【推荐2】About two years ago, several lunar missions showed that some lunar soil contains minute amounts of water molecules. But where did water on the moon come from? Answering that question can help us understand the moon’s history and evolution, but also allow future engineers to potentially tap into this resource when building a sustainable moon base.

Chinese scientists have discovered that minerals in lunar soil might have got that substance   (物质) critical for life from solar wind bombarding (轰炸) the moon’s surface with hydrogen ions (氢离子), according to a study published in the journal Nature Communication on Saturday.

In a previous study, published in June, Chinese scientists concluded that most water found on the moon may have originated in its interior. That study, like the new one, was conducted on lunar samples from China’s Chang’e-5 mission in 2020.

The study in June found that lunar soil had around 30 parts per million of water content in the form of hydroxyl (羟基), a close chemical relative of water. However, lunar minerals may contain water content of up to 179 ppm. One ppm of water would yield (产生) around 1 gram of water per metric ton (公吨) of soil.

The latest study essentially confirmed the estimates from the previous research, and those lunar minerals could contain even more water. Moreover, the new study identified solar wind as a key mechanism for the existence of water on the moon’s surface.

The study found that the solar wind resulted at least 170 ppm of water content in lunar samples gathered by the Chang’e-5 mission. Lunar minerals such as pyroxene, plagioclase, and olivine are likely the main reservoirs (水库) of solar wind-derived water.

“This study has important implications for understanding the evolution of water on the lunar surface and evaluating the contribution of solar wind protons (质子) to the water reservoirs of the lunar surface, ”the researchers said.

Lunar samples collected during the Chang’e-5 mission may hold the keys to answering these questions, since they are much younger than the ones collected by US and Soviet moon missions. So, the water content in the Chinese samples has had less time to be influenced by other factors, making these samples ideal for studying the moon’s water.

【推荐3】It’s time to put down the phone and look away from Instagram (一款照片分享应用程序): Researchers found that people who look at pictures of food are less likely to enjoy the next meal they eat.

Ryan Elder and Jeff Larson of Brigham Young University asked 232 people to look at photos of food and rate them. The researchers divided the participants into two groups-one group looked at 60 photos of desserts, while the other examined 60 photos of sally foods. Participants (参加者) ranked each photo based on how attractive the food looked. Afterward both groups enjoyed a snack of salted peanuts. The group that looked at pictures of salty foods liked the peanuts less than the group who looked at desserts, even though no one saw photos of peanuts.

“If you want to enjoy your meal, avoid looking at too many pictures of food,” Larson said. “Even I felt a little sick to my stomach during the study after looking at all the sweet pictures we had.”

The researchers believe that food doesn’t taste as good after viewing all those photos because looking at many photos makes people feel as if they have already experienced the sensation (感觉) of eating. Whatever someone eats after looking at photos doesn’t seem as good as what she saw.

“In a way, you’re becoming tired of that taste without even eating the food,” said Elder. “It’s sensory boredom-you’ve kind of moved on. You don’t want that taste experience anymore.”

But there is some good news: People need to look at a lot of food photos to experience sensory boredom. So if you want to enjoy your next brunch, play it safe and stay away from your foodie friend’s photo albums.

【推荐2】When the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), the world’s governing body for soccer, claimed that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar would be “a fully carbon-neutral (碳中和) event”, it attracted worldwide laughter from the environmentalists.

World Cup hosts often maintain that stadiums built for the event will remain in constant use after its conclusion—a claim that allows them to spread their carbon footprint over many years. But it’s hard to believe the claim. After all, Qatari soccer culture is still undeveloped. Even soccer- mad countries such as Russia, Brazil and South Africa-hosts of the previous three men’s World Cups-have been left with a group of relatively useless stadiums.

In addition to the carbon cost of the stadiums, Qatar expects to see 1, 300 daily flights to and from the country during the World Cup. But that’s not the only source of airplane emissions. The grass seeds to give rise to the tournament’s green pitches (球场) have been flown in from North America on climate-controlled planes. And these fields won’t water themselves. The groundskeepers who maintain the eight stadium pitches, as well as the 136 practice fields, douse each field with 10, 000 liters of water every day in the winter. In the summer the pitches require a surprising amount of 50, 000 liters each.

Soccer isn’t alone in this. Three recent Olympics-Tokyo 2020, Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Sochi 2014-earned some of the worst environmental sustainability scores. All this raises an important question: Is it even possible to stage a carbon-neutral sports mega event? The ever- expanding size of these events likely puts net-zero emissions out of reach. One recent study found that between 1964 and 2018, the soccer World Cup and the Olympics were about 60 times as large in terms of the number of sports, athletes, journalists, spectators, marketing and costs involved.

The large sports events, as they are currently organized, are unsustainable. Since FIFA and the International Olympic Committee made more environmental claims back in the 1990s, their events have only become bigger, and their effects have only become more severe.

【推荐3】Scientists believe they have found help for older people suffering from poor eyesight. The solution is shining a special red light in the eyes for three minutes. Staring at a deep red light for three minutes a day can greatly improve falling eyesight, finds a new University London-led (or UCL-led) study, the first of its kind in humans. They believe the discovery could signal the dawn of new affordable home-based eye therapies (疗法), helping millions of people globally with naturally falling eyesight.

Doctors say a three-minute daily dose of the special red light for two weeks could help improve age-related vision problems. However, they say not any red light will help improve eyesight. The co-author of a study into the effects of red light and vision in older people explained why. Professor Glen Jeffery said: “I strongly suggest that people do not just go and buy a red light off the web. They have to produce the right wavelength (波长) and be reliable. We are looking for a business partner to do this and to price them at under around $20 to $25.”

The study was carried out by a team from University College London. Researchers conducted tests on 24 men and women aged between 28 and 72. They said some cells that help us process light had worsened in the older people.

Doctors say their red light improved the ability of these people to detect different colors, particularly blue. The vision of these older people improved by as much as 22 percent. Doctor Jeffrey said: “Populations are ageing rapidly and this is going to be a major issue in the future. We need to gear up (为……做准备) for this.” He added: “If you can’t see clearly you can’t read or watch TV. You also tend to fall down and break bones. Our lights are a step in this direction.”