The earth is about 4,600 million years old. Modern man has lived on the earth for only 35,000 years, but during that time, we have changed our planet in many ways. Many of the things that we have done are good, but more are not good for the earth.

    Water pollution

    A lot of people, birds and fish die each day because of water pollution. Factories have polluted the land and the water. As a result, many river and lakes are now dead.

    Air pollution

    In big cities, factories, as well as cars, trucks and buses are the biggest cause of air pollution. Many people in cities now have bad health problems. For example, Mexico city used to be a beautiful sunny capital, but today it is almost covered by thick brown clouds.

    Soil pollution

    In order to have a good harvest, most of the farmers use chemicals too much on their fields. That's bad for the soil. But this kind of pollution is difficult to stop.

    Hope for the future

    These problems are very serious for our future, so all of us should do something to improve our environment. If we can stop pollution, our planet will become more and more beautiful and our health will be better. Let's be greener people.

    A "talking kitchen" teaches students how to cook French and speak French. Researchers at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom have developed the French Digital(数字的) Kitchen. Professor Paul Seedhouse led the project.

    "It works like a satellite navigation(导航) system in a car. The system can tell whether you've done what you were asked to do or not. For example, the sensor(传感器) in the knife not only knows that the knife is moving, but it also knows how the knife is moving. So it can discover whether the knife is slicing (切), whether it's scraping (刮) or what. And so it doesn't go on to the next stage of the program unless you've done what it senses(感到)you should have done," said Paul Seedhouse.

    Students can ask the computer to repeat the instructions or translate them into English. There are vocabulary(词汇) lessons before and after the cooking.

    Professor Seedhouse became interested in the idea after he visited a talking kitchen designed for a different purpose. In his opinion the French Digital Kitchen turns the process (过程) of learning language into a real life experience. "Here you're taking it out of the classroom and you're actually using the language to produce something which you can eat at the end of it. It's very enjoyable," he said.

    The system will be available for sale by the end of 2020. Adding the technology to a new kitchen could add about ten to twenty percent to the building costs. The system could also be added to an existing(现存的) kitchen.

    The researchers are also developing a new digital(的呼吸法) kitchen system that is easy to carry or to move. And the European Union has given them money to begin programs in six other languages, including English, Italian and Spanish.

    The world got a glimpse(一瞥) of one of the greatest mysteries of our universe(宇宙) on April 10.

    That′s when the first image of a black hole was shown to the public. The picture was created by a network of eight radio telescopes(射电望远镜).

    "We have seen what we thought was unseeable, "says Shep Doeleman. He led the effort to create the image.

    The black hole is at the center of galaxy (星系)named Messier 87, some 55 million light﹣years from the earth, and is 6.5 billion times the mass of the sun.

    The image shows the gas, dust, and stars that move around the black hole before disappearing into it. It does not truly show the black hole, because not even light can escape its gravity. Black holes, like vacuums, suck(吸)in everything that gets too close.

    When a computer runs a group of programs, it can get very Cooling the computer can cost a lot. So some scientist's wonder what will happen if the heat from the computer can be used.

    Large Internet companies (公司) such as Google and Microsoft have thousands of computers. As these computers deal with information, they produce lots of heat, so they need huge cooling systems(系统). These systems send the heat into the air.

    A company in Holland (荷兰) thinks paying to make the computers work and then paying again to cool them are a waste of energy. So the company developed a special device—the e-radiator.

    Boaz Loupe, the head of the company, says the e-radiator works as a heating system and saves money. He explains that the energy is used twice—once to heat the home and once to cool the computer. So the users don't have to pay to cool their computers.

    Five homeowners in Holland are testing the heating system in their homes.

    "We pay for the computer using, so, in that way, homeowners get heating for free," Boaz says.

    Jan Visor is one of the homeowners. "If you use the computer more the e-radiator produces more heat," he says. "It cannot provide enough heat if you don't use your computer often. "But he is ready to try it. It's a great help for his family.

    The company says e-radiators can produce heat at a temperature of 55℃. It says the system can save its users about S 440 a year.

    The coffee shop Starbucks will give people a discount if they bring their own cups. It wants to cut down on the number of paper cups that are put in the rubbish bins. It is part of a two-month experiment in cafes in England. Starbucks wants to reduce waste and recycle more, The president of Starbucks in the UK said, "We are very happy to increase recycling rates(比率)，and reusable cups are a key part of our waste reduction plan." Bosses will decide later if they will continue the discounts. People who bring their own cups will not get a discount on the cafe's cheaper filter coffee.

    The problem of paper cups has been in the news a lot. Around seven million cups are thrown away every day. Reporters say that some cafes lie about how many paper cups they recycle. The reporters say the cafes do not recycle as many cups as they say. Customers wrongly believe that a coffee shop is environmentally friendly. Less than one in 400 paper cups at coffee shops are recycled. A coffee drinker said she would bring her own cup. She said, "I am so sad that cafes recycle so little. I thought they were more responsible."

    What might the future be like? Here are some predictions(预测): things to come, things to go.

    The Spring Festival has caused headaches for millions of Chinese. More than 2 billion people travel at the same time and the journey is difficult. But in 28 years, Spring Festival travel may not be a problem at all. China plans to build more than 120,000 kilometers of railway and a fast transportation network that will serve 90% of the population by 2020. And because most of China will be cities, people will not have to go to other places to find a job, so it will no longer be a problem.

    Newspaper will come to an end in 2043. In the future, digital(数字的) newspapers will be sent to personal web tools through Internet. Readers can discuss topics with journalists and editors. Information will move faster.

    Oil is running out faster than expected. But scientists have found something else for oil as fuel(燃料). Coal, natural gas, nuclear power(核能) and even water can take the place of oil as sources of energy(能源).

    Schools will go electronic(电子化). Computers will be important and popular among the students. Everything will be in the computer and students will not need to bring books to school. They will find information on the Internet. A computer will be the students' library, schoolbag and connection to the outside world. There will be robot teachers, they will check homework on computers and communicate with the students' parents through e-mail. And school buses will be comfortable and safe.