【推荐1】Digital technology has made life easier for most people. With a smartphone in hand, people can shop online, watch TV shows and arrange a taxi. Zhu Yiwei, 17, from Anhui province, wanted his grandfather to have access to this convenience, so he bought him a new phone as a gift. But his grandfather still uses the phone just for calling and messaging. “He said other functions make him confused,” said Zhu.

This is a common problem faced by the elderly in the digital age. Although China already has more than 900 million Internet users, among them, those aged 60 and above make up just 6.7 percent, according to the Statistical Report on Internet Development.

Even though the elderly have access to the Internet, they mainly do it for communication and information acquisition, according to a survey by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Other services are still strange to them. That’s why elderly people are sometimes called “digital refugees”. For example, since the COVID-19 pandemic, people are often asked to show a green health code on their phone to get into public places. But most elderly people don’t use smartphones. Even if they have one, many don’t know how to operate it, People’s Daily noted.

“We have made a lifelong contribution to society, but now we feel abandoned by it,” a 75-year-old Beijing resident surnamed Bai told the Global Times. For the elderly, one way of mastering digital technology is to learn from younger family members. However, not all of these younger people have the patience or time to teach the elderly. In addition, aging results in many physical problems, such as weak eyesight and bad memory. This makes it harder to use smartphones.

The government and other organizations in China are trying to help. See Young, a Beijing-based NGO, aims to help China’s elderly use mobile services. Student volunteers have been providing free computer and smartphone training for elderly people in over 200 communities across the country.

Zhao Jingchuan, 17, from Xi’an Gaoxin No 1 High School, and his team members also tried to help. This year, their draft proposal was brought to the two sessions. They suggested more ways to help introduce the technology to the older generation, including sending manuals (手册), offering technical support, and cybersecurity education.

【推荐3】Cars could soon be communicating with each other using 5G to make drivers aware of upcoming hazards (危险), scientists claim. The extremely fast mobile internet would allow for rapid information transmission and could make drivers aware of black ice, pot holes or other dangers up ahead.

Several car manufacturers are already integrating 5G into their vehicles, including as a tool to help serve in the generation of sel-driving vehicles.

Experts at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) believe the high-speed connection will also improve the reliability and capability of automated vehicles to the point where they will be safer than the manual cars being driven today. They predict the number of road traffic accidents, which according to the World Health Organization account for more than 1.3 million deaths and up to 50million people injured worldwide every year, will drop drastically (彻底地) as a result.

Dr Dimitrios Liarokapis, a member of the research group, said, “To have a better idea of what the future will look like, think of having such cars that not only use sensors to scan what's around them, they can also talk to each other and exchange safety-related information about their surroundings over an area that covers several square miles. With the help of 5G, a vehicle-generated early warning system that reminds drivers is possible within the next few years. Cars that are close enough to the danger area will transmit warning messages to other cars around them using short-range communication technologies, but also to cars further away using 5G, fast and reliably.”

A few manufacturers are already working on connected cars. Of them, Ford revealed its intention to fit 80 percent of its 2020 vehicles with technology that warns drivers about upcoming road accidents, bad weather and traffic jams.

【推荐3】NASA is making preparation to send a crew to the moon who will explore the lunar surface with the hopes of constructing a stable habitat. Although the American space agency is focused on just sending astronauts, other companies are looking further into the future for when humans will colonize the natural satellite.

Experts at Money, a company for consumer credit products, released the first-ever moon mortgage (按揭) guide that reveals living on the lunar surface would cost $325,067 a month.

“With Earth becoming increasingly populated and space technology advancing, it won’t be long before lunar living becomes the new normal,” reads the study.

The team from Money used various factors to calculate the cost of a house on the moon: raw materials needed to build a house, the special materials needed to build on the moon’s atmosphere, astronauts required to travel to build, and the average cost of transporting materials to the moon.

According to the moon mortgage guide, the first fully functioning house on the moon would be $48,454,063, which is a high price for a home. The price includes adding life-saving details to homes such as air seals, industrial-strength air-con and heaters, meter (流星)-proof windows, insulation (绝缘) and organic sources of energy.

The idea of living on the moon may sound like an exciting life, but those brave enough to take the leap have to consider the “lunar lifestyle” that comes with it.

“Generating energy is vital when living in such extreme conditions, and therefore the cost of some suppliers may force you to consider some alternative options. The most efficient way to generate. electricity on the moon is to buy a small nuclear reactor costing $1.3 billion,” Money shares in the study. “Alternatively, 34 solar panels would generate enough electricity to run one house and cost only $23,616 in comparison.”

The guide also reveals the most ideal locations on the moon, with “Sea of Rains” being deemed “the perfect family suburb”—this region sits at the north and is one of the largest impact craters (陨石撞击坑) in the Solar System.