1 . Open an app at your smart phone and scan the code bar on the garbage can. When you throw garbage into the garbage can, it will show the weight of the garbage and the points you can get from doing so.     1     It will become more popular in the future. Yes, we are talking about the smart garbage can.

    2     The environmental problems have become constant headaches in the development of those cities. Encouraging garbage classification has become an effective way.

In some cities, a variety of multifunctional smart garbage cans are being put into use. In Beijing, for example, a smart garbage can is equipped with an LED screen, which not only shows national policies on garbage classification but also shows the correct steps for garbage sorting. It can also calculate the weight of the garbage and the accumulated points one can get. They can be traded for some articles of daily use.     3     Its body is actually a screen. It is equipped with some Internal sensors. When people throw garbage into it, the internal sensors can automatically tell the types of the garbage. Meanwhile, people can see how to deal with them.     4    

Garbage disposal is a small issue that involves everybody each day. However, it is also a big issue.    5     With smart garbage cans in our daily life, the idea of garbage sorting will become more established. Our dream of building a greener and more beautiful China will come true so long as we start to make small changes right now.

2 . An ancient Latin proverb says “Aquila non capit muscas” —cagles don’t hunt flies—meaning that important ones shouldn’t concern themselves with small, insignificant matters.But the lions in East Africa should concern themselves with the seemingly insignificant ants, because these ants are changing their lifestyles.

The story starts with the acacia trees(金合欢树)in an African wildlife area in central KenyaSome of these acacia trees provide food and shelter for specific ant species, which in turn defend the tree against herbivores(食草动物).The ants are actively attacking and driving away herbivores that attempt to feed on the tree’s leavesThis is highly effective; the ants not only physically harm the herbivores but also release chemicals that can deter other potential attackers.

But these ants are in trouble.Another species called the “big-headed” ant is destroying entire groups of tree-protecting ants.This, in turn, sets off an entire chain of events that ends up influencing when and how lions can hunt.

This ant invasion(入侵)affects one thing after the other.It leaves the acacia trees defenseless against herbivores especially elephants.The elephants come in and eat the acacias at five to seven times the rate observed in uninvaded areas.The lions, while hunting for food, have no more trees to use for hiding.This reduced tree cover makes lions less successful at hunting and pushes them to find different areas to hunt in．

“These tiny invaders are pulling on the ties that put an African ecosystem together, determining who is eaten andwhere,” said Todd Palmer, an ecologist from Florida.

The lions, which are already endangered, are managing to cope with this by no longer focusing their attention on zebras.The zebras, of course, can see them much better on the approach given the lack of cover.Instead, they are targeting water buffalo.But this also isn’t the end of the story.Who knows what the lions’ changing strategy will mean for the ecosystem down the line?

3 . You may have wondered how lavender is used for social anxiety. But first, just what is lavender? Lavender, also known as English or garden lavender, is a herb native to the Mediterranean region. Historically, lavender was used to mummify bodies in Egypt, in baths in Greece and Rome, and for curing the broken skin and mental health purposes. Today, lavender is used as a traditional or complementary remedy for relaxation, to reduce anxiety, and depression, as well as for diseases such as stomach upset and headaches.

No scientific studies have specifically examined the benefits of lavender use for social anxiety disorder. In a 2000 study, Cook and Ernst reported that in general, aromatherapy (芳香疗法) is helpful in reducing anxiety and stress in the short-term. A 2012 study also showed some evidence of the usefulness of lavender taken for anxiety. More research is needed to support the use of lavender for the treatment of social anxiety disorder.

Lavender is usually used in the form of an essential oil as part of aromatherapy. The scent is inhaled, or the oil is applied to the skin, which will benefit the anxious people quickly. Dried lavender can also be used to make a tea or liquid extract. Lavender may also be taken in pill form. Lavender tea can be made by using 1 to 2 teaspoons of dried leaves for 15 minutes in a cup of boiling water. In liquid extract form, no more than 60 drops of lavender should be taken in a day. Before taking lavender in liquid form, you should read the product label and discuss the dose with a qualified health care provider.

There is not enough scientific evidence to safely recommend lavender for children younger than 18 years. Lavender taken by mouth has the potential to increase the risk of bleeding. If you suffer from a bleeding disorder or are taking medicine that may increase bleeding,use caution when taking lavender.

4 . Growing plants is often seen as a very “green” thing to do, but like many products, they take a huge amount of energy to produce.    1    For example, they use geothermal(地热的) energy to heat greenhouses and solar power to supply electricity and lighting. While domestic growing doesn’t involve the same carbon footprint as commercial growing, it’s important to consider what we can all do to minimize our own impact while still enjoying growing plants.

Over-consumption of plants is a big issue. It’s so easy to get overexcited when you see all these incredible plants, and you can end up carrying home huge numbers of them.    2     The more plants you have, the more limited your time and resources become, and plants can suffer. This leads to another issue-many people may end up throwing away their plants which don’t look perfect or stop flowering, in a similar way to the world of fast fashion.     3    .

If you are ready and able to increase your collection, propagate(繁殖) from your own plants rather than buying more, and share plants with others.     4    Meanwhile, we can build a community of like-minded, passionate plant people.

Recycling takes a huge amount of input, which can end up more damaging to the environment, so instead of buying something of lower quality that needs replacing every year, buy fewer things of a higher quality.     5    And they can be passed down the generations.

5 . A future where insects make up a large part of the world’s diet is on the horizon. Despite the unpleasant nature of such cuisine, insects have been considered a delicacy in some parts of world for centuries. Their being low-fat and high-protein makes them a perfect choice for reducing hunger.     1    

Animal protein from livestock (家畜), such as cows, chicken and pigs, takes up 80 percent of the entire world’s farmland, despite only making up less than one-fifth of calories consumed globally.    2    Thus it would support a variety of biodiversity as nature intended.

Insects such as grasshoppers, meal worms and crickets are packed full of protein with much higher vitamin levels than pork or beef.    3    Greenhouse gas emissions through this process are also very little, with insect waste making excellent fertilizer (肥料) for agricultural soil.

It seems that insects are an ideal solution for many issues the world today is faced with.    4    Urban areas of Asia, Europe and North America are most likely to associate insects with dirt instead of as a tasty meal.

Times are changing. The European Union last year declared that meal worms were safe for human consumption. Cricket protein powder is also increasing greatly in popularity, with Canada rapidly becoming the largest market for the product.

    5    As we explore our solar system, efficient means of producing animal based-proteins will become vital. None are more efficient space-wise than insects. And the colonies of the future could well find themselves enjoying fried crickets with a pint of beer while watching the Martian sunset.

6 . A wild African bird that will lead people to trees with honeycomb (蜂巢) seems to somehow learn the distinct whistles and calls of the human foragers (觅食者) who live near them.

This bird species has far more information about what the bees are doing than humans ever could. In Tanzania, Hadza foragers can use a special whistle to attract this bird, which will then fly down and start leading them to honey. With its noisy chattering sound, the bird is very conspicuous. Once the bird arrives at a tree with honey inside, it will rest near the beehive silently, seemingly not to disturb the bees. “That’s the signal to the Hadza to really start searching,” says Brian Wood, an anthropologist at University of California, Los Angeles. Pretty soon, the foragers will locate the hive and cut open the tree trunk.

It is found that the birds are more likely to show up when the familiar signal used by the locals is being broadcast. According to the research, the birds appear 82% of the time when Hadza whistles are being played. But they appear only 24% of the time when the researchers play the whistles traditionally used in a different country.

This makes it clear that the birds have learned what their human neighbors do when they want to partner up and go honey-hunting. “This is a very strong result which supports the idea that there’s a learning process involved,” says Wood.

But how do the birds learn? It’s still unclear. What is clear is that this human-animal communication seems to benefit both parties, and it may go back many thousands of years. When the honeycomb is out, the birds get some of the beeswax, which they love to eat. And the human foragers get the honey—which is an enormously important food for the Hadza. Wood has calculated that the Hadza get about 10% of the calories in their annual diet with the help of the birds.

Long ago in Ancient China, there was a mythical figure     1     (know) as Shennong. Not only did Shennong bring agriculture and the use of herbal medicine to China, but he also invented     2     (agriculture) tools and techniques, and the Chinese calendar with its 24 solar terms.

It is said that the home town of Shennong was a forest in Hubei Province, which today is called “Shennongjia”. This beautiful and diverse region covers     3     area of 3,253 square kilometers of north-west Hubei Province. It gives shelter to over 1000 species of medicinal plants, many of     4     are rare and unique to Shennongjia. Here mountain slopes     5     (cover) with trees and some of them grow up to 40 meters tall. In summer, pink and violet flowers lend splashes of color. These are some of     6     (it) most breathtaking landscapes. The magnificent Shennong Peak rises to 3,105 meters above sea level.

Banbiyan is famous for its stone forest, as well as its bamboo forests and grasslands that flood with     7     (flower). The stone forests of Fengjingya stand     8     a background of green mountains that reaches as far as the eye can see. When it rains, the tops of these mountains look like islands     9     (float) on a sea of clouds. Come to Shennongjia     10     (enjoy) its beauty and the legend.

9 . The honeybee waggle dance has been celebrated as a most complex animal communication system. A study uncovered its new property that bees must partially learn the dance from watching experienced dancers, a discovery that torpedoes the general perception that the dance is wholly inborn. A dancer bee relays information to follower bees about the target location by adjusting herself while shaking her stomach, allowing for impressive flexibility in the angle, duration and her enthusiasm. Her body’s angle corresponds to the sun’s position relative to the nest entrance.

The distance information is conveyed by the dance duration. And the more energetic and passionate the dance, the better the food. She’ll waggle in a straight line for seconds before circling back to repeat the dance, creating the figure eight pattern.

This bee waggle dance system was long assumed to be natural behavior, but researchers made a breakthrough through an experiment. They created territories of newborn bees completely separated from mature ones. When the newborn started visiting flowers and producing their first waggle dances, they consistently made more errors in the way they reported the angle and distance to the food source than bees raised in mixed-aged territories and thus exposed to the waggle dance since they were born. They also generated looser figure eight patterns, making it harder for the follower bees to get the message. Even when placed back into a territory with mature bees, they never seemed to learn how to communicate information correctly.

These results suggest every honeybee is born with a waggle dance model that gives them a basic understanding of how to dance. By watching their elders, they’ll acquire new rules on how to generate the dance unique to their territory.

This is the first known example of such complex social learning of communication in insects and is a form of animal culture, strikingly similar to the way human language generates new languages to shape itself around the local conditions. While the waggle dance is second to human language in terms of the ability to communicate diverse information through random symbols, the newly-discovered property makes it even more language-like and just that much more mind-blowing.