Developed and developing nations can learn from each other seeking a low carbon economy, a Chinese government official said in Shanghai yesterday. “China doesn't lag developed nations in terms of energy saving and green economy”, said Zhou Changyi, director of the energy saving department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

    “While we can learn many aspects from developed nations, they also should learn something from us, such as water conservation,” Zhou said in a speech during the new Path of China's Industrialization forum at the ongoing China International Industry Fair 2009.

    He said industrialized nations and China are dealing with different issues to combat climate change. The United Kingdom, for example, is concerned about transport, buildings and new energy in reducing carbon emissions. For China, the most urgent task is how to realize new type of industrialization and avoid mistakes that other countries made when they industrialized.

    As such, overseas exhibitors at this year's fair are showing ways to help China achieve low carbon emissions in the industrial section.

    Swiss power and automation technology group ABB called for a stronger focus on product lifecycle assessment, or LCA, which is used to study the environmental impact of a product from the research and manufacturing stage through its usage and recycling.

    Tobias Becker, head of ABB's process automation division for North Asia and China, said LCA is an effective tool in helping manufacturing industries to reduce carbon emissions.

    LCA shows that industrial customers should focus on a product's environmental impact throughout its lifecycle instead of on its initial investment or ready to use stage. For example, a motor's initial investment accounts for only 3 percent of its lifecycle cost, while 94 percent goes to fuel consumption and the rest to maintenance.

    Richard Hausmann, North East Asia CEO of Siemens, said, “The color of future industrialization is green.”

    The Germany Company recently announces that it wants to receive orders worth more than 6 billion Euros (US 8.8 billion) for intelligent net power networks, Smart Grid, over the next five years. Siemens has set a 20 percent market share target for the global smart grid business.

    A smart grid delivers electricity from suppliers to consumers using digital technology, advanced sensors specialized computers that save energy, reduce costs and increase reliability. The United States and China are considered the two biggest markets for smart grid.

    The annual World Economic Forum took place in Davos, Switzerland, in Jan 23-26, 20What did Chinese entrepreneurs speak in the forum?Are there some quotable quotes for you ?

    ★Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group

    I think globalization cannot be stopped-no one can stop globalization, no one can stop trade. If trade stops, the world stops.Trade is the way to dissolve the war not cause  the war,” said Ma in Davos, “Google, Facebook,  Amazon and Alibaba—we are the luckiest companies of this century. But we have the responsibility to have a good heart, and do something good.

    ★Richard Liu, founder and chief executive officer of JD

    “Business is not only a way to make money but also a way to contribute yourself, to help people,” Liu said in a speech in Davos. “How can we face the fractured (分化的) world? That's the topics of the Davos this year. I think a very important thing in business is cooperation. If we can unite, work together, (if) we work very closely, I think we can bring more hope to the people and we can build more trust between the people, countries and companies and partners,” he said.

    ★Jane Sun, CEO of Ctrip

    “Tourism is a sunrise industry. Since I entered Ctrip, every year there are new comers, which, first of all, shows that tourism is booming,” Sun told Sina.com in Davos. “We invested heavily in ABC. A refers to AI, B is big data, and C is cloud computing. As we continue to expand overseas, these three will be very good weapons for us. So we think those mean opportunity,”she said.

★Hu Xiaoming, president of Aliyun

    “In 2018, people will see the development in various countries more closely connected with cloud computing. More manufacturing enterprises and financial institutions will start to use 'cloud'. And cloud computing will increase the efficiency of technology and finance,”Hu told Xinhua in Davos.

D

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.

    Sam Allred suffers from a rare and incurable kidney (肾脏) disease. One day, when his sister was playing a song repeatedly, Sam sang along. His sister thought it was funny so she recorded it and posted the video online. The video — and Sam — became a hit. Only 8 years old at the time, he couldn't have expected the response.

    "The Doctors (The television show) called and wanted me on their show so they paid for me to go to California," says Sam, now 13, "and we got to stay in a hotel where all the movie stars stayed."

    During that visit to California, Angie Allred, Sam's mother, had an idea about Sam writing a children's book. Together, she and Sam wrote Opening Hearts, which tells Sam's experience of living with a chronic (慢性的) illness.

    "I wrote the book to teach people to be kinder to people," Sam says. Moreover, Sam wanted to send pillows to sick children staying in hospitals around the country to make their stay more comfortable, an idea that came from a time when he was in the hospital.

    "A few kind boys came in with pillows and they gave me one and it meant a lot to me that someone cared about kids in the hospital," says Sam.

    Angie thought of starting a nonprofit organization to provide a way for people to contribute money to realize Sam's ideas. She named the nonprofit Kindness for Kids.

    Since then, Sam has taken pillows to children staying at Providence Hospital in Anchorage.

    Sam's father, Scott Allred, owns a small business that contracts (承包) shipping services with FedEx Ground. He asked the company for help.

    "FedEx Ground learned about Sam's pillow project," says Erin Truxal, manager of public relations for FedEx Ground. "We thought, 'What a perfect way for us to get involved.' "

    The company provided shipping services for Sam to ship about 5,000 pillows to hospitals.

    Sam wants to send more pillows to all of the children's hospitals in every state. His goal is simple: "Kids in the hospital as happy as they were before they got sick," he says.

                                                              Student Sports

    Are you tired of spending all your free time studying, going online, or playing video games? If the only muscles (肌肉) you use are for typing on a keyboard or moving a mouse, then it's time to visit the Student Recreation Center!

    Our Student Sports program runs both competitive leagues (联赛) for serious players and “just-for-fun” leagues for everybody else in a variety of team and individual (个人的) sports. In the competitive league, each team will compete three times per week for a 10-week period. The team with the most victories will win a prize at the end of the tenth week. In “just-for-fun” leagues, teams play only on weekends, and there are no prizes given. Both types of leagues offer volleyball, soccer, softball, tennis, golf, basketball, and more than a dozen other sports. It's a great chance to go out with your friends, make new friends, and get some exercise at the same time.

    The spring season is coming soon, and it's easy to get started. Stop by the Student Sports desk in the Student Recreation Center or go online to www.studnetrec.OurUniv.edu/studentsports. Whether you come down to visit the center or register (登记) online, you will have to fill out a simple form. On this form you will be asked for your name, phone number, email address, your ability level (beginner, middle, or advanced), and the times you are free to play.

    So why don't you pick up your phone and send one more text: Tell your friends that the last day to sign up for the spring season is March 1! But don't wait until the last minute — if you sign up for early registration before February 21, you'll get free tickets to our famous Beach Volleyball Picnic coming up on March 15!

    Here at the Student Recreation Center, we truly believe that getting fit is fun. We hope you'll be joining us for another great season of Student Sports!

    Throughout history scientists have risked their health and their lives in their search for the truth.

    Sir Isaac Newton, the seventeenth century scientist, was very smart, but that didn't stop him from doing some pretty stupid things. In his laboratory in Cambridge he often did the strangest experiments. Once, while testing how light passes through lenses (晶状体), he put a long needle into his eye, pushed it to the back, and then moved it around just to see what would happen. Luckily, nothing long-lasting did. On another occasion he stared at the sun for as long as he could bear, to discover what effect this would have on his sight. Again he escaped suffering permanent damage, though he had to spend some days in a darkened room before his eyes recovered.

    In the 1750s the Swedish chemist Karl Scheele was the first person to find a way to produce phosphorus (磷). He in fact discovered eight more chemical elements including chlorine (氯), though he didn't get any praise for them. He was a very clever scientist, but his one failing was a curious habit of tasting a little of every substance he worked with. This risky practice finally caught up with him, and in 1786 he was found dead in his laboratory surrounded by a large number of dangerous chemicals, any of which might have been responsible for his death.

    Eugene Shoemaker was a respected geologist. He spent a large part of his life studying craters (火山口) on the moon, and how they were formed, and later did research into the comets of the planet Jupiter. In 1997 he and his wife were in the Australian desert where they went every year to search for places where comets might have hit the earth. While driving in the Tanami desert, normally one of the emptiest places in the world, another vehicle crashed into them and Shoemaker was killed on the spot. Some of his ashes (骨灰) were sent to the moon aboard the Lunar Prospector spacecraft and left there — he is the only person who has had this honor.