1 . Cows produce much methane (甲烷) the world’s second worst greenhouse gas, as they break down the grass. They are a large source of the greenhouse gases that are driving climate change. Now scientists have shown the pollution from cows can be reduced by adding a little seaweed (海藻) to their food.

Recently, the researchers from the University of California studied 21 cows on a farm for about five months. They taught the cows to get their food from inside a special hood, which allowed the scientists to know the amount of the methane the cows were giving off. They added a small amount of seaweed to the cows’ food.

The consequences were surprisingly good. In some cases, the cows produced 82% less methane. The improvement depended on the kind of food the cows were given. Even the worst-polluting cows produced 33% less methane. Over the five months, the scientists didn’t see any signs that the cows’ stomachs were getting used to the seaweed and starting to produce more methane again. What’s more, the cows that were fed seaweed gained just as much weight as the other cows.

But there are still some big problems with the idea of feeding cows seaweed. For one thing, there’s not enough seaweed to feed all of the cows in the world. So farmers would have to figure out a way to grow lots of seaweed. A bigger problem is that for most of their lives, cows live in the fields, where they eat grass. That means there’s no chance to feed them seaweed every day.

Still, as the study shows, something as simple as feeding cows seaweed can help reduce some of the pollution causing the climate crisis.

4 . Lauren Elizabeth Pirie Bath, until a few years ago, she was a chef, and a happy one at that time, but she wanted more out of life. She wanted to TRAVEL. At that time, Lauren discovered blogging and found that she took pretty good pictures. So she decided to post pictures on her blog. In less than 18 moths, there were over 200,000 people reading her blog! At first, Lauren only regarded it as a hobby, but companies started paying her to take photos and publish them. In 2013, she was determined to make her dream come true: to become Australia’s first professional photo blogger. It was a challenging job, but she did it. Now Lauren spends three weeks out of every month travelling and has over 464,000 fans following her online.

First visiting Western Australia for work in 2013, Lauren fell in love with northern WA and has been back six times. She has made over 140 work trips, but the best work trip ever was to Broome in the Kimberley region.

“It is extremely beautiful and I can experience the indigenous Australia there more than anywhere else. The Kimberley region, in particular, is unique and untouched.” She told the interviewer, and as a photographer, Lauren loves the bright light and amazing colours: red rocks, green plants, blue-green waters and blue skies.

To work full time in travel, she has to love nature and tries to take every opportunity to get outside and admire the natural world. She loves to photograph the rising sun, as well as enjoys photo graphing animals such as dolphins and kangaroos.

Lauren uses the photography to make an impact on people, especially when it comes to environmental issues. Today she has been photographing a crocodile swimming close to the boat the Kimberley Quest all day. When she posts the picture online, she will make a comment about how bad it is to feed wild crocodiles. This crocodile is used to passengers throwing food from boats and now she is becoming familiar with humans. Over time, this could make her a danger to people living to the area. If everyone can do something to make others aware of the problem, then that’s part of the solution.

5 . In many people’s eyes, plants are quiet and passive. They can’t talk. They can’t walk.     1    .

Or can they? A new BBC documentary series, The Green Planet, gives us a new look at plants. Released on January 10 on Bilibili, it uncovers the wonderful and dramatic ways that plants behave.

Plants compete against each other to live. Each species has its own ways of defense. In rainforests, different kinds of plants race for sunlight. The forest floor is described as a “battlefield” in the series as only two percent of the sunlight filters (透过) through it.     2    . But they are caught up in a vine (藤蔓) that tries to take a ride. Finally, they are both overtaken by a fast-growing balsa tree. As the balsa’s leaves are smooth, the vine can’t get a hold. Similarly, some trees make poisonous sap (毒汁) to protect themselves.

    3    . In deserts, the roots of Euphrates poplar are connected. If a tree finds water, it will share it with others through the roots. Studies also show that plants use fungus (真菌) in the soil as a way to “talk” to each other. It’s kind of like how Wi-Fi works.     4    .

The series not only lets us wonder at the plant world but pushes us to understand that plants are important. “    5    . We depend upon them for every mouth of food that we eat and every breath that we breathe,” said David Attenborough, presenter of the series. It’s time to look after wild plants just as carefully as our houseplants.

9 . According to a report from the Ministry of Public Security. Yichen (奕辰) and Yinuo (一诺) are the most popular names for newborns in 2020. More than 14,000 boys were named Yichen while over 24,000 girls were given the name Yinuo.

More and more parents are giving their babies longer names to make their names stand out. There are around 3 percent of people with four or more characters in their names.

To help avoid too common names, new parents are able to check how many people are using a certain name on the website of the Ministry of Public Security.

As to the ranking of surnames (姓), the largest group of newborns shared the surname Li, with 726,000 new babies have this surname. Wang, Li, Zhang, Liu and Chen are the top five common surnames in China in 2020, the same as in 2019. 30.8 percent of the total population in China has these five surnames.

Although the common practice is to adopt (采用) the surnames of their fathers, more children have taken their mothers’ surnames because of the country’s second child policy. In 2020, about 7.7 percent of the 10 million newborn babies used their mothers’ surnames.

10 . Whichever region you decide to explore in Spain, you’ll find a beautiful beach. There people from all walks of life can have many adventures.

Cala Algaiarens, Menorca

With soft golden sand and clear water, this beach is perfect for snorkeling (潜泳) and exploring underwater caves. It is not a public beach, so tourists have to pay an entrance fee. Sometimes, the waves can be huge, so it isn’t a good choice for kids.

Cala Tarida, Ibiza

It is a good place for you to spend a sunny day if you are in Ibiza. It is also a perfect spot for couples who want to escape the crowd. You can also take part in big music festivals here. Besides, you can just relax on the white sand or go snorkeling in the clear water.

La Concha Beach, San Sebastián

It has been called the best beach not just in Spain, but also in Europe. As it is a beach located in the very middle of the city, it could be somewhat difficult to get there by car. Even though the beach is a 10-minute walk from the city, the white sand and the amazing clear water do a great job of reinventing it as a new world.

Sotavento, Canary Islands

It offers 17 miles of white sandy beach. It is one of the most beautiful locations on the coast of Fuerteventura, the second-largest island of the Canary Islands. The special part of the beach is its strong wind, so it is a perfect place for kite flyers. The beach also hosts the popular World Kite Surf Championship every August.