Glitter (小发光物) is everywhere on colorful holiday cards, on the handicrafts your child makes at school, and in the cosmetics (化妆品) you wear. However, glitter can be the bane of every parent and every primary school teacher. Beyond being hard to clean up, it’s also made of poisonous and unsustainable materials according to a press release from the University of Cambridge.

Now, a team of researchers from the university have found a new way to make glitter from cellulose (纤维素) found in plants, fruits and vegetables.Their findings were published in the journal Nature. The special feature of cellulose can bend light in such a way as to create bright colours through a process called “structural coloration”. The same phenomenon produces some of the brightest colours in nature, such as those of butterfly wings and peacock feathers, and results in colours which do not die away, even after a century.

“Traditional glitter is produced by using plastic, metal or even mineral, and the production process consumes a lot of energy,” said Silvia Vignolini, the paper’s senior author. “And the glitter can get into the soil and the ocean, which leads to an overall level of pollution. Consumers are starting to realise while glitter is fun, it also causes a lot of problems.”

In Europe, the cosmetics industry uses about 5, 500 tonnes of microplastics every year. For many years, Vignolini’s team has been getting cellulose from wood and transforming it into shiny, colourful materials to be used in cosmetics and other products. Actually, any type of plant material, even waste products like fruit peels, can be used. Using techniques which allow cellulose to produce coloured materials, the researchers of the team say that their materials could be used to replace the plastic glitter and the metal glitter that are widely used in cosmetics.

According to the researchers, the glitter alternative could be used in almost all the fields where regular glitter can be found. They even say that it can be added to food and drinks.

Today's personal computers are very different from the huge machines that were born during World War II-and the difference isn't only in their size. By the 1970s, these early PCs could not perform many of the tasks that today's computers can. Users could only do mathematical calculations(数学计算) and play simple games. Today PCs are used in many different kinds of ways. At home and at work, we use our PCs to do almost everything. It is nearly impossible to imagine modern life without them.

The earliest computers were not "personal" in any way: They were large and expensive, and they required a team of engineers and other experts to keep them running. One of the first and most famous of these, the Electronic Numerical Integrator Analyzer and Computer (ENIAC),   was built at the University of Pennsylvania. ENIAC cost ﹩500, 000, weighed 30 tons and took up nearly 2, 000 square feet of floor space.

ENIAC and other early computers proved that the machines were worth so much money, space and manpower they needed. For example, ENIAC could solve in 30 seconds a problem that could take a team of human "computers" 12 hours to complete. At the same time, new technologies were making it possible to build smaller computers.

But one of the most important of the inventions that make way for the PC revolution was the microprocessor(微处理器). Microprocessors were the size of a nail. They could run the computer's programs, remember information and manage data(数据) all by themselves.

These new ideas made it cheaper and easier to produce computers than ever before. As a result, the smaller, cheaper "microcomputer"-soon known as the "personal computer"-was born. Today, portable computers, smart phones and ipads allow us to have a PC with us wherever we go.

Japan recently introduced the world’s first Dual-Mode Vehicle (DMV), a vehicle that runs both on roads, like a bus, and on rails, like a train.

The unique bus-train vehicle was introduced last month, in the town of Kaiyo, Japan's Tokushima Prefecture. The mini-bus-like vehicle didn't win anyone over with its looks, but it definitely made an impression in terms of practicality. It runs with normal rubber tires on the road, but when it needs to switch to train mode, a pair of metal wheels drop down from the vehicle's underbelly. The front tires are lifted off the track, while the back wheels stay down to drive the vehicle. Switching between road and train modes takes only about 15 seconds.

“This DMV can reach the locals as a bus and carry them onto the railway as well,” Shigeki Miura, CEO of Asa Coast Railway, told Reuters. “Especially in the countryside with an aging population, we expect it to be a very good form of public transport.”

The DMV has been in the works for over ten years, and the government in Tokushima hopes that it will not only improve the lives of locals but also attract tourists curiosity to see the dual-mode vehicle in person.

The dual-mode vehicles, which come in a variety of colors, can carry up to 21 passengers and run at a speed of 60 km/h in train mode, and up to 100 km/h as a bus.

Shigeki Miura is confident that the unique vehicle could help small towns like Kaiyo with an aging and shrinking population, where traditional transportation companies struggle to make money. The vehicles will soon cover part of the coast of Shikoku island, connecting several towns and offering riders breathtaking seaside views.