【推荐1】Scientists who study the Sun watch for sunspots—violent storms that can affect communications，navigation systems and even electric power stations on the Earth.

Sunspots are a product of huge electromagnetic storms on the Sun. Scientists on the Earth are able to observe sunspots eight minutes after they happen. That is how long it takes for the Sun’s light to reach us.

The first electrically charged particles (颗粒）from a sunspot enter the Earth’s atmosphere about 20 to 30 minutes after the storm happens. These particles can harm human beings. So before they arrive, astronauts on the International Space Station move into special areas designed to protect them from their effects.

About a day or two later, the biggest part of the storm arrives. It is called a coronal mass ejection. “That is billions of tons of solar material that's blown away from the Sun. It’s traveling millions of kilometers an hour, but that is relatively slow.” says Alex Young, the Associate Director for Science at NASA's Heliophysics Science Division.

Several civilian government agencies and the U.S. Air Force watch weather conditions in space 24 hours a day. NASA does so because it must protect its astronauts and the electronic devices on its spacecraft.

Scientists are also trying to understand why the number of sunspots rises and falls at almost regular intervals every 11 years. In other words, scientists can almost predict the amount of solar activity. Sometimes the intensity (强度）is higher，sometimes lower，For example, the current solar cycle, as it is called, is much lower than the previous one.

Several satellites watch the Sun and the environment between the Sun and tho Earth. Pictures and other information from the satellites tell scientists what is happening on and near the Sun.

Alex Young says we have only been looking at the Sun with powerful instruments for about 30 to 40 years. Thai is a very short time compared to ll\o four billion years that tho star has been shining.

【推荐2】Unless we spend money to spot and prevent asteroids(小行星) now, one might crash into Earth and destroy life as we know it , say some scientists.

Asteroids are bigger versions of the meteoroids(流星) that race across the night sky. Most orbit the sun far from Earth and don’t threaten us. But there are also thousands of asteroids whose orbits put them on a collision course with Earth.

Buy $50 million worth of new telescopes right now. Then spend $10 million a year for the next 25 years to locate most of the space rocks. By the time we spot a fatal one, the scientists say, we’ll have a way to change its course.

Some scientists favor pushing asteroids off course with nuclear weapons. But the cost wouldn’t be cheap.

Is it worth it? Two things experts consider when judging any risk are: 1) How likely the event is; 2) How bad the consequences if the event occurs. Experts think an asteroid big enough to destroy lots of life might strike Earth once every 500,000 years. Sounds pretty rare—but if one did fall, it would be the end of the world. “If we don’t take care of these big asteroids, they’ll take care of us,” says one scientist. “It’s that simple.”

The cure, though, might be worse than the disease. Do we really want fleets of nuclear weapons sitting around on Earth? “The world has less to fear from doomsday(毁灭性的) rocks than from a great nuclear fleet set against them,” said a New York Times article.

【推荐3】Not long ago, an airplane was flying over New Zealand. There was a television camera crew on board. Suddenly,out in the night sky,a bright sphere (球体)came into view.Everyone on board saw it and everyone thought, “UFO”—Unidentified Flying Object. The camera crew went into action and started filming. That week people all over the world saw the film of the mysterious light on their television screens. What was it? Was it a spaceship full of visitors from another planet? The captain of the airplane and the film crew believed it was. Other observers had many different explanations. Some said it was Venus(金星). Others said it was just a trick(幻影)of light.

An air traffic controller also saw it on his radar screen. He thought that a flock(一群) of birds was causing dots on his radar screen when the “UFO” appeared.

Most astronomers now believe that what these people saw was almost certainly the planet Venus. At that time of year it was very bright and easy to see. And from a moving airplane it can appear to be moving fast. So far there is no proof that UFOs or spaceships from other planets do exist. These years investigators of UFOs have investigated thousands of sightings or occasions when people said they saw a UFO. Ninety percent of these turned out to have a simple explanation.

However, it is a good idea to keep an open mind. Scientists in some countries are trying to persuade their governments to help them study UFOs. And they are planning to cooperate internationally on reporting and investigating sightings of UFOs.

After all, it is quite possible that there is life out there in the universe. And if something is alive，it is quite possible that it will come to visit us.

【推荐2】If you want to slow aging, you might want to eat less. This finding is good news—if you were a mouse. The researchers studied mice, not people.

John Price and other researchers studied two groups of mice. One group was able to eat as much as it wanted. The researchers limited what the mice in the other group ate. Their diet had 35 percent fewer calories than the first group of mice.

Price says the mice with the diet restrictions were more energetic and suffered fewer disease. They were not just living longer but seemed to stay younger for a longer period of time.

The researchers found that fewer calories slow down a natural mechanism in cells called ribosomes. Price explains that ribosomes are responsible for making important proteins in the cells. But with fewer calories, they slow down. This gives the cells more time to repair themselves.

The researchers say ribosomes use from 10 to 20 percent of the cell’s energy to make those proteins. Price wrote that because of this, it is impractical to destroy an entire ribosome when it starts to break down. However, repairing individual parts of the ribosome on a regular basis enables ribosomes to continue producing high quality proteins for longer than they would otherwise. This top quality production, in turn, keeps cells and the entire body functioning well.

Price said, “ribosome is a very complex machine, like a car.” “They need maintenance to replace the parts that wear out the fastest. When tires wear out,” he explained,” you don’t throw the whole car away and buy a new one. It costs less to replace the old tires.”

“Food,” he said, “isn’t just material to be burned—it’s a signal that tells our body and cells how to respond.” Price said the findings help to explain how exactly our bodies age. And this may “help us make more educated decisions about what we eat.”

【推荐3】Picture a young Chinese woman, dressed in traditional clothing, picking flowers in a field to create make­up for her cheeks, making a sofa from bamboo and cooking up all sorts of delicious Chinese food by herself. It may sound unreal, but such a person does exist in real life.

Li Ziqi, 30, has become one of China’s most popular Internet celebrities with over 10 million followers on YouTube, over 42 million on Douyin and over 24 million on Weibo.

Li Ziqi’s videos featuring her cooking and creating DIY products greatly attract people living in big cities. To our amazement, she does it all without using any modern technology or devices.

What dominate her videos are scenes of picking seasonal ingredients (食材) from her own garden and sometimes in the mountains and turning them into tasty dishes on her wood­fired oven. Li stresses the seasons in her cooking, as China’s traditional 24 Solar Terms (节气) also do, and makes food suitable for the particular climate.

There came an intense debate about the image of China and its culture she presented. She was accused of presenting an “outdated” image of the country by some critics. Nevertheless, state broadcaster CCTV and People’s Daily praised her for her initiative (主动性) to help rural youth become rich.

Li Ziqi, by telling an inspiring China story, is promoting traditional Chinese culture to international audience.