Technology is everywhere. Almost all of us carry some piece of technology with us every time. It’s true to say that technology makes our lives easier. However, scientists are saying that we need to give ourselves a break-otherwise we put ourselves at risk of developing hundreds of health problems. With all this free time, why not put it to good use and do something without technology?

To start with, you could learn a new skill. There are hundreds of possibilities: crafts(工艺), cooking, learning a musical instrument or a new sport. Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn to cook for your family, but haven’t had time? Perhaps you feel like learning how to knit(编织), so you can have a new sweater for the autumn? You could use your free time to learn something new—and perhaps it will lead to an exciting chance in the future.

If you just want to relax, why not go to a beach? Take along your favorite book and relax on the sand, or go for a walk along the coastline. If you don’t live near a beach, you could go to your local park. Why not take along a picnic, or try and discover some of the local wildlife?

Little things, like challenging yourself to complete a crossword or a Sudoku, are a great place to start. You could even follow the latest fashion: adult coloring books! Coloring is amazing, and it can be a nice way to escape from the pressure of modern life!

Whatever you choose to do with your summer, try something new! You might surprise yourself and find a hidden talent within you; you might make new friends along the way. Next time you find yourself aimlessly switching channels, have a think at what else you could spend your time doing.

China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States plan to launch (发射) unpiloted spaceships in the next few weeks to fly to Mars. The operations are aimed at searching for signs of ancient, tiny life. Each country hopes the research will help them learn if astronauts could someday visit the red planet.

All the spaceships are expected to reach Mars next February after traveling about 485 million kilometers. Scientists want to find out what Mars was like billions of years ago, when it had rivers, lakes and Oceans, It is not by chance that the three launches are taking place soon. Mars and the earth are now in positions that favor such travel , permitting shorter travel time and less fuel use, The positioning happens about every two years.

The UAE spacecraft is named Amal, an Arabic word for hope. It is set to leave from Japan on Friday. The spacecraft will arrive at Mars in the year that the UAE marks the 50th anniversary of its founding: Controlled from Dubai , the spaceship will study the upper atmosphere of Mars and follow changes in its climate.

China will launch a rover (月球车) and an orbiter sometime around July 23. Chinese officials haven' t released much information about the operation, which is called Tianwen,or Questions for Heaven.

The USA plans to launch on July 30 from Florida. Perseverance, the NASA spaceship, will land in Jezero Crater, the site of an ancient river and lake. The area is Tull of large rocks ,cliffs and sand dunes (沙丘) - all possible threats to Perseverance. It will look for rocks that show signs of past life in the area. It will also test some of the technology that will be needed to send humans to the red planet and bring them home safely.

Ever since 1911, when scientist Michael Cressé Potter noticed that brewer's yeast（啤酒酵母）could generate electricity, scientists have been trying to use the power of tiny microbial（微生物的）fuel cells. But the efficiency of the tiny “bioreactors” has been too low for practical use. Besides, it turns out that most microbes（微生物） can be surprisingly picky in what substances they digest to create electricity.

Now, a team of researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne has engineered one of the most common species of bacteria, Escherichia coli （E. coli）, to generate electricity from brewery wastewater. “Though there are microbes that naturally produce electricity, they can only do so in the presence of specific chemicals,” explains engineer Ardemis Boghossian. “E. coli, which can grow on a wide range of sources, doesn't have such restrictions.”

While engineering E. coli, researchers changed its DNA to include instructions for protein complexes found in Shewanella oneidensis（S. oneidensis）, one of the best-known bacterial electricity generators. By integrating all components of S. oneidensis' electricity-generating pathway into E. coli, researchers increased E. coli's ability to generate electricity.

Then the team tested their E. coli system on a sample of wastewater collected from a local brewery. “Our bioengineered electric bacteria were able to grow quickly by feeding off this waste,” says Boghossian, “whereas S. oneidensis, used for comparison, wasn't able to digest the wastewater. This makes the engineered E. coli far more suitable for treating industrial wastewater, even if its electricity-generating potential is still less than S. oneidensis'.”

E. coli's appetite for different substances means the engineered bacteria could possibly also be adapted to other waste streams. In any case, the researchers will need to examine whether their E. coli can handle large amounts of industrial waste. If so, it could bring about some considerable energy savings. “Instead of putting energy into the system to process organic waste, we are producing electricity while processing organic waste at the same time,” says Boghossian.