(1)Expanding memory

COMPUTER companies keep competing to build smaller devices (装置). They are finding new ways to put data (数据) into less space on a memory chip (内存芯片).

Computers have been made smaller to fit on to the desktop, smaller again to fit on our laps and again to fit into our shirt pockets (口袋).

Now, Stuart S. P. Parkin, an IBM researcher, is looking into a new idea in an IBM lab. If it proves successful, electronic devices could hold 10 to 100 times the data in the same amount of space.

That means the iPod that today can hold up to 200 hours of video could store every single TV program broadcast (播放) during a week on 120 channels.

Parkin thinks he is close to a breakthrough. This could increase the amount of data stored on a chip.

At present the flash drives (闪存卡) business is growing quickly. They are used in digital cameras, cellphones and PCs. Flash drives with multiple (多个) memory chips store up to 64gigabytes (十亿字节) of data. A single chip is expected to reach about 50 gigabytes in the next five years.

However, flash memory has a problem. Although it can read data quickly, it is very slow at storing it. That has led the industry on a hunt for new storage technologies.

Scientists say Parkin’s new computer memory, called "racetrack memory (赛道内存)", could begin to replace flash memory in three to five years.

(2)We need clean water

WEN Junhao is a college student from Liuyang, Hunan. The 22-year-old remembers that when he was young, he often went to his cousin’s home. There is a river nearby. He and his cousin swam or caught fish in the river.

But later a paper mill (造纸厂) was built beside the river. The factory put hot and foamy (泡沫的) wastewater in it. Soon, the river began to smell bad. The fish were gone, and you couldn’t swim in it anymore.

"Fortunately, the paper mill stopped working five years ago," said Wen. "The government said it polluted the river too much."

Wen’s hometown was lucky. But water pollution is still a serious problem in China. A recent report says that about 320 million people in China, most of them farmers, can’t get safe water.

The report says that 96 percent of villages use rivers as open sewers (下水道). And 89 percent of villages throw their trash into or around them.

The report also says that most pollution comes from factories. Many factories don’t want to spend money on green technology. They pollute rivers with dangerous chemicals (化学品).

The government says that laws about water protection will be passed at the end of this year.

The laws will call on all the companies to reuse wastewater. Those who don’t will be fined. In the past, the biggest fine was 200,000 yuan. But when the new laws are passed, polluters will be fined daily until they put the problem right