【推荐1】It was a large fish market northwest of Mumbai. Shark fins were sent onto tables. Tens of millions of sharks are killed for the fin trade every year, and a quarter of the world’s sharks, rays, and ghost sharks are in danger. The international trade in many species is not allowed, but it can be nearly impossible for wildlife officials to tell whether the fins here are from protected species.

The samples could be sent to n lab for DNA testing, but the test would take a full day.   But Shaili Johri, a post doctoral biology researcher at San Diego State University, had a handheld device, or tool, that can say what species a part belongs to in a short time, using only a small tissue (组织) sample. The gene sequencing (基因序列测定) done by the MinION device, which she was testing out at the fish market, is a promising new tool to help fight the illegal shark fin trade.

Johri with another author recently published a study in the journal Scientific Reports explaining the first use of the new device for keeping sharks and other wild animals safe from attacks. The smartphone-sized device is made by UK-based Oxford Nanopore Technologies. It has been used for the recognition of Ebola virus, among others. It is also likely to help prevent wildlife crime.

It requires a small tissue sample and a laptop. It can tell a species in three or four hours. But it has one downside the tool costs $1,000, including two original cartridges (测试盒). Every following sequencing cartridge, which can do 12 samples at once, costs an extra $500. That’s roughly $42 per sample. The traditional DNA analysis method costs as little as $5 a sample.

Hollie Booth, a sharks and rays advisor, says the MinION could have lots of practical uses, including controlling wildlife trade across countries or illegal fishing in markets. And the possibilities of this device aren’t just limited to sharks. These tools could be used to recognize elephant ivory, pangolin scales, and various other wildlife.

【推荐3】GET A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE WORLD’S MOST ATTRACTIVE FEATHERED ANIMALS WITH THESE BOOKS

Biologist and photographer Claudio Contreras Koob spent 20 years travelling deep into the wet lands and forests of his native Mexico—and beyond—to feed his flamingo attraction. This book offers a unique window into the behavior and life of red-feathered birds, with more than 120 show-stopping shots displaying their beauty. teNeues, £35.

Inspiring secrets, national pride or scientific discoveries, every bird has a story to tell, from the weaver bird building multi-nest “apartment blocks” in Namibia to the bar-headed goose taking on a twice-yearly trans-Himalayan journey at an extreme altitude. Mike Unwin’s tour is accompanied by beautiful illustrations from Ryuto Miyake. Laurence King Publishing, £22.

Pulitzer-shortlisted Weidensaul, who’s at the forefront of research into bird migration, here tracks some of nature’s most remarkable journeys. He sails through the stormy Bering Sea, encounters trappers in the Mediterranean and visits former headhunters in northeast India, where a bird migration crisis has become a conservation success story. Pan Macmillan, £9.99.

Explore this updated version of the 1968 title, Galapagos: Islands of Birds, by late bird expert Bryan Nelson, with previously unpublished material from his wife, June. The couple spent a year living on two Galapagos islands, studying birds, including the Galapagos albatross (信天翁). This is their clever and amusing account. Bradt Guides, £11.99.

【推荐1】Scientists of the University of Chicago have discovered a way to create a material that can be made like a plastic, but conducts electricity more like a metal. The research, published in Nature, shows how to make a kind of material in which the molecular (分子) pieces are disordered, but can still conduct electricity extremely well.

This goes against all of the rules we know about conductivity — to a scientist, it’s kind of seeing a car driving on water and still going 70 mph. The finding could be extraordinarily useful; if you want to invent something revolutionary, the process often first starts with discovering a completely new material.

To the scientists’ astonishment, the material easily and strongly conducted electricity. What’s more, it was very stable. “We heated it, cooled it, exposed it to air and in a wet environment, and even dropped acid and alkali (酸和碱) on it, and nothing happened,” said Xie, the first author on the paper. That is enormously helpful for a device that has to function in the real world.

But to the scientists, the most striking thing was that the molecular structure of the material was disordered. “From a fundamental picture, that should not be able to be a metal,” said Anderson, the senior author on the study. “There isn’t a solid theory to explain this.” One of the material’s attractive characteristics is that it has new options for processing. For example, metals usually have to be melted in order to be made into the right shape for a chip or device, which limits what you can make with them, since other components of the device have to be able to withstand the heat needed to process these materials.

The new material has no such limitation because it can be made at room temperatures. It can still be used where the need for a device or pieces of the device to withstand heat, acid or alkali, or a wet environment has previously limited engineers’ options to develop new technology.

【推荐3】Chewbaca climbed into the pilot seat of the Milemium Falcon as fireworks exploded above Disneyland in Anahein, California, Wednesday. Chewbacca is an imaginary creature born in the first of the Star Wars series of movies. He was in Disneyland for a ceremony to open the new Star Wars area at the theme park.

“Chewie, let’s fire up the Falcon,” said Mark Hamill, the actor who played Luke Skywalker. He also attended the event to open the more than five-and-one-half hectare area called Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. It opened to the public Friday.

The furry Chewbacca had trouble starting the huge spaceship, which led actor Harison Ford to Surprise the crowd and offer an assist. Ford played the Siar Wars character Han Solo. He hit the side of the ship and said “Peter, this one’s for you,” in honor of Peter Mayhew, the actor who played Chewbacca in five films and died in April.

Ford stood on stage with Hamil, Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger, Star Wars creator George Lucas, and Bily Dee Williams, who performed the part of Lando Calrissian in Star Wars.

Lucas created the Star Wars movie series in 1977 and sold it to Disney in 2012. He gave high praise to Galaxy’s Edge, which is set in Black Spire Outpost, a settlement on a planet called Batuu that appeared in “Star Wars” books but never in the film.

The Star Wars area offers visitors the chance to step into the Millennium Falcon’s cockpit and control a simulated flight. Guests can also drink blue milk, eat space meat cooked by a pod-racing engine and have a drink at an outer-space restaurant.

Expectations run high from generations of fans. Many of the movie series lovers have waited 40 years since the first film to visit a real-world version of the galaxy far, far away.

Disney also aims to appeal to a broad group of Star Wars lover s as well as people without any attachment to the futuristic series.