4 . A shocking 53.6 million metric tons of electronic waste was discarded last year, a new UN-backed report has revealed. The report shows that e-waste is up by 21% from five years ago. This isn’t surprising, considering how many more people are adopting new technology and updating devices regularly to have the latest versions, but the report also shows that national collection and recycling strategies are nowhere close to matching consumption rates.

E-waste contains materials including copper (铜), iron, gold and silver, which the report gives a conservative value of $ 57 billion. But most are thrown away or burned rather than being collected for recycling. Precious metals in waste are estimated to be worth $ 14 billion, but only $ 4 billion-worth is recovered at the moment.

While the number of countries with national e-waste policies has grown from 61 to 78 since 2014, there is little encouragement to obey and a mere 17% of collected items are recycled. If recycling does occur, it’s often under dangerous conditions, such as burning circuit boards to recover copper, which “releases highly poisonous metals” and harms the health of workers.

The report found that Asia has the highest amounts of waste overall, producing 24.9 million metric tons (MMT), followed by Europe at 12 MMT, Africa at 2.9 MMT, and Oceania at 0.7 MMT.

But whose responsibility is it? Are governments in charge of setting up collection and recycling points, or should companies be responsible for recycling the goods they produce? It goes both ways. Companies do need to be held accountable by government regulations and have incentives to design products that are easily repaired. At the same time, governments need to make it easy for citizens to access collection points and deal with their broken electronics in a convenient way. Otherwise, they may turn to the easiest option — the landfill.

5 . South Korea has the biggest rate of Internet addiction in the world and it is increasingly the country’s children who are spending every waking moment immersing themselves in fantasy role plays or gaming In the remote mountains of South Korea, teenage Internet addicts are turning up for a 12-day boot camp.

Kyle Won’s addiction is out of control. He spends 10 hours a day on the Internet. Now Kyle’s smartphone is taken away. The teachers here do what they can to get them socializing again; for many, the only friends they have had are online. “I have relationships on the Internet and a real distance has gown with my real-life friends and I know it’s not good,” Kyle said. The teachers show them other possibilities and bring back dreams and hopes that have been buried by their addictions. “We teach them methods of managing their desire to use the Internet so that they can continue to use it when they go back home,” Shim Yong-school, a teacher here, said. After just two days Kyle said It was helpful. He’s set a good example to others though he hasn’t reached the goal completely.

Sout Korean psychiatrists (精神病专家) are urging more/action as they are finding evidence that too much screen time is a barrier to the developing minds. Professor Kang Seak Young from Dankook, University said the addiction was damaging critical thinking. “It affects the frontal lobes (额叶) which are important to critical analysis” Professor Kang said. “Reading a book and guessing what happens in the story next show activity in frontal lobes but playing popular computer games for a long time shows no activity.”

South Korea is one of the most wired nations on Earth, but it does have a cost. One in every ten kids is an addict so the country is now learning how to manage its high-tech future to avoid more serious consequences.

A recent survey shows that

9 . When we visit museums, we see cultural artifacts—from everyday household items to precious carvings and statues, which give us a glimpse into the diverse cultures and communities from around the world.

However, controversy surrounds these artifacts and whether or not countries should return these pieces of culture if they were stolen or forcefully taken during colonization (殖民).

On Wednesday, October 7, 2020, the Dutch advisory committee officially released a national report agreeing to the return of cultural artifacts that were stolen from its previous colonies such as Indonesia, Suriname, and islands on the Caribbean. Through these actions, the Dutch government acknowledged the unfair treatment the colonies had previously experienced and demonstrated respect for the culture of these countries.

By the 18th and 19th centuries, European countries such as Britain, France, and the Netherlands had colonized many African and Asian countries. During their rule, they either seized artifacts or took them as spoils of wars, and brought them to their own countries where they are now on display in museums.

Over the years, European museums have received requests for the return of artifacts. The debate regarding this issue took a turn in 2018 when a French report was released that directed that all heritage objects brought to French museums be restored. With the official release of this report, museums all across Europe began reconsidering their previous policies on colonial treasures.

Those who propose returning these objects to their original homes argue that with technology enabling virtual museum tours, returning these artifacts to their homeland does not take away the opportunity to learn about them. Furthermore, the country of origin will receive a significant part of their heritage back, and these artifacts will be given a chance to be truly appreciated in proper historical context.

Those against the restoration claim that culture is shared treasure and the artifacts are in fact “cultural ambassadors” that promote tolerance and understanding. They believe that while stealing them was wrong, history is full of “good” and “bad” actors. Moreover, they feel that keeping the cultural objects in the current museums has kept millions of artifacts safe from disfiguration and damage.

10 . Nowadays with the development of technology, people have gradually depended on the mobile phones seriously. Many people, especially young adults, like to use social media to connect with others. However, everyone takes no notice of an important point. That’s face-to-face communication between people is missing.

Social media is all about connecting with others. But a new study suggests that too much social media use makes people feel alone and lonely. The study finds that heavy use of platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram leads to isolation among young adults.

In the study Brian Primack and his team interviewed 1,787 U.S. adults aged 19 to 32 about their use of social media platforms. Surprisingly, people that spend more time on social media feel lonelier than others.

Tom Kersting，a psychotherapist(心理治疗师)，said “Although people think being on social media all the time makes them connected to others, they are actually disconnected, because the more time one spends behind a screen, the less time one spends face-to-face.”Kersting continued. “They are spending a lot of time looking at everyone else’s posts, where they are, where they are going and what they are doing. The constant connection to others’ perfect life experiences causes feelings of being left out, and of being lonely.”

So what’s the answer? “It’s simple,” says Kersting, “All you need to do is to have a strong will. The solution to this is to refuse the addiction to looking at everyone else’s life. Just focus on your own life, where you’re going, what you are grateful for, and what you want to achieve in this world. Then go out and do it, and stop wasting so much time comparing.”