1 . Artificial intelligence (AI) is showing promise in earthquake prediction, challenging the long-held belief that it is impossible. Researchers at the University of Texas, Austin, have developed an AI algorithm (算法) that correctly predicted 70% of earthquakes a week in advance during a trial in China and provided accurate strength calculations for the predicted earthquakes.

The research team believes their method succeeded because they stuck with a relatively simple machine learning approach. The AI was provided with a set of statistical features based on the team’s knowledge of earthquake physics, and then instructed to train itself using a five-year database of earthquake recordings. Once trained, the AI provided its prediction by listening for signs of incoming earthquakes within the background rumblings (隆隆声) in the Earth.

This work is clearly a milestone in research for AI-driven earthquake prediction. “You don’t see earth-quakes coming,” explains Alexandros Savvaidis, a senior research scientist who leads the Texas Seismological Network Program (TexNet). “It’s a matter of milliseconds, and the only thing you can control is how prepared you are. Even with the 70% accuracy, that’s a huge result and could help minimize economic and human losses and has the potential to remarkably improve earthquake preparation worldwide.”

While it is unknown whether the same approach will work at other locations, the researchers are confident that their AI algorithm could produce more accurate predictions if used in areas with reliable earthquake tracking networks. The next step is to test artificial intelligence in Texas, since UT’s Bureau TexNet has 300 earth-quake stations and over six years worth of continuous records, making it an ideal location for these purposes.

Eventually, the authors hope to combine the system with physics-based models. This strategy could prove especially important where data is poor or lacking. “That may be a long way off, but many advances such as this one, taken together, are what moves science forward,” concludes Scott Tinker, the bureau’s director.

3 . Perhaps you’ve stopped doing what you want because you’re afraid of what others think of you. You feel that you must do what they expect and that you must meet their expectations, otherwise you’ll lose their approval. If this is the case, it’s time to start working on your self-esteem (自尊).     1    .

Think about yourself, about what you really like and are interested in. You must lead your life independently. You must do what you want without being affected by what others think.     2    , because you’ve always done everything to gain the approval of others. You need to get out of that zone, move to new places, and explore your full potential.

By surrounding yourself with people who think like you, you’ll realize that you don’t feel judged. Then, you’ll start doing what you really want.     3    . Your new friends will integrate into your life and you’ll also keep your genuine friends. On the other hand, those who are always ready to see the negative and question what you’re trying to do will gradually fade away.

To overcome your fear of what others think and of their non-approval, you should start talking about your plans.     4    . By talking to them, you’ll be able to organize your plans and ideas. You’ll feel confident in yourself and you’ll be able to go on your new path without any fear.

    5    . You’ll find barriers along your way. However, you must trust in yourself and seek the necessary strength to move forward. People in your environment often don’t understand what you do no matter how much you explain it, so ignore them.

4 . Each year, the world loses about 10 million hectares of forest — an area about the size of Iceland — because of cutting down trees. At that rate, some scientists predict the world’s forests could disappear in 100 to 200 years. To handle it, now researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have pioneered a technique to generate wood-like plant materials in a lab. This makes it possible to “grow” a wooden product without cutting down trees.

In the lab, the researchers first take cells from the leaves of a young plant. These cells are cultured in liquid medium for two days, then moved to another medium which contains nutrients and two different hormones (激素). By adjusting the hormone levels, the researchers can tune the physical and mechanical qualities of the cells. Next, the researchers use a 3D printer to shape the cell-based material, and let the shaped material grow in the dark for three months. Finally, the researchers dehydrate (使脱水) the material, and then evaluate its qualities.

They found that lower hormone levels lead to plant materials with more rounded, open cells of lower density (密度), while higher hormone levels contribute to the growth of plant materials with smaller but denser cell structures. Lower or higher density of cell structures makes the plant materials softer or more rigid, helping the materials grow with different wood-like characteristics. What’s more, it’s to be noted that the research process is about 100 times faster than the time it takes for a tree to grow to maturity!

Research of this kind is ground-breaking. “This work demonstrates the great power of a technology,” says lead researcher, Jeffrey Berenstain. “The real opportunity here is to be at its best with what you use and how you use it. This technology can be tuned to meet the requirements you give about shapes, sizes, rigidity, and forms. It enables us to ‘grow’any wooden product in a way that traditional agricultural methods can’t achieve.”

5 . The Hangzhou Xixi National Wetland Park in East China’s Zhejiang Province, founded in 2005, is the country’s first national wetland park. Situated in the western part of Hangzhou, Xixi is only 5 kilometers away from the West Lake, a renowned UNESCO World Heritage site in the city.

Water is the soul of Xixi. With an area of 11.5 square kilometers, the park is mostly covered by streams, ponds, lakes and swamps, with six long rivers forming a tangled network of waterways. Nearly 70 percent of the park is water and the length of waterways inside the park surpasses 100 kilometers.

Additionally, about 85 percent of the land in Xixi is covered by plants such as reeds(芦苇), willows and persimmon (柿子) trees and a variety of wildlife living among them, making Xixi a great platform for animal and bird watching, scientific research and education.

Because of its abundant water resources and species, Xixi Wetland is an important part of Hangzhou’s ecosystem and helps purify water, relieve flooding, regulate the climate and maintain biodiversity. Nestled in an urban area of the city, it is called “the natural purifier of Hangzhou”.

As well as providing a place for people to enjoy the region’s natural charm, Xixi Wetland is also a cultural treasure which has been described and extolled by scholars throughout history.

Xixi was a land of beauty and a place of seclusion(隐居) in the eyes of ancient people. Inspired by the elegance of Xixi, many literati(文人)—including Su Dongpo, Tang Bohu, Dong Qichang and Yu Dafu —created numerous literary works about the place. Some of them are showcased on the inscribed boards and tablets dotted throughout the wetland park.

The Xixi Wetland was not quite so well-known to people until the famous Chinese film director Feng Xiaogang used it as a backdrop for part of his 2008 film If You Are the One, adding the wetland to the list of must-visit tourist attractions in Hangzhou.

Today, the pristine(未开发的) scenery, the rustic (淳朴的) charm of a country lifestyle and the ancient traditions of Xixi attract tourists from around the world.

6 . In recent years, China’s second-hand economy has been growing steadily. One second-hand book platform by the name of Duozhuayu, meaning catching more fish, has gained a lot of followers in just a few years. Here at the book store in Beijing, bookworms are filling up the space for books still in good condition and also at reduced prices. The company operates with a model of buying，repairing, sterilizing (消毒) and selling used books.

Their service has caused more young Chinese to cast away old thinking of refusing used things and to explore the value of used things. “For second-hand items, people used to think they are of low quality. But the kind of second-hand items that truly circulates (传播) well is of high-quality. Books belong to that category (种类). Here we believe that truly valuable items are worth buying twice,” Chen Tuo, co-founder of the company said.

The company hopes for a win-win situation in the market, where buyers could deal with used books more conveniently and buyers could buy them cheaply. The sharing of books also means more choices for readers than those offered by regular bookstores. According to Chen Tuo, the bookstore also has a feature online that allows customers to put a particular book on demand, and the system will inform you if it becomes available.

The store relies heavily on data that keep records of books being accepted or refused. “From sales data in the past year, we’ve observed that books about psychology, finance and self management were among the most popular while books related to tourism didn’t sell that well. These data really help us make better decisions.” Chen said.

In a society where traditional books face competition from e-books, the bookstore hopes to popularize physical books, and to improve customer experience. Now with two offline stores in Beijing and Shanghai, the bookstore is adding more second-hand items to their lists, including kindles and clothing. The company says recycling is not just for economy, but for a lifestyle worth trying.

7 . Many robots track objects by “sight”as they work with them, but optical (光学的) sensors can’t take in an item’s entire shape when it’s in the dark or partially blocked from view. Now a new low-cost technique lets a robotic hand “feel”an unfamiliar object’s form- and skillfully handle it based on this information alone.

University of California, San Diego, roboticist Wang Xiaolong and his team wanted to find out whether complex actions could be achieved in robotics using only simple touch data.

The researchers attached 16 contact sensors, each costing about and fingers of a four-fingered robot hand. These sensors simply indicate if an object is touching the hand or not. “While one sensor doesn’t catch much, a lot of them can help you capture different aspects of the object”, Wang says. In this case, the robot’s task was to rotate (旋转) items placed in its palm.

They first ran simulations (模拟) to collect enough touch data as a virtual robot hand practiced rotating objects, including balls and other irregular objects. Using information from each sensor, the team built a computer model that determines an object’s position at every step of the handling process and moves the fingers to rotate it smoothly and stably.

Next, they transferred this capability to operate a real robot hand, which successfully controlled previously unfamiliar objects such as apples, tomatoes, soup cans and rubber ducks. Transfering the computer model to the real world was relatively easy because the sensor data were so simple. However, New York University’s Lerrel Pinto, who studies robots’ interactions, wonders whether the system would fail at more complicated tasks.

So, in future work, Wang’s group aims to tackle more complex movements as well as to add sensors in places such as the sides of the fingers. “This means that there will be more accurate information from touching that allows reconstructing the object shape,”Wang says. The researchers will also try adding vision to complement touch data for handling complicated shapes.

10 . Walking has been considered as one of the best possible exercises. For many people, daily walking offers many and long-term physical and mental benefits.     1     A Stanford University study found that participants were more creative when walking as opposed to sitting.    2    You’ve probably heard the phrase “exercise your innovation (创新)”. Our creative mindset is caused by physical movement, which is exactly why walking with your dog, a friend, or alone feeds creative thinking.

But the scenery is almost as important as the sweat. Just by going outside, you are stepping out of your habitual surroundings and your comfort zone, which is necessary if you want to open your mind to new possibilities. You can walk through a tree-filled neighborhood.     3    

Walking outside develops our ability to collect new ideas and take in new sights, sounds, smells, and flavors. Shinrin-yoku, a common form of relaxation in Japan, suggests that being in the forest and walking among the trees there can lower your stress levels    4     Research has shown that immersion (沉浸) in nature around your neighborhood or the disconnection from multimedia increased performance on a creative problem-solving task.

So instead of setting a fitness goal, why not set a creativity goal that starts with walking outdoors?     5     For example, you can turn off your phone and give yourself the chance to be present in the world, to hear conversations and natural sounds, and to notice the way people move and the way the sun reflects in a lake.

Walk not just for exercise. Walk for wonder.