【推荐1】Horses have long pulled tourist carts through Jordan’s ancient city of Petra, but animal rights groups are driving a project to start replacing them with electric vehicles.

A small team of 10 rechargeable e-carts now take visitors through the rose-colored road leading to the famed capital of the Nabateans, which dates back to the first century BC.

“The e-cart produces no pollution or smoke and the change has reduced the cases of animal mistreatment,” said Suleiman Farajat, head of the Petra Development and Tourism Regional Authority. The new golf buggy-style (马车式) electric vehicles have less impact on the surroundings because the horse cart wheels used to hit the sides of the road. The horse waste also caused a bad smell in the place, and cleaning it was not easy.

Animal rights group PETA, which had blamed the use of the overworking animals, has described the project as a major first step to protect working animals. The group hopes to work with officials toward the day when there will be only animal-free transportation at Petra.

The change has also been well received for another reason — helping to make the UNESCO World Heritage Site accessible to elderly and disabled visitors with the newly designed e-carts. Austrian tourist Rudy, 43, who uses a wheelchair, said he had repeatedly postponed a visit, but was now very happy to have made the trip. “Not only disabled people but also people who have difficulty walking for a long distance now have a chance to see this amazing place,” he said.

For now, the Petra authority says it will keep some of the horses to preserve the character of the place, as it is a world heritage site.

【推荐1】How Technology is Making Exhibitions More Interactive

As technology continues to evolve, today’s museums are starting to employ it to increase access and unlock experiences once thought impossible.

Story of the Forest, the National Museum of Singapore

Visitors exclaim the natural history drawings turned into 3D interactive animations are so amazing! As they walk through the dark space, the virtual images slowly reveal. With a downloadable app, they could take a photo of the animated drawings and discover further information.

Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass, the Louvre, Paris

VR experts worked to bring the Mona Lisa to “life”, using x-ray and 3D-modelling technology. By wearing a VR headset, viewers are invited inside the universe of the painting and they can see a digital version of the Mona Lisa moving, posing and even greeting them.

Real Sense Library, the National Library of Korea

This exhibition allows visitors to have a more “hands-on” experience of priceless documents with the touch technology. By placing touch sensors behind paper pages and projecting(投影) the ancient text onto a real book, the staff give visitors the feeling of actually handling the priceless book!

Cellphone: Unseen Connections, the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC

This exhibition focuses on the mobile phone evolution. Visitors can see the industry giants like Steve Jobs projected on the gallery walls and hear stories about how they have contributed to the development of phones. And visitors can even “chat” with them.

【推荐2】The skin is an essential part of your body and its largest organ. You have three layers (层) of skin which act as a barrier against disease, poisons and the sun’s harmful rays. The functions of your skin are also very complex: it keeps you warm or cool; it prevents your body from losing too much water; it is where you feel cold, heat or pain and it gives you your sense of touch. So as you can imagine, if your skin gets burned it can be very serious. First aid is a very important first step in the treatment of burns.

Causes of burns

You can get burned by a variety of things: hot liquids, steam, fire, radiation (by being close to high heat or fire, etc. ), the sun, electricity or chemicals.

Types of burns

There are three types of burns. Burns are called first, second or third degree burns, depending on which layers of the skin are burned.

• First degree burns

These affect only the top layer of the skin. These burns are not serious and should feel better within a day or two. Examples include mild sunburn and burns caused by touching a hot pan, stove or iron for a mordent (熨烫熨斗).

• Second degree burns

These affect both the top and the second layer of the skin. These burns are serious and take a few weeks to heal. Examples include severe sunburn and burns caused by hot liquids.

• Third degree burns

These affect all three layers of the skin and any tissue and organs under the skin. Examples include burns caused by electric shocks, burning clothes, or severe petrol fires. These burns cause very severe injuries and the victim must go to hospital at once.

Characteristics of burns

First degree burns

• dry, red and mildly swollen

• mildly painful

• turn white when pressed

Second degree burns

• rough, red and swollen

• watery surface

• extremely painful

Third degree burns

• black and white and charred

• swollen; often tissue under them can be seen

• little or no pain if nerves are damaged; may be pain around edge of injured area