【推荐1】San-Francisco based OpenAI made its big drop during the Spring Festival holidays. The up-to-one-minute-long realistic videos created by the text-to-video AI generator Sora are so remarkable that they resulted in people imaging the limitless possibilities of this generator could have. Sora is probably able to reshape the entire movie industry.

According to OpenAI’s explainer, Sora is capable of generating complex scenes with accurate details, including multiple characters, specific types of movements, themes, and backgrounds. It understands not only what the user requests, but also how these things exist in the physical world.

Industry observers have noted that the emergence of the video-generation model was highly anticipated. However, there have been comments expressing surprise at the speed of its development, with some individuals excitedly declaring “the arrival of a new industrial revolution.” On the other hand, there are concerns that this advancement may lead to “the disappearance of reality” as we know it, and that it could potentially cause a battle against the dominance of Hollywood in the movie industry.

“When I see Sora, the first word that comes to my mind is ‘shock,’ like the majority in the film industry. As film producers, we understand the potential impact of AI on the various aspects of film production, some positions such as those relating to movie preview would be impacted,” Ma Heliang, a film producer said.

“But the current technology is still far from reaching the levels required for making theatrical films, or to hollow out the entire movie industry. Over the past 100 years, movies have established an emotional connection and a shared social space with the audience. It involves socializing and sharing aesthetics, making it a complex entity. It is not possible to replace this experience with a simple video clip generated by AI,” Ma noted.

But the strong capability of Sora tells us that the direction of relying on AI to assist in human creativity is becoming increasingly clear. It allows creators to be less restricted by industrial processes and enables them to express what they want more freely using AI tools.

【推荐2】Sancho Pancho owner Daria has turned her apartment into a small family business operation that makes unprocessed food waste from restaurants and markets into delicious and nutritional dog treats. When she started 2 years ago in 2020, it was the first of its kind in Portugal.

She was making dog biscuits out of leftovers and sold them in Santos Collective, a weekly farmer’s market in central Lisbon. At the same time, restaurant owner and friend Édson had opened a restaurant and was challenged with using up the fish he bought. This sparked (引发) the idea of using fish wastes for making dog treats and started a new business to deal with food waste.

On average 30% to 40% of the fish that Édson buys for his restaurant cannot be used. However, they are perfect for animals. Using cooking equipment, Daria can make fish parts into mouth-watering dog snacks. “From collected materials we are making dog biscuits, dried meat, skin fish chews and even fish oil,” states Daria. “All the products are 100% natural and made by hand. From being just a hobby ‘Sancho Pancho Shop’ has become a functioning business.”

Daria collects around 20kg of fish waste every week from Peixaria Veloso and around 50kg every month from Talho Naco and Intercoelho. These businesses are thrilled (激动) as Daria can take the waste off their hands.

Sancho Pancho’s influence doesn’t just stop at their food waste collection. Customers have also been inspired to do their bit by collecting leftovers from local markets to make food for their pets. Everyone can play a role in creating a future that tends to reuse and repurpose precious resources, rather than wasting them.

Sancho Pancho has caught the attention of French supermarket chain Auchan. They have asked Sancho Pancho if their food waste can be processed to be dog treats for their stores.

【推荐2】My son, Ben, died when he was 23. The year after his death, I hiked 48 of the state’s tallest mountains in his memory. Every step, path and peak has been a way to restore.

About a month after his death, my husband and I hiked Carter Dome and Mount Hight, sorrow weighing heavy in our hearts and legs. Standing on the peak, I looked out across the mountains my son loved. For a moment, the heavy blow brought about by Ben’s death faded into the timeless expanse, and I could breathe.

The next weekend found us on Mount Moosilauke. Then Mount Cannon, Mount Flume, Mount Liberty and so on. It was a series of firsts, of struggles and overcoming them — climbing at night, climbing slides and rocks, camping alone, finding paths and planning routes.

Six days before the anniversary of Ben’s death, I hiked my 48^th and final peak: Mount Carrigain. As I stood on the observation platform at the peak, I found the essential truth I had been grasping to express for months: The only place that feels vast enough to hold sorrow this deep and wide is the top of a mountain, looking out into forever.

These days, I hike not to hide, but to seek. I find Ben, but I also find myself: someone broken, now braver and more capable. The forced isolation of sorrow becomes the welcome loneliness of the path; the peace of nature replaces the pain of loss. Hiking is both exhausting and exciting, and it teaches us that sorrow and joy can coexist.

But there’s another, possibly more important truth: A hike is not the only way to find the peace of the natural world; a simple walk along a park path can have a similar effect. The internal journey of sorrow mixes with our steps, and we find comfort along the way.