2 . Resting on a branch in the dark is a Xingu screech owl with piercing eyes. Created by British artist Sarah Ball, the artwork refers to the scientific name of this species only found in the indigenous Xingu region of Brazil. The striking work is unique not just for its subject matter, but for how it was made: It was created with ash (灰烬) left behind after wildfires in the Amazon rainforest.

It’s part of a project called “From the Ashes”, an exhibition that ran in February in London. “Featuring 29 indigenous and non-indigenous artists, all the works were created using ink, colour and pastels produced from ash and charcoal (木炭),” said Migrate Art, the London-based social enterprise (企业) that created the project, whose goal is to help fix damage from the fires by raising money.

In March, the artworks were auctioned (拍卖) in London with estimates for individual pieces ranging from £2,000 to over £50,000, according to Simon Butler, founder of MigrateArt. “We keep 20% of what we make. The rest of it goes to the indigenous Xingu community, primarily for firefighting equipment,” he said.

Butler visited the Amazon rainforest two years ago. Witnessing the areas of the forest that had been burnt down, which he described as a “red desert that looked like the end of the world”, motivated him to create change through art. He collected the burnt remains of the rainforest, and shipped it back to London to be made into art materials. The materials were then sent to artists around the world. British artist Piers Secunda used black ink to create a painting titled Smoke In The Jungle. The collection also includes works made by members of the indigenous community.

“The sale of my work to help the Xingu Reserve buy firefighting equipment to extinguish Amazon fires is the best use of my time and resources that I can imagine,” said Secunda. “These art advocacy actions are grains of sand which build a pile. For now, the pile is small, but it is growing and will become substantial.”

4 . The production of the cement (水泥) used in concrete is a major contributor to worldwide CO₂ emissions. Since we use it a lot in building things, this is a serious problem. But there’s good news: Scientists have made a new kind of concrete that can trap CO₂ instead of letting it out. It is a greener way to build things.

The concrete is made by D Company, cooperating with other companies, and is named G-concrete. Here’s how it’s made: A special cement mixture is placed in a curing chamber (养护室) and CO₂ is then pumped into the chamber to be absorbed. The absorbed CO₂ is then stuck inside the concrete, and will not be released. Crucially, it’s also just as strong as regular concrete.

“Generally, concrete hardens through a chemical reaction between cement and water,” the company explains. “But in G-concrete, over half the cement is replaced with a material we call γ-C2S. Instead of reacting with water, γ-C2S reacts with the CO₂ in the air to harden. After mixing the materials needed to create G-concrete, the concrete can be placed in a location with high CO₂ levels so it can absorb the CO₂ and harden, trapping the gas inside. For example, a thermal power plant (发电厂) or other facilities that produce carbon-heavy waste gases can redirect the gases into a special chamber, where concrete products made with G-concrete can be placed to absorb the CO₂ in the gases.”

Obviously, greener concrete is a good thing in itself. And under the right conditions, this could be used to create net-zero buildings, but if it’s not affordable and practical to produce, it’s not going to be widely adopted.

On that note, signs are actually quite hopeful. A representative of the company told us that the cost of producing G-concrete is about three times higher than standard concrete currently used. Work is being undertaken on further reducing this cost and the company believes it will become a lot more affordable in the near future.

5 . How to overcome travel anxiety

If you want to travel, there shouldn’t be anything getting in your way.     1     One of these issues might be travel anxiety. Read on to find out some tips on how to overcome travel anxiety and enjoy your holiday or trip.

    2    

To cope with travel anxiety, you need to figure out specifically what is making you feel anxious about your trip. Is it that you’ll be on the road for hours, that there would be things out of your control, or that you would have to be surrounded by a lot of people at an airport? Once you understand what causes your anxiety, you can ensure to plan ahead for the best ways to handle it.

Plan out your trip in as much de tail as possible.

One reason for anxiety when travelling is that you’re out of your comfort zone and won’t have full control over everything. To help ease that anxious feeling, try to make detailed travel arrangements. That will give you a sense of control. But it’s equally as important to think of alternative plans.     3    

Have with you things that bring you joy.

Things that generally bring you joy can be extremely useful in distracting you from your negative feelings.     4     Alternatively, you can create a playlist of songs you love or make sure you have your favourite TV show or film with you, as these will keep your mind occupied, decreasing your feelings of anxiety.

Don’t forget your physical health.

    5     Even if it’s just a long walk, make sure to include physical activity in your days, especially the days leading up to your trip and if possible, during the trip as well. Spending some time outside and connecting with nature can have a positive effect on your physical and mental wellbeing, which in turn will help reduce your anxious thoughts.

6 . REGISTRATION OPENS FOR STUDENT ROBOTICS 2024

We’re excited to announce that registration for the 2024 season of Student Robotics is now open! Based in the UK, Student Robotics challenges teams of 16 to 19 year-olds to design, build and program fully autonomous robots to compete in our annual competition. Teams will have just three months to engineer their creations. As well as supplying teams with a kit, which they can use as a framework for their robot, we mentor (指导) the teams over this period. Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, we provide all of this to our teams at no cost.

The competition cycle will start with a live streamed Kickstart event on our YouTube Channel. During the event, the game and the structure of the competition will be announced and kits handed out to teams.

The competition year will culminate (达到高潮) in an in-person competition from September 30 to October 1, 2024, which will see the robots compete through a league stage and a seeded knockout. As usual the prizes will recognise not only the teams which come top in the knockouts, but also those who are excellent in other ways.

Details of the game and prizes will be revealed at Kickstart. Details of the Kickstart and competition events will be published when they are available. We expect to confirm places towards the end of August, 2024.

If you would like a chance to compete in Student Robotics 2024, please fill in the entry form with the required information. The deadline of the registration is May 30, 2024. Places are limited, so please click here and sign up soon to avoid disappointment.

We look forward to seeing your teams!

9 . HOW TO DO HARD THINGS

It’s an inconvenient truth that the road to success isn’t a secret. Most of us know exactly what we need to do to improve our lives.     1     We prefer things that feel good and avoid things that we know are hard but most effective. Follow these tips to get hard things done with less struggle.

First, you need to make sure you know what the hard, but effective thing is in the skill or job that you want to improve.     2     It’s usually the thing that creates the output. For writers, it’s writing. For musicians, it’s writing a song. For athletes, it’s doing a workout.

Figure out your why. Make sure you know why you want to do this hard thing.     3     So figure out your why and frequently remind yourself of it. Write it down and put it where you can see it. The stronger your why, the better.

    4     Every day at a particular hour, you will do this hard thing. Pure focus, no multi-tasking. Take it easy at first and gradually lengthen the amount of time you spend on this. Enjoy it, too. You’re a winner and you can do it.

Leave the doubts behind. When you’re doing something hard, your brain will try to find ways to stop doing it. You’ll want to look things up or find easy ways of doing the hard thing. Don’t give in to these tempting arguments during your hard work sessions.     5    

If you keep improving yourself by doing hard things, you’ll be getting better at your targeted skill. So don’t spend too much time working around the hard task. Just do the hard thing instead.

10 . Farmers have long relied on things that work without their involvement — bees to pollinate (授粉) flowers, earthworms (蚯蚓) to turn the soil, swallows to eat pests — to make sure that crops grow the right way. Now a team of British researchers is trying to take this hands-off thinking in a high-tech direction. Last October, scientists at Harper Adams University started a farm called the Hands Free Hectare to make the entire process of farming — from sowing and fertilizing to harvest — fully automatic. The project has just succeeded with five tons of robot-grown barley (大麦).

“We believe the best idea is that in the future, farmers will manage groups of smaller, autonomous machines, ” the researchers explained. “They will go out and work in the fields, allowing the farmer to use their time more effectively instead of having to drive up and down the fields.”

At the moment, agricultural machines — very large and heavy — can cover a lot of space quickly. But there are shortcomings. “Fertilizer gets sprayed over entire farms, regardless of the different needs of different crops. They’re also so heavy that they’re damaging farmers’ soils,” researcher Jonathan Gill said.

Gill and his colleagues went smaller: a tractor, a combine and a harvester, which followed a programmed route, using GPS. Altogether, they spent less than ￡200, 000 on equipment, and used open-source technology and a drone (无人机). Eventually the system will be complex enough to treat different parts of a field, or even individual plants, differently.

The team is quick to caution that they don’t want to put farmers out of work. They said, “Instead of being busy in the fields, the farmer will manage the machines and monitor their crops.” The next stop for the barley will be a brewery. That’s not going to be completely automatic. At least not yet.