【推荐1】Climate change, pesticides and land use changes alone cannot fully explain the decline in insect populations in Germany. Scientists from the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (ICB) have now discovered that regions that have experienced a sharp decline in flying insects also have high levels of light pollution.

The biomass (生物量) of flying insects has decreased by more than 75 per cent — this alarming figure made front page news in autumn 2017. The study, published in 2017, analyzed trends in biomass of flying insects in selected protected areas within agricultural landscapes over the last 27 years, and concluded that changes of climate and habitat are to blame for the decline in insect populations. At the same time, they pointed out that these impacts alone are unable to explain this dramatic decline.

The scientists analyzed all recent studies on the effects of artificial light at night on insects, and found that there is strong evidence to suggest a credible link between light pollution and declines in insect populations. For example, flying insects are attracted by artificial light — and, at the same time, are removed from other ecosystems — and die from exhaustion or as easy prey.

A decline in insect populations in agricultural areas not only means a decline in species diversity, but also endangers important ecosystem services. Also, changes in the occurrence and behaviour of pests such as aphids or their enemies such as beetles and spiders can disturb the balance of this well-tuned system. Furthermore, artificial light at night may also have a direct impact on the growth and flowering time of plants, and therefore on yield.

The overview study shows that artificial light at night is widely present and can have complex impacts in agricultural areas, with unknown consequences for biodiversity and crop production. Thus, light pollution should be generally considered as a potential ecosystem disturbance in future studies to identify ways in which practical steps can be taken to reduce environmental concerns.

【推荐2】Hangzhou Asian Games are defined as a great success. For 16 days over 12,000 athletes from 45 countries and regions across Asia competed over 480 events, broke 13 world records and shared unforgettable moments in Hangzhou. It is worth mentioning that in this 19th edition of Asian Games break-dancing and e-sports made their debuts as official medal sports.

In Asia, e-sport games are more popular than traditional sport, making it the leading region for e-sports and, within Asia, China is undoubtedly the region leader as well as the largest e-sports market in the world, accounting for “34% of global industry income in that category, Asia combined takes 53%”, says Niko Partners in their market research reported by MIT Technology Review.

Within China, e-sports are run like any popular sport and have been for a long time: there are regional clubs, each with its home stadium; competitions featuring different levels of talent make it possible for the industry to evaluate the players (and also for the players to make a living); and in recent years, star players have even been marketed like celebrities, attracting crazy fan groups.

For the first time in history, the Asian Games included e-sports as medal-earning event, with over 20 countries competing in seven e-sport games making it the “highest-stakes mobile game match that’s ever been played” according to MIT Technology Review: “Of all the competitions taking place, e-sports is the only one in which arena(竞技场) tickets were sold on a lottery(抽签) basis because of skyrocketing demand. There were over 5 million lottery buyers for all the e-sports events; each had a 0.5% chance of getting a ticket.”

The reason for such popularity has been identified in the drive of the major Chinese tech companies promoting the rise of mobile gaming in China and making the e-sports more accessible to people who don’t have computers or consoles(游戏机). The popularity of e-sports is particularly intense among young people, for this reason brands like Disney or Nintendo are recruiting companies like Tencent to make their mobile games.

【推荐3】China’s fertility (生育) rate is on a downward trend and the average family size has been shrinking over the years, a senior official said on Saturday, calling for comprehensive measures to encourage marriage and childbearing.

Data shows that there was 2.62 people per family in China in 2020, down by 0.48 from 2010, according to Wang Pei’an, deputy director of the China Family Planning Association.

“Currently, the perspective on marriage and starting a family among young generations is changing, and the trend toward having smaller families is becoming more obvious,” he remarked at the third China Population and Development Forum held in Beijing.

The shift has resulted in delays in marriage, having children and even a resistance of such rituals, which he said is the primary reason for China’s declining fertility level.

A survey shows that women planned to have 1.64 babies in 2021, down from 1.76 in 2017. For people born in the 1990s and 2000s, their ideal number of babies was only 1.54 and 1.48 respectively.

Furthermore, the percentage of women who have no children over their lifetime increased from 6.1 percent in 2015 to 10 percent in 2020.

“A survey shows that less than 70 percent of women aged 35 and under agree that a life with children is complete,” he said, adding that given the low fertility rate in China, it would be extremely difficult to raise the fertility without strengthened efforts to foster a longing for marriage and family.

Wang suggested devoting more efforts to the promotion of getting married and having children at proper ages and sharing family responsibilities between men and women.

He also called for advancing flexible working hours, and developing nursery care and elderly care industries.

He added that a range of policies from household registration and employment rules to medical insurance and social security regulations should be geared toward “protecting marriages and families.”