5 . Ocean temperature extremes are now normal, a new study reports. It has analyzed ocean surface temperatures for the past 150 years. It reveals that by 2019, 57 percent of the ocean’s surface was warming to temperatures rarely seen 100 years ago.

Ecologists wanted to learn how often modern extreme heat events occur. They also wanted to see how long they last. Kisei Tanaka was one of those ecologists. He now works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Honolulu, Hawaii. Tanaka teamed up with Kyle Van Houtan, who works at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center. The two analyzed monthly sea surface temperatures collected from 1870 through 2019. Then they mapped where and when extreme heat events had shown up, decade by decade.

By looking at monthly extremes instead of annual averages, the two found that over time, more and more patches (区域) of water were reaching extreme temperatures. Then, in 2014, the entire ocean hit a point of no return, Van Houtan says.

Heat waves harm ocean ecosystems. They can lead seabirds to starve... And animals—from fish and whales to turtles—may have to swim long distances in search of comfortable temperatures.

In May 2020, NOAA announced that it was updating what climates it now considered “normal”. These values are what the agency uses to put daily weather events in a historical context. The average values from 1991 to 2020 are now higher than those from 1981 to 2010, NOAA found.

Van Houtan says his new study shows extreme ocean warming is now the norm. Much discussion on climate change, he notes, has been about future events, and whether or not they might happen. But what the emerging data make clear, he says, is that extreme heat became common in our ocean in 2014. It’s a documented historical fact—not a future possibility.

6 . A sandstone slab (石板) and other stone tools unearthed in Vietnam give insight into how curry (咖喱) was made and reveal that curry was eaten in the region at least 2,000 years ago.

The sandstone slab, buried 2 meters below the surface, was dug up in 2018 at Oc Eo in southern Vietnam. The site was once an overseas trading center of an ancient Southeast Asian kingdom known as Funan, according to a new study.

“Preparing curry involves not only a diverse range of seasoning but also the use of grinding (研磨) tools, considerable time, and human effort,” said study author Dr. Hsiao-chun Hung. “Remarkably, even individuals residing outside of India nearly 2,000 years ago expressed a strong desire to enjoy the flavors of curry, as evidenced by their careful preparations.”

Hung and a team of researchers analyzed microscopic remains known as starch grains—tiny structures found within plant cells that can be preserved over long periods—that they found on the grinding tools.

“Nowadays, preparing curry in Vietnam has become much simpler for most families due to the widespread availability of bagged curry in supermarkets. However, it is interesting to note that the curry recipe used today has not varied significantly from the ancient times,” said study co-author Dr. Khanh Trung Kien Nguyen. Nguyen added that the team planned to recreate the 2,000-year-old curry based on the microscopic remains found at the site.

People were likely enjoying curry in India about 4,000 years ago. Some of the components recovered at Oc Eo are similar to those found in Indian curries, while other components are more distinctively Southeast Asian. The new study concluded that curry recipes arrived in Southeast Asia with South Asian traders as contact between the regions increased during the early centuries of the first millennium.

7 . Though Marley has loved soccer for as long as she can remember, her involvement in the game didn’t extend beyond kickabouts with her father and brothers. But that all changed in 2014 when one day her son came home from school and handed her a flier (传单), saying that his soccer coach had asked him to deliver it to her. “I’m reading it... like ‘Wait, Jamaica has a women’s football team? Where did this come from?’” she said.

Six years earlier, in 2008, underfunding had led to the Jamaican Football Federation (JFF) disbanding the women’s national team program. The flier Marley’s son brought home was a fundraising request from the JFF to help restart the program. Marley got to work almost immediately, calling the JFF the following morning to ask what it needed.

“The needs were many,” Marley said, repeating the sentence as if to stress how dire the situation was. From travel and nutrition to accommodation and training camps, every area of the national team’s setup was in need of funding.

A skilled musician and multiple Grammy award-winning artist, Marley put her considerable musical talents to work. “My family came together with me. We recorded a song Strike Hard to raise funds,” she said.

Her efforts—and the work of countless others who were equally as committed to the cause—paid off as the women’s national team became the first Caribbean country to qualify for the Women’s World Cup.

Marley’s work has helped not only improve standards and conditions for players, but also shift the country’s attitude towards the women’s national team. “These girls have been told for a long time that women in sports, especially football in Jamaica, really weren’t that important,” Marley said. “Nobody wants to give us brand deals because it’s the female team. It’s so good now to see how all of that has changed dramatically, not just for our women, but around the world... and that makes me excited.”