Many people love gum(口香糖). Delicious as it is, the dirty waste can be a problem for humans. The main material for gum cannot break down naturally. Lots of gum waste ends up being thrown away into the rivers and grounds each year.

Now thanks to the company, Gumdrop Ltd., there may be a way to deal with this problem. The UK-based company has come up with a clever idea that enables easy disposal of gum waste using pink boxes they’ve produced. Passers-by can simply throw any unwanted gum into the pink boxes set up across London. Once full, they are mailed to the factory where the gum is used to create more pink boxes. The company said that gum waste could be changed into other useful things like shoes as well.

Bullus, who founded the company, said she decided to create the clever boxes after observing the mess caused by gum waste on the streets of London. She had spent many months studying how to use gum waste as a material for the clever boxes. After hundreds of failures, she finally succeeded.

To know whether people would like to throw gum waste into the pink boxes, she did two tests. She set up two boxes inside a men’s restroom at Southampton Airport. Bullus said they had to pick up the full boxes just 5 times a year, an effort that cost the company $300. But airport officials would have spent $4,600 over the same period cleaning up the mess left behind by carelessly thrown gum waste. A similar test at London’s famous Villiers Street resulted in a 40% decrease(减少)in gum waste.

Their success has led to the rapid setting-up of the pink boxes across London. Bullus now hopes the pink boxes can help not only London, but also many other places. There are many countries and cities where gum is a problem. The company has also introduced the pink boxes that can be easily carried by people.

The sales temptation: Blue-light-blocking glasses are supposed to protect eyes from the effects of short wavelength light emitting from our smartphones, computer screens and LED lights. Given how much time we spend on our devices, this sounds like a smart investment, right? After all, eye strain (疲劳) is a real issue and can lead to poor sleep and even eye diseases. The glasses can cost 15 dollars all the way up to several hundred dollars. But do they work?

Elizabeth Esparaz, an ophthalmologist (眼科专家) in Cleveland, Ohio, says the science that manufacturers share as they promote these glasses can be confusing. For starters, blue light is not just about tech devices, and it’s not always bad. “The sun emits a much higher intensity of blue light than human-made devices, of course, and it’s actually beneficial,” says Dr. Esparaz. It helps our mood, alertness and sleep-wake cycle.

The problem is blue light at night: It controls the release of melatonin (褪黑素). “Melatonin helps regulate our circadian rhythms (生理节奏) and makes us sleepy,” says Dr. Esparaz. So in theory, wearing blue-light-blocking glasses should help people who watch movies in bed or read from a table t at night to avoid sleeplessness. A 2021 review study from the University of Oklahoma found that people affected by sleep disorders, jet lag and shift work fell asleep faster after using these glasses.

As for eye strain, a 2021 Australian study showed that those wearing the glasses did not experience less eye strain than those using clear glasses. And a 2018 review study also by Australian researchers, found insufficient evidence that they prevent certain eye diseases.

“These glasses aren’t going to be harmful,”   says Dr. Esparaz. But, she adds, a lack of standardization in the industry means there’s no way to know if one pair is better than another. A more reliable solution:   Turn on the blue-light-filtering function on your devices and limit screen time before bed. To help with eye strain, Dr. Esparaz suggests taking breaks and using lubricating eye drops.

A new phone app uses vibrations (振动) from smart phones to alert people about earthquakes.

The phone app recognizes sudden shaking of the earth’s surface through sensors (传感器) in smart phones. The new app is called MyShake. It is the work of four researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. They said they created a worldwide warning system that would inform people and give them time to prepare. The MyShake app is available only for Android phones.

Smart phones are equipped with accelerometers (加速计) . These instruments measure movement, like that of a car or airplane. They can also measure the shaking of a machine, building or other structure. Accelerometers are used in activity trackers and apps that count steps or other exercise. They are also used in global positioning system (GPS) apps.

MyShake uses phone accelerometers to measure seismic (地震引起的) activity. It has been programmed to know the difference between normal activity and earthquake movement. The software developers say their app is right 93 percent of the time. A smart phone sends seismic information to the app developers. If the developers receive information from one area, it recognizes that an earthquake may be taking place or will take place soon. Using information sent from the app, the network then estimates the location and strength of the quake in real time. MyShake can record magnitude (规模) 5. 0 earthquakes at distances of 10 kilometers or less. MyShake uses very little power, according to its developers. Only when seismic activity is sensed by the app does it become active and sends data to the network.

The app works best when your phone is resting on a flat surface, like a table. The app also shows ways to stay safer during an earthquake. The developers say it will become more effective as more people use it.