1 . Breakthrough Junior Challenge

For students looking for a more creatively inspired and nontraditional competition, the Breakthrough Junior Challenge tasks students with creating a short video in which they explain a complex scientific idea.

Rules

•Students between the ages of 13 and 18 can participate.

•Your video must be two minutes or under. One participant is required to submit (提交) only one entry.

•Entries are limited to individuals only. Previous award holders are not allowed to participate

•Go to breakthrough junior challenge org to submit your application and video before June 25.

Judging

Participants also play an important role in the judging process. You must score at least five videos submitted by other participants. After that , the seventy-five top-scoring videos from the process will be reviewed by the Evaluation Panel (评审团) made up of top-class scholars and science leaders. Each of these videos will receive at least an additional five review s from the Evaluation Panel members. Lastly, the Selection Committee will review and score the top group of finalists determined by the Evaluation Panel and select five entries for final consideration. Besides, the competition invites Internet users to participate in its judging process. The top-scoring video in the Popular Vote will be added to this group for the final review.

Prizes

The total value of the prizes is $400,000. The winner will receive a $250,000 scholarship (奖学金) to leading universities, as well as a $100,000 grant to the winner’s school for the development of a science lab and a $50,000 award to a teacher of the winner’s choice

3 . The Ancient Tea Horse Road (in China) was a trade road mainly through Yunnan, Sichuan, and Tibet.     1     From the 6th century to the 20th century, people in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces traveled by foot and on horseback to exchange tea for horses with people in Tibet. Walking on the road, you can still see the deep marks in stones left by the stepping of horses’ hooves (马蹄) over the centuries.

The Ancient Tea Horse Road was impressive. However, for travelers, transportation was very difficult in the southwest because there were lots of high mountains, climbable only by narrow roads, and rapid rivers to cross. Wheeled or waterway transportation was nearly impossible.     2    

The Tea Horse Road originated from the traditional “tea-for-horse” trade between Han and Tibetan people. The trade began with Tibetan interest in tea in the Tang Dynasty.     3     Some places in Sichuan, such as Mingshan, had a specialized government department to manage the tea-horse trade.

    4     The Sichuan-Tibet Tea Horse Road started from Ya’an in Sichuan to Lhasa, traveled through Luding, Kangding, Batang, and Chamdo in Tibet, and continued to Nepal, Burma, and India.The Yunnan-Tibet Tea Horse Road began from a major tea-producing area in Yunnan and led to Lhasa in Tibet, crossing Pu’er in Xishuangbanna, Dali, Lijiang, and Shangri-La, and continuing to Nepal, Burma, and India.

With the rapid development of modern roads, the ancient pathways have been taken the place of by the Sichuan-Tibet Highway and other Tibetan roads.     5     It makes people return to nature, enjoy a trip for harmony between humans and the environment and experience a trip of adventure and discovery.

4 . It’s often said that travel is all about the journey, but it can be almost as exciting to travel the world from the comfort of our homes. Just pick up several travel books that share the extraordinary ability to transport readers through time and space.

The Last Ride of the Pony Express

In 2019, American journalist Will Grant took on a 2,000-mile journey on horseback. Grant describes his 142-day adventure following the Pony Express that operated between April 1860 and October 1861. The Pony Express once used riders who traveled on horseback to deliver mall. While Grant reflects on the West’s modernization over time, it’s his vivid (生动的) descriptions of local residents along the way that make the book a real page-turner.

Unforgettable Journey s Europe

The book shows travel really is all about “getting there”. This inspirational book details 150 of Europe’s best slow adventures, such as kayaking through Lithuania and crossing the Arctic Circle by train. Photos, maps and plenty of information(including start and end points for trails, difficulty ratings and website links) are spread throughout the text, making the book as much colorful reference as it is inspiring to read.

Elixir: In the Valley at the End of Time

After a decade of living in the Scottish Highlands, native Bulgarian Kapka Kassabova returned to her roots (根) in Mesta Valley, a rural region known for its wild crops. The poet and writer set out to study the deep relationship between the area’s people and plants, as well as with the land itself. Her text explorers a lesser-known area filled with nature and traditional customs.

The Life Cycle

British writer and cyclist Kate Rawles took a 13-month journey across the length of the Andes Mountains en a self-built bamboo bicycle. During this journey, the author saw firsthand the harmful impacts of extreme biodiversity loss caused by human activity such as cutting down trees. She shared her concerns and insight in her book, and expected to inspire actions.

5 . According to a study published in the June 2023 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, bottlenose dolphin mothers speak to their calves (幼崽) in higher pitched (高音的) whistles. This communication is similar to the higher pitched speech people use when speaking to babies.

Dolphins use whistles to communicate with other dolphins and researchers have been trying to understand this language for a long time. It was through recordings of dolphins’ communication that researchers found that the whistles were different when mothers were directing them at their calves. They had a higher pitch.

The researchers studied recordings of 19 female dolphins living in the Sarasota Bay area along the western coast of Florida. Microphones were repeatedly placed on the same wild dolphin mothers to capture (捕捉) the recordings.

Every one of the 19 dolphin moms changed the pitch of their whistles when their calves were nearby. At this point researchers don’t know what the higher pitch is used for, it could be a teaching method or just a way to let the calves know that Mom is there. They are studying it now.

“It’s really important for a calf to know ‘Oh, Mum is talking to me now’,” said Janet Mann, a biologist at Georgetown University, who didn’t take part in the study.

Human babies learn to speak by copying their moms, so it’s sound to think that calves in other species do the same. Scientists believe babies pay more attention to speech with a higher pitch.

Still more studies are needed to see if this child-directed speech (CDS) crosses more species. Finding CDS in both humans and dolphins could encourage scientists to study how different species in different geographic locations develop the same features.

It turns out that humans aren’t so unique in terms of language and parenting. Hopefully this knowledge will encourage the protection of species around the globe.

6 . Our recommended list of environmental books covers a broad range of topics. These must-read environmental books are sure to spark the interest of the greenest books.

Silent Spring

Written by Rachel Carson, Silent Spring highlights the effects of pesticides (杀虫剂) on the environment, especially DDT, which was a very popular insecticide until it was finally banned in 1972. The book eventually led to a change in the United States’ pesticide policy and contributed to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.

No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference.

This book collects 11 speeches made by climate activist Greta Thunberg, highlighting the issue of climate change and its impact on future generations. Greta Thunberg was 15 when she started the School Strike for Climate, also known as Fridays for Future. She inspired protests worldwide.

The Uninhabitable Earth

This book by David Wallace Wells examines the disasters that have already occurred and looks ahead to the year 2100 and what climate change will do if we continue on our current path. Its opening line is incredibly telling: “It is worse, much worse, than you think.”

The End of Nature

Published in 1989, the book describes the relationship between nature and humans. It expresses the idea that nature was previously independent of humans but has now been affected by them in every way. According to author Bill McKibben, the idea of wilderness is lost, and nature is no longer complete.

8 . Oxford’s world-class museums house rare treasures from the natural world as well as amazing art and handicrafts. The museums are also a valuable study resource for students and academics.

Ashmolean Museum

Where: Beaumont Street, OX12PH

When: 10:00-17:00

The Ashmolean Museum is home to the university’s collection of art and archaeology. Founded in 1683, it was the first public museum in the UK and is one of the oldest in the world. Particularly relevant to: Ancient and Modern History.

www.ashmolean.org

History of Science Museum

Where: Broad Street,OX13AZ

When: 12:00-17:00

This museum houses an unequaled collection of historic scientific instruments, including Einstein’s blackboard and the first cultures of the lifesaving antibiotic Penicillin.

Particularly relevant to all science and history courses.

www.hsm.ox.ac.uk

Oxford University Museum of Natural History

Where: Parks Road, OX13PW

When: 10:00-17:00

The museum houses an impressive range of scientific collections of zoological and geologicalsamples in a spectacular Victorian building.

Particularly relevant to: Biology; Earth Sciences.

www.oum.ox.ac.uk

Pitt Rivers Museum

Where: Parks Road, OX13PW

When: 10:00-14:00

The Pitt Rivers Museum is home to a remarkable collection of man-made objects from all partsof the world, famous for its celebrated displays and its leading role in contemporary research.

Particularly relevant to: Archaeology and Anthropology; History of Art.

www.prm.ox.ac.uk

9 . Changi Community Chub Visit

To Green Ark Fish Farm

Green Ark is one of the fish closed fish farms in the world. It is a floating structure about the size

Located 5km off Chang Point, the farm can produce 166, 000 kilograms of fish a year. The fish are housed in four enormous tanks. The raised fish include barramundi, red snapper and grouper. They are mainly for local consumption.

The fish are sale from threat such as all spills (溢油) and other chemicals which could kill them. The aa waler they live in is really clean. Bacteria and viruses are destroyed by ozonation (臭氧化). In this process, oxygen is blown into the tanks every hour. “All these improved conditions ensure that the waler quality remains high. This enables our fish to become healthier,” said Mrs. Linda Tan, spokesperson of Green Ark Fish Farm.

For the very first time, Changi Community Club is organizing 5 small-group tours (25 persons each) to Green Ark Fish Farm on the following Saturdays: 6, 13, 20, 27 July. You will have first- hand knowledge of how fish is raised there. The highlight of the tour will be tasty meal of fresh fish chosen by the chefs of Changi Cafe.

For enquiries, please visit the website at 222. changicc. com. sg. Registration will be on a. first-come, first-served basis. Book early to avoid disappointment!

10 . Some books to look forward to in 2024

The first few months of 2024 are piled with exciting and interesting reads . If you’re looking to get a jump ahead on the holds from your local library, here are just a few books we ‘re looking forward to.

James by Percival Everett

Celebrated author Percival Everett gives us Huckleberry Finn from Jim’s point of view. It’s far from a straight re-telling, though. Instead, Everett (but off his 2001 book Erasure being adapted into the film American Fiction) uses the beats of the original story to give us a send up of language and race.(Pub. March.19)

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

This standalone fantasy was inspired by the best-selling author’s own family history. It takes place during the Spanish Golden Age and follows a servant, hiding the fact that she can perform miracles. (Pub. Apr.9)

Private Equity by Carrie Sun

A memoir (回忆录) about the daughter of Chinese immigrants who ended up becoming an assistant to a billionaire hedge fund founder. It’s an examination of the hustle and tiring lifestyle that spreads American work culture, and the costs of extreme wealth. (Pub. Feh.13)

Legacy by Uché Blackstock

Uché Blackstock has had a long career in medicine as a doctor and as a professor of emergency medicine. Her account follows her growing up wanting nothing more than to be doctor, and discovering all parts of the systemic issues that lend to poorer health outcomes for Black Americans. (Pub, Jan.23)