One of the best things about London is that so many of its world-famous museums are free to the public. Visitors can enjoy some beautiful paintings, portraits (肖像) and art pieces by famous artists from around the world there.

Royal Air Force Museum

Located in Hendon, Royal Air Force Museum has over one hundred and sixty aircraft on display and is a must-see for aviation (航空) lovers. Documenting the history of aviation and aircraft in the United Kingdom, the museum has one of the biggest and best collections of military aircraft in the world.

Tate Britain

Founded by sugar businessman Sir Henry Tate, Tate Britain is a wonderful museum to visit, with lots of fantastic British artworks on show. Tate Britain’s masterpieces include works by William Blake and Francis Bacon. Wandering around the exhibitions and galleries is a lovely way to spend the day. With the museum lying on the banks of the Thames, you can take a boat to get there.

National Portrait Gallery

Home to over 11,000 portraits, this delightful art gallery focuses on famous British people through the ages. Portraits, photos, sculptures and drawings of some of the country’s most influential and well-known figures gaze upon you as you make your way through the gallery. While its most famous portrait is undoubtedly the one of William Shakespeare, more contemporary pieces do not look out of place alongside artworks that date back hundreds of years.

Imperial War Museum

Located in what was once a hospital, Imperial War Museum offers a fascinating look at war and its impact. With lots of films, photos, videos and audio recordings included in the displays, visitors will come away with a greater insight into the tragedy (悲剧) of wars, as well as the impact they have on society.

Chinese astronauts have successfully grown rice seedlings(幼苗)aboard the Tiangong space station and this experiment may offer key insights into how astronauts can grow food to support long—term space missions, experts said on Monday. This experiment is the first to produce the complete life cycle of the plant, which begins with a seed and ends with a mature plant producing new seeds.

The breakthrough was conducted in the Wentian space laboratory, which was launched into orbit on July 24, 2022. Three astronauts were conducting the experiment smoothly and testing the plants according to the plan.

“The rice seedlings are growing very well,” said Zheng Huiqiong, a researcher of the task, adding that the experiment also contained seedlings of a small flowering plant often used by scientists to study mutations(变异). “The astronauts will keep monitoring the plants, and if it is successful, they will collect the newly produced seeds and bring them back to Earth for further studies,” she noted

The flowering stage is crucial for plant reproductive development. “We want to investigate how microgravity can affect the plant flowering time and whether it is possible to use the microgravity environment to control the related process,” she said.

Since the 1980s, China has been taking seeds of rice and other crops to space to help them mutate and produce higher yields once they were planted on Earth. But growing rice in orbit is a different challenge due to the tough conditions of space such as microgravity and lack of air.   

Rice has been a main food for astronauts since the early days of space exploration. Freeze—dried chicken and rice was the menu for the Apollo 11 mission, which carried the first humans to land on the moon in July 1969.

“But if we want to land on and explore Mars, bringing food from Earth is not enough to provide for the astronauts’ long journey and mission in space. We have to find a food source for long term space explorations,” Zheng added.