1 . Standing out from the crowd isn’t always a good thing.

Birds with uncommon traits like big beaks(喙), long tails and extended wings are more likely to be threatened and face extinction, new research finds.

“We are fascinated by the diversity of the planet’s bird species. At the same time, we are deeply concerned about the threats these birds face,” lead author Jarome Ali, a PhD candidate at Princeton University, says. Ali completed the research at Imperial College London.

For their work, researchers analyzed measurement data collected from 9, 943 bird species, which are about 99% of all living bird species. The information came from both living birds as well as museum specimens(标本). The measurements included beak size and shape, as well as the length of legs, tails and wings. Researchers combined the information on physical traits with the birds’ risk of extinction. Next, they ran simulations(模拟) about what would occur if the most threatened birds were to become extinct.

“All our simulations showed that extinction has worse effects on the diversity of bird shapes than we expected. This is deeply concerning, but not shocking given that we first found that threatened birds were more unique than non-threatened birds,” Ali says.

The researchers weren’t sure what could explain the link between unusual birds and their extinction risk. “Unique birds are likely to play specialized roles in the ecosystem. One possible explanation is that as habitats come under threat, these specialized roles are likely to be the first to be targeted,” Ali says. “For example, if you were a hummingbird and specialized to feed on a small subset of plants, then damage to your habitat would be worse than if you were a less unique bird that eats a whole range of foods.”

“The loss of these rare birds has an impact on the environment because their role in the ecosystem is lost,” Ali says. “Our findings imply that we cannot simply hope that non-threatened species will come in and fill the role of the threatened species.”

3 . One man’s trash is another man’s treasure is absolutely the case in Turkey where garbage collectors started collecting books that have been thrown away and ended up opening a library.

It started when garbage man Durson Ipek found a bag of abandoned books when he was working and then it snowballed from there. Ipek and other garbage men started gathering the books they found on the streets that were ready for landfills (垃圾填埋地) and as their collection started to grow, so did word of mouth. Soon, local residents started donating books directly. The library was initially available only to the garbage employees and their families to use but as the collection grew, so did public interest and the library was opened to the public in 2017.

“On the one hand, there were those who were leaving these books on the streets. On the other hand, others were looking for these books,” Ankaya mayor Alper Tasdelen told CNN. “We started to discuss the idea of creating a library from these books. When everyone supported it, this project happened.”

All the books that are found are sorted and checked for condition. If they pass, they go on the shelves. Today, the library has over 6,000 books that range from fiction to nonfiction and there’s a very popular children’s section that even has a collection of comic books. An entire section is devoted to scientific research and there are also books available in English and French. The collection has grown so large that the library loans books to schools and educational programs.

“Village school teachers from all over Turkey are requesting books,” Tasdelen told CNN. The government has to hire a full-time employee to manage the library.

This library is incredibly popular. It is frequently filled with the children of the city’s workers and students from nearby schools. There is a waiting room set up for readers and chess boards for the people who visit the library. You can even enjoy a cup of tea in the waiting room.

5 . Set in the snow-covered Himalayan mountains, Nainital’s waterways and forests are popular places for tourists. The road to Nainital is covered with woodlands that elephants, snakes, and squirrels always use as well. Nainital’s wildlife and human visitors exist together in the same place, but increasing tourist traffic causes a danger to some of these animals while they cross the roads. Then on the way to Nainital, an eco-bridge appears on a busy highway.

A forest manager said, “This is a rich forest, and elephant, leopards, deer and bulls move in this area. Drivers can see these large animals from some distance and slow down or stop, but they seldom do so for animals like snakes, lizards and squirrels.” To make things safer for these smaller animals, an eco-bridge was built.

No iron was found in the building of the 90-foot-long bridge. It was only made from materials like bamboo and grass and high up in the air above the road. Workers are now growing grass and plants to cover the bridge in order to attract animals. It is hoped that a green bridge will draw animals to use it. Meanwhile, it is always attracting tourists, who stop to take photos of the amazing bridge. It will make drivers realize how dangerous their high driving speed will be to animals and then reduce their speed.

Although the eco-bridge is the first Indian wildlife bridge for small animals, Indian people have recently worked on a number of projects to help cars and larger animals share the road. For example, six bridges were built over a highway in the Annamalai Hills. These bridges were built to support monkeys in reaching both sides of the highway. On India’s busy National Highway 44, several bridges have successfully enabled large wild animals to cross the crowded highway. Plans for more animal crossings are already carried out in India, including one for elephants on the Chen-nai-Bangalore National Highway.

India has some of the most unique wildlife in the world. Hopefully, nature-based city planning will benefit both India’s native wildlife and its human neighbors.

6 . Recycling is a great way of doing your bit for the environment and helping to protect the earth’s precious resources. However, a new study has revealed that our desire to be sustainable maybe doing more harm than good. According to waste company Biffa, this is because of “wish-cycling” — assuming that items such as disposable coffee cup sand pizza boxes will be recycled if put in the recycling bin. In fact, pollution from those items or other non-recyclables can result in recyclable items that have been put in the correct bin going to landfill. David Heaton, a business director at Biffa, said: “Pollution happens when items are disposed of in the wrong bins or haven’t been cleaned before being recycled.”

Experts at Biffa analyzed the amounts of non-target and non-recyclable materials that entered UK material recycling facilities between 2016 and 2020. It was found that, in 2016, the average pollution rate of recycling waste was 13.4 percent, rising over four years to 17 percent by the end of 2020. This shows that, even as people are becoming more eco-conscious, wish-cycling is increasing both in households and businesses.

The Biffa experts say that one of the best ways to prevent pollution of recycling is to clean recyclable waste before putting it in the bin. They suggest cutting off the top of old pizza boxes and only recycling that part to avoid pollution from the grease (油脂). Check the on-packaging recycling label to check it can actually be recycled When it comes to plastics, Biffa recommends checking the resin code, the number in the plastic triangle, to know whether it should go in the recycling bin. In general, resin codes 1, 2, 4 and 5 are recyclable, while 3, 6 and 7 are not. Larger items, like electronics, furniture and batteries, can also be recycled but often can not go in household recycling bins as they need specialist separating. These will need to be taken to recycling centers or sustainable waste management companies.

“It’s vital as a nation that we get better at effective ‘pre-cycling’— sorting waste correctly before collection to reduce pollution rates,” added Mr. Heaton.

7 . The streets of Cotonou, Benin’s largest city, have been Domingo Soule’s workplace for 35 years. The 50-year-old motorcycle taxi driver spends his days driving for miles on roads blanketed in exhaust fumes (尾气), picking up customers and taking them to where they want to go. But Soule has developed a cough from breathing in air pollution, he believes, and at the end of each day his eyes hurt.

Things maybe about to change, however. In recent months, he’s seen more and more electric motorbikes on the streets of Cotonou. The Indian manufacturer (制造商) M Auto introduced its electric bikes in Benin in July 2022 and there are already 2,000 on the roads; an additional 2,000 people have paid deposits (定金) and are waiting for delivery.

Shegun Bakari, M Auto’s chief executive, has ambitions to get all moto-taxi drivers in Benin to switch to electric. This month he plans to launch a campaign to encourage them to swap (交换) their old bikes for new electric models.

The only sticking point is the battery. M Auto’s business model relies on “swap stations” throughout the city. When the battery runs out after about 60 miles, drivers must visit a station and pay to exchange the empty battery for a full one. Concerns about the battery are also preventing Soule form buying an electric bike. It could cost him 4,000 CFA ￡(5.40) a day to replace batteries, Soule says, whereas at the moment he can buy five litres of petrol (enough for one day) for 3,000CFA.

Bakari understands his concerns. In Beni, close to 40% of the population live under the poverty line, earning less than US$2 a day. “If I’m living with $2 a day, I can’t afford to pay more just because I want to save the planet,” he says.

He and his team are working to persuade governments in Africa to reduce taxes on electric vehicles, as well as putting plans in place to produce the electric bikes in Benin. They are also in talks with the government to build a solar plant to provide the extra energy that will be needed.

Despite its rapid industrialization, there are still some corners in China that have maintained its original color.

Ancient towns and villages in China are places     1     traditions are well preserved in terms of architecture, lifestyle and folk customs. All of these can be found in Huangyao Ancient Town, one of the most-visited tourist     2    (spot) in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

    3    (cover) an area of 3.6 square kilometers, Huangyao has a history of nearly 1,000 years     4     its origins dating back to the Song Dynasty. People     5    (carry) on traditional festivals and customs here for hundreds of years up to now. During Chinese Lunar New Year, over 20 traditional performances     6    (hold), including the dragon dance and suona horn show. On July 14 in the Chinese lunar calendar, residents often come to the riverbank and put lanterns into the river     7    (celebrate) Zhongyuan Jie, the Hungry Ghost Festival.

Black soybean is often added to its local food to create an     8    (extreme) distinctive flavor. When you visit, Huangyao tofu is     9     must-try local dish as it is sold only in this town.

It usually takes a day or two to tour around the old town due to its small size, but you can always stay     10    (long) to experience more of its local hospitality and culture.

10 . Fish genetically engineered to glow blue, green, or red under blacklight have been a big hit among aquarium lovers for years. But the fluorescent (发荧光的) pet is not restricted to glass displays anymore. The red-and-green-glowing versions, more vivid than normal zebrafish even in natural light, have escaped fish farms in southeastern Brazil and are multiplying (繁殖) in creeks in the Atlantic Forest, a new study shows. It is a rare example of a transgenic animal accidentally becoming established in nature, and a concern for biologists, who worry the transgenic fish could threaten the local fauna (动物群) in one of the most bio-diverse spots on the planet.

In the 2000s, companies saw the potential of the fish as pets. Trademarked as Glofish, they became the world’s first genetically engineered species to be commercially available. Now, they are one of the first to escape and thrive in nature. Early on, environmentalists worried about the possibility, and Glofish sales were banned in some U. S. states such as California and several countries-including Brazil. In 2014, a single Glofish was spotted in canals of Florida. But it had not multiplied, probably because native predators such as the eastern mosquitofish and the largemouth bass ate the intruder, said the biologist who spotted the fish, Quenton Tuckett. Unlike Florida, Glofish thrived in the Brazilian creeks. In 2017 he and colleagues began to survey five creeks in three cities, finding transgenic zebrafish in all of them.

The Glofish are reproducing all year round, with a peak during the rainy season — just as native zebrafish do in Asia. But the transgenic fish seem to achieve sexual maturity earlier than their forebears, which allows them to reproduce more and spread faster. The invaders are also eating well: a diversified diet of native insects, algae, and zooplankton.

Despite Brazil’s ban on sales of the fish, stores all over the country sell them as pets. They may soon colonize other parts of the country. Tuckett says it should be “a wake-up call”. For now, the glowing fish “could be considered little weeds growing up out of the concrete”, Tuckett says, but points out that even little weeds can grow to cause a lot of damage.