The "beacon of democracy” does not allow a rational voice toward China. Cartoon:Vitaly Podvitski

China's manned space program has witnessed another milestone, as the Shenzhou-14 taikonauts entered the Mengtian lab module - the third and last part of the three-module China Space Station - on Thursday afternoon, after the new module carried out a transposition to the side docking port, completing in-orbit assembly of the station's T-shape basic structure.  […]

As August 15 marks the first National Ecological Day and to further strengthen the judicial protection of forest resources, the Chinese Supreme People's Court issued a document on Monday, which comprehensively regulates the conviction and sentencing standards and relevant legal application issues of crimes involving destruction of forest resources, clarifying the conviction and sentencing standards […]

In a wide-ranging and compelling new book, science journalist Jo Marchant explores whether the mind can heal the body. The question is polarizing: Conventional doctors dismiss the power of the mind as New Age hooey, while alternative medicine advocates are quick to claim miracle cures for whatever ails you. The murky middle ground between these […]

Iron, says aging expert Naftali Raz, is like the Force. It can be good or bad, depending on the context. When that context is the human brain, though, scientists wrangle over whether iron is a dark force for evil or a bright source of support. Some iron is absolutely essential for the brain. On that, […]

In case there were any lingering doubts, three new studies published May 11 could cement the theory that Zika virus infection in utero causes birth defects. One shows that mice engineered to be susceptible to Zika can pass the virus to offspring via the placenta. In these pregnant mice, which have severely crippled immune systems, […]

A new study sounds a cautionary note for a controversial procedure used in creating “three-parent babies.” That procedure replaces defective mitochondria, the energy-generating organelles in cells, with healthy ones. But even a tiny amount of defective mitochondria may replicate and take over the cell, researchers report online May 19 in Cell Stem Cell. Exactly which […]

A “dirty blizzard” bombarded the Gulf of Mexico seafloor with pollution from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill for months after workers sealed the leak, new research shows. Marine snow, an organic material that floats down from the ocean’s upper layers, carried the pollution to the seafloor, researchers report the week of May 30 in […]

On December 3, 2000, at Cape Shirreff, near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, a female Antarctic fur seal experienced a personal tragedy: She gave birth to a dead male pup. For the next day or so, the seal, numbered “12” by scientists watching her group, nuzzled her baby and vocalized to him. Nearby on […]

The link between pollinator problems and neonicotinoids, a group of agricultural pesticides commonly associated with declines in honeybees, continues to build with two new studies published this week. Butterflies of Northern California join the ranks of honeybees, bumblebees, moths and other organisms that may be feeling the effects of the infamous insecticides. Butterfly species in […]