【Today's Cover】
On the 17th, the pre-exhibition exploration activity of the "Shandong Dragon - Crossing the Cretaceous Period" exhibition was held in Jinan, Shandong Province, revealing the "Giant Shandong Dragon" exhibition process. The "Giant Shandong Dragon" is the largest duckbill dinosaur known in the world to date, discovered in Zhucheng, Shandong Province, in 1964. The reconstructed skeleton after the fossil assembly of the skeleton is 14 meters long and stands about 8 meters high. Photo by China News Service reporter Li Mingrui
Message stations
Photo by Zheng Bin
●At 10:35 on the 17th, the Long March 2 Ding Yao 70 carrier rocket was ignited and launched at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center to successfully send the test 13 satellite into the predetermined orbit, and the launch mission was a complete success, ushering in the opening of the 2022 space launch of China Aerospace. (Source: Science and Technology Daily)
Screenshots of web pages
●On September 30, 2021, the key policies for the prevention and control of the new crown pneumonia epidemic at the Beijing Winter Olympics were released, which clearly stated that tickets will not be sold to overseas audiences, and only tickets will be sold to domestic audiences that meet the relevant requirements for epidemic prevention and control. In view of the fact that the epidemic prevention and control situation is still severe and complex, in order to ensure the health and safety of Olympic-related personnel and spectators, it was decided to adjust the original plan to organize spectators to watch the game in a targeted manner through the public sale of tickets, requiring the audience to strictly comply with the relevant requirements of the new crown pneumonia epidemic prevention and control before, during and after the game, so as to create a good atmosphere for the smooth holding of the event under the premise of epidemic prevention and control safety. (Source: Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee official website)
New discoveries
Close-up of the Keelung chandelier flower corolla. Photo courtesy of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
●A few days ago, researchers from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered a new species of chandelier flower in the Xigaze area of Tibet - Jilong chandelier flower. According to reports, the chandelier flower belongs to the oleander family, mainly distributed in Africa, tropical Asia, Oceania. At present, a total of 21 species of wild plants of the chandelier flower genus have been recorded in China. (Source: China News Network)
Pure technology
Image source: Visual China
● According to Israeli media reports, at least 20 cases of infection with the BA.2 variant of the new coronavirus Omiljun strain have been found in the country, which has more mutations than the original Omiljun strain. At present, the BA.2 variant of the Omiljung strain is emerging in several countries, and even began to gradually replace the earlier BA.1 variant, which may be more contagious. (Source: Science and Technology Daily)
The picture on the left shows a specimen of the odd-winged larvae in Burmese amber, and the right picture shows a specimen of a primitive ant. Photo courtesy of the Nangu Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
● Young imitation of ants, growing up imitating mud bees, with such a strong "acting" is actually a class of small insects 100 million years ago. A recent international study led by the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has found that a class of insects living 100 million years ago will simulate different animals with their own growth, which can be called "super actors" in ancient times. (Source: XinhuaNet)
Snail shell from Rurutu (French Polynesia, Australian Archipelago). These snails were extinct before they were recently collected and scientifically described. Image source: EurekAlert website
Life on Earth has experienced five biodiversity mass extinction events caused by extreme natural phenomena. Today, many experts warn that a sixth mass extinction crisis is taking place, and this time it is entirely caused by human activities. Biologists at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France, recently published a comprehensive assessment of the evidence for this persistent extinction event in the journal Biology Review. (Source: Science and Technology Daily)
Look at the world
Image source: @Xinhua International
● The submarine volcanic eruption on Aha Apai Island in Tongahun caused damage to submarine communication lines, and several media outlets called the South Pacific island nation currently "isolated." According to a communications company, Tonga's external communications will take up to 2 weeks to resume. Fiji's environment department warned on the 17th that satellite data show that the increase in the concentration of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere of Tonga and neighboring countries may lead to acid rain, and people should stay at home as much as possible when it rains, and take measures to prevent rainwater from polluting drinking water. (Source: Xinhua International)
On The 16th, Usama Rabiye, chairman of Egypt's Suez Canal Authority, said that the project to widen the southern section of the Suez Canal will take two years and is expected to be completed in July 2023. At that time, the navigability efficiency of this difficult section of the canal can be increased by 28%. On March 23 last year, the Panamanian-flagged heavy freighter Changshi ran aground on the Suez Canal, hampering shipping on the canal for nearly a week. (Source: Xinhua International)
Editor: Zhang Qiqi
Review: Julie
Final Judge: He Yi