【推荐2】Video glasses make people look cool in movies. Now, thanks to scientists, our life could be even cooler. Professor Babak Parviz of the University of Washington in the US and his team have created a kind of electronic contact lens (隐形眼镜), which could allow you to watch TV and see electronic documents and e-mails directly on your eye.

The new lens can be put onto your eye and taken away just like a common contact lens. It has several parts,including an LED light, an electronic circuit (电路) and an antenna (天线) that picks up power and information.

In order not to influence people’s normal field of vision (视野), the researchers have kept all the parts particularly small. Some parts are thousands of times thinner than a human hair.

Besides its size, another challenge the researchers face is that the human eye can only focus on (聚焦) things a few centimeters (cm) away. Anything too close to our eyes will become blurry. People can’t see the things near us clearly. To solve this problem, Parviz used a thin, special lens called a “Fresnel lens” to make things look bigger.

     ▲      In order to make people feel safe about the lens, researchers tested it in a rabbit’s eye and it turned out that it did not appear to cause any health problems.

According to Parviz, one day, people will be able to see all the information they need directly from their contact lens. We may even be able to zoom(变焦) in on far-away views when enjoying views outdoors.

Parviz is now also trying to develop medical uses for the lens. He is working on putting a blood sugar sensor(感应器) into it to pick up the patient’s blood sugar level and other important medical information.

【推荐3】When you do some running, you have a lot of energy which comes from the movement of your body. When you suddenly stop, your body loses this energy. We already have watches and small medical devises (设备) which can use energy that we make when we move. In the future, people like police officers and soldiers may wear devices on their legs to “catch” this lost energy and keep it in batteries (电池). They could use the power for computers, radios or other devices.

In December 2008, most people walking across Hachiko Square, Tokyo, probably did not notice four yellow squares on the road as they hurried to work. The squares were made of special materials that make electricity when they change shape. When people stood on the squares, the shape of the materials changed and they produced electricity. The squares were only there for twenty days, but in that time they produced enough power to make a TV work 1,400 hours! Imagine putting these squares under all the streets in Tokyo. One day, we may turn our streets into power stations!

We can also use body heat. Every day, 250,000 people use Stockholm’s Central Station. They eat and drink, carry heavy bags, and run to catch trains—and their bodies produce a lot of heat when they do these things. Inside the station, the heat is taken from the air and used to heat water for a nearby building.

It is a great way to get free energy—all you need is a lot of people.

【推荐1】Ancient art doesn’t have to be boring. Technology in the 21st century can help to bring it to life by combining(融合) the best of the old and the new.

Walking into the China Pavilion at Expo 2010 in Shanghai, people were amazed by seeing a huge digital(数码的) painting. Scientists digitized(数码化) the famous painting Along the River During the Qingming Festisal by Chinese artist Zhang Zeduan.

The original(原先的) painting shows life during the Northern Song period and it includes many details of ancient Chinese customs, lifestyles and technology.

           Farmers work in the fields, sailors move around their boats and people eat and do business in restaurants. Parts of the background are also animated(做成动画). You can see the wind blowing through the trees and across the water. These animations perfectly combine modern technology and ancient art.

Digital technology allows today’s artists to express their ideas in ways that ancient artists would not believe possible. Techniques such as animation and 3D digital projection(投影) make art come alive.

Dunhuang Caves, which are protected ancient treasures in the Gobi desert in Northwest China, are filled with paintings and sculptures with lasting value. This artwork was created over a period of around 1,000 years.

The good news is for art lovers who cannot travel and for the caves. Scientists have created a 360-degree, 3D digital projection of the caves, which makes the artwork come alive. There is also a function(功能) that lets viewers zoom in and enjoy the paintings and sculptures in greater detail.

Digitising ancient art allows us to explore the ancient practices. It also makes the whole world understand the art while protecting the original artworks for the future.

【推荐1】On November 15, 2022, the United Nations（UN）reported that the number of people on Earth had grown to eight billion（8,000,000,000）. That came just 11 years after the world reached seven billion people. The world faces challenges ahead as the population continues to grow.

The world’s population—the number of people on the planet—has grown rapidly over the last 200 years. In 1805, for the first time ever, the Earth had a billion people on it. It took over 100 years（in 1925）for that number to double（翻番）to two billion. In less than 50 years, it had doubled again to four billion. Now, again in less than 50 years, the number has doubled once more to eight billion.

How fast local populations are growing depends a lot on where you are in the world. Typically, as countries become richer, their population growth slows. In some countries, like Japan, the number of people is actually becoming smaller. The greatest population growth these days is found in Asia and Africa. Currently, China, with a population of 1.4 billion, is the country with the most people. That’s expected to change in the next year, when experts say India will pass China as the country with the world’s largest population.

As the population grows, the world faces the increased challenges of how to feed, educate, and meet the medical needs of everyone on the planet. This is not easy because populations are growing most quickly in poorer countries. One reason the world’s population is growing is that, in general, people are living longer than they used to. In some countries, this could present a challenge, with more and more older people, but fewer young people to support them.

All in all, even though the world’s population continue to grow, ▲ . It’s impossible to say exactly what will happen in the future, but the rate of growth is expected to keep slowing down. By 2050, the UN expects the Earth to have about 9.7 billion people. Experts say that by 2100, the planet’s population could level off at about 10.4 billion people.