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  Conquering Earth’s space junk problem Satellites, rocket shards and collision debris are creating major traffic risks in orbit around the planet. Researchers are working to reduce these threats A Last year, commercial companies, military and civil departments and amateurs sent more than 400 satellites into orbit, over four times the yearly average in the previous decade. Numbers could rise even more sharply if leading space companies follow through on plans to deploy hundreds to thousands of large constellations of satellites to space in the next few years. All that traffic can lead to disaster. Ten years ago, a US commercial Iridium satellite smashed into an inactive Russian communications satellite called Cosmos-2251, creating thousands of new pieces of space shrapnel that now threaten other satellites in low Earth orbit – the zone stretching up to 2,000 kilometres in altitude. Altogether, there are roughly 20,000 human-made objects in orbit, from working satellites to small ro...

  Forest management in Pennsylvania, USA How managing low-quality wood (also known as low-use wood) for bioenergy can encourage sustainable forest management A A tree’s ‘value’ depends on several factors including its species, size, form, condition, quality, function, and accessibility, and depends on the management goals for a given forest. The same tree can be valued very differently by each person who looks at it. A large, straight black cherry tree has high value as timber to be cut into logs or made into furniture, but for a landowner more interested in wildlife habitat, the real value of that stem (or trunk) may be the food it provides to animals. Likewise, if the tree suffers from black knot disease, its value for timber decreases, but to a woodworker interested in making bowls, it brings an opportunity for a unique and beautiful piece of art. B In the past, Pennsylvania landowners were solely interested in the value of their trees as high-quality timber. The norm was to rem...

  Urban farming In Paris, urban farmers are trying a soil-free approach to agriculture that uses less space and fewer resources. Could it help cities face the threats to our food supplies? On top of a striking new exhibition hall in southern Paris, the world’s largest urban rooftop farm has started to bear fruit. Strawberries that are small, intensely flavoured and resplendently red sprout abundantly from large plastic tubes. Peer inside and you see the tubes are completely hollow, the roots of dozens of strawberry plants dangling down inside them. From identical vertical tubes nearby burst row upon row of lettuces; near those are aromatic herbs, such as basil, sage and peppermint. Opposite, in narrow, horizontal trays packed not with soil but with coconut fibre, grow cherry tomatoes, shiny aubergines and brightly coloured chards. Pascal Hardy, an engineer and sustainable development consultant, began experimenting with vertical farming and aeroponic growing towers- as the soil-fre...

 credit: https://www.kqed.org/bayareabites/3920/check-please-how-to-pay-without-looking-like-a-fool-or-making-everyone-uncomfortable Check, Please: How to Pay without looking like a fool or making everyone uncomfortable. Xin vui lòng tính tiền! Làm thế nào để thanh toán mà không lúng túng và khiến ai cũng thoải mái For most diners, paying one's bill at the finish of a restaurant meal is a simple, uncomplicated process, a no-brainer. Or should be. It never fails to amaze me how many people screw this up. Ở hầu hết các bữa tối, thanh toán hóa đơn sau khi ăn xong tại nhà hàng là một quá trình đơn giản, không hề phức tạp và không dùng não. Hoặc đôi khi có. Nhưng tôi rất ngạc nhiên lại có nhiều người lại làm mọi thứ rối tung lên. The ideal execution of bill getting-and-paying should be a near-non-event. The only words exchanged should be those of thanks between the payer and the server, and from the recipients of the evening's generosity to one giving it. SELF - PRACTICE https://do...