【推荐1】Biodegradable(可降解的) food packaging is designed to detect to what degree the food has gone bad by changing its color. Best-before labels are often poor predictors of when food becomes dangerous to eat, which can lead to waste and food poisoning, says Benedetto Marelli at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. So he and his colleagues tried to create the package that can react to changes in food.

They made four films(膜) similar to plastic package, each consisting of two layers. One layer was made from a protein extracted from silkworm silk, while the other was made of one of four so-called covalent organic frameworks (COFs). These materials contain carbon and hydrogen, as well as atoms like oxygen or nitrogen, all arranged in a network that allows air and water to go through easily.

After checking the films were non-toxic and strong, the researchers tried to compost(堆肥处理) them. For the best performing film, 50 percent of it degraded after being placed in soil for 30 days, which is comparable to existing biodegradable plastics.

The material also changed colour when immersed in water with different pH values, due to the COF layer’s interaction with the liquid. Because the pH of food increases as it spoils, the researchers tried to use a piece of the film as a colour-changing label attached to a packet of raw chicken. The label started off orange but turned yellow and got 17 percent lighter after 20 hours at 30℃, indicating that the meat had begun to spoil. The researchers also loaded the COF layer with a chemical. After 15 days, so ya beans packaged in the film and left in high heat and humidity went bad, but only a third as much as beans wrapped in traditional plastic.

“For a successful market entry, the material will need to be affordable and easy to produce. The standard for competing with plastic production is very high.” says Marelli.

【推荐3】When Denis wants to relax at work, he steps into a quiet room, sits in a chair, slips on a virtual-reality headset, and escapes to the beach. For Denis, those minutes are a tool he relies on regularly to both relieve and prevent stress.

He's not the only one at his company to use the room, where workers can also use a headset to watch a moon walk, take a virtual roller-coaster ride or access a meditation (冥想) app.

Research shows VR can help reduce pain and anxiety. But it's not yet clear why it works. Experts believe it's related to the technology's power to distract.

''Whatever their problems are, whatever their stresses are, they can literally neglect them and have a different emotional pulse, '' Denis said.

Virtual-reality headsets haven't taken off with consumers, but they're now powerful and inexpensive enough for companies to consider investing in them to help make workers and customers happier.

The headsets may help people take a virtual break from their surroundings, but there are challenges to consider. Ramon Llamas, a tech market researcher, noted that there could be challenges in handing out headsets. Some people get sick or dizzy while using virtual reality, and the headsets may get dirty or broken. There's also the task of quickly familiarizing people with using the headsets, especially since VR adoption has been so limited and the ways they are controlled can vary.

For now, Llamas said, he's concerned about privacy and security. What if, for instance, someone manages to back into a headset and insert some content into what you're watching?

Another potential issue is the managing of the headsets and software that goes along with them. This is likely not a complication for an office like Umber Realty's, where people can simply take a headset off if they feel something wrong. But it could be more of a problem if you're stuck in a dentist's chair. ''The last thing you want is that in the middle of extracting a tooth something goes wrong.'' Llamas said.