【推荐1】Record fires sweeping across the Amazon this month have been catching global headlines as scientists and environmental groups are worried that they will worsen climate change and threaten biodiversity(生物多样性).

As the largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon is often called “the lungs of the world”. It is also home to about 3 million pieces of plants and animals, and one million local people. The vast lands of rainforest play an important role in the world’s ecosystem because they take in heat instead of it being reflected back into the atmosphere. They also store carbon dioxide(二氧化碳) and produce oxygen, making sure that less carbon is given off, mitigating the effects of climate change.

“Any forest destroyed is a threat to biodiversity and the people who use that biodiversity,” Thomsa Lovejoy, an ecologist at George Mason University told National Geographic. “The shocking threat is that a lot of carbon goes into the atmosphere,” he stressed. “Facing the global climate change, we cannot afford more damage to a major source of oxygen and biodiversity. The Amazon must be protected.” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.

Data from the National Institute for Space Research(INPE) Show that the number of forest fires in Brazil quickly increased by 82% from January to August this year from a year ago. A total of 71,497 forest fires were recorded in the country in the first eight months of 2019, up from 39,194 in the same period in 2018, INPE said. “It’s reported that the forest areas in the Brazilian Amazon have decreased something between 20 and 30% compared to the last 12 months,” Carlos Nobre, a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo, told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

Brazil owns about 60% of the Amazon rainforest, whose drop could have severe results for global climate and rainfall. The size of the area burned by fires has yet to be determined, but the emergency has transcended Brazil’s borders, reaching Peruvian, Paraguayan and Bolivian areas.

【推荐2】The 5-year-old mountain lion, P-45, has managed to cross busy roads safely, has avoided rat poison and has successfully claimed his territory (领地) under all challenges that have hindered other members of the mountain lion population in the Santa Monica Mountain. His deadly mistake, however, was doing what mountain lions naturally do so well: killing and eating.

Over the weekend, P-45 apparently broke into two farms, killing 10 alpacas(羊驼) at one property and a goat and an alpaca at the other. P-45 was identified as the criminal by a tracking device he wears.

It’s illegal to hunt mountain lions in California thanks to 1990’s Proposition 117, but the rule included an exception for residents whose livestock is killed by a lion. And on Nov. 28, the owner of the 10 dead alpacas requested and received a special “depredation permit” (掠夺许可)to hire a hunter to kill P-45. The 10-day permit allows the hunter to cover a 10-mile range around the farm in search of the lion. Hunters often attract the lion with a deer.

The farmer owner is within her legal rights to have the lion killed. But killing P-45 is not the answer, especially when he is one of the few adult male mountain lions in an isolated population that is at risk of extinction.

Of course, people should be allowed to protect themselves and their children if a mountain lion attacks. But the law that allows the issuance of the depredation permit essentially gives the livestock owner the right to decide whether the lion should live or die. There is no evaluation by wildlife official as to whether the lion poses a further threat to humans or animals.

Los Angeles residents are lucky to live near wild, open spaces large enough to sustain mountain lions. Surely there is a better way to manage the conflicts that arise when humans and their domestic animals move into areas that have long served as habitat for wildlife.

【推荐3】It keeps what’s inside a mystery until you open it. There are usually toys in mystery boxes; but now, food has been added to the list.

Recently, the trend of “leftover mystery boxes” has become popular in many Chinese cities such as Beijing, Nanjing and Chengdu. Stores pack boxes full of unsold food or food nearing its expiration date at low prices.

“We make the leftover mystery boxes available to buy at the end of the day,” Wu Tian, a staff member at a convenience chain store in Beijing, told China Daily. The food, such as milk, bread and sandwiches, is sold at about half the original price and is usually sold out quickly. Many bakeries have also joined the “mystery box club”.

Due to their low price, leftover mystery boxes “are very promising as a new business mode” and can attract more consumers, Hong Yong, an expert at the Ministry of Commerce, told China Daily. “In addition, they follow the concept of zero-waste and environmental protection.”

In 2021, the total amount of food waste in China reached 160 million tons, with an average of 93 grams per meal per person, China Food Newspaper reported. Since the passage of China’s Anti-Food Waste Law in April 2021, people’s awareness of food waste reduction has increased. Leftover mystery boxes can be an effective way for people to deal with food waste.

However, some people have raised food security concerns. If consumers buy a food mystery box for their breakfast the next morning, even if the food looks fine at the moment, it may have gone bad overnight. Moreover, food made in the store, such as bread, isn’t labeled with the production date in many cases, according to China Consumer News. If a consumer unpacks a mystery box and discovers that the food tastes bad or has already passed the last date, then it will be difficult for them to protect their rights, such as getting money back.

Only by considering both food safety and consumer rights can mystery blind boxes achieve a win-win situation for both buyers and sellers, commented China Youth Daily.

【推荐2】The Olympic flame:

The Olympic flame is a symbol carried over from the ancient Olympics, where a flame burned at the altar (神坛) of Zeus throughout competition. It was finally reintroduced at the 1924 Amsterdam Games, and again burned in 1932.

Carl Diem, chairman of the organizing committee for the 1936 Berlin Games, proposed that the flame be lit in Greece and transported to Berlin via a torch relay. The idea was adopted, and continued at every Olympic Games since 1952.

The flame is lit at the ancient site of Olympia by the natural rays of the sun reflected off a curved mirror. It is lit at a ceremony by women dressed in robes resembling those worn in ancient times, who then pass it to the first relay runner.

Olympic motto:

“Citius, altius, fortius” is a Latin phrase meaning “swifter, higher, stronger”, which Baron de Coubertin borrowed from Father Henri Martin Dideon of Paris. Dideon was headmaster of Arcueil College, and used the phrase to describe the athletic achievements of students at the school. He had previously been at the Albert Le Grand school, where the Latin words were carved in stone above the main entrance.

Olympic oath (宣誓)

“In the name of all competitors, I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules that govern them, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honour of our teams.”

Written by Baron de Coubertin, the oath is taken by an athlete from the host nation while holding a comer of the Olympic flag. The athletes’ oath was first taken by Belgian fencer Victor Boin at the 1920 Antwerp Games. A judge from the host country also speaks the oath, with slightly different wording.

【推荐3】Scientists have invented a new way to make electricity. Their method uses supertiny holes to make electricity from moisture (水分) in the air. Water droplets in the air carry an electric charge. In clouds, these water droplets build up large charges, which we later see as lightning. One of the researchers, Yao Jun, described the new invention as a “small-scale, man-made cloud”. Since the new device generates electricity from the air, scientists call it “Air-gen”.

The new device is very small and very simple. In it, water molecules from the air move through tiny holes from the upper part of a material down into the lower part of the material. The holes are the key. The material has lots of extremely tiny holes called “nanopores (纳米孔)”. As the water molecules work their way through the nanopores, they disrupt the electrical balance between the upper and lower parts of the material, leaving the upper part with a greater charge. This “imbalance” between the two parts is what creates electricity.

Currently, the device only makes a small amount of electricity. But in lab tests, the Air-gen produced electricity all day and all night for a week, powered by nothing but the air.

Scientists have tried to make electricity from humidity before, but those methods didn’t work for long or were too expensive to make. In 2020, Dr. Yao and his team found a way of getting electricity from humidity using special “nanowires” made from bacteria. In time, that research led the scientists to the key invention of the Air-gen. The researchers are hopeful the Air-gen will become an important green energy source.

Many scientists are impressed with the ideas behind the Air-gen. But some scientists have suggested that it might be tough for the Air-gen to create enough electricity to really make a difference, especially compared with solar energy. But Dr. Yao and his team are to work on ways to make Air-gen technology more powerful. Dr. Yao says, “What I imagine is that sometime in the future, we can get clean electricity wherever we go.”