【推荐1】There are a lot of feral(野生的) camels in Australia. Although they don't appear to be as destructive as other introduced species because they eat trees and plants that our native Australian animals don' t eat, in the last few years the Australian Camel population has been increasing at a fairly alarming rate and becoming a bit of a problem.

We didn’t see them that often where we grew up unless we went further into Queensland or South Australia. When we did see them it was always a bit of a thrill for us kids because it was somewhat of a novelty(新奇的事物).

The suggestion of bringing camels to Australia was first made in 1837, 49 years after Europeans arrived in Australia. The importing of camels into Australia began in the mid 1800s to open up the desert areas of Central and Western Australia. They were handled and cared for by Muslim cameleers that came from countries like Egypt, Turkey and northern India. The cameleers were called Afghans or “Ghans”even though most of them were not Afghans. The name stuck to a part of the railroad track that links Port Augusta in South Australia to Darwin in the Northern Territory.

By the 1920s there were about 20,000 domesticated(家养的) camels in Australia, but with the arrival of motor and rail transport in the 1930s people no longer needed their camels and a lot of them were abandoned in the bush.

Australian Camels are now exported live to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries where disease-free camels are considered a delicacy(佳肴).   Australian Camels are also exported to Arab Camel racing stables as breeding stock. The United States also imports them to use in tourist attractions. There are over 40 farms providing rides in Australia now.

【推荐3】Super typhoon Rammasun swept over Hainan, China, destroying at least 23,000 houses and causing 2 billion dollars in damage. It was not just people who experienced the impact, though. In Hainan Bawangling National Nature Reserve, home to the world’s 30 remaining Hainan gibbons(长臂猿), landslides tore through sections of the forest. The gibbons, a species living in trees, were forced to jump across a distance of up to 50 feet to get from one area to another.     

The gibbons sometimes would break their fall only by managing to catch hold of the tip of a particular palm leaf. As months passed, Bosco Chan at the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden in Hong Kong noticed that constant use caused the leaf to wear and bend downward, threatening to lead to the gibbons crashing down and breaking the extremely rare species’ habitat into different islands. “It’s really a matter of concern. Moreover, I didn’t know how long the leaf would be able to hold the gibbons,” he said. “I thought it was time for us to build something.”

As recently described in Scientific Reports, Bosco Chan and his colleagues turned to aerial(空中的) bridges. They hired professional tree climbers to confront and get over the steep landform to fix a simple bridge, consisting of two parallel mountaineering-grade ropes. It took the gibbons over five months to catch on, but once they learned to use the ropes, they started regularly using them to make safe, quick crossings.

Till now, aerial bridges have been used in other countries to help a diversity of animals ranging from squirrels to capuchin monkeys. But many are small, one-off projects carried out by local organizations or even individuals; with little or no scientific study of what does or does not work. In addition, a solution for one species or habitat may not be applicable to another.

【推荐2】Some educators are trying to engage(吸引) students’ attention with technology, such as educational videos, computer gaming and AI just to name a few. But using these methods in the classroom can be very challenging. Teachers using these tools often struggle to keep students focusing on the materials, competing with the latest social media, and can feel limited by using them to get some knowledge across. Graphic novels(图画小说) offering visual information married with text provide a means to engage students in the classroom.

Educators have used this method in their teaching. For example, instead of filling out problem sheets, students in a math class were asked to read a mystery called Who Killed Professor X? In this story, all of the suspects(嫌疑人)are famous mathematicians. As they tried to figure out the connections between the suspects, students often forgot that they were doing math focusing instead of finding secret details to solve the problem. Although this is just one experience for these students, it improves their confidence and shows them how math can be fun.

Jason Ho, an assistant professor at Dordt University, uses Max the Demon Vs Entropy of Doom to teach his physics students about a topic. This topic can be particularly difficult for some students because they can’t physically touch something. Ho said graphic novels can create an engaging learning environment, and most of his students now understand the subject by getting clear explanations for some ideas.

Although the Internet offers a lot of math and physics resources, it can be tiring to search through many hours of videos to find the perfect one to get the “aha!” moment in learning. Graphic novels provide a staring point with a wide range of topics. Want to learn about programming? Try the Secret Coders series. Need more female role models in science? Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier could be just what you're looking for.

With all that graphic novels offered, we believe that the right set of graphic novels can inspire future scientists as much as any single person can.

【推荐3】Sleep disorders and insufficient sleeping hours have become more distinct in recent years. Previous reports released last month showed that more than 38 percent of adults suffer from insomnia (失眠), with the rate climbing each year.    1    .

A new study surveyed more than 14,000 people across the country on their sleep and exercise habits.     2    While one in five people in the world have signs of a sleep disorder, only one in ten who exercise regularly reports problems of sleeping.

People who own long-sitting lifestyles are more likely to suffer insomnia.     3     A key step toward returning to normal lives should be going outdoors more often and working out more regularly.

    4     Exercising for at least half an hour daily is a factor that can contribute to high-quality sleep at night. The study also found that some exercises such as swimming, boxing and working out more in the morning are some of the key factors that contribute to high-quality sleep at night. People who prefer playing balls and sit-ups report longer periods of slow-wave sleep, or deep sleep.

Long-term sleeping less than seven hours for most adults will increase the risk of sudden death by 26 percent.     5     Therefore, more time spent on sport everyday matters much to your health.

【推荐2】We all love gardens with beautiful flowers and leafy plants, choosing colourful species to plant in and around our homes. Plant scientists, however, may have fallen for the same trick in what they choose to research.

The research, published in Nature Plants, found there’s a clear bias (偏好) among scientists toward visually striking plants. This means they’re more likely chosen for scientific study and conservation efforts, regardless of their ecological or evolutionary significance. White, red and pink flowers were more likely to feature in research literature than those with dull, or green and brown flowers. Plants with tall stems also stood out. Plants with blue flowers — the rarest colour in nature — received most research attention. But interestingly, a plant’s rarity didn’t significantly influence research attention. The team had expected to find more endangered species among those most studied, it did not either.

This bias may direct conservation efforts away from less visually pleasing plants that are more important to the health of the overall ecosystem or in need of urgent conservation. A bias toward colorful plants could mean we may be missing species that could be in rapid decline toward extinction, and we don’t have even basic information on seed banking for conservation. This is not a tragedy, but something to consider when planning future work.

We often don’t know how important a species is until it’s thoroughly researched. In Australia, for example, milkweeds are an important food source for butterflies, while dull-flowered mat rushes are now known to be the home for rare native sun moths. From habitats to food, these plants provide foundational ecological services, yet many milkweed and mat rush species are rare, and largely neglected in conservation research.

The study shows the need to take biases into consideration in science and in the choice of species studied, for the best conservation and ecological outcomes. People should be more alert in all parts of the conservation process, from the science to listing species for protection.