Sunday Science

A look at what's on the SCMP's weekly science page

BIO

Christy Choi is a news reporter for the South China Morning Post covering science and technology. Before the SCMP, she worked for the Phnom Penh Post and Time, writing about sharks helping tame lionfish invasions, mealybug infestations, human trafficking and the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami, among others. As a former contemporary arts curator, she has a soft spot for the arts, and while science is her beat at the Post, she won’t say no to a good yarn about pretty much anything under the sun. Reach her on Twitter @jchristychoi

Editor's Pick

Manners maketh the mainland

Beijing socialites are signing up to the country's first school of etiquette, writes Simon Parry, and its Hong Kong-born founder is on a mission to reawaken traditions of courtesy.

Lifestyle

Beauty buzz: nail base coat

Base coats for nails not only prevent the damage some...

A mighty blow for freedom

Lincoln is set in 1865, just as the Union states from the...

Cosmic rays are last gasp of dying stars: sci...

Though ubiquitous, the origin of cosmic rays has never been...

The capital of ugly

The residents of Piobbico, in Italy, pay raucous tribute to...

Starved nation tucks into a feast of words at...

Media scrums aren't usually associated with literary...

Green activists hand out masks to pedestrians on The Bund in Shanghai last week. Photo: Reuters

This Sunday:

Martin Williams asks whether face masks and air filters truly help people breathe in polluted cities.
Paul Davies tells us how cancer can teach us about life's evolution.
European Space Agency chief Jean-Jacques Dordian says 2013 will be a bumper year for space science.
In Short Science: The US National Institute of Health stops funding research using chimps, dung beetles are found to navigate by the stars, and in the ultimate symbiosis, researchers in Sweden have found that a genetic switch made it possible for dogs to go from meat-munching wolves to man's leftover-loving best friend.