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    Jack Ma, the founder and executive chairman of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, and US president-elect Donald Trump met at Trump Tower in New York City on Jan,9th 2017, with Trump calling it a "great meeting" and Ma saying the meeting was "very productive"

    "We had a great meeting, and a great, great entrepreneur（企业家）, one of the best in the world, and he loves this country, and he loves China," Trump said. "Jack and I are going to do some great things."

    The two met with reporters briefly after the meeting, and said they discussed plans to create 1 million US jobs by allowing US small and medium-sized businesses to sell to China through Alibaba's platforms.

"We're focused on small business," Ma told reporters. And he had complimentary words for Trump: "I think the president-elect is very smart, he's very open-minded to listen. I told him my ideas about how to improve trade, especially to improve small business, cross-border trade."

    "We also think that the China and USA relationship should be strengthened — should be friendlier," Ma said. "The door is open for discussing the relationship and trade issues."

    The meeting comes in tensions between China and the incoming Trump administration(政府). Trump has repeatedly criticized China for its economic policies and accused the country of "stealing jobs away" from the US.

Trump also has said he may raise tariffs(关税) on Chinese goods sold in the US.

    French writer Frantz Fanon once said: ＂To speak a language is to take on a world, a culture.＂ Since the world changes every day, so does our language.

    More than 300 new words and phrases have recently made it into the online Oxford Dictionary, and in one way or another they are all reflections of today's changing world.

    After a year that was politically unstable, it's not hard to understand the fact that people's political views are one of the main drives of our expanding vocabulary. One example is ＂clicktivism＂, a compound of ＂click＂ and ＂activism＂. It refers to ＂armchair activists＂ — people who support a political or social cause, but only show their support from behind a computer or smartphone. And ＂otherize＂ is a verb for ＂other＂ that means to alienate (使疏远)people who are different from ourselves — whether that be different skin color, religious belief or sexuality.

    Lifestyle is also changing our language. For example, ＂fitspiration＂ — a compound of fit and inspiration — refers to a person or thing that encourages one to exercise and stay fit and healthy.

    The phrase ＂climate refugee＂ — someone who is forced to leave their home due to climate change—reflects people's concern for the environment.

 According to Stevenson, social media was the main source for the new expressions. ＂People feel much freer to coin their own words these days,＂ he said.

    But still, not all newly-invented words get the chance to make their way into a mainstream (主流的) dictionary. If you want to create your own hit words, Angus Stevenson, Oxford Dictionaries head of content development, suggests that you should not only make sure that they are expressive (有表现力的) and meaningful, but also have an attractive sound so that people will enjoy saying them out loud.

    In a world with limited land, water and other natural resources (资源), the harm from the traditional business model is on the rise. Actually, the past decades has seen more and more forests disappearing and globe becoming increasingly warm. People now realize that this unhealthy situation must be changed, and that we must be able to develop in sustainable (可持续的) ways. That means growth with low carbon(低碳) or development of sustainable products. In other words, we should keep the earth healthy while using its supply of natural resources.

    Today, sustainable development is a proper trend in many countries. According to a recent study, the global market for low-carbon energy will become three times bigger over the next decades. China, for example, has set its mind on leading that market, hoping to seize chances in the new round of the global energy revolution. It is now trying hard to make full use of wind and solar energy, and is spending a huge amount of money making electric cars and high-speed trains. In addition, we are also seeing great growth in the global markets for sustainable products such as palm oil (棕榈油)， which is produced without cutting down valuable rainforest. In recent years the markets for sustainable products have grown by more than 50%.

    Governments can fully develop the potential of these new markets. First, they can set high targets for reducing carbon emissions (排放) and targets for saving and reusing energy. Besides, stronger arrangement of public resources like forests can also help to speed up the development. Finally, governments can avoid the huge expenses that are taking us in the wrong direction, and redirecting some of those expenses can accelerate the change from traditional model to a sustainable one.

    The major challenge of this century is to find ways to meet the needs of growing population within the limits in this single planet. That is no small task, but it offers abundant new chances for sustainable product industries.

    A new study warns that about thirty percent of the world's people may not have enough water by the year 2025.

    A private American organization called Population Action International did the new study. It says more than 335 million people lack enough water now. The people live in 28 countries. Most of the countries are in Africa or the Middle East.

    P-A-I researcher Robert Engelman says by the year 2025, about 3,000 million people may lack water. At least 18 more countries are expected to have severe water problems. The demand for water keeps increasing. Yet the amount of water on the earth stays the same.

    Mr. Engelman says the population in countries that lack water is growing faster than in other parts of the world. He says population growth in these countries will continue to increase.

    The report says lack of water in the future may result in several problems. It may increase health problems. Lack of water often means drinking water is not safe. Mr Engelman says there are problems all over the world because of diseases, such as cholera, which are carried in water. Lack of water may also result in more international conflict. Countries may have to compete for water in the future. Some countries now get sixty percent of their fresh water from other countries. This is true of Egypt, the Netherlands, Cambodia, Syria, Sudan, and Iraq. And the report says lack of water would affect the ability of developing to improve their economies. This is because new industries often need a large amount of water when they are beginning.

    The Population Action International study gives several solutions to the water problem. One way, it says, is to find ways to use water for more than one purpose. Another way is to teach people to be careful not to waste water. A third way is to use less water of agriculture.

    The report also says long-term solutions to the water problem must include controls on population growth. It says countries cannot provide clean water unless they slow population growth by limiting the number of children people have.

    A mixture of deep sorrow and anger has swept Brazilians across the country — particularly in the city of Rio de Janeiro — with the burning of their beloved Museu Nacional, or National Museum.

    By Monday morning, when I visited the site, the firemen were busy trying to enter the huge, early 19th-century neoclassical building. For all we know, everything may have been burned to ashes. Fortunately, no one, not even the four security guards who witnessed the beginning of the fire, has been injured.

    Nobody yet knows the cause of the fire, but it is the officials' irresponsibility and the funding shortages in particular, which are being blamed for this tragedy.

    Some of the museum's researchers told the press that they had been able to save some things from the exhibition rooms before the fire moved in. However, we Brazilians have lost much of the material memory of our short past. A good part of our 518 years of history, or that which had been transformed into storable objects, disappeared in just a few hours.

    The people of Rio de Janeiro were fond of taking their children  or grandchildren to the museum to show off their knowledge of the odd-looking mummies brought in from Egypt by the Emperor Dom Pedro II, a huge skeleton of a humpback whale, or the brightly coloured feathers of a headdress of the Kayapo tribe.

    When I think that I can no longer take my youngest daughter to the Museu Nacional — that is what gets me emotional. It is this feeling that has penetrated (穿透) our souls and may leave Brazilians feeling empty for a long time to come.

    In a win for literary fiction amid declining sales, Sally Rooney's novel Normal People has been named Waterstones book of the year in 2018.

    Rooney's second novel, which follows two young people falling in love in Ireland, has sold 41, 000 copies in hardback in the UK since it was released in August-five times the hardback sales of her 2017 debut, Conversations With Friends. At 27, Rooney is now the youngest winner of the award, which is given by the UK's biggest bookshop chain, Waterstones.

    Normal People received almost universal applause upon its release. Longlisted for the Man Booker prize, the book won novel of the year at the An Post Irish book awards in November of 2018 and has also been shortlisted for the Costa novel of the year, announced in January of 2019.

    The reader response to Normal People had been astonishing. As well as the universal praise, it has been a huge word- of-mouth (口头的) hit. There're customers returning to buy multiple copies as gifts. Normal People strengthened Sally Rooney's reputation as the voice of her generation and one of the most exciting novelists around today. Its success is a testament to the health of literary fiction and indicates that there is still significant appetite for excellent storytelling.

    The award, established in 2012, tends to go to books that are already bestsellers near Christmas. It has previously been won by the late American author John Williams's Stoner, the cookbook Polpo by Russell Norman, and last year's choice, Philip Pullman's La Belle Sauvage.

    James Daunt, Waterstones' managing director, said Rooney's win was a sign of the healthy state of literary fiction, which has seen sales decrease over the last decade. "We are delighted to name it our book of the year," he said.

    Going back to school can be an anxious time for many students. But one institution in Texas is doing its part to make sure middle schoolers are returning refreshed and inspired to learn.

    Through a process called the "bathroom inspiration project," teachers and administrators at Warren Middle School, spent their summer beautifying the school's restrooms by painting motivational murals (壁画) on each of the stalls (小隔间).Forming messages like "Your mistakes don't define you" and "Scatter (撒播) kindness," the brightly colored words are exactly what a young student needs to see when having a rough day-or any school day for that matter. And now that classes are officially in session, people are already noticing a positive impact.

    Since posting photos of upgrades to the school in July, Principal Joshua Garcia says that the alterations have aroused a great response.

    "Students have been talking about the murals from the moment the pictures had been posted. Some even took the time to find a reason to come up to the campus to see the murals," he says." I think what makes this small little action so valuable is that it has set the tone for our campus."

    And not only is that important to students, parents, and fellow staff, but it is also vital for the school's new principal, who is trying to gain the trust of the community during a time in which trust is so necessary for schools.

    "Being new to the campus, I think the parents were able to see how much I value their children and have their best interest at heart," Garcia continues. "I have had many parents tell me how they can just feel a difference in the campus climate and how much they are enjoying seeing their children wanting to come here. These murals have put trust back in the campus and its teachers, and by doing so we are able to build a culture in which our students want to be here and learn."

    It's the lunch break at Shanghai Xinhua Middle School. No mobile phones can be heard ring anywhere. The common sight of crowds of children chatting on their phones or sending short messages has disappeared.

    A grade-2 student said, "I couldn't concentrate (集中精力) during classes. if the cellphone was with me, I couldn't help checking if there were messages or missed phone calls. I even played games on the phone sometimes."

    The school leaders say they feel the ban is necessary to keep order in class. They even gave out an open letter to remind parents not to let their children bring mobile phones to school. More than 96 percent of parents say they welcome the school decision. The school is also being flexible (灵活的) in carrying out the plan .Those students who live far from school are allowed to bring mobile phones to contact their parents. But they still have to switch them off in classrooms.

    Medical experts have also welcomed the school decision. They say too much dependence on mobile phones can cause many psychological problems in teenage students.

    During Amsterdam，chaotic rash hour, nine-year-old Lotta Crok cycles to a very busy junction. "Look," she says, "there s traffic coming from everywhere. Four trams from four different directions. For a child on a hike, that's really confusing!"

    Lotta is the first junior cycle mayor in the world and her working area is the Dutch capital. You would think this challenge would be superfluous in a city known as the bicycle capital of the world. The number of bicycles in Amsterdam is estimated at 800,000-more than the city s 750,000 inhabitants. According to an estimate made 5years ago, 490,000 bicyclists take to streets daily.

    But children who cycle in Amsterdam face challenges. Lotta says, "The three biggest problems for us are cars, cycling tourists and scooters(小型摩托). The cars take up too much space, the tourists are always swinging side to side and stop when you least expect it, and the scooters simply run you over."

    Lotta became junior cycle mayor in June last year when she won a contest in which school children were asked to come up with plans to make cycling safer and more fun. Her idea was to add children's hikes to the popular hike share programme.

    Since Lotta was appointed junior cycle mayor, she has been busy, giving interviews, opening cycling contests in the city and being a jury(评审员)member during the Amsterdam Light Parude, an event in which Amsterdammers decorate their hikes with lights.

    She is now planning a meeting with the city, mayor to discuss ideas that children have come up with: "One of our proposals is a bicycle park where children can learn how to cycle. Right now, most of us learn it in the street, which can he quite busy. Another idea is to create an app for tourists to teach them the piles of cycling, because most of them really don't know."

    Following the success of the Amsterdam scheme, cycle mayors around the world are now planning to appoint junior colleagues. "They see it works really well," Boerma, the senior major, says. "I talk to the parents. Lotta talks to the children. And if you look at the city through the eyes of a child, you will also make it accessible for others. A city that, good for an eight-year-old is also good for an 88-year-old."

    The coronavirus (冠状病毒) outbreak has sparked panic buying of toilet paper and cleaning products in countries across the world, but one UK businessman is determined to spread some happiness among the anxiety and confusion.

    Rob Braddick, 48, who owns Braddick's Holiday Park in Westward Ho, Devon, in the southwest of England, has filled the toy grabber machines in his amusement park with two of the country's most sought-after cleaning products.

    Customers could previously try their hand at grabbing "Frozen 2" or "Peter Rabbit" toys from the machines, but no more. "They got removed this morning," Braddick said of the toys, replacing them with toilet roll and hand sanitizer (洗手液). Visitors can now pay 50p for three goes on the toilet roll grabber, or?1 a go for Carex, which Braddick described as the "Rolls- Royce of hand sanitizers."

    Braddick said that his decision was born of a desire to make people feel less stressed in uncertain times. "It's a bit of light relief with everything that's going on," he said. "Hopefully it will raise a smile, which I think everybody needs."

    Around the world, travel plans have been severely affected, and tens of millions of people remain at home as part of global efforts to fight against coronavirus. Supermarkets have seen shortages of toilet paper and hand sanitizer as anxious consumers stockpile the products.

    Braddick said the family business, which has been running since 1932, has received more than a dozen calls from potential customers who say they don't want to travel abroad for their holidays and would rather stay in the UK. As for his own measures against coronavirus, Braddick said staff have been told to wash their hands every half hour, which is particularly important for those handling money.

Sam is a fourth-year student at Harvard Medical School, but poetry is still a big part of his life, now with a new teacher, Rafael Campo, who believes poetry can benefit every doctor's education and work. Rafael is a physician, professor and a highly respected poet.

"Poetry is in every encounter(邂逅)with my patients. I think healing is really in a very great way about poetry. And if we do anything when we're with our patients, we're really immersing(使沉浸于)ourselves in their stories, really hearing their voices. And, certainly, that's what a poem does, "he said.

Rafael worries that something important has been lost in medicine and medical education today: humanity, which he finds in poetry. To end that, he leads a weekly reading and writing workshop for medical students and residents(住院医生).

He thinks medical training focuses too much on distancing the doctor from his or her patients, and poems can help close that gap.

Third-year resident Andrea Schwartz was one of the workshop regulars. She said. "I think there's no other profession other than medicine that produces as many writers as it does. And I think that is because there's just so much power in doctors and patients interacting when patients are at their saddest. "Not everyone believes that's what doctors should do, though.

Rafael said, "I was afraid of how people might judge me, actually. In the medical profession, as many people know, we must always put the emergency first. But, you know, that kind of treatment, if it's happening in the hospital, very regrettably, sadly, results in a bad outcome. The family is sitting by the bedside. The patient hasn't survived the cancer. Don't we still have a role as healers there?"

In a poem titled" Health", Rafael writes of the wish to live forever in a world made painless by our incurable joy. He says he will continue teaching students, helping patients and writing poems, his own brand of medicine.

In the late 1990s, Google was just a start-up company operating out of a garage in Palo Alto, California. Co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin started the company while studying at Stanford University. Google's founders and its employees, then, understood some of the challenges that entrepreneurs around the world may face. An entrepreneur is a person who starts a business. They must be willing to risk financial loss in order to make money.

Mary Grove is the director of a program called Google for Entrepreneurs. She said Google wants to help new start-up businesses grow and be successful.

Google for Entrepreneurs has opened campuses around the world. Entrepreneurs in each city can use Google's buildings without paying. Entrepreneurs can work with each other and learn from people who are more experienced in business.

Yeram Kwon is the head of a company in South Korea. Her business is called I. M. Lab. It makes a product that helps people learn to perform the lifesaving technique called CPR. She said she has learned how to solve some of her business's problems by attending Google events in Seoul.

Outside of its own buildings in these cities, Google provides financial support and resources for partner organizations around the world. Building partnerships is a way for Google to spread the idea of entrepreneurialism around the world. Google can use its network to help find people who want to invest in start-up businesses. Those people need to be ready to take risks. That is something Kwon said that makes some Koreans uncomfortable. "Most Korean people think that it is much safer to work for big companies like Samsung and LG," she said.

But, Kwon said the Korean government and technology companies are now supporting people willing to take business risks.

Scientists in England are using two self-directed water vehicles to explore the animal and plant life of the Celtic Sea. The Celtic Sea is a body of water off the southern coast of Ireland. The area is known for its strange sea life. Scientists want to know why this part of the Atlantic Ocean attracts so many marine animals.

One of the research vehicles is powered by batteries. It collects information for the National Oceanography Center in Southampton, England, and the World Wildlife Fund. The vehicle's low energy requirements permit it to stay afloat for up to 30 days. Reports of what it finds in the Celtic Sea are sent by satellite.

Stephen Woodward is an engineer who helped design the craft. He says the vehicle has equipment that can detect small organisms called zooplankton(浮游生物) and fish. He adds that other sensing devices measure water currents and other features of sea life.

Another vehicle is powered by solar panels and a wind turbine. It can stay afloat for months. The robotic vehicle sends information about the so-called biodiversity hotspots. A biodiversity hotspot is an area of an ocean that has a lot of plant and animal life activity.

Lavinia Suberg is one of the scientists studying the biodiversity of the Celtic Sea. She says productive ocean areas, like the Celtic Sea, attract zooplankton. The zooplankton then attracts fish. She adds that areas with a large increase of fish often attract sea mammals and birds.

Using these robotic ocean vehicles greatly reduces the cost of exploring the seas with manned laboratories. Scientists can spend more time analyzing the collected information. They say the research will give them a better understanding of the needs of the Celtic Sea for future management and protection.

Pop music superstar Rihanna is teaming up with one of the world's leading bike-sharing firms, China-based ofo (共享单车), to give girls in the African country of Malawi a chance of education and the convenience of bikes.

In a new "1 KM Action" partnership announced on Monday, the singer's Clara Lionel Foundation will fund scholarships for girls in Malawi through the foundation's Global Scholarship Program, while ofo will donate bikes to those students to relieve transportation challenges in getting to class.

"I'm so happy about the Clara Lionel Foundation's new partnership with ofo because it will help so many young people around the world receive a quality education, and also help the young girls of Malawi get to school safely," Rihanna, a Barbadian singer, songwriter and actress, said in a statement. She stressed the importance of ofo's contribution in "cutting down those very long walk they make to and from school all alone," Rihanna said.

Before starting ofo and becoming its chief executive officer(总裁), Dai Wei said he had worked as a volunteer teacher for one year in one of China's most impoverished(贫困的) regions.

"We believe in unlocking every corner in the world with equal access to education as well as with our bike-sharing scheme," Dai added.

This announcement is part of a five-year plan that will also provide scholarships for girls to help with their higher education pursuits(追求).

Earlier this year Rihanna, a global ambassador for the Global Partnership for Education, visited Malawi where only eight percent of the 4.6 million students in primary school go on to a secondary one.

The Chinese firm ofo is also helping the Foundation to offer scholarships to students from China, Brazil, Barbados, Cuba, Haiti, Grenada, Guyana and Jamaica who are accepted to colleges or universities in the US. The company is particularly interested in students focused on the environment and sustainability(持续性).

After months of expectation and secrecy, the official mascot (吉祥物) of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games－a giant panda-inspired cartoon character－made its first public debut with cheers at Beijing's Shougang Ice Hockey Arena.

The panda is named “Bing Dwen Dwen” in Chinese. Bing means “ice” in Chinese, while Dwen Dwen suggests “health and cleverness”－characteristics also shared by pandas. Pandas are perhaps the most recognized animal species in China, organizers said.

“Pandas combine China's traditional culture and its modern appearance together with winter sports elements in a fascinating image (形象) that shows our great expectations for the Games and shows that we welcome the world,” said Beijing Mayor Chen Jining, who also serves as an executive president on the organizing committee.

“I have already seen the mascot and from what I've seen, it's a wonderful choice,” IOC President Thomas Bach said before introducing the character.” “The mascot really takes in the best elements and characteristics of China and the Chinese people. It will be a great ambassador (大使) for the country and the 24th Winter Olympics.”

The ring of light surrounding the mascot's face is suggestive of ice and snow tracks, as well as the flowing “ribbons” of the National Speed Skating Oval. The oval is one of two new competition sites in downtown Beijing expected to become a landmark of the Games, according to its chief designer Cao Xue.

The introduction of the mascots marks the key point of a journey that began in August 2018, when Beijing organizers started a global design competition for the mascots. A total of 5,816 designs were received from 35 countries, and were reviewed by Chinese and international experts in a comprehensive evaluation and selection process.

The new mascot will serve as spirited symbol of the Games that will take place in the three zones of downtown Beijing, the suburban district of Yanqing and co-host city Zhangjiakou in surrounding Hebei province.

India faces various major challenges on the COVID-19 front. There are over 300,000 new cases every day — the largest number of daily cases ever experienced by any country. India's health system can no longer cope. There are not enough beds, and hospitals are turning away people with the virus. They have also run out of oxygen.

With a huge population of 1,380 million, India is densely populated: 464 people/km2. Social distancing without total shutdowns is unthinkable, especially in the big cities with crowded streets, trains, buses and offices. The latest data from the government survey says that only 36% of Indians wash their hands with soap before a meal. Even worse, 160 million Indians do not have access to clean water to wash their hands. The research suggests that diabetes and other diseases worsen COVID-19 outcomes. The awareness about disease dynamics is very poor, even among the wealthier and more educated population. After the national voluntary "people's curfew" called by the prime minister on 22 March, which was by and large a success, people came out on the streets and celebrated with no attention to social distancing.

Many countries around the world are sending oxygen to India. Singapore and the UK have sent much-needed oxygen cylinders to India. A Singapore Foreign Affairs spokesperson explained how urgent it was to help India, "We have all witnessed in the past year how this pandemic is a trans-boundary threat. It gives no regard for country, nationality, or race. This is exactly why we must work collectively to support each other." The WHO said the situation in India was "beyond heartbreaking". It said, "The WHO is doing everything we can, providing critical equipment and supplies, including thousands of oxygen concentrators, mobile field hospitals and laboratory supplies." It added, "The growth that we have seen in case numbers is really, truly astonishing."

For fresh students entering Yunnan University this autumn semester, failing to pass the physical fitness tests including running, pull-up and jumping will mean no diploma. According to the new rule, which is regarded as the "strictest school rule on physical education in history", PE classes must be offered to all students as compulsory courses, and students need to complete a total of 200 class hours in PE if they want to graduate.

This new requirement is nothing new. In 2007, the Ministry of Education issued a regulation, which asked schools to include physical fitness as a key criterion (标准) in assessing students' performance, and those failing to acquire 50 points in the tests should not be allowed to graduate.

But the regulation has never been fully implemented. Many schools, fearing a strict enforcement (执行) would lead to too many students’ failing to graduate, turned a blind eye to their poor performance in PE tests.

Though Chinese people's livelihoods have improved over the last few decades thanks to the economic boom (繁荣), the physical fitness of students has been on the decline.

A survey of college students, aged 19 to 22 years old, made by the Ministry of Education, showed that in 2019 the scores of students in many sports events such as standing long jump, 50-meter running, and push-up fell compared with the 2014 levels. For instance, the performance of 1, 000-meter running for male students declined by 12. 37 seconds and that of 800-meter running for female students dropped by 9. 56 seconds.

The worsening physical health of students can be attributed to a lack of exercise and unhealthy lifestyles. As Chinese students face a fierce competition in the all-important college entrance exam, or gaokao, academic performance is given a top priority in schools. PE classes often take a back seat to academic subjects which are considered more important. Burdened with heavy academic workloads，students of primary and secondary schools lead a largely sedentary (久坐的) lifestyle. And with the Internet becoming a big part of their lives, many adolescents would rather spend their spare time playing video games rather than doing outdoor activities.

Due to this reason, the new rule of Yunnan University becomes significant.

The longleaf pine (长叶松) tree has deep connections with the history and life of the eastern part of America. Forests of these trees once covered two-thirds of the southeastern United States. About 95 percent of those forests were lost in the past 100 years. Many of the forests were cut for their wood, but now they are returning, with the help of government programs that build ties with private landowners.

The wood of the tree is very strong. Most buildings built in the southern U.S. from the 1800s contained longleaf pine wood. Today, although buildings made with longleaf pine are no longer wanted, yet people are reusing the wood because it is still good and resists (抵抗) water and insect damage.

The longleaf pine also takes in CO₂ in the air. It stores the material in its wood. So, the tree is valuable to the environment as a way to store carbon.

At the same time, the pine forests are places for animals to live. The U.S. government has several programs to protect and increase longleaf pine forests. One is the Safe Harbor Program. It uses voluntary agreements with private landowners to help animals at risk. One such agreement protects the red-cockaded woodpecker and also lets landowners use their land, as long as the birds and other connected animals can safely live on it.

Now, farmers and landowners in the southeastern U.S. are growing new longleaf pine trees. Instead of cutting the trees to use as building materials, they are finding ways to make money from the forest of living trees. One way to get money is by selling the leaves of the trees as a ground cover. Farmers can gather the pine leaves by hand or with the help of a machine. Pine leaves can be used instead of wood pieces or skins as a ground cover. It lasts a long time, is light in weight and stays in place because the needles (针) connect to each other.

A doctor named Chepurnov from Siberia conducted a controversial coronavirus immunity test after surviving COVID-19 in March. The 68-year-old Russian doctor spent time with coronavirus-positive patients without wearing a mask to see if he could get a second COVID-19 infection. The doctor was infected a second time and experienced a worse COVID-19 case than he had previously.

This unusual coronavirus immunity test can easily be filed under the "only in Russia" section of COVID-19 news. Only in Russia was a coronavirus vaccine approved for mass use before any scientific research was shared with the world and before the drug cleared the Phase 3 trial. The story gets even crazier, considering the doctor's age. At 68-years-old, Alexander Chepurnov happens to be the kind of COVID-19 patient most at risk of developing a severe case.

Even so, Chepurnov's controversial experiment isn't without worth. It's certainly the kind of experiment that others wouldn't necessarily approve of, especially in western countries. But it's the kind of experiment that can yield results — and Chepurnov did get his wish. He was reinfected with COVID- 19 within six months from the first bout. Chepurnov and his research team started to monitor his antibodies. He discovered that they vanished after three months. "The observation showed a fairly rapid decrease," he told the paper. "By the end of the third month from the start of the disease, they ceased to be determined. " This falls in line with other studies about COVID-19 antibody life.

Chepurnov's story also seems to fall in line with other studies that say immunity can last for at least 5-7 months. The story also proves that immunity lasts even after the antibodies are gone and suggests that other immune system components are indeed involved in providing prolonged protection. Others theorized that T cells would extend immunity beyond the life of the first batch of antibodies. Chepurnov's empirical findings are also important for vaccine research. If immunity lasts less than a year, more booster shots (加强针剂) might be needed after the initial doses.

But Newsweek points out a problem with the experiment. Because his first case of COVID-19 hasn't been diagnosed via a PCR test. Also, Chepurnov's experiment hasn't been published in a scientific journal, and it's unclear what scientific rigors were applied. Still, if his findings are accurate, Chepurnov is actually right to warn against using a herd immunity approach to beat the pandemic.

On the evening of April 8, Dunhuang Academy and Huawei jointly launched a brand-new technology-driven tour experience at the Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟). Using Huawei's newly-released Hetu AI platform, coupled with the output of the Digital Dunhuang project, visitors to the Mogao Grottoes can enjoy a fantasy experience prior to entering the attraction.

Zhao Shengliang, director of the Dunhuang Academy, said that it has been cooperating with Huawei since March 2019. Using Huawei's latest Hetu technology, visitors are able to see the detailed contents of the Dunhuang Art Murals (壁画) outside the caves, through their Huawei mobile phones. This will reduce the time tourists spend inside the cave, aiding the protection of the cultural relics, while at the same time helping to increase the amount of information visitors can obtain. It is also considered to be a new way of promoting Dunhuang Art.

The Dunhuang Academy has used digital technology to preserve the research and exploration of Dunhuang Grottoes since the early 1990s. It has collected a wealth of data and has realized the goal of sharing of digital Dunhuang globally. It has played an important role in the protection and research of cultural site, as well as promoting the development and progress of related work.

The Huawei Hetu platform unites Dunhuang's study findings, high-resolution images of the site's murals and virtual, three-dimensional models with the real Mogao Grottoes. It has not only re-created the real tour of the scenic spot, but also developed a new way of digitally experiencing the grottoes. When people visit the site, they not only have the experience of seeing the real grottoes, but they can appreciate the admirable artworks more clearly and in greater detail.

In the future, Dunhuang Academy will continue to cooperate with Huawei to create more colorful virtual content to enrich the experience of Mogao Art on the platform, helping people around the world get to know Dunhuang Art better.