【推荐1】Low pay, uncertain jobs and debt mean young people are being hard hit by the UK’s financial crisis. In January this year a major survey showed that 47% of under-24s were viewed as “financially uncertain”—unable or only just able to make ends meet.

The survey was carried out last year before the reality of 2022’s cost-of-living crisis had started to unfold. We wanted to find out what young people’s money worries are and how to deal with them. A recent survey found 3 in 10 young people worry about not having enough money over a typical month. Only 51% of 16-and 17-year-olds in the UK feel confident about dealing with money.

And an increasing number of young people are returning to the Internet for tips. “There was a lack of support in my community and secondary school”, says Zoya. Unluckily, Zoya isn’t alone and millions of young people are struggling to access the information they need, both within the structures of school and at home with family.

Although some factors in the cost-of-living crisis are out of our hands, there are steps everyone can take. Here are our top tips. Set a budget (预算). Once you have a clear idea of the money that you use, you know how much money you have left to set apart and spend in other areas of your life. Check your basket. Thinking ahead about your meals and writing down a shopping list can give you a better chance of sticking to your budget. Get a budgeting partner. Set aside 10 minutes each week to check in with a friend or a family member, track your spending and share your moneysaving methods. Learn good habits. Some financial respected experts can bring free courses to help people build financial security to help young people.

【推荐2】An immersive and slow-paced Citywalk is becoming trendy across China. In contrast to rushing past overcrowded tourist landmarks, the new trend has emerged as a popular alternative to explore bustling markets, ancient streets, and charming alleys at a leisurely pace.

The appeal of Citywalk caters particularly to the younger generation often caught up in demanding work schedules. As evidenced by the increasing popularity of hash tags like “City walk for vacation” on lifestyle sharing platform Xiaohong shu, with a staggering 465 million views and nearly 464, 600 engagements, the trend is truly capturing unbelievable attention.

Citywalk, or meandering through the urban landscapes, means the act of walking freely along city streets unburdened by exhaustive plans. It offers people an avenue to intimately experience urban culture and local traditions. Citywalk is not merely about sightseeing. It creates an opportunity for social interactions and deep connections with the cities. Citywalk routes are tailored to the specific interests of both out-of-town tourists and locals. For tourists, the focus is on sharing local customs and traditions, while for locals, discussions revolve around the city’s past, present, and future. The growing trend of Citywalk reflects a changing attitude towards life, embracing a warmer, more relaxed, and slower-paced lifestyle.

As Citywalk expands beyond first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, to second-and third-tier cities across the county, it brings fresh opportunities for the tourism industry, in such areas as dining, shopping, and accommodation.

Governments in Beijing and Shandong have recognized the potential of Citywalk, incorporating it into their action plans to promote cultural tourism and leisure activities. In Shanghai, public bus lines specially designed have been introduced to elevate the overall Citywalk for participants.

“By slowing down and delving into the narrow alleys, observing the lives of city residents, and immersing oneself in the context of museums and art galleries, one is entitled to embrace the pleasure of life,” said Luo Jun, a cultural tourism enthusiast.

【推荐3】With a brain the size of a pinhead, insects possess a great sense of direction. They manage to locate themselves and move through small openings. How do they do this with their limited brain power? Understanding the inner workings of an insect’s brain can help us in our search towards energy-efficient computing, physicist Elisabetta Chicca of the University of Groningen shows with her most recent result: a robot that acts like an insect.

It’s not easy to make use of the images that come in through your eyes when deciding what your feet or wings should do. A key aspect here is the apparent motion of things as you move. “Like when you're on a train,” Chicca explains. “The trees nearby appear to move faster than the houses far away.” Insects use this information to infer how far away things are. This works well when moving in a straight line, but reality is not that simple. To keep things manageable for their limited brain power, they adjust their behaviour: they fly in a straight line, make a turn, then make another straight line.

In search of the neural mechanism (神经机制) that drives insect behaviour, PhD student Thorben Schoepe developed a model of its neuronal activity and a small robot that uses this model to find the position. His model is based on one main principle: always head towards the area with the least apparent motion. He had his robot drive through a long passage consisting of two walls and the robot centred in the middle of the passage, as insects tend to do. In other virtual environments, such as a space with small openings, his model also showed similar behaviour to insects.

The fact that a robot can find its position in a realistic environment is not new. Rather, the model gives insight into how insects do the job, and how they manage to do things so efficiently. In a similar way, you could make computers more efficient.

In the future, Chicca hopes to apply this specific insect behaviour to a chip as well. “Instead of using a general-purpose computer with all its possibilities, you can build specific hardware; a tiny chip that does the job, keeping things much smaller and energy-efficient.” She comments.

【推荐1】In the past few decades, the way we shop has changed dramatically. We used to buy our goods in traditional shops. Now, customers are increasingly buying online, where they can order whatever they want directly to their door with the click of a mouse. As companies race to improve their Internet shopping experience, the trend towards shopping online is predicted to continue.

Most people commonly think that online shopping is better than in-store shopping. After all, an online store does not use the electricity that a traditional store might use and it doesn't require the customer to drive anywhere. So you would think the carbon savings must be significant.

Take the typical home delivery round in the UK, for example. Supermarket drivers often do 120 deliveries on an 80-kilometre round, producing 20 kilograms of CO₂ in total. In contrast, a 21-kilometre drive to the store and back for one household would generate 24 times more CO₂! However, the reality is slightly more complex than that. Many home deliveries fail the first time and the driver has to make a second or third attempt to deliver the purchase.

The carbon footprint also goes up if the customer chooses to return the item. A study in Germany shows that as many as one in three online purchases are returned. According to another study, merchandise worth nearly $ 326 million is returned each year in the USA. Two billion kilograms of this ends up in landfill, leading to 13 tons of CO₂ being released.

When we take all these factors into consideration, we realize that online shopping isn't necessarily as green as people might think. There is some positive news, as various online retailers are starting to lower their carbon footprint by turning to electric delivery vehicles. However, the question of how to deal with returns efficiently and without waste is a challenge that many companies have not wanted to face, but they have to shoulder responsibilities.

【推荐2】Livestreaming is part of daily life in China. A person leading livestreams is known as a host or hostess. Toenter the industry is very easy. You can pick up your phone and you’re livestreaming. Many young Chinese are increasingly turning to online streaming as a way to earn money while selling products for major companies.

But that’s not all. For Lu, who recently graduated from a UK master’s program in marketing, the primary reason for her becoming a hostess was that she didn’t think she was able of doing the traditional nine-to-five office routine.

“I have a strong desire to share my views, which extend to some of the products I’m promoting, and there may be people who happen to like what I say. I think this is something that makes everybody happy,” said Lu, who in her videos shares romance stories and gives relationship advice to young women.

For hostesses like Lu, the industry meets the desire to be true and to express oneself freely, which is strongly welcomed by young people.

In recent years, just as China’s tech and tutoring industries offered less jobs due to structural changes in the economy, the short-video and livestreaning sector began to show potential for supplementing the job losses.

The industry will continue to grow, with studies suggesting that certain percentage of the Chinese population who have been slow to join this new consumer base will eventually find their way to embracing it.

Livestreaming sales are projected to generate over four trillion yuan in 2025, making up a quarter of all e-commerce revenue.

Still, the industry’s bright future doesn’t mean everyone entering it will be better off. While an average host can easily earn a monthly salary of 10, 000 yuan, it’s difficult to know how long the steady stream of income will keep, and whether she becomes a star will depend not just on her performance but also on how fierce her competition is.

So while the goal of getting rich and famous may be unrealistic for most, the short-video and livestreaming sector is yet filling a gap in China’s workforce.