【推荐2】It’s not easy for disabled people to do what they want to do. But one day in the not-too-distant future, advanced versions of devices could make life easier for many such people. Take, for example, someone who has lost the use of his/her hand. That’s a problem more common than most people realize, says Kyu Jin Cho. He’s a mechanical engineer at Seoul National University in Korea. About 500,000 people end up in a wheelchair each year. Of those, around half also suffer injuries to their hands, Cho notes. And that number doesn’t include the people who suffer injuries just to their hands.

To deal with this, Cho and his team have designed a glove made from a flexible, rubberlike material. It has three fingers that fit over the wearer’s thumb, index finger and middle finger. Wires attached to those fingers can be moved by a small motor. The motor, controlled by a simple switch (开关), pulls on the wires to open and close the hand. The result is a glove that can help people hold objects tightly.

Cho’s group calls its invention the Exo-Glove Poly. Exo is from the Greek for “outside”. It refers to the fact that this glove is worn outside the user’s body. Poly, the Greek for “many”, refers to the fact that the glove’s rubberlike material is a polymer.

Other researchers have designed gloves that pick up nerve impulses (神经冲动) from a user’s arm muscles to help control a glove’s movements. But those earlier devices were relatively complex. If produced, they would be costly, notes Cho. People who have tested the Exo-Glove Poly like its simplicity, he says. Another benefit: It’s waterproof. That means users can wash their hands or clean dishes while wearing it. The glove also can be removed and washed when it gets dirty.

Often it takes years from when an engineer first has an idea to the time a useful product becomes available for sale. That delay can be especially frustrating when the device is intended to help someone who is disabled. But a new engineering competition might help speed innovations (新发明) from the lab to the people in need.

It is called Cybathlon. This is a contest for cyber-systems. This event is intended to promote new and more muscle-assisting research across medicine, robotics, engineering and chemistry. Now, Cybathlon is held every four years. But if it is successful, maybe it could be held every two years. Expanding the number of events would be very useful, says Cho. People have many sorts of disabilities, he notes. The more events there are, the more people that the competitors could eventually help.

【推荐3】Scientists based in Japan’s Osaka University have found a way to 3D print wagyu beef (the most expensive Japanese beef) in a lab — a step they believe will one day help make widely available and sustainably-produced cuts of cultured meat that closely resemble original products.

Using cells that they took from wagyu cows, the Japanese scientists set out to create a structure with the special feature seen in wagyu beef that makes it different from other cuts of beef. By isolating beef cells, the scientists organized how muscles, fat and other cells should be placed. The researchers then shaped these tissues (组织) into the form of a steak using a technique called 3D bioprinting (生物打印), where cell structures can be made to look like real tissues in living things. The researchers believe that the development could be a big step toward a sustainable future. Its origins from real meat also make it different from plant-based options.

“By improving this technology, it will be possible to not only reproduce complex meat structures, but also make subtle adjustments to the fat and muscle components,” Michiya Matsusaki, one of the project’s researchers, said excitedly in a statement. Michiya added that with these adjustments, more customers might one day be able to order a cultured cut of meat with the amount of fat they like, tailor-made to their tastes and health concerns.

Wagyu beef is known to be extremely expensive, with high-grade wagyu fetching prices of up to $200 per pound and adult cows selling for more than $30,000. In 2019, Japan’s wagyu exports reached a record high of $268.8 million in profits, up 20% from 2018.

While this might be the first cut of wagyu beef ever to be 3D-printed, other attempts have been made to bio-print steaks. In February this year, Aleph Farms and the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at the Israel Institute of Technology jointly bio-printed and cultivated a rib eye steak using real cow cells.

【推荐1】On Christmas Day, 2003, a woman named Nancy Sue Brown took her daughter and grandchildren to see a movie at an AMC theater. When the movie was over, the crowd made for the exits. A theater employee had just finished mopping the hallway and dutifully placed the “wet floor” sign in the slippery area. No one slipped due to the wet conditions, but someone did manage to knock over the sign. And by the time Ms. Brown got to the area, the sign was lying on the floor. And shortly thereafter, so was she. Her foot got caught in the sign, in a bad way, and she fell. Unfortunately Ms. Brown had undergone a back operation, and the fall caused more damage than it otherwise would have. So she and her husband accused AMC.

AMC argued that the entire point of the “wet floor” sign above was to warn of danger, and therefore, courts should encourage the use by not allowing Brown’s case to proceed(继续进行). AMC referred to a case about a December,1998 incident where a “wet floor” sign, not in use, fell to the floor causing another trip-and-fall. In that case, Georgia’s Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the store, but didn’t go so far as to say that “wet floor” signs couldn’t give rise to legal responsibility in trip-and-fall accidents. In the Brown case, the Supreme Court therefore rejected AMC’s argument that the former case applied.

But the Browns argued something surprising that the “wet floor” sign was, itself. dangerous, because “using this type of sign in areas passed by lots of customers creates an unreasonable risk of foreseeable harm to the public in the form of tripping risks.” That’s right- the safety sign, used in the way it was designed, was itself dangerous. The court thankfully didn’t accept that argument, at least not entirely. But it did conclude that Browns case could continue to a jury(陪审团)-“a merchant’s selection and use of equipment designed to warn customers of one danger that has the potential to expose them to a different one”.

【推荐2】Kleon Papadimitriou, a Greek student, had been stuck in Scotland, where he studies, with no way to return to Athens while flights were shut down. So he decided to take a bike.

He began researching what it would take to make the trip on two wheels. He once competed in a race in 2019 and was briefly trained for several weeks — but that was about all the biking experience he carried with him.

Initially, he thought the idea was more of a “dream”— an absolutely hard long journey. But soon he began purchasing the equipment he'd need. He purchased a bike, and told the news to his parents and friends.

Papadimiriou travelled anywhere between 35 and 75 miles per day, crossing initially through England and then onto the Netherlands. He biked along the Rhine in Germany for several days, passed through Austria and cycled down along the eastern coast of Italy before he took a boat to the Greek port of Patras.

Throughout his trip, he set up camp in fields and forests. He spent the last few moments of each day writing down his progress, tracking the next day's path and checking in with family and friends.

“It's just now dawning on me how big of an achievement this was.” Papadimitriou says of his 48-day journey. “And I did learn a lot of things about myself, about my limits, my strengths and my weaknesses. I really hope that the trip can inspire at least one more person to go out of their comfort zone and try something new, something big.”

【推荐3】The owner of a dog has received a message saying her dog would be killed unless she paid 1,000 pounds. Cathryn Hussain said her Christmas had been “a washout” of “sick” prank (恶作剧) calls about her dog.

Five days before Christmas, Waffle, a six-month-old labradoodle, was stolen in St Austell while the owner Cathryn took him for a walk in Belmont. Cathryn said she was approached by a male holding what she believed to be a knife. The suspect was dressed in black and spoke with a foreign accent.

Sergeant Steve White from Devon and Cornwall Police said: “The family of Waffle are very upset at the theft of their pet dog. All of the officers at the police station dealing with this crime also feel very sad for the family over what is a cruel and mean-spirited crime, especially during the Christmas period.” Officers have been checking local CCTV and making enquiries into the theft of Waffle.

Waffle still hasn’t been found. Police are trawling through lots of CCTV.

“We are all just a bit fed up of the prank calls that all seem to go through to my daughter’s phone. We received a text from someone saying they wanted 1, 000 pounds or Waffle would be beheaded.” Police have traced the person who was a male and not from Cornwall. “How dare someone use Waffle’s disappearance to make money. ”

“Christmas was difficult as I’ve got a five-year-old grandson so I had to force a smile for him. We haven’t told him exactly what happened to Waffle yet. Christmas really was a washout and was extremely upsetting for us. We just want Waffle to go home and things to go back to normal.”

【推荐2】An arts program is helping students at some of the lowest performing schools in the United States. The program, called Turnaround Arts, aims to help improve low performing schools by adding music and the arts to the usual study program.

Turnaround Arts was launched by Michelle Obama, the wife of former U.S President Barack Obama. Some money for the program comes from the federal government. For the students at participating schools, the program offers a kind of safe place from city neighborhoods. Many of the children come from areas with high crime rates.

Turnaround Arts is a partnership between the federal government and private businesses. Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary is one of the 68 schools in the U.S. participating in the program. Teachers receive special training and look for ways to add music and the arts into all the classes. Turnaround Arts schools partner with musicians and actors who work with the students. Performers have included Yo-Yo Ma, Sarah Jessica Parker, Elton John and Cameron Diaz.

School headmaster Long noted “The children were so excited and have been so excited because it’s not just about — ‘Go to the board. Do the problem. Turn the page. Read the book’; it’s about acting and imitating artists and historic figures.” She noted how some students got the chance to act out the process of a caterpillar (毛虫) becoming a butterfly. “I like to act and I like to sing and I like to dance,” said 10-year-old Kayla Driakare.

Long said that Turnaround Arts was only in its first year at the school, and teachers were already seeing results. “We’ve probably suspended(暂时停学) one kid this year. That’s amazing,” she said. “Parents are getting phone calls to come to family arts night, and it’s not just the naughty calls home. It’s for them to come and learn more about what their children are learning. So our parents’ engagement goes up.”

【推荐3】The evolution of fashion has changed our shopping habits. Fast fashion arrived, making stylish clothes more affordable. Then trend cycles sped up and shopping became a form of entertainment.

However, fast fashion now faces a bottleneck. With decreased sales volumes and competition from H&M, Zara and The Gap in the Chinese market, US clothing brand Forever 21 announced it will fully withdraw(撤退) from China.

Fast fashion may not be as popular as it once was, Discounts, clearance sales and closures clearly show that demand for fast fashion is getting worse. Research from Us-based fashion resale website Thredup points out that one in four women aged 18-25 plans to quit fast fashion in 2019. A major reason is to be more eco-friendly.

On the one hand the constant demand for clothing puts enormous stress on land and water resources. Farming cotton for clothing ruins the soil, and pesticides are overused. So are harmful dyes, It makes the fashion industry the second largest polluter of clean water.

On the other hand, fast production also means that more clothes are disposed( 处置)quickly, which creates a huge amount of waste. Old clothes go to landfills (填埋场), which will further increase the pollution of soil and water.

Fast fashion also puts incredible stress on workers. More than 1, 100 people died in a clothes factory collapse (崩溃)in Bangladesh six years ago. The collapse uncovered the bad situation of the workers. They worked overtime against their will. Some averaged up to 14 hours a day, making only $2(about 14 yuan). Furthermore, most of them were women with children to feed.

British designer Vivienne Westwood once said, “Buy less, choose well, make it last.” Buying is what makes the fashion world go round It's time to start questioning fast fashion and see the true cost of those cheap T-shirts.