Will We Still Need Cash in the Future?

Last year, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong urged the country to make headway in the e-payment space in order to truly become a smart nation This has led to an increase in the number of businesses going cashless.

In fact, even stalls(摊位)in food centers have already started offering cashless payments by using mobile wallets, which have become an increasingly popular e-payment choice.Before paying, you need to download an app first .Next, link your credit or debit card to the electronic wallet function.Then e-payment is usually made by scanning a unique code to the merchants and then keying in the payment amount when you pay the bill.

Since a cashless age is about to arrive,it's time to learn about some of the e-payment choices beforehand.

1.PayNow

This electronic money transfer service allows you to send money immediately to anyone in Singapore as long as you have the payees mobile number or identity card number.This means you no longer need to know their bank account details, as long as they have a bank account.

The service has now expanded拓展)to include making payments at participating businesses and retail shops.

2.GrabPay

Started by the Singapore-based ride-hailing(网约车)company this is an e-wallet choice that was first used to pay for Grab rides.Since then it has expanded to include over 200 other merchants,including F&B outlets and services, such as hair and beauty salons.

GrabPay is also used at more than 500 F&B merchants in eight cities in Malaysia.

3.We Chat Pay

As one of the most popular cashless payment methods in China with over 600 million users.WeChat Pay is now available in Malaysia, making it the first country outside of China to use the app in a local currency(货币)

To use the Quick Pay" function, which is the QR-based payment system, users will first need to top up the app's mobile wallet by transferring the amount needed.

When computer servers (服务器) operate a large program, they can get very hot. Cooling the servers can cost a lot. So some scientists want to know what would happen if the heat created by the servers could be used.

Data (数据) centres of large Internet companies such as Google and Microsoft have

A company in Holland (荷兰) thinks paying for electricity to operate (使运行) the servers

Five homeowners in Holland are testing the heating system in their homes. Jan Visser is one of them. He says the amount of heat produced by the e-Radiator depends on the work being done by the computer server. “It’s a great help for my family,” he says.

The company says e-Radiators produce heat temperatures of up to 55℃. It says the system

On 19th September 1783, Pilatre De Rozier, a scientist, sent the first hot air balloon. The passengers were three animals and the balloon stayed in the air for about 15 minutes before hitting back to the ground.

The first manned(载人的) flight was about 2 months later, with a balloon made by 2 French brothers. The balloon flew for a period of 20 minutes.

Sailing through the sky in the balloon, high above buildings and trees, you can't feel or hear the wind because you're traveling in the same direction and at the same speed as it is.

A hot air balloon has three main parts: the balloon, called an envelope; a basket, where passengers ride; and a burner system, which supplies the hot air.

Most balloon envelopes are made of strong, lightweight nylon(尼龙). They are different in size and shape, but they have to be really, really big to lift even one person. Most weigh more than an adult man.

The basket is usually made of wicker(柳条), which is strong but not too hard. It needs to bend a bit for a soft landing, just like a good jumper bends her legs instead of keeping them straight when she lands.

The hot air balloon works on the theory that hot air rises faster than cooler air. When the burner system is turned on, it makes a noisy sound, but once the balloon is flying, the burner can be turned off. The air in the envelope will then cool, and the balloon will slowly go down unless the pilot starts the burner system again.

To control a hot air balloon, a pilot adds hot air to it to go up or lets the air out to go down until he finds a wind blowing in the direction he wants to fly. But no matter which way the wind blows, the passengers have an amazing bird's-eye view of the world.