The Future of Meat

Imagine the inside of a laboratory. Men and

women in white lab coats bend over long
tables. One woman is working over a small
plastic dish. She takes a small container of
liquid and empties it into the dish. Then, she
squeezes several drops of a different liquid
from a long tube. She seals the dish, and
places it in a container with several more
dishes.
Six weeks pass. The dishes sit in their
container. But inside the dishes, something is
happening. Slowly, a red substance starts to
grow. By the end of the six weeks, it fills the
dish. It looks like a hamburger! But does it
taste like one? The woman returns to the
laboratory and chooses one dish. She brings it
into a kitchen and places the substance on a
hot pan. Once it is brown, she puts it between
two pieces of bread. Then, she takes a big
bite!
This may seem like something from a
futuristic film. But the woman has just taken
her first bite of lab-grown, or in vitro, meat.
Many people think this new technology can
help solve many problems in the world of
meat production. But will people really eat it?
Today’s Spotlight is on in vitro meat. This
may seem like something from a futuristic
film. But the woman has just taken her first
bite of lab-grown, or in vitro, meat. Many
people think this new technology can help
solve many problems in the world of meat
production. But will people really eat it?
Today’s Spotlight is on in vitro meat. Many
people around the world love meat. People eat
pigs, chicken, cows, goats, and many other
animals. Meat is an important part of the
world’s diet. For some, meals with meat are
important to who they are. Many regional
foods depend on meat for their uniqueness.
But there is also a big problem with meat.
Raising animals takes up a lot of space, food,
and water. And the global population is
increasing. As more people come to live on
the earth, they will demand more meat. But
the earth may not have enough space to keep
these animals. 
Raising livestock animals also has a serious
effect on climate change. Some animals, like
cows, goats, and sheep, have special
stomachs. These stomachs allow them to eat
foods that are very hard to digest, like grasses
and leaves. But digesting these foods
produces a lot of methane gas. Methane is a
very powerful greenhouse gas. It traps 20
times more heat than carbon dioxide. And the
global meat industry is responsible for 30
percent of the world’s methane production! If
the world continues to produce meat like this,
it could be very bad for the environment.
For some people, growing meat in
laboratories may be the solution to this
problem. Meat grown with this method is
usually called cultured meat, lab-grown meat,
or in vitro meat. To make in vitro meat, all a
scientist needs is a few cells from an animal’s
muscle. They put these cells in a special
environment. Then, they add nutrients, and
chemicals called hormones. These chemicals
cause the cells to grow. The process does
require some things from animals. But a few
cells from a cow could grow thousands of
pounds of beef. It is much more efficient than
raising livestock and it does not produce
methane. Liz Specht is the director of science
and technology at the Good Food Institute.
She spoke to the website GEN.
“Cultured meat could address all the problems
related to industrial meat production. It
addresses environmental impacts and
concerns about treating animals well. It stops
the risks of getting diseases from animals. It
can do all this while making sure there is a
production system to meet the growth in
demand for animal protein.”
For people like Specht, in vitro meat could
solve many of our problems. But the
technology for in vitro meat is still very new.
And it is still very expensive. Mark Post is a
Dutch scientist. He was the first person to
make a lab-grown hamburger in 2013. It was
made from cow cells. The hamburger was
very expensive to make. It cost 325,000
dollars! And it took three months to grow.
Today, the process is much faster. Good
Meats is a company that has started growing
in vitro chicken. Their chicken takes only two
weeks to produce. But a meal of this chicken
will cost about 17 dollars.
The process also may not be as
environmentally friendly as people thought.
Growing in vitro meat uses a lot of energy.
Some of this energy will come from burning
fossil fuels. This releases carbon dioxide into
the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide traps heat in
the atmosphere. And it lasts in the atmosphere
longer than methane. So, many people say it
is worse for the planet in the long-term.
Growing in vitro meat may also cause a lot of
waste. This is because cell cultures must be
sterile. They must be free of any bacteria.
Otherwise, other things will grow, and ruin
the meat. These sterile containers also create a
lot of plastic waste. And there is already a
problem of too much plastic waste in the
environment. 
But the biggest question about in vitro meat
might be: will people eat it? Many people do
not trust food grown in a lab. In vitro meat
may seem unnatural. Or people might fear
that it will somehow affect their bodies in a
bad way. And in vitro meat also does not taste
like meat from animals. It does not have fat,
only muscle. Fat must be added later, and the
taste is still not quite the same.
Still, in vitro meat is coming. Today, it is
available in very few places. But dozens of
companies are working on their meat growing
methods. Companies have invested billions of
dollars in this research. And many people
believe that it is the protein of the future. Josh
Tetrick is the CEO of Eat Just, which grows
in vitro chicken. He told the website CNET.
“I want tens of thousands of restaurants to
have cultured meat on their menu. Then, at
some point, I want them to ask their chefs,
‘why do we have conventional chicken on the
menu, too?’”

History of the Bicycle

A busy city street. Cars and trucks pass
quickly. A few people wait to cross. But then,
all traffic stops. Suddenly, hundreds of people
riding 2-wheeled bicycles fill the street. They
are all riding together. After many minutes,
the bicycles have all passed by. The traffic
starts again. What just happened?
This was a ‘critical mass.’ A critical mass is
any large group of people riding bicycles
together for one purpose. In China, the idea of
a critical mass started for safety. Bicycle
riders would stop at street crossings. They
would wait until more bicycle riders stopped
too. Soon, a large number of bicycle riders
gathered. Then they all crossed the street
together. They believed this kept them safe. It
is difficult for one bicycle rider to cross a
busy street alone. But, it is easy for car drivers
to see a large group of bicycle riders.
Today, there are critical mass bicycle rides all
over the world. Sometimes they are a kind of
protest. But sometimes, they are just to show
the importance of bicycles! Bicycles are
important for transportation around the world.
But how did they become so important?
Today’s Spotlight is on the history of the
bicycle!
No one person invented the bicycle. Instead,
many people worked together over time.
Experts say that the first plans came from
Leonardo da Vinci. This famous inventor and
artist wrote plans for a modern bicycle
hundreds of years ago. But inventors did not
create the first working bicycle until the early
1800’s.
The first bicycle had wheels. But it did not
have pedals to move the wheels. The rider
pushed the bicycle forward by pushing his
feet against the ground. People called these
bicycles ‘pushbikes’.
In the 1850’s and 60’s French inventors
changed the design of the bicycle. They made
the front wheel larger. And they put pedals on
it. Riders used their feet on the pedals to push
the bicycle forward. They made this bicycle
with a heavy steel frame. And they made the
wheels out of wood and iron. People called
this bicycle the ‘boneshaker’. On the stone
streets of that time, the bicycle shook the rider
very hard. It was a painful ride!
Over the next ten years, inventors changed the
design of the bicycle even more. They made
the front wheel even larger. This increased its
speed. They also added rubber tires on the
wheels. People called this bicycle ‘the
ordinary’. But these kinds of bicycles were
difficult to ride. They were difficult to push
forward. And it was difficult to change
directions while riding.
In 1885, JK Starley invented the first modern
bicycle. It looked very similar to the bicycles
people ride today. Starley put similar sized
wheels on the front and back of the bicycle.
He also added a thin metal chain that worked
between the pedals and the wheels. The chain
let bicycle riders use the back wheel to
change directions. He also added a better seat.
Starley’s bicycle design was a large
improvement from the old kind of bicycles.
But it was still difficult to ride a Starley
bicycle. It did not offer a very smooth ride.
But in the 1890’s inventors made more
improvements to the bicycle. They used better
rubber for the wheels. They developed good
brakes to stop the bicycle. It was not long
before people all around the world used
bicycles for sport and play.
People also started using bicycles as their
main form of transport. Bicycles helped
people get from place to place easier. Riding a
bicycle is faster than walking. People also say
that making bicycles helped scientists and
inventors make better machines. In fact,
famous inventors like Henry Ford and the
Wright Brothers used bicycle technology to
create cars and airplanes!
Bicycles also had large effects on societies
around the world. For example, the bicycle
changed life for women in many ways. Before
bicycles were invented, in Western countries
women usually wore large, close-fitting
dresses. But when women started riding
bicycles, they started wearing different
clothes. They wore trousers like men usually
wear. They also stopped wearing such close-
fitting shirts or tops. Bicycles also made it
possible for women to get around more. Some
experts say that bicycles made women feel
more independent. They made more women
desire and demand freedom and respect.
Bicycles also changed the lives of people in
cities. They helped reduce crowding in cities.
People could live outside the city. Then they
could ride bicycles into the city to work.
Bicycles also made it easier for men and
women to meet and marry. It expanded
families because men and women could meet
people who lived outside their small towns.
Many things have changed since the first
bicycle. More people use cars, buses and
trucks for transport now. But inventors have
made great improvements to the bicycle.
Today’s bicycles are easy to ride. They are
much more comfortable. And they can go
very fast. Bicycles continue to be a popular
form of transportation in many parts of the
world. In fact, in many places, bicycles are
still the main form of transportation.
There are many good reasons to ride a
bicycle. Bicycles do not damage the
environment like cars do. Riding bicycles is
good for your health! Also, riding a bicycle
costs less money than driving a car. You do
not need gas to ride a bicycle. And bicycles
cost less money to fix.
Imagine what your city would look like if
everyone used a bicycle to get around instead
of a car or bus. There are some cities in the
world that do look like this. Many cities in
China and the Netherlands contain more
bicycles than cars. But in many cities around
the world, people do not respect bicycle
riders. In fact, in many modern cities, it can
be very dangerous to ride a bicycle. Many
people die every year in bicycle and car
accidents. This is one reason why people ride
their bicycles in a critical mass. They want
people to recognize bicycle riders. They want
people to learn to watch for them on the road.
They want people to understand that bicycles
are still an important form of transportation
today.

5 Tips for Growing Old Better

Susan Saunders was just a young mother. But
her own mother began to suffer from
dementia. Dementia is not a disease. It is a
general loss of skills such as memory,
language, and problem-solving skills. A
person with dementia cannot do normal things
on their own. This can happen for several
medical reasons. Saunders knew that she did
not want her own daughters to have to watch
her getting old this way. She began to
research how to stay healthy while growing
old. She told the news website The Guardian,
“I decided to do everything I could to increase
my chances of aging well.”
Some people say that age is just a number.
But everyone grows old. As people age, their
bodies and minds change. They are not able to
move as fast or be as strong as they once
were. Sometimes people get diseases that they
cannot prevent. However, there are things
people can do to get the best chance of living
a long and healthy life. Today’s Spotlight is
on tips for living a healthy life as you grow
old.
In many ways, what people need in their lives
is always the same. People need to eat good
food. They need to avoid smoking and other
harmful things. However, older people may
need to do a little more. They need to be more
careful because they may not recover quickly
if something goes wrong.
The first tip to living well is to drink enough
water.  There are three reasons why drinking
water is important as people age. First, as
people grow older their bodies begin to
contain less water. Second, the kidneys stop
working as well. These organs clean the
body’s water. And third, research shows that
older people do not feel thirsty as soon as
younger people.
Under good conditions this is usually not a
big problem. But if there is a medical problem
that leads to blood loss, or even a very hot
day, older people can become dehydrated and
sick. In fact, in France during the summer of
2003 over 14,000 people died because of
causes related to not drinking enough water.
Most of these people were old people.
The second tip for healthy living is to spend
time outside. Scientists are discovering that
being outside has many health benefits. Fresh
air and sunshine improve lungs and skin. It
can also reduce stress. But as people grow
old, they may not be able to walk as well.
People can struggle to get outside, especially
if there is snow or ice. Older people can
sometimes spend weeks or months without
going outside. But research shows that even
30 minutes outside can make a big difference
to a person’s health and attitude.
The third tip to living a healthy life as you get
older is to think about the past in a healthy
way. The average length of life is different
depending on where in the world you live.
But all aging people understand that they have
less time left to live. This can make them ask
a lot of questions. Erik Erikson was a famous
psychologist. He developed a series of steps
of human life. Kendra Cherry wrote about
Erikson’s work for the website
VeryWellMind.com. She writes:
“Success at this older time of life means that
people are able to look back at their life with
a sense of happiness. They can face the end of
life with a sense of wisdom and no regrets.
Erikson defined this wisdom as an “informed
and detached concern with life itself even in
the face of death itself.” Those who feel proud
of their achievements will feel a sense of
wholeness. These individuals will get
wisdom, even when looking at death. Those
who are not successful during this time of life
will feel that their life has been wasted. They
will experience many regrets. This person will
be left with feelings of bitterness and no
hope.”
The fourth tip to living a healthy life in old
age is to give to your community. A person
can give money. But adding to your
community is so much more than money.
Throughout life, a person learns a lot of
different skills. Some skills are learned at
work. But some skills are learned through
hobbies or other life experiences. A person
can use the skills he has learned to improve
the community around him. A person can
discover meaning and purpose to life when
they find a way to add to their community. It
is also a good way to help those people that
they care about.
The last tip for living a healthy life as we age
is to keep learning. Erika Andersen is a writer
for Forbes. She says in many places of the
world people are living longer. But they are
not always living better. She thinks one
solution is to stay connected to the world
through learning. This could be reading about
something you do not know much about. It
could be trying a new food – or even meeting
a new person. Andersen writes:
“One of the best ways to stay active as you
get older is to always choose to learn new
things. The least interesting older people I
know are those who find a comfortable place
and stop. They do the same things. They have
the same conversations. They express the
same opinions. Choose to learn something
totally new every week or every month. There
is nothing like being bad at something to
wake you up and shake you out of your
understanding. And when you start to get
good at it, it can make you feel as excited as a
six-year-old.”