Food festivals around the world

    Stilton Cheese Rolling

    May Day is a traditional day for celebrations,but the 2,000 English villagers of Stilton must be the only people in the world who include cheese rolling in their annual plans.Teams of four,dressed in a variety of strange and funny clothes,roll a complete cheese along a 50-metre course.On the way,they must not lack or throw their cheese,or go into their competitors' lane.Competition is fierce and the chief prize is a complete Stilton cheese weighing about four kilos (disappointingly,but understandably the cheeses used in the race are wooden ones).All the competitors are served with beer or port wine,the traditional accompaniment for Stilton cheese.

    Fiery Foods Festival—The Hottest Festival on Earth

    Every year more than 10,000 people head for the city of Albuquerque,New Mexico.They come from as far away as Australia,the Caribbean and China,but they all share a common addiction—food that is not just spicy,but hot enough to make your mouth bum,your head spin and your eyes water.Their destination is the Fiery Food and BBQ Festival which is held over a period of three days every March.You might like to try a chocolate-covered habanero pepper—officially the hottest pepper in the world—or any one of the thousands of products that are on show.But one thing's for sure—if you don't like the feeling of a burning tongue,this festival isn't for you!

    La Tomatina—The World's Biggest Food Fight

    On the last Wednesday of every August,the Spanish town of Bunol hosts La Tomatina—the world's largest food fight.A week-long celebration leads up to an exciting tomato battle as the highlight of the week's events.The early morning sees the arrival of large trucks with tomatoes—official fight-starters get things going by casting tomatoes at the crowd.

    The battle lasts little more than half an hour,in which time around 50,000 kilograms of tomatoes have been thrown at anyone or anything that moves,runs,or fights back.Then everyone heads down to the river to make friends again—and fora much-needed wash!

    The health of millions could be at risk because supplies of medicinal plants are being used up. These plants are used to make traditional medicine, including drugs to fight cancer. “The loss of medicinal plants is a quiet disaster,” says Sara Oldfield, secretary general of the NGO Botanic Gardens Conservation International.

    Most people worldwide rely on herbal (药草制的) medicines which are got mostly from wild plants. But some 15,000 of the 50,000 medicinal species are under threat of dying out, according to report from the international conservation group Plantlife. Shortages have been reported in China, India, Kenya, Nepal, Tanzania and Uganda.

    Over-harvesting does the most harm, though pollution and competition from invasive species (入侵物种) and habitat destruction all contribute. Businessmen generally harvest medicinal plants, not caring about sustainability (可持续性),” the Plantlife report says, “damage is serious partly because they have no idea about it. but it is mainly because such collection is unorganized” Medicinal trees at risk include the Himalayan yew (紫衫) and the African cherry, which are used to treat some cancers.

    The solution, says the report's author, Alan Hamilton, is to encourage local people to protect these plants. Ten projects studied by Plantlife in India, Pakistan, China, Nepal, Uganda and Kenya showed this method can succeed. In Uganda, the project has kept a sustainable supply of low-cost cancer treatments, and in China a public-run medicinal plant project has been created for the first time.”

    “Improving health, earning an income and keeping cultural traditions are important in encouraging people to protect medicinal plants,” says Hamilton, “You have to pay attention to what people are interested in.”

    Ghillean Prance, the former director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London, agrees that medicinal plants are in need of protection. “Not nearly enough is being done,” he told New Scientist. “We are destroying the very plants that are of most use to us.”

    Amazing concept images have shown what homes of the future could look like, as preparations are made for the world's first free from 3D-printed property (房产).

    Experts will build a house called Curve Appeal, which will be 3D-printed off-site before being put together on-site to create two outside walls, a roof and an inside part. These four main sections will then be joined together.

    Although 3D-printed buildings have been made before, this home - to be constructed in Chattanooga, Tennessee, later this year — will be the first of its kind, as it will contain no regular shapes or angles. The house is the creation of the design company WATG, based in London and California. The design for Curve Appeal draws inspiration from the Case Study House program.

    The architects leading the program were famed for constantly pushing the limits in terms of minimalist (极简主义) materials, and trying to create open-plan spaces that focused on enhancing (增强) natural light. In a written statement, a spokesman for WATG said, “Employing many of the same modem design principles, Curve Appeal is the next evolutionary step. It's important that the architecture and the environment work together harmoniously. The chosen site is steps away from the Tennessee River in a beautiful wooded, sunlit area.”

    WATG was awarded the first prize in the Freeform Home Design Challenge in 2016 and given prize money of $ 8,000 to make its plans a reality. The competition was aimed at architects, designers, engineers and artists. Participants were challenged to design a 600 to 800sq ft single-family home that rethinks traditional aesthetics (美学), ergonomics, construction, building systems and structure.

    Over the last year, WATG's Chicago office has been developing their design with Branch Technology. This project is currently underway, working towards breaking ground later this year. Once completed, the Curve Appeal home will have open and light-filled inside living spaces.

    How a few members of the animal kingdom handle the transition to adulthood?

    African elephants

These beautiful beasts come close to imitate teen rebellion. Calves spend a decade with their mothers in female-dominated groups —- and ladies stay there —- but adolescent boys leave mom for noisy crews of bros. In their 20s, they often downsize to smaller male groups.

    Orangutans (猩猩)

Slow metabolism allows these primates to survive food shortages —- times when weather makes ripe fruit scarce. But energy efficiency comes at a cost; growth and maturation take time. Orangutan mamas nurse their young longer than any other wild creature does.

    Orcas(逆戟鲸)

    Killer whales join their mother's familial group for life. This lasting-relationship seems to increase a pup's chance of survival; if mom dies  a young male (under 30) is three times more likely to die than a peer whose mother is alive. Risk of death post-mom-mortem rises as kids get older.

Harp seals

A harp seal's "childhood" lasts just 12 days. A pup's sole purpose during that brief period of coddling(宠爱) is to constantly nurse, gaining a fifth of its birth weight in blubber(鲸脂) every day. Once it's fat —- they become greater from 25 to 80 pounds —- it slides off the ice and takes on the sea.

    Wolf spiders

    Every parent knows that tired toddlers love to hitch a piggyback ride. The wolf spider straps all her babies (40 or 50, on average) onto her back at once, carrying the brood until they are capable of fully functional spider-hood. But luckily she only has to pull them for a few days.

    HANGZHOU-Chinese internet giant Alibaba on Tuesday opened a hotel loaded with artificial intelligence (AI) and robots, automating a series of procedures like check-in, lights control and room service.

    FlyZoo Hotel, opened in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, where Alibaba is headquartered, is known as the company's first "future hotel". Customers can check into the hotel by simply scanning their faces. The facial recognition system installed in the hotel also enables customers to use their faces as key cards to open doors and access another hotel service. Users can also control the lights, televisions and curtains in the room via Alibaba's voice-activated digital assistant, while robots are deployed to serve dishes, cocktails and coffee. Hotel bookings and check-out can also be done with a few clicks on mobile through an app. The Al-based solution can help customers save time and relieve hotel employees from repetitive work," said Wang Qun, CEO of FlyZoo Hotel. The hotel is the latest example of Chinese tech companies1 attempt into traditional industries such as the hotel industry.

    E-commerce giant JD.com announced in October its strategy to put smart home and electronic devices sold on its platform into hotels, in an effort to improve online sales.

    In July, Baidu teamed up with Intercontinental Hotels Group in Beijing to allow guests to use its voice-controlled assistant to adjust room temperature and order room service at ease.

    Before that, social media giant Tencent introduced QQ family, a similar tech solution for hotel operators, in the southern city of Zhuhai last year.

    "We want to install a 'smart brain' for hotels, " said Wang, "In the future, we will continue to make hotels smarter and more automated, as well as create more personalized experiences for consumers."