【推荐1】It’s a question that has been asked for years: Is a dishwasher or washing dishes by hand greener? Which uses less energy and water?

A few years ago, the answer was that the dishwasher was better but a very careful hand-washer could probably use about the same amount of water and less energy. However, much has changed since then. Technology combined with good design has made the dish washer greatly better over the years, to the point where there’s hardly a question. Studies are showing that modern dishwashers can save more water than most hand-washers.

Dishwashers are even more efficient. Modern dishwashers have pre-heaters that increase the water temperature up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit to sanitize them. The dishwasher also has a timer that lets you set it to turn on at a later time when the power rates are lower.

On the other hand, none of the studies do an analysis of what it takes in terms of energy and water to actually build the dishwasher and replace it every 10 years or so. Nor does it take into account a Swedish study that found that children in families that wash dishes by hand are less likely to develop fever probably due to the “hygiene hypothesis”, which says the reason why kids fall ill is that their surroundings are actually too clean. If you’re not willing to fill up the sinks, the researchers point out that maybe the dishwasher is one labor-saving machine that does a better job than you can especially if you value your time. The researchers write, “When a user’s time spent washing dishes is valued, machine dishwashers pay for themselves within a year of use.”

【推荐3】In late May, America announced a plan to produce more offshore（近海的）wind energy along the Pacific, Atlantic, and Gulf coasts, with the final goal of adding enough clean energy to supply power to 10 million homes by 2030. But is it practical?

Those answering yes to this question understand that creation is the key to completing the project successfully. Unlike the open grassland and rounded hills, analyzing the seafloor situation for proper placement isn't a simple exercise. With only 20% of the ocean seafloor mapped, we know more about the surface of Mars than we do Earth's hidden depths.

The new company Bedrock is aiming to help solve this problem by detecting the seas with its new electric autonomous underwater vehicles（AUV, 水下自动机器人）. Traditional ocean mapping skills are ship-based, usually limited to the surface. Thus, traditional sea surveys can take up to a year to collect and process data. But Bedrock's AUVs send data to a place where the computers start working with the results right away and from anywhere in the world.

While using AUVs to map the seafloor helps improve our understanding of Earth's oceans, Bedrock is careful that this do not damage sea life. The company uses smaller sensors that are close to the seafloor and operate in sound frequencies（声呐频率）safe for animals. In addition, the AUVs only travel at about 2. 3 mph to 3. 45 mph, which reduces the chance of animal or environmental damage as they are moving.

Beyond the offshore wind industry, Bedrock is also exploring other ways its AUVs might benefit other undersea efforts. "Currently our AUV surveys are designed for offshore wind projects and nearshore environmental mapping for coastal management," says Bedrock's CEO and co-founder DiMare. "In the future, we're also capable of serving new markets, helping to make government goals a reality.”

【推荐2】The need to feed a growing population is putting much pressure on the world’s supply of water. With 97% of the world’s water too salty to be drunk or used in agriculture, the worldwide supply of water needs careful management, especially in agriculture. Although the idea of a water shortage seems strange to someone fortunate enough to live in a high rainfall country, many of the world’s agricultural industries experience constant water shortages .

Although dams can be built to store water for agricultural use in dry areas and dry seasons, the costs of water redistribution(重新分配) are very high. Not only is there the cost of the engineering itself, but there is also an environmental cost to be considered. Where valleys are flooded to create dams, houses are lost and wildlife homes destroyed. Besides, water may flow easily through pipes to fields, but it cannot be transported from one side of the world to the other. Each country must therefore rely on the management of its own water to supply its farming requirements.

This is particularly troubling for countries with agricultural industries in areas dependent on irrigation(灌溉). In Texas, farmers’ overuse of irrigation water has resulted in a 25% reduction of the water stores. In the Central Valley area of southwestern USA, a huge water engineering project provided water for farming in dry valleys, but much of the water use has been poorly managed.

Saudi Arabia’s attempts to grow wheat in desert areas have seen the pumping of huge quantities of irrigation water from underground reserves. Because there is no rainfall in these areas, such reserves can only decrease, and it is believed that fifty years of pumping will see them run dry.

【推荐1】Healthcare staff and bank clerks have been on the front line of the health and economic crises striking the UK, but behind the scenes, another group of workers robots have been toiling away and overcoming both emergencies with no fear of COVID-19. But will COVID-19 speed up the rise of robots?

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is software that robotizes repetitive back-office tasks. The National Health Service (NHS) has used it during the widespread disease to con-trol demand and capacity planning in caring for all levels of patients day and night. Jason Kingdon, Blue Prism's new chief executive who is recovering from COVID-19, says, “Before RPA, these were manual processes. You had to train a number of staff to put them in place. Now, you only need to train a single robot to manage the administration.” More than two fifths of bosses across 45 countries that responded to a survey by EY (Ernst & Young) said they were planning on accelerating spending on automation technology to prepare for a post-Covid world.

COVID-19 has already left tens of millions unemployed, so firms won't be short of cheap labour on the other side of the crisis. But experts still think Al will be the more cautious choice for companies. One of them said, “It's important to remember that even in China, which has much lower wages, 12.5 million manufacturing jobs have been cut over the past four years as more robots have been adopted.”

However, Al is overhyped (过分提倡)in many ways and poor application could lead to a rise in anxiety towards automation. Again, we should think of history as a guide. A lot of, workers riots(暴动) in the early 19th century happened during the continental blockade of the Napoleonic Wars when there was significant mess to trade in Britain. These things are not unrelated.

【推荐2】You Ask: Is Yoga Good Exercise? By almost any measure, the answer is yes, but don't let it be all you do. Research shows regular yoga practice lowers your risk for heart disease and tension. Yoga may also lessen symptoms of depression, headaches, diabetes, some forms of cancer and pain-related diseases.

Yoga also seems to prevent weight gain. One 4-year study from Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center found middle-aged adults who practiced yoga at least once a week gained 3 fewer pounds than those who stuck with other forms of exercise. The same study found overweight adults who practice yoga lost 5 pounds, while a non-yoga group gained 13 pounds.

How can a little bending and stretching do all that? Unlike exercises like running or lifting weights, “yoga puts you in a parasympathetic(副交感神经系统的) state, so your heart rate goes down and blood pressure goes down,” says Dr. Tiffany Field, director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine.

Yoga is tied to a healthier heart, as well as its ability to reduce your stress, improve your mood, and help you sleep more soundly. When you consider the extra health benefits linked to each of those brain and body benefits-lower pain, lower body weight, lower disease risk-you could make an argument that few activities are as good for you as yoga.

One thing yoga doesn’t do, though, is burn loads of calories. Even hot forms of yoga like Bikram result in the spending of modest energy—roughly the number of calories you’d burn during a brisk walk. While more and more research suggests calories shouldn’t be your only focus when it comes to diet and exercise, there’s no question that running, swimming, lifting weights and other more vigorous forms of exercise are great for your brain and body.

"Yoga is unquestionably good for you," Field says, "but it should be done along with traditional forms of physical activity-not in place of them."