2 . Traveling to watch their team play at the World Cup took a little longer than usual for two French fans. Mehdi Balamissa and Gabriel Martin decided the best way to travel from France to Qatar was on two wheels. The friends spent three months traveling 7,000 kilometers by bicycle to reach Qatar 2022 and watch their beloved France defend its title.

“It was a crazy idea, but we’re the kind of people that have big ideas and don’t want to have any regrets,” Balamissa said, as both spoke to CNN Sport a day after arriving in the country. “So, since we are both self-employed, we decided to block off three months of our time and come to Qatar.”

The pair started their mammoth (庞大的) journey at the Stade de France in Paris, home of the French national team, and finished at the stunning Lusail Stadium, the venue that will host the final at Qatar 2022. They would travel on average 115 kilometers per day, taking appropriate rest days when needed. They battled through the heat of the desert in Saudi Arabia as well as flooded woodland areas in Hungary as they made their winding way to Qatar, stopping off at campsites, lodges (乡间小舍) and hotels to sleep.

The idea came about after cycling from France to Italy to watch their country play in the UEFA Nations League last year and they wanted to test themselves with a much longer trip. They hoped their trip would promote the benefits of eco-friendly travel and said they plan to offer cycling workshops to children from disadvantaged backgrounds when they eventually arrive home.

The two cyclists encountered many problems along the way, including dozens of flat tires, but relied on their infectiously positive attitude to get them through. The pair laugh as they recall the time they had to travel 15 hours to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in order to find a bike repair shop before traveling 15 hours back to the exact point where they had stopped.

“We had many troubles, but we fixed them as we went,” Martin told CNN.

3 . If you’re searching for a present for a tech-interested friend, here are cool tech gifts for everyone.

▶Roku Streaming Stick

Roku Streaming Stick is easy to carry, which lets you play TV, music, movies, and other content in a smooth system with better quality pictures. It’s small enough to stick behind the TV or take with you when you are traveling. Just turn it on, connect to the Internet, and start enjoying yourself.

The top feature:

·The free Roku mobile app lets you listen to whatever you’ re watching on TV through headphones connected to your phone.

Price: $ 4,999

▶Jackery Bolt Charger

This charger has built-in power cords (电源线) for many iOS and Android devices, as well as an additional USB port (端口) for other devices. It’s tiny, making it perfect for travel.

The top feature:

·Enable devices and the battery pack itself to be charged at the same time.

Price: $ 99

▶Rocketbook Core

Rocketbook notebooks are like pen and paper netbooks, but without pen and paper. These digital notebooks are very reusable. The Rocketbook Core comes in a choice of letter size (8.5 inches x 11 inches with 32 pages) or smart size (6 inches x 8.8 inches with 36 pages).

The top feature:

·Notes can be saved and sent in PDF and other forms.

Price: $34

▶Amazon Kindle Oasis

The Kindle Oasis has all the same features as older versions, such as built-in Wi-Fi and access to millions of books, newspapers, and audiobooks. It also has many new features, such as the latest electric-ink technology for fast page turns. Have a friend or family member? This is the best gift for those who love reading.

The top feature:

·Being waterproof (防水的), it can be read by the pool.

Price: $249

5 . You probably know who Marie Curie was, but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson. Of the outstanding ladies listed below, who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?

Jane Addams (1860-1935)

Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of community (社区) by creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need In 1931, Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Rachel Carson (1907-1964)

If it weren’t for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world’s lakes and oceans.

Sandra Day O’Connor (1930-present)

When Sandra Day O’Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952, she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman. She became an Arizona state senator (参议员) and, in 1981, the first woman to join the U. S. Supreme Court. O’Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 24 years on the top court.

Rosa Parks (1913-2005)

On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rasa Parks would not give up her seat on a bus to a passenger. Her simple act landed Parks in prison. But it also set off the Montgomery bus boycott. It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil-rights movement. “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in,” said Parks.

6 . Scientists in Switzerland have used lasers (激光) to change the path of a lightning strike. The experiment was carried out on Santis mountain in Switzerland, near a radio and TV tower hit by lightning about 100 times a year. Using a special laser, the researchers were able to guide the lightning strike.

Scientists have been trying to find a way to protect buildings from lightning for a long time. At present, the best way to protect buildings from lightning is by putting metal rods (杆) on the buildings. These rods are connected to the ground. The lightning is attracted to the rods, which safely guide the electricity into the ground. But lightning rods can only protect a small area. If a building is very large, it needs a lot of lightning rods. But some buildings-such as airports-are so large that it’s difficult to protect the whole building using lightning rods.

Another idea is to use lasers to guide lightning. The idea of using lasers to guide lightning isn’1new. Scientists have been working on the idea for over 20 years. They’ve successfully guided lightning with lasers inside a laboratory. But until 2021, scientists guided lightning with lasers outside. Using a powerful laser that can fire about 1, 000 times a second, scientists in Switzerland were able to guide lightning bolts for 164 feet (50 meters).

The heat from the laser creates a path of air that is less thick than the air around it. The path also has a special charge. The lightning can follow this path almost as if it were a lightning rod. In the past, experiments with lasers that fired more slowly didn’t work.

Managing to guide the lightning in an outdoor environment is a very big step. But despite the progress, the laser still isn’t a good choice when it comes to protecting large buildings.

8 . While travel may have been brought to a standstill, it certainly didn’t stop progress. Here are just a few of the new attractions in some of our favourite places to visit, writes ALENEY DE WINTER.

A fairy tale (童话) first

The first stages of the H. C. Andersen House in Odense, Denmark — the hometown of the famous fairy tale writer — have opened. The site will also soon be home to a kid’s space where more fairy tales will be brought to life. hcandersenshus. dk

A floating (漂浮的) flower garden

Team Lab Planets TOKYO in Toyosu, Tokyo, has shown a new Garden Area with two garden artworks. One of them invites you to get close to 13,000 live orchids (兰花). Visitors will find themselves walking through water and floating as they become one artwork with the flowers. planets. teamlab. art

Sunken (沉没的) city

Dubai landmarks haven’t just gone high, they’ve gone deep! The world’s deepest dive pool, Deep Dive Dubai, is the latest record-breaking attraction. More than 60 metres deep, the too-cool pool includes an underwater sunken city for divers to explore on their own or with a guide: Whether you’ve never dived before or you’re an experienced diver, those aged 10 and over are welcomed. deepdivedubai. com

New York’s newest island

Park life just got a little more interesting in New York. Little Island @Pier55 is a human-built island park next to the Hudson River Park. The new public space is unlike any other in the Big Apple: visitors can take in views of the Hudson River and New York City, along with music, dance and other performances (表演) in its 687-seat theatre. littleisland. org

9 . There is more of a connection between food and culture than you may think. On an individual level, we grow up eating the food of our culture. It becomes a part of who we are. Many associate food from our childhood with warm feelings and good memories and it ties us to our families, holding a special and personal value for us. Food from our families often becomes the comfort food we seek as adults in times of frustration and stress.

On a large scale, traditional food is an important part of culture. It also operates as an expression of cultural identity. Immigrants bring it wherever they go, and it is a symbol of pride in their culture and means of coping with homesickness.

Many immigrants open their own restaurants and serve traditional dishes. However, the food does not remain exactly the same. Some materials needed to make traditional dishes may not be readily available, so the taste and flavour can be different from what they would prepare in their home countries. Additionally, immigrants do not only sell dishes to people from the same countries as them, but to people from different countries. Therefore, they have to make small changes in the original dishes to cater to a wider range of customers. Those changes can create new flavours that still keep the cultural significance of the dishes.

We should not only embrace our heritage (传统) through our culture’s food, but also become more informed about other cultures by trying their food. It is important to remember that each dish has a special place in the culture to which it belongs, and is special to those who prepare it. Food is a window on culture, and it should be treated as such.