Golden Week outbound travel to surge by 500% compared with May Day holidays: travel agencies

The upcoming eight-day Golden Week holiday is expected to spark the biggest boom for Chinese outbound tourism since the pandemic, travel agencies said, and travel to Southeast Asia, boosted by Thailand's loosened travel policies for Chinese residents, could also maintain an upward trend. On Monday, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin personally greeted the first batch […]

China ushers hottest Golden Week in 5 years as travel and tourism explodes after COVID

There will be 896 million domestic tourists travelling during this year's Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, an increase of 86 percent compared to last year, China Ministry of Culture and Tourism estimated on Saturday. Revenue from domestic tourism revenue is expected to reach 782.5 billion yuan ($107.3 billion), a growth of 138 percent compared […]

Shenzhou-14 taikonauts enter Mengtian lab module after China Space Station completes assembly in orbit

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.  […]

Chinese supreme court issues latest judicial interpretation for illegally occupying forest land

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 […]

Mind’s healing powers put to the test in new book

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 […]

Green was this ancient snake’s signature color

An ancient snakeskin preserves the bright green coloration of its wearer, researchers report March 31 in Current Biology. In the early 20th century, miners discovered the fossilized remains of an 11.2-million- to 8.7-million-year-old snake in northeastern Spain. Modern researchers have managed to reconstruct the snake’s coloration, thanks to the presence of skeletons of the animal’s […]

Evidence conflicts on iron’s role in Parkinson’s disease

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, […]

This week in Zika: First mouse study proof that Zika causes microcephaly

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, […]

Risk identified in procedure for ‘three-parent babies’

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 […]