【推荐1】Birds are becoming popular as pets, but unlike owners with more common pets, owners of birds are often not familiar with the behavioural patterns (行为模式) of the animal which allow them to recognise what the pet needs and wants. For example, most of us can recognise the behaviour a dog exhibits when he is hungry or wants attention, but how many of us know how birds go about showing the same feelings?

By learning about the behavioural patterns of the bird, his owner can forge a stronger relationship with the pet. Owners can learn how to read birds’ body language, including movements of the eyes, wings, tail and beak (喙). In addition, the sounds the bird makes can also show the mood, desires, and requirements of the pet.

A bird’s eyes are different from a human’s. While both birds and humans have pupils (瞳孔) and irises (虹膜), birds have the ability to control the size of their pupils by enlarging and reducing their irises quickly. This behaviour, flashing, is something birds may do when they are angry, interested, or frightened.

A bird also communicates through the use of his wings. A bird may lift or open his wings as a sign of happiness. But if the bird starts opening and closing his wings, it may signal anger or pain. If a bird fails to fold his wings against his body, and instead lets them hang by his sides, the bird may be ill. Healthy adult birds will typically tuck (折起) their wings against their bodies when they are at rest.

Birds often use their tail feathers to communicate, so an understanding of this behaviour will help the pet’s owner. A bird may move his tail from side to side, called wagging, to express happiness (similar to dogs in behaviour and meaning). Happiness is also the emotion expressed by other kinds of tail movements, such as moving up and down. However, if a bird fans his tail feathers out, it is usually a way to show anger or aggression.

【推荐3】A new international organization, ReShark, including partners from 15 countries and 44 aquariums, is challenging the shark statistics. According to National Geographic, ReShark’s goal is to release 500 endangered zebra sharks in Indonesian waters to increase a wild population that is on the edge of extinction. This is the first-ever attempt to reintroduce captive sharks into the wild.

Marine reintroductions present significant challenges due to the complexity and shortage of ocean life, as well as the difficulty in managing threats, according to National Geographic. Team ReShark understands that the reintroduction may go up in smoke. Unlike land animals that have been successfully reintroduced in the past, such as giant pandas in China, young sharks are more likely to suffer from diseases and be killed by other animals, and they struggle to find food on their own.

Sharks have a remarkable history as one of the oldest vertebrate species, surviving five mass extinctions over a period of 420 million years. They play an important role in marine ecosystems by influencing the ocean’s food chains. However, they are now facing the second-highest rate of disappearance. Research shows that more than 37 percent of the shark species are at risk of extinction due to overfishing, both legal and illegal. Sharks are hunted for their meat. Nearly 100 million sharks are killed by human hands each year, according to the organization Sentient Media.

Despite the alarming decline in shark populations globally, top shark scientists are hopeful that ReShark’s efforts will succeed. Given these challenges, Simon Fraser University ecologist Dulvy initially had some doubts about ReShark’s plans. However, after asking some questions, he was surprised by what the initiative could produce. “This initiative is different,” Dulvy explained. Similarly, Rima Jabado, Dulvy’s successor, recognized ReShark as a unique project that could provide a lifeline for endangered shark species. “It may provide an opportunity for species not to go extinct,” she said.

【推荐1】Sweden and its Nordic neighbors have some of the highest literacy rates (识字率) in the world. The Swedes view equal access to knowledge as important to an individual’s future success. This is true regardless of economic background and, clearly, geographic location.

Sweden has a floating library — the bokbaten — that brings thousands of books to people on dozens of remote islands in the Stockholm archipelago twice a year. Every spring and fall since 1953, the Stockholm Library Service rents a boat for a week, loads it with books, and charts a course for about 23 inhabited (有人居住的) islands.

When the boat pulls in, people climb aboard to return books they borrowed during the last visit and check out the library’s newest offerings. The boat carries about 3,000 books, and people can put in requests ahead of time. The three or four volunteer librarians who take turns working on the ship say that, as you might expect, the latest best-sellers are in high demand. There are picture books for children, popular thrillers, texts about history and science, cookbooks, and audiobooks, etc.

In addition to a library boat, Sweden also has library buses that bring books to people in rural communities. They also develop temporary (临时的) libraries in places such as stores and social gathering spots. The boat starts as a service for fishermen and island workers but expands to serve people who prefer to read hard copies of books over e-books or audiobooks. Since island people can order copies in advance, boxes of books are piled up in the boat waiting to be delivered.

The book boat is of great positive value for children and adults because they can in this way take part in the modern public library. The book boat has an important function as good public relations for the library^’s services and has the effect of promoting reading not only in the archipelago but elsewhere.

Even in a nation of book lovers, the future of the floating library remains uncertain. If the Regional Library cuts funding for the boat, the bokbaten will be no more.

【推荐2】Imagine a world where nothing ends up in landfill. Instead, everything can be reused and recycled, creating products that never reach their “end of life”. According to a recent report by the Circle Economy Foundation, only 7.2% of all used materials are being cycled back to be reused and recycled without creating waste.

An Italian company aims to change this by creating furniture products made from a plastic-like biomaterial, which is fully organic and biodegradable (可生物降解的), and can be used over and over again. Using fruit peel, orange seeds and coffee grounds collected from businesses in Italy, the company can redistribute products to the same businesses for use in their offices, instead of furniture made from common plastic. If, by mistake, any of the material ends up in the ocean, it doesn’t produce any microplastics.

Each product is made through a four-step process. First, the food waste is dried and crushed into a very fine powder. Then, the powder is mixed with a biodegradable plastic alternative known as polyhydroxybutyrat (PHB), with the fruit waste making the PHB more study (坚固的). The material is then turned into a filament (细丝) and, using a spool, put into a 3D printer.

Because a lot of food waste would be buried and incinerated in the landfill, which would produce lots of carbon dioxide, Reusing fruit peel and coffee grounds decrease carbon dioxide from the production of plastic, according to the director of operations in the company. He adds that the biomaterial is as sturdy as wood, and won’t begin to break down unless it’s touched by water, bacteria or acidity.

Despite its eco-friendly benefits, the biomaterial is expensive. It costs probably six times more than common plastic, and it is a very difficult and expensive process, so this is why many companies aren’t doing it.

However, the director is hopeful that in a few years, as-more consumers and businesses are forced to face the damage that unsustainable plastic is doing to the planet, the biomaterial will be much more widely used. “We really believe this is the material of the future,” says the director. “Little by little, a step at a time.”

【推荐3】It's been discovered that the world's rarest seal (稀有海豹) uses hidden caves on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus to breed (繁殖) out of sight from humans. Scientists say the caves should now be protected to help the rare Mediterranean monk seals.

Researchers from the University of Exeter and the society for the Protection of Turtles (SPOT), set up cameras in eight caves in northern Cyprus to monitor the monk seal population.

The cameras are started by movement, so they start recording when something passes by. Between 2016 and 2019, the researchers found that three of the caves were used for breeding. One monk seal raised babies three years in a row in the same cave.

There are only around 700 Mediterranean monk seals left in the wild and the species is listed as endangered. In the past, they used beaches along the north coast of Cyprus to breed but human activities such as tourism have gradually forced them to move elsewhere. In 2007, asurvey identified 39 possible breeding caves. It was only in 2013, however, that a young seal was spotted in the area around the caves. This confirmation (证实) that seals were breeding in the area inspired the team to set up their special cameras in 2016. Knowing about these breeding caves will help experts to track the seal population more accurately.

The researchers now want to give the seals in the area better protection. They're hoping to make arrangements with local fishermen who set their fishing nets near the caves, which not only takes food from the seals but also risks catching the animals by mistake. The scientists would also like to protect the caves themselves from any nearby building developments. “The main breeding site we identify in this study currently has no protected status, and we are working with local authorities to try to change this,” said Dr. Robin Snape of the University of Exeter.