【推荐1】Insect numbers have plunged by half in some parts of the world due to climate change and intensive agriculture, a study has found. The combined pressures of global heating and farming are driving a “substantial decline” of insects across the globe, according to UK researchers. They say we must acknowledge the threats we pose to insects, before some species are lost forever. But preserving habitat for nature could help ensure vital insects thrive.

Lead researcher, Dr Charlie Outhwaite of UCL, said losing insect populations could be harmful not only to the natural environment, but to “human health and food security particularly with losses of pollinators”. “Our findings highlight the urgency of actions to preserve natural habitats, slow the expansion of high-intensity agriculture, and cut emissions to mitigate climate change.” she added.

Plummeting populations of insects around the world have caused widespread concern. However, scientific data gives a mixed picture, with some types of insects showing drastic declines, while others are staying steady, In the latest study, the researchers pulled together data on the range and number of nearly 20,000 insect species, including bees, ants, butterflies, grasshoppers and dragonflies, at about 6,000 different locations. In areas with high-intensity agriculture and substantial warming, insect numbers have plunged by 49% and the number of different species by 27%, compared with relatively untouched places that have so far avoided the most severe impacts of climate change, according to the research, published in Nature.

But the researchers said there was some cause for hope in that setting aside areas of land for nature created a refuge for insects, which need shade to survive in hot weather. “Careful management of agricultural areas, such as preserving natural habitats near farmland, may help to ensure that vital insects can still thrive,” said Dr Tim Newbold, also of UCL.

Study researcher, Peter McCann, added: “We need to acknowledge how important insects are for the environment as a whole, and for human health and wellbeing, in order to address the threats, we pose to them before many species are lost forever.”

【推荐2】This month, Germany’s transport minister, Alexander Dobrindt, proposed the first set of rules for autonomous vehicles (自主驾驶车辆). They would define the driver’s role in such cars and govern how such cars perform in crashes where lives might be lost.

The proposal attempts to deal with what some call the “death valley” of autonomous vehicles: the grey area between semi-autonomous and fully driverless cars that could delay the driverless future.

Dobrindt wants three things: that a car always chooses property (财产) damage over personal injury; that it never distinguishes between humans based on age or race; and that if a human removes his or her hands from the driving wheel — to check email, say — the car’s maker is responsible if there is a crash.

“The change to the road traffic law will permit fully automatic driving,” says Dobrindt. It will put fully driverless cars on an equal legal footing to human drivers, he says.

Who is responsible for the operation of such vehicles is not clear among car makers, consumers and lawyers. “The liability(法律责任) issue is the biggest one of them all,” says Natasha Merat at the University of Leeds, UK.

An assumption behind UK insurance for driverless cars, introduces earlier this year, insists that a human “ be watchful and monitoring the road” at every moment.

But that is not what many people have in mind when thinking of driverless cars. “When you say ‘driverless cars’, people expect driverless cars.”Merat says. “You know — no driver.”

Because of the confusion, Merat thinks some car makers will wait until vehicles can be fully automated without operation.

Driverless cars may end up being a form of public transport rather than vehicles you own, says Ryan Calo at Stanford University, California. That is happening in the UK and Singapore, where government-provided driverless vehicles are being launched.

That would go down poorly in the US, however. “The idea that the government would take over driverless cars and treat them as a public good would get absolutely nowhere here,” says Calo.

【推荐3】In the icy Himalayas, user kebi057 on TikTok, a video sharing platform, shows people around the world about everyday life in Tibet. And people are definitely taking a look. He has over 236,000 followers and nearly 4 million likes for his videos-clips of himself pulling his sled with his dog, preparing food and, in his most popular video, building a "natural refrigerator" out of ice blocks—to the amazement of people in the comments, who were amazed at his ice box.

When lockdown went into effect earlier this year, many people turned to TikTok to pass the time. The short-video platform has now hit over 2. 6 billion downloads globally and was the most downloaded app of 2020, according to mobile app analytics firm App Annie.

The pandemic is part of the reason for surging TikTok popularity. "It's been a bleak year for many people. Much of the content you see on TikTok is fun, upbeat and a welcome break from the day-to-day realities of the COVID crisis," says Damian Radcliffe, a professor at the University of Oregon who researches digital trends.

With TikTok's growing popularity, digital researcher Damian Radcliffe says one of the biggest issues the app is facing globally is the spread of misinformation on its platform. "We've already seen the app like many other platforms—filled with conspiracy（阴谋）theories, misinformation around elections and misinformation related to the COVID vaccine and the wider health crisis," he explains.

In India, TikTok launched a campaign called MatKarForward to tackle the issue of misinformation. The topic, which has received over 3. 7 billion views, encourages users to stop and think before forwarding videos that promote fake news, such as COVID-19 "homemade" remedies and various conspiracies.

On the surface, one would be hard-pressed to find many similarities between German chancellor Angela Merkel, Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf --- except for the fact that they are all female leaders of nations. Merkel, for example, spent more than a decade as a chemist before going into politics, while Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh ’s first president, served as her father’s political assistant while at college, and Johnson Sirleaf worked at multiple financial institution s before running for vice president. Is there something deeper than they share?

The researcher Susan R. Madsen of Utah Valley University interviewed women in some countries about their paths to leadership. She was surprised by the similarities among the women when they spoke about how they became leaders. “Every single one of them talked about finding their voices and their confidence at dinner-table conversations with their families. Their parents talked about politics, about what was happening in the community, and when the women had something to say, their parents didn't stop them,” Madsen said.

As part of a series of interviews on women and leadership, I spoke to three women from different countries who have each become leaders in their respective fields: Agnes lgoye of Uganda, who works with her government to counter human trafficking; Ikram Ben Said, the founder of Tunisian women’s rights organization Aswat Nissa; and Sairee Chahal of India, who started a digital platform that helps women get back into the workforce.

All three of my interviewees pointed to the family environment they had been raised in --- particularly a father figure who taught and empowered the women in the family to learn, ask questions, and form their own opinions. Also, mothers broke convention by displaying leadership within the family.

Igoye, for example, credited her father with having the foresight to send his daughters to school despite opposition from others in their village. Her mother went back to school as an adult to improve her career as a teacher, which lgoye described as being a big influence on her. Similarly Ben Said talked about how her father encouraged political debate among the family when she was growing up, even when her opinions contradicted his. Meanwhile, Chahal said that even in her younger days, her parents went against the general convention of expecting their daughters to aim only for a good husband.

Another conclusion from Madsen's work is that women's leadership development doesn't look like men's. “Men tend to follow a more straight path to becoming a leader. Women's paths are much emergent. They tend to not necessarily look ahead and think, ‘I want to be on top.’ Women would point to a number of experiences--- motherhood, or working with a non-profit, or sitting on a board, as shaping their path to becoming leaders,” she said.

Actually, women leaders tend to be held to higher standards than their male counterparts. lgoye has felt this in Uganda. “Women who take up leadership positions in my country have to be tough, it's not easy at all,” she said. “You are always aware that you are representing all women. You have to work extra hard to deliver, to perform, because if you do something wrong, they will say, ‘Ah, you see, women!’ ”

Therefore, merely having women leaders can change the opportunities available for generations of women in a country. What leadership looks like in their country, how much of a voice the women leaders are having, influences what leadership is and what it means to its women.

What do women leaders have in common?