【推荐3】Transport has a lot to answer for when it comes to harming the planet. While cars and trains are moving towards greener, electric power, emissions（排放）from air travel are expected to increase massively by 2050. If we want big green sky solutions, we need blue sky thinking. Fortunately, there's plenty of that happening right now, particularly the short - haul flights powered by batteries.

Harbour Air is the largest seaplane airline in North America, flying 30,000 commercial flights in 40 seaplanes each year. Significantly, all Harbour Air routes last less than 30 minutes, making it perfectly fit for electric engines. "As an airline, we're currently in the process of turning all our planes into electric airplanes. says CEO Greg McDougall. To make this happen, the airline has partnered up with MagniX to create the world's first commercial flight with an electric engine.

Making the skies electric isn't just good for the environment, it also makes sound financial sense： a small aircraft uses $ 400 on conventional fuel for a 100 - mile flight, while an electric one costs $ 8 12 for the same distance, and that's before you factor in the higher maintenance costs of a traditional engine. There's also the added bonus that electric planes are just much more pleasant to fly in. No loud engine noise, no smell of fuel, just environmentally friendly peace and quiet.

While there has been real progress in the e-plane industry, the technical challenges that remain are keeping everyone's feet firmly on the ground. A battery, even a lithium one, only provides 250 watt-hours per kilogram； compare this to liquid fuel, which has a specific energy of IL 890 watt-hours per kilogram. Carrying adequate batteries, however, would make the plane too heavy to get off the ground. In aircraft, where every bit of weight counts, this can't just be ignored.

The transition （过渡 ） from gas to electric in the automobile industry has been made easier by hybrids - vehicles powered by both fuel and electricity. Many believe the same pattern could be followed in the air. Fuel consumption could be reduced as the electric component is switched on at key parts of the journey, especially on take-off and landing.

It's certainly an exciting time for electric flying. With companies like Harbour Air taking the lead, battery-powered planes, especially on short-haul journeys, are set to become a reality in the next few years.

【推荐2】An international team led by scientists at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has recently developed the world’s first 3D artificial eye with capabilities that even outperform those of the human eyes, bringing vision to humanoid robots and new hope to patients with visual damage.

Scientists have spent decades trying to produce the exact copies of the structure and clarity of a biological eye, but vision provided by existing artificial eyes with external wires are still in poor resolution (分辨率) with 2D flat image sensors. The Electrochemical Eye (EC-Eye) developed at HKUST, however, may actually offer sharper vision than a human eye, with extra functions such as the ability to see things in darkness.

The key feature allowing such breakthroughs is a 3D artificial retina (视网膜), made of nanowire light sensors which are like the photoreceptor in human retinas. The scientists connected the nanowire light sensors to some liquid-metal wires serving as nerves behind the human-made retina during the experiment, and successfully carried out the visual signal transmission to reflect what the eye sees onto the computer screen. In the future, those nanowire light sensors could be directly connected to the nerves of the visually damaged patients. Apart from that, the artificial retina can receive more light signals and potentially attain a higher image resolution than human retina.

With further adjustment, the EC-Eye can be a self-powered image sensor, so there is no need for external power source, which will be much more user-friendly as compared with the current technology. “The current artificial eyes are still of no match to the human eyes. A new technology is in urgent need, and it gives me a strong motivation to start this unconventional project. In the next step, we plan to further improve the performance of our device. Animal and clinical trials are now being planned. I think if everything is on track, perhaps in five years, the technology will become practical,” said Prof. Fan, whose team has spent nine years to complete the current study.

【推荐3】Have you ever wondered how your favorite NBA team received its famous name? All NBA teams have an interesting story or a history behind their names. Some of the names reflected the city’s culture or history, some came from previous owners and many were selected through “Name the Team” contests.

For teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and the Utah Jazz, the names were not always a reflection of the city. Even though Los Angeles has few lakes, the Lakers name has been a city treasure for many years. Before going to Los Angeles, the team originated in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1947, team officials changed the name to the Lakers to reflect the Minnesota’s nickname, “Land of 10,000 Lakes”. The team name went unchanged after moving to Los Angeles in 1960.

Because the Utah’s team originated in New Orleans, Louisiana, it was called the Utah Jazz. In 1974, New Orleans club officials chose the name to represent the city for its reputation as the “Jazz Capital of the World”. The name stayed with the team even after they found a new home in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1979.

The original owner of the Chicago Bulls, Richard Klein, named the team the Bulls. He picked the name because a fighting bull is relentless and never quits. Klein, who founded the club in 1966, believed these qualities were necessary for a championship team and hoped his Chicago athletes would live up to the team name. The Bulls, the winner of the six NBA championships, has definitely followed the belief.

In 1967, the Indiana Pacers selected their team name in a different way from most other teams. Their decision was based on what they wanted to accomplish in the NBA. Team officials chose the Pacers name because the organization wanted to set the “pace” in professional basketball.