3 . Released on Aug 30, a three-episode web series titled Escape From the British Museum has gone viral online for its touching and innovative narrative (叙事). The series follows the journey home of a Chinese jade teapot that has come to life as a girl. She runs away from the British Museum and comes across a Chinese journalist who helps the artifact return to China. The series, created by two Chinese vloggers, aims to raise broader awareness of Chinese artifacts that were stolen or looted (掠夺) from China and are displayed or stored in the British Museum.

The video series echoes the Chinese people’s call for the British Museum to return these Chinese artifacts. However, some UK media outlets said that the video series promotes nationalism (民族主义). In fact, every country whose artifacts are displayed or stored in the British Museum wants them back. These countries, such as Greece, Nigeria and Sudan, have already issued their demands for the return of artifacts. It’s fair enough to say these demands are shared. They can correct centuries-old wrongs by having the UK return artifacts to their rightful homes.

An opinion in the UK newspaper The Telegraph said that if the British Museum gives back its collection of artifacts, then nationalism will win over humanity’s common heritage. It also said that the artifacts were “lawfully acquired (合法取得)” by the UK. By “lawfully acquired”, does the writer mean the artifacts were acquired with the “help” of machine guns and warships? Or does he mean that the cultural artifacts of African, Asian and American countries should be kept in the hands of looters, rather than in their land of origin?

4 . Have you ever wondered what happens to your mobile phones and laptops after you throw them out to make way for a newer model? According to its latest Global E-Waste Monitor, India is the third top producer of e-waste in the world. E-waste in Indian landfill goes on to pollute soil and groundwater, affecting food supply systems and water sources.

Thankfully, the country has a new group of artists who are changing these thrown mechanical items-from mobile phones to old televisions- into large murals (壁画) and artworks to creatively show their concern for the waste problem.

Over the past quarter of a century, Mumbai’s Haribaabu Naatesan has transformed hundreds of tonnes of e-waste into art, integrating elements from nature and industry. “I get my waste material from friends, relatives and neighbours who know my interest in e-art and send me bags of thrown electronic appliances,” says Naatesan. Over his career, he has created huge murals for several companies. He has also showed his work at the India Art Fair, as well as several other national displays.

Another artist Vishwanath Davangere has also long worked with e-waste. He likes to take apart old laptops and reassemble (重新组装) them into birds, animals and plants. After retirement, he started pursuing this hobby more seriously and started selling his creations across the world. His most outstanding works include a robotic Egyptian statue with glowing red eyes and a Milky Way made from keyboard keys. He hopes to enable others to reconsider their own consumption habits and make more environmentally conscious choices.

“By giving e-waste a second chance, I aim to raise awareness about the environmental impact of electronic waste.” says Davangare, who today has a collection of more than 600 eco-art objects.

6 . Njobati, a young woman from Cameroon, faced a challenging journey when she moved from her English-speaking area to a French-speaking area of the country to attend university. The sharp differences between these areas, once part of the British and French empires, made it difficult for her to fit in, which led her to examine her own identity—who she truly was.

Seeking guidance, she turned to her grandfather who also felt disconnected from his own culture. He expressed sadness about what the Nso had lost both culturally and materially, including Ngonnso statue. Ngonnso was the founder of Nso dating back to the 14th Century, whose statue was an important cultural symbol for the Nso. However, it was taken by the Germans in 1902 and has been housed in Berlin’s Ethnological Museum ever since.

Inspired by her grandfather’s desire and saddened by the loss of culture, Njobati made a promise to bring back the statue. She believed it would not only achieve her grandfather’s wish but connect her with her Nso heritage again.

Njobati did many researches about the statue and former unsuccessful attempts. She realized that restitution (归还) was actually about facing the colonial ( 殖民主义的) past. Njobati decided to try differently. To gather support online and offline, Njobati began a grassroots campaign. She organized meetings in community halls and churches, met people one-on-one, and used the power of social media.Through Twitter, she established contact with the Ethnological Museum.

Njobati’s tireless efforts paid off. She was told that a decision about Ngonnso statue was coming, which was an important moment for her.

“Finally, this is happening. Not just for me, but for the Nso people, and for Cameroon,” She cried. “This also lends a hand to other communities that are seeking justice for stolen culture relics.”

7 . Why do we talk the way we do? It might date back to when our ancestors left the jungle for the open plain. Between 5.3 million and 16 million years ago, Africa’s landscapes changed from thick, leafy forests to wide-open grasslands. This environmental change pushed our ancestors out of the trees and onto the ground. Along with all of the physical and behavioral changes this may have caused, researchers also believe it may have changed the way we speak.

“Open landscapes provide us with fewer objects to affect signal communication, meaning our voices can travel further compared with that in thick forests,” Charlotte Gannon, a researcher who studies language development, told Newsweek. “The move to these open spaces may have increased the effectiveness of our communication.”

By comparing the vocal calls of the orangutan (大猩猩) , Gannon and her team were able to establish how different calls could travel across different landscapes. In their study, the team played 487 calls from orangutans and measured their audibility (可听度) at set length over an overall distance of over 1,300 feet in the South African plain.

“Our results were surprising,” Gannon said, “The rule of sound spread suggests that lower-frequency (低频率) sounds (the grumphs) would have traveled further than higher-frequency sounds (the kiss squeaks). Our results actually found the opposite to this.” In these environmental settings, consonant (辅音)-like calls traveled a lot further than vowel (元音) -like calls. Actually, around 80 percent of consonant-based calls were audible at 1,300 feet, compared to only 20 percent of vowel-based calls.

Gannon said these results highlight the importance of studying living orangutan to learn about our species’ history. “We can view them as time machines that allow us to recreate key moments of our history so we can learn more about the development of our language,” Gannon said. “Despite their popularity in modern languages, consonants have often been forgotten when discussing speech development. Our research highlights not only their presence in ancient times but their importance to the development of language.”

8 . About Byron

Whether you’re in Byron for fun or work, there are plenty of things to do to fill your spare time.

Byron, Georgia makes travel sweeter with its slower pace and breathtaking attractions. It’s full of historic sites, museums, shopping malls, and more. In this city at the center of Georgia’s peach industry, you can take a vacation that leaves you rested, not annoyed.

Georgia Peach Festival-June

Fall Market Days-September

Georgia National Fair-October

Byron Christmas Parade-December

Byron Welcome Center

Located in the Peach Shops, the Byron Welcome Center is your first stop in our area. The Byron Welcome Center is ready to help you make the most of your stay in Byron, Georgia.

North Peach Park

North Peach Park is the place for traditional festivals, movies in the park, and many other events. The park has picnic shelters, playgrounds, football fields and soccer fields all year round. North Peach Park also has an indoor, climate-controlled multi-purpose room.

The Big Peach Shopping Mall

One of Georgia’s major shopping malls, and Central Georgia’s biggest and best variety of goods, the Big Peach has something for everyone! Open seven days a week and located directly off I-75, the Big Peach is Central Georgia’s favorite shopping destination.

Party Playground Indoor Fun Center

Let the kids work out some energy with an hour or two at the Party Playground Indoor Fun Center. This room full of safe and soft play equipment will let your little ones run, jump and play, rain or shine. It’s also a great place to have a birthday party.

For more information, contact us at (478) 956-2409

Email: byronwelcomecenter@gmail.com

9 . Where can you find the first successful airplane, one of the world’s biggest bugs (虫子) and Kermit the Frog? They’re all at the Smithsonian Institution, Americans’ storehouse of the coolest things ever, in Washington，D.C.More than 138 million objects have been collected by their 19 museums, with more coming in every day.

The Smithsonian was founded in 1846 and named after James Smithson, an English businessman. Smithson never visited America, but he left his entire fortune to the United States to build an institution “for the increase of knowledge”.

Here are just a few of the amazing things in the Smithsonian collection.

Big bugs

The Smithsonian has 35 million bugs. The largest insect in the collection is a beetle (甲虫) from South America called the titan beetle. Titan beetles can grow to more than 6 inches long.

Flying machines

The first powered plane to fly, the 1903 Wright Flyer, is displayed in the National Air and Space Museum. The Smithsonian has the first supersonic (超声速的) airliner, the Concorde, which could cross the Atlantic Ocean in fewer than four hours.

The longest beard

The Smithsonian is home to the longest beard ever recorded. Norwegian immigrant Hans Langseth had grown his facial hair to 18 feet 6 inches by the time he died in 1927. The Smithsonian has 17 feet 6 inches of it because, even though Langseth’s final wish was to have his entire beard preserved, his family decided it wouldn’t be right to bury him clean­shaven.

Time and admission：

Smithsonian museums are open every day of the year except December 25 unless otherwise noted. Most museums are open daily from 10 a. m. to 5：30 p. m. The American Art Museum and Portrait Gallery are open 11：30 a. m. to 7 p. m.

Admission is free for all Smithsonian museums and the zoo in Washington，D.C., and the American Indian Museum’s George Gustav Heye Center in New York. A fee is required at the Cooper­Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York (Members and children under 12 are admitted free).

10 . Theme parks and amusement parks will be standing tall this season, not just in the sense of proudly displaying their shiny, brand spanking new rides. The most expected ride of 2020, however, will take you for a face-to-face encounter with thrilling adventure.

Banshee at Kings Island, Mason, Ohio.Inverted (倒置的) feature trains that hang suspended from the track above and leave passengers’ legs hanging. They typically offer tight turns with lots of positive G-forces. With a ride time of 2 minutes 40 seconds and a track length of 4,124 +feet, Banshee is the world’s longest inverted coaster and is getting so many praises from ride fans. That is really wonderful and exciting.

Despicable Me Minion Mayhem at Universal Studios Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The extremely silly characters from the popular Despicable Me movie bring their powerful funny actions to an engaging 4-D ride film. It’s loaded with laughs, and like the movies,includes some surprisingly touching moments as well.

Goliath at Six Flags Great America, Gurnee, Illinois. The creative company that is building this new coaster has an impressive track record of delivering incredibly smooth and satisfying thrill machines. So the expectation is high for Goliath, which will boast a 180-foot, 85-degree drop and a top speed of 72mph, which will make it the world's tallest, fastest, and steepest wooden coaster.

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It’s both a mildly thrilling coaster with a unique cradle (摇篮) design that allows the cars to swing back and forth and a forcing “dark ride” that takes guests into the colourful mine to see the Seven Dwarfs at work. The animated characters are particularly striking in the attraction, which is the capstone of the park’s New Fantasyland expansion.