The American actor Bruce Willis has been diagnosed with frontotempora1 dementia（痴 呆）, "a cruel disease", his family said in1 a statement posted on Thursday to the website of the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration （AFTD）. Last year, Willis was originally diagnosed with aphasia, a comprehension and communication disorder. His family said at the time that he was "stepping away" from his acting career as a result. "Since we announced Bruce's diagnosis of aphasia in spring 2022, Bruce's condition has progressed and we now have a more specific diagnosis: frontotemporal dementia （known as FTD）, " continued the statement. "Challenges with communication" are one of the symptoms Willis faces with FTD, which is the most common form of dementia in people under 60-with most FTD cases occurring between the ages of 45 and 64, according to the AFTD. The disease is likely more common than statistics suggest, as it is lesser known and can take years to receive a formal diagnosis.

FTD is a degenerative （变性的, 退化的） brain disorder. Symptoms may include uncharacteristic personality changes and unexplained struggles with decision-making, speaking or language comprehension are among the most common presenting symptoms. 

While there is currently neither a cure nor treatments available for the condition, the Willis family writes that they hope to help change this. 

"As Bruce's condition advances, we hope that any media attention can be focused on shining a light on this disease that needs far more awareness and research, " his family said, adding that Willis has always believed in using his voice to raise awareness and help others, both in and out of the public eye. 

"Bruce has always found joy in life—and has helped everyone he knows to do the same, " the statement concluded. "Your continued compassion, understanding, and respect will enable us to help Bruce live as full a life as possible. "

The huge structures of ancient Rome have survived for thousands of years—a testament to the abilities and wisdom of Roman engineers, who perfected the use of concrete. But how did their construction materials help keep grand buildings like the Pantheon(万神殿) (which has the world's largest unreinforced dome)and the Colosseum(斗兽场)standing for more than 2,000 years?

Roman concrete, in many cases, has proven to be longer-lasting than modern concrete, which can worsen within decades. Now, scientists behind a new study say they have uncovered the mystery ingredient that allowed the Romans to make their construction material so durable and build splendid structures in challenging places such as docks, sewers and earthquake zones.

The study team, including researchers from the United States, Italy and Switzerland, analyzed 2,000-year-old concrete samples that were taken from a city wall at the archaeological site of Privernum, in central Italy, and are similar in composition to other concrete found throughout the Roman Empire.

They found that white chunks(块)in the concrete, referred to as lime clasts(石灰碎屑),gave the concrete the ability to heal cracks that formed over time. The white chunks previously had been overlooked as evidence of careless mixing or poor-quality raw material.

The new finding could help make manufacturing today's concrete more sustainable, potentially shaking up society as the Romans once did. "Conerete allowed the Romans to have an architectural revolution,"Masic said,"Romans were able to create and turn the cities into something that is extraordinary and beautiful to live in. And that revolution basically changed completely the way humans live. "

Since the 1950s, some 9.2 billion tonnes of plastic have been produced globally, of which only 10% has ever been recycled. Yet environmentally conscious companies and consumers continue to look to recycling as a way to ease the plastic problem. Manufacturing(制造业) giants claim to be committed to making more of their products and packaging from recycled materials. However, this confidence masks a complex web of issues around plastic recycling. Recycling rates remain extremely low and critics argue that we should look at alternative ways to tackle plastic pollution.

While many plastics have the potential to be recycled, most are not because the process is costly, complicated and the resulting product of a lower quality than the original. Despite rising demand for recycled plastic, few waste companies turn a profit. Part of this is because virgin plastic- linked to oil prices一is often cheaper than recycled plastic, meaning there is little economic incentive to use it. Worse yet, much of our plastic waste is difficult to recycle. Lightweight food packaging, like a mozzarella packet, contains different plastics, dyes(染料) and toxic additives. This dirty mix means plastic recycled through mechanical methods — the most common form — can only be melted down and moulded again a couple of times before it becomes too fragile to be reused. And the nature of the process means plastic recycling has a carbon footprint of its own.

Given all of these difficulties, environmental critics say recycling is not the solution-and argue that creating more products from recycled material to attract environmental consciousness merely worsens the problem. "The solution is to use less plastic and to stop misleading the public about the recyclability," says Enck, president of Beyond Plastics, a US campaign group with a mission to end single-use plastic. "They should stop making false claims about the recyclability of plastics since they know most will either be littered or; burned or landfilled (填埋). Using less plastics means shifting to reusable products and relying more on paper, cardboard, glass and metal — all of which should be made from recycled content."