【推荐3】Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) have grown wood-like structures from cells taken from the leaves of a flowering plant.

The results were recently reported in a study. Velasquez-Garcia, the lead researcher, said the process is still in the early stage. But if it can be perfected, it could simplify and speed up the production of wood products. “The way we get these materials hasn't changed in centuries and is very inefficient,” Velasquez-Garcia said.

For example, the current process of making a wooden table can take many years. First, a tree has to grow. Then, it must be cut down, transported, processed, etc. Velasquez-Garcia says lab-grown wood could combine all those steps into one. “you want a table, then you should just grow a table.” he said.

The process is similar in some ways to lab-produced meat, which is grown from live animal cells. But in the wood experiment, the MIT team collected live cells from the leaves of a zinnia plant.

The plant cells were then kept in an environment designed to support growth. Plant cells can become anything if they are induced to.

The experiment was carried out indoors, without soil or sunlight. During the process, the researchers used a mixture of two plant hormones that helped the cells grow a thick, strong wood-like structure. With further study, the researchers say they could use the same process to grow wood in specific shapes, such as a table.

Such a lab-based farming method “promises to improve yields while reducing plant waste and competition for arable land,” the research study states.

David Stern is a plant biologist, who was not involved in the study. He said one big question is whether the technology can remain economically competitive since the method would require major financial and intellectual investments. And he said new issues would arise when parts of forestry and agriculture were brought into the lab. “Agriculture uses the sun's energy through photosynthesis, and…natural rainfall. It does not require buildings, heat, or artificial light,” Stern said.

【推荐1】Recently, there have been huge advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs that create art. The programs, which create artworks based on short descriptions, have amazed many people. They have also raised difficult questions.

In April, NewsForKids.net reported on Dall-E 2, a tool from OpenAI. Dall-E 2 uses AI to create incredible paintings, photos, and other artworks in many different styles based on simple descriptions. Since then, OpenAI has changed its rules to allow anyone to sign up and use the tool. But it’s still putting strong controls on the art that can be created.

But now there are several other AI tools that work in similar ways. These new tools are free or cheap, and don’t have some of Dall-E 2’s limits. Midjourney is a website that allows users to create images from short descriptions. Stable Diffusion is similar, but users can also run the program on their own computers.

The new tools are entertaining and powerful. They allow people to quickly see almost any idea they can imagine, even if they aren’t artists. For some creative workers, like those at companies that create ads or images, the tools allow them to quickly explore new ideas.

Many artists are upset that they’re now competing against computers for attention, prizes—and jobs. It’s hard for a single artist to compete against all the art and photography that have ever appeared on the Internet. In August, Jason Allen won first place at the Colorado State Fair with his picture Théâtre D’opéra Spatial, which he created with Midjourney. That upset many people.

The images and the descriptions used to train these AI programs were taken from the Internet. The training images were used without permission, which has raised questions about whether what these tools are doing is fair or legal.

The creators of the training pictures haven’t given permission for their images to be used, but their skills and talents are a huge part of what makes the new tools so successful. Some artists’ groups say artists should get to decide if their work can be used by these tools.

【推荐3】Hollywood is getting more confident in the recovery of the US film market after Warner Bros’ monster mash Godzilla vs. Kong scored huge box office returns in early April. Meanwhile, Hollywood is also eyeing the Chinese market, with offerings including Universal’s action film Fast and Furious 9. However, they should realize that after the deadly pandemic, Chinese audiences have more interest in movies that tell a good Chinese story.

James Cameron’s documentary The Six and Marvel’s superhero film Black Widow are scheduled to be released on April 16 and July 9 respectively, and DC comics has produced a new superhero, Monkey Prince, based on the Chinese legendary Money King. Obviously, Hollywood is hoping to earn big in the world’s largest film market.

But looking back to the Hollywood blockbusters in 2020, their box office performance in China was a big disappointment. According to China’s ticketing platform Maoyan, Disney’s Mulan, DC’s Wonder Woman 1984 and Warner Bros’ Tenet earned 278 million yuan ($42 million), 167 million yuan and 456 million yuan, respectively.

Meanwhile, homegrown Chinese films are getting more popular, which can be seen from the box office during China’s Lunar New Year holiday in 2021 and the Qingming Festival. Chinese feature film Sister, which deals with sister-brother relationships, quickly defeated Godzilla vs. Kong during China’s Qingming Festival holiday.

Many observers said that Chinese audiences want to watch films that tell a good Chinese story, and the tear-jerking comedy Hi, Mom is a perfect example. The film tells a warm story of a mother-daughter relationship and has grossed 5.397 million yuan as of Thursday, according to Maoyan.

Maybe it is because of the COVID-19 epidemic that Chinese people are turning their eyes more toward their own stories. If Hollywood still cannot really understand and respect Chinese culture and just randomly mixes some Chinese elements into their films, it will lose a large amount of its fans in China.