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A team of Dutch researchers has discovered that magpies (喜鹊) are using metal spikes (things with sharp points) designed to keep them away from certain urban areas to make their own nests stronger and keep invaders at bay.

Scientists have known for a while that magpies are some of the most intelligent birds in the world, but even they were puzzled by their amazing ability to adapt to hostile urban environments, It's not unusual for birds to use human trash as tools and building materials for their nests, but seeing them use the very things we humans use against them was nothing short of puzzling for researchers at the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam and the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, in the Netherlands.

"I didn't expect this. These anti bird spikes are meant to deter birds, they are supposed to scare them off, but on the contrary, the birds just use them." Kees Moeliker, the director of the Natural History Museum Rotterdam, told The Guardian.

One particularly impressive magpie nest was discovered in the courtyard of a hospital in Antwerp, Belgium. It was made up of around 1,500 anti-bird spikes, most of which seemed to be positioned with the sharp point outwards, as protection against invaders. After discovering it, researchers checked the roof and confirmed that around 50 meters of anti-bird spike strips had been ripped off the building, leaving only the glue used to fix them in place.

Birds have been known to take sharp objects, from point y branches to nails, screws, into their nests as protection, but the use of anti-bird spikes is kind of ironic, as they are the very things used to keep them away. To scientists like Hiemstra, this is a sort of "beautiful revenge".

A few years back, we wrote about rich people in the UK installing anti-bird spikes on trees to stop birds from pooping on their luxury cars, but I guess the birds had the last laugh...

Have you ever lost something in a hard-to-reach space, like behind a couch or a cupboard? Wouldn't it be nice to just be able to squeeze in and out? New innovations in the field of robotics will soon be able to make this nice idea into a reality.

In a study published on Jan. 25 in the science journal Matter, engineers from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Carnegie Mellon University in the US have developed small robots that can quickly change back and forth from liquid to solid states.

According to the website Mashable, the scientists were inspired by sea cucumbers (海参). They are able to change the stiffness of their body or reduce the potential for physical damage. The robots in the study were made from gallium, a soft metal with a low melting point of 30℃. The scientists then used changes in the magnetic field to handle the magnetic particles (粒子) inside the gallium material to provide heat. This heat then allowed the robots to change between solid and liquid states as well as to move around.

As the website Tech Xplore pointed out, other similar materials require external heat sources such as heat guns and electrical currents to bring a change of states; but now, the robots can use a heat source inside itself to change states independently.

During the robots' experimental trials, the scientists conducted a number of tests. These tests included having the robots melt into liquid and re-form to escape a prison-like cage. It can remove a foreign object from and deliver medicinal drugs to a model stomach. The robot is also able to build and repair hard-to-reach circuits. The robots' ability to switch between states of matter allows for a number of possible uses and advancements in different fields, such as the biomedical and circuit assembly industries.

Still, in the words of senior author Carmel Majidi at Carnegie Mellon University, for now these are all just "proofs of concept" which show the abilities of these new kinds of robots.

Theophilus Tetteh is an African contemporary artist from Ghana. He buried himself in the study of graphic design and painting at school while experimenting with different media themes.

Now we hear about African painters stepping into the spotlight, but it might be challenging for Ghanaian artists to bring their careers to commercial success and critical recognition. The art market as such is not yet established in Ghana. The country doesn't even have a national gallery to preserve and promote Ghanaian art. It can be problematic for young painters who cannot afford to move to Europe or the US to promote and market their art. Besides, many young artists can even have trouble getting painting materials.

Things changed for Tetteh when he got featured in BE OPEN Art, an online gallery of contemporary art. It was founded by philanthropist Elena Baturina with a desire to provide emerging artists worldwide with an opportunity to show their works to the world of art professionals. The platform especially welcomes artists who don't have resources or promotional opportunities such as graduates and self-taught artists.

In December 2020, Tetteh was voted the Artist of the Month by the visitors of the BE OPEN Art. Later, he was chosen as the gallery's first-ever Artist of the Year. The award brought him favorable publicity, so he was noticed by the art community, the media, collectors, etc. In 2021, he was interviewed frequently by the media and featured in a famous magazine. All these things let the prices of the artist's work inch upwards.

Tetteh thinks the world can be a better place if young artists are guided on their way without any form of disregard, but with support of the senior. As his name has hit headlines of the arts world media, he hopes to help promote emerging talents in his native country. "The art makes the man and the man makes the art," he says.

Now, Earth Day is celebrated around the world. We still face many challenges, such as climate change, plastic pollution, and deforestation. But we can all make a difference.

Her Trees Save Lives

Adeline Tiffanie Suwana was 12 when her family's home flooded. Indonesia, her island nation, is often hit hard by floods and other natural disasters.

Adeline learned that mangrove trees play a key role in flood protection and rallied classmates to plant 200 trees during a school break. They started a group called Sahabat Alam or Friends of Nature, which works to conserve the region's biodiversity and combat climate change.

Today. Adeline attends university, studying how businesses can help the environment.

Teens' Two-Fold Invention

EPS—expanded polystyrene foam—is the white, lightweight stuff used to make things like takeout food containers, foam egg cartons, and packing "peanuts". But it takes up a lot of space and is difficult to recycle. EPS breaks into small pieces as it floats down waterways into oceans, harming wildlife along the way.

Eighth-graders Julia Bray, Luke Clay, and Ashton Cofer looked at EPS's chemical makeup and saw that it was mostly carbon. That sparked an idea. Could they turn it into activated carbon, a material that filters toxins from water?

After 50 hours of experiments, including one that accidentally set the family grill fire, they succeeded!

Solar for Her School

When Claire Vlases of Montana was in seventh grade, she learned about plans to expand and modernize her middle school. Claire asked the school board to add solar panels to the project. The board liked the idea but said it could contribute just $25,000, one-fifth of the cost. So Claire organized a group of kids and adults who set to work raising the rest.

They asked for donations, even going door-to-door for them. And they appealed to charitable foundations too. One even donated half the cost!

After two years of hard work, the group paid for the solar panels, which now supply one-fourth of the school's electricity needs.

注意：1.词教80左右；2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。