1 . The coast of the State of Maine is one of the most irregular in the world. A straight line running from the southernmost coastal city to the northernmost coastal city would measure about 225 miles. If you followed the coastline between these points, you would travel more than ten times as far. This irregularity is the result of what is called a drowned coastline. The term comes from the glacial (冰川的) activity of the Ice Age. At that time, the whole area that is now Maine was part of a mountain range that towered above the sea. As the glacier declined, however, it applied enormous force on those mountains, and they sank into the sea.

As the mountain s sank, ocean water charged over the lowest parts of the remaining land. And the highest parts of the former mountain range, nearest the shore, remained as islands. Marine fossils found here are 225 feet above sea level indicating the level of the shoreline prior to the glacier.

The 2,500-mile-long rocky and jagged (锯齿状的) coastline of Maine keeps watching over nearly 2,000 islands. Many of these islands are tiny and uninhabited, but many are home to blooming communities. Mt. Desert Island is one of the largest, most beautiful of the Maine coast islands left behind by the glacier. Measuring 16 miles by 12 miles, Mt. Desert was very nearly formed as two distinct islands. It is split almost in half by Somes Sound, a very deep and very narrow stretch of water seven miles long.

For years, Mt. Desert Island, particularly its major settlement, Bar Harbor, has afforded summer homes for the wealthy. Recently, though, Bar Harbor has become a new arts community as well. But the best part of the island is the unspoiled forest land known as Acadia National Park. Since the island sits on the border between two different geographical zones, the park supports the plants and animals of both zones. It also lies in a major bird migration lane and is a resting spot for many birds.

2 . Success Requires “Ample Doses of Pain”

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, has a simple message for young people who want to achieve greatness: No pain, no gain. That was essentially his message for students at his alma mater, Stanford University, where he made a speech at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

“Greatness is not intelligence.     1     And character isn’t formed out of smart people; it’s formed out of people who suffered,” Huang said in response to a question about how students can maximize their shot at being successful.

    2     In 1993, he co-founded computer chip company Nvidia, where he’s served as CEO for more than three decades. The company’s success turned Huang into a billionaire. Now, with Nvidia’s chips in high demand for building AI software, it’s become one of the world’s most valuable companies with a valuation worth of $2 trillion.

“One of my great advantages is that I have very low expectations,” Huang said, noting that most Stanford graduates have very high expectations as a result of having an elite education. Often people with very high expectations have very low resilience because they are not accustomed to, or prepared for, failure. “     3     I don’t know how to teach it to you except for I hope suffering happens to you,” he said. Psychologists also tend to agree that resilient people are more likely to have the strength and confidence to handle challenges and bounce back from failure. Huang certainly had to struggle in his company’s early days.

“To this day I use the phrase ‘pain and suffering’ inside our company with great joy,” Huang told the Stanford students. “    4     You want greatness out of it.”

3 . Trees are magicians with carbon, pulling it out of the air at remarkable rates to store it in their bodies. They are so good at removing this greenhouse gas that “planting trees” is often synonymous with doing environmental good.

And lots of people are planting trees. The number of tree-planting organizations has grown by almost 300 percent in the past 30 years, according to a 2021 paper in the journal Biological Conservation. But while tree planting can capture a great amount of carbon, it is hardly a silver bullet for the climate crisis — express estimate that even if we maximized our available lands for trees, this alone would not be enough to counteract carbon emissions caused by humans. Plus, many plantations grow the same few species in monocultures, which can hurt local biodiversity.

The minority of tree plantations are set up with carbon capture solely, or even primarily in mind, says Jacob Bukoski, a forestry scientist at Oregon State University. Most trees are planted with the goal of harvesting timber or wood pulp (木浆) for paper. Tree-planting organizations are more likely to create plantations for commercial reasons, the authors of the 2021 paper also note, rather than for biodiversity or carbon capture.

In forestry, there’s a saying that you have to plant “the right tree in the right place, for the right reason.” But when many tree plantations are established for commercial purposes, the tree that is planted is often not the “right” tree, says Jesús Aguirre-Gutiérrez, an ecologist at the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford.

In a paper published recently in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Aguirre-Gutiérrez and colleagues argue that focusing on the goal of carbon removal by natural process causes organizations to ignore the importance of restoring balanced ecosystems. The result is a collection of trees that do not support local organisms or promote biodiversity in the way native plant species would have. These problems deserve particular notice in tropical areas where land is vast, and conditions such as stable temperatures and high humidity promote tree growth, as ignoring them while planting trees is damaging. When plantations increased the woody cover of the Brazilian savannah by 40 percent, this “resulted in an about 30 percent reduction in the diversity of plants and ants,” Aguirre-Gutiérrez and his co-authors write in the new paper.

Aguirre-Gutiérrez doesn’t want to discourage people from growing more trees, he says. Rather, we need a better way to protect the natural ecosystems and species there, like encouraging the restoration of native forest tree species. Local plants will be “better adapted to the conditions” in these environments, he says, which means they, and nearby species, are more likely to thrive. “If we go in that direction, that will bring us the added value of capturing carbon, but also this sustainability.”

4 . We’ve all been there: You get a small appliance that seems like a good and useful product at the time, but it ends up sitting in a cupboard and never gets used after the initial excitement wears off. But now there’s a new gadget for the kitchen that promises to be much more than a one-task wonder. Meet the Thermomix TM6.

Simply put, Thermomix is a kitchen appliance that looks like a giant food processor or blender. While Thermomix may look similar to other appliances, it’s nothing like them: the Thermomix TM6 has the ability to connect to thousands of online recipes using Wi-Fi and the Cookidoo app or website, and it will guide you through cooking them, measuring ingredients, and performing all the chopping, prep, and even the cooking in this one device. In all, the Thermomix TM6 is able to handle 20 different kitchen appliance functions.

Anyone who’s familiar with Thermomix may wonder what’s new on the TM6 version, over the previousTM5. The upgraded TM6 has Wi-Fi connectivity (the previous version needed recipe “chips” installed), and a larger color screen, plus it now boasts a higher heat option and longer runtime.

Despite the somewhat overwhelming array of functions, the Thermomix is easy to use. Just choose a recipe, and the bot walks you through what to do; it handles the order of tasks, timing, all the measuring, stirring, speed, heat levels, and fine-tuning. You just add ingredients and follow its instructions.

The new Thermomix TM6 is a capable, helpful kitchen device. Despite its larger footprint, it can actually replace a lot of small appliances and automate many kitchen and cooking chores. Plus, you can use it to cook a dish or a full meal, and not have to worry about overcooking something because it’s programmed to make everything with the touch of a chef.

On the downside, it’s quite expensive (ringing in at $1,499), but when you realize it can replace literally half a dozen other appliances (or prevent you from needing to buy them in the first place), it seems like it can more than pay for itself quickly. Thermomix TM6 is available from Thermomix’s website.

6 . It is certainly difficult to make money. But should money be difficult to give away? In The Gilded Age, industrialists such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller worried about waste and misuse; Carnegie wrote in 1889 that $950 of every $1,000 that went to charity was “unwisely spent”.     1     Donors ran lengthy application processes, provided funds and fulfilled painstaking reporting requirements. In 2006 The Economist called it “philanthrocapitalism (慈善资本主义)”.

    2     The 400 richest Americans have given away just 6% of their combined fortunes, according to Forbes. At the last count in 2022, almost $1.2 trn was sitting in American private foundations and $230bn in donor-advised funds, a sort of savings account for donors. Plenty of money is being marked for charity. But it is not getting to worthy causes fast enough.

Fortunately, a new generation of donors is once again shaking up the world of big philanthropy (慈善事业). Leading the mission is MacKenzie Scott, who simplified the process of giving and is donating billions of dollars a year with few conditions. This “no-strings giving” is changing mega-donors’ long-held assumptions.     3    

One is the recognition that philanthropists do not have to do everything themselves.     4     An upside of a decades-long trend for businesslike philanthropy is that armies of consultants have emerged to help donors draw up a strategy and conduct due diligence on potential recipients. Donors can team up and share the work, too.

Another lesson from the no-strings crowd is that philanthropists can trust recipients to put money to good use once the proper due diligence is in place. That means analyzing a nonprofit organization’s annual reports and interviewing its leaders and other funders.

8 . Monarch Butterflies Listed as Endangered

The monarch butterfly, known for its legendary migration from Mexico to Canada, is now at great risk of extinction. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the population of this orange-and-black insect has shrunk between 23% and 72% over the past 10 years. IUCN has labeled it as being endangered after having added it to its Red List of Threatened Species.

    1    . In order to make space for agriculture and urban development, people have been illegally cutting down trees. As a result, the massive forested areas that had previously sheltered the butterflies during winter have now been destroyed.

Another factor at play is the use of herbicides (除草剂) in agricultural fields.     2    . Just before leaving their overwintering grounds, females lay eggs on milkweed plants. But now milkweed is disappearing, and monarch caterpillars are losing their host plants.

Climate change has also taken a heavy toll on the species.     3    . What’s worse, severe weather conditions such as hurricanes and storms are proving to be disastrous for the already vulnerable butterflies.

Monarch experts are calling for the public’s help in the fight to save the species. “Few species inspire the awe and wonder that the migratory monarch butterfly commands,” said Dr. Sean T. O’Brien, President and CEO of Nature Serve. “While efforts to protect this species are encouraging, much is still needed to ensure its long-term survival.”

What can be done to case the problem? A middle-of-the-road solution is gaining ground. Scientists recommend promoting the growth of native milkweed and nectar flowers. Monarch butterflies are a common backyard insect in America, so everyone can contribute their share.   —     4    . They can also plant flowers for monarchs. — Those flowers will provide nectar for monarchs when they bloom.