Baggy has become the first dog in the UK—and potentially the world—to join the fight against air pollution by recording pollutant levels near the ground.

Baggy wears a pollution monitor on her collar so she can take data measurements close to the ground. Her monitor has shown that air pollution levels are higher closer to ground level, which has helped highlight concerns that babies and young kids may be at higher risk of developing lung problems.

Conventional air pollution monitors are normally fixed on lampposts at about nine feet in the air. However, since Baggy stands at about the same height as a child in a pushchair(婴儿车), she frequently records pollution levels which are much higher than the data gathered by the Environment Agency.

The doggy data research was the idea of Baggy's 13-year-old owner Tom Hunt and his dad Matt. The English youngster noticed that pollution levels are around two-thirds higher close to the ground than they are in the air at the height where they are recorded by the agency. Tom has since reported the shocking findings to the government in an attempt to emphasise that babies are at higher risk of developing asthma(哮喘).

Matt Hunt said he was "very proud" of his son because "when the boy gets an idea, he keeps his head down and gets on with it, and he really does want to do some good and stop young kids from getting asthma. "

"Tom built up a passion for environmental protection at a very early age," Matt added. "He became very interested in gadgets(小装置). A bout one year ago, he got this new piece of tech which is like a test tube. One Sunday afternoon, we went out to do some monitoring, and he said, why don't we put it on Baggy's collar and let her monitor the pollution? So we did it. "

Tom said, "Most of the time, Baggy is just like any other dog. But for the rest of the time she is a super dog, and we are all really proud of her. "

Shanghai residents passing through the city's eastern Huangpu district in October might have astonished at an unusual sight: a “walking” building. An 85-year-old primary school has been lifted off the ground and relocated using new technology named the “walking machine.”

In the city's latest effort to preserve historic structures, engineers attached nearly 200 mobile supports under the five-story building, according to Lan Wuji, chief technical supervisor (技术总监) of the project. The supports act like robotic legs. They're divided into two groups which alternately rise up and down, imitating the human pace. Attached sensors help control how the building moves forward, said Lan.

In recent decades, China's rapid modernization has seen many historic buildings razed to clear land for high-rise buildings. But there has been growing concern about the architectural heritage lost as a result of destruction across the country. Some cities have launched new preservation and conservation campaigns including, on occasion, the use of advanced technologies that allow old buildings to be relocated rather than destroyed.

Shanghai has possibly been China's most progressive city when it comes to heritage preservation. The survival of a number of 1930s buildings in the famous Bund district and 19th-century “Shikumen” houses in the rebuilt Xintiandi neighborhood have offered examples of how to give old buildings new life. The city also has a satisfying record of relocating old buildings. In 2018, the city relocated a 90-year-old building in Hongkou district, in what was then considered to be Shanghai's most complex relocation project to date.

The Lagena Primary School, which weighs 7,600 tons, posed a new challenge-it's T-shaped, while previously relocated structures were square or four-sided. Experts met to discuss possibilities and test a number of different technologies before deciding on the “walking machine”, Lan said. However, he couldn't share the exact cost of the project, and that relocation costs will differ case by case. “It can't be used as a reference, because we have to preserve the historical building no matter what,” he said. “But in general, it's cheaper than destroying and then rebuilding something in a new location.”

A new study has shown that people who regularly eat oranges are less likely to develop macular degeneration (黄斑变性) than people who do not eat oranges. Researchers at the Westmead Institute interviewed more than 2, 000 Australian adults aged over 50 and followed them over a 15-year period. The research showed that people who ate at least one serving of oranges every day had more than a 60% reduced risk of developing late macular degeneration 15 years later. Even eating an orange once a week seems to offer significant benefits.

Lead researcher associate professor Gopinath said, "The data shows that flavonoids (类黄酮) found in oranges appear to have a big role to play in reducing the chance of macular degeneration. Flavonoids can be found in almost all fruits and vegetables and they are useful in reducing inflammation (炎症) and stress within the body. " "We examined common foods that contain flavonoids such as tea, apples, red wine. Significantly, the data did not show a relationship between other food sources protecting the eyes against the disease," she said.

Gopinath said that until now most research has focused on the effects of common nutrients such as vitamins C, E and A on the eyes. "Our research is different because we focused on the relationship between flavonoids and macular degeneration."

Macular degeneration is the name given to a group of eye diseases that cause progressive loss of central sight. It is the leading cause of blindness in Australia and affects about one in seven people over the age of 50. There is currently no cure for the disease.

"Our research aims to understand why eye diseases occur, as well as the genetic and environmental conditions that may do harm to eyesight, "Gopinath concluded.