【推荐1】In an effort to help out important insects like bees and butterflies, bus stops across the United Kingdom (UK) are getting living roofs. Small gardens on bus shelter roofs are being planted with flowers chosen to help support the struggling insects. The gardens provide much-needed islands of nature in a hard, man-made environment of a city.

Humans depend on bees and other “pollinators (授粉者)” like butterflies to help grow plants, such as flowers and trees. But with humans taking over more and more land for cities, roads and farms, more natural areas have disappeared. The Wildlife Trusts, a group which works to protect wildlife in the UK, says that 97% of England’s wildflower fields have been lost since World War II and the insect numbers there have dropped by 50% since 1970. Bee bus stops are a small step toward supporting these important insects.

The advertising company Clear Channel is working with The Wildlife Trusts and city governments to set up bee bus stops in cities across the UK. Bee bus stops are like ordinary bus shelters, but small gardens have been added to the roofs. The gardens are filled with flowers and plants chosen to attract bees and butterflies. Because the soil for the rooftop garden is heavy, especially when it rains, the bus shelters need to be sturdy. The rooftop gardens need to be cut about twice a year. But other than that, not much is needed to keep the gardens going.

Clear Channel manages about 30,000 bus stops across the UK. It says that most bus stops last about 20 years. The little gardens can also help to slightly lower city temperatures. Even though the bus shelter gardens are small, together they add up to a much larger area. Thirzah McSherry, who works for The Wildlife Trusts, says, “We’re living through a nature and climate crisis and we need to use every tool we’ve got to deal with it.”

【推荐2】In a new study, shark researchers working off the eastern coast of New Zealand have found that three species of deep-sea shark are bioluminescent （生物性发光的），producing a soft blue-green light with specialized cells in their skin.

One of the species, the kitefin shark, grows to a length of nearly six feet, making it the largest known bioluminescent animal. The other two species are somewhat smaller than the kitefin, and all are occasionally caught as unintended by-catch by fishers. None are considered in danger of extinction, but little is known about their lifestyles and biology.

Bioluminescence had previously been documented in only around a dozen shark species, so this discovery significantly adds to our knowledge,^,, says Jerome Mallefet, lead author of the new study.

In the deep sea, where scientists estimate three-quarters of all creatures are bioluminescent, having the ability to create light can be extremely advantageous. In the depths of the ocean, which receives minimal amounts of sunlight, bioluminescent animals can hide themselves from enemies by producing enough light to match their surroundings. All three species examined in this study have large concentrations of photocytes （发光细 胞）on their undersides, which suggests that these sharks may hide from enemies in just this way.

"The discovery that these three species produce light is not surprising", says David Ebert, director of the Pacific Shark Research Center. That's because researchers think many more species of sharks are likely capable of producing light一Mallefet estimates that perhaps 10 percent of the 540 known species of sharks are bioluminescent. But Ebert thinks even this is far from the truth. "As the deep-sea shark research advances, that number will go even higher," he says.

Both Ebert and Mallefet hope that more attention will be paid to deep-sea sharks in the future, as the creatures and their habitat are understudied and under threat. "A lot of people know that sharks can bite," says Mallefet, "but few people know that they can produce light in the dark. ”

【推荐3】The power of “seeing”

A spoon-billed sandpiper (勺嘴鹬) steps into the frame, heading straight for a small bug placed there. It swallows its food with its spoon-shaped beak.

The performance is for Joel Sartore, founder of Photo Ark, a personal effort to document animals around the world.

The critically endangered bird, of which there are fewer than 1,000 individuals in the wild, is the 13,000th species Sartore has photographed in 16 years. His goal is 20,000.

Before he started Photo Ark, Sartore spent more than a decade working as a photographer for National Geographic, mainly covering conservation stories in the field. He had seen wildlife decreasing firsthand, but felt like the public wasn’t interested.

Sartore thought of a new way to inspire people. He picked up his camera and set about taking shots of wildlife-but rather than recording animals in the wild, he wanted to photograph them outside their natural habitat. He visited zoos, aquariums and rehabilitation (康复) centers and photographed portraits of individual animals against a white or black backdrop (背景幕).

“This allows you to look them in the eye and see that there’s great beauty there and that they are worth saving,” he said. “We are primates and we respond to eye contact above all else.”

The response has indeed been huge. Sartore has more than 1.6 million followers on Instagram and a best-selling series of Photo Ark books. Part of the proceeds (收益) from his books goes to fund on-the-ground conservation efforts.

Gary Ward who works at London Zoo where Sartore has shot before, said, “Seeing is the first step to caring, and caring is the first step to conservation action.”

By choosing animals outside their natural habitat, Sartore admits he will only show a small part of the world’s wildlife. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, there are more than 2 million described species on the planet, and he plans to photograph just 1% of them. But doing so allows him to spotlight species that are already extinct in the wild, and those that would be difficult to take portraits of in their natural habitat. It also enables him to shoot in a controlled environment, meaning the animal can be kept safe and comfortable, with zookeepers or carers on hand to advise on its behavior.

【推荐3】Science fiction novels often tum into a nightmare (噩梦) halfway through—and for blue-collar workers who are at the bottom level of the labor force, there’s a doubt about the way the robot revolution story will end. By 2035, one in three jobs could be automated (自动化) by robots, predicts PwC, a business company.

“Robotics is traditionally applied to problems that fall into the categories ‘dirty,’ ‘dull,’ and ‘dangerous,’” says Jonathan Aitken, a robotics expert at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. “Automation of a repeated process is always achievable. The lack of variability means that the process is the same, time after time. This is the reason that robots fell naturally into automotive production.” It’s been the case since the first robots appeared on production lines.

But it’s not just blue-collar jobs that are feeling the difficult situation from the rise of the robots. White-collar roles are also affected, particularly those focused on data sorting, a task well-suited for artificial intelligence. Financial services is one area that has turned to automated robots carrying out trades. When a computer can pick stocks better and quicker than a human, it makes sense to make use of them, and almost all Wall Street firms do

Jobs where workers are less likely to be replaced by robots include those in health care, although surgical (外科手术的) robots, which are controlled by remote health-care professionals in order to carry out more precise procedures, are already being used in hospitals. However, the gentle touch and caring comfort of a well-trained nurse or doctor can’t be copied by a robot automation.

“It’s important to ask the question of whether we want robots doing certain jobs,” says Aitken. “In replacing a human, especially in a human-facing role, we’re being asked to accept the robot. This is something that’ll take time to achieve. People still like people.”