1 . When I was a boy growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, we had a milkman delivering milk to our doorstep. His name was Mr. Basille. He wore a white cap and drove a white truck. As a 5-year-old boy, I couldn’t take my eyes off the coin changer fixed to his belt. He noticed this one day during a delivery and gave me a quarter out of his coin changer.

Of course, he delivered more than milk. There was cheese, eggs and so on. If we needed to change our order, my mother would pen a note — “Please add a bottle of buttermilk next delivery” — and place it in the box along with the empty bottles. And then, the buttermilk would magically (魔术般) appear.

All of this was about more than convenience. There existed a close relationship between families and their milkmen. Mr. Basille even had a key to our house, for those times when it was so cold outside that we put the box indoors, so that the milk wouldn’t freeze. And I remember Mr. Basille from time to time taking a break at our kitchen table, having a cup of tea and telling stories about his delivery.

There is sadly no home milk delivery today. Big companies allowed the production of cheaper milk, thus making it difficult for milkmen to compete. Besides, milk is for sale everywhere, and it may just not have been practical to have a delivery service.

Recently, an old milk box in the countryside I saw brought back my childhood memories. I took it home and planted it on the back porch (门廊) . Every so often my son’s friends will ask what it is. So I start telling stories of my boyhood, and of the milkman who brought us friendship along with his milk.

2 . If you had asked me then if I would accept a job as a restaurant critic for The New York Times or others, I would have replied, “Definitely not! ” This was partly because I did not want to think of myself as an ambitious sort. Working in restaurants was honest labor, and anyone could see that. Writing about them for the mainstream press was not.

However, the renewing was fun, so much fun that when mainstream publishers started paying me for my opinions, I didn’t do the decent (体面的) thing, and before I knew it, I had stopped cooking professionally. Then I stopped cooking altogether. “She’s joined the leisure class.” my friend said.

I disarmed my critics by inviting them along; nobody I knew could afford to eat out and nobody refused. We went with equal amounts of guilt and pleasure, with a feeling that we were stepping onto the playgrounds of the rich.

We knew we didn’t belong to these grand restaurants. We always got the worst table, and since I didn’t own a credit card, I had to pay in cash. The year turned into two and three, and more. Then, I got a credit card as well as good clothes. I was writing for increasingly prestigious (声誉高的) publications. Meanwhile, a voice inside me kept whispering, “How could you?”

The voice is still there, never coming to a stop. When I receive weekly letters from people who think it is unacceptable to write about $100 meals while half the world is hungry, the voice rings right along, “They’re absolutely right, you elitist (精英) pig is not”. When it asks, “When are you going to grow up and get a real job?”, it sounds a lot like my mother.

It is just at that moment that I tell the voice to shut up because I realize all I’m doing with my life is telling rich people where to eat and how much the world has changed.

Yes, there are still restaurants where rich people go to remind themselves that they are different from you and me, but there are fewer and fewer of them. Going out to eat used to be like going to the opera; today, it is more like going to the movies.

Therefore, everyone has become a critic and I couldn’t be happier with this. The more people pay attention to what and how they eat, the more accustomed they become to their own senses and the world around them. As A. J. Liebling once said, all it really takes to be a restaurant critic is a good appetite.

Together for a Shared Future

6 . Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology have-in just two years-nearly doubled the number of materials known to have potential for use in solar fuels.

They did so by developing a process that promises to speed the discovery of commercially viable (商业可行性) generation of solar fuels that could replace coal, oil, and other fossil fuels.

Solar fuels, a dream of clean-energy research, are created using only sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide. Researchers are exploring a range of possible target fuels, but one possibility is to produce hydrogen by splitting water.

Each water molecule (分子) consists of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms. The hydrogen atoms are extracted, and then can be reunited to create highly flammable hydrogen gas or combined with CO 2 to create hydrocarbon fuels, creating a plentiful and renewable energy source. The problem, however, is that water molecules do not simply break down when sunlight shines on them-if they did, the oceans would not cover most of the planet. They need a little help from a solar-powered catalyst (催化剂).

To create practical solar fuels, scientists have been trying to develop low-cost and efficient materials that perform the necessary chemistry using only visible light as an energy source.

A new method was developed through a partnership between the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) and Berkeley Lab’s Materials Project, using resources at the Molecular Foundry and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSCC). JCAP focused on developing a cost-effective method of turning sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into fuel. It is led by Caltech with Berkeley Lab as a major partner. The Materials Project is a program based at Berkeley Lab that aims to remove the guesswork from materials design in a variety of applications.

“What is particularly significant about this study, which combines experiment and theory, is that in addition to identifying several new compounds for solar fuel applications, we can also learn something new about the basic electronic structure of the materials themselves.” says Neaton, the director of the Molecular Foundry.

7 . SHOULD WE FIGHT NEW TECHNOLOGY?

This morning, I saw the shocking headline: “Passenger Dies When Car Crashes in Driverless Mode”.In the article, a lot of people said that the public should oppose the idea of developing driverless cars.They said that some advances in technology were unnecessary and could even be dangerous.Hence, we should cease accepting technology just because it is new.The newspaper reported that the car company had already apologized for the accident, but the families of the deceased said it was not enough.Nevertheless, the company still claimed that most people would be travelling in driverless cars one day soon.

On the one hand, there are many different groups of people around the world who live happily in the absence of new technology.Probably the most well known are the Amish, a group of Christians living in rural America.They do not own or drive cars, watch TV, or use the Internet.They have lived mainly as farmers since the 18^th century, and they will probably be living the same way in the distant future.They advocate a simple life with an emphasis on hard work, family, and community.They think that is better than caring about luxuries or following the lives of the rich and famous.It could even be argued that the Amish’s quality of life is better since they live in and appreciate the natural environment rather than living in large, polluted cities.

On the other hand, new technology has provided people everywhere with many benefits over the years.For example, the latest weather-tracking computer programs give people lots of warnings about potential natural disasters, which saves many lives.Moreover, the Internet has made it possible for friends and family to keep in touch easily even if they are on opposite sides of the world.It has also made finding opportunities in life much easier, as it allows people to make larger networks of friends through using social media.

Personally, I have benefited quite a lot from technological advances.I found my career as an AI designer through a social media network.My health monitor, which I wear all the time, has also helped me get into the best shape of my life.Of course, when new technology changes the way we live, it can be a scary prospect.Nevertheless, I will always look on the positive side of change and accept it rather than resist it.

What will the home of the future look like? A team of architects in Hong Kong say that city homes will be tiny, as populations continue to grow and space becomes more expensive.

They have designed “space flats” with just 30 square meters in size as the houses in the following years. These flats have several small rooms: a living room, a bathroom and a bedroom, but everything is carefully planned to make good use of the limited space.

The living room is the main room of the flat. It can be used as an office, a kitchen or even a second bedroom. There is a sofa that can be changed into a bed. The dining table can be changed into a computer desk. And, if not needed, both the sofa-bed and the table can be folded and put away. There is a flat-screen TV, which can also serve as a computer monitor. In one corner of the room, a small cooker, a microwave oven and a mini-refrigerator are hidden out of sight. The other rooms are small but practical. The bathroom contains a toilet and a shower. The double bed in the bedroom can also be transformed into a sofa, if required.

“Space flats” are wonderful and they are now being tested in a building in Hong Kong. It is believed that “space flats” will be improved to be our future homes.

9 . Welcome to your future life!

You get up in the morning and look into the mirror. Your face is firm and young­looking. In 2035, medical technology is better than ever. Many people at your age could live to 150, so at 40, you're not old at all. And your parents just had an anti­aging (抗衰老的) treatment. Now, all three of you look the same age!

You say to your shirt, "Turn red." It changes from blue to red. In 2035, "smart clothes" contain particles (粒子) much smaller than the cells in your body. The particles can be programmed (编程) to change your clothes' color or pattern.

You walk into the kitchen. You pick up the milk, but a voice says, "You shouldn't drink that!" Your fridge has read the chip (芯片) that contains information about the milk, and it knows the milk is old. In 2035, every article of food in the grocery store has such a chip.

It's time to go to work. In 2035, cars drive themselves. Just tell your "smart car" where to go. On the way, you can call a friend using your jacket sleeve. Such “smart technology" is all around you.

So will all these things come true? "For new technology to succeed," says scientist Andrew Zolli, "It has to be so much better that it replaces what we have already." The Internet is one example—what will be the next?

10 . Participants in an online forum were asked whether space exploration was worthwhile. Here are some of the comments they posted:

Planet Girl 7.17 pm

Our world is damaged by war, hunger and poverty. Billions of people struggle just to survive from day to day. Meanwhile the US space agency has US $16 billion to play with every year. We must deal with the world’s urgent problems. Space exploration is a luxury we cannot afford.

Dragon 7.18 pm

That $16 billion spent on space is nothing compared to the $370 billion spent on the military.

JJ 7.20 pm

Exploring space is investing in the future. Everyone knows we’re running out of resources. There’s massive over-population too. The solar system has heaps of resources we can use for mining, and maybe we can explore other planets. If we don’t do it now, it might be too late.

Planet Girl 7.22 pm

We have to settle problems of over-population and resource consuming here on Earth, instead of chasing science fiction dreams. Otherwise we will just export our unsustainable lifestyle to another planet. We might consume the whole universe!!

JJ 7.23 pm

Space explorers rock! They know what they are in for, and they still do it anyway. That’s what I call courage! We humans have always struggled to expand our horizons. We want to know what else is out there. Who knows, maybe we’ll discover the solution to all our problems out there!

Switched-on 7.25 pm

Space exploration has had a huge effect on our lives. Want to talk to someone halfway around the world? Sure. Get the weather forecast? Coming right up. Check exactly where you are? Absolutely. It’s all possible, thanks to satellite technology, global positioning systems, and the rest. If there was no space exploration, we’d be sitting around in the dark, not talking online!

Penny 7.50 pm

Satellites are launched by private companies — for profit. Planet Earth doesn’t always benefit. Exploring remote planets certainly does not contribute to life on Earth.