3 . To much of the world, bullfighting has always been distinctly Iberian. But these days, parts of France are laying claim to this tradition. From the Cte Basque to the arenas of Arles and Beziers, it has spread to towns where bullfighting has long been banned, and been embraced with such enthusiasm you’d think the sport had been born there.

The rising passion for blood and sand has been resisted by animal-rights activists. Last month someone set off a bomb near the bullring in Carcassonne. Yet France’s enthusiasts fiercely defend their right to these moral rituals. Bullfighting, they insist, is part of the heritage, an expression of a shared regional culture that should be protected.

The rest of the Continent should take note. The paradox (自相矛盾) of an ever-more-united Europe is that as borders between member states become less important, so do the nations themselves-and regional identities are valued. It’s easy to forget that most European nation-states were created as we know them only during the 19th century, after a long series of bloody conflicts. “If the chances of war had been a little different, all the regions sharing bullfight might have been together,” argues Jean Michel Mariou, a huge fan of bullfighting. On both sides of the Pyrenees there are Basques, there are Catalans, there are common cultures, he says. “Bullfighting is only one expression of it.”

Bullfighting isn’t the only cultural tradition that has begun to go beyond borders, of course. To name but one other: the Celtic revival, built largely around musical groups along the coast of Ireland, Scotland and Cornwall, Brittany and Normandy. But while bagpipes (风笛) may stir the blood, they don’t spill it. And the violence of bullfighting horrifies many people who don’t feel they share in its culture.

“The concept of lasting local tradition doesn’t mean anything anymore,” says Josyane Wuerelle, coordinator of the Federation de Liasions Anti-Corrida in Agde. Bullfighting is about attracting tourists, not honoring local history, she argues. Robert Marge doesn’t see it that way, of course. He recently declined an invitation to organize a bullfighting in Paris’s enormous Stade de France. “We didn’t want to sell our souls by bringing bullfight to a region where it doesn’t exist,” he explains. But he has also got the sense to know that some traditions don’t travel well.

4 . This 3-mile stretch of sand and tide pools beneath a castle of 80-foot cliffs is a California tourism poster if there ever was one. Nothing disturbs the perfect, sunny view, except — once you’re aware of them — microplastic particles (颗粒). But you have to look close-on-your-hands-and-knees close-to see one. And once you do, you see another and another — so many that you may not think of this, or any beach, the same way again. These tiny preproduction plastic balls that manufacturers (生产商) melt down to form everything have been escaping factories, container ships, trains, trucks — and public notice — for decades.

The 2- to 3-millimeter, multicolored balls are a subset (子集) of microplastic-plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in size. Microplastic particles accumulate where water takes them, and they’ve been found on shorelines of every continent.

Dr McReynolds is an environmental scientist who’s now joined a global movement studying their trail into the environment. Establishing a baseline count of the presence of microplastic particles — and, more broadly, any microplastics — is the focus of Dr McReynolds’ scientific study here. Charting the count, noting tide, current, and weather conditions will show if amounts are increasing, and perhaps at what rate and why. That knowledge, he says, can inform solutions to plastic pollution such as regulation of their use.

“What are you doing? Picking up trash?” asks a steady stream of beach walkers whenever Dr McReynolds’ crew walks onto the beach and sets up equipment. These are teachable moments for Dr McReynolds.

One recent morning he told some beach walkers how microplastic particles are believed to absorb toxic chemicals, and — because they resemble fish eggs — are eaten by fish and birds and enter the food chain. Almost right on time, a seagull hopped up to a plastic-coated photo of microplastic particles and hungrily pecked (啄食) at it.

Will his work help save the world? Dr McReynolds waves a finger at that idea, “I won’t ever use that word — I won’t save the world from this pollution problem. Preserve it, yes. We want to take care of it.”

7 . “Bike buses”—adult-led group bike rides to school — are taking over neighborhoods. Many families are abandoning cars and starting a sweatier morning ride with friends, biking in organized groups led by grown-up volunteers. The effort is a call to fight against climate change, encourage exercise and reduce school drop-off traffic. And both parents and kids say it just makes the children happier.

Minneapolis dad devil Olson organized a bike bus for his local school zone. Olson says cycling create connectivity between all walks of life.

Six years ago, Olson partnered with Minneapolis Public Schools to run a 2- mile bike bus that dropped off students at two elementary schools. So far, Olson has led 11 semi-annual bike buses that have grown from about 60 participants to nearly 150. “We meet at 8 am. To play soccer and football, and eat do nuts,” said Olson. “Then we review safety measures and start our ride. It’s nothing but laughing, shouting and pure joy.”

The group makes about eight stops along the way to pick up children, many of whom are accompanied by parents. “We want kids to celebrate going to school,” explained Olson, adding that the kids who participate enjoy opportunities to communicate with students in different graded.

In San Francisco, lake Bornheimer co-runs SF Bike Bus, which organized city-wide school routes, with the goal of inspiring people around the country to start bike buses. “Our first 3- mile ride included more than 100 kids, families, and adults in one trip to school,” said Bornheimer. The bike bus experience has reassured parents who were otherwise nervous about their children biking around traffic. “Our hope is to create a bike bus for every school in San Francisco,” he said.

9 . For much of human history, ethical (道德的) behavior has been guided by the Golden Rule: do to others as you would have them do to you. But the rule is imperfect. What you want in a given situation may not be what another person desires at all.

In the medical field, making or influencing choices for others can make all the difference. Such choices impact people’s quality of life and even their chances of survival. As health care becomes more individualized, the time seems right for a new ethical guideline—the “platinum (白金) rule” proposed by professor Harvey Max Chochinov: do to others as they would want done to themselves.

Chochinov describes this principle in his essay published last year. He begins with a story about a health crisis affecting his sister Ellen, who was severely disabled. The care doctor, after seeing her twisted (扭曲的) body, was weighing whether to insert a breathing tube when he asked Chochinov a strange question: Did Ellen read magazines? “The question was frightening.” Chochinov writes, “this was not an attempt to get to know Ellen … but rather a way to decide if hers was a life worth saving.” Ellen read widely and enjoyed many simple pleasures of life, but the gap between her life as a person who uses a wheelchair and the doctor’s sense of what he would want in her situation was too vast to be bridged by the Golden Rule. “That’s when judging from where you stand what another might need or want begins to break down,” Chochinov explained.

Time is a limited resource in the health-care system, and there’s no denying that getting to know a patient as an individual means investing additional minutes or hours. Still, Chochinov believes such investment is cost-effective. There are benefits for doctors as well. “When they emotionally connect to their patients, they do a better job.”

In certain cases, doctors may find it hard to apply the platinum rule. But there is value in the effort: at the very least, their trying to work through it will ensure that they have sufficient modesty about the wisdom of their choices.

10 . By 2050, 68% of the global population will live in cities. That’s 2.5 billion more people than today. In Europe, three out of four of us already live in urban areas, and the consequences of that are becoming clear. Researchers estimate that nine million people die every year as a direct result of air pollution. As our cities grow and more people move into already crowded spaces, what do we need to do to transform our urban areas into healthy places to live? An increasing body of research tells us that we should be letting nature back in.

Green spaces in cities mitigate the effects of pollution and can reduce a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect, which refers to heat trapped in built-up areas. The effect appears in towns and cities where the heat generated by people, transport and industry is trapped in the narrow roads and concrete structures, unable to escape to the atmosphere. This can bring the temperature in urban areas up 3 — 4°C higher than the surrounding countryside, and with that comes a severe cycle. Increased temperatures in summer lead to an increased demand for cooling. This expands our energy consumption, which in turn build up fossil fuel consumption, increasing pollutants in the air and harmful smog on our streets.

Planning cities to include green spaces wherever possible is the first step in making our urban areas healthier. For example, adding a layer of vegetation to rooftops and creating green roofs has proven to reduce the urban heat island effect. Trees in our streets also play their part, and a variety of tree species can have a profound effect. Simply having access to green spaces in cities can do wonders for our stress levels and concentration at work. “People need to interact with nature whenever the opportunity arises. Something as simple as a five-to-ten-minute break during the workday can improve well-being and boost productivity,” Cecil, an expert studying nature in cities says.