Plenty of people dream of traveling to other planets. But “Star Wars” fans can actually visit locations where many of the films' most famous scenes were shot. Here are some of the places where “Star Wars” comes to life.

Hotel Sidi Driss, Matmata, Tunisia

    Perhaps the most famous "Star Wars" landmark in the world, this is where the interiors of Luke Skywalker's childhood home on planet Tatooine were filmed. Centuries ago, Berbers built the underground structure as a real home. Eventually it became a hotel, which George Lucas used to film the first "Star Wars" film. The set decorations came down when the crew left, but were rebuilt in 2000 for "Attack of the Clones." Since then, they've remained, so guests can eat at the table where young master Luke did.

La Grande Dune, outside Nefta, Tunisia

    The igloo(冰屋) outside of Luke's house was filmed about 300 kilometers away on the dried-up salt lake of Chott El Jerid. The igloo is still there, reachable with a decent car at the GPS coordinates 33"50'34. 42"N, 7"46'44.48"E.

    The surrounding hotels are man-made, to create the illusion (幻觉)that the underground house is next to it. The igloo from the 1977 movie was taken apart, but again rebuilt for "Attack of the Clones," and later restored by a fan. Nearby is La Grande Dune, site of the Dune Sea. About 30 minutes from the igloo is the set of Mos Espa, the spaceport town where Anakin was discovered as a young slave.

Redwood National and State parks, California

    Endor, the forest moon home of the furry Ewoks, was filmed among California's giant redwoods. Most of the well-known scenes were shot on private land owned by a lumber company. Since the cast and crew worked on "Return of the Jedi" in 1982, heavy logging has left most of the landscape unrecognizable. But driving through the parks still gives a feel for the set, especially along the Avenue of the Giants highway.

    In Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park and the Humboldt Redwoods State Park, plates were filmed for some chase scenes.

     The answer to protecting and saving marine(海洋) wildlife can start with cutting back on something Americans use every day—plastic drinking straws. Actor Adrien Grenier, best known for playing Vincent Chase in 2015 movie Entourage, has launched a campaign to reduce the amount of single-use plastic usage in this country in order to protect and save marine wildlife and the environment. Plastic drinking straws are among many single-use plastic products contributing to the shocking loss of marine life, but they're a great place to start because they're something Americans are using by the hundreds of millions without any awareness that they're so damaging.

According to Ecocycle, an international environmental organization, Americans use more than 500 million straws daily, which are enough to fill 127 school buses each day, and they can't be recycled. They means plastic straws end up in landfills or oceans, where fish and other marine wildlife mistake the small bits for food and swallow them. After seeing a photo of a whale beached on the shore with a belly full of plastic, Grenier felt the inspiration to launch the Lonely Whale Foundation, hoping to inspire and educate others on the challenges facing marine life.

     Along with stopping the use of straws, Grenier hopes to educate consumers on the dangers of other single-use plastic items such as grocery bags and water bottles. While many Americans use these plastic products in their daily life, there are more sustainable alternatives that can help protect the environment. Ecocycle recommends the use of straws made from stainless steel, glass, and even bamboo instead of plastic. You can buy a number of these environmentally friendly straws online and in stores.

Authors (作者)

    Alexandru Micu: Author

    ZME Science author profile | e-mail: alex@zmescience.com

    Main focus: technology, biology

    Curiosity (好奇心) is what drives Alex forward-his interest in learning more about the planet being matched only by his ability to discuss things with a light heart. Alex tries to make others more interested in special science and technology. He does things in his own way.

    Dragos Mitrica: Author

    ZME Science author profile | e-mail: dragos@zmescience.com

    Main focus: wheather

    Dragos loves nature, and does everything he can to understand it. This interest led him to many unexpected places in his life, and now, he mainly studies and understands how ancient (古代的) weather changed, and what this means for the future.

    Henry Conrad: Author

    ZME Science author profile | e-mail: henrykconrad@gmail.com

    Main focus: technology

    Henry Conrad is a game developer from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Whenever he's not working or reading the latest tech news, he enjoys writing about the latest inventions and technology, which benefits (有益) him a lot. It helps him find rich writing materials (材料).

    Mihai Andrei: Editor-in-chief

    ZME Science author profile | e-mail: andrei@zmescience.com

    Main focus: geophysics, environment

    Andrei has put a lot of sweat and tears into ZME Science ever since he was a student. He is always looking for the most interesting subjects, presenting them in a way that everybody can understand. He believes that education is the key towards a better future and he tries to persuade people to become better persons of the planet. His background is in Geology and Geophysics, but now, he focuses more on environmental studies.

    People have used pigeons to carry messages to one another for hundreds of years. In fact, pigeons were a common way to send messages right up through Would War II.

    In 1815, English troops were fighting Napoleon's forces in France, and the English were believed to be losing. A financial panic swept over London. Government bonds（债券）were offered at low prices. Few people noticed that Nathan Rothschild, an English banker, was snapping up these bonds when everyone else was trying to sell them. A few days later, London learned the truth: the Duke of Wellington had defeated Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo. The value of the bonds soared（暴涨）, and Rothschild became wealthy…all because his pigeons had brought him news of the victory before anyone else knew of it.

    Carrier pigeons were used by countries in both World War I and World War II. Not only were the birds often the fastest, most reliable way to send messages, they could also be used to reach soldiers far behind enemy lines, where radios and field telephone lines were useless. Since they could easily be released from airplanes or ships, every branch of the armed services used the birds.

    Carrying messages could be a dangerous job. Some pigeons performed with such bravery that they became famous and were even awarded medals. The most famous pigeon of all may have been Cher Ami. Stationed in France during World War I, he carried twelve important messages for American forces. On his last mission, though wounded, he carried a message that saved the lives of 194 American soldiers. For his amazing service, he was awarded the French “Croix de Guerre.”

    Today, modern communication methods can carry information from one place to another hundreds of times faster than a pigeon could do it. However, few people would argue with the fact that carrier pigeons — especially those that served in the military — have earned their place in history.

    Sitting has been called the new smoking for its supposed Public health risks, especially for people with sitting down office jobs. Over the past 15 years or so sitting has been connected with heart disease and diabetes (糖尿病). But is sitting really that risky?

    In our latest study we examined if not only the total amount of sitting, but different types of sitting, were connected with developing type 2 diabetes. We wanted to see if there was any difference among sitting watching TV, sitting at work, or sitting at home but not watching TV.

    We studied sitting habits of 4. 811 middle-aged people, who didn't have diabetes or heart problems at the start of the study. Over the next 13 years, 402 people developed diabetes. Once we considered obesity (AE RF), Physical activity, and other things that may develop type 2 diabetes, neither total sitting time, sitting at work nor sitting at home but not watching TV were connected with developing diabetes. We found only a weak connection with the time spent sitting watching TV and an increased risk of developing diabetes.

    This is different from the results of five older TV studies that showed a stronger connection. But hardly any of the included studies mentioned obesity, a major cause of diabetes.

    For people who are physically inactive, though, the story's different. Two recent studies show the total time spent sitting a day is connected with developing diabetes, but only in people who are physically inactive or both physically inactive and obese.

    That's not the whole story. At least two things determine if sitting is a risk factor in its own right: the type and situation of sitting.

    For example, sitting down at work isn't strongly connected with long-term health risks, Perhaps that's because higher position jobs needs more sitting, and higher socioeconomic (社会经济) position is connected with a lower risk of disease. It's a different case for sitting watching TV, the type of sitting most possibly connected with long-term health risks. People who watch a lot of TV tend to (a) be of lower socioeconomic positions, unemployed, have poorer mental (精神上的) health, eat unhealthy foods and face more unhealthy food advertising.

Preparing Cities for Robot Cars

    The possibility of self-driving robot cars has often seemed like a futurist's dream, years away from materializing in the real world. Well, the future is apparently now. The California Department of Motor Vehicles began giving permits in April for companies to test truly self-driving cars on public roads. The state also cleared the way for companies to sell or rent out self-driving cars, and for companies to operate driverless taxi services. California, it should be noted, isn't leading the way here. Companies have been testing their vehicles in cities across the country. It's hard to predict when driverless cars will be everywhere on our roads. But however long it takes, the technology has the potential to change our transportation systems and our cities, for better or for worse, depending on how the transformation is regulated.

    While much of the debate so far has been focused on the safety of driverless cars (and rightfully so), policymakers also should be talking about how self-driving vehicles can help reduce traffic jams, cut emissions (排放) and offer more convenient, affordable mobility options. The arrival of driverless vehicles is a chance to make sure that those vehicles are environmentally friendly and more shared.

    Do we want to copy—or even worsen—the traffic of today with driverless cars? Imagine a future where most adults own individual self-driving vehicles. They tolerate long, slow journeys to and from work on packed highways because they can work, entertain themselves or sleep on the ride, which encourages urban spread. They take their driverless car to an appointment and set the empty vehicle to circle the building to avoid paying for parking. Instead of walking a few blocks to pick up a child or the dry cleaning, they send the self-driving minibus. The convenience even leads fewer people to take public transport—an unwelcome side effect researchers have already found in ride-hailing (叫车) services.

    A study from the University of California at Davis suggested that replacing petrol-powered private cars worldwide with electric, self-driving and shared systems could reduce carbon emissions from transportation 80% and cut the cost of transportation infrastructure (基础设施) and operations 40% by 2050. Fewer emissions and cheaper travel sound pretty appealing. The first commercially available driverless cars will almost certainly be fielded by ride-hailing services, considering the cost of self-driving technology as well as liability and maintenance issues (责任与维护问题). But driverless car ownership could increase as the prices drop and more people become comfortable with the technology.

    Policymakers should start thinking now about how to make sure the appearance of driverless vehicles doesn't extend the worst aspects of the car-controlled transportation system we have today. The coming technological advancement presents a chance for cities and states to develop transportation systems designed to move more people, and more affordably. The car of the future is coming. We just have to plan for it.