【推荐1】One summer night, the whole family of Irene was asleep with the windows open. It was very quiet when there was a loud noise from the stable(马厩）.Irene woke up from her sweet dream,and the noise continued.Then she heard a horse running fast towards the house.The next thing she saw was her horse,Thunder,standing outside of her window,neighing(嘶叫） and shaking his head.She knew something was wrong.Irene quickly got everyone out of the house before the earthquake hit.Thunder saved her life.

As amazing as this story is,it is not as uncommon as you may hear of the story of Doris and her cat Maggie.One night,Doris was in a deep sleep when she was woken by her cat Maggie.Maggie was meowing wildly outside Doris's bedroom and throwing herself against the closed bedroom door.When Doris opened her eyes,she saw her bedroom full of smoke.As she escaped her house,she saw a fire was burning in her kitchen.Even though Maggie could have escaped the house through a cat door,she wouldn't leave Doris.

There are also stories of wild animals coming to the rescue of humans.Once,Lyndon was surfing with his friend when he was attacked by a four-meter shark.During the attack,a group of dolphins came to his rescue by forming protective ring around Lyndon until be could get safely to shore.Without the help of the dolphins,there is little chance that Lyndon could have escaped.

No one is sure why animals have so often come to our rescue.However,it is clear that most of us haven't realized their kindness.It is important that we care for them as much as we can.

【推荐2】The sixth mass extinction of life on the Earth is unfolding more quickly than feared, scientists have warned. More than 30 percent of animals with a backbone — fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals — are declining in both range and population, according to the first comprehensive analysis of these trends.

Around a decade ago, experts feared that a new range wipeout of species was appearing. Today, most agree that it is underway — but the new study suggests that the die-out is already growing fast.

The loss of biodiversity has recently accelerated. Several species of mammals that were relatively safe one or two decades ago are now endangered, including cheetahs, lions and giraffes, the study showed.

There is no mystery as to why: our own ever-expanding species — which has more than doubled in number since 1960 to 7.4 billion — is eating, crowding and polluting its planetary cohabitants out of existence. By comparison, there are as few as 20,000 lions left in the wild, less than 7,000 cheetahs, 500 to 1,000 giant pandas.

The main drivers of wildlife decline are habitat loss, over-consumption, pollution, other species, disease, as well as hunting in the case of tigers, elephants, rhinos and other large animals prized for their body parts.

Climate change is thought to become a major threat in the coming decades, with some animals — most famously polar bears — already in decline due to rising temperatures and changing weather patterns.

【推荐3】A little social support from your best friends goes a long way, whether you‘re a human or a chimp (黑猩猩). A new study that followed a chimp community in the forests of Uganda has found that quality time with close companions significantly decreased stress hormone (荷尔蒙) levels—whether they were resting, cleaning or facing off against enemies.

Researchers have long known that stress can worsen health and raise the risk of early death in humans as well as other social mammals. “It can have effects on immune function, cognition, and even your mood,” said study co-author Kevin Langergraber, a scientist at Arizona State University.

Maintaining close social bonds can help these animals reduce some of that stress, potentially reducing some health risks. But scientists have yet to work out how. “Social bonds make you survive and produce better—but how do they do that？”Langergraber said.

To find out, the international team of researchers studied members of a chimp community in Uganda‘s Budongo Forest, a group of 15 males, 35 females and 28 young chimps. Like humans, chimps tend to have besties—bond partners with whom they appear to feel close. The researchers wanted to see whether interactions with these bond partners led to lower stress levels during particularly stressful situations, such as when fighting enemies, or whether time spent with friends helped lower stress levels more generally, throughout the day.

The scientists observed the chimps perform three types of activities: resting, cleaning or fighting with other groups of chimps. The researchers kept track of whether the chimps were doing any of these three things with their bond partners or with other chimps in their group.

A team of up to six observers watched the chimps and followed them around to collect urine(尿液) samples. The samples, collected from nine adult male and eight adult female chimps, were tested to see how much of the stress hormone they contained.

The scientists found that chimps‘ levels were 23% lower, on average, during the activities when they were with their bond partner. This was especially true for stressful activities, such as the intergroup rivalries, where any chimp on the front line might face physical harm or even death.

The findings in chimps, some of our closest living relatives, could shed light on the role such close social relationships play in human health too, he said. Such friendships may be just as important during good times as bad—though more research needs to be done before any conclusions can be drawn.

【推荐1】Coral reefs (珊瑚礁) as underwater walls can help reduce the effects of hurricanes on coastal communities. This seems unbelievable. It is reported that scientists have discovered that coral reefs are even more effective than man-made sea walls under the water. However, coral reefs are especially easy to be influenced by climate change. Overfishing and pollution have also proved very dangerous to them. Since 1950, half of the world’s coral reefs have already been lost. To protect our communities and keep sea ecosystems alive, we need to protect coral reefs right away.

Let’s take a closer look at how coral reefs protect us from floods, and how scientists are 1restoring (修复) reefs.

The roles that coral reefs play as underwater walls have long been recorded by scientists. During a Category 3 hurricane in 2015 in Australia, the coral reefs effectively protected the eastern shoreline from flooding. In contrast, the western coasts without coral reefs suffered serious damage. The researchers observed that the shape of coral reefs can break the approaching waves. More recently, researchers at the University of Miami have reached the same conclusion. They used a special lab simulator (模拟装置) to recreate ocean conditions during a Category 5 hurricane. They found that coral reefs could reduce the impact of waves by up to 95 percent!

Because of higher ocean acidity (酸性) and temperature, coral reefs are disappearing and dying out. At the same time, climate change puts weakened coral reefs under more stress. The University of Miami researchers are testing to plant new coral reefs while others are actively looking for effective methods to reduce the acidity of sea water. The governments have also paid more attention to these actions and provided enough money for reef restoration. With these efforts, we may address climate threats to coral reefs and they can carry on protecting our communities.

【推荐2】Erhai Lake is the second largest freshwater lake in Dali City, Yunnan Province. It’s a famous attraction, as well as Dali’s main source of drinking water.

The lake used to be seriously polluted due to the rapid development of tourism and the local economy. In 2019, the local authorities began to build environmental protection system for the lake — the Erhai Lake Ecological Corridor — to protect it from being polluted and to restore its natural ecosystem.

The project contains five parts: a 129-km road encircling the entire lake, a pipe system to stop wastewater flowing into the lake, the relocation of 1,806 households who lived within the protection area of the lake, the restoration of the lake’s wetlands and ecosystem, and the construction of experimental fields for wetland-restoration research.

By the end of 2020, the road encircling the lake had been basically completed. A 12-km section of the corridor has been open to the public for free since September 2020 for a test operation. The project, which is a public-private partnership, has a total investment of 9.8 billion yuan. Local authorities of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture and Dali City are the main source of public funds. The corridor is described as a “pearl necklace” surrounding the lake, with the villages located along the shore of Erhai Lake being the “pearls”. These villages will benefit from the project economically, as they will be linked and gain access to enhanced transportation and tourism around the lake.

According to staff members of the project, the lake’s water quality has already improved a lot during the construction of the corridor. More migratory birds (候鸟) fly to the lake and there is less algae (海藻) in the water. It also provides a good place to exercise and go sightseeing for both the city’s residents and tourists.

【推荐3】STA Travel, the world’s largest students and youth travel agency, beats any price! Every day we’re working with our partners around the world to get you (students, teachers and anyone under 26) the cheapest and most comfortable fights and accommodations. This part of www.statravel.com provides great tips for green travel—how to pack, how to leave your house or apartment, and how to plan for your trips. You’ll also find a great number of green travel adventure (探险) trips to all comers of the world.

Green travel means responsible travel! Leave as little influence as possible on the places you visit and protect the environment both at home and during your trip. Think “Green” when you pack and when you travel. You’ll help prevent long-term effects on the communities you leave and visit!

Before you leave

◆Turn your water heater to its lowest setting.

◆Turn off your water from the outside.

◆Pack suitable clothes in your luggage, none of which is to harm the environment.

While you travel

◆Try products made from recycled materials.

◆Don’t buy souvenirs produced from endangered species (物种).

◆Carry a reusable bottle for water and refill it as you go.

◆Use the bathroom in the airport, NOT on the plane. The fuel used for a single flush (冲洗) could run a car for six miles.

【推荐1】Regardless of whether or not you are young, there are particular habits that give away your true age. Like falling asleep on the very thought of a second glass of wine, some issues simply sign to the world that you are just over 40. Now, a brand-new study reveals that there is one factor you do along with your smartphone that reveals your age: turning to a PIN(personal identification number) to unlock your telephone rather than a fingerprint or facial recognition means you are of an older technology.

The study, carried out by researchers on the University of British Columbia, explored the links between age and smartphone use by remotely monitoring smartphone customers' habits. “As researchers working to protect smartphones from illegal access, we need to first understand how users use their devices,” defined Konstantin Beznosov, a professor involved in the research.

To get more information, the researchers selected 134 volunteers, ranging in age from 19 to 63, and had them set up a tailored app to their Android telephones for two months. The app recorded all of their lock and unlock occasions, together with whether or not they choose auto or guide lock, and the actions of the telephone on the time of unlocking. This is how they found the generational variations in unlocking habits.

The researchers additionally collected information on the size of consumer periods. The staff discovered that along with an individual's most popular technique for unlocking their telephones, the period of time spent on the telephone additionally related with age.

As one report on the study explains “Study showed that older users used their phone less frequently than younger users. For every10-year- interval in age, accordingly there was a 25 per cent decrease in the number of user sessions. In other words, a 25-year-old might use their phone 20 times a day, but a 35-year-old might use it only 15 times.”

So, in case you unlock your smartphone by hand, you may chalk it as much as a generational desire.