When Ford uncovered the F-150 Lightning last week — an all-electric version of the best-selling vehicle in the United States — it was a big moment in the short history of electric cars. The 530 horsepower, 6,500-pound truck’s sticker price of just under $40,000 drew comparisons to Ford’s Model T, the vehicle credited with making cars accessible to the middle class. In the first 48 hours after the battery-powered vehicle presentation, Ford received close to 45,000 pre-orders for it, equal to nearly 20 percent of all electric vehicles (EV) manufactured in the US in 2020.

The F-150 Lightning, along with the hundreds of other EV models top automakers are rolling out in the next few years, indicates that the EV revolution is finally going mainstream. But as this industry, which is key to fighting against climate change, matures, a new challenge is coming out: how to acquire all of the minerals needed to make EV batteries.

The materials such as lithium (锂) and copper inside those batteries were all, at one point, mined from the earth. Today, much of that mining is concentrated in places like Russia, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. With the number of EVs on the roads expected to rise, demand for battery minerals is to increase greatly. Some industry watchdogs warn that the clean transit boom could fuel a dirty mining boom.

While only a small number of EV batteries have aged off the streets already, millions of tons of batteries are expected to be withdrawn over the coming decades. But better recycling methods and government policies to support them are needed to ensure that batteries don’t wind up in landfills instead. Even if recycling only meets a quarter to a third of our battery mineral demand over the coming decades, Riofrancos, a political scientist at Providence College in Rhode Island who studies resource extraction and green technology, says it’s an important area to focus on because it helps us “rethink our relationship with technology”.

When Hurricane Ian made landfall on the southwest Florida coast as a Category 4 storm, it brought strong winds and heavy rain. It was a deadly hurricane, attacking more than four million people, and causing serious flooding and at least 150 deaths. However, during the disaster, there was one innovative community that weathered the storm well: Babcock Ranch, the brainchild of Syd Kitson.

Located 30 miles inland, Babcock Ranch is an environmentally friendly and fully sustainable town that Syd Kitson and his partners hoped would be hurricane proof. Its homes are built to go through severe weather without losing essential services like electricity, water, or the Internet. A significant factor in its design is that power and. Internet lines are buried to avoid wind damage. Additionally, large ponds surround the development to protect houses from flooding. As a backup, streets are designed to absorb floodwaters and spare the houses.

Central to Babcock Ranch’s sustainability is its extensive use of solar energy. The community possesses an 870-acre solar farm with 700,000 individual panels operated by Florida Power & Light, capable of powering 30,000 homes — far more than the 5,000 residents currently living there. At night and on cloudy days, a natural gas generator kicks in to fill the gap.

Hurricane Ian served as a true test for the community. While the surrounding regions suffered, Babcock Ranch’s minimum damage and quick recovery showcased its effective design against natural disasters. Residents even opened their community center, doubling as a storm shelter, to the victims from other hard-hit communities.

Kitson’s vision for Babcock Ranch is not just about creating a sustainable and resilient (适应性强的) community but also about learning and improving. He hopes that the lessons learned from Babcock Ranch can be applied to other developments, contributing to more climate-resilient communities across the United States. This approach reflects a growing awareness of the need for sustainable and resilient urban planning in the face of increasing climate challenges.

Smart entertainment is changing how we engage with leisure. By combining cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence (Al), augmented reality, and the internet of things with traditional forms of entertainment, this inn ovation is enhancing users’ experiences.

In 2023, Huawei introduced its Vision Smart TV3, transforming your home into your own amusement park. This innovative technology features groundbreaking AI super-sensing cameras and AI vision chips powered by deep learning and big data. These advanced components see and study your movements, enabling you to control characters through your body gestures. Social media is busy with users sharing their experiences of playing motion-sensing games, which require real-life movements like jumping and squatting instead of simply holding a controller.

The Vision Smart TV is not only cutting-edge but also family-friendly. Turning on the kids mode allows the screen to monitor real-time data, offering suggestions for adjusting a child’s viewing distance and posture. This provides a safe and comfortable entertainment experience for the younger audience. TorieZ, a Huawei Vision Smart TV3 owner and a mother of a 3-year-old daughter, shared her experience on Xiaohongshu. “Thanks to the smart screen, my child maintains good posture without constant supervision because her favorite cartoons stop if she slouches(懒洋洋地坐),” she said. When she’s free, TorieZ and her husband enjoy exercising together under the instructions of the TV.

We cannot only play video games merely on the screens; now, with smart entertainment, you can get an immersive experience of Mario Kart, a racing video game, put right into your living room. While playing the game, players can control their karts running in their living rooms. Each kart has an onboard camera on it. The camera can record the layout of where they are and upload it to the Nintendo system. After processing it, some settings, like jungles and snowy landscapes, are created based on the layout and shown on the Switch screen. So, things in your living room, like the sofa and table, your feet or even your cat, can be a part of your game.

Step outside and you can also enjoy smart entertainment experiences. Shanghai Disney Resort uses big data analysis to offer personalized services. In the US and South America, VR World, the largest VR club, gives users super real gaming and travel adventures.

Looking forward, cutting-edge technologies will continue to change how we spend our leisure time.