On February 6, Space X, a private US aerospace company owned by Elon Musk, has successfully launched its new Falcon Heavy spacecraft, making it the world's most powerful rocket.

    Falcon Heavy is the largest rocket since the retirement of NASA's Saturn V, which was used for the Moon missions in the 1970s. “Falcon Heavy can launch about 64 tonnes into low Earth orbit-that's almost three times more than the current running biggest launch vehicle, Delta IV Heavy, ”Imperial College astrophysicist David Clements told AI Jazeera. According to Space X, Falcon Heavy can lift into orbit a mass greater than a 737 jet loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel.

    The rocket was designed with the idea of earning humans into space and opening the possibility of flying missions with people to the Moon and even Mars. For its first voyage, it carried Musk's $ 100,000 cherry-red Tesla sports car and a fake space-suited human model fixed in the driver's seat. Musk joked that “it may be discovered by some future alien race”.

    Falcon Heavy went into space on its last flight on February 6. The launch took place at NASA's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Kennedy Space Center in the US state of Florida, the spot also used for the Apollo 11 Moon mission and several space shuttle launches. It was delayed by several hours because of high winds in the upper atmosphere. Minutes after take-off, the two outer boosters (助推器) landed at the nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

    Space X announced plans to eventually use Falcon Heavy to launch two paying space tourists on a trip around the Moon. However, Musk said he will probably reserve that mission for another launch system, the BFR. Recently, Space X scheduled to launch a Falcon 9 rocket for NASA's TESS mission on March 20, 2018. It is reported that Space X is scheduled to complete 30 independent launch missions in 2018, at least half of which will use Falcon 9.

Cure for tiredness?

    Staying up late is a potential battle between parents and kids. But the solution could be as simple as changing your meal time.

    Researchers at the University of Surry, UK, found that delaying meals could help change one of the internal body clocks. Besides a “master” clock in the brain, there are clocks in other parts of the body. They are usually synchronized according to factors including light.

During the study, researchers tested 10 participants to examine the effect of changing meal times on their body clocks. The participants were given three meals —breakfast, lunch and dinner. In the first stage, participants received breakfast 30 minutes after waking. Lunch and dinner followed, after 5-hour intervals. In the second stage, each meal was delayed by 5 hours. Right after each stage, blood and fat samples were collected.

    Results showed that later meal times greatly influenced blood sugar levels. A 5-hour delay in meal times caused a 5-hour delay in the internal blood sugar rhythms.

    The discovery showed that meal times are in line with the body clock that controls blood sugar levels.

    This is a small study but the researchers believe the findings could help jet lag sufferers and night-shift workers.

    In a study by the University of Surrey in 2013, researchers explored what happened when a person's body was changed from a normal pattern to that of a night-shift worker's.

    After people work through the night, over 97 percent of the body's rhythmic genes are disrupted（扰乱，使混乱）.

    These findings explain why we feel so bad following a long flight, or after working at night, according to Simon Archer, one of the study's researchers.

    “It's like living in a house. There's a clock in every room in the house and in all of those rooms those clocks are now disrupted, which of course leads to chaos in the household,” fellow researcher DerkJan Dijk told the BBC.

Changing meal times didn't affect the “master” body clock — the one controlling when we get sleepy — but it can reset the body clock that controls blood sugar levels. This wouldn't necessarily cure jet lag completely, but it might reduce the negative effects.

A study published earlier this year suggested that just a weekend camping trip could be enough to reset our body clocks. And now this latest research shows regular food schedules could play a key part too.

    China is known for its long history, rich culture, and cute pandas. It's also known for some of the worst air quality in the world. But the Asian country is now using a natural weapon against air pollution – trees.

    In February, China's government announced plans to cover at least 32,400 square miles with forest. That is about the size of Ireland. Some 60,000 soldiers will take charge of the tree-planting program. Most of the trees will be planted in Hebei Province. That is an area surrounding China's capital, Beijing.

    Huang Wei is an environmentalist who works for Greenpeace East Asia. She is optimistic about the plan. “Trees act as a sink to absorb carbon dioxide and other pollutants,” she said. Carbon dioxide is a gas that traps the Earth's heat. It contributes to global warming.

    Why is China's air filled with harmful chemicals? It's because the country relies on coal-fired power plants. When coal is burned, PM2.5 is produced, PM2.5 is a pollutant. It can cause shortness of breath, heart attacks, and even death.

    Just two years ago, pollution levels were so high in Beijing that schools and factories had to close. Huang hopes China's tree-planting plan will reduce the nation's suffering from air pollution.

    The Chinese government is getting help from others in its drive to make the nation greener. Stefano Boeri is an Italian architect and urban planner. He is leading an effort to plant vertical（垂直的）forests in China.

    Boeri's designs have already taken root in the city of Nanjing, China. That's where the Nanjing Green Towers are under construction. The building has two towers. Thousands of trees and hanging plants will grow on the balconies and rooftops.

    Boeri says his goal is to design buildings that help the environment and improve air quality. He also hopes to encourage a new generation of green architects.

    My mother loves flowers. As soon as warm weather comes around, you will find her planting, watering and weeding over everything. For many years we lived next door to each other, and she spent as much time in my garden as she did her own. After the flowers became plentiful each summer, she would cut colorful bouquets (花束) to enjoy inside the house－both hers and mine. I would often come home from work and find a beautiful arrangement (布置) of fresh flowers on my coffee table.

    Shortly before Christmas one year, a local flower shop offered a bouquet month special. It seemed to be a great way to thank her for all of the flowers she had given me through the years. After the holidays, in early January, I drove her to the flower shop to pick up her first month's bouquet. The small fresh colorful bouquet would hardly fill a small vase (花瓶).

    I was so embarrassed(尴尬的). However, after we returned home, she began to arrange the flowers she had received. “Mom, I'm sorry,” I told her. “I can't believe how skimpy that bouquet is.” She looked at me and smiled. “It's okay,” she said. “It allows me to better enjoy the beauty of each one.”

    Mom's words helped me to realize something bigger and more important－when we have too many good things, we often fail to enjoy the beauty of each one.

      Thanks, Mom, for helping me understand that less is sometimes more.

    Would it surprise you to learn that, like animals, trees communicate with each other and pass on their wealth to the next generation?

    UBC Professor Simard explains how trees are much more complex than most of us ever imagined. Although Charles Darwin thought that trees are competing for survival of the fittest, Simard shows just how wrong he was. In fact, the opposite is true: trees survive through their co-operation and support, passing around necessary nutrition (营养) “depending on who needs it”.

    Nitrogen (氮) and carbon are shared through miles of underground fungi (真菌) networks, making sure that all trees in the forest ecological system give and receive just the right amount to keep them all healthy. This hidden system works in a very similar way to the networks of neurons (神经元) in our brains, and when one tree is destroyed, it affects all.

    Simard talks about “mother trees”, usually the largest and oldest plants on which all other trees depend. She explains how dying trees pass on the wealth to the next generation, transporting important minerals to young trees so they may continue to grow. When humans cut down “mother trees” with no awareness of these highly complex “tree societies” or the networks on which they feed, we are reducing the chances of survival for the whole forest.

    “We didn't take any notice of it.” Simard says sadly. “Dying trees move nutrition into the young trees before dying, but we never give them chance.” If we could put across the message to the forestry industry, we could make a huge difference towards our environmental protection efforts for the future.

    In many developed countries, people who have high degrees begin to work longer than those who don't. About 65% of American men aged 62－74 with a professional degree are in the workforce (劳动人口), compared with 32% of men who only finish high school. This gap is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated wealthy and the unskilled poor. Rapid technological advance has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while squeezing those of the unskilled. The consequences, for individuals and society, are profound (意义深远的).

    The world is facing an astonishing rise in the number of old people, and they will live longer than ever before. Over the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double, from 600 million to 1.1 billion. The experience of the 20th century, when greater longevity (长寿) translated into more years in retirement rather than more years at work, has persuaded many observers that this shift (变化) will lead to slower economic growth, while the swelling (渐增的) ranks of pensioners will create government budget problems.

    Policies are partly responsible. Many European governments have abandoned policies that used to encourage people to retire early. Even the better-off must work longer to have a comfortable retirement. But the changing nature of work also plays a big role. Pay has risen sharply for the highly educated, and those people continue to reap (获得) rich rewards into old age because these days the educated elderly are more productive than the preceding (先前的) generation. Technological change may well reinforce (强化) that shift: the skills that complement (补充) computers, from management know-how to creativity, do not necessarily decline with age.