【推荐2】Over the past 10 years, developments in technology have moved the dream of personal fling vehicles closer to reality. The British company Malloy Aeronautics has developed a model of its flying bicycle. The company says its Hoverbike will be a truly personal flying vehicle.

The company’s marketing sales director Grant Stapleton says the Hoverbike is able to get in and out of small spaces very quickly and can be moved across continents very quickly because it can be folded and packed.

Safety was the company’s main concern when developing the Hoverbike. The designers solved this problem by using overlapping rotors(重叠旋翼) to power the vehicle. With adducted rotors(内转旋翼) the rider immediately not only protects people and belongings if he were to hit them, but if the rider ever were to crash into somebody or something, it’s going to bring the flying vehicle out of the air. The company is testing two models of the Hoverbike.

In New Zealand, the Martin Aircraft Company is also testing a full-size model of its personal flying device, called Jetpack. It can fly for more than 30 minutes, up to 1,000 meters high and reach a speed of 74 kilometers per hour.

Peter Coker, one officer from the company said Jetpack “is built around safety from the start.” In his words, “Reliability(可靠性) is the most important part of it. We have safety built into the actual structure itself, very similar to a Formula One racing car.”

Jetpack uses a petrol-powered engine. It also has a parachute(降落伞) that can be used if there should be an emergency(突发事件). It opens at very low altitude(纬度) and actually saves both the flying vehicle and the pilot in an emergency.

Mr. Coker says Jetpack will be ready for sale to the public by the end of 2019. He adds it’ll have a price of about $200,000.

【推荐3】Can you imagine having flexible computer screens and mobile phones which change shape to tell you when you have a new message? It sounds like a crazy idea, but in fact it’s already been invented!

A model called MorePhone has been created by scientists at the Human Media Lab in Canada. It’s based on flexible plastic technology developed in Cambridge in the UK by an organization called Plastic Logic.

The flexible screens can be any size, and are easy to read in direct sunlight. They can be black and white or colorful and are very thin and light. Rachel Lichten, who works at Plastic Logic, says you can even jump on them. Besides, it wastes very little electric energy, so there is no need for large batteries, and this makes them easier to carry around. Lichten says this technology could be used for heart monitoring, smart-watches, second screens for mobile phones, but there are many tests to be done before it is used for medical devices planted in human body.

Plastic Logic has spent 13 years developing this new technology. Their challenge now is to think of new ways to use it. Lichten, says it is always the same with new technologies. She says “bringing new technology to the market is a challenge, especially because it is revolutionary. However, for the next generation of products, you have to know what the next generation of products will be. Working with mobile phones or laptops that can roll up like a piece of paper could turn hardware into flexible one.”

【推荐2】In the near future, daily newspapers and monthly magazines will probably disappear. Electronic media can provide the same information faster and cheaper. The Internet, together with laptops and mobile phones, makes it possible that almost everyone can at any time and in almost any place get some news for free or for few fees.

You’ll browse the computer newspapers or magazines just like turning on TV. An electronic voice will tell you stories about the latest events. You’ll even get to choose the kind of voice you want to hear. Want more information on the brief story? A simple touch makes the whole text appear.

There are the predictions from the experts working on the newspapers of the future. Imagined as part of home media and entertainment systems, computer newspapers and magazines would unite printed and broadcast news, offering information and analyzing video images of news events.

The continuing loss of readers will lead to a small number of advertisements in newspapers. It makes no sense to spend millions of dollars to print ads.

With the development of technology, more and more electronic media have been created until now, but replacing the traditional newspapers and magazines has a long way to go, because the resistance to computer newspapers and magazines from journalism may be much stronger. Since it is such a cultural change, it may be not until the present journalists, who aren’t used to it, die off that the newspaper industry is not considered as an industry any longer. Anyway, technology is making the traditional newspapers and magazines disappear gradually.

【推荐3】Plastic waste is choking our planet. People are trying to help fix it by recycling, but their efforts aren’t going far enough. Even when plastic producers are held responsible and attempt to solve the problem, it doesn’t always go smoothly. Such has been the case for the company Torus Pak, which produces novel packaging for frozen meals on a large scale.

Like many other black plastic products, the Torus Pak packages used a carbon-based pigment (颜料). This pigment troubles the sorting technology which is used by many recycling facilities, so black plastic usually ends up being thrown away because the machines can’t identify it. Now the company is midway through the complex process of phasing out that pigment and switching that pigment to one that doesn’t use carbon.

But that doesn’t mean the problem is solved, for the recycling rate at the waste facility itself is not encouraging. Your discarded plastic may end up in a landfill even if you send it to be recycled. Worldwide, only about nine percent of all the plastic waste has been recycled, which amounts to less than 600 million tons out of over 6 billion. While one might assume the proportion of plastic being recycled is on the increase due to improved tech and increased public awareness of environmental protection, it’s actually become even lower in many places in recent years.

“The world wasn’t always flooded with single-use plastic products,” said Lisa Ramsden, senior plastic campaigner for Greenpeace USA. “We know how to live without them. We’ve just got used to a convenience culture that relies so heavily on them.”

The solution is obvious. To get out of this habit, we should stop using so much plastic, starting with many of the items we use just once for a few minutes. Companies need to shift toward using more refillable and reusable containers, and packaging made from materials that are less harmful to the environment. Governments must mandate (强制执行) such changes — a goal we’re now finally inching closer to every day.

【推荐2】Dwayne Johnson was born Dwayne Douglas Johnson on May 2, 1972, in Hayward, California, United States. His father, Rocky Johnson, was a professional wrestler while his mother, Ata Maivia, was the daughter of a wrestler. His father is of Black Nova Scotian origin, while his mother is of Samoan heritage, which explains his exotic (异国的) looks. Dwayne Johnson, previously employed as a professional wrestler, is an actor known for his appearance in the fantasy adventure film, ‘The Mummy Returns’. A highly successful professional wrestler before making his first attempt into films, Johnson is also famous for his ring name, ‘The Rock’.

Born into a family of wrestlers, it comes as no surprise that he too made a name for himself in the sport. Athletic and fond of sports from a young age, he used to join in many sporting activities as a school student. He played football for his high school and was also a member of the school’s track and field and wrestling teams. He was a promising footballer and received a full scholarship from the University of Miami to play defensive tackle (后卫). He was hopeful of making it big as a professional footballer when an injury put a full-stop to his football ambitions. Though disappointed, he did not let this incident demotivate him and instead decided to become a wrestler. His father, a professional wrestler himself, began training the young man. Eventually Johnson made his WWF debut (首秀) and established himself as a successful wrestler.

Due to his popularity coupled with his attractively strong looks he started receiving offers from Hollywood studios and he began his acting career with the movie, ‘The Mummy Returns’.

【推荐3】Margaret Ann Bulkley was born around 1789, in Ireland. She had big dreams. “I want to be a doctor!” But two hundred years ago a girl couldn’t become a doctor. Her uncle, James Barry, was a great painter. And his friend General Miranda had a library with more than 6,000 books. Margaret loved reading there. Her intelligence impressed him. Years later, her uncle James Barry died, leaving her some money. It was enough to study to be a doctor. “But a girl can’t become a doctor,” said Margaret sadly.

“Yes, you can!” said General Miranda. “All you have to do is to disguise as a boy.” Margaret really wanted to be a doctor. So she cut off her long hair, practiced speaking in a deep voice, and put on boy’s clothes. She also named herself James Barry. From then on, Margaret Ann Bulkley disappeared. She became James Barry and entered Edinburgh University. He took 13 subjects and worked all through the summer when the other students went on holiday.

Barry graduated in 1812 and decided to join the British Army. In his life, Dr. James Barry travelled all over the world, helping to save many lives. Before retirement, Barry had risen to the second highest medical officer in the British Army. Barry improved the conditions for not only wounded soldiers but also the local people, and performed the first recorded successful caesarean section (剖宫产) in Africa. The secret Dr. James Barry kept for over fifty years was only known after his death in 1865.