【推荐2】Rising baseball stars

Aaron Judge

New York Yankees, outfielder

Aaron Judge’s power has made him one of the top promising young players in the majors. He still needs to cut down on his strikeouts (三击未中出局), but the Yankees think he is worth the wait.

“He obviously struggled with the strikeouts,” says Brian Cashman, Yankees general manager. “Part of the process was to get him up here and get the growing pains out of the way and speed up the adjustment process.”

Dansby Swanson

Atlanta Braves. shortstop

When you watch Dansby Swanson play, it’s easy to forget the 22-year-old stated last season in the minor leagues. His performance was so good that he was chosen for the 2020 All-Star Futures Game, a showcase of the best minor-league players. Last August, the Braves called him up to the major. Speed and flexibility was what the team wanted. And that’s exactly what Swanson provided as he finished out this season playing like a high-level player.

Alex Bregman

Houston Astros, third baseman

Imagine playing one position in the minor leagues and then finally getting called up to the majors, only to be told you’ll be in a position you’ve rarely played. That’s exactly what happened to Alex Bregman when he switched from shortstop to third base last season.

Astrons manager A. J. Hinch says Bregman’s competitive spirit and unselfishness made the position switch easy for this young man.

Julio Urias

Los Angler Dodgers, pitcher (投手)

When 20-yearold Julio Urias started Came 4 of the National League Championship Series last full against the Chicago Cubs, he was the youngest pitcher to start a playoff (季后赛) game in Major League Baseball (MLB) history.

“His biggest improvement has been fastball command,” says Gabe Kapler, director of player development for the Dodgers. “He in very clever and understands what he has to do to be successful.”

【推荐1】As we sip our coffee and read the daily headlines, climate changes can seem like a distant threat. But travel a few thousands miles to the source of your caffeine fix, and the threat is all too real.

The coffee farmers are now seeing violent downpours that drown their plants in Mexico, where the climate used to be stable and mild, but the temperature now see-saws between extreme cold and heat, which greatly affects their harvest. Unfortunately, farmers across South America, Asia and Africa are also watching coffee plants decrease as droughts and downpours attack their crops as a result of global warming. The consequences of all this could soon work their way through the pipeline to your local coffee shop.

The problem arises, in part, from refinement (改进) of our taste. Two main breeds of commercial coffee Arabica and Robusta gain special reputation. The former is by far the world’s favourite, accounting for about 70% of the coffee we drink. However, the Arabica plants have been bred from a very small stock taken from the mountains of Ethiopia-giving it very little genetic diversity and making it particularly difficult to adapt to climate change. Besides, the plant grows best between a very narrow range of relatively mild temperatures (18 to 22℃ ) and needs gentle, regular rainfall. The delicate Arabica plants just can’t cope with the new and unpredictable conditions that come with global warming.

All of these paint a depressing picture for the future. Researchers predict that the land suited to farming Arabica could drop by as much as 50% by 2050. Classic coffee-producing region, such as Vietnam, India and most of Central America, will be hit particularly hard. Some of the farmers feel that the subject has almost become taboo, “We talk very little about climate. We already know how it is—and that there is nothing we can do.”

【推荐2】It has long been known that plants communicate when they are stressed. You need only observe a houseplant to realize that a plant wilts (枯萎) when it needs water. Some plants may also emit a terrible taste to prevent some insects from hurting them.

Now, a new study that was conducted by researchers at Tel Aviv University, shows that not only do plants express themselves in the above ways when stressed, they also make sounds, like talking.

According to the researchers, plants make sounds at frequencies (频率) between 40 to 80 KHZ — out of the range of human ears — but within the range of some animals. “Bats make sounds in these ranges all the time, and mice, dogs and cats can partially hear within it,” Dr. Lilach Hadany, a Professor at Tel Aviv University, and one of the authors of the study said.

One of the primary breakthroughs (突破) of Hadany’s study is that the researchers have managed to understand and classify the sounds that plants make for the first time. Plants that are not stressed make about one noise per hour, but plants that are stressed or injured make many hundreds of sounds per hour. And each of these sounds seemed to be specific to the type of stress the plant was under.

This type of information could be important for agriculture. Knowing what sounds their plants are making could help farmers determine whether their crops are in danger of drought or disease and allow them to make the necessary changes to help their plants.

Amazingly enough, the researchers are not actually sure how the plants make sounds. But anyway, the discovery is still a game-changer for plant science, and potentially for the future of agriculture. One day soon your plants may be able to tell you if they are hungry, thirsty, or just feeling lonely.

【推荐3】Bottle gardens are loved by many people. What’s a bottle garden? A bottle garden is exactly what it sounds like: a tiny garden planted in an object like a bottle._     1    According to professionals, the oldest bottle garden in the world was first created in 1960.

    2    There are several characteristics that make a bottle garden fun to own and great to create. Whether you’re short on outdoor gardening space or just want an eye-catching indoor garden, bottle gardens are a great way to grow many of your favorite plants. Moreover, they help recycle (回收利用) bottles and are easy to create.

By following some tips, you’ll have your bottle garden planted and thriving (茁壮成长) in no time. The first step in creating a bottle garden is selecting (挑选) the bottle. Clear bottles can allow the most sunlight to enter.     3    

Then you should keep in mind that bottles with openings big enough to fit your hand through can make planting easier.     4     Likewise, you could choose a bottle and simply cut an opening for your plants to fit in. If you choose to reuse a bottle, wash it completely before adding plants.

When the bottle is ready, put inside some rich soil and plants suitable for a bottle garden. Once you grow the plants in the way you like, remember to place your bottle in a bright space which won’t have direct sunlight. East-facing windows often work well for this purpose.     5    Then you’ll just need to water them and watch out for signs of disease or crowding inside the bottle.