【推荐2】Last summer, the missing white-letter hairstreak butterfly was spotted in Scotland for the first time in 133 years. Conservationists wondered if the creature had established a breeding colony in the country. As Russell Jackson reports for the Scotsman, volunteer naturalists recently found a cluster of tiny white-letter hairstreak eggs on an elm tree in Lennel, a small village near the country of Berwick-shire.

Volunteers with the UK’s Butterfly Conservation have been carefully tracking white-letter hair-streak migrations for more than ten years. The butterfly is native to the UK and was once widespread in England and Wales. But white -letter hairstreak numbers have declined drastically in recent decades, largely due to an outbreak of Dutch elm disease, and illness that took hold in the 1960s. The disease has killed millions of British elm trees, which is the food source for white-letter hairstreak caterpillars (蝴蝶或蛾的幼虫).

Recently, there have been signs that the butterfly’s populations are recovering. The Butterfly Conservation team has observed the white-letter hairstreak gradually spreading northwards, possibly due to warming climates. But the white-letter hairstreak is still a very rare sight in Scotland, and the volunteers who found the cluster of eggs — Ken Haydock and Jill Mills — were thrilled by the discovery.

“It was a lovely sunny morning and we were searching the elm trees by the River Tweed at Lennel when Jill called me over,” Haydock says in a Butterfly Conservation statement, “I could see by the look on her face that she had found something. We were both smiling with disbelief and delight when we realized what Jill had found and within seconds I was fumbling in my pack for the camera —my hands were shaking!”

That Haydock and Mills managed to spot the eggs is quite remarkable; according to Vittoria Traverso of Atlas Obscura, white-letter hairstreak eggs are smaller than a grain of salt. The volunteers were also excited to discover an old, hatched eggshell amid the cluster of new eggs. According to the Butterfly Conservation, this suggests that the white-letter hairstreak could have been breeding in the area since at least 2016.

Paul Kirkland, the director of the Butterfly Conservation’ s Scotland chapter, says in the statement that conservationists will “need to have a few more years of confirmed sightings” before they can classify the white-letter hairstreak as a resident species of Scotland. “If this happens, it would take the total number of butterflies found in Scotland to 34,” he says, “which really would be something to celebrate.”

【推荐3】Up to 1 million species are at risk of extinction — many within decades — because of human activities. Climate change, development, pollution, overfishing and hunting are all driving the crisis. However, roads are now considered to beat the top of those factors according to a new report.

It’s estimated that as many as 1 million animals are killed on U. S. roads every day. And it’s not all squirrels and deer. A report by the Department of Transportation identified 21 federally endangered species that are being directly threatened by our roads. “There’s not much lend that’s not affected in some way by roads and traffic,” said Marcel Huijser, a road ecologist at Montana State University. For many species and people, the impact is quite really direct. But roads can also kill in more subtle ways, destroying habitat on either side of their path and blocking movement.

Along Highway 101, in Southern California, the latter is driving extinction.

Last year, mountain lion researchers started noticing something troubling in the-big cats. Mountain lions were seen on game cameras and m person with kinked (扭结的) tails. Audra Huffmeyer, a researcher at the University of California, kos Angeles, went a step further, completing the body analyses for five dead male lions. “All five individuals we sampled showed signs of reduced fertility (生育力),” she said.

The findings were the first documented reproductive signs of inbreeding in the area s long-isolated lions. These mountain lions, restricted in the 40-mile long mountain range, were producing their later generations with close relatives.

It wasn’t a surprise. Researchers had watched mountain lions approach Highway 101, intending to cross from the Santa Monica Mountains to more habitat in the Santa Susana Stountains to the north, only to stop and turnaround, scared off by the noise of the road.

“It definitely increases the urgency of doing something about it,” Huffmeyer said.

The wildlife crossing at Liberty Canyon should help. It’s being designed to give mountain lions and other species a precious escape route, connecting isolated populations in the Santa Monica Mountains with the larger world.

【推荐2】Many parents keep a watchful eye on their kids' use of electronic (电子的) devices and set strict limits for them, But there's another device-related danger that parents may be completely overlooking(忽略),and it might be hurting their kids quite badly.     1    

And yes, it's meant to mitror the danger of secondhand smoking. With secondhand screen time, kids are indirectly exposed to screens being used by adults close to them. Excessive (过量的) devices, especially in the presence of a child, also sends the message that the device and activities on if are more important than the child.     2     Some emotional issues for the childwill come to the surface as well.

    3     And so there are no concrete guidelines. Children require face-to-face interactions with parents and other trusted adults in order to support proper brain development. Excessive screen use by parents gets in the way of this and should be minimized (最 小化) whenever possible.

Use your judgment to determinc limits for your own electronics usage, just as you would for your children. Are they constantly trying to get your attention when you're focused on electronics?     4     Check out these habits that many parents of successful kids have in common.

Managing your child's use of electronics can take effort.     5     For adults, this issue can be trickier because devices are often a necessary part of people's work and personal tasks. A good general rule is to ensure there are at least some periods of time when devices aren't being used. That's a helpful way to start establishing more balance.

【推荐3】Like expensive watches that never break, the world’s best airports can be boring. You land, move through passport control and check into a hotel within minutes. The experience is pleasant, but not memorable. The worst airports have more characters. To adapt Tolstoy, lovely airports are all alike, but every wretched airport is wretched in its own way.

To work out which is the world’s worst airport, we conducted a survey of our correspondents who travelled a lot. It attracted more, and more passionate, responses than nearly any other internal survey we have done.

Although each awful airport is unique, four themes occur again and again: danger, bullying by officials, theft and delay. Sometimes, all these enhance each other. For example, it takes ages to get through Lubumbashi airport (in the Democratic Republic of Congo) because security officials slow things down in the hope that passengers will give them “un Cadeau” to hurry up. If you hand over $1, they let you board without your bags getting checked at all. Such deals make air travel in places like Congo slower, riskier, costlier and much more unpleasant.

Air travellers make tempting targets for thieves. They are rich enough to afford an air ticket, which in many places makes them rich indeed. They carry luggage, some of it valuable. They are often far from home and unfamiliar with local rules. And airports are full of choke points through which travellers must pass if they are to board their planes, creating opportunities for dishonest officials to charge them. The ones in Manila are especially creative. Some have been known to plant bullets in luggage so they can “find” them and demand money not to have the owners arrested.

Rules change at borders, and some airport officials enforce them mindlessly. One correspondent recalls that in Santiago, Chile: “I once got detained for two hours for failing to declare an unopened, sealed bag of almonds. I then had to write a declaration expressing my regret for bringing the nuts. When I failed to do so without cracking up I was threatened with arrest. The lady next to me was being interrogated for carrying a lone banana.”

Poor countries have an excuse for poor airports. Rich countries do not, which is perhaps why travellers are particularly annoyed to find grottiness (恶心) in, say, Brussels, the heart of the European Union. Our Charlemagne columnist writes of Charleroi, its second airport: “It is dirty and crowded, and has terrible food. The planes leave and land at unreasonble hours. And the only real way into town is a coach that runs every 30 minutes and is frequently overbooked: more than once I’ve queued in the rain only to see it drive off as I reach the front.”

【推荐1】Are men OK? Most likely, they’ll never tell you. Only 21% of men say they received emotional support from a friend within the past week, compared to 41% of women, according to a 2021 survey by the Survey Center on American Life. Similarly, just 25% of men say they’ve said “I love you” to a friend recently, as opposed to 49% of women.

It’s part of an “epidemic (流行病) of loneliness” that director Lukas Dhont says he wanted to explore in his new drama “Close”, which is Oscar-nominated (提名) for best foreign language film. It follows two close teen boys.

“Close” begins with Leo and Remi during summer vacation: running, biking and sleeping together in the peaceful Belgian countryside. They think nothing of their close connection — sharing beds at sleepovers or resting their heads on each other’s shoulders — until they return to middle school, where they are teased by their classmates. Consequently, Leo starts avoiding Remi and joins a hockey team. Remi, meanwhile, becomes deeply depressed.

“We live in this society that teaches young men to stop caring for trusty connections and be more distant with emotions,” Dhont says. There are all sorts of social standards that lead men and women in very different directions when it comes to friendship. Part of the problem is that young men are encouraged to build shoulder-to-shoulder friendships in team sports or group activities, rather than one-on-one relationships. Some parents might say if they’re watching their boys play a lot of sports and compete with another guy, that may be more typical. Whereas if they’re seeing them have long, private discussions, that would tend to go against gender (性别) expectations.

Hollywood “bromantic” comedies also tend to make light of male friendship, rather than give it the weight it deserves. But films like “Close” can help show young men positive examples of male friendship. “They need to have role models and actually see men being close with their friends,” Fager, a mental health expert says. If there are no examples around them of male love, and they are just told that close friendship with men is healthy and normal, the message won’t stick and the wound will last.”

【推荐2】There’s nothing more fascinating than an inspiring, unputdownable read. Whether it’s the latest autobiographical hit or gripping cult novel, finding a book you really connect with is always a cherished win.

As we say goodbye to our summer beach reads, we’ve already begun stockpiling a list of winter page-turners. Top of the pile: Fiona McCallum’s new novel, A Life Of Her Own.

Labelled one of Australia’s master storytellers, Fiona McCallum is known for her heart-warming stories of self-discovery and already boasts 10 bestsellers.

Her latest release is set to be no different, telling the uplifting story of overcoming adversity (逆境) and following your dreams.

The tale centres on Alice Hamilton, a recently-graduated mature-age student who is looking to make her next career move. Struggling to navigate her way through the job market, Alice is faced with the dilemma of finding a financially-secure job that she enjoys — a feat that she soon discovers to be difficult — while maintaining a healthy and committed relationship with her partner David.

Faced with the increasing pressure of unemployment, Alice interviews for a role at a major real estate agency in Melbourne and lands the job. Excited about the prospect of the new role, yet filled with anxiety about having to make new friends, Alice’s circumstances unfortunately take a turn for the worst.

Bullied and exploited (压榨) by her boss Carmel on a daily basis, Alice has to find the courage to face her fears, prioritise her wellbeing and stand up for herself. However, the consequences of her actions lead her into further trouble. As Alice’s life continues to spiral, an unexpected trip back to the country town she once fought to escape provides her with a newfound perspective on her career path and relationship.

Returning to Melbourne with clarity and a fresh outlook, Alice decides to take charge of her life. Faced with making tough decisions in order to do so, Alice has two possible outcomes: crumble under the pressure or find the strength to chase her dreams.

【推荐3】The western tanagers (唐纳雀) spend their winters in Central America and can be found in a variety of habitats. In spring, they prepare to migrate (迁移), flying through grasslands, deserts, and occasionally, suburban yards.

To fuel them on their lengthy journey, western tanagers fill up on insects and berries. Like most migrating birds, they eat enormous amounts of food. But as global climate change causes spring to start earlier, they arrive at their destination after what’s known as “green-up”, when flowers begin blooming and insects emerge.

According to a study published in the journal PNAS, this kind of timing mismatch between migrants and their food sources, could have affected migratory birds’ survival. “In discussing climate change, we often focus on warming,” says Scott Loss, a professor and co-author of the study. “But few people have noticed that the length and timing of seasons—like when winter ends and spring begins—are some of the most dramatic effects of climate change.”

The awe-inspiring migration has attracted humans for many years, yet scientists have limited knowledge of how birds manage to fly as far as they do, up to tens of thousands of miles a trip. The migratory cues (提示) that birds rely on are various: temperature, day length, landforms, the stars, as well as the instructions coded in their genes (基因). Some of the environmental cues, such as temperature, are likely affected by climate change. But others, such as day length and stars, are not. “That might be one reason why some migratory birds are more affected by climate change than others,” Loss says.

Worldwide, bird populations are in decline. The number of birds in North America has dropped by roughly 30 percent since 1970. Even species with large population, such as crows, have suffered a population decrease. Scott Loss says that the migration research could information efforts in the future. And he hopes that the information will serve to highlight the urgent need to come up strategies to deal with climate change.