1 . Agriculture may feed the world, but it is also contributing to environmental problems. Agriculture production uses about 70% of the Earth's fresh water and makes up about a third of greenhouse gas emissions. But it doesn't have to. Farming is moving inside, and farmers aren't exactly what they used to be.

Take for example Grover and Phil, two robots, or farmers of the future, working at Iron Ox, a farm tech company in Silicon Valley, planning to set up farms around the country in or- der to grow crops closer to consumers in a greener way. “We have different robots that are looking after the plants. They can check and scan them for issues, and change the amount of nutrients plants get and the amount of water they get, "explained Brandon Alexander, CEO of Iron Ox.

Iron Ox’s method is very different from what Alexander calls the“spray (喷洒) and pray” approach to agriculture on a Texas farm, where he grew up and more chemicals create more quantity at the expense of quality. “Besides, a lot of the water in field farming gets just washed out and never actually reaches the plants. And when 70% of your fresh water is going into farming, only 10% of that actually reaches the plants. It's just generating a lot of waste, ”he said. However, the indoor farming allows farmers to grow any crop at any time, regardless of climate change. It also uses hydroponics(无土栽培) , growing crops without soil so water goes directly to the roots.

“In the indoor farming industry today, even with all the investments into it, these investments are a drop in the bucket(桶) in spite of the great potential of this new industry,” he added.

Iron Ox is now magnifying its business in more states. Alexander says the company will produce about 100 times more produce over the next 18 months than it's currently producing to satisfy greater needs.

2 . In the not-too-distant future, driverless cars will drive our streets. These cars will need to make quick decisions to avoid endangering human lives — both inside and outside of the cars.

To determine attitudes toward these decisions, a group of researchers created a modern version of the classic exercise known as “the Trolley problem”. They raised a series of moral dilemmas (道德困境) involving as elf-driving car with brakes (刹车) that suddenly give out. Should the car change direction to avoid a group of passers-by, killing the driver? Or should it kill the people on foot but spare the driver? Does it matter if the passers by are men or women? Children or older people? Doctors or murderers?

To put these questions to a large range of people, the researchers built a website called Moral Machine, where anyone could click through the situations and say what the car should do “Help us learn how to make machines moral,” a video asks on the site.

What the researchers found was a series of near universal preferences, no matter where someone was from. People everywhere believed the moral thing for the car to do was to spare the young over the old, spare humans over animals, and spare the lives of many over the few. The in findings were published Wednesday in the journal.

Researchers found that the 130 countries with more than 100 respondents (调查对象) could be grouped into three groups that showed similar moral preferences. And these preference seemed to be connected with social differences. Respondents from collectivistic cultures, which “value the respect for older members of the community,” showed a weaker preference for sparing younger people.

The researchers noted that the study’s results should be used with extreme carefulness and they shouldn’t be considered the final word on societal preferences — especially since these respondents were much fewer than they had expected.

3 . There is a phenomenon education experts call “summer melt”. High school students graduate with the best of intentions to go to college, even committing to a school, but then life happens: jobs, family, and fear all get in the way.

Over the pandemic (疫情), the register at four-year colleges remained stable for Lancaster students, opposite to national trends. But the register at two-year colleges fell by nearly half, suggesting that students who would otherwise pursue community college were rethinking their plans. Community colleges were slower than universities to return to in-person instruction. Financial insecurity over the course of the pandemic also likely played a role in the phenomenon, as families struggled with their ability to pay for college. This summer a new factor is likely to be on the table for low-income students: the attraction of high-paying jobs.

Brahmin Ntege, who graduated from McCaskey in the spring, was working in a factory this summer producing battery wires and cables full-time. The son of an immigrant from central Africa, he was accepted to several colleges, including Pennsylvania State and Temple universities, and plans to attend Millersville University, a public college just outside Lancaster. Some of his friends, Ntege said, have different plans. They want to go to college, but have decided to work for now to save up money — something he said wouldn’t sway him and he would go to college, earn a degree and start making more money so that he wouldn’t have to do the 9-to-5 job which might kill his body.

For colleges and universities, it’s in their best interest to try to prevent “summer melt”. That’s especially important as the register has declined by nearly 10 percent over the course of the pandemic, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Every student, no matter whether they intend to go to college or not, needs to have access to quality advising to help them sort through possible plans, preferably from someone who already knows them. If all the students had that kind of support, they’ll be better off, whether they choose to go to college or not.

6 . Learning New Languages & Traveling

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, more young people than ever are using their spare time to develop their language skills.    1    , thus opening doors for cooperation and friendship, and new opportunities.

Many people have visited other countries and found themselves devoted to a worthy cause.     2     Organizations like Doctors Without Borders were established after the hardships ( 苦难) around the world were seen. We live in a diverse world. Much of the injustice and tension in our world comes from a large cultural divide. We can never appreciate the true beauty of our world if we don’t explore new things first-hand and test the limits ourselves.     3    . Whether you are twirling (旋转) with mariachi dancers in Mexico or catching a wave in Australia, traveling could change your life.

    4     It allows us to broaden our perspectives, learn about new foods and activities, meet like-minded people, and get involved in life-changing causes. By having respect for each other, we can come together and solve our problems together. Let’s learn to understand each other and start changing our unjust world, individuals by individuals. As a saying goes:     5    .

8 . Being a teenager can be difficult, since you’re dealing with hormones(荷尔蒙), higher expectations, and the process of finding yourplace in the world. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the teen years. If you want to have enjoyable teenage years,there are some things you can do—big and small—that can make a huge difference!

Setting Realistic Expectations

Avoid media-based expectations,good or bad. Being a teenager is not necessarily any easier or more difficult than any other life stage. Although adolescence(青春期)is a time of great change,this does not necessarily meanit will be the most difficult time of your life. If you are worried that this new life stage will be full of ever-present drama,the truth is that this is just another stage of your life which you will get through as much as you did toddlerhood(学步期)long ago.

Developing Yourself

Develop your sense of self,focusing moreon your own thoughts and goals,instead of what other people think. For lots of people,the teenage years are full of worries—stop paying so much attention to them! Many worries arebased on what other people think,rather than what you think. Go ahead and do what youwant to do, without considering the opinion of others.

Developing Relationships

Work to improve your social skills. Someteens have trouble with social interaction(交往)， with the reasons behind it different. Since social interaction is necessary in order to succeed, it’s important to learn how to deal with shyness and social anxiety. Consider working with a friend or a family member of close ageto develop your social skills. It may not replace new social exchanges,but it’s a good practice.

Remember,not everyone enjoys their teens; that’s just a fact of life. However, if you don’t enjoy your teens, centre on being kind to others and getting through it.