【推荐1】Typhoons can be deadly — in 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest ever recorded, was responsible for 6,340 deaths—and cost billions in damages. Current forecast models can only predict these storms 10 days in advance, at most, and they cannot precisely predict how intense the storms will become.

An international team of researchers has developed a model that analyzes nearly a quarter of Earth’s surface and atmosphere in order to better predict the conditions that birth typoons.

“The target problem of this study is how to foretell the birth of typhoons,” said paper author Mingkui Li, associate professor in the Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography in the Ocean University of China and the Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (QNLM). “We specifically address three aspects: the beginning time, inner pressure and maximum wind speed.”

The researchers also accounted for the influence of one variable(变量) on another, such as wind speed on sea surface temperature. This influence is well understood and accounted for in climate predictions and in weather forecasts, but it has not been fully applied in understanding how long-term climate affects day-to-day weather, according to Li. “We aimed to provide insights on the time scale that can be used to forecast typhoons in advance.”

From their study, the researchers determined that a model with the ability to better understand the relationship between warm sea surface temperatures and weak wind movement— conditions that favor typhoon formation—could improve typhoon predictability.

“Our goal is to develop a 10 to 30-day prediction system that will lead to seamless(无缝的) weather-climate predictions.” Shaoqing Zhang, paper author and professor in the Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography, said.

【推荐1】What’s the first thing that pops into your mind when you think of wheat straw? Most people would probably just see it as a pile of waste in a farmer’s field. However, Wu Cui, an intangible cultural inheritor, can turn the straw left over from harvested wheat into eye-catching functional artworks.

Straw weaving is a method of making daily items or artworks by braiding straw. It was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2008. The earliest straw-woven products were unearthed at Hemudu Cultural Ruins, a Neolithic (新石器的) cultural site located in Zhejiang province. The Book of Rites, one of the classical works of Confucianism, also records that there were mats made of cattail grass (香蒲) during the Zhou Dynasty.

Wu explains the process of straw weaving: you need to select the materials first, and then sketch the piece on paper, which requires drawing skills. Next comes the weaving, shaping and finally the preserving of the work. Even by sticking to that process, it does not mean that you will always create a good piece of work, and the hardest part is to make it lifelike and solid.

Wu recalls that, when she was a child, woven straw items could be found almost in every household in the countryside, such as straw hats and straw shoes, because they were practical in everyday life. “Due to the impact of industrialization, manufactured goods have replaced such products, which provide low profits, and there are only about 100 individuals engaging in the work across the country,” she notes.

From her perspective, straw weaving should respond to people’s needs and preferences, while still drawing inspiration from traditional culture. “For straw weaving to blossom, craftspeople should make joint efforts to grasp the trends and opportunities of the times to create new and relevant products,” she says.

When asked about her plans, Wu says she longs to dig deeper into local traditional culture and create cultural creative products by making full use of the straw weaving technique.

【推荐2】In 2009, Kevin Pearce was at the height of his professional snowboarding career and was preparing for the Winter Olympics. But during training, he struck his head on the edge of a halfpipe. It changed the course of the then 22-year-old’s life. He had to relearn how to walk and talk and basically start over. His older brother Adam gave up his job and moved across the country to help him through recovery. Kevin eventually started doing yoga, and his family saw how it positively changed him and gave him a sense of hope.

“I remember so clearly I came out of the first yoga class with Kevin and just saw in his face this new expression, this new person,” Adam Pearce said. “We would like to figure out why and how that just happened.”

Brain injury affects the lives of millions of Americans each year, including many who are living with long-term brain-injury-related disabilities (残疾). Wanting to bring hope and cure to others through yoga, Adam and Kevin co-founded the LoveYourBrain Foundation in 2014. The nonprofit offers week-long retreats (静修) and community-based yoga classes across the United States for people who have brain injury as well as their caregivers. The organization aims to finally make a safe space and a supportive community where people with brain injury can be treated together.

The organization also trains yoga teachers, giving them knowledge on how to work with those who have brain injury, and works with hospitals to add yoga into recovery treatments early on. To date, LoveYourBrain has reached more than 35,000 people.

“Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought we’d be here almost 13 years after Kevin’s accident,” Adam said. “What this has taught me is that injury and unpleasant situations can be a powerful pathway for deeper learning and growth.”