Good Morning Britain’s Susanna Reid is used to grilling guests on the sofa every morning, but she is cooking up a storm in her latest role — showing families how to prepare delicious and nutritious meals on a tight budget.

In Save Money: Good Food, she visits a different home each week and with the help of chef Matt Tebbutt offers top tips on how to reduce food waste, while preparing recipes for under £5 per family a day. And the Good Morning Britain presenter says she’s been able to put a lot of what she’s leant into practice in her own home, preparing meals for sons, Sam,14, Finn,13, and Jack, 11.

"We love Mexican churros, so I buy them on my phone from my local Mexican takeaway restaurant," she explains. "I pay £5 for a portion(一份), but Matt makes them for 26p a portion, because they are flour, water, sugar and oil. Everybody can buy takeaway food, but sometimes we’re not aware how cheaply we can make this food ourselves. "

The eight-part series(系列节自), Save Money: Good Food, follows in the footsteps of ITV’s Save Money: Good Health, which gave viewers advice on how to get value from the vast range of health products on the market.

With food our biggest weekly household expense, Susanna and Matt spend time with a different family each week. In tonight’s Easter special they come to the aid of a family in need of some delicious inspiration on a budget. The team transforms the family’s long weekend of celebration with less expensive but still tasty recipes.

We may think we're a culture that gets rid of our worn technology at the first sight of something shiny and new, but a new study shows that we keep using our old devices(装置) well after they go out of style. That’s bad news for the environment — and our wallets — as these outdated devices consume much more energy than the newer ones that do the same things.

To figure out how much power these devices are using, Callie Babbitt and her colleagues at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York tracked the environmental costs for each product throughout its life — from when its minerals are mined to when we stop using the device. This method provided a readout for how home energy use has evolved since the early 1990s. Devices were grouped by generation. Desktop computers, basic mobile phones, and box-set TVs defined 1992. Digital cameras arrived on the scene in 1997. And MP3 players, smart phones, and LCD TVs entered homes in 2002, before tablets and e-readers showed up in 2007.

As we accumulated more devices, however, we didn't throw out our old ones. "The living-room television is replaced and gets planted in the kids' room, and suddenly one day, you have a TV in every room of the house," said one researcher. The average number of electronic devices rose from four per household in 1992 to 13 in 2007. We're not just keeping these old devices — we continue to use them. According to the analysis of Babbitt's team, old desktop monitors and box TVs with cathode ray tubes are the worst devices with their energy consumption and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions（排放）more than doubling during the 1992 to 2007 window.

So what's the solution（解决方案）? The team's data only went up to 2007, but the researchers also explored what would happen if consumers replaced old products with new electronics that serve more than one function, such as a tablet for word processing and TV viewing. They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on tablets instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.

A new study has found the amount of antibiotics(抗生素) given to farm animals is expected to increase by two thirds over the next 15 years. Researchers are linking the growing dependence on the drugs to the increasing need for meat, milk and eggs. However, the drugs could quicken the development of antibiotic-resistant infections(感染).Such infections are already a major public, health concern in the United States.

The World Health Organization notes when people stop living in poverty, the first thing they want to do is eat better, rather than earn more money. For most people, that means their diet should contain more meat. With the rapid development of Asia, people there are eating nearly four times as much meat, milk and other milk products as they did 50 years ago.

To meet the need, farmers have put many animals into smaller space. As the animals are crowded together, the easiest way to deal with some of the problems of crowding is to give them antibiotics. It's clear that antibiotics help animals stay healthy in a crowded environment and grow faster. But bacteria can develop resistance to the drugs gradually.

Nowadays, doctors find antibiotics that once worked against the infections no longer work. The bacteria have learned ways to fight against the drugs. The heavy use of antibiotics in animals is responsible for the growth of antibiotic resistance worldwide. In the United States, at least two million people get drug-resistant infections each year and at least 23,000 die from an infection.

Europe has banned the use of antibiotics to increase animal growth. And the United States is hoping to persuade farmers to stop using antibiotics for that purpose.

Plastic﹣Eating Worms

    Humans produce more than 300 million tons of plastic every year． Almost half of that winds up in landfills（垃圾填埋场）， and up to 12 million tons pollute the oceans． So far there is no effective way to get rid of it， but a new study suggests an answer may lie in the stomachs of some hungry worms．

    Researchers in Spain and England recently found that the worms of the greater wax moth can break down polyethylene， which accounts for 40% of plastics． The team left 100 wax worms on a commercial polyethylene shopping bag for 12 hours， and the worms consumed and broke down about 92 milligrams， or almost 3% of it． To confirm that the worms' chewing alone was not responsible for the polyethylene breakdown， the researchers made some worms into paste（糊状物） and applied it to plastic films． 14 hours later the films had lost 13% of their mass﹣﹣apparently broken down by enzymes（酶）from the worms' stomachs． Their findings were published in Current Biology in 2017．

    Federica Bertocchini， co﹣author of the study， says the worms' ability to break down their everyday food﹣beeswax﹣also allows them to break down plastic． "Wax is a complex mixture， but the basic bond in polyethylene， the carbon﹣carbon bond， is there as well， "she explains． "The wax worm evolved a method or system to break this bond． "

    Jennifer DeBruyn， a microbiologist at the University of Tennessee， who was not involved in the study， says it is not surprising that such worms can break down polyethylene． But compared with previous studies， she finds the speed of breaking down in this one exciting． The next step， DeBruyn says， will be to identify the cause of the breakdown． Is it an enzyme produced by the worm itself or by its gut microbes（肠道微生物）？

    Bertocchini agrees and hopes her team's findings might one day help employ the enzyme to break down plastics in landfills． But she expects using the chemical in some kind of industrial process﹣not simply "millions of worms thrown on top of the plastic．"

Preparing Cities for Robot Cars

    The possibility of self﹣driving robot cars has often seemed like a futurist's dream， years away from materializing in the real world． Well， the future is apparently now． The California Department of Motor Vehicles began giving permits in April for companies to test truly self﹣driving cars on public roads． The state also cleared the way for companies to sell or rent out self﹣driving cars， and for companies to operate driverless taxi services． California， it should be noted， isn't leading the way here． Companies have been testing their vehicles in cities across the country． It's hard to predict when  driverless cars will be everywhere on our roads． But however long it takes， the technology has the potential to change our transportation systems and our cities， for better or for worse， depending on how the transformation is regulated．

    While much of the debate so far has been focused on the safety of driverless cars（and rightfully so），policymakers also should be talking about how self﹣driving vehicles can help reduce traffic jams， cut emissions（排放） and offer more convenient， affordable  mobility options． The arrival of driverless vehicles is a chance to make sure that those vehicles are environmentally friendly and more shared．

    Do we want to copy﹣ or even worsen﹣ the traffic of today with driverless cars？ Imagine a future where most adults own individual self﹣driving vehicles． They tolerate long， slow journeys to and from work on packed highways because they can work， entertain themselves or sleep on the ride， which encourages urban spread． They take their driverless car to an appointment and set the empty vehicle to circle the building to avoid paying for parking． Instead of walking a few blocks to pick up a child or the dry cleaning， they send the self﹣driving minibus． The convenience even leads fewer people to take public transport﹣﹣an unwelcome side effect researchers have already found in ride﹣ hailing（叫车） services．

    A study from the University of California at Davis suggested that replacing petrol﹣powered private cars worldwide with electric， self﹣driving and shared systems could reduce carbon emissions from transportation 80% and cut the cost of transportation infrastructure  （基础设施） and operations 40% by 2050． Fewer emissions and cheaper travel sound pretty appealing． The first commercially available driverless cars will almost certainly be fielded by ride﹣hailing services， considering the cost of self﹣driving technology as well as liability and maintenance issues（责任与维护问题）．But driverless car ownership could increase as the prices drop and more people become comfortable with the technology．

    Policymakers should start thinking now about how to make sure the appearance of driverless vehicles doesn't extend the worst aspects of the car﹣controlled transportation system we have today． The coming technological advancement presents a chance for cities and states to develop transportation systems designed to move more people，and more affordably． The car of the future is coming． We just have to plan for it．

Monarch butterflies（黑脉金斑蝶）are a common summer sight in the northern United States and Canada . These large orange and black insects（昆虫）brighten parks and gardens as they fly lightly among the flowers . What makes monarchs particularly interesting is that they migrate（迁飞）—all the way to California or Mexico and back . They are thought to be the only insect that does this .

       Every year in the late summer monarchs begin their journey to the south . Those heading for Mexico go first for the Louisiana-Mississippi area , then fly across the Gulf of Mexico into Texas . Once in Mexico , they settle themselves in one of about fifteen places in a mountain forest filled with fir trees . Each place provides a winter home for millions of monarchs . The butterflies are so many that they often cover entire trees . When spring comes , they begin their long journey north . 

The question is often asked whether every butterfly makes the round-trip journey every year . And the answer is no . The average monarch lives about nine months . So one flying north might lay eggs in Louisiana and then die . The eggs of that generation may be found in Kentucky ; the eggs of the next generation may end up in Wisconsin or Michigan . The last generation of the season , about the fourth , will make their way back to Mexico and restart the journey .

       Scientists learn about monarchs’ migration by catching and making marks on the insects . By

recatching a monarch with such a mark and noticing where it came from , the next scientist can get to know things like the butterfly’s age and its routing（路线）.

  These days a green building means more than just the color of the paint. Green building can also refer to environmentally friendly houses, factories, and offices.

    Green building means “reducing the impact (影响) of the building on the land”, Taryn Holowka of the U.S. Green Building Council in Washington, D.C., said.

    According to Holowka, building account for (占了) 65 percent of total U.S. electricity use.

But green building can reduce energy and water use. Also, the building are often located near public transportation such as buses and subways, so that people can drive their cars less. That could be good for the environment, because cars use lots of gas and give off pollution. Green building are often built on developed land, so that the buildings don’t destroy forests.

Marty Dettling is project manger for a building that put these ideas into action . The Solaire has been called the country’s first green high-rise building . According to Dettling, “We’ve reduced our energy use by one-third and our water by 50 percent,”

The Solaire cuts energy in past by using solar power. “On the face of the building we have solar panels which change the sun’s energy into electricity,” Dettling explained.

The solaire also has lights that automatically turn off when people leave the room. In addition, the building has lots of windows, allowing people to use the sun for light during the day. The solaire cuts water reusing it.

Not everyone is eager to move into a green building, however. Some people think that things like solar panels cost more money than more traditional energy sources. Anyhow, Holowka said, “It’s going to be big.”

There are thousands of products of all colors and shapes in a supermarket, making you believe that they are worth a try. How? Packaging (包装) is the silent but persuading salesman .

There on the shelves, each bottle, can, box, and jar has been carefully designed and measured to speak to the inner self of the consumer (消费者), so that is buying not only a product but also his belief in life. Scientists have studied consumer behavior recently and found that the look of the package has a great effect on the “quality” of the product and on how well it sells, because “Consumers generally cannot tell between a product and its package. Many products are packages and many packages are products,” as Louis Cheskin, the first social scientist studying consumers’ feeling for packaging, noticed.

Colors are one of the best tools in packaging. Studies of eye movement have shown that colors draw human attention quickly. Take V8 for example. For many years, the bright red color of tomatoes and carrots on the thin bottle makes you feel that it is very good for your body. And the word “green” today can keep food prices going up.

Shapes are another attraction. Circles often suggest happiness and peacefulness, because these shapes are pleasing to both the eye and the heart. That’s why the round yellow M signs of McDonald’s are inviting to both young and old.

This new consumer response (反应) to the colors and shapes of packages reminds producers and sellers that people buy to satisfy both body and soul.

The sharing economy, represented by companies like Airbnb or Uber, is the latest fashion craze. But many supporters have overlooked the reality that this new business model is largely based on escaping regulations and breaking the law.

Airbnb is an internet-based service that allows people to rent out spare rooms to strangers for short stays. Uber is an internet taxi service that allows thousands of people to answer ride requests with their own cars. There are hundreds of other such services.

The good thing about the sharing economy is that it promotes the use of underused resources. Millions of people have houses or apartments with empty rooms, and Airbnb allows them to profit from these rooms while allowing guests a place to stay at prices that are often far less than those charged by hotels. Uber offers prices that are competitive with standard taxi prices and their drivers are often much quicker and more trustworthy.

But the downside of the sharing economy has gotten much less attention. Most cities and states both tax and regulate hotels, and the tourists who stay in hotels are usually an important source of tax income. But many of Airhnb’s customers are not paying the taxes required under the law.

Airbnb can also raise issues of safety for its customers and trouble for hosts' neighbors. Hotels are regularly inspected to ensure that they are not fire traps and that they don't form other risks for visitors. Airbnb hosts face no such inspections.

Since Airbnb is allowing people to escape taxes and regulations, the company is simply promoting thefts. Others in the economy will lose by bearing an additional tax burden or being forced to live next to an apartment unit with a never-ending series of noisy visitors.

The same story may apply with Uber. Uber is currently in disputes over whether its cars meet the safety and insurance requirements imposed on standard taxis. Also, if Uber and related services flood the market, they could harm all taxi drivers' ability to earn a minimum wage.

This downside of the sharing needs to be taken seriously, hut that doesn't mean the current tax and regulatory structure is perfect.

Dreams can be familiar and strange，fantastical or boring，but some dreams might be connected to the mental processes that help us learn.In a recent study，scientists found a connection between nap-time dreams and better memory in people who were learning a new skill.

In the study,99 college students between the ages of 18 and 30 each spent an hour on a computer，trying to get through a virtual maze (迷宫)．The maze was difficult，and the study participants had to start in a different place each time they tried—making it even more difficult.They were also told to find a particular picture of a tree and remember where it was.

For the first 90 minutes of a five-hour break，half of the participants stayed awake and half were told to take a short nap.Participants who stayed awake were asked to describe their thoughts.Participants who took a nap were asked about their dreams before sleep and after sleep—and they were awakened within a minute of sleep to describe their dreams.

Stickgold，a neuroscientist(神经科学家)，wanted to know what people were dreaming about when their eyes werenˈt moving，during sleep.

Four of the 50 people who slept said their dreams were connected to the maze.Some dreamed about the music that had been playing when they were working；others said they dreamed about seeing people in the maze.When these four people tried the computer maze again，they were able to find the tree faster than before their naps.

Stickgold suggests the dream itself doesnˈt help a person learn—itˈs the other way around.He suspects that the dream was caused by the brain processes associated with learning.

All four of the people who dreamed about the task had done poorly the first time，which makes Stickgold wonder if the dreams show up when a person finds a new task particularly difficult.People who had other dreams，or people who didnˈt take a nap，didnˈt show the same improvement.