Do you feel lonely? If you do, you are not alone. It’s more than a personal mental health issue.

Loneliness is a global issue. Half-a-million Japanese are suffering from social isolation. The UK recently appointed a minister for loneliness, the first in the world. In Australia, Victorian state MP Fiona Patten is calling for the same.

What do cities have to do with loneliness? Think of the awkward silence in a lift full of passengers who never communicate. Now think of a playground where parents often begin chatting. It’s not that the built environment “causes” interaction，but it can certainly either enable or limit potential interaction.

Can we think of different ways to be in the city to “cure” loneliness? I recently conducted a graduate design studio at the Melbourne School of Design. The students，using design as a research methodology (方法), came up with potential architectural and urban responses to loneliness.

Fanhui Ding came up with a student---run restaurant for the University of Melbourne. Students get credit working on the farms that supply the restaurant, which can be used to pay for a meal. People also get discounts for dining at the same table, encouraging students to interact over food. Given the many international students who suffer from loneliness, her concept used cooking, food and farming to cure loneliness.

Some students deal with familiar cases, such as building “Puppy Society”, an app that connects a pet with multiple owners, designing more social interaction spaces in high-rise apartment buildings and redesigning supermarkets to make them places for people to visit on a Sunday morning.

Beverley Wang looked at loneliness in the ageing population. She came up with a project called “Nurture”, for which she designed a kindergarten co-housed with a nursing home. Designing spaces for storytelling, she brought the elderly into the kindergarten as informal teaching assistants, giving them a sense of purpose.

Moving beyond merely analyzing the problems, the research output shows that an alternative, less lonely future is indeed possible. Without claiming to solve loneliness, design can be an important tool in response to it.

Radio stations, TV stations, and online video and livestreaming platforms are forbidden to make, broadcast or spread programs that feature overeating, according to a new work plan issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, together with three other departments.

That's a positive move. It is easy to see from even a glimpse at any of the "big stomach" videos or livestreams, in which the hosts may eat a dozen hamburgers for lunch, for example, that their eating obviously exceeds a normal appetite. According to reports, such "big stomach" eaters can attract large audiences and more followers for commercial advertisements.

A good appetite can be healthy. Yet to promote such distorted eating is dangerous, not only to those doing the eating on the shows but also any who may be tempted to emulate or compete with them, it can cause eating disorders such as bulimia and can prove fatal.

In August 2020, a "big stomach" surnamed Wang in Shenyang city, Northeast China's Liaoning province died when preparing for his job, before which his weight rose from 100 kilos to 140 kilos. In the same month, a 3-year-old girl called "Peppa" was found to weigh 35 kilos, far exceeding the normal weight, which aroused nationwide worries about her health.

Those appearing in such videos or livestreamings are usually hired by companies with whole teams to finish the job, and even then they often throw up during ad breaks so they continue their performance. And as well as by encouraging people to eat so much it may harm their health, by creating the impression that it is ok to eat to excess, such "big stomach" shows may lead to people wasting food.

Of course, that does not mean food videos or livestreamings should be curbed. A good food program can teach people how to cook delicious dishes or showcase local specialties from around the country. It could also spread the millenniums-long traditional food culture of China, which has made a deep impression on the whole world and got many followers.

Before you throw that old cell phone in the trash, or hide it away in a drawer, think again. There are actually many ways to deal with a mobile phone that you are no longer using.

First, you should be aware that in many places, throwing away cell phones is actually illegal because the batteries, especially in very old phones, can contain poisonous metals. 【小题1】.

【小题2】. In fact, most companies that recycle them get paid to do so. This had led to many charities making a small amount of money by collecting old phones. There are large organizations that will take unwanted phones. However, you might also want to think locally.

Many schools and local charities now have recycling programs. And they do make a little bit on each donation. 【小题3】, you might consider starting a small local one, perhaps for a local public school. Check first, since so many schools have gotten the jump on recycling them already. 【小题4】, or smaller and better phones, there are plenty of old cell phones just waiting for a place to land, and smart schools have provided that place.

You might also want to hang onto any accessories(配件)that you have. 【小题5】. Continuing to use