2 . A Bridge Linking Art and the Audience

According to a 2018 report, people aged between 16 and 24 make up about 15 percent of the population but only 10 percent of museum-goers. Similarly, people aged over 35 go half as much as you would expect from their population size. We have reached the point of recognising the disconnection between art and the audience but haven’t yet determined how to bridge the gap. Two answers to tackling this challenge lie in telling a greater diversity of art histories and communicating these stories in more accessible ways.

In 2018, a radio program called Art Matters was started with the aim of discussing art from a pop-culture viewpoint with topics that would engage younger and more diverse audience. It offers an accessible pathway to art history with conversations on different topics. Art history is about storytelling; art content shines when there is an effort to bring audience along for the discussion.

More traditional institutions are paying attention. Recently the Getty Museum issued a social-media challenge for people to recreate paintings using items they had at home. Users displayed incredible creativity, and the museum was flooded with submissions. This reaction proves that there is a potential desire for the audience to engage with art topics if the format is appealing. Since many people feel intimidated and think that there’s a base level of understanding required to join the conversation, the Getty initiative serves as a reminder that there are many pathways to engaging with it.

Another result of the Getty challenge was the exposure given to a diversity of artworks. The famous opera singer Peter Brathwaite, for example, made scores of attractive recreations highlighting centuries of black paintings. His efforts opposed the idea that there were not many historical paintings of black figures. It is extremely important that we do a better job of showing the complex and diverse stories that are represented in art.

Social media have offered a platform for people who have not traditionally had a seat at the table. Anyone can recognise a gap in the field and address it. Accounts have gathered tens of thousands of followers. They are the proof that there is hunger to hear these art histories, and these themes work brilliantly for museum programming.

But there is only so much that can be done without the museums and galleries changing meaningfully from within. We need to see a better balance of these stories represented in permanent collections. We also need a much wider diversity of people and interests represented on board. Ensuring that art-and writing and talking about art-is able to continue on the rising generation of storytellers, inside and outside of institutions, getting the funding and support they need to paint a brighter picture for the part.

3 . You might have heard about how honey bees are doing poorly these days. It’s different, though, from the situation many of the world’s vulnerable (脆弱的) animals find themselves in. We want them to live their lives and grow stronger, but are we willing to change our lifestyles to make it happen? The decrease in honey bees is a bit different, because if honey bees can’t live well, neither can people and, eventually people won’t eat as a result.

As happened in 2017, U.S. beekeepers lost 40 percent of their bees because of a disease. It’s really about the earnings of beekeepers and the reduced amount of bees. But it doesn’t stop there. Honey bees go around doing pollination (授粉). And do you know what need to be pollinated? That’s our crops. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates bees pollinate about $15 billion worth of apples and peaches each year in the United States alone.

So, we 21st-century humans not only take notice, but also start trying to fix the problem. It’s infeasible that we give every bee the treatment. We can’t imagine how huge the task is and how hard we carry on it! The most promising immediate solution seems to prevent the disease. That’s where the bee vaccine (疫苗) comes.

Scientists have long thought immunizing (使免疫) bees will be unworkable, but a 2015 study discovered that bees transfer immunity to their babies through protein. Vaccinating a bee won’t help that bee, but if you vaccinate the queen of bees, she can pass her immunity on to her later generations through her eggs.

The new vaccine will treat for American foulbrood (AFB), a serious disease that quickly destroys bees. It’s in the testing phases and most likely headed for bee boxes near you. And don’t worry, it doesn’t require a tiny doctor’s chair and needle to deliver the vaccine—the queen bee can drink the medicine in a little sugar water and pass it along to her later generations.

4 . I woke up with drool (口水) on my pillow this morning. The alarm clock rang, and I reached over to turn it off. As I laid my face back down on the pillow, I felt the wet drool on my pillow case. I opened my eyes and saw a smiling, panting (喘气的), furry face gazing down at me. I tried to get up, but she was too fast. My face was suddenly covered in kisses with one going straight up my nose and another right in my ear. I laughed, reached out and picked up the eight-pound love machine and held her away from my wet face. It was just another morning in a life with dogs.

Why do we welcome them into our homes and our hearts? We know that most likely we are going to outlive them and have our hearts broken when they age quickly and pass away after ten to fifteen years.   We know that there will be vet bills, flea baths and enough fur to make a vacuum cleaner cry. We know that our ears will ring from the barking, that we will be picking up the animal waste every single day and that we will never get to finish a full sandwich again.

Yet, when we are feeling down or blue, there will always be a soft head on our lap needing to be pet. When we get home after a long day’s work, there will be a happy face at the door waiting for us. Our lives will be full of balls to throw, bellies to scratch, and love and loyalty that will warm our hearts and uplift our souls.

For thousands of years, dogs have been our best friends. They remain one of the greatest gifts life has ever given us. Even if they can’t love us for the rest of our lives, they will always love us for all of theirs.

6 . MEXICO CITY, April 1（Xinhua）——Discoveries at the legendary Sanxingdui ruins in southwest China show that the region’s ancient Shu state civilization shared similarities with the Maya, according to the director of the Chichen Itza archaeological site, Marco Antonio Santos.

The Sanxingdui ruins, located in the city of Guanghan, about 60 kilometers from Chengdu, belonged to the Shu Kingdom that existed at least 4,800 years ago and lasted more than 2,000 years. China announced on March 20 that archaeologists uncovered gold, ivory and jade objects dating back about 3,000 years in six sacrificial pits.

Santos told Xinhua that the bronze-made remains of trees buried at the ruins of the Shu Kingdom recall the Maya’s sacred ceiba tree, which symbolized the union of heaven, earth and the underworld for the civilization that flourished in Mesoamerica. “They are very important similarities.” said Santos, stressing that “the representations of trees in both cultures provide us with a symbolism that is very similar”.

“One notable feature of the recent discoveries at Sanxingdui was the interdisciplinary（跨学科的）work and technology applied by teams of Chinese archaeologists.” said Santos. “The technology allowed the unearthing of artifacts as fragile as silk remains, which other types of less careful excavation methods would not have been able to manage.” he said. “Cooperation between Chinese and Mexican archaeologists could benefit projects in the Maya world, where the rainy climate and humidity are problematic for the conservation of objects.” said Santos.

“Every time our cultural knowledge increases, regardless of whether we speak one language or another, what it shows us is that we continue to be sister cultures, and, therefore, the exchange of such knowledge is fundamental.” said Santos.

7 . Cybercrime refers to any criminal offence related to the Internet. Internet crimes have been classified into four categories. First, they can be related to a lack of proper Internet security, such as downloading or deleting other people’s files without permission, and spreading computer viruses. The second are crimes usually committed without a computer, but can occur over the Internet. For some criminals use the Internet to cheat others of their money. Third, websites which offense information or encourage hatred and violence are named. Last, there are related to intellectual property (intellectual property is a design, patent, book, etc. law prevents other people from copying).

All Internet users are affected by cybercrime in one way or another. However, crime against a private organization in the USA, showed that 45.6 percent of the 351 biggest company government agencies had had their security systems broken into in the previous year. Security consultants tell us that cybercrime is costing firms worldwide hundreds of billions of dollars every.

Considering how bad the situation with cybercrime against companies has become, many people wonder why so little is known about this. The main reason is that most cybercrime is not reported. Until now, most companies have been unwilling to report cases of cybercrime. They fear that by doing so, they will lose customers, who may think that the company cannot protect their confidential information or their money.

All of this is made more difficult by the legal situation regarding cybercrime. Cybercrime is so new that many governments have not yet passed laws against it, and there are many holes in the legal systems. In addition, most countries do not have arrangements for dealing with suspects from other countries who may have committed cybercrime. Thus, it is difficult to catch criminals of cybercrime.

The only answer to this problem is international cooperation. Governments must join forces to keep up with the advances in technology used by the criminals. It is also important to draft new laws and negotiate international standards for fighting cybercrime.

8 . Both African elephants and Asian elephants face serious threats to their long-term survival, although the risks vary widely from place to place. Several million African elephants roamed across the continent as recently as the early 20th century, but today only about 350, 000 remain. Asian elephants were less abundant to begin with, reportedly numbering about 200,000 a century ago. There are now fewer Asian elephants left in the wild, maybe close to extinction unless something can be done to save them.

The main threat to elephants is a familiar one for wildlife around the world: loss and destruction of their habitats. Many elephants also face additional dangers, though, including both direct and indirect conflict with people.

On top of occupying and altering elephant habitats, people also commonly plant food crops there. As more farms appear in forests and plains where elephants are accustomed to roaming, their crops often become easy targets for hungry elephants. A herd can destroy a year’s harvest in one night, leading to understandable hostility among farmers, many of whom are living a poor life and have little income to make up the loss. This sometimes leads to certain killings of elephants, interactions that are dangerous for everyone involved. These clashes lead to hundreds of deaths across Asia and Africa every year, both elephant and human.

Many people around the world are committed to preserving these ancient creatures. Elephants are important keystone species shaping and maintaining the ecosystems around them. Since the main threat to elephants is habitat loss, it makes sense to focus our conservation efforts on preserving what’s left of their natural environment. The fate of elephants is also more broadly linked to the human communities around them, since people with enough legal opportunities to support their families might be less likely to depend on hunting for income. And where farmers clash with elephants on the edges of their remaining habitat, conservationists are trying a variety of creative techniques to help both creatures coexist. For example, many small farmers can’t afford fences strong enough to keep out elephants, but some now surround their crops with beehive fences, which take advantage of elephants’ natural fear of bees. As a bonus, the bees also provide fresh local honey.