【推荐2】Today’s Brussels sprouts (孢子甘蓝) taste better than you might remember from childhood, and that is because a new variety has replaced the original vegetable. You can thank plant breeders for the change. Modern breeders, armed with new gene-editing technology, are looking to reproduce Brussels sprouts’ reinvention.

In the late 1990s, scientists discovered specific chemicals which made Brussels sprouts taste bitter. Plant breeders started growing old seeds, previously abandoned due to poor yields (产量), to look for tastier versions with lower levels of these specific chemicals. Then they crossed these delicious but low-yield plants with high-yield individuals until they found a version that made plenty of tasty sprouts, transforming the vegetable from a bitter pill into a popular dish.

But other vegetables haven’t fared as well. That’s because most breeding decisions favor plant traits (特性) that matter to vegetable growers, not vegetable eaters. For instance, disease resistance is probably the major focus these days of most breeding programs because that prevents the farmer from growing the crop. The taste of vegetables is ignored.

People, however, are now becoming interested in prioritizing the taste of vegetables thanks in part to new genetic technology. “There’s never been a better time to be a fruit breeder or a vegetable breeder because we have more tools and techniques,” says Susan Brown, an apple breeder at Cornell University.

Some companies are beginning to use those tools to deal with the challenge of developing tastier vegetables. One company, Pairwise, is fighting the same compounds that troubled Brussels sprouts. But this time researchers are improving the flavor of salad greens.

All vegetable growers hope that more flavorful products on store shelves will convince people to consume the recommended allowances (定量) of fruits and vegetables — and do so better than decades of nutritional guidance have. “Don’t waste your time talking about trying to educate people to eat better,” said Harry Klee, a professor who specializes in tomato breeding. “Just give them products that taste better and that they want to eat.”

【推荐3】In 1972, a social worker named Sanjit "Bunker " Roy founded Barefoot College in Tilonia, Rajasthan. Today the college trains women from villages for six months to build and maintain solar panels and other instruments. Barefoot College also offers education to the younger generation both during the day and at its solar bridge schools that meet by lamp light at night.

The philosophy of the Barefoot College is largely inspired by the principles of Gandhi, starting with quality beyond social classes, sex or religion. As a matter of fact, women are favorably regarded as an underserved population that is necessary to bringing villages together. Another central principle of the college is self-reliance, teaching students to support and think for themselves.

After the colleges female students have completed their half a year of training, they return to their villages villages, where they wait for solar panel parts to arrive from the college. Once they have all the pieces they need ,they construct the panels and begin collecting solar energy. For each village, the college also provides solar lamps. Villagers can, in addition, order parts for other solar-powered devices, such as water heaters and cooking stoves. Once assembled(组装）, they and the lamps are powered by the solar panels.

The effect on the villages is huge. Before the solar panels and lamps arrived, villagers had only candles to light their homes. This prevented adults from doing serious work at night, and it made studying difficult for children as well. As for physicians, they have difficulty treating patients and performing operations at night because they had to rely on flashlights.

Now there is power for not only the electrical appliances that the college provides but also devices like televisions, radios and computers. For the first time, the villagers can even connect to the world through the Internet.

【推荐1】You might think people all over the United States have Wi­Fi — wireless Internet service — and mobile phones. But there is no such service in Green Bank, West Virginia, a tiny town four hours from the US capital, Washington D. C. Fewer than 150 people live in Green Bank, which has two churches, an elementary school and a public library. It is also home to the largest radio telescope in the world.

There is a ban (禁令) on Wi­Fi in Green Bank, along with anything else that can create electromagnetic (电磁的) waves. Officials say the waves could disturb the signals (信号) the telescope receives.

For many Americans, a visit to Green Bank is a little like returning to the 1950s. To get there, you must read road signs because there is no GPS service in the town. People can connect with the Internet through telephones, but wireless service is not allowed.

The observatory (天文台) is one of the largest employers in the area. The National Science Foundation (NSF) spends about $8.2 million a year to operate the observatory, telescope and educational center.

Jonah Bauserman is a technician. If he supposes there is a signal that is not allowed in the zone, he drives to the house where the signal is coming from and checks it. But once a week, when the device is cleaned, some banned devices are allowed near it.

People in the town respect the work of the scientists. And they say they are happy to live without Wi­Fi and mobile phones. “You know, instead of sitting here with our phones and other devices we’re out fishing, hunting and going to each other’s houses.” Everyone knows each other and communication is almost always face to face.

【推荐2】Life was easier when it wasn’t so long: learn when you’re young, work while you’re able, then resign yourself to a slow period of repose - and decline. But in the past century, scientific advancements have added decades to the average human life span, leaving a person’s timeline with a long, often aimless tail.

Finding rewarding ways to fill these extra years - particularly in ways that emphasize social ties - is the best way to prolong them, research is finding. “The things that we understand now to be important for healthy longevity” - things like connecting with others, a positive outlook, making peace with getting older - “have been trivialized over the years by some scientists. We now know that shouldn’t be the case,” says Paul Irving, chairman of the Center for the Future of Aging at the Milken Institute, a think tank that studies older age. “One of the great opportunities we all have is to continue that search for meaning, that aspiration to do our most enjoyable and important work later in our lives.”

Here are other strategies that may help you make the most of your extra years.

EMBRACE TECHNOLOGY

It’s hard to beat face time, but FaceTime (and the like) can also help older adults feel less alone, research shows. “I think a lot of work can be done to make the existing social networks more accommodating to older adults,” Irving says.

WELCOME AGING

Your feelings about getting older might determine how well you age-and even how well your brain holds up against Alzheimer’s. A team of researchers at Yale University found that when people who thought negatively about aging were simply primed to view it in a better light, they said they felt more positively about aging and even showed improvements in physical strength.

SET GOALS, TAKE RISKS

Plenty of research links a sense of purpose to longevity. But how do people search for a purpose if they don’t have one? Take an online course, volunteer, do anything new that challenges you. “The assumption that you should only do one thing in your life, to me, makes no sense,” says Irving.

EXPECT THE BEST

People with a positive outlook recover better after having a heart attack than those who are more pessimistic, a recent study shows. That’s partly because a hopeful attitude is linked to other healthy behaviors, like quitting smoking and maintaining a healthy diet. Optimism is also linked to fewer chronic illnesses, less depression and even a stronger immune response to bugs like the flu.

【推荐3】If you think of the jobs robots could never do, you would probably put doctors and teachers at the top of the list. It’s easy to imagine robot cleaners and factory workers, but some jobs need human connection and creativity. But are we underestimating what robots can do? In some cases, they already perform better than doctors at diagnosing illness. Also, some patients might feel more comfortable sharing personal information with a machine than a person. Could there be a place for robots in education after all?

British education expert Anthony Seldon thinks so. And he even has a date for the robot to take over the classroom: 2027. He predicts robots will do the main job of transferring the information and teachers will be like assistants. Intelligent robots will read students’ faces, movements and maybe even brain signals. Then they will adapt the information to each student. It’s not a popular opinion and it’s unlikely that robots will have the ability to really connect with humans like another human.

One thing is certain, though. A robot teacher is better than no teachers at all. In some parts of the world, there aren’t enough teachers and 9~16 percent of children under the age of 14 don’t go to school. That problem could be partly solved by robots because they can teach anywhere and won’t get stressed, or tired, or move somewhere for an easier, higher-paid job.

Those negative aspects of teaching are something everyone agrees on. Some teachers all over the world are leaving because it is a difficult job and they feel overworked. Perhaps the question is not “Will robots replace teachers?” but “How can robots help teachers?” Office workers can use software to do things like organizing and answering emails, arranging meetings and updating calendars. Teachers waste a lot of time doing non-teaching work, including more than 11 hours a week marking homework. If robots could help teachers with the time teachers spend marking homework and writing reports, teachers would have more time and energy for the parts of the job humans do best.