In the coming decade, space agencies and private space companies like Space X are planning to build a base on the Moon and Mars. While scientists are already building rockets for the journey, for long-term human settlements on either of them, astronauts will need fuel to carry out daily activities. Many have already proposed hydrogen（氢气）as a possible solution. But a group of scientists is working on turning CO2 from the atmosphere into jet fuel. As Mars is rich in CO2 and the lunar surface has a high concentration of CO2, it offers a possible solution.

For now, though, the team of scientists at Oxford University is focusing on making jet fuel for the aviation （航空的） industry. As the aviation industry contributes over 900 million tons of CO2 every year, to battle climate change, it is necessary to turn the tide. So far aviation scientists have tried to use different other energy sources like electricity to fly. But such flights are limited to short distances. For long-distance flights, there is no alternative yet.

The concept of turning CO2 into jet fuel is not new. What Oxford researchers propose is adding a cheap iron-based catalyst （催化剂） and hydrogen to turn CO2 into liquid fuel. As the process would not involve using fossil fuel, it will make the industry carbon neutral.

The researchers tested the new catalyst in a small reaction lab at 300° Celsius and at 10 times the air pressure at sea level. The entire process took 20 hours and turned 38 percent of CO2 into new chemicals. About 48 percent of the chemicals were jet fuel hydrocarbon and the rest were other by-products that can be used in the production of plastic.

Professor Peter Edwards, one of the lead scientists in the project, said the new method could be scaled up in two to three years to produce jet fuel in large quantities. If the Oxford University project can be scaled up, it could attract Elon Musk's attention. A similar method can be used to produce water and fuel enough to light a colony on Mars and the Moon.

Children grow quickly, especially their feet. But many families cannot buy new shoes each time a child needs them. As a result, about 300 million children around the world go barefoot. Those children risk picking up diseases and parasites from the soil.

Kenton Lee, an American man invented The Shoe That Grows. He explains, "It grows in three places: the front, on the side and on the back. It can last up to five years. The bottom is rubber like tire rubber. The top is just high-quality leather."

Lee says he got the idea for the shoe while working as a volunteer in an orphanage in Kenya. "I just remember a little girl who wore a pair of small shoes. The shoes were so small that she had to cut open the front of her shoes to let her toes stick out. And I just remember thinking, wouldn't it be nice if there were a pair of shoes that could grow with her feet."

However, Lee says it was not easy to turn his idea into a reality. Finally, in 2009 Lee founded a non-profit organization called Because International. In the office of Because International, Lee keeps a pair of his own shoes to help him remember his promise.

A pair of shoes, he says, gives more than protection. It gives a child self-worth and more chances to succeed. "Because it's a small thing that really does make a big difference to keep them healthy and happy and having more chances to succeed."

Kenton Lee adds that his goal is to help get The Shoe That Grows to as many children as he can around the world.

For years, the U. S. has experienced a shortage of registered nurses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that while the number of nurses will increase by 19 percent by 2022, demand will grow faster than supply, and that there will be over one million unfilled nursing jobs by then.

So what's the solution? Robots.

Japan is ahead of the curve when it comes to this trend. Toyohashi University of Technology has developed Terapio, a robotic medical cart that can make hospital rounds, deliver medications and other items, and retrieve records. It follows a specific individual, such as a doctor or nurse, who can use it to record and access patient data. This type of robot will likely be one of the first to be implemented in hospitals because it has fairly minimal patient contact.

Robots capable of social engagement help with loneliness as well as cognitive functioning, but the robot itself doesn't have to engage directly—it can serve as an intermediary for human communication. Telepresence robots such as MantaroBot, Vgo, and Giraff can be controlled through a computer, smartphone, or tablet, allowing family members or doctors to remotely monitor patients or Skype them, often via a screen where the robot's ' face' would be. If you can't get to the nursing home to visit grandma, you can use a telepresence robot to hang out with her. A 2016 study found that users had a "consistently positive attitude" about the Giraff robot's ability to enhance communication and decrease feelings of loneliness.

A robot's appearance affects its ability to successfully interact with humans, which is why the RIKEN-TRI Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research decided to develop a robotic nurse that looks like a huge teddy bear. RIBA (Robot for Interactive Body Assistance), also known as ‘Robear', can help patients into and out of wheelchairs and beds with its strong arms.

It's important to note that robotic nurses don't decide courses of treatment or make diagnoses (though robot doctors and surgeons may not be far off). Instead, they perform routine and laborious tasks, freeing nurses up to attend to patients with immediate needs. This is one industry where it seems the integration of robots will lead to collaboration, not replacement.