1 . If you use the internet, you’ve probably heard of a filter bubble (过滤气泡). Internet sites and social media platforms use algorithms (算法) that show you content based on your previous interactions, likes, and shares. Over time, this creates a filter bubble where you only see content that agrees with your interests and beliefs, which serves to convince you that your beliefs are true. But what you might not know is that in similar fashion, your brain has several mechanisms to filter information, creating personal filter bubbles that deeply shape how you live your life.

Self-created filter bubbles happen through various cognitive processes, and they have multiple consequences. They shape your experience of what’s happening by forming a lens (镜片) through which you see and interpret the world. On the internet, because things are being presented based on past user history, no two people get the same results when they search for something on Google or open their news feed. In real life, no two people are experiencing an event or seeing a situation in the exact same way, because we all bring our own past experiences and biases (偏见) to situations, causing us to process them differently.

Filter bubbles can cause you to stay stuck in self-created and often self-limiting patterns of thought and behavior. If you’ve ever wondered why change is so hard, it’s because your mental filter bubbles make it difficult to see different possibilities. If you hold the belief that you’re not someone who can have a high-paying job, you won’t look for one and you’ll only seek out and see jobs that match up with what you think you’re worth.

Filter bubbles can also prevent critical thinking and can lead to a limited and biased view of the world, where people don’t consider alternative viewpoints and don’t engage with others outside of their own circles. When we only consume information that confirms our preexisting beliefs and values, we don’t question the truth of that information or properly evaluate the evidence.

While you can’t prevent your brain from creating selective filter bubbles, you can become more aware so that you don’t have to be limited or trapped by them.

3 . On a chilly autumn morning in the Italian countryside near Larderello, Tuscany, the misty landscape reminded me why the area is nicknamed the Devil’s Valley. The land here is a web of natural cracks in the rock that let a mix of steam and gases reach the surface.

Unlike the rolling hills and cypress-lined roads of other parts of Tuscany, the landscape here is covered with dozens of grey cooling towers puffing white vapors. The deafening roar of a turbine (涡轮机) at the Valle Secolo geothermal (地热的) plant breaks the quietness, but its violent spinning transforms steam rising from underground into energy for 150,000 families in the region. About 30% of Tuscany’s electricity comes from this energy source. After producing electricity, the leftover steam heats water for nearby districts.

This underground energy has recently proved a vital resource. Italy greatly depended on Russian fossil fuels and in 2023 Italians bore the world’s highest household electricity bills. Factories cut down production and households had to turn down their heaters. But residents of the Larderello area spent the winter in warm homes, thanks to the local geothermal plants working 24/7.

Bruno Della Vedova, president of the Italian Geothermal Union, hopes that in the future other Italian regions could benefit from such a resource, which is extremely important when the whole world looks to transition to renewable energy.

While countries like Iceland and Kenya are taking advantage of their geothermal resources, the industry’s growth has made slow progress in Italy. High set-up costs and difficulties in extraction present significant barriers. And new plants often run into opposition from nearby communities over health concerns.

Italy sits on a geothermal sweet spot. Especially below Larderello, as Della Vedova says. A vast reservoir (储备) of steam and water is trapped between Earth’s inner heat and a layer of clay-heavy rocks. High temperatures lead to the formation of steam directly inside the reservoir, providing a significant source of energy.

But while heat from Earth’s core is practically endless, the water it heats within the planet are not. So Della Vedova says restoring underground water supplies and using them sustainably is critical for the future. “We can’t take advantage of a geothermal resource at will,” he says.

7 . In America, the “Big Dig”, a highway project that resulted in a mess of traffic in the centre of Boston for years, came in five times over its initial budget. Even the Germans get huge projects wrong. Conception to operation of Berlin Brandenburg Airport has taken 30 years, with seven missed opening dates. The airport ended up costing $8.2 billion. However, the original estimate was about $2.7 billion.

Huge projects like Berlin Brandenburg Airport are the subject of an amusing new book called How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner. Mr. Flyvbjerg sets up a database of over 16, 000 projects and data analysis reveals that only 8.5% of the projects meet their initial estimates on cost and time, and 0.5% of them achieve what they set out to do on cost, time and benefits.

Over-optimistic time and cost estimates originate from both psychological and political perceptions: the reliance on intuition (直觉) rather than data, and a problem that Mr. Flyvbjerg calls “strategic misrepresentation”. This is when budgets are intentionally reduced in order to get things going. And once the projects are under way, they will not be stopped, because money spent on them will thus be wasted.

Mr. Flyvbjerg speaks highly of Pixar’s methodical approach to developing and testing films in great detail before they go into production. He also tells the story of how Frank Gehry’s well-developed architectural models helped ensure the success of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Narrowing down the producing window of a project before it is actually carried out reduces the probability of unexpected events.

Big customized projects are particularly likely to run into trouble. However, the more a project can be divided into standardized processes, the better its prospects are. Projects run into problems for specific reasons as well as general ones: Britain’s trouble is not something that China has to worry about, for instance. But the iron law is that if you plan strictly and standardize where possible, you are less likely to dig yourself into a hole.

8 . On March 20, the U. N. International Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) released the final volume in a series of reports outlining experts’ latest understanding of climate science. It warned that even with urgent action we will face a dramatic increase in catastrophic events—from droughts to floods—that have become signs of a rapidly warming world. But the most worrisome things are the “known unknowns”—potential outcomes scientists know could happen even if they don’t know exactly when or how.

It’s striking how little we know about them. Take the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation(AMOC) for example. This system of ocean currents is a key regulator(调节器) of Atlantic Ocean temperatures and, in turn, maintaining land temperatures, particularly in North America. If it collapsed, it would remake weather patterns and disturb “human activities”.

Another known unknown is the scale of sea-level rise. It is estimated that global average sea levels are expected to rise up to 1m (about 3 ft.) by 2100. But because the science of rapidly melting ice sheets remains difficult for scientists to understand, that number could also end up being 2m in the same time frame.

The more the planet warms, the more likely we are to experience unpredictable catastrophic changes. Climate events like these are referred to as tipping points: singular climatic events that can instantly reshape our understanding of climate systems. The new report also points out how the future becomes more difficult to predict as climate change continues. Impacts that scientists could forecast today will become more difficult to predict effectively when they are combined with other climate effects. Food insecurity, for example, could drive changes in agricultural practices, which would in turn affect the climate.

According to three decades of IPCC reports, it’s easy to see how the science has become more certain and more urgent. The IPCC is not expected to publish another report for at least six years. In that time, the science will evolve, as will the human impacts. By then we should know more about these known unknowns, too. We can only hope that the knowledge brings relief, not the alternative.

I loved the spelling bee (拼字比赛). I trained every day after school, the dictionary pages rippling softly in the breeze. But I had never thought my arch-enemy in the spelling bee could become my friend.

Opening my eyes on Friday morning, I felt the hairs on my arm stand up. I glanced at my alarm clock — it’s only 6:27. I usually woke up at 7:01, which meant I had an extra thirty-four minutes to study. I was the best spellers in my class. I wanted to win the bee at Meadowbrook Middle School and beat my arch-enemy, Nathan Fortescue.

Nathan just read many science and math books. Really, he wasn’t a speller at heart — he’s a mathematician. Nathan and I had nothing in common except being good spellers, but since he’s a good speller without even trying, it didn’t count.

I walked into the kitchen, finding Dad cooking breakfast. He served me some porridge. I thanked him and told him the spelling test and my anxiety. My father gave me a quiz. Those words “dexterous, sesquipedalian, truncate” didn’t trouble me at all. Finally came the word “judgment”. “Easy, J-U-D-G-E-M-E-N-T.” I answered quickly, without any thought.

Dad shook his head. Not believing in him, I headed for my room, referred to the dictionary and marched back with a frown. Before parting, he told me that I should thank him, because I would probably get the word in the test.

As soon as I shut the classroom door behind me, I heard a voice from the back of the room. “You are looking pale now, and I’m afraid that you may miss the spelling bee.” Nathan smiled as he closed a giant book with dancing numbers on the cover.

“I bet a literature word will make you out on the first round.” I replied.

As Ms. Hawking walked into the room, she explained the rules—one missed, and you were out—and the spelling test began. After four rounds, only Nathan and I were left. “Olivia, your word is ‘algorithm.’” said Ms. Hawking. I hadn’t heard that word before, but I spelt it A-L-G-O-R-H-Y-H-M.

Ms. Hawking frowned and said that’s incorrect.

After class, I sobbed when I felt a hand on my arm.