【推荐1】For more than a hundred years, the fossil (化石) of Tanystropheus (长颈龙), an ancient animal, has puzzled scientists. Scientists have long known that the species once lived in Switzerland’s Monte San Giorgio basin during the Middle Triassic period. They also knew the 20-foot creature had an incredible long neck, which was half of its entire length. But the remaining details surrounding Tanystropheus remained confusing and have been much argued. Did these animals live on land or in water? What did their young look like? And how did they interact with the other species in their environment? Nobody knew, until now.

Scientists used CT scan technology to digitally reconstruct the head of the Tanystropheus’s fossils, finding evidence that these animals lived in water. Researchers also found evidence that they were likely to use their long necks to approach prey (猎物).

Scientists were also able to clear up puzzles about one smaller and one larger of these animals, whose fossils were both found in the same area of modern-day Switzerland. Previously, it had been thought that the smaller fossils were the baby version of the fully-grown Tanystropheus. The smaller one looked very similar to Tanystropheus but were only about 4 feet long. But researchers could ascertain that they are, in fact, two different species by examining the growth rings in the cross sections of Tanystropheus bones. The fossils further showed the two species had different types of teeth, which led to the conclusion that they used different strategies to catch prey.

Food resources in an ecosystem are limited, and animals that look similar often develop different strategies to survive. This is called “Niche partitioning (利基分割)”. They shared the same habitat but didn’t get in each other’s way too much. “Niche partitioning” in such a highly specialized, extraordinarily long-necked animal showed a less competitive side of evolution during the Triassic period. Scientists said that’s an important ecological phenomenon showing the adaptability of Tanystropheus and the complexity of ecosystems at that time.

【推荐1】Virtual doctor app Babylon Health accidentally showed users videos of other patients’ consultations with their doctors, which are strictly confidential (保密的). The story was first reported and confirmed by BBC News.

The case cropped up after a U.K. user said they were able to access dozens of videos of other patients’ consultations. An investigation by Babylon revealed that the issue affected a small number of other U.K. users. Babylon said a software error was to blame instead of a cyberattack.

The London start-up, which was valued at $2 billion, said it has fixed the problem and informed the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Founded in 2013 by Dr. Ali Parsa, Babylon has built an app that allows people to make video calls to doctors and other healthcare professionals, and get an electronic prescription. It has around 5.6 million users worldwide.

Rory Glover, from Leeds in the North of England, opened the app on Tuesday to check a prescription and noticed that he had around 50 videos in the “Consultation Replays” section of the app that didn’t belong to him, according to BBC News. “I was shocked,” Glover told the BBC. “You don’t expect to see anything like that when you’re using a trusted app. It’s shocking to see such a monumental error has been made.” Babylon said it takes security very seriously and that it has contacted the affected patients to apologize.

“On the afternoon of Tuesday, June 9, we identified and resolved an issue within two hours whereby one patient accessed the introduction of another patient’s consultation recording,” a Babylon spokesperson said. “Actually, we have a long way to go to cope with the private matter, but we will take it really seriously,” he added.

【推荐2】Forks trace their origins back to the ancient Greeks. Forks at that time were fairly large with two tines that aided in the carving of meat in the kitchen. The tines prevented meat from twisting or moving during carving and allowed food to slide off more easily than it would with a knife.

By the 7th century A.D., royal courts of the Middle East began to use forks at the table for dining. From the 10th through the 13th centuries, forks were fairly common among the wealthy in Byzantium. In the 11th century, a Byzantine wife brought forks to Italy; however, they were not widely adopted there until the 16th century. Then in 1533, forks were brought from Italy to France. The French were also slow to accept forks, for using them was thought to be awkward.

In 1608, forks were brought to England by Thomas Coryate, who saw them during his travels in Italy. The English first ridiculed forks as being unnecessary. “Why should a person need a fork when God had given him hands?” they asked. Slowly, however, forks came to be adopted by the wealthy as a symbol of their social status. They were prized possessions made of expensive materials intended to impress guests. By the mid-1600s, eating with forks was considered fashionable among the wealthy British.

Early table forks were modeled after kitchen forks, but small pieces of food often fell through the two tines or slipped off easily. In late 17th century France, larger forks with four curved tines were developed. The additional tines made diners less likely to drop food, and the curved tines served as a scoop so people did not have to constantly switch to a spoon while eating. By the early 19th century, four-tined forks had also been developed in Germany and England and slowly began to spread to America.

【推荐3】Recently, a group of architects from South Korea are planning to design a smart city with all functional areas people need, including living areas, study rooms, offices an entertainment areas-all within a 10-minute walk from each other.

When explaining the aim of the city, Ben van Berkel, co-founder of design company UNStudio told CNN, “We do this to provide more choices for how residents can spend their living, working and leisure time, thereby saving them the time needed to travel elsewhere in the city - because with time that is saved, more time is created.”

The idea of such a city is not new. In 2016, French-Colombian researcher Carlos Moreno put forward the“15-minute city” concept The COVID-19 pandemic has made them more interested in the concept. During the pandemic, many people have been forced to spend most of their time at home, with limited access to much else outside of their immediate community.

Paloma Ezzet, 16, is an example. She said before the pandemic, she liked to play soccer or go dancing. But during the pandemic, she had to give them up as no such entertainment areas were in her community. “It is gloomy, lonely and frustrating,” Ezzet said.

French professor Roxana Bobulescu agrees that the pandemic has broken our routine, making us rethink our lives and what our cities look like. “If our way of life is no longer making sense, perhaps it’s time to consider other possibilities,” he told the website Business Because.

The well-resourced smart city like the “10-minute city” may be one alternative（替代选择）. But not everyone is on board with the idea. Some critics said it would further concentrate wealth in the most accessible and convenient districts.

So with such risk, should people stop considering this concept and give up alternatives altogether? Maybe not. As Bobulescu said, “The seeds are there, and they’ll grow little by little.”