3 . Would it surprise you to learn that, like animals, trees communicate with each other and pass on their wealth to the next generation?

Professor Simard form University of British Columbia explains how trees are much more complex than most of us ever imagined. Although Charles Darwin thought that trees are competing for survival of the fittest, Simard shows just how wrong he was. As far as Simard is concerned, actually the opposite is true: trees survive through their co-operation, passing around necessary nutrition “depending on who needs it”.

Nitrogen (氮) and carbon are shared through miles of underground fungi (真菌) networks, making sure that all trees in the forest ecological system give and receive just the right amount to keep them all healthy. This hidden system works in a very similar way to the networks of neurons (神经元) in our brains, and when one tree is destroyed, it affects all.

Simard talks about “mother trees”, usually the largest and oldest plants on which all other trees depend. She explains how moribund trees pass on the wealth to the next generation, transporting important minerals to young trees so they may continue to grow. When humans cut down “mother trees” with no awareness of these highly complex “tree societies” or the networks on which they feed, we are reducing the chances of survival for the entire forest.

“We didn’t take any notice of it” Simard says sadly. “Trees move nutrition into the young trees before they die, but we never give them chance.” If we could put across the message to the forestry industry, we could make a huge difference towards our environmental protection efforts for the future.

5 . Imagine a world where you move around in front of a personal computer in your own sound space. You listen to your favorite songs, play loud computer games or watch a movie—all without other people hearing the sound. That is the possibility presented by “sound beaming,” a new technology from Noveto Systems, an Israeli company.

On Friday, the company presented a desktop device that sends sound directly to a listener without the need for headphones or a special receiver. Noveto Systems gave The Associated Press (AP) a chance to test its Sound Beamer 1.0 before its debut. The AP’s Louise Dixon writes that listening to the device is like something from a science fiction movie. The sound seems so close it feels like it is inside your ears while also in front, above and behind them.

Noveto expects the device will have many uses. Office workers could listen to music or conference calls without others hearing. People could play a game, a movie or music without waking up others in the same room. Because the device does not use headphones, it is possible to hear other sounds in the room clearly.

The device uses a 3-D technology that finds and follows the ear position of the listener. It sends ultrasonic waves to create sound pockets by the user’s ears. Sound can be heard in stereo or 3-D. The 3-D method creates sound on all sides of the listener The demo version of the device included nature videos of birds on a lake, bees flying and a quiet waterway. By changing a setting, the sound can follow a listener around when they move their head. It also is possible to move out sound beam’s path and hear nothing at all.

While the idea of sound beaming is not new, Noveto was the first to launch the technology. Its chief executive officer Christophe Ramstein said a smaller version of the device will be ready for release to consumers next year.

6 . Honeybees can’t swim, and when their wings are wet, they can’t fly, either. But Chris Roh and other researchers at the California Institute of Technology found that when bees drop into bodies of water, they can use their wings to produce little waves and slide toward land-like surfers who create and then ride their own waves.

As with many scientific advances-Isaac Newton’s apple or Benjamin Franklin’s lightning bolt-Dr. Roh’s experiment began with a walk. Passing Caltech’s Millikan Pond in 2016, he observed a bee on the water’s surface producing waves. He wondered how an insect known for flight could push itself through water.

Dr. Roh and his co-worker, Morteza Gharib, used butterfly nets to collect local Pasadena honeybees and observed their surf-like movements. The researchers used a wire to restrict each bee’s bodily movement, allowing close examination of their wings. They found that the bee bends its wings at a 30-degree angle, pulling up water and producing a forward force. Bees get trapped on the surface because water is roughly three times heavier than air. But that weight helps to push the bee forward when its wings move quickly up and down. It’s a tough exercise for the bees, which the researchers guess could handle about 10 minutes of the activity.

The researchers said the surf-like movement hasn’t been documented in other insects and most semiaquatic insects use their legs for propulsion, which is known as water-walking. It may have evolved in bees, they-predicted.

Dr. Roh and Dr. Gharib have imagined many practical applications for bees’ surfing. One plan is to use their observations to design robots able to travel across sky and sea. “This could be useful for search and rescues, or for getting samples of the surface of the ocean, if you can’t send a boat or helicopter,” Dr. Gharib said.

7 . What should we get for our kids this holiday? As children get older, giving them something they can experience instead of material things makes them happier, according to a new research led by Chaplin.

The research compared the level of happiness children get from material things with that from experiences. The results showed that children aged 3-12 get more happiness from material things than from experiences. However, older children get more happiness from experiences than from their possessions.

“It means experiences are highly preferred by adolescents, not just expensive material things, like some might think,”Chaplin says. She goes on to explain,”Don’t get me wrong. Young children do love experiences. And given this concept, theme parks such as Disneyland are being built everywhere. In fact, young children are excited throughout the experience. However, for experiences to provide lasting happiness, children must be able to recall details of the events.”

Long after they have unwrapped their Legos and stuffed animals, there will still be a physical reminder to give them happiness. However, young children can’t see or touch experiences after they are over, making it harder for them to appreciate experiences after a long time. There’s an easy fix, though, according to Chaplin.

“Take pictures or videos of family walks, playing in the snow, and birthday parties,”she said.“Children are likely to appreciate those experiences more if there is something to remind them of the event. Additionally, they’ll be able to learn the social value of shared experiences.”

Children will remember and appreciate not only the birthday gifts they received, but also the time spent with family and friends as they recall the experience through concrete reminders such as photos and videos.

Since memory is developed over time, it’s likely that children, especially young ones, may not get as much happiness from past experiences as from possessions. But with age, creating new memories and exploring new interests may be far more valuable than getting possessions.

8 . Andrew Orkin was taking a break from his evening jog to sit by Prospect Park Lake when he was frightened to see a mass of snakes. They turned out to be swamp eels(黄鳝) that had escaped from one of two large plastic bags that split open as a man dragged them to the shoreline. After dumping the eels in the lake, the man walked away, explaining to bystanders that “I just want to save lives.”

The illegal release became a curiosity on social media, but the dumping of exotic(外来的) animals in urban parks isn’t new. New Yorkers free thousands of non-native animals every year. “People like animals and they sometimes think they’re doing a good thing by letting them go,” said Jason Munshi-South, an urban ecologist at Fordham University. “Most will die. Some will become a problem, and then there’s no going back.”

New York state and city officials say it’s too soon to know how the eels in Prospect Park might affect local species. The eels eat almost anything including plants, insects, frogs, turtles and other fish. And they could prey(捕食) upon or compete with the park’s native species for however long they survive.

There are no plans to eradicate the eels. Since they’re active at night and spend most of their time in the mud of lakes and rivers, spotting and removing them from the lake could be impossible. Officials say they will look for swamp eels during the agency’s next survey in the spring, but don’t expect them to make it through the winter. However, University of Toronto freshwater ecologist Nicholas Mandrak said, “Even if they don’t survive, they could have negative short-term effects.”

9 . Twice every month, Miranda Sam, a 66-year-old Ghanaian, visited the China Traditional Herbal Hospital, a private herbal facility at Pokuase, a suburb of the Ghanaian capital, for treatment.

“I was squeezing lemons, and when I finished, I could not get up or even move my legs, so I went to the hospital and did an X-ray examination, but they saw nothing. Meanwhile, I could not walk and was in a wheelchair,” the retired worker said. Hence Miranda decided to visit the herbal facility. “On two occasions, I had to do acupuncture(针灸), and I have found great relief. Now I walk unaided, so I keep coming for treatment,” she said.

As Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is gaining popularity in Ghana, many acupuncture clinics run by Chinese doctors pop up in the country. However, the China Traditional Herbal Hospital was established by 52-year-old Ghanaian business owner Bediako, after his fruitful encounter with the effects of TCM in 2012. With the help of a Chinese lady, Bediako set up a small clinic specializing in TCM. Years on, the facility has subsequently grown into a bigger herbal hospital. The hospital treats patients with a combination of local and Chinese herbal formulas. It supports this with the application of traditional Chinese medical methods.

Strokes(中风) account for 1.3 percent of all hospital admissions in Ghana, and 6.3 percent of all hospital deaths. But Bediako is confident that as more people with these conditions turn to the natural methods of healing, the pain and death rates would subside. “A gentleman was brought here three weeks ago, who could not sit, stand, or walk. He was first taken through acupuncture. I observed him on camera 30 minutes later, squatting(蹲), standing, and walking. You come here with your pain but will leave with a smile. That is our feature,” he said.

The hospital has started a second facility in Ashaiman near the capital, with plans to open other branches across the country to meet the growing demand.

10 . China’s Ministry of Water Resources and the National Development and Reform Commission announced the official full completion of its construction, saying the Three Gorges project has met all design requirements, has a good overall performance, and fulfills the key roles of flood control, electricity generation, shipping and water-resource utilization (利用).

By the end of August, the dam had held back 180 billion cubic meters of water during flood seasons. It saw inflows of over 70,000 cubic meters per second in 2010, 2012 and 2020 and reduced flood peaks by about 40 percent, the review said, greatly easing flood-control pressure in downstream rice-growing areas.

During dry seasons, discharges have been raised to more than 5,500 cubic meters per second, providing more than 20 billion cubic meters of water a year for the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. By the end of August, the reservoir had provided replenishment (补水) for 2,267 days, with a total water supply of 289.4 billion cubic meters, improving production, living conditions and the ecology of the river’s middle and lower reaches, the review said.

The world’s largest hydropower station, the dam had generated over 1.35 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity by August, contributing to electricity supply in Central and East China and in Guangdong province. The project has also significantly improved navigation (航运) conditions and strengthened shipping capacity in the Yangtze. By August, some 1.48 billion tons of cargo had passed through the Three Gorges Dam, boosting development in the Yangtze’s economic belt. The production and living environments of the 1.31 million people who were relocated to make way for the Three Gorges project have been greatly improved, and the basic facilities and public service facilities in the reservoir area have developed rapidly, it said.