【推荐3】Technology is having an impact on every sport, from individual sports such as swimming to team sports as diverse as soccer and sailing. Those with access to the best technologies are playing faster and smarter.

The main technological change in recent years has been through data collection and analysis. Data is collected by underwater cameras, tidal sensors (传感器), sensors worn by athletes, video analysis, and in many other ways. The data is then fed through computer software and analyzed by team managers, sports scientists, coaches, and players.

It is not only about improving performance, but also reducing injury and illness. Below are just a few examples.

In cycling, bike sensors measure speed, power, and pedal turns, which are then sent to the cyclist’s glasses. Cyclists can see important information without having to look away from the track. If they need to hit a specific time in their training, they can see how they are doing and speed up if required.

A British company, which usually services the aerospace and defence industries, has worked to enable British wheelchair athletes to achieve a 20 percent increase in the ability to gain speed. Not only are they faster, but the positional changes also reduce injury to players’ shoulders and elbows. For other disabled athletes, 3D-printed prosthetic limbs (四肢) are more lightweight, delivering improved power output.

More records are falling in swimming than those in any other sports, and technology is playing a huge role in this. At the University of Sheffield in England, naval research methods are being used in a pool to produce 3D computer simulations of swimmers. Small changes in swimmers’ positioning of their limbs, hands, or how far their head comes out of the water can cause a large impact on speed. These are then analyzed to develop better swimming styles for swimmers.

In boxing, software is available to some teams which provides detailed analysis of their competitors’ fight styles, and thus their threats and opportunities when facing a particular boxer. This helps them work on their strategies.

Some people argue that some of these technological advances go too far. They believe that they are a form of cheating because they give athletes an increased advantage that is better than their natural ability. It is yet up to the governing bodies of different sports to decide how far each technology can go.

【推荐1】When Chris Visions began painting a ground painting in Richmond, he had no idea his street art might help save lives.

Since the painted crosswalk was finished in September, the crossroads has become safer for walkers and motorists. The overall changes were fairly small but still significant in the community, and part of a larger study in various cities that showed far fewer crashes at the art crossroads compared with the prior year.

While the initial purpose of the painting was to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Jackson Ward, it came with an unexpected benefit: The painting has encouraged walkers and motorists to “slow down and take safety into consideration,” said Visions, 37, a local comic book artist.

The painting, which was created with a group of art students from a local arts nonprofit, is one of three new crosswalk art projects in Richmond. The nonprofit base funded 42 street paintings in 41 cities across the country since 2019, with funds of up to $25,000.

As part of the project, Bloomberg Philanthropies collaborated with Sam Schwartz Engineering, a consulting firm, to explore what effect the street art was having on safety. The results of the study showed a drop in the number of traffic accidents in areas with art.

The study examined the crash history at 17 art sites across the country that have a minimum of two years of crash data. It found 83 fewer crashes at the analyzed crossroads — more than a 50 percent decrease compared with data from before the crosswalks were painted.

“Crosswalk art can improve behavior behind the wheel and it can protect the weakest people on the road,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, a principal for Bloomberg Associates and the former officer of the New York City Department of Transportation.

【推荐2】Norwegian author, playwright and poet Jon Fosse has been named the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Swedish Academy said on Thursday it was for his “innovative plays and prose which gives voice to the unsayable”.

This made him the first Nynorsk writer to receive the prize and the fourth Norwegian to win it, following Sigrid Undset, who won it in 1928. Previous winners of the prize — given for a body of works, rather than a single book-have included Toni Morrison, Doris Lessing, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Bob Dylan.

Born in 1959, Fosse grew up in western Norway, on a small farm in Strandebarm. He started writing poems and stories at age 12, and found writing to be a form of escape. Fosse enrolled at the University of Bergen and studied comparative literature during which time he began writing in Nynorsk, a minority language.

In 1983, Fosse published his first novel Red, Black, kicking off a remarkably prolific (高产的) career. He has published 40 plays, as well as novels, poetry, essays, children’s books and works of translation. Although he started as a poet and novelist, Fosse rose to fame as a playwright. He gained international recognition in the late 1990s with a Paris production of his first play Someone Is Going to Come, which was said to be written in four or five days without revision.

Fosse has long been tipped to receive the Nobel. In 2013, British bookmakers even temporarily suspended betting on the award after numerous bets on his winning, although the prize did not come his way for another decade. When it finally did, the call from the Nobel Prize’s organizers came while Fosse was traveling to Frekhaug, a village on Norway’s west coast. He admitted he was overwhelmed and somewhat frightened.

Nobel committee chairman Anders Olsson said, “What is special with him is the closeness in his writing. It touches on the deepest feelings that you have — anxieties, insecurities, questions of life and death — such things that every human being actually encounters from the very beginning. It doesn’t matter if it is drama, poetry or prose — it has the same kind of appeal to this basic humanness.”

【推荐3】After taking part in 53 rescue operations (救援行动), saving a dozen lives and finding over 40 bodies in disaster zones (灾区), Frida, the beautiful and brave 65-pound and 10-year-old yellow Labrador rescue dog has retired from active duty(现役)in the Mexican Navy.

The Mexican Navy celebrated the dog’s contributions (贡献) by honoring her in a ceremony on Monday, as part of the International Rescuers Day. “Her bark (吠声) always gave hope, and in moments of pain and uncertainty she brought comfort,” said Deputy Naval Minister Eduardo Redondo. The postal service honored three search-and-rescue dogs, Frida, Evil and Ecko, in a stamp, showing them wearing protectors.

As a local hero, her professional and tireless work won the love, support and respect of the people of Mexico. Mexico also put her painted picture on a huge advertising board. Frida’s stop board can also be seen on the roads of Mexico. A cartoon book and toy dolls are also designed for her.

The Mexican Navy said in July that Frida was a veteran of more than 9 years of rescue efforts across Mexico, Guatemala, Haiti, and Ecuador Frida helped with rescue efforts after the deadly earthquake in Port-au-Prince in 2010. But it wasn’t until September 2017 that she gained more international attention on social media after the Mexican Navy shared a video of her. Frida went with the first Search and Rescue team to look for the children reported missing in a school in Mexico City during the strong earthquake. The images traveled the world and became a hot topic to the point that famous actor Chris Evans shared the video saying, “What did we do to deserve (应得) dogs?”

Today, her protectors which she had worn to carry out tasks in Mexico and abroad were taken down and sent to EIBorcegu Shoe Museum Collection for exhibition. Her trainer Arauz Salinas awarded her a toy to play with as a new beginning. Frida is expected to move to the countryside and help with the training of the next-generation rescue dogs.

What a good girl!