3 . Range anxiety(里程焦虑), the fear of running out of power before being able to recharge an electric vehicle, may be a thing of the past, according to a team of Penn State engineers who are looking at lithium iron phosphate batteries(磷酸铁锂电池) that have a range of 250 miles with the ability to charge in 10 minutes.

“We developed a pretty clever battery for mass-market electric vehicles,” said Chao-Yang Wang, a professor and director of the Electrochemical Engine Center at Penn State. “There is no more range anxiety and this battery is affordable”. The researchers also say that the battery should be good for 2 million miles in its lifetime.

They report today in Nature Energy that the key to long-life and rapid recharging is the battery’s ability to quickly heat up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, for charge and discharge, and then cool down when the battery is not working.

The battery uses a self-heating approach previously developed in Wang’s center. The self-heating battery uses a thin nickel foil(镍箔) with one end attached to the negative terminal and the other extending outside the cell to create a third terminal. Once electrons flow it rapidly heats up the nickel foil through resistance heating and warm the inside of the battery. Once the battery’s internal temperature is 140 degrees F, the switch opens and the battery is ready for rapid charge or discharge.

“This battery has slenderized weight, volume and cost,” said Wang. “I am very happy that we finally found a battery that will benefit the mainstream consumer mass market.” According to Wang, these smaller batteries can produce a large amount of power upon heating—40 kilowatt hours and 300 kilowatts of power. An electric vehicle with this battery could go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3 seconds and would drive like a Porsche, he said. “This is how we are going to change the environment and not contribute to just the luxury cars,” said Wang. “Let everyone afford electric vehicles.”

4 . Linguist Nicholas Evans had heard the Kaiadilt people, an Aboriginal(澳洲土著的) group in Northern Australia, say “malji” on the beach many times. He knew the term meant “schools of mullet” and “holes of a fishing net”, but they would say it even when pointing at empty water. It wasn’t until he saw a local artist’s painting of malji that he realized the word also convey other meanings. This is never a rare occurrence in Australia.

The Kaiadilt’s native Kayardild vocabulary, as with many small remote cultures, got weakened by Europeans who conquered the area. Take Australia for example, as Kayardild and other Aboriginal tongues faded under British rule, the communities lost the ability to pass on their understanding of natural patterns and island ecology. In modern history, the tongue has never had more than a few hundred speakers. Today, according to UNESCO, approximately 40 percent of the world’s 7,000 languages are at risk of disappearing in the next century or two. Losing them means letting go of ancient knowledge about little-known places reflected within the words. “Each language holds clues that help us understand all people, but you don’t know until you look,” says Evans.

From a global perspective, anthropologist(人类学家) can study the evolution of speech patterns to help fill in our history. They can see how people moved across islands and discover when technologies like “canoes” came out by tracking the appearance of sailing terms.

On the individual level, working to save tongues offers a way to get back identity and share cultural pride. That’s been the case in Hawaii, where immersion schools(沉浸式学校) run jointly by Native Hawaiians and the state government helped the number of olelo-fluent speakers jump from a few dozen to 24,000 between 1985 and 2010. Elsewhere, international groups like the Endangered Language Fund are helping Aboriginal scholars launch their own campaigns. Each word they save makes the human experience complete.

5 . It was a cold and dark November morning several years ago. My alarm clock had just gone off but I was having trouble getting out of bed. My Dad had died a few weeks before and I found myself just going through sadness and depression. I didn't feel ready to go on without him.

My Day had been my hero growing up. He had worked so hard all of his life to provide for us. He had a temper and would sometimes yell at me and my brothers, but he also had a kindness and gentle laugh that he would share with us as well. I always knew that he loved me. Still, he had been raised in an old fashioned way and raised us that way too. I couldn't remember ever being hugged by him after I reached a certain age.

After my granny passed away, his health began to rapidly fail and within a few months brain cancer had taken him from us. I remember thinking what I would have given for just one last hug from him.

I sighed and got out of bed. I turned on the lights and walked into the hallway. I saw my son Jones walking down the hall to meet me. Suddenly, he opened his arms and gave me a huge. And just as he did I heard my Dad's voice deep inside of me say, "Joey, this hug is from me!" I cried and smiled at the same time. At that moment, in the place where heart, mind, and spirit all meet I felt loved. I felt loved by Dad. And I knew that I couldn't give up on life. I still had a lot of things left to do and a lot of love left to, share.

6 . While known for its Pacific Ocean beaches and fashionable coastal towns, the Golden State is also home to many new and clean lakes where visitors can soak up the sun and cool off.

Shasta Lake

Shasta Lake is the largest reservoir in California at 30. 000 acres wide. The Lake is in Northern California and is a three and a half-hour drive from Los Angeles. With 370 miles of shoreline,   it's no surprise that renting a houseboat is a popular activity. Depending on their location ,   visitors can enjoy the view of Mt. Shasta, which has snow on its peak year-round.

Big Bear Lake

Big Bear Lake is another great option for those wanting to take a day trip from Los Angeles. It takes only two hours to drive there from downtown Los Angeles. Animal lovers can stop by the Big Bear Alpine Zoo to get an up-close look at the lake's namesake (同名物). The lake also has many hiking and biking trails,   along with plenty of fishing spots.

Lake Havasu

Lake Havasu is divided along the border of California and Arizona and is an oasis (绿洲)in the desert. It's a five-hour drive from Los Angeles and a two and a half hour drive from Las Vegas. Visitors can fish or go boating on the lake that was formed from the Colorado River.

Mono Lake

Mono Lake is located in the Sierra Nevada mountains and spans more than 70 miles. It's a five-hour drive from either Los Angeles or San Francisco. Visitors into fishing should head to a different lake because this body of water does not have any fish. It's a salty lake, which means that it's filled with saltwater and is two to three times saltier than the ocean.

7 . In the 1994 film Forrest Gump, there's a famous saying, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get. The surprise is part of the fun. Now blind box toys（盲盒)are bringing the magic of surprise to online shopping.

A blind box toy is hidden inside similar boxes but invisible from the outside. You don't know what will be inside, although the toys typically come from pop culture, ranging from movies to comics and cartoons.

Blind boxes have become popular since they were first introduced from Japan to China in 2014. According to a 2019 Tmall report, the mini-series of Labubu blind box designed by Hong Kong-born Kasing Lung, was named Champion of Unit Sales with 55, 000 sold in just 9 seconds during the Singles Day shopping event. Most customers for blind boxes are young people aged 18 to 35.

According to The Paper, blind box toys are popular in part because of their cute appearances. The typically cute cartoon figures(人物)come in small sizes, making them suitable for display almost anywhere.

Even if blind boxes are not their top choice for decorations, the mystery and uncertainty of the process also attracts people. It's the main reason why people buy blind boxes one after another.

"Expecting the unknown is always a part of the box-opening process," said Miss Cao, 24, who lives and works in Shenyang. Speaking to Sina News, she said: "Until you open all the boxes, you cannot know what it is inside."

Opening a blind box is a delightful little surprise for our mundane daily lives, something small but fun to wait for each day, week or month. When people open this simple little box, they may be disappointed, but the uncertainty is part of the fun. People will open more blind boxes and hope for a better outcome.

When someone re-makes Forrest Gump, don't be surprised if he says, "Life is like a blind box."

8 . Gitanjali Rao, a teenager who invented a mobile device to test for lead(铅)in drinking water, is Time's Kid of the Year for 2020. The magazine announced the award Thursday, indicating Rao's ability to apply scientific ideas to real-world problems and her desire to motivate other kids to take up their own causes.

It's just the latest recognition for Rao, 15, who was named last year to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list(福布斯30岁以下青年才俊榜).She won praise in 2017 after she created a device named Tehys, using carbon nanotube sensors to detect lead in water. She was named America's Top Young Scientist when she was in the seventh grade. She went on to collaborate with scientists in the water industry to try to get the device on the market.

More recently , Rao has developed a phone and Web tool named Kindly, which uses artificial intelligence technology to detect possible early signs of cyberbullying(网络欺凌).

Rao was chosen in part because of the way she has followed up her technical work with efforts to get other young people to work on solving the problems they see. "I don't look like the typical scientist. Everything I see on TV is that it's an older, usually white man as a scientist,” she said. “My goal has really shifted not only from creating my own devices to solve the world's problems, but inspiring others to do the same as well. Because, from personal experience, it's not easy when you don't see anyone else like you. So I really want to put out that message: If I can do it, you can do it. and anyone can do it.”

9 . If there were an app on your phone that could improve your memory, would you try it? Who wouldn't want a better memory? After all, our memory can be easily damaged by diseases, injuries, mental health conditions and, most particularly for all of us, aging.

Nowadays, there are a large number of apps that provide memory training on our phones. Can they help you remember to take medicine, do better on a school exam, remember the name of the person whom you met yesterday? Some scientists question whether this is possible. Undoubtedly, many of the brain training companies today exaggerate the potential benefits of using their apps.

Scientists have provided evidence that brain training does not benefit everyone in the same way. It is suggested that little consideration has been given to who would benefit most from those brain training apps. Will it only be those who have some form of memory impairment（缺陷），or can it also help those eager for self-improvement even though they are already functioning very well?

To overcome these limitations, our team has started a new study aiming to find 30,000 volunteers to help us determine which form of training may be best for individuals. Our goal is to avoid a one — size — fits — all approach. Instead of focusing on the simple question of whether brain training works, we are looking to engage the whole population in a new challenge to test for whom brain training works, and under which conditions.

10 . The human brain remembers negative experiences more easily than positive ones. Our brains have developed in this way because threats, like dangerous animal, have a more immediate effect on people's survival compared to positive things like food or shelter. As a result, you clearly know what makes you unhappy, but do you know what makes you happy?

Research suggests that our level of happiness is partly shaped by the choices we make. If you've been chasing wealth, fame, power and some material things, you may be looking for happiness in the wrong places. Psychologists suggest that the following habits can make people happier.

People who own close relationships tend to be happier than those who do not. The number of our friends is not important. What matters is the quality of our relationships. Relationships that bring happiness usually consist of the sharing of feelings, acceptance, mutual respect and trust.

People who exercise regularly can improve both their physical and mental well-being. Some research has shown that exercise can be as effective as some medicine in treating depression.

If we are so interested in an activity, we may lose track of time, and we can be in a state of flow. The activity could be playing the piano, surfing the Internet or playing a game. People who experience flow in their work or life tend to be happier.

People are more likely to be happy if they know what their strengths are and can use them regularly. People are especially happy when they can set goals and use their strengths to achieve them.

People, who think positively by being grateful, mindful and optimistic, are more likely to be happy. Being grateful means being thankful. Being mindful means considering, focusing on, and enjoying the experiences of the present moment. Being optimistic means being hopeful about the future.