【推荐1】How wonderful would it be if new technology could help the physically challenged? A smart wearable device that enables people with speaking disabilities to communicate normally is giving hope to those without a voice.

Tao Luqi, a research fellow at Chongqing University, used a material called graphene (石墨烯) to produce an artificial throat with a tiny sensor (感应器) that allows people with speech impairments (障碍) to speak normally, according to a paper published in Nature Communications in 2017. Tao has continued his work on the device for the last four years.

“Although the speaking impaired people can’t speak, their throats can vibrate (振动) ,” Tao told The Paper. “If I put a device made of graphene into the throat of a person, it can detect the vibrations and make sounds using electrical signals.”

Even whispers, screams and coughs at different frequencies (频率) can be recorded and encoded (编码) by the device, and it can arrange them into groups. When the device detects the sounds in a particular group, it will reproduce the words, phrases or sentences, according to Tao.

“But the speaking impaired people need to classify their own language sounds in groups and memorize them, just like typing keys on a keyboard,” Tao said. Tao’s artificial throat has brought the possibilities of graphene to reality. It’s been 17 years since the discovery of graphene, and the world has been waiting for the “wonder material” to provide innovations (创新) . At only the width of an atom (原子), graphene is the thinnest material known to humans and also the strongest. The material is also an efficient conductor (导体) of heat and electricity, and is ultra-lightweight, China Daily reported.

“Graphene really does have fantastic properties and its potential is huge,” said Khasha Ghaffarzadeh, a director at UK-based research consultancy IDTechEx.

China has emerged as a key country for production. Around 3,000 Chinese companies are exploring uses for graphene, according to government statistics in 2018, while half of the world’s graphene-related patents (专利) have been filed in China, according to China Daily.

“It’s a brand-new science, and China is trying to take the lead,” said Neill Ricketts, chief executive at Versarien, a UK-based advanced material company.

【推荐2】A discovery in animal science is causing close attention among dog owners nationwide. The discovery was made by the famous researcher and vet (兽医), Dr. Mary Goldstein, or Dr. Mary, as he's known in the industry.

“I used to spend a lot of time teaching owners to spot red flags—like restlessness (坐立不 安), lethargy, and antisocial behavior—so they can tell when their dog is asking for help right away,” he recalls. “ But now, I want to help people take a more active method to their dogs' health.”

It was this idea that led Dr. Mary to discover a remarkable new care technique that could help your dog lead the longest, healthiest life possible — no matter their age.

“It was amazing to see the transformation, especially in older dogs who were already slowing down,” he says. “In a matter of weeks, their energy and enthusiasm noticeably improved. They had more energy, they were more playful, more limber, more relaxed … it was pretty astonishing. Even their coats looked healthier.”

Over the course of his career, Dr. Mary has treated countless animals and been at the forefront of veterinary advancement for years, but he believes this to be his most important discovery to date.

“It's rooted in science typically used for humans, but I've made it very simple to use for dogs,” he explains. “ I think it's exactly what our four-legged friends have been asking for.” earlier this month, Dr. Mary released an educational video for other dog owners, so they could follow his plan for a medical treatment at home.

If you'd like to try increasing your pet’s life span using Dr. Mary's method, click below for more complete instructions.

【推荐2】Chinese researchers have found that the knife fish in the Yangtze River, once endangered by overfishing, is recovering thanks to a fishing ban（禁令）.

Monitoring data from different sections of the Yangtze shows that knife fish resources have been continuously recovering since 2019 when measures were taken to protect the fish, said Yang Jian, researcher with the Freshwater Fisheries Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences.

The knife fish was known as “the first delicacy in the Yangtze,” and its population saw a sharp decrease due to overfishing and damage of its natural habitat（栖息地）. China banned the productive fishing of this species in 2019 and a 10-year fishing ban took effect in the Yangtze in 2021.

Since 2014, Yang Jian and his team have been monitoring a part of the Yangtze-connected Poyang Lake, an area for the knife fish to lay eggs. Yang said that from 2019 to 2021, the average number of knife fish caught by every observation unit in the area is 67 times that recorded during the period from 2014 to 2018.

The average length and weight of knife fish collected in 2021 was 27.2 cm and 91.4 grams respectively, an average increase of 41 percent and 37.55 percent compared to those collected from 2019 to 2020.

Yang Jian added that areas inhabited by knife fish have been increasing along the Yangtze, and the species was recently found in places such as Dongting Lake and the Ganjiang River where there had been no trace of the fish for more than ten years.

【推荐3】Look around you — how many plastic things can you find in your house? Most homes today are almost full of plastic, from water bottles to clothes, chairs, and even computers. Regretfully, so are our rivers and oceans.

According to research, about 583 billion plastic bottles were produced in 2021. That is 100 billion more than just five years ago. In 2022, five trillion (万亿) plastic bags were used. That was 160,000 every second. Americans alone used half a million drinking straws (吸管) every day.

However, very little of the plastic that goes into recycling (回收利用) bins can make it through the recycling process. Experts think that only around 9 percent of plastic is recycled. About 16 percent is burned for electricity or heat. The rest ends up in landfills (废物填埋地) or bodies of water.

So how do you make sure plastic things you use are recycled? Begin by making sure the things you put in your recycling bin can be recycled. And in most cases, plastic things can’t be used again if they have more than one kind of plastic in them. That’s because some plastics can’t be mixed together.

How about those plastic things that are able to be recycled at a recycling center? First, workers make sure that each plastic is clean. After that, the plastic things are made into small pieces. At last, they are melted (熔化) and used to create new things. One of the commonly seen products is new plastic bottles. Recycled plastic can also be used to make clothes, pens, pencils, and building materials!

【推荐2】Last year, Liu Xiang, who lives alone in Shanghai, wrote an analysis of nearly 3,000 words on small home appliances that make living alone all the more pleasurable. Her take on these items, ranging from desk lamps and hair dryers to cooking machines, drew more than 100 replies, unusual for that specific section of the discussion group where 50 replies would normally put the topic in the hot category.

However, the interest shown to what to some may seem like a trifling matter should not really be that surprising given that in China 77 million people live alone. These solo dwellers, aged 20 to 39, are mostly engaged in high-paying jobs in fields like finance, so as a group they have tremendous spending power.

Home appliance makers and sellers are one of the main beneficiaries of the solo economy. Take Little Bears Electric Appliances. It has been expanding and updating its product line to target at the solo market, and half its 40 product categories are now singles-friendly.

A New York University sociology professor, Eric Klinenberg, said in his book Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone that the single society is becoming hugely powerful and an indicator of social change.

In 2018 and 2019 the Japanese video game Travel Frog became a hit in China. Actually, Travel Frog was a game that seemed to speak directly to those who keep the solo economy ticking. In it, a wayward (任性的) frog has become a baby people are keen on looking after. The frog never interacts with the player, eats alone, reads and does craft work at home and often sets out on journeys, sending postcards to the player letting him or her know its new location. The Travel Frog phenomenon was just one more sign of the increasing importance of the solo economy, with more and more people actively or passively accepting and enjoying their solitude.

Travelling alone is becoming a strong market opportunity. 75% of Ctrip’s self-operated tour groups have opened options for one-person travel, and it plans to develop more innovative products and services tailored to solo travelers.

In entertainment and recreation, too, the solo economy is changing how things work. Minikaraoke booths, self-service photo studios and self-service gyms have popped up on many comers in many cities.