With bars shut down all over the world, that sense of community has now been absent for over a year. But one bar in Mexico decided to do something about it by recreating some of those sounds at a bar for those confined (限制) at home.

Started in 2012 by Oscar Romo, the bar named Maverick was a little neighborhood spot with live music and a small patio (露台) outside. It was a place for everyone to interact and Romo called it "A Place For Encounters".

Things went well until the pandemic (疫情) hit in 2020. "Everything was closed," says Romo with a sigh. "We were not allowed to sell anything for two months. Obviously, the bar was hurting financially." But what hurt Romo most was that the sense of community they had worked so hard to build evaporated overnight. I didn't realize how important it was. Those normal things that you took for granted are now not there. It's really painful, he says.

Romo determined to do something and that was where things got interesting. Considering the silence the outbreak brought about, he came to a realization: It was the sounds of the bar that really brought the sense of community home.

"People came here because of the conversations, the atmosphere, the music and the sense of being with stranger," Romo says. So he recorded each of those sounds individually on a website, called IMissMyBar.com. The idea was that customers could put all the sounds together, and feel like they were in Maverick, while sitting around their homes, having a drink. It really worked.

The website has been getting noticed and shared by people who are going through the same feeling of loss around the world.

“What we want is for people to realize how important bars are in our lives, really, not just from the drinking angle, but from the social life," Romo says.

Electronic sensors built into paper could be used in a range of ways from information storage to touch screens and more.

Electronic sensors built into cartons（纸盒） may make it easier to tell when it's time to throw out rotten milk or orange juice. And that's just the start. At least that's the goal for researchers working on putting electronics into paper. They're trying to figure out how to combine the flexibility, low-cost and recyclability of paper with the information-carrying ability of electronics.

Daniel Torbjork, a physics graduate student in Finland, has been working on the problem. He's published a review of the field in the journal Advanced

Materials.

Much research has been focused in this area. While most electronic applications require patterned conducting structures, conductive paper could be used in applications such as energy storage devices, sensors, electric heaters and others, according to Torbjork.

"You could even have some interactive functions in magazines," Torbjork said, "You could put a simple game in a package. If you want a touch screen, press a button and then something happen. Sensors in paper could tell us when something has gone bad."

Additional applications, such as information storage and security paper,

have been suggested for magnetic papers containing magnetite. In Massachusetts, researchers have figured out how to post a video of such a device put into a paper airplane.

German researchers have also put electronic chips in paper bank notes to defend counterfeiters （造伪币者） .Paper is a good material but printing electronics also requires low-cost manufacturing. As many US and European paper makers lose market share to cheaper paper from China, these big paper companies are looking for added value products. That's where electronic paper devices could make a difference.

"The major obstacles are paper's large surface roughness and chemical impurities."Torbjork says. But others in the field think that electronic sensors in paper are still far from the consumer marketplace.

"I don t think it's going to happen." said Roy Horgan. "You need a conductive surface. It could be 10 years out. What we are looking for are solutions that you can commercialize today."

Solar Print is partnering with Italian automaker Fiat to develop a unique auto-glass with tiny photostatic cells （光电） that can capture electricity from the sun. In the meantime, using paper to conduct electricity is still a "blue-sky" project.

"I would love to see someone prove me wrong, because that means that it's actually happening." Horgan said. "If someone comes up with conductive paper, then that's a very interesting technology."

A school district in Michigan has banned all backpacks from school buildings, in response to growing safety concerns. 

Flint Community Schools announced last week that backpacks would be banned and the ban would be in place for the rest of the school year. The new policy went into effect on Monday. 

"We are doing all that we can to create a safe and secure environment for our scholars, families, teachers and staff," Superintendent (主管) Kevin Jones wrote in a letter posted on the school district's website. 

Jones cited growing threatening behavior happenings across the country, including weapons being brought to schools, as the reason for the backpack ban. 

"Backpacks make it easier for students to hide weapons, which can be taken apart and harder to identify than hidden in pockets, inside books, or under other items," he said. 

Following the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, last May, where 19 students and two teachers died, schools began taking policies requiring students to use clear backpacks. However, Flint Community Schools have gone a step further and banned clear backpacks from school buildings, with the superintendent saying that it doesn't resolve the issue. 

"By banning backpacks altogether and adding an increased security presence across the district, we can better control what is being brought into our buildings," Jones said. 

Students are allowed to store personal items like wallets, keys, hygiene products (卫生用品) and phones in small purses, bring lunchboxes or place their gym clothes in clear plastic bags, all of which will be subject to searches. 

If a student brings a backpack to school, parents or guardians must pick it up from the school, according to Jones. 

The Flint Board of Education, the district's administration and headmasters approved the policy change, Jones said, adding that the district received support from the Flint Police Department.