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☆ China Launches Powerful Jielong-3 Rocket, Paves Way for More Commercial Missions
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

BEIJING (Reuters) - A small but powerful Chinese rocket capable of sending payloads at competitive costs delivered nine satellites into orbit on Saturday, Chinese state media reported, in what is gearing up to be another busy year for Chinese commercial launches. It was the third launch of the rocket, developed by China Rocket Co, a commercial offshoot of a state-owned launch vehicle manufacturer, since December 2022. The cost is similar to the launches of other Chinese small-lift rockets including the Long March 11, but their payload sizes are significantly smaller. Other commercial companies in the Chinese vehicle launch sector includes Galactic Energy, whose Ceres-1 rocket made its debut flight in November 2020. Ceres-1 is capable of delivering a 300 kg payload to a 500 km sun-synchronous orbit.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Ryan Woo, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: China, Co, Geely Holding, CAS Space, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Galactic Energy Locations: BEIJING, Yangjiang, Guangdong, Guangzhou, Lijian, Ceres, Beijing, Shandong

☆ Men benefit more from their looks at work than women do, new research shows
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

New research upends the trope that women use their looks to get ahead in their careers, showing that men actually reap greater benefits from being attractive in the workplace. A recent study of more than 11,000 Americans conducted over 20 years has found that good-looking men are more likely to attain better jobs and make more money than similarly attractive women. Alexi Gugushvili and Grzegorz Bulczak recorded participants' demographic information and socioeconomic status, then asked volunteers to rate the participants' physical attractiveness on a 4-point scale: Very attractive, attractive, unattractive, and very unattractive. Even with potential obstacles like coming from a low-income household or growing up in a dangerous neighborhood, attractive men still managed to achieve upward mobility. Good-looking women had a slight advantage in their careers over other women deemed less attractive, but men saw the greatest benefits from their physical appearance, according to the report.

Persons: Alexi Gugushvili, Grzegorz Bulczak, Bulczak, it's Organizations: University of Oslo, Polish Academy of Sciences, Adolescent Health

☆ Skeletons with buckets on their feet and rings around their necks discovered in a Dark Ages graveyard, say reports
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-27 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewHuman remains found in a 1,000-year-old cemetery were ceremonially adorned with buckets on their feet and rings around their necks, archaeologists discovered, say reports. The mass grave holding over 107 skeletons in what is believed to be a pagan-era cemetery were discovered near Kyiv, Ukraine. AdvertisementResearchers Vsevolod Ivakin and Vyacheslav Baranov, who led the excavation, described the weapons typical for Kyivan Rus and northeastern Europe. Vyacheslav Baranov | National Academy of Sciences of UkraineA stone altar found at the site could have been used for pagan or early Christian rituals. AdvertisementThe ongoing research is a collaboration between several research centers, with funding provided by the German Research Foundation, alongside other organizations.

Persons: —, Vsevolod Ivakin, Vyacheslav Baranov, Baranov, Volodymyr the Great Organizations: Service, Business, National Academy of Sciences of, Archaeological Institute of America, Independent, Research, German Research Foundation Locations: Kyiv, Ukraine, Roman, Italian, Rus, Europe, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Chicago, Pomeranian, Masovian, Baltics, Eastern Europe

☆ Men in medieval China were able to move up the social ladder as easily as male Baby Boomers in the US, study suggests
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Obtaining high status was likely as easy for men in the Tang Dynasty as for men in the modern US, a study suggests. It found that social mobility for men at the time could be compared to that of the 1960s in the US. AdvertisementMen in medieval China could gain high status in society as easily as male Baby Boomers in the US, according to a new study released on Thursday. Women, however, were unlikely to be part of the Chinese bureaucracy, and few would have taken the imperial exam, Hout said. But I wouldn't see a farmer's kid being able to pass the exam," Hout said.

Persons: —, Michael Hout, Hout, Du Zhong Liang, Wu Zetian, It's, they're Organizations: Service, Boomers, National Academy of Sciences, New York University, Business, National Library of China Locations: China, Tang, Europe

The Red Square mausoleum where his embalmed corpse lies in an open sarcophagus is no longer a near-mandatory pilgrimage but a site of macabre kitsch, open only 15 hours a week. The ideology that Lenin championed and spread over a vast territory is something of a sideshow in modern Russia. “As a result of Bolshevik policy, Soviet Ukraine arose, which even today can with good reason be called ‘Vladimir Ilyich Lenin’s Ukraine.' The Mayakovsky poem that proclaimed Lenin's immortality was “a parting word, or a spell, or a curse,” Rudakov said. At the annual military parade through Red Square, the structure is blocked from view by a tribune where dignitaries watch the festivities.

Persons: soothed, “ Lenin, Lenin, Vladimir Lenin, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Vladimir Putin's, Konstantin Morozov, Gennady Zyuganov, ”, Putin, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin’s, ” Putin, “, VTsIOM, Nadezhda Krupskaya, Lenin's, Yuri Annenkov, Josef Stalin, Leon Trotsky, Russian Orthodox Church —, Bolsheviks —, Stalin, Trotsky, Lenin ”, ’, Vladimir Rudakov, ” Rudakov, Jim Heintz Organizations: Moscow Zoo, Communist Party, Russian Academy of Sciences, AP, Union of Russian Architects, Russian Orthodox Church, Bolsheviks, Tass, The Associated Press Locations: Soviet Union, Russia, Moscow, St, Petersburg's Finland, United Russia, Ukraine, Soviet Ukraine, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin’s Ukraine, Soviet, Russian, Red, USSR, Estonia

☆ China's Population Drops for 2nd Year, Raises Long-Term Growth Concerns
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

By Farah MasterBEIJING (Reuters) - China's population fell for a second consecutive year in 2023, as a record low birth rate and a wave of COVID-19 deaths when strict lockdowns ended accelerated a downturn that will have profound long-term effects on the economy's growth potential. Japan's birth rate was 6.3 per 1,000 people in 2022, while South Korea's rate was 4.9. Long-term, U.N. experts see China's population shrinking by 109 million by 2050, more than triple the decline of their previous forecast in 2019. POLICY ISSUESChina's 2023 rate of 7.87 deaths per 1,000 people was higher than a rate of 7.37 deaths in 2022. Marriages are a leading indicator for birth rates in China, where most single women cannot access child-raising benefits.

Persons: Farah Master, Mao, Washington ., Xi Jinping, Marius Zaharia, Jamie Freed Organizations: Farah Master BEIJING, National Bureau of Statistics, United Nations, Academy of Sciences Locations: China, Japan, South Korea, South, India, Beijing, Washington, United States, Hong Kong

☆ Scientists clone second species of monkey
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Meet Retro, a cloned rhesus monkey born on July 16, 2020. Retro is only the second species of primate that scientists have been able to clone successfully. He was not involved in the latest research but has collaborated with some members of the research team on other primate studies. However, a rhesus monkey was cloned in 1999 using what researchers consider a simpler cloning method. Cloned monkeys can be genetically engineered in complex ways that wild-type monkeys cannot; this has many implications for disease modeling.

Persons: Falong Lu, ”, Lu, haven’t, Dolly, Miguel Esteban, Esteban, ” Lu, Zhong Zhong, Hua Hua, Lluís Montoliu, wasn’t, “ Organizations: CNN, Nature Communications, State Key Laboratory, Molecular, Biology, of Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, “, Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine, Covid, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, Royal Society for Prevention, National Center for Biotechnology Locations: Shanghai, Beijing, Spain

PRAGUE (AP) — František Janouch, a Czech nuclear physicist who set up a foundation in Sweden while in exile to support the dissident movement in his communist homeland at the time, has died. The Charter 77 Foundation said Janouch died on Friday morning in Sweden's capital, Stockholm, where he had lived since the 1970s. Born on Sept. 22, 1931 in the town of Lysa nad Labem near Prague, Janouch studied nuclear physics at Charles University in Prague and at universities in Moscow and St. Petersburg in the then Soviet Union. Political Cartoons View All 253 ImagesAt the invitation of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, he moved to Sweden in 1974. “František Janouch contributed significantly to the return of freedom to our country,” Prime Minister Petr Fiala said.

Persons: Janouch, Václav Havel, Havel, “ František Janouch, Petr Fiala Organizations: Charles University, Nuclear Physics Institute, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Locations: PRAGUE, Czech, Sweden, Sweden's, Stockholm, Lysa nad Labem, Prague, Moscow, St, Petersburg, Soviet Union, Soviet, Czechoslovakia, Swedish

☆ 4 scientists said they're cutting back on bottled water after measuring the number of microplastics inside
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-08 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

About 10 to 100 times more nanoplastics than microplastics were discovered in bottled water, the study found. AdvertisementScientists said they're cutting back on bottled waterThe inside of an optical box reveals the components that organize the light from laser beams to identify nanoplastics, microscopic plastic pieces. Related storiesAll four co-authors interviewed said they were cutting back on their bottled water use after they conduced the study. Wei Min, the Columbia physical chemist who pioneered the dual laser microscope technology, said he has reduced his bottled water use by half. Previous studies looking for microplastics and some early tests indicate there may be less nanoplastic in tap water than bottled.

Persons: Naixin Qian, Mary Conlon, —, Qian, Phoebe Stapleton, microplastics, Wei Min, Stapleton, Beizhan Yan, there's, Jason Somarelli, Somarelli, Zoie Diana, Diana, Min, Yan, Kara Lavender, Denise Hardesty, Louis Organizations: Service, Business, Columbia, Rutgers, National Academy of Sciences, micron, WalMart, Water Association, American Chemistry Council, United Nations Environment, Duke University, University of Toronto, Kara Lavender Law, Sea Education Association Locations: Columbia, New Jersey, Australian, Boston, St, Los Angeles

☆ Oldest mosquito fossil comes with a bloodsucking surprise
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Dany Azar/Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are killed annually by malaria and other diseases spread through the bite of mosquitoes, insects that date back to the age of dinosaurs. To their surprise, the male mosquitoes possessed elongated piercing-sucking mouthparts seen now only in females. Some flying insects - tsetse flies, for instance - have hematophagous males. "In all hematophagous insects, we believe that hematophagy was a shift from plant liquid sucking to bloodsucking," Azar said. The researchers said while these are the oldest fossils, mosquitoes probably originated millions of years earlier.

Persons: Dany Azar, Handout, " Azar, Azar, André Nel, hematophagy, Nel, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Chinese Academy of Sciences ' Nanjing Institute of Geology, Lebanese University, National Museum of, World Health Organization, Thomson Locations: Lebanon, Hammana, Paris

☆ Virgin Atlantic plane will fly from London to New York with 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel. Experts say it’s not a fix
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —For the first time, a transatlantic flight operated by a commercial airline will be powered by 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) — a type of plane fuel that bears the promise of a much lower climate impact than traditional ones. The flight is the latest in a series of recent tests involving 100% SAF. Days earlier, business jet maker Gulfstream completed what it billed as the world’s first transatlantic flight using 100% SAF. Large twin-engine jets have performed flights using 100% SAF on both engines before, but these flights involved military aircraft. “One flight on 100% alternative fuel isn’t going to change the fact that 99.9% of aviation fuel is fossil fuel and there’s no great option for feedstock (raw materials) that can be scaled up sustainably,” she says.

Persons: Virgin Atlantic, Cat Hewitt, Hewitt, we’re, there’s, Giuseppe Cacace, Graham Hutchings, ”, “, ” Matteo Mirolo, ” Hewitt Organizations: CNN, Aviation Fuel, New York’s JFK, Virgin Atlantic, Boeing, Virgin, SAF, UK Civil Aviation Authority, Emirates, Airbus, Gulfstream, International Air Transport Association, Aviation Environment Federation, An, An Emirates Airbus, Getty, Royal Society, European Federation for Transport Locations: London Heathrow, New York’s, An Emirates, AFP

Eventually, China wants the schemes to be integrated into national emissions trading and generate credits that can offset emissions by industrial polluters, government plans show. PERSONAL CARBON TRADINGChina's carbon inclusion ambitions have been in gestation since 2015, when the southeastern province of Guangdong published rules on how to convert low-carbon activity into credits. Guangdong also allows enterprises to meet 10% of carbon reduction obligations through carbon inclusion credits. And there are worries the carbon inclusion schemes could let industrial polluters off the hook by shifting the burden of emission cuts to households. China climate official Su Wei told local media the green transformation of China would "inevitably involve profound changes in people's daily habits and consumption patterns", but he said carbon inclusion schemes would remain voluntary.

Persons: David Kirton, China's, Xie Zhenhua, Banks, Benjamin Sovacool, Li, Zhang Xin, people's, Yaqiu Wang, Su Wei, David Stanway, Sonali Paul Organizations: REUTERS, China, Communist, China Academy of Sciences, People's Bank of, Boston University, Environmental Studies, New, Thomson Locations: Pingshan district, Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, SHENZHEN, Dubai, Guangdong, People's Bank of China, Quzhou, Finland, British, Singapore, New York, Shanghai, Beijing

☆ Analysis-China Turns to Households in Fight to Slash Carbon Emissions
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-26 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +7 min

Eventually, China wants the schemes to be integrated into national emissions trading and generate credits that can offset emissions by industrial polluters, government plans show. PERSONAL CARBON TRADINGChina's carbon inclusion ambitions have been in gestation since 2015, when the southeastern province of Guangdong published rules on how to convert low-carbon activity into credits. Other countries have toyed with the idea of personal carbon trading, with pilot schemes set up in Finland and Australia's Norfolk Island. Guangdong also allows enterprises to meet 10% of carbon reduction obligations through carbon inclusion credits. And there are worries the carbon inclusion schemes could let industrial polluters off the hook by shifting the burden of emission cuts to households.

Persons: David Stanway, David Kirton, China's, Xie Zhenhua, Banks, Benjamin Sovacool, Li, Zhang Xin, people's, Yaqiu Wang, Su Wei, Sonali Paul Organizations: Communist, China Academy of Sciences, People's Bank of, Boston University, Environmental Studies, New Locations: China, Shenzhen, Dubai, Guangdong, People's Bank of China, Quzhou, Finland, British, Singapore, New York, Shanghai, Beijing

Many countries are working on them — and neither China, Russia, Iran, India or Pakistan have signed a U.S.-initiated pledge to use military AI responsibly. Another AI project at Space Force analyzes radar data to detect imminent adversary missile launches, he said. One urgent challenge, says Jane Pinelis, chief AI engineer at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Lab and former chief of AI assurance in Martell’s office, is recruiting and retaining the talent needed to test AI tech. Testing and evaluation standards are also immature, a recent National Academy of Sciences report on Air Force AI highlighted. Might that mean the U.S. one day fielding under duress autonomous weapons that don’t fully pass muster?

Persons: —, Replicator —, Kathleen Hicks, ”, Gregory Allen, we’ve, Missy Cummings, George Mason, Lisa Costa, Wallace ‘ Rhet ’ Turnbull, Tom Siebel, Matt Visser, Palantir, Jack Shanahan, Maven, Mark Milley, Christian Brose, Paul Scharre, ” Anduril, Nathan Michael, Michael, Shanahan, Craig Martell, Martell, Jane Pinelis, “ Organizations: U.S ., Russia, Air Force, China, Pentagon, Department of Defense, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Navy, ” U.S . Space Force, Space Force, Space Systems Command, Blackhawk, ., U.S . Missile Defense Agency, Defense Counterintelligence, Security Agency, Third Infantry Division, NATO, Maven, National Geospatial - Intelligence Agency, U.S . Special Operations, ISIS, Command, Control, Chiefs, Armed Services Committee, U.S, Marines, Special Forces, Industry, BAT, Marine Expeditionary, Pentagon AI, LinkedIn, Johns Hopkins, Lab, National Academy of Sciences Locations: Md, Ukraine, U.S, China, Russia, Iran, India, Pakistan, ” U.S, Silicon Valley

☆ The mystery of how the moon formed is still puzzling scientists. The secret could lie deep within our planet.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

AdvertisementHere are four leading theories of how the moon was formed, and why the secret to uncovering the truth could lie deep within our planet. The moon wandered by the Earth and was captured into its orbitAccording to the capture theory, the moon was wandering through the universe like a giant asteroid. NASA/NOAAThe moon formed alongside the EarthThe accretion hypothesis ties the moon to the birth of the Earth. The problem is that while the moon and the Earth share isotopes, the way they put them together is very different. The moon also pulls as the earth, scientists have found.

Persons: we're, —, Elon Musk, Sara Russell, Russell, Russel, it's, Vincent Eke, Jacob A, Theia, Deng, Artemis Organizations: Service, NASA, Elon, Apollo, NOAA, Chinese Academy of Sciences, ESA Locations: Theia

☆ How Nobel economists spend their $1 million winnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Every year, researchers in economics are awarded the Nobel Prize, alongside a hefty sum in winnings. All you have to do is bag a Nobel Prize. Franco Modigliani, an MIT professor who nabbed the Nobel in economics in 1985 , got about $225,000 in winnings. But, ultimately, he wanted to spend his winnings according to his own research on people's saving and spending habits. So when he was asked how he'd spend what was, in 2017 dollars, around $1.1 million in winnings, Thaler told reporters : "I will try to spend it as irrationally as possible."

Persons: —, Alfred Nobel, Claudia Goldin, it's, Goldin, Lars Heikenstein, Franco Modigliani, Modigliani, I'm, Modigliani isn't, Elinor Ostrom, Oliver E, Williamson, Esther Duflo, Abhijit Banerjee, Michael Kremer, Sir Angus Deaton, Richard Thaler, he'd, Thaler Organizations: Service, Sveriges, Economic Sciences, Guardian, Nobel Foundation, MIT, Washington Post, Indiana University, National Academy of Sciences, Fund for Research, Development, Harvard University, Boston Globe, University of Chicago Locations: Stockholm, United States of America

☆ Was Peace Ever Possible?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Moderated Emily Bazelon | A Discussion Moderated Emily Bazelon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +45 min

This was known as the Oslo peace process, named for the city where the secret talks took place. Micha Bar-Am/Magnum Photos Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir of Israel during the the Middle East peace conference in Madrid, 1991. Margalit: All the Israeli leaders who negotiated for peace, starting with Rabin, were in a weak political position. Dajani: With the First Intifada, and then subsequently Madrid and Oslo, Palestinians suddenly see the possibility of agency. But what’s important to understand is that the notion of peace for Rabin, and for most Israelis, is that peace is a lack of violence from the other side.

Persons: Jordan, Israel, Yasir Arafat, Bernard Frye, Arafat, Larry Towell, Abbas, Micha, Yitzhak Shamir, Jerome Delay, Saddam, Hussein, George H.W, Bush, James A, Baker III, Baker, Shamir, Yitzhak Rabin, Rabin, Shimon Peres, —, Margalit, Saddam Hussein, Hosni Mubarak of, King Hussein of Jordan, Bill Clinton, Gary Hershon, Abu Alaa, “, ” Rabin, ” Arafat, ”, Ashrawi, Yehuda, Efraim, Susan Meiselas, Baruch Goldstein, Patrick Baz, Daoud Mizrahi, Gilles Peress, Goldstein, Matti Steinberg, Netanyahu, Bazelon, Clinton, Shikaki, Manal Jamal, didn’t, Dennis Ross, Omar, Camp David, Ehud Barak, Md, Ralph Alswang, Christopher Anderson, Motasm Amir, Barak didn’t, Barak, David, Dajani, Emily, Arafat —, Ross, Mary, Nobody, Arafat didn’t, Hosni Mubarak, Mubarak, El, there’s, There’s, Robert Malley, Hussein Agha, ” Barak, Sharon, It’s, Yarden Romann, Peter van Agtmael, Khan Younis, Yousef Masoud, Khan, Ahmad Hasaballah, Ziv Koren, they’re, Dan, Avishai, Omar Dajani, Taba, Dana El Kurd, Efraim Inbar, ‘ ‘ Rabin, ’ ’, Daniel Kurtzer, Avishai Margalit, George Kennan, Van, Khalil Shikaki, Limor Yehuda, Emily Bazelon, Nabil Ismail, Pascal, Said, Ulf Andersen, Getty, Menahem Kahana, Abdel, Shafi, Maggie Ohayon, Yigal Amir, Yoav Lemmer, Jack Guez, Olmert, Moshe Milner, Ami, Dani Cardona, Awad Awad, Obama, Ben Gershom Organizations: United Nations, West Bank, Associated, Palestine Liberation Organization, U.S, Soviet Union, Palestinian, Madrid didn’t, Bank, White, Agence France, Presse, Getty Images, Oslo Accord, White House, Reuters, Israel’s Labor Party government, Bazelon, Oslo Palestinian, Getty, West, Shin, Gross, . Security, Camp, Camp David Summit, Labor Party, NPR, American, New York Times, Polaris, Labor, United, McGeorge School of Law, University of the, Israel, Camp David, University of Richmond, Arab Center Washington, Jerusalem Institute for Strategy, Security, Shalem College, Bar, Ilan University, Sadat Center, Strategic Studies, Israel’s National Security, Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Institute for, Princeton, Israel Academy of Sciences, Humanities, Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, Palestinian Center, Policy, Research, Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University, Gaza, Hebrew University, Haifa University, Human, The New York Times Magazine, Mount Locations: Israel, Jordan, Gaza, Egypt, Jerusalem, Zion, Munich, Tunisia, Oslo, American, Oslo Gaza, Palestine, Madrid, Kuwait, United States, Soviet, Lebanon, Syria, Jordanian, America, Washington, U.S, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, U.N, Independence, Palestinian, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Rafah, Hebron, Ibrahimi, West Bank, Judea, Samaria, Yehuda, Camp David, Jenin, Haram, Al Aqsa, Khan, Kfar Aza, Khan Younis, Ahmad, Old, Ireland, Bosnia, Tel Aviv, Iran, Athens, El, Camp, Israeli, Van Leer, Ramallah

☆ Start-Ups With Laser Beams: The Companies Trying to Ignite Fusion Energy
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Kenneth Chang | More About Kenneth Chang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In December last year, after years of trying, the National Ignition Facility, or NIF, at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory reported that it had finally lived up to its middle name: ignition. For the first time anywhere, a laser-induced burst of fusion produced more energy than that supplied by the incoming lasers. “We’re really excited by the NIF results,” said Kramer Akli, who manages the fusion energy sciences program at the United States Department of Energy. A decade ago, a report by the National Academy of Sciences found much to like in the energy potential of laser fusion but recommended that the United States hold off major investments until ignition was achieved. The sun generates heat and light by jamming — fusing — hydrogen atoms together into helium.

Persons: We’re, ”, Kramer Akli, arth, ould Organizations: National Ignition Facility, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, United States Department of Energy, National Academy of Sciences Locations: United States

☆ Scientists create chimeric monkey with two sets of DNA
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Scientists based in China have created a monkey chimera with two sets of DNA, experimental work they say could ultimately benefit medical research and the conservation of endangered species. It’s the world’s first live birth of a primate chimera created with stem cells, the researchers said. Scientists have created mouse embryos that are part human, and in 2021, scientists reported that they had grown human-monkey chimeric embryos. In September, researchers reported that they had grown kidneys containing mostly human cells inside pig embryos. Then they selected a subset of cells to inject into genetically distinct 4- to 5-day-old embryos from the same monkey species.

Persons: —, ”, Miguel Esteban, chimeras, Zhen Liu, Liu, Jun Wu, hadn’t, Wu wasn’t, Jacob Hanna, ” Hanna, Penny Hawkins, “ Organizations: CNN —, Cell, Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Research, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Weizmann Institute of Science, Royal Society for, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, Covid Locations: China, Health, Research Hangzhou, Israel, United States

☆ Extreme Weather May Be Displacing Animals, Too, a New Study Suggests
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Asher Elbein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A new analysis published this week suggests that extreme weather linked to climate change might be much harder on native species than on nonnative ones. As the planet warms, extreme weather events — heat waves, cold snaps, droughts and floods — are becoming more common and destructive. The new paper, published on Monday in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution by a team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, suggests that these sudden, violent changes in conditions could be helping to fundamentally reshape ecosystems. In a statement, the team said that research on the impacts of extreme weather on ecosystems, while still in its early stages, was “critically important” to our ability to understand the effects of global warming on biodiversity. The researchers, led by Xuan Liu, an ecologist at the Academy of Sciences, analyzed 443 studies that examined the responses of 1,852 native and 187 nonnative species — from land, freshwater and marine habitats — to extreme weather.

Persons: Xuan Liu Organizations: Chinese Academy of Sciences, Academy of Sciences

Debates about its efficacy abound, with the United States, Europe and several environmental groups speaking out about the opportunities and risks. Research has been conducted into other potentially less dangerous SRM technologies, including marine cloud brightening, which involves the spraying of seawater from ships to make clouds more reflective. One group of 60 scientists launched a global initiative last year aimed at persuading governments to ban outdoor solar geoengineering experiments. "Once you've committed to it, you've got to keep doing it," said Laura Wilcox, a climate expert at Britain's University of Exeter. "If you stop, then you're going to see all of that warming that you've missed, essentially on climate timescales overnight.

Persons: Luke Iseman, SO2, Benjamin Sovacool, Andrea Hinwood, you've, Laura Wilcox, David Stanway, Jake Spring, Pravin Organizations: REUTERS, U.S . National Academy of Sciences, Company, Reuters, Harvard University, Swedish Space Corporation, Research, Boston University, SRM, United Nations Environment Program, Britain's University of Exeter, Pravin Char, Thomson Locations: Baja California, Mexico, Handout, United States, Europe, China, England, Africa, Asia

☆ Relics of huge primordial collision reside in Earth's deep interior
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/NASA/Handout/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Seismologists have recognized since the 1970s that two mysterious continent-sized blobs reside in the deepest part of Earth's mantle, one under Africa and the other under the South Pacific region. Based on these simulations, they proposed that most of Theia was absorbed into Earth, forming the blobs, while residual debris formed the moon. If the study's conclusions are correct, these blobs would represent the first direct evidence of the hypothesized moon-forming collision. "It is incredible because we can uncover relics of another planet - Theia - if we dig deep enough in Earth's mantle," added planetary scientist and study co-author Hongping Deng of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Shanghai Astronomical Observatory. Asimow said that if their conclusions are correct some volcanic rocks that reach Earth's surface may provide samples of a vanished planet.

Persons: Qian Yuan, Paul Asimow, Hongping Deng, Yuan, Asimow, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: NASA, REUTERS, Rights, Caltech, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Thomson Locations: Africa, South Pacific, Theia, Shanghai

☆ Brazil child cancer deaths linked to soy farming, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Ana Mano | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The U.S. researchers found a relationship between soy production and related community exposure to agrochemicals including glyphosate, a widely used weedkiller that some genetically modified soybean seeds are designed to tolerate. "We find a statistically significant increase in pediatric leukemia following expanded local soy production," the PNAS article said, based on Brazilian childhood cancer incidence and disease mortality data spanning 15 years. Specifically, the study found a correlation between soy farming and childhood blood cancers, especially acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common blood cancer in children. There were 123 additional deaths of children under age 10 from 2008 to 2019 from ALL following the expansion of soybean production in Brazil, the researchers found. That number would have been higher were it not for the country's high-quality cancer treatment centers, the researchers said.

Persons: Adriano Machado, Ana Mano, Nancy Lapid, Bill Berkrot Organizations: REUTERS, SAO PAULO, U.S . National Academy of Sciences, Thomson Locations: Luziania, Goias, Brazil, U.S, China, United States

☆ Chunks of an alien world could be hidden deep within our planet, say scientists
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

This alien planet, Theia, was thought to have completely disappeared in the collision. AdvertisementAdvertisementAs well as shedding new light on the inner workings of our planet, scientists hope they will one day have access to these slabs of alien rock to reveal, once and for all, how our moon formed. The assumption has long been that Theia melded into moon, the Earth's mantle, and its core, in effect disappearing completely. Previous theories have suggested this core-mantle boundary could be made up of bits of ancient ocean floors. The problem is that the core-mantle boundary is very far from the surface — about 1,800 miles.

Persons: Theia, Vincent Eke, Jacob A, haven't, Edward Garnero, Li, Hongping Deng, Everest, Deng, Christian Schroeder Organizations: Service, Arizona State University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Durham University, University of Stirling Locations: Theia, Iceland, Samoa

☆ Relics of Huge Primordial Collision Reside in Earth's Deep Interior
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

By Will DunhamWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Seismologists have recognized since the 1970s that two mysterious continent-sized blobs reside in the deepest part of Earth's mantle, one under Africa and the other under the South Pacific region. Based on these simulations, they proposed that most of Theia was absorbed into Earth, forming the blobs, while residual debris formed the moon. If the study's conclusions are correct, these blobs would represent the first direct evidence of the hypothesized moon-forming collision. "It is incredible because we can uncover relics of another planet - Theia - if we dig deep enough in Earth's mantle," added planetary scientist and study co-author Hongping Deng of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Shanghai Astronomical Observatory. Asimow said that if their conclusions are correct some volcanic rocks that reach Earth's surface may provide samples of a vanished planet.

Persons: Will Dunham WASHINGTON, Qian Yuan, Paul Asimow, Hongping Deng, Yuan, Asimow, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Caltech, Chinese Academy of Sciences Locations: Africa, South Pacific, Theia, Shanghai

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