2 . Without less public attention, the nation’s egg producers are in the midst of a multibillion-dollar shift to cage-free eggs that is dramatically changing the lives of millions of hens in response to new laws and demands from restaurant chains. In a decade, the percentage of hens in cage-free housing has soared from 4% in 2010 to 28% in 2020, and that figure is expected to more than double to about 70% in the next four years.

The change marks one of the animal welfare movement’s biggest successes after years of battles with the food industry. The transition has cost billions of dollars for producers who initially resisted calls for more humane treatment of chickens but have since fully embraced the new reality.

Beginning in about 2015, many companies such as McDonald’s, Burger King responded to pressure from animal welfare groups by announcing their commitment to cage-free eggs. That was followed by laws requiring cage-free housing in California and similar rules in at least seven other states. Meanwhile, they widely promoted their move to cage-free as good for their brand’s image.

Animal rights groups have made allowing animals room to move a priority in their campaigns but the results have been mixed. The pork industry is fighting to block the California initiative that required more space for breeding pigs, and a state judge recently delayed implementation of new rules.

Looking years into the future, egg company leaders said they think the demand for cheaper eggs from caged hens will remain roughly 25% or more of the market, but Balk at the Humane Society said he expects it to become a tiny percentage of overall sales. Balk notes that hundreds of national retailers, restaurants, grocers and food manufacturers either have implemented cage-free requirements or plan to do so within a few years. “This is the future of every state in America,” he said.

6 . Have you ever tried to wear a historical object? On 13 September, in a Chinese reality show, an inventive participant chose to connect themes from Sanxingdui, an ancient Bronze Age culture from Sichuan Province, with today’s fashion technology. That included using heat transfer printing techniques and modern materials to create six different pieces.

Historic designs are generating interest in China. Over the past year, more people have visited museums online than in real life. And the number of visits to museum design stores on Tmall alone has lopped 1.6 billion. Of these mils, 100 million users were “post 1990s”.

Museum IP, considered to be an intangible cultural asset, is now attracting great interest from China’s younger generation. In 2013, the Forbidden City Museum in Beijing first requested product design ideas from the public for a cultural and creative design competition. The end results included luggage tags, folding fans, and many other products. Its cooperation with Chinese beauty brand Pechoin followed to launch the first lipstick. Even in 2017 the museum earned more than 1 billion RMB through cultural and creative products.

After witnessing the huge commercial potential of cultural and creative products, many other Chinese museums have followed the Forbidden City Museum’s example. In July, Sanxingdui Museum in Sichuan Province removed the cover on Sanxingdui masks, with toy character designs inspired by Sanxingdui cultural relics. Dunhuang Academy launched a Tianlong Babu blind box (a gift box with a random mixture inside) based on its frescoes. The Henan Museum has launched an archaeological blind box complete with mini play drilling tools that consumers must use to access the toys inside.

7 . “Boreout (闷爆) is different from burnout (精疲力竭) in the sense that bored-out employees rarely break down with exhaustion. Bored-out people may be present physically but not in spirit, and people can keep doing this for a good while,” says Harju, who has studied boreout for years.

Workers who realize they’re experiencing boreout may also be unwilling to flag it up as an issue to line managers or human resources. “While the behaviors that feed into burnout — overwork, drive — are appreciated and rewarded by employers, boreout reflects a lack of interest, a lack of motivation,” says Harju. “These are things that are avoided in organizations.”

There are some quick fixes, like taking on work tasks that are more interesting to you. But a 2016 study Harju and her colleagues worked on showed that people who had boreout were less likely to engage in constructive activities like trying to find new, interesting challenges at work.

What happens more often, she says, is that people will just show up at their desks and spend time shopping online, chatting with colleagues or planning other activities. She says that these people aren’t lazy, but are using these behaviours as “coping mechanisms”.

Fahri Ozsungur, an associate professor of economics at Mersin University, Turkey, who was behind the 2021 study on the health effects of boreout, points out that combating the phenomenon isn’t just down to the individual. “Giving meaning to the job is not just up to the employees,” he says. “Instead, it’s up to management to create an office culture that makes people feel valuable.”

If you think boreout is seriously affecting your health either physically or mentally, it may be valuable to ask yourself how you might be able to reselect your career path toward something healthier for you. Seek the advice from advisers, career consultants, friends and family.

“If only people take its suggestion, boreout can make a change into something else: a different career entirely, or a different role in the organization,” Harju says.

9 . Today, with most of us owning a smartphone that lets us post on social media wherever and whenever we want, oversharing has become harder to avoid. But the tricky thing is that people usually don’t realize when they’ re oversharing. The problem can only be triggered by our friends and family. A survey showed that every two in three people in the US think their friends share too much on social media.

Oversharing can have negative impacts. For instance, it can put your personal information at risk. When you update your status, or simply recall an experience on social networking sites like WeChat, chances are that you are revealing critical personal information.

According to a survey by Visa Canada, 45% of people aged 18-34 “overshare” their financial information online. “Young people shared payment card information via e-mail, loaned out their cards, and didn’t keep their PIN confidential,” reported CBS. This behavior mirrors similar habits of sharing personal information on social media sites. They’re really not totally aware of who has access to this information and who else can be seeing this information and what could be done with it.

“Oversharing contributes to a larger culture in which such behavior is considered acceptable or even desirable,” said Seidman, associate professor at Albright College in the US. Elizabeth Bernstein, a US-based educator, said that “the great increase of overshare is partially because of the wild use of social media as a subconscious attempt to control anxiety. We actually use a lot of mental energy trying to manage the other person’s impression of us by oversharing.”

Moreover, oversharing online can damage effective communication in real life. “Having such easy access to so many people makes communication superficial,” said Chen, a psychologist at South China Normal University. “In the end, the lack of deep communication hurts strong social bonds, particularly friendships.”

10 . The UK’s planned ban on sales of new petrol, diesel (柴油) or hybrid (混合动力) cars could start as early as 2032, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said. Last week, the government raised industry concern after bringing the date forward from 2040 to 2035 in order to hit zero-carbon emission targets. But Mr. Shapps told BBC Radio 5 live it would happen by 2035, “or even 2032,” adding there would be consultation.

The main car trade body had previously said the 2035 figure was “concerning”.

The government is setting out its proposals in a United Nations climate summit in November. A Department for Transport spokesperson said, “We are consulting on a range of possible dates to bring forward the end to the sale of petrol and diesel cars.”

“The proposal for this is 2035 — or earlier if a faster transition appears reasonable — as well as including hybrids for the first time.” The UK has set a target of emitting zero carbon by 2050. Experts warned that the original target date of 2040 would still leave old conventional cars on the roads 10 years later. Once the ban comes into effect, only electric cars will be available. Hybrid vehicles are now included in the proposals, which were originally announced in July 2017.

Despite this, Royal Automobile club spokesman Simon Williams said, “While the government appears to be constantly moving forward for ending the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles, drivers should not be worried about choosing a hybrid car now.” “They are potentially the perfect stepping stone for those who want to go electric but have concerns about range (续航), as they aren’t as expensive as a battery electric vehicle. At the moment, they give drivers the best of both worlds.”

How attached are British people to their petrol vehicles? How long until conventional cars go the way of steam engine cars and horse coaches?