China's Long March rocket launch opportunity opens auctions for 1st time

China's Long March rocket launch opportunity will be auctioned for the first time on Thursday in a move that experts believe will reduce the cost of commercial access to space and boost high demand for commercial space applications. "We will screen the qualifications of the enterprises, including their experience and their use for the space […]

Exclusive: Project manager urges smooth collaboration as Indian equipment for China Space Station cooperation struggles with export clearance

"We cannot speculate on why it has taken so long to get clearance or what the issues are," said Jayant Murthy, a senior Indian astrophysicist and manager of a project dubbed the first-ever space technology collaboration between China and India. It was expected to be the first international payload to go to the China Space […]

Demand for nuclear radiation detectors runs high amid wastewater dumping fears

Orders for nuclear radiation detectors have surged on domestic e-commerce platforms, with many stores claiming to have sold out, the Global Times learned from industry insiders. Concerns have mounted following the news of Japan's dumping of nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the sea. Several online vendors reached by the Global Times on Monday said that their products […]

Australian fairy circles first to be found outside Africa

Beyond the small mining town of Newman in Western Australia lie the first fairy circles scientists have described outside of Africa. These patches of bare soil dot outback grasslands in almost regular polka-dot patterns, just like the puzzling circle landscapes known from Namibia, says ecologist Stephan Getzin of the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research-UFZ in […]

How Zika became the prime suspect in microcephaly mystery

The prime suspect in Brazil’s recent surge in birth defects may be convicted this summer, in the sweltering cities of Colombia. That’s when the first big wave of pregnant women infected with Zika virus last fall will begin to give birth. Whether or not these babies are born with shrunken brains, a condition known as […]

Ancient arthropod kept its brood close

Family ties last 430 million years — at least for one newly discovered arthropod species. Researchers discovered the fossilized remains of Aquilonifer spinosus encased in carbonate from a formation called the Herefordshire Lagerstätte in England. Shields covered the 9.5-millimeter arthropod from head to tail, and long spines protruded from its armor. But that’s not all: […]

Typhoid toxin aids survival in mice

A DNA-damaging protein in typhoid bacteria might keep infected animals alive and provide a safe haven for the microbes. Typhoid toxin, a protein produced by the typhoid fever-causing bacterium Salmonella enterica Typhi, tears DNA molecules apart. But the protein actually prolonged survival and reduced gut inflammation in mice infected with S. enterica, an international team […]

Gelada monkeys know their linguistic math

The grunts, moans and wobbles of gelada monkeys, a chatty species residing in Ethiopia’s northern highlands, observe a universal mathematical principle seen until now only in human language. The new research, published online April 18 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, sheds light on the evolution of primate communication and complex human […]