【推荐1】To look inside an ant nest is to meet with an alien civilization. The boiling mass of worker ants beneath an upturned stone is both strangely reminiscent of (联想到) human society and strikingly different. There is an organization that fascinates us and a long line of myrmecophiles (or ant lovers) leads back all the way to King Solomon, who in fact advised people to “go to the ant, consider her ways and be wise”. This was exactly the inspiration behind Planet Ant, a TV program showcasing what we know about the kingdom of ants, and what ants can teach us about the human world.

Like us, ants build structures, find food, defend their societies and manage waste, and-also like us-they must be well organized. For example, the leaf-cutting ants of Planet Ant have special waste disposal areas for storing harmful waste and a team of “waste-disposal ants” dedicated to keeping the nest clean. But ants achieve this familiar final result in a very different way to humans. Human societies have centralized control. In other words, someone tells us what to do. Ants, on the other hand, have decentralized control and neither the queen nor any other ant directs work. Ant workers are the final self-starters, following specific, but potentially flexible, rules in certain situations.

Chemical trails underpin much of this self-organization. Foragers (觅食者) lay a mix of chemicals known as trail pheromone (信息素) behind them as they walk. Other ants follow the trail and if they find food they reinforce it, laying more pheromone as they return to the nest. Stronger trails are more likely to be followed, so trails leading to food become progressively reinforced, while trails with no food at the end fade away.

This combination of positive feedback and evaporation (蒸发) produces an effective foraging system that is very good at finding the quickest routes to food. This simple guiding principle, and others like it, have provided some useful solutions to the complex problems faced by engineers, computer scientists and businesses.

【推荐3】Hot Technology Products at CES 2020

The consumer electronics show, or CES, presents new technology developments annually. Here are some latest products launched at CES 2020.

Samsung introduced a TV that can be used to watch video designed for a smartphone. The Sero TV does this by turning itself from the normal TV position to an upright position that looks like the shape of a phone. The V can connect to mobile devices to play video directly from the phone.

A company called TOWNEW presented; waste can designed for the home that does a lot of the dirty work on its own. When the can is full, the user touches a button to activate the machine's smart abilities. The device then completely closes off the waste bag inside, puts a new one in place, all by itself, and raises its top so the user can pick up and throw away the bag.

Automobile industry company Continental showed off a new technology that seems to make the front end of a vehicle disappear. The technology, called "Transparent Hood," aims to make driving safer and easier. Cameras provide video of the area underneath the vehicle, permitting the driver to see objects and road conditions that might present danger.

A company called Aō Air introduced a wearable air purifier. Designed to be a high-tech face covering to block pollution, the device pulls air through a filtration(过滤)system and then uses fans to create a small area of clean air at its front, allowing the air to be purified-without the need for a solid container.

【推荐1】Imagine Hying over the city in an electric powered aircraft that has no pilot but can take you from point A to point B in minutes. Sounds like science fiction, right? Well, not anymore. China-based Ehang has become the world’s first company to receive official approval to fly passengers in its pilotless air taxis.

Ehang’s EH216-S air taxis are electric vertical (垂直的) takeoff and landing aircraft, also called eVToL for short. The air taris can carry up to wo passengers or about 270kg of goods. They can fly at speeds of up to 130kmb and distances of up to 28km. The air taris are controlled by a central command centre that monitor the light, routes and weather conditions.

Passengers can simply select their destination on a touchscreen inside the cabin and enjoy the ride without worrying about piloting the aircraft. The taxis do not require airports or runways. They can take off and land vertically from any flat surface.

The air taxis use electric power to reduce environmental harm caused by emissions. They can be fully charged in two hours and have bow nose levels. They also have backup batteries and emergency landing systems and parachutes in case anything goes wrong.

They could transform how we travel around big cities —imagine using them to avoid traffic jams, save time on the daily commute (通勤) to work or school, or get to places that are hard to reach by car or public transport. And beyond just moving people, the aircraft can be used for delivering goods, such as packages, medical supplies or food. During natural disasters such as bushfires or foods, air taxis could transport much-needed medical staff, equipment or medicines to the scene quickly and safely.

One big challenge will be gaining the trust of the public and convincing commuters they are safe while flying. To do this, Ehang will educate passengers about the benefits and risks of using its taxis while also addressing potential issues and concerns about noise levels, privacy and the environmental impact.

【推荐2】The Kirtland’s warbler（莺）has required protections since the foundation of Endangered Species Act (ESA), but that’s about to change. The Fish and Wildlife Service（FWS）today announced it is removing the songbird from the endangered species list

“The effort to recover the Kirtland's warbler is a successful example of how to save endangered species,” said Margaret Everson, director of FWS. “The Kirtland's warbler has responded well to active management over the half century.” In 1971, the Kirtland’s warbler population declined to approximately 201 singing males and was restricted to six counties. By 2015, the population reached 2,383 singing males and had spread geographically. FWS noted the frequent and persistent singing of male warblers during the breeding season made counting possible.

“The primary threats identified at listing and during development of the recovery plan have been managed,” said FWS. Modern wildfire suppression（扑灭）practices greatly altered the natural disturbance system, which enabled the growth of the jack pine forests favored by the species, FWS noted. Michigan state has replanted approximately 90,000 acres of Kirtland's warbler habitat over the past 30 years. Timber （木材）incomes offset the cost of replanting jack pine needed to support a survivable bird population.

But while the bird is falling off the ESA list, officials note that it remains a “conservation-dependent species." Conservation of the Kirtland's warbler will continue to require a harmonious approach for carrying out future conservation work, like partnerships and sufficient funding, FWS stated. Under the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966, the Kirtland's warbler was federally listed as an endangered species in 1967.

“This remarkable bird has a most impressive, exemplary success story that illustrates effective conservation and cooperation at work,” added Heather Good, executive director of Michigan Audubon. Shawn Graff, vice president of American Bird Conservancy's Great Lakes program, pointed out the delisting （除名）is “cause for celebration and proof that the Endangered Species Act works.”

【推荐3】If you read the news about honeybee survival, it’s all very confusing.

The Hoover Institution’s Dr. Henry Miller notes, “The reality is that honeybee populations are not declining. According to the U. N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) statistics, the world’s honeybee population rose to 80 million colonies (群落) in 2011 from 50 million in 1960.”Meanwhile, Jennifer Sass of the Natural Resources Defense Council points out. “The number of managed honeybee colonies in the U.S. has dropped from 4 million hives (蜂群) in 1970 to 2.5 million today”

Surprisingly, both of these claims are correct. Miller points to the “global” commercial honeybee hive count, which has grown considerably. Sass points to domestic colony numbers only, which have in fact declined.

Far more bees are farmed for making honey than for pollination (传粉) services. Since more honey is now made overseas than it was in the past, more hives are kept overseas, and fewer in the United States and Europe. And the global number of commercial hives and the amount of honey they produce have grown to meet the demands of an expanding world population. Such shifts offer no evidence of a honeybee hive “crisis”. They simply represent the market forces of supply and demand.

The FAO data also clarifies that national or even regional declines in the size of the managed honeybee population cannot prove claims of a global pollinator decline or a pollination crisis. However, it emphasizes that solutions to those problems must be motivated locally, rather than globally.

Solutions will follow only if we take a non-subjective look at the issues, so we can address them appropriately rather than have a crisis mentality. As I highlight in a recent post for TheHill, a big part of the solution lies at the very local level: with the beekeepers, farmers, and communities that surround them.