【推荐1】If a steaming bowl of soup strikes you as the ultimate in comfort, you've got plenty of company. Soup is one of the world's oldest and most universal foods.

These are CNN's nominations for 4 of the best soups around the world:

Broth is simmered for hours with cinnamon, star anise and other warm spices to create a wonderfully fragrant base for this noodle soup.

Beef pho remains the most beloved version in Vietnam, with options that include the original raw beef, a mix of raw and cooked beef.

Bouillabaisse distills classic Mediterranean flavors into a dish which has the same meaning as the coastal city of Marseille. Saffron, olive oil, fennel, garlic and tomatoes blend with fish fresh from the sea.

Shaping-or pulling-la mian noodles by hand for this traditional soup is an art in itself. Artisans use a finely milled, high-gluten flour and alkaline powder to mix a stretchy dough, then pull and fold a single piece of dough to make enough noodles for a bowl of soup.

Slip them into a bowl of beef soup for a world-class soup that includes tender beef, pale slices of carrots, chili oil and fresh herbs.

Sweet, sour, spicy and salty, this soup's magnificent broth is the ideal foil for sweet, tender shrimp. Fragrant ingredients include galangal, lemongrass and lime leaves, while slivers of bright red bird's eye chilis add additional heat.

Tom yum goong is just one of many varieties of tom yum soup in Thailand - this version comes enriched with fat prawns, and is a favorite with many diners.

【推荐3】Professor Zhang Liangren from the School of History at Nanjing University has found a unique and engaging way to transmit historical and archaeological knowledge to the public—through food vlogs. His approach, combining culinary (食物的) delights with fascinating historical insights, has taken China’s social media by storm, attracting a wide audience and gathering praise for its innovative method of storytelling.

Before digging into food vlogging, Professor Zhang Liangren usually dined at the school cafeteria or restaurants near his community. However, since he started making food vlogs in the summer of 2023, he has been exploring the world extensively, dining at a variety of restaurants that were previously unknown to him. Zhang Liangren frankly admits that he is far from being a qualified “foodie”: He enjoys good food, but has not yet reached the point of searching everywhere for it. What truly led him onto the path of a food vlogger was his passion for archaeology. While watching Zhang taste the food, viewers can listen to him explaining the historical stories behind the dishes. Although the food cannot be immediately tasted, the spiritual nourishment (营养) of archaeology has satisfied the taste buds (味蕾) of netizens, who have expressed their satisfaction.

Speaking of the situation at the beginning of filming, Zhang Liangren frankly admitted, “Because I rarely did these things before, I was quite uncomfortable in front of the camera at first. My Mandarin was not very good either, so my speech and movements were very awkward. But gradually, I got used to it, and overall, it’s much better than before.”

As for which places he prefers to visit for check-ins, Zhang Liangren states that he prefers shops with a certain level of fame, “It must be down-to-earth, the kind of place that caters to the common people.” He mentioned that he usually chooses small stands or shops with a long history and good reputation. Sometimes he also selects based on festivals, tasting the food while narrating the methods of preparation and the cultural significance behind the dishes.

【推荐1】A new unnamed species of crocodile (鳄鱼) indigenous to Australia has been found in the middle of the outback. The species of crocodile presently on extinction, belonging to the Baru crocodile, is new to experts despite the fact that the animal wandered around the Australian continent 25 million years ago.

Adam Yates, senior leader of earth sciences, said that Australia’s suitable instance of the crocodile’s bone was discovered in 2009 at the site of Alcoota Fossil which is eight million years old and is 200 kilometers north-east of Alice Springs, Australia. Dr. Yates revealed that other specimens (样本) had been discovered before. He said, “This specific specimen is one of the last of its kind. It is the nicest and the bone of the Baru crocodile is the most complete among all that have ever been discovered so far.” Thanks to the bone’s condition, Dr. Yates said that it would turn into the name-bearing specimen or what he referred to as “the holotype (正模标本)” of the new species.

Dr. Yates revealed that the modern Australian crocodile is known for being ancient and fixed, but that is not really true. “The current Australian crocodiles are truly new arrivals on the Australian continent. They are part of the genus Crocodylus, which likely has its origins in Africa,” he said. “This species of crocodile immigrated and conquered Australia just a few million years ago. However, Australia’s main native crocodiles, like this one, have totally gone extinct,” he continued.

Dr. Yates also revealed that the size of this Baru crocodile can be compared to a recent saltwater crocodile; however, due to the fact that the bone is strong, it would have had more weight. He said it is likely that it weighed more than a saltwater crocodile of an equal length. So they are looking towards many hundreds of kilos. Studying the details of the bone will bring hints not only to the altering state of Australia’s environment from ancient times till now, but also to how this specific crocodile varies from other species that are known.

He also said they have to get down to the details of its structure and make a demonstration on why the structure of this one is sort of different from all the other species of ancient crocodile from Australia that are known.

Dr. Yates said the size of the bone shows that the animal was very powerful. “Its actually powerfully built heavy, thick, deep jaws, and really large teeth all imply that this was a crocodile that specifically takes megafauna (巨型动物),” he said. He added that modern crocodiles mostly survive on small prey and small fish. This guy didn’t survive on small things. Dr. Yates said modern saltwater crocodiles also had the ability of taking larger animals.

【推荐2】The term “crop circle” or “circles” was created by a researcher, Colin Andrews, to describe the strange circles and complex geometries(复杂的几何图形). He has researched what has shown up in fields of wheat, barley, rye, corn, soy beans and other crops for years.

There are numerous theories(理论)that have been given to explain crop circles of unknown origin(起源). It is notable for most people that when crop circles have been made by human hands, the plants themselves are damaged. But the plants in the stricken area continue to grow and ripen, and none of the stalks are broken nor the seed heads crushed.

Another strange thing about these particular types of crop circles is that the genetic(基因的)structure of the plants themselves has been changed. This does not happen to the crop circles that have proven to be the work of pranksters (玩恶作剧的人).

In 1966, in the small town of Tully Queensland, Australia, one of the most famous accounts of a UFO, as well as the possible link to crop circles, was given. A farmer was working on his farm and said that he saw a saucer-shaped craft (飞行器)fly 30 or 40 feet above a swamp (沼泽地)and then fly away at extremely high speed. The farmer decided to look into the area where he thought the craft had been hovering (盘旋)and he found the plants there intricately woven (杂乱地编织) in a clockwise pattern.

The crop circle phenomenon (现象)became a very hot topic during the late 1980s. No less than 12,000 genuine crop circles have been discovered all cross the world. In countries like the former Soviet Union, the UK, Japan, the U. S. and Canada, this strange phenomenon continues to appear and baffle anyone who observes it because no rational explanation exists. In a wheat field in Monroe County, Tennessee, a pattern ranging about 150 feet in diameter(直径)was discovered on May14, 2007. Captain Bryan Graves of the local sheriff’s department discovered it while flying.

The crop circle phenomenon has never stopped appearing across the world since it was discovered. Could it be that extraterrestrial (来自天外的)beings are trying to communicate with humans? If so, what is the message they are trying to send? The mystery continues.

【推荐3】You may have heard the term self-awareness, but what is it and why does it matter?

Being self-aware can influence how you feel in your job and in your personal life. Daniel Goleman takes that connection much further, saying self-awareness is the key to success. He describes self-awareness as “knowing one’s internal (内在的)states, preference and resources”, and then monitoring that “inner world” information as it comes up. If you can be as aware of your feelings and thoughts, you’ll be better able to deal with new situations. Because you know yourself better, you’ll be more accepting of yourself, your thoughts and your feelings, Goleman says.

But self-awareness doesn’t stop at how you see yourself. It’s also understanding and acknowledging how others see you. Tasha Eurich, an organizational psychologist, explains that self-awareness has two parts — internal and external (外部的). Internal self-awareness means we can clearly see our own values, thoughts, passions and feelings. External self-awareness is clearly seeing how others see us. People who are externally self-aware tend to be better leaders.

So how do you know if you’re self-aware or not? Eurich developed a short online quiz to help. You’re not the only one who has to take it. Someone who knows you well also has to answer questions about you.

In a recent TED Talk, Eurich refers to self-awareness unicorns. This group makes up only a small part of all the people she has studied. These are people who not only believe they are self-aware, but other people who know them would agree. Additionally, these unicorns would say they have improved their self-awareness in their lives and again, those who know them well would agree.

Thankfully, anyone can become more self-aware, as long as they’re willing to devote some time and effort to the cause.

The Blue Eye of the Sahara is a geological formation in the Sahara Desert that resembles an enormous bullseye. The formation stretches across a 40-kilometer-wide region of the desert in the nation of Mauritania.

For centuries, only a few local tribes knew about the formation. It was first photographed in the 1960s by astronauts who used it as a landmark to track the progress of their landing. Later, the Landsat satellite took additional images and provided information about the size, height, and extent of the formation.

Geologists originally believed that Eye of the Sahara was created when an object from outer space crashed into the surface. However, lengthy studies of the rocks inside the structure show that its origins are entirely Earth-based, as the formation contains rocks that are at least 100 million years old; some date back to well before the appearance of life on Earth.

Millions of years ago, volcanic activity from deep beneath Earth’s surface lifted the entire landscape around the Eye. After the volcanism died down, wind and water erosion( 侵蚀) began to eat away at the layers of rock. After years of erosion, the region began to settle down and fall in on itself, creating the roughly circular “eye” feature.

The Eye of the Sahara attracts both tourists and geologists to study the unique geological feature in person. However, because the Eye is located in a remote region of the desert with very little water or rainfall, it is not under much threat from humans.

That leaves the Eye at the mercy of nature. The ongoing effects of erosion threaten the landscape, just as they do other places on the planet. Desert winds may well bring more dunes(沙丘) to the region, particularly as climate change causes increased desertification in the area. It’s quite possible that, in the distant future, the Eye of the Sahara will be buried under sand and dust. Future travelers may find only a windswept desert burying one of the most striking geological features on the planet.

【推荐3】On September 26, 2022, NASA successfully completed its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission by intentionally crashing an unmanned spacecraft into the asteroid(小行星) Dimorphos. The goal was not to destroy the asteroid but to change its orbit. With the successful mission, NASA proved the concept that this technique could keep a potentially dangerous asteroid from crashing into Earth in the future.

Dimorphos is a small asteroid orbiting the larger asteroid Didymos. NASA noted that Dimorphos is not a threat to Earth, but because it passes relatively close to Earth, it was chosen as the target for the test mission.   

Although the intended crash should change the asteroid’s position slightly, it will add to a major shift over time. “If you were going to do this for planetary defense, you would do it 5, 10, 15, or 20 years in advance for this technique to work,” said NASA program executive Andrea Riley. “This is why we test. We want to do it now rather than when there’s an actual need.”

Asteroids can pose a significant threat to planet Earth. For example, around 66 million years ago, an asteroid around 6 to 9 miles across struck the Earth in what is now the Yucatan Peninsula. The resulting impact was so catastrophic(灾难性的) that it caused one of the largest extinction events in Earth’s history. Therefore, DART’s success is an important step forward in protecting the planet from potential damage from an asteroid. This shows humans are no longer powerless to prevent this type of natural disaster.

The DART spacecraft was launched by NASA on November 24, 2021. It was accompanied by another craft called LICIACube, supplied by the Italian Space Agency, and separated from DART just 15 days before the crash. LICIACube remained in orbit around the asteroid and took photographs of the crash and material ejected(弹出) from the asteroid’s surface.