Before the pandemic, the world became more and more mobile. Until the beginning of this year, the frequency of British travel abroad reached the highest value in history, and the number of vacations was almost twice as many as decades ago; not only in the UK, The number of global flights in 2019 has increased by 4% compared to 2018.
The increasingly dense air traffic has worried experts, who believe that a developed aviation industry will lead to the deterioration of the climate environment. However, as the wave of globalization is sweeping all mankind, the physical scope of our study, leisure, work, family and love has expanded again and again, and we have become closer to people all over the world. Therefore, simply and brutally enforced air traffic control cannot effectively solve any problems. In an industry survey in 2019, 47% of British people believed that even if the aviation industry has a negative impact on the environment, it should not be Discourage people from traveling by air.
Unexpected epidemics struck, planes were grounded, air traffic was forced to press the pause button, and even land traffic was greatly affected, but greenhouse gas emissions dropped sharply as a result. The epidemic has caused lasting changes in the transportation and tourism industries. Some airlines, airports and routes will be closed forever. People are also looking forward to staying at home because of the epidemic, which will change the business model of public transportation-they are all committed to concentrating many people in a closed space for spatial transfer, but the epidemic has made people fear the closed space. This undoubtedly caused a huge blow to the tourism industry.
If the epidemic and humans coexist for a long time, transportation will have to adapt to it. In fact, before the outbreak, the contradiction between the aviation industry and the environment has always existed. Now it is just an opportunity for people to re-examine the status quo and make changes.
The epidemic makes the weather forecast more unreliable?
English “Nature” July 30
Commercial airplanes collect valuable temperature and wind data during their flight. The epidemic has caused commercial airplanes around the world to almost shut down. As a result, up to 75% of daily data cannot be collected, and meteorologists cannot rely on these data to predict short-term Or long-term weather conditions. Researchers from the Environmental Center of Lancaster University in the United Kingdom found that the error value between the predicted temperature and the actual temperature from March to May 2020 was significantly higher than that in February of the same year, up to 2°C, which is a statistically significant change. In remote areas where data collection is more sparse, as well as areas with heavy air traffic, weather forecasts are more affected, such as the United States. However, in Western Europe, thanks to the dense network of other types of sensors, the impact of data loss caused by the long-term blockade has been reduced, and the weather forecast is still quite accurate during the epidemic.
The U.S. economy is difficult to get out of the trough immediately
United States “New York” July 20
In recent weeks, the once strong economic recovery has stalled in most parts of the United States. As Americans become more cautious in their consumption behavior, the economic situation may fall back slightly. Real-time data show that the recent consumer spending was significantly higher than the levels in March and April this year, but the recovery in consumption stagnated in mid-June and is still lower than the same period last year. In addition, the latest earnings announcements issued by major U.S. banks stated that their financial status depends on the borrower’s ability to repay loans. So far, banks have not faced a high default rate, partly because they have provided loan concessions to many customers. , But they expect the credit environment to deteriorate in the future. Compared with the economic crisis in 2008, when bank failures and credit depletion made consumption further sluggish, fortunately, banks and households now have more confidence and funds to absorb the financial shock caused by the epidemic.
Google’s “middle-age crisis”
English “The Economist” August 1
The CEO of Google attended the antitrust hearing with the CEOs of Amazon, Apple and Facebook. On the surface, being taken to the Congress to participate in the meeting is a sign of success, but it also means that Google is facing difficult moments-increasingly mature and continuous The changing corporate culture and the increasingly close relationship with the government can’t stop the company’s growing fatigue. With the development of technology, the US Department of Justice is paying close attention to Google’s online advertising business and is likely to file antitrust lawsuits. Although Google is only 21 years old, it has entered middle age. Google should measure what is most important to itself, whether it is to help consumers use their personal data to obtain goods and services, or to use artificial intelligence to solve more global problems, or to simply be a network device Data processor? At present, it almost “covers everything”, but the way to solve the midlife crisis is to find the target and follow the original intention.
Viruses cannot be passed on to people through pets, but bacteria can
Add “Biological Science” July/August issue
In the past few months, some domestic pets have tested positive for the new crown virus, but so far there is no evidence that the new crown virus can be transmitted to humans through pets or between pets. However, pets may harbor other resistant bacteria, which may infect humans. For example, in 2019, more than 150 people in 34 Canadian states were infected with Salmonella after bringing their own pet pigs for treatment. Other studies have found that pet food is the main source of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. A large number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria are basically transferred from pets to humans, but it is still very rare that the level of bacteria accumulates to make people sick, so keeping pets does not significantly increase the risk of bacterial infection.