2020 is special. When we dip into the model “suspended class, ongoing learning” during the pandemic(大流行）of NCP, have you thought of the inventors that supply us the convenience on the computers? Here, let’s know a respectable person who left us a few months ago.

Larry Tesler: computer scientist ,an icon of early computing, died at the age of 74 in this spring. Mr Tesler started working in Silicon Valley in the early 1960s, at a time when computers were inaccessible to the vast majority of people.It was thanks to his innovations ,which included the “cut”, “copy” and “paste” commands that the personal computer became simple to learn and use. Xerox, where Mr Tesler spent part of his career, paid tribute to him. “The inventor of cut/copy & paste, find & replace, and more, was former Xerox researcher Larry Tesler,” the company tweeted. “Your workday is easier thanks to his revolutionary ideas.”

Mr Tesler was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1945, and studied at Stanford University in California. After graduating, he specialised in user interface(界面) design, that is, making computer systems more user-friendly. He worked for a number of major tech firms during his long career. He started at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (Parc), before Steve Jobs invited him for Apple, where he spent 17 years and rose to chief scientist. After leaving Apple he set up an education firm, and worked for brief periods at Amazon and Yahoo.

In 2012, he told the BBC of Silicon Valley: “There’s almost a custom -- after you’ve made some money, you don’t just retire, you spend your time funding other companies.”

“There’s a very strong element of excitement, of being able to share what you’ve learned with the next generation.” he added.

In an effort to fight the “throw-away culture” and promote reuse and repair, the city of Berlin has taken the unique step of opening its own second-hand department store.

This isn’t your grandma’s thrift shop(旧货商店). It resells perfectly good items that would otherwise be thrown away. A pun(双关语) on the German words for “department store” and “conserving house”, B-Wa(h) renhaus sells a wide variety of products. Far from simply selling old items, the electronic goods have been fixed by expert technicians and come with a year’s guarantee. And, to reach more second-hand shoppers, the store was set up right in the middle of the famous Karstadt department store.

With the success of its initial six-month trial run, the city plans to open four more similar operations in other parts of Berlin. By 2030, it hopes to have at least one location in each of Berlin’s 12 districts. Since 2008, city policies and educational campaigns have reduced average annual household waste by about 25 pounds per resident. It also recycles about 49% of its mineral construction waste. Currently, the city estimates that 8% of abandoned electronic goods and 6% of huge items thrown away can actually be reused. The goal is to expand the market for these items beyond the usual bargain hunters and eco-conscious consumers.

“Three years ago, we started collecting all kinds of used goods,” city spokesperson Dorothee Winden said, “There are lots of things that are well-preserved and functioning but aren’t being used anymore. The goal is to give these things a new life with somebody who can use them.” The store also includes an education center to encourage more sustainable lifestyles-and also gave an award to a project that recycles school uniforms, so that parents don’t have to buy new ones every year.

A moon crystal found by China on the nearside of the moon is giving scientists hope of providing limitless power for the earth forever.

The moon crystal has a key ingredient (成分) for the nuclear fusion (核聚变) process, a form of power production that controls the same forces that supply energy for the Sun and other stars in space. The crystal was found in the matter collected from the moon in 2020 and makes China the third country to discover new moon matter, behind the US and the former Soviet Union.

One of the primary ingredients found in this crystal is helium-3, which scientists believe may provide a ever-growing energy source for nuclear fusion reactors. The ingredient is hardly seen on Earth, but it seems to be fairly common on the moon. China’s next moon project is to send up Chang’e 6 in 2024, which will attempt to collect the first samples (样品) from the other side of the moon — which never faces the Earth.

For years, scientists have been attracted byhelium-3 and its possible source of energy for nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion reactions happen naturally, when two light atoms crash into a heavier one, under extreme pressure and heat. They take place inside stars, but humans have yet to create a fusion reactor with enough energy to start the process.

Helium-3 is promising as it produces less radiation (辐射) and nuclear waste than other ingredients, according to the European Space Agency. The present nuclear fission (核裂变) process used in nuclear power plants, delivers not only energy but radioactivity, and the used nuclear energy must be reprocessed into harmful chemicals and other waste. It’s a process that has raised serious safety concerns, and as a result, scientists have been searching for a way to create nuclear power from nuclear fusion, rather than fission. During the fusion process, radioactive waste is not produced, possibly making a safer energy source.

Many countries hope to mine the moon for helium-3, and this latest discovery could start the race.