Digital technology -email and smart phones especially - have vastly improved workers’ ability to be productive outside of a traditional office. Even so, most white-collar work still happens in an office. One reason is that, according to findings of a new survey of office workers conducted by Wakefield Research for the IT company Citrix, most bosses are doubtful about remote working. Half of the workers say their boss doesn’t accept it and only 35 percent say it’s tolerated.

Skeptical bosses will likely have their doubts reinforced by the same survey, which shows that 43 percent of workers say they’ve watched TV or a movie while “working” remotely, while 35 percent have done housework, and 28 percent have cooked dinner.

It is true, however, that working at home makes people much more efficient(高效的), because it allows workers to take care of annoying housework while still getting their jobs done. It’s much faster, for example, to shop for groceries at a quarter to three than to stand in line during the after-work rush.

The fact that such practices remain officially unaccepted reflects how far we haven’t come as a society from the days when we expected every full-time worker to be supported by a full-time homemaker.

More broadly the Wakefield survey suggests that employers may be missing a low-cost way to give workers something of value. Sixty-four percent of those survey participants who haven’t worked remotely would rather give up some bonus in order to get even one day a week working from home. Under such circumstances, smart firms need to find ways to let their employees have enough flexibility to manage their time efficiently.

Enjoying the beauty of the sky at night is a rare thing for people in cities since light pollution ruins everything. However, photos taken by astrophotographers (天文摄影师) give people opportunities to still admire the stars.

Being a full-time astrophotographer, Zhang Jingyi, 27, grew up being an astronomy enthusiast. When asked why she chose this career, Zhang said, “We all dream of what it is like to live on planets so far from us. Isn’t it cool?”

Due to the fast development of China’s space industry, Zhang recently started to shoot rocket launches. “I basically followed the construction of the Tiangong space station with my camera,” she said, adding that every launch has given her a strong sense of achievement.  

Zhang believes that her photos are artworks that money cannot buy. “Some photographers may sell their works ‑ some photos even reach six digits (六位数),” Zhang said. “For me, I would be satisfied if people liked my work.” As an influencer on Sina Weibo with more than 2.5 million followers, Zhang also shares videos that she’s filmed, giving her audience a more authentic impression of her work.

Zhang said that an astrophotographer needs to be devoted to their career. For example, when taking photos of the stars, they have to film them on plateaus which are freezing at night. When shooting rockets, they may get sunburned working under the burning sun. “These hardships are nothing if you truly love what you do,” Zhang said.

Gaining experience is also important. “There isn’t a detailed guidebook for creating art,” Zhang said. “You have to learn from your own work. Gradually, you can add personal thoughts into the filming process and witness your work improving.”

Cedar, a third-generation beekeeper from the countryside of New South Wales, Australia, says that he was inspired to try and design a simply hive （蜂箱）after his brother was stung （蛰）during one of their honey-gathering tasks.

The young guy knew that there must be a clever way to gather honey without having to wear protective suits, open the hive, and disturb the little bees. After several years. Cedar and his father Stuart finally perfected their invention—the Flow Hive, which can save beekeepers hours of work simply by channeling all of its honey into a tap that can be turned on and off at will.

Four years after their initial success, the Flow Hive has had a big influence on honeybee populations around the world. The father and his son say that they have successfully shipped over 51,000 hives to 150 different countries. Since they introduced the hive in 2015, the number of beekeeper in the US alone has increased by over 10%.

Their success is particularly significant since honeybee populations have been steadily decreasing as a result of habitat loss. That's why now Stuart and Cedar Anderson are donating their hive earnings to international honeybee advocacy groups.

“We’re proud to have donated 100% of profits from the sale of our Flow Pollinator （传粉昆虫）House to nine local pollinator projects in Australia and the US that are at work protecting wild habitats all around the world," said the Anderson in a statement. "Pollinators need large areas of habitat to grow healthily—the more we can do to conserve native habitats, the more opportunities these tiny environmental champions will have to do their important work."