The Asian Games was first held in 1951 in New Delhi, India, and has become one of the largest sporting events in the world. The 19th Asian Games began on September 23, 2023. Hangzhou became the third Chinese city to hold the sports event, following Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010.

Digital technology (数字技术) plays an important part in the opening ceremony (开幕式). For the first time at a large sports event, a digital torchbearer lit the main torch tower. Where did the digital person come from? In fact, it was a part of an online program (项目). The program, which started on June 15, called on people to take part in the torch relay on the Internet. The online platform was easy to use. People could pass on the torch just by shaking their mobile phones. More than 100 million people took part in the program. At the opening ceremony, these people turned their digital flames into a digital torchbearer. Dong Sijiao from Shaoxing City was one of the “online torchbearers”. The 79-year-old felt pleased with herself “The program was amazing. It could let me pass on my happiness to friends from all over the world,” she said.

With many people’s hard work, the green and smart Hangzhou Asia Games was a great success. It left lasting memories (记忆) for people around the world.

【推荐1】If you want to play soccer, there is one thing that you just can’t do without—the ball! the FIFA World Cup took place in Qatar. And the players use a new ball. It’s the fastest soccer ball ever!

Its name is AI Rihla, which means “the journey” in Arabic. The design comes from Qatar’s architecture (建筑) its flag and the sailboats (帆船) the country is famous for.

The faster speed of the ball comes from its new panel (拼块) shape and material. Its polyurethane (PU, 聚氨酯) skin has a new 20-piece panel shape. It makes the ball more stable (稳定的) in the air. Apart from that, the core of the ball is designed to help players pass and shoot more accurately, according to FIFA. Such a design comes from testing in labs, wind tunnels (风洞) and on soccer fields. As the first World Cup ball made with only water—based inks (墨) and glues, it is good for the environment, too!

There are other new technologies used in this World Cup. For example, there are AI referees (裁判) on the field. They use 12 cameras to closely track (追踪) the players’ movements to make judgments. There is also a sensor in the ball that can tell the AI references its exact location.

Although it’s winter, the temperature in Qatar can still be more than 20℃. To make players feel OK, the stadiums (场馆) use a special cooling system. It cools down different areas at different temperatures, since players may need cooler air than the audience (观众).

While the idea behind cloning (克隆) your dead pet sounds like something out of a sci-fi (科幻) novel, the technology is not actually all that new. Briefly speaking, cloning is to make a copy of any living things or a cell (细胞). It is always a hot topic of discussion among scientists and even ordinary people.

You must have heard of the famous sheep, Dolly. It was the first successful man-made cloning animal in 1984. But long before that, in 1958, F.C. Steward grew whole carrot plants from carrot root cells, which encouraged the idea that cloning from animals’ cells may be possible. After more than twenty years, in 2005, the first cloned (克隆) dog—Snuppy was born. It was a pet dog. And scientists were able to re-clone him and create four more “Snuppy” in 2017. While one of them died, the other three were all healthy.

Many people still share concerns about (担忧) cloning animals. They believe that cloning could cause health problems. The cloning company claims that cloned animals have even fewer chances to meet health problems than non-cloned animals. The cloning company hopes that the process will become more common and acceptable.

For pet owner, cloning their dead pets can deal with their sadness. But the cloning process is by no means a quick fix. “It is not a rebirth,” Rodriguez, the manager of a cloning company said. “It’s the memory of that original animal and I think that’s what our clients are hoping to get. I don’t think they want to replace that animal. They’re just looking to get a part of that animal back.”

However, not all people support the idea of cloning. They believe that if cloning is used for bad purpose, it surely will create great problems that we cannot imagine and lead to the destruction of humankind.

【推荐1】In the past, if doctors wanted to learn about the human body, they don’t have many choices: studying from books, or doing research on animals or plants. Well, time has changed. Now, there’s something new called 3D printing, and it’s making big changes in how doctors learn.

Last year, a research team from the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences invented hydrogel (水凝胶), a new material for 3D printing. As the “ink” for printing, hydrogel has helped the research team create 3D printed organs (器官), including the brain and heart. People found it hard to print the complex structures inside human organs before. It’s also hard to control the organs’ hardness (硬度). Luckily, this team has managed to make meaningful progress in these two aspects. ▲ . A doctor who tried these models said that he wouldn’t know they were not real if he was not told.

On the other hand, the research team had another problem to solve. Human organs have different textures (质地). For example, our brains are the softest. The team added special material to the hydrogel to create different textures for each organ. They also printed tiny holes and channels (通道) inside the organs. This will help medical students learn better. Compared to human organs and animal organs, 3D printed organs are also cheaper and more acceptable for medical students.

Apart from doing research, scientists are also working on 3D printed organs used in organ transplants (移植). Hydrogel cannot be used because the human body will fight against it. But scientists are looking for other materials that can grow inside the human body. Currently, a bladder (膀胱) has been successfully transplanted using 3D printing because it’s one of the simplest organs. Experts expect that this technology will help more patients within a few years, according to CNN.