year, WATG’s Chicago office has been developing their design with Branch Technology. This project is currently underway, working towards breaking ground later this year. Once completed, the Curve Appeal home will have open and light-filled inside living spaces.