繽紛前沿

China Leader Makes Debut in Great Wall of Facebook

溫家寶成為Facebook最受歡迎政治名人之一

Enthralled (吸引) with Our Premier Wen Jiabao? You can now declare it on Facebook， a famous social networking website. It's not known who set up the page for Premier Wen that now appears on this site and features his official government photo， but Premier Wen appears to have a huge number of fans—more than 16，000 users have signed up as his \"supporters\" as of May 28， 2008.

The 66-year-old Wen's ability to show up quickly at the site of a disaster—coal mine explosions， snowstorm-blocked railways—and be sympathetic has made him a very popular political figure.

His Facebook page was set up two days after the

8-magnitude (震級) quake hit Sichuan province on May 12， 2008. It's full of supportive comments and photos of him walking through the rubbles (碎石) and comforting victims. \"A model Premier for the world!\" posted Sukant Chandan of London.

借用facebook.com上一位“八寶飯”(溫家寶總理粉絲們的自稱)的原話：“溫家寶的溫是溫暖的溫；溫家寶 = 溫暖國家的寶貝。”加油總理，加油中國。(Facebook.com上溫總理的頁面：http://www.facebook.com/pages/-Wen-Jia-bao/13823116911)

Zero Net Deforestation by 2020

2020年前實現(xiàn)“森林零砍伐”

On May 28， 2008， the 9th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (多樣性) (CBD COP9) was held in Bonn， Germany. Environment ministers from 60 countries showed WWF(世界自然基金會) and the world that they are serious in the fight to stop loss of forest and will try to make realize the zero net deforestation(森林砍伐) plan by 2020.

\"WWF would like to see the CBD COP9 adopt this 2020 zero net deforestation target here in Bonn，\" said Mr Leape， an official from WWF. \"Governments have to act now or we will lose even more the forests that are life's basic building blocks， and that provide essential services to humanity.\"

Forest contains 90% of the world's terrestrial (陸地) biodiversity (生物多樣性) and plays a vital role in the fight against global warming， being the largest storehouse of carbon on Earth. However， despite much effort， deforestation continues at an alarming rate of 13 million hectares(公頃) per year.

(編者注：“森林零砍伐”意味著每砍伐一棵樹木，就需要栽種一棵樹木。)

地球上每天大約有150種動物和植物滅絕，保護地球成為了地球上每個人、每個團體、每個國家義不容辭的責(zé)任。正如德國總理默克爾所說的：“我們準備承擔(dān)責(zé)任；我們準備竭盡所能來保障土地的肥沃和人類生命的基礎(chǔ)?！?/p>

Electronic Tickets to Replace Paper Tickets

紙質(zhì)機票告別歷史

From June 1， 2008， only electronic tickets will be issued for flights operated by all the IATA (國際航空運輸協(xié)會) airlines， whose members have taken up to 94% of the flight market.

The decision to phase out (逐漸淘汰) paper tickets in the airline industry was made back in 2004 as part of IATA's \"Simplifying the Business\" initiative(倡議). Electronic tickets offer customers considerable advantages while at the same time providing an opportunity for airlines to save costs. Furthermore， the switch to electronic tickets will benefit the environment. According to IATA， abolishing (廢除) paper tickets means that 50，000 fewer trees will need to be cut down each year.

中國已于2007年年底成為了首個全部采用電子機票的國家，而國際航空運輸協(xié)會的這一舉措無疑將更為有力地推進全球的森林保護。

British Graduates: No More Throwing Hats into the Air

英國大學(xué)挑戰(zhàn)畢業(yè)生“拋帽”傳統(tǒng)

It is a rite of passage (通過儀式) for all university graduates to throw their mortarboards (學(xué)位帽) in the air， but now a university has warned students not to do so in case they injure themselves.

Anglia Ruskin， based in the university town of Cambridge， requests that those preparing for graduation \"do not throw the hat up into the air，\" in a statement on its website. \"This not only causes damage to the hats but it can also cause injury if the corner of the hat hits the graduates or others who may be nearby，\" it adds.

在生命面前，一切“傳統(tǒng)”皆可讓步。

Solar Blimp Concept: Provide Power Wherever Needed

太陽能飛船：能源供應(yīng)新概念

Recently， American student Andrew Leinonen put forward a new concept on his graduating paper. His concept is a floating solar-powered power station.

This power station looks like a blimp (小型飛船)， using a lighter-than-air vessel (飛船). It can be controlled pretty much over anyplace in the world. Using solar cells embedded (植入) all over it， the blimp could turn the sun's rays into electricity and provide power to disaster areas and other needy places through long power-carrying cables (電纜線) linked to the ground.

今年5月的四川汶川大地震后，如果當(dāng)時立即就有這樣的太陽能飛船投入抗震救災(zāi)，那無疑是災(zāi)區(qū)人民的一大福音。