1 . I was surprised to find the congestion (拥塞) outside Layla’s primary school was unusually absent—I’d driven right into a parking space, and I was on time, for once. The school bell rang, and in a moment a stream of children made their way through the gate. But something was different—the kids were piling into vehicles in threes and fours.

Before I could enquire my daughter Layla, Mr Trent, the deputy head, approached. “Mrs Pavis, did you not read our letter?” Letter? What letter? I had a history of not looking out for them, and not reading them in most cases. “The letter? Of course. It must have just slipped my mind—I’ve been away with work.”

Now I was digging around in Layla’s messy schoolbag at home. Eventually, I found several letters, all addressing the same topic—parking outside the school gates. Apparently with some parents parking illegally, the police were about to get involved. “Why didn’t you give me these letters?” I demanded. Layla shrugged. “I forgot.” I was about to launch into a severe lecture when it occurred to me that I had always forgotten—I had forgotten to give Layla her money for cookery that morning and forgotten to hang out the kids’ washed clothes.

I contained myself and figured out that they wanted the parents to car-pool (拼车). I spent the next half hour ringing round Layla’s friends’ parents, enquiring if they would like to car-pool with us. Unfortunately, they were all sorted. It was my own fault—I should have read those letters ages ago. “Er... I overheard others talking about it,” Layla said, “They said they didn’t know who would car-pool with us, because we’re always late.” I flushed instantly. We were a disorganised family, and I was the one to blame.

I resolved to change. With responsibility for my kids, I find I am never, ever late. It’s good for Layla and for her older brothers, and it’s good for me, because now I never leave the house unprepared. I’ve even started checking the kids’ schoolbags for notes from school.

2 . A better early warning system for tsunamis may soon be possible with the help of artificial intelligence. AI technology can detect very small disturbances in satellite signals when a tsunami’s waves begin to form, which could bring felicity to coastal communities, providing warnings long before the tsunami hits.

“There is no global network for detecting tsunami waves, and setting up physical hardware, like buoy-based systems, is expensive,” says Valentino Constantinou at Teran Orbital Corporation, a satellite manufacturing company based in Florida. “But we know that small satellites are just increasing rapidly everywhere.”

Those GPS satellites are important because they constantly exchange radio signals with ground stations. Crucially, the speed of the radio signals is affected by the density (密度) of charged particles (带电粒子) in an area of Earth’s ionosphere (电离层). Tsunami-caused shock waves travelling up into the atmosphere affect the density of these particles, generating small but measurable changes in the satellite radio signals.

Constantinou and his colleagues developed a computer program to measure changes in the density of these charged particles caused by the formation of a tsunami and then transformed the data into images that can be analysed by AI models. They then tasked the AI with identifying tsunami-related features within the images.

The researchers trained and tested the AI on data from three earthquake-caused tsunamis: one that struck Chile in 2010, a 2011 event in Japan and an event that occurred off Canada’s west coast in 2012. They then confirmed the AI’s performance on data from a fourth tsunami, which was caused by the 2015 Ⅲapel earthquake off the coast of Chile. This showed how well the AI could distinguish tsunami-related disturbances from normal variations in the ionosphere.

But Constantinou says it remains to be seen if performance based on data from four tsunami events can lead to accurate detection of a more diverse set of tsunamis and the rarity of huge tsunamis makes it challenging to analyse and predict such events. A truly effective tsunami detection system would also require international cooperation to share data from satellite stations.

3 . Halloween candy could be in for a California big change. State lawmakers last month passed the California Food Safety Act, which bans four materials found in popular snacks and packaged foods - including candy corm and other Halloween treats. Set to take effect in 2027, the ban will lead candy and food producers to change their formulas for products sold both in California and elsewhere around the country.

The law bans the production and sale of some materials, which are used in processed foods including kinds of instant potatoes and sodas, as well as candies. The additives (添加剂) have been linked to increased risks of cancer and nervous system problems, according to the Environmental Working Group, which started the act, and are already banned in many other countries.

Food producers and their lobbyists (说客) opposed the law, arguing the conclusion that the four additives are unhealthy should be made by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). They thought that evaluating the safety of food materials and additives should rely on the scientific accuracy of the FDA. But food safety advocates say the FDA has moved far too slowly in regulating food chemicals. It’s unacceptable that the U.S. is so far behind the rest of the world when it comes to food safety.

California’s act made headlines this year as a “Skittles (彩虹糖) ban” that would wipe popular candies off California shelves. But supporters of the act said the intention is simply to require changes in the materials, as has already happened in Europe. Perhaps the most standing-out material on California’s banned list is red dye No. 3. It is allowed only in candied and cocktail cherries in the European Union but more than 3,000 products contain the chemical in the U. S. The list includes items like frosted pretzels and scores of brand-name candies such as Peeps and Pez. It also includes items like fruit cocktail cups, protein drinks, and yogurts.

4 . You might want to think twice before going to the movies on date night. A new study reveals why.

The UK-based Betway Casino conducted a scientific experiment to determine how much bacteria can be found at movie theaters. Betway swabbed (擦拭) five seats and five cup-holders in five theaters across the United Kingdom and sent these off for testing at a microbiology laboratory. Betway also swabbed and tested three toilet seats for comparison. The average number of bacteria colonies for movie theater seats, cup holders, and toilet seats was then calculated.

The research indicates a shocking presence of 1,864 bacteria colonies on an average movie theater seat, dwarfing (使渺小) the 135 colonies typically found on toilet seats by 14 times. This suggests that the nearly 7.3 billion tickets expected to be sold in movie theaters worldwide in 2024 could contribute to an environment ripe for bacteria growth. Meanwhile, the variation in cleanliness among different theaters and seat materials was noted, with the dirtiest seat harboring up to 3,000 colonies and the cleanest at just 80. Perhaps more shocking is the discovery that cinema cup holders contain an average of 2,396 bacteria colonies. This figure represents 18 times more bacteria than found on a standard toilet seat.

Betway offers practical advice to ensure movie enthusiasts can continue enjoying their outings without taking home unwanted microbial (微生物的) gifts kept as reminders of the outings. Recommendations include washing hands immediately after returning home, and changing clothes to avoid spreading bacteria to furniture. While the cinematic world offers a gateway to unique storytelling and entertainment, it also exposes moviegoers to a hidden microbial universe. By adopting simple practices, moviegoers can minimize their risk and focus on the magic of the movies, free from concern over the bacteria sharing their seats.

5 . When Hurricane Ian made landfall on the southwest Florida coast as a Category 4 storm, it brought strong winds and heavy rain. It was a deadly hurricane, attacking more than four million people, and causing serious flooding and at least 150 deaths. However, during the disaster, there was one innovative community that weathered the storm well: Babcock Ranch, the brainchild of Syd Kitson.

Located 30 miles inland, Babcock Ranch is an environmentally friendly and fully sustainable town that Syd Kitson and his partners hoped would be hurricane proof. Its homes are built to go through severe weather without losing essential services like electricity, water, or the Internet. A significant factor in its design is that power and. Internet lines are buried to avoid wind damage. Additionally, large ponds surround the development to protect houses from flooding. As a backup, streets are designed to absorb floodwaters and spare the houses.

Central to Babcock Ranch’s sustainability is its extensive use of solar energy. The community possesses an 870-acre solar farm with 700,000 individual panels operated by Florida Power & Light, capable of powering 30,000 homes — far more than the 5,000 residents currently living there. At night and on cloudy days, a natural gas generator kicks in to fill the gap.

Hurricane Ian served as a true test for the community. While the surrounding regions suffered, Babcock Ranch’s minimum damage and quick recovery showcased its effective design against natural disasters. Residents even opened their community center, doubling as a storm shelter, to the victims from other hard-hit communities.

Kitson’s vision for Babcock Ranch is not just about creating a sustainable and resilient (适应性强的) community but also about learning and improving. He hopes that the lessons learned from Babcock Ranch can be applied to other developments, contributing to more climate-resilient communities across the United States. This approach reflects a growing awareness of the need for sustainable and resilient urban planning in the face of increasing climate challenges.

7 . Young male zebra finches (斑胸草雀) learn to communicate by listening to adults. In the lab, researchers have found that these songbirds can learn from audio recordings. But zebra finches learn better when they listen to live male finches, notes Ralph Simon. He studies how animals make and use sounds at the Nuremberg Zoo in Germany. Simon is part of the team that built RoboFinch, a robotic singing coach for finches.

The researchers recorded videos of adult males to analyze how their beaks (喙) move when they sing. They then programmed their robots to copy those beak movements. Finally, the researchers painted their RoboFinches the same colors as the real birds.

The team divided 45 young finches into four groups. Some only heard recordings of finch songs played by a speaker. Others listened with female birds that weren’t singing. RoboFinches taught the two other groups of chicks. The birdsongs played from a speaker right behind the robots. And the robots’ beaks moved either in or out of syne (协调) with the songs. That allowed the team to investigate whether beak or head movements aid song learning.

The birds housed with RoboFinches eventually spent most of their time near the robot and its speaker. During the first week, finches living with a RoboFinch whose song was in sync with its beak motions spent 27 percent of their time near the robot. Those caged with a robot playing songs out of syne only spent 5 percent of their time near the setup during the first week. Finches that heard only the audio without RoboFinch or female birds spent even less time around the sound source. Young finches partnered with RoboFinches sang less while the songs played. This was especially true when the robots’ beaks moved in sync with the songs. Those paired with a female also sang less while hearing songs. The young finches seemed to pay close attention to the robots’ movements during training sessions.

Simon hopes researchers will adapt this approach to building robots of other species, too.

9 . People with high levels of niacin, also known as vitamin B3, in their blood may be more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than those with lower levels. Excessive amounts of the vitamin, which is routinely added to fortified food and can be taken as a supplement, may inflame blood vessels.

Heart attacks and stroke are leading causes of death worldwide. While researchers have made significant strides over the past few decades in discovering the risk factors for these conditions, they haven’t identified them all.

In an effort to fill these gaps, Stanley Hazen at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and his colleagues collected blood samples from 2331 adults in the US and 832 adults in Europe who had elected to undergo cardiovascular screenings. The team analysed the samples for substances called metabolites, byproducts of metabolic processes such as digestion. The researchers then tracked incidents of cardiac events, such as heart attacks and strokes, among the participants over three years.

They found that people with elevated levels of a metabolite called 4PY, which only arises when the body breaks down excess niacin, were around 60 percent more likely, on average, to experience such an event than those with lower levels. And it was found in further experiment that 4PY causes blood vessel inflammation, a major contributor to the development of heart disease, in rodents.

It isn’t uncommon for people to have high niacin levels, Hazen says. This is partially due to certain foods, such as cereals and flours, being routinely fortified with the vitamin in countries that include the UK and the US. Niacin supplements are also increasingly popular as evidence suggests they have anti-ageing benefits, says Hazen. Plus, it wasn’t until recently that doctors stopped prescribing high-dose niacin to people at risk of cardiovascular disease, as it was initially thought the vitamin protected people from these conditions by lowering cholesterol.

“I think this study really shows that sometimes, when it comes to vitamins, you can have too much of a good thing,” says Jenny Jia at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. However, this research was mainly conducted in people of European ancestry. It is therefore unclear if similar results would occur in people of different racial or ethnic backgrounds, says Jia.