https://www.scmp.com/rss/324762/feed Alice is a Hong Kong economy and business reporter at the South China Morning Post. Born in central China and raised in the northwestern province of Xinjiang, she studied biology, economics and journalism in Peking University and Boston University. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com China’s dream of a moon harvest has died young. Just two days after they announced that plant shoots had to come to life on the moon, the Chang’e team said a lack of battery capacity meant they had been forced to cut off the power supply that kept them alive. The decision proved fatal for the cotton seeds that produced the “first leaf” on the moon after they were exposed to temperatures of 120 Celsius (250F) by day and minus 170 Celusis by night. The extreme conditions on the far side of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2182565/chinas-first-lunar-leaf-dies-after-change-scientists-forced-cut?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2182565/chinas-first-lunar-leaf-dies-after-change-scientists-forced-cut?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Jan 2019 11:15:00 +0000 A Shanghai gym was ordered to pay one of its members 195,000 yuan (US$28,800) after she snapped her thigh bone and was permanently injured trying to follow her yoga instructor’s directions in a class, according to a Chinese media report. The 55-year-old client, a woman identified only as Hong, first sued the unnamed gym in February last year, three months after she broke the bone as the instructor corrected her in a seated pose called baddha konasana, Shanghai-based online news outlet... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2182393/chinese-yoga-student-wins-us28800-payout-after-leg-bone-snaps-gym?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2182393/chinese-yoga-student-wins-us28800-payout-after-leg-bone-snaps-gym?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Jan 2019 11:02:20 +0000 The oceans are warming up much faster than scientists had previously predicted, substantially raising the risks and magnitude of natural disasters, a team of international researchers has warned. Last year was the hottest on record for seawater, which is absorbing more than 90 per cent of the heat generated by human activity. In the next four decades, sea temperatures will rise four times more rapidly than they did in the previous six decades. Rapid ocean warming could lead to rising sea level... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2182195/worlds-oceans-warming-more-rapidly-previously-thought-warn-us-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2182195/worlds-oceans-warming-more-rapidly-previously-thought-warn-us-and?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Jan 2019 12:04:50 +0000 A man in southern China who carries the hepatitis B virus was asked to quit his post 10 days after he started work, a newspaper reported on Monday. The 30-year-old, identified only by his surname Li, said the company withdrew his contract after a medical examination showed that he carries the virus, the Xiaoxiang Morning Post said. The decision was made for the sake of employees, as they shared a canteen and kitchen utensils, the company, a branch of state-owned People’s Insurance Company of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2182208/chinese-hepatitis-b-carrier-asked-quit-job-after-company-medical?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2182208/chinese-hepatitis-b-carrier-asked-quit-job-after-company-medical?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Jan 2019 11:17:21 +0000 A successful moon landing has revived China’s interest in sending spacecraft to Mars, six years after its failed mission to the red planet. Officials from the China National Space Administration said on Monday that China would send a probe to Mars around 2020 and a returnable craft to the moon by the end of this year. Administration deputy director Wu Yanhua said the success of Chang’e 4’s mission to the far side of the moon marked a new stage for the country’s deep space exploration and outside... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2182029/onwards-mars-chinas-deep-space-explorers-after-change-4-moon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2182029/onwards-mars-chinas-deep-space-explorers-after-change-4-moon?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Jan 2019 12:20:53 +0000 Chang’e 4, China’s lunar mission, was declared a success on Friday, the China National Space Agency said. The lander and its rover, Yutu 2, took a picture of each other and sent them back to Earth via Queqiao, the relay satellite over the far side of the moon, to market the occasion. Devices aboard the spacecraft which will carry out scientific research on the moon and monitor radio waves from across the cosmos began operations, while the data they have collected so far reached the control... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2181723/say-cheese-chinese-lander-change-4-sends-big-picture-moons-far?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2181723/say-cheese-chinese-lander-change-4-sends-big-picture-moons-far?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Jan 2019 09:53:47 +0000 Chang’e 4, China’s lunar lander, began tuning in to the oldest and faintest voices from across the universe using the antennas it carried to the “quiet” far side of the moon. The three five-metre long antennas have opened a new chapter in radio astronomy by picking up low-frequency waves that devices on Earth cannot, as such signals blocked by the planet’s atmosphere. The lander could help reveal what the universe was like right after the Big Bang, which scientists believe took place about 14... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2181536/listening-big-bang-chinas-lunar-lander-tunes-ancient-radio?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2181536/listening-big-bang-chinas-lunar-lander-tunes-ancient-radio?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Jan 2019 11:33:21 +0000 China is pushing ahead with ambitious plans for its nuclear industry, including developing cleaner and safer next-generation technology. A particular focus is a plan to develop the world’s first large-scale thorium-powered, molten-salt reactors – which could generate less radioactive waste and help reduce the reliance on fossil fuels to reduce the world’s energy needs – by 2020. The head of one of the country’s research programmes said Chinese researchers had mastered the technology in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2181396/how-china-hopes-play-leading-role-developing-next-generation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2181396/how-china-hopes-play-leading-role-developing-next-generation?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Jan 2019 22:00:00 +0000 China gave awards to its top scientists on Tuesday, including a defence engineering expert who helped build an “underground Great Wall” and a scientist who worked on the country’s maritime radar system. Highlighting the importance of the annual science and technology awards, the ceremony in Beijing was attended by President Xi Jinping and all members of the Politburo Standing Committee – the ruling Communist Party’s most powerful body. It also came at a sensitive time, with China and the United... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2181253/china-honours-defence-engineer-and-radar-expert-annual-science?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2181253/china-honours-defence-engineer-and-radar-expert-annual-science?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Jan 2019 15:04:43 +0000 China’s lunar craft Chang’e 4 has released its rover Yutu 2 to explore the far side of the moon after making the world’s first soft landing on the moon’s uncharted side on Thursday. Photos of the rover leaving humankind’s first tracks there on Thursday night were sent back to Earth by the lander after the vehicle separated from it. The images were sent via the relay satellite Queqiao, designed to allow radio communication between the far side of the moon and Earth without it being blocked by the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2180733/first-photo-chinas-lunar-rover-yutu-2-leaving-footprints-far-side?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2180733/first-photo-chinas-lunar-rover-yutu-2-leaving-footprints-far-side?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Jan 2019 09:36:56 +0000 China’s Chang’e 4 mission, which successfully touched down on Thursday, is the first time a probe has successfully landed on the so-called dark side of the moon. The US, EU, Japan and India are also looking at moon missions in future years, but the Chang’e mission has already sent two satellites and another unmanned rover to Earth’s nearest neighbour. The latest programme is the most ambitious yet and is designed to explore this hitherto unexamined part of the moon. What is the origin of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2180587/what-you-need-know-about-change-4-chinas-mission-far-side-moon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2180587/what-you-need-know-about-change-4-chinas-mission-far-side-moon?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Jan 2019 13:45:15 +0000 Scientists have calculated that cutting salt consumption by around a quarter could halve the number of deaths from sodium-induced heart disease, according to a study conducted in a part of China with a well-above-average number of deaths linked to high-salt diets. The study, the first to try to quantify what the impact of reducing salt consumption by a defined amount would be, was conducted in the eastern province of Shandong. It found that nearly a fifth of deaths from heart disease in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2179229/how-good-your-health-cutting-salt-your-diet-chinese-scientists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2179229/how-good-your-health-cutting-salt-your-diet-chinese-scientists?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Dec 2018 05:01:55 +0000 China’s top scientists will learn in early January who will receive the annual prestigious science awards, regarded as the country’s Nobel Prizes. The 2018 winners were selected at Wednesday’s State Council meeting, according to state news agency Xinhua, but their identities will remain under wraps until next year’s ceremony, when President Xi Jinping will present the honours, along with cheques of up to five million yuan (US$730,000). The national science and technology awards were established... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2178044/who-will-be-named-chinas-next-top-scientist-countdown-begins?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2178044/who-will-be-named-chinas-next-top-scientist-countdown-begins?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Dec 2018 06:09:40 +0000 The world’s first of a new breed of nuclear reactors has gone online in southern China after years of safety and design delays. The third-generation European pressurised reactor (EPR) went into operation at the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant 136km west of Hong Kong following extensive tests on Thursday. The Taishan plant is a joint venture between China General Nuclear Power Group and Electricite de France, and its start date has been pushed back repeatedly since construction began a decade ago. A... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2178099/delayed-still-world-first-new-breed-nuclear-reactor-powers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2178099/delayed-still-world-first-new-breed-nuclear-reactor-powers?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Dec 2018 13:01:45 +0000 The debate over China’s plan to develop a weather modification system to direct more rain to the Yellow River at its origin on the Tibetan Plateau and so feed the nation’s arid northern regions continues to rage in scientific circles, with the head of the project inviting researchers to visit his laboratory to discuss it. Wang Guangqian, the president of Qinghai University and chief scientist on the Sky River project, made the comment in response to a slew of criticism from those who have... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2177636/storm-clouds-continue-cast-shadows-over-chinas-sky-river-rain?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2177636/storm-clouds-continue-cast-shadows-over-chinas-sky-river-rain?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Dec 2018 08:12:57 +0000 A Chinese county has detained two men for burning low-quality coal and issued warnings to another 32 people, as authorities in the north clamp down on heating fuel over winter as part of Beijing’s war on pollution. That is according to the local environment department, which said in a statement on Saturday that the men, both surnamed Zhao, were detained by police in Quyang, Hebei province, last week. But later in the day, the local government denied the department’s statement, saying it was... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2177484/men-detained-burning-low-quality-coal-northern-china-amid-winter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2177484/men-detained-burning-low-quality-coal-northern-china-amid-winter?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Dec 2018 10:35:41 +0000 Come January 1, as the rest of us nurse sore heads, China may be landed on the far side of the moon. A Long March 3B rocket carrying China’s latest lunar lander and rover spacecraft, Chang’e 4, blasted off at about 2.23am local time on Saturday from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southern China. It is humankind’s first attempt to land a craft on the far side of the moon. China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe, launched in the early hours of Saturday, is expected to make the first-ever soft landing... https://www.scmp.com/science/change-4-launch-poises-china-be-first-land-craft-far-side-moon/article/2177186?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/science/change-4-launch-poises-china-be-first-land-craft-far-side-moon/article/2177186?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Dec 2018 10:00:15 +0000 A Chinese drone enthusiast who built his own flying saucer has been brought back to Earth with a bump because the authorities warned him he did not have the proper permission to fly it. Shu Mansheng spent around two months and 150,000 yuan (US$21,800) building the aircraft, which was powered by four gas turbojet engines, the Wuhan Evening Post reported last week. He told the newspaper the 80kg (175lb) aircraft could carry a human pilot but he decided it would be safer to use remote controls for... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2177243/chinese-flying-saucer-builder-enters-legal-twilight-zone-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2177243/chinese-flying-saucer-builder-enters-legal-twilight-zone-after?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Dec 2018 07:52:20 +0000 A rocket carrying China’s latest lunar lander and rover spacecraft, Chang’e 4, blasted off at about 2.23am local time on Saturday from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southern China, in humankind’s first attempt to land on the far side of the moon.  An unofficial live stream recording the launch and viewable on Chinese social media, showed the Long March 3B rocket lifting off from the launch pad with a stunning trail of flame lighting up the early morning sky. Chinese state television did not... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2176935/change-4-launch-chinas-bid-be-first-dark-side-moon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2176935/change-4-launch-chinas-bid-be-first-dark-side-moon?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Dec 2018 09:30:00 +0000 When Chen Dake steps onto the Antarctic ice as the head of China’s biggest ever mission to the South Pole he will have travelled a long way from the rice fields of rural Hunan where he used to toil 40 years ago. Chen was one of the millions of Chinese people whose lives were transformed by the end of the Cultural Revolution and the decision to reopen the country’s universities. He was one of around 5.7 million students who rushed to take the college entrance exam in the winter of 1977 – a decade... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2176362/during-cultural-revolution-he-had-toil-fields-now-hes-leading?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2176362/during-cultural-revolution-he-had-toil-fields-now-hes-leading?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Dec 2018 16:01:47 +0000 China’s Ministry of Science and Technology has ordered research institutes to suspend all the scientific projects of Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who claims to have created the world’s first gene-edited babies. He’s announcement earlier this week shocked the world, and on Thursday prompted a group of international experts to call for an independent assessment to verify his claim that twin sisters were born this month from embryos modified to disable a gene related to HIV infection. The group of... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2175595/international-experts-blast-mainland-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2175595/international-experts-blast-mainland-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Nov 2018 07:15:30 +0000 Scientists lined up to criticise Chinese biologist He Jiankui on Wednesday as he sought to defend his work on what he says are the world’s first genetically edited babies. He claimed earlier this week that twin girls had been born in China this month from two embryos he and a team of researchers had altered to protect them against HIV. At the Second International on Human Genome Editing the University of Hong Kong, Nobel laureate and biologist David Baltimore said he did not think the work was... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2175484/scientists-line-take-aim-chinese-research-behind-gene-edited?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2175484/scientists-line-take-aim-chinese-research-behind-gene-edited?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Nov 2018 14:47:39 +0000 The Chinese scientist who stunned the world by claiming to have created the first gene-edited babies finally faced his peers and the public on Wednesday, apologising for the storm he unleashed but defending his highly controversial experiment and expressing pride in his achievement. After first dropping the bombshell in a video posted on the internet that he had engineered the birth of healthy twin girls through altered embryos to ensure they would not contract HIV, He Jiankui – who has been... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2175370/chinese-scientist-he-jiankui-apologises-says-he?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2175370/chinese-scientist-he-jiankui-apologises-says-he?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Nov 2018 06:00:45 +0000 China’s science authorities vowed on Tuesday to get to the bottom of whether biologist He Jiankui bypassed regulations to create what he says are the world’s first genetically edited children. The commitment came a day after He announced in a YouTube video that healthy twin sisters were born in China earlier this month from embryos he and a team of researchers modified to switch off an HIV-related gene. The twins’ father was HIV-positive and the intervention was meant to prevent the children... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2175303/china-investigate-whether-shocking-gene-edited-twins-research?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2175303/china-investigate-whether-shocking-gene-edited-twins-research?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Nov 2018 14:34:13 +0000 Chinese scientists have rounded on a colleague who claimed to have conducted an experiment that led to the birth of the world’s first genetically edited babies, describing it as “crazy” and “unethical”. More than 120 Chinese scientists signed a letter condemning the claim by He Jiankui, a biologist with the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen. “The project completely ignored the principles of biomedical ethics, conducting experiments on humans without proving it’s safe,”... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2175105/chinese-scientists-condemn-crazy-and-unethical-gene-editing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2175105/chinese-scientists-condemn-crazy-and-unethical-gene-editing?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Nov 2018 15:30:00 +0000 A Chinese scientist’s claim that he has created the world’s first gene-edited children has caught health regulators flat-footed and triggered a flood of condemnation from research bodies. He Jiankui, from Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, said in a YouTube video posted online on Monday that healthy twin sisters were born in China this month from embryos he and a team of researchers modified to switch off an HIV-related gene. Chinese health officials said they were... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2175093/were-dark-chinese-health-officials-unaware-research-worlds-first?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2175093/were-dark-chinese-health-officials-unaware-research-worlds-first?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Nov 2018 14:36:02 +0000 A toxic chemical leak in southern China which put 52 people in hospital and has cost affected fishing villages millions of dollars in lost revenue was 10 times worse than previously reported. Quanzhou city authorities on Sunday confirmed that 69 tonnes of the petrochemical C9 – a by-product of the oil refining process – had spilled into the local seawater, far in excess of the originally claimed seven tonnes. Two officials have been sacked for negligence, in addition to the arrests of seven... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2175013/toxic-chemical-spill-southern-china-10-times-worse-previously?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2175013/toxic-chemical-spill-southern-china-10-times-worse-previously?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Nov 2018 07:48:21 +0000 China’s scientists are feeling the pinch, despite being at the heart of the country’s strategy to become a global powerhouse in science and technology. While there are generous packages on offer for returning overseas Chinese scientists, the home-grown variety are feeling overworked and underpaid, according to a survey by the China Association for Science and Technology. Xian Jiaotong University in northwest China offers young scientists an annual salary of at least 450,000 yuan (US$65,000) as... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2174819/chinas-scientists-overworked-and-underpaid-compared-other?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2174819/chinas-scientists-overworked-and-underpaid-compared-other?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Nov 2018 13:32:22 +0000 A vocational college student killed one person and wounded 11 others at a technical school in southwest China on Friday, Chinese media reported. The attack occurred at the Yunnan Comprehensive Technical School in the provincial capital of Kunming inside the main teaching building at around 11am, the report said. The attacker wounded two teachers and 10 other students, one of whom died while being treated in hospital. The other wounded were not in immediate danger. The report did not say what... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2174777/one-dead-and-11-wounded-attack-chinese-college?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2174777/one-dead-and-11-wounded-attack-chinese-college?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Nov 2018 14:23:16 +0000 Chinese scientists have developed a carbon nanotube fibre they say is strong enough to be used to build a space elevator. The Tsinghua University research team patented the technology and published part of their research in the journal Nature Nanotechnology earlier this year. They said the fibre would be “in great demand in many high-end fields such as sports equipment, ballistic armour, aeronautics, astronautics and even space elevators”. But is a lift that could travel from the Earth into... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2173662/chinese-scientists-say-they-have-key-building-space-elevator-what?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2173662/chinese-scientists-say-they-have-key-building-space-elevator-what?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Nov 2018 16:01:35 +0000 A Chinese entrepreneur who made a fortune creating an English-learning empire has apologized for making sexist remarks. At a conference last week Michael Yu Minhong, 56, the billionaire founder of New York-listed New Oriental, blamed “depraved” women for the declining moral standards in China. Initially, Yu defended his comments against a chorus of criticism. He argued that because women play such a large role in education, it’s their responsibility to impart positive values to future... https://www.scmp.com/society/new-oriental-founder-michael-yu-minhong-apologizes-sexist-remarks/article/2174315?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/new-oriental-founder-michael-yu-minhong-apologizes-sexist-remarks/article/2174315?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Nov 2018 10:37:32 +0000 China’s “godfather of English training” has apologised for blaming “depraved” women for declining moral standards in the country, in a letter to the official All-China Women’s Federation on Tuesday. “I am deeply rattled and remorseful after listening to the criticism for the past two days,” Michael Yu Minhong, head of the Chinese education giant New Oriental Group, wrote in the letter, referring to the reaction to his speech at an education summit in Shanghai on Sunday. “My comments regarding... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2174259/chinese-women-are-working-diligently-says-education-mogul-who?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2174259/chinese-women-are-working-diligently-says-education-mogul-who?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Nov 2018 03:47:35 +0000 Animal lovers in northern China have found a home for a dog that sat a three-month vigil at the roadside where her owner was killed in a car accident. The animal’s tale reminded dog lovers in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia’s capital city, and across China of a 15-year-old hound called Xiongxiong, who waits outside Liziba metro station in Yuzhong district, Chongqing, until his master returns from work in the evening. The dog has gained a huge following on social media and fans travel to keep him company... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2174115/chinese-dog-rehomed-after-her-three-month-roadside-vigil-owner?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2174115/chinese-dog-rehomed-after-her-three-month-roadside-vigil-owner?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Nov 2018 06:55:33 +0000 China moved a step closer to its dream of building a satellite navigation system that could challenge America’s Global Positioning System (GPS) with the launch on Monday of two new Beidou-3 satellites. Industry figures said the Beidou-3 should be ready to start providing basic navigation services to some of China’s neighbours within a matter of weeks. The launch means that a total of 19 Beidou-3 satellites are now in orbit – enough to start providing basic navigation services when testing is... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2174025/china-one-step-closer-satellite-navigation-system-could-threaten?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2174025/china-one-step-closer-satellite-navigation-system-could-threaten?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Nov 2018 13:16:20 +0000 According to his biography he is yet to reach his 40th birthday, but the official photo of a Chinese official from a remote part of the southwest has generated intense online discussion due to the apparent discrepancy between his appearance and his official age. The short biography and a recent photo of Li Zhongkai posted online in October along with a number of other officials in Yunnan who had been promoted has gone viral after many internet users argued that he looked to be in his fifties or... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2173805/age-just-number-chinese-officials-picture-sparks-national?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2173805/age-just-number-chinese-officials-picture-sparks-national?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Nov 2018 12:03:11 +0000 Chinese scientists announced this week that a nuclear fusion reactor in the southeast of the country had achieved a temperature exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius, more than six times those found at the centre of the sun. But despite the achievements at the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) reactor in Hefei, capital of Anhui province, a scientist said it might still be some time before China is able to tap the energy produced by the fusion process. Who needs street lights?... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2173666/chinas-artificial-sun-galaxies-away-solving-earths-energy-needs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2173666/chinas-artificial-sun-galaxies-away-solving-earths-energy-needs?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Nov 2018 14:32:04 +0000 Chinese men who smoke are twice as likely to have abnormal semen than those who do not, according to a recent study. The claim is based on research by the China Sexology Association, China Andrology Association and Peking University Third Hospital, details of which were published on Thursday. In the study of 4,364 men, carried out at 25 medical institutes across China, 32 per cent of those who smoked were found to have abnormal semen, while the figure was 16.6 per cent for those who did... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2173628/chinese-smokers-twice-likely-have-abnormal-sperm-study-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2173628/chinese-smokers-twice-likely-have-abnormal-sperm-study-says?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Nov 2018 09:51:37 +0000 Seven people have been arrested in southeast China for their roles in the chemical leak that put 52 people in hospital and cost local fisherman millions of dollars in lost revenue. The incident happened on November 4 when a tube carrying a mix known as C9 aromatics from a petrochemical firm to a tanker came loose, spilling about 7 tonnes of the toxic liquid into the sea. According to a statement issued on Thursday by the government of Quangang, a district of Quanzhou in Fujian province, three of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2173455/china-chemical-spill-7-arrested-fishermen-wait-news-compensation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2173455/china-chemical-spill-7-arrested-fishermen-wait-news-compensation?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Nov 2018 13:30:27 +0000 A panic in Quanzhou, the most populous city in China’s southern Fujian province, following a chemical leak this month shows how the move by government officials to suppress information rather than address a problem can fuel a spiral of fear, rumours and distrust in the authorities. Nearly 10 days after the leak, no government official has been brought to book for their lapses, while seven people – all from companies involved in the accident – have been arrested.   At more than 8 million people... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2173283/lies-and-fears-how-chemical-leak-china-spilled-out-control?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2173283/lies-and-fears-how-chemical-leak-china-spilled-out-control?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Nov 2018 03:01:34 +0000 Xiao Meiru and his family fear they lost a year’s earnings last Sunday after a toxic chemical leak devastated their fish farm in southeast China. Now Xiao and other families living in the coastal village of Xiaocuo in Fujian province are banding together to fight for compensation but worry they will get bogged down in protracted legal wrangling. Some of them are holding out until their losses are covered in full, but others such as Xiao want to secure partial recompense as quickly as... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2172636/coastal-villagers-count-cost-southeast-china-toxic-chemical-spill?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2172636/coastal-villagers-count-cost-southeast-china-toxic-chemical-spill?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Nov 2018 03:32:12 +0000 Distrust of the authorities hangs heavy in the air in Quanzhou after the response to a toxic chemical spill last weekend left many residents wondering whether officials were more concerned about plugging information about the leak than tackling the problem. Locals in the coastal city in the southeastern province of Fujian fear that the leak of the substance called C9 was more dangerous than they had been told, while complaining of a shoddy clean-up operation that has led to children becoming ill... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2172574/locals-fear-chinese-officials-more-concerned-cover-rather-clean?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2172574/locals-fear-chinese-officials-more-concerned-cover-rather-clean?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Nov 2018 00:01:17 +0000 It is the equivalent of saying “I want you now”. When giant pandas are in the mood for sex, they bleat at each other. That’s the finding of a joint Chinese-American study which could help breeding managers find promising sex partners among the endangered bamboo-eating mammals. At the same time, it could indicate which combinations of panda bears would fizzle at sex. “Our findings show that vocal exchanges are crucial for signalling an intention to mate in giant pandas,” said Benjamin Charlton of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2172194/how-do-chinas-giant-pandas-know-when-theres-no-chance-sex?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2172194/how-do-chinas-giant-pandas-know-when-theres-no-chance-sex?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Nov 2018 03:29:13 +0000 The dams on China’s Yangtze River could lead to the extinction of wild Chinese sturgeons within the next decade, after causing a decline of the critically endangered fish species since the 1980s, a recent study has concluded. The fish have found it difficult to spawn since their migration routes were blocked and shortened, while the water temperature has become too high for breeding, the study said. It was published in the science journal Current Biology last week. Chinese sturgeons, which have... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/2172048/yangtze-dams-may-spell-end-chinese-sturgeon-decade?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/2172048/yangtze-dams-may-spell-end-chinese-sturgeon-decade?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Nov 2018 03:37:19 +0000 One of America’s top medical schools has halted a program for visiting scientists, out of fears that their research is going straight to China. The South China Morning Post reports that the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine halted its program in response to a national investigation over whether scientists in the US are sharing their results with foreign governments, in particular China. Although the suspension affects scientists from many countries who plan to conduct research at the... https://www.scmp.com/science/johns-hopkins-medical-school-bars-foreign-scientists-grounds-intellectual-property-theft/article/2171868?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/science/johns-hopkins-medical-school-bars-foreign-scientists-grounds-intellectual-property-theft/article/2171868?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Nov 2018 09:07:49 +0000 The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has halted a visiting scientist programme in response to a national investigation over whether scientists in the US are sharing research results with foreign governments, in particular China, the South China Morning Post has learned. Although the suspension affects scientists from many countries who plan to conduct research at the top medical school, the move is primarily aimed at Chinese scientists and China’s flagship science talent recruitment... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2171823/us-medical-school-bars-foreign-scientists-over-intellectual?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2171823/us-medical-school-bars-foreign-scientists-over-intellectual?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Nov 2018 14:02:15 +0000 This weekend, people in the US and Canada will be moving their clocks back an hour as Daylight Saving Time comes to an end. Most of Europe did it a week ago. China is one of several countries that doesn’t have DST, and its daily clock remains unchanged throughout the year. 32 years ago, China briefly followed DST: but it abandoned the practice just three years later. In fact, the whole of China has one single time zone: Beijing Standard Time. Watch our video above to find out why. Follow... https://www.scmp.com/china/why-doesnt-china-have-daylight-saving-time/article/2171440?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/china/why-doesnt-china-have-daylight-saving-time/article/2171440?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Nov 2018 11:00:30 +0000 Chinese scientists have found a way to hide secret messages in the sound pulses that sperm whales emit to keep enemy reconnaissance systems from deciphering them – a breakthrough that could help military submarines avoid scrutiny, researchers said. With this technique, whale sounds are edited and a coding system is built around them. Messages are emitted in the form of these edited whale sound bites, indistinguishable from regular whale sound, which are deciphered by the receivers following the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2171311/how-chinese-scientists-will-use-sperm-whales-run-secret-messages?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2171311/how-chinese-scientists-will-use-sperm-whales-run-secret-messages?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Nov 2018 05:42:54 +0000 When China built the world’s largest telescope, officials said it would make the country the global leader in radio astronomy. It could detect radio waves from across the universe – perhaps even signs of extraterrestrial life. There’s just one problem: they can’t find enough people to run it. Officials are struggling to find researchers to analyze the signals the $180 million FAST radio telescope is expected to detect when it officially launches in the first half of 2019. The plan had been to... https://www.scmp.com/science/alien-hunting-fast-telescope-struggling-attract-scientists/article/2171152?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/science/alien-hunting-fast-telescope-struggling-attract-scientists/article/2171152?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Nov 2018 09:45:15 +0000 When China built the world’s largest telescope, officials said it would make the country the global leader in radio astronomy. The problem is, they can’t find enough people to run it. Officials are struggling to find researchers to analyse the signals the US$180 million FAST radio telescope in southwest China’s mountainous Guizhou province is expected to detect from sources across the universe when it officially launches sometime in the first half of 2019. The plan had been to hire another two... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2171002/wanted-researchers-chinas-mega-telescope-interpret-signals-across?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2171002/wanted-researchers-chinas-mega-telescope-interpret-signals-across?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 31 Oct 2018 05:57:22 +0000 China is allowing scientific and medical uses of tiger bone and rhinoceros horn, after banning such uses and trade in the materials for 25 years, the government announced on Monday. “Under special circumstances, trading or using of tiger bone, rhino horn or any products containing them should apply for permission,” China’s cabinet, the State Council, said on Monday. The move was immediately condemned by the conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF). “It is deeply concerning that China has... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2170763/china-reverses-25-year-ban-trade-and-use-rhino-horns-and-tiger?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2170763/china-reverses-25-year-ban-trade-and-use-rhino-horns-and-tiger?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Oct 2018 19:15:55 +0000