Getting electricity has always been a problem for the 173 people living in Nuevo Saposoa, a small village in Peru, South America. However, things went from bad to worse in March 2015 after heavy rains damaged the only power cables in the area. The villagers were forced to use oil lamps, which are not only expensive but also dangerous because of the harmful gases they produce.

    Luckily, researchers at the University of Technology (UT) in Lima, Peru heard about their problem and found a wonderful solution. They made a lamp that can be powered by plants and soil, both of which can be easily found in the Amazonian rainforest where the village lies. The lamp takes energy from a plant growing in a wooden box and uses it to light up an LED light bulb.

While that may sound amazing and even impossible, the science behind the ides is quite simple. As plants create their food (using the sun's energy, water and chemicals from the soil), they also produce waste which they return to the soil. Tiny animals in the soil eat this waste and they produce electrons – the building blocks of electrical energy. The UT team put special sticks inside the soil to capture the energy and keep it in the lamp's batteries for later use. The researchers say a single charge can power a 50-watt Led light for two hours - enough time for local villagers to get their evening work done.

The university gave ten Plant Lamps to the villagers of Nuevo Saposoa in October 2015. So far, they have been a huge success! Elmer Ramirez, the UT professor who invented the lamp, believes the Plant Lamp could help improve the lives of many people, especially small rainforest communities, 42% of whom have no electricity.

    A plant is a living thing. It uses its many parts to grow from a small seed to a large plant. Each part helps the plant stay healthy. Plants also need sunlight to grow. They get light from the sun and minerals from the soil. These things help the plant stay alive and grow.

    Sitting too much is now listed with smoking and junk food as a bad habit that increases your risk of heart disease.

    New Australian research shows that half-an-hour in the gym will not make up for the waist-expanding damage caused by spending the rest of the day sitting.

    But the good news is that doing chores(家务杂事) in the house or gently walking around the office while on the phone might be enough to keep you fit.

    The study joins the growing body of evidence suggesting too much sitting might undo the benefits of exercise.

    The study measured the intensity(强度)of physical activities in 168 subjects over seven days. If found that, regardless of how much exercise they did or their total sitting time, those who took more breaks from sitting had lower risk of thick waists and lower levels of blood lipids(脂质).

    “Higher levels of blood lipids have been linked to a heightened risk of heart disease,”principal researcher Genevieve Healy of the University of Queensland said. "What the study shows is that there are benefits in just getting up regularly and interrupting your sitting time."

    Researchers behind the Stand up Australia project have written to the Rudd Government requesting $ 3.5 million for a two year study into how long sitting affects the health and productivity of workers.

    The latest study builds on work that is shifting the health promotion focus from purposeful exercise, such as running, to lower intensity activities throughout the day.

    The Australian research bas been backed up US studies, which show standing up is enough to double the metabolic(新陈代谢) rate and the amount of calories burnt.

    “To hold a body that weighs 77kilograms upright take a .fair amount of energy from muscles", said professor Marc Hamilton from the University of Missouri. "There is a large amount of energy associated with standing every day that cannot be easily replaced by, 30 to 60minutes in the gym."

Why salmon will newer get lost

    When you're packing for an adventure, what's the most important thing you'll need? If you don't want to get lost, you' need a map. Or better yet, a GPS. What about other animals? How do they know where they're going?

    While humans depend on technology to travel, some animals have something far more advanced. Researchers, mainly from Oregon State University, US, found that Chinook salmon have a "built in GPS" of the Earth's magnetic field(磁场). This means as soon as they are born they are able to direct themselves in the ocean. It acts like a big map inside their brain.

    Scientists placed some baby salmon into a big swimming pool. To simulate the Earth's magnetic field, they put magnetic coils(线圈) all around the pool. Then, by changing the direction of the coils, the salmon began to change their own direction. They started to face in the direction of their ocean feeding area. This is a safe place in the ocean where salmon can find food to eat. When the scientists changed the coils to the opposite side, the salmon also turned in the opposite direction. Just by using their "built-in GPS", the salmon were able to figure out the direction of their feeding area.

    How did Chinook salmon get their "built in GPS"? The scientists believe that their navigation(导航) skills came through evolution(进化). The fish that were able to reach the feeding area lived longer. Then they could pass on their navigation skills to their babies. So if you're ever lost and in need of some help, maybe you should ask a salmon to point you in the right direction!

    Many people thought a computer wasn't supposed to be able to beat a top master at the ancient Chinese game, Weiqi, for at least another 10 years. But AlphaGo, an artificially intelligent system (人工智能系统) designed by Google, made it. It easily beat Lee Sedol last year, one of the best players in the world. It challenged the world's top players to show how much progress it had made over the past few years.

    In late May, 2017, AlphaGo appeared in China and played against 19-year-old Ke Jie in Wuzhen, China. He is No. 1 player now in the world. However, the result wasn't out of people's expectation. He lost the match. Though Ke Jie tried his best and he once saw the victory just a step away, he lost his best chance when he became excited.

    At the press conference (新闻发布会) after the match, Ke Jie was interviewed by the reporters. He said he had realized how powerful AlphaGo was, and it was getting perfect. When a Chinese reporter asked him in English, the reporter spoke so fast that the interpreter (口译员) couldn't catch him. Ke Jie got kind of angry and told him that it was unnecessary for two Chinese to speak in English. The reporter apologized to him and offered to ask him for a coffee.

    The cat and mouse game is over, but the challenge between man and robots will still go on.