As we face climate change, a new digital tool helps expand carbon-free energy without damaging the wildlife habitats. In Maine, the Renewable Energy Siting Tool is a newly released map that allows the clean energy developers to identify the sites for solar and wind projects while avoiding those with sensitive wildlife habitats. Sarah Haggerty, the lead developer, notes that the tool came into being thanks to the data provided by Maine’s Depar-ment of Environmental Protection, state biologists, clean energy developers, as well as financial support from the bank.

Based on data on land-use, habitats, energy resources, etc., the tool uses a traffic-light model to identify sites suitable for development and sites to avoid. Fields like landfills are shown in green, wetland areas or rare species habitats are shown in red, while yellow shown areas indicate that closer examination of project impacts is necessary.

The tool was developed after Maine passed a law requiring that 80% of Maine’s electricity come from renewable resources by 2030. Haggerty says, “We are in urgent need of this tool to help us fight climate change in a way that reduces impact on our valuable natural resources.” Maine is the most forested state in the nation, and agriculture, natural resources, and nature tourism play important roles in its economy. Yet the state is among the top five in losing its farmland to development. It makes little sense to develop clean energy projects at the expense of farmland.

When developers announce a clean energy project, they often face disagreement from community members who are concerned about the loss of valuable farmland or the impact on wildlife. This can discourage investors and slow the transition to renewable energy. Luckily, this tool can help developers speed up the development of clean energy by quickly identifying suitable land. Clean energy development needn’t come at the expense of wildlife.

Today, many people spend a lot of time reading online. Whether reading news or e—books, people are spending more time eyeballing screens.

While online reading opens up a vast amount of knowledge to people, there are some drawbacks, too. This includes eyestrain, headaches as well as difficulty in focusing on the text. Now a new reading system has been intended to help people overcome these issues and read faster online.

A reading system called Bionic Reading, which was developed by Swiss designer Renato Cassutt, was constructed with the belief that your brain can read faster than your eyes. The system involves showing the first few letters of each word in bold (以粗体显示) which actually allows your eyes to skip over parts of the text while your brain fills in what is missing. It is incredible how reading this feels like finally unlocking 100 percent of people’s brain.

Cassutt came up with the system by accident. He was working on designing a book in a foreign language and realized he could read it if he sectioned it off. He worked for six years to develop Bionic Reading and is still working to perfect it.

Many people who want to strengthen their reading ability show interest in it, but more research is needed before it can be finally shown that the system improves reading. But people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (注意缺陷多动障碍) and dyslexia (阅读障碍) have confirmed that Bionic Reading can help them focus on and comprehend what they are reading.

Cassutt’s goal is to combine the system with all apps and online services. “In a digital world dominated (支配) by shallow forms of reading, Bionic Reading aims to encourage a more in—depth reading and understanding of written content,” he said. The Bionic Reader is available in the following apps, Reeder 5, Fiery Feeds, Lire, and Next App. The best way to know if it helps you read better online is to try it yourself and find out what it is all about.