【推荐1】A million species are facing extinction. A million, it is enough to make most scream. Some species are becoming extinct because of poaching (偷猎). Even Namibia, which has a spectacular conservation record, hasn't been safe from that. Since 2015, poaching has caused the loss of 50 black rhinos (犀牛) annually in Namibia.

Globally, there is a $ 23-billion-a-year trade in illegal wildlife products. Driven by a demand in some countries, where the rhino horn (角) is thought to be a cure for some diseases, it sells for up to $ 100,000 per kilo on the black market. This illegal trade is making some people very rich, but it isn't for rural Africans. Here, poor people are convinced to trade the life of a rhino for a few hundred dollars, which may bring the possibility of years in prison. In fact, rhino horn is made mostly of keratin (角蛋白), the same substance as found in our fingernails and hair.

To help slow down this reality, I took a trip to Namibia, determined to make a difference to black rhino conservation. The first stop, Mount Etjo Safari Lodge, was where I heard Nossi's story. Nossi, a black rhino, was born in Etosha National Park, a place where my parents and I spent many holidays when I was young. When Nossi was born, her mother was stressed and pushed her around. By the time the vet (兽医) arrived, Nossi only had a 10% chance of survival. With massive investment of time, energy and care, Nossi survived and, last year, she gave birth to her eighth child. In a population in danger of extinction, this represents an important increase in the world's black rhino population. All of these efforts have paid off and I learned that my support matters. Your support matters too. Because together, we can save the rhino. Together, it is likely that we can change the world.

【推荐2】When it comes to modern communication, security is a big concern. It seems like we’re forever hearing about hackers leaking(泄露) emails, passwords and other important personal information.

But thanks to a breakthrough by Chinese scientists, who won the 2018 Newcomb Cleveland Prize in February, we may soon never have to worry about our data again. This is thanks to the satellite called Micius that uses cutting-edge technology to send and receive information.

Micius is the first satellite of its kind to use quantum key distribution(量子密匙分发), which uses particles (粒子) that transmit(传输) light to transfer information from one point to another. Currently, it can communicate with two base stations(基站), both of which are located high up in the mountains in two different areas of Tibet, around 1,200 kilometers apart. Data is sent between the satellite and one of the base stations in the form of a ray of light. This makes it almost impossible for data sent and received using quantum satellite technology to be stolen, as the connection will be broken if someone tries to hack it.

“Any eavesdropper(偷听者) on the quantum channel attempting to gain information … can be found by the communicating users,” the scientists wrote in the paper.

However, the technology does have a few limitations. For example, the process only works at night, as the information isn’t able to pass through sunlight.

Despite these small issues, the scientific community across the world has reacted positively to China’s achievements in this groundbreaking project.

“This Chinese experiment is a quite remarkable technological achievement,” Artur Ekert, a professor of quantum physics at the University of Oxford, told BBC News.

And Karl Ziemelis, an editor for Nature, told Xinhua, “It’s a testament(见证)to China’s investments and significant efforts in the physical sciences that this group has been able to push research in practical quantum communication technologies to such an astronomical(天文学的)height.”

【推荐3】Music is a part of every culture around the world. In fact, the ability to appreciate music is built into our brains. Music makes us feel good. Many music studies look at the long-term benefits of being a music listener or participating in a music program as a child. But can listening to music help us connect and empathize(产生共鸣) with someone right at the moment? A new study aimed to find it out.

In this study, 60 university students were asked to watch several 15-second videos in which a person recounts an autobiographical(自传体的) experience. In some cases, people in the video talk about a relatively ordinary event, like moving into a new apartment, while other stories contain strong emotional content, like recalling a terrible accident or a loved one’s death.

While the students watched these videos, the researchers randomly played either “emotionally neutral” music or very sad music in the background. After watching each video, the students expressed how much sympathy they had for the person in the video, and how much they wanted to help that person. They were also tested on their social reasoning skills—how well they understood the perspective of the person in the video. All of these could be signs of empathic connection.

Results showed that people watching the sad videos felt more sadness themselves and more sympathy for the other person than those watching the neutral videos—not a big surprise. But these empathic feelings were strengthened by listening to sad music. The music had no effect, however, on whether or not the students could reason out the other person’s experience and understand cognitively what they might be thinking or feeling.

While music is not the only way—other art forms, like fiction and dancing, have also been shown to increase empathy, for example —music could be a powerful tool. “It’d be very interesting to extend our finding further, to see if listening to music in a social context can enhance our real-world ability to empathize with and feel sympathy for others in the long term,” says the lead researcher Brennan McDonald.