【Today's Cover】
Recently, the cherry blossoms in Fuzhou City have gradually opened to attract birds to come to collect honey, and the flowers and birds are in harmony, presenting a beautiful scenery in early spring. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Mei Yongcun
Message stations
●On the 25th, the Information Office of the State Council held a press conference. Zhu Xuehua, director of the Department of Social Development Science and Technology of the Ministry of Science and Technology, said that 25 vaccines have entered clinical trials, of which 7 have been approved for use. Up to now, there are 68 nucleic acid detection reagent products in the country that have been listed, and the fastest test results can be out in about half an hour. At the same time, the first neutralizing antibody new crown drug combination therapy has been approved for conditional listing, and a number of small molecule drugs have entered the phase III clinical trial stage. (Source: Science and Technology Daily)
●On February 25, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) released the 49th Statistical Report on the Development of China's Internet Network (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") in Beijing. According to the report, as of December 2021, the number of mainland Netizens reached 1.032 billion, an increase of 42.96 million over December 2020, and the Internet penetration rate reached 73.0%. (Source: CCTV News)
New discoveries
Recently, Cody Watling and colleagues at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom pointed out after analyzing the long-term eating behavior of nearly 500,000 people that the overall risk of cancer was reduced by 2% compared with people who ate meat more than 5 times a week. The study was published in BMC Medicine on February 24. (Source: Science Network)
Pure technology
●Recently, Luo Qingming, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and president of Hainan University, and Li Xiangning of wuhan National Laboratory of Optoelectronics of Huazhong University of Science and Technology revealed the neural circuit mechanism of short-term learning and memory impairment in Alzheimer's disease (AD) through fluorescence micro-optical slice tomography (fMOST) technology, and the related research result "Neuronal dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex caused by choline deficiency in AD mice" was published on February 22 in the international academic journal Nature Newsletter. (Source: Science and Technology Daily)
● Researchers at Northwestern University and Langze Technology Company published a paper in the latest issue of Nature Biotechnology that researchers genetically engineered a Clostridium bacteria for the synthesis of compounds that they could not produce before, and this process of selecting, designing, and optimizing bacterial strains has successfully demonstrated its ability to convert CO into acetone and isopropanol. If widely adopted, the carbon-negative platform can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 160% compared to conventional processes. (Source: Science and Technology Daily)
Fully printed artificial neurons in flycatchers are tuned with a high input current (10 μA) because of the higher stimulation frequency, the flytraps shut down under two spikes of stimulation. Figure according to the paper
Simone Fabiano and collaborators at Linköping University in Sweden found in a study that an artificial neuron can successfully communicate with the biological cells of the flytrap and also allow the flycatcher to close its leaves. The research results may be of great significance for the development of brain-computer interfaces and soft robots in the future. The study was published In Nature Communications on February 23. (Source: Science Network)
The art depicts the mighty waves rushing into the Tanis River, enveloping everything around it and falling from the sky. Some dinosaurs are still trying to escape. Source: Nature online
A study published Feb. 24 in the journal Nature suggests that the Hicksulub asteroid impact event that ended the dinosaur era (Mesozoic) occurred in the spring of the Northern Hemisphere. An international team of researchers came to this conclusion after examining flakes of fish bones that died less than 60 minutes after the asteroid impact, high-resolution synchrotron radiation X-ray scans and carbon isotope recordings. The discovery helps explain subsequent patterns of extinction while improving understanding of this critical moment in Earth's history. (Source: Science and Technology Daily)
Look at the world
Health Canada announced on February 24 that it authorizes Covidnz, a COVID-19 vaccine developed by the country's pharmaceutical company Medicago, for use in adults ages 18 to 64. This is the sixth COVID-19 vaccine approved by Canada and the first locally developed COVID-19 vaccine. Unlike other vaccines that are currently officially recognized in Canada, Covifenz is the first COVID-19 vaccine to use plant-based protein technology. (Source: China News Network)
Editor: Liu Yiyang
Review: Julie
Final Judgement: Wang Yu