1
Research on the identification and conservation of jujubes has been made
Recently, Wang Wei's team, a researcher at the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, clarified by integrating molecular and morphological evidence that the cane jujube with pinnate veins is the real jujube, and the so-called "vine jujube" with three veins is actually a member of the new record genus (blood fruit vine genus) of the family Hexinidae. The results of the study were published on Taxon.
The correct identification of endangered species is a prerequisite for their effective protection. However, vines, especially large woody vines, rare flowers or fruits in the wild, are extremely difficult to identify based on nutritional traits alone, and misidentification is frequent. For example, the jujube of the family Adiscosa is a class I rare and endangered plant in China, but which plant is the real jujube has long been controversial.
——China Science News
2
Anhui Guangde first found that the Yangtze crocodile naturally spawned
Recently, the staff of the Guangde Zhucun area of the Anhui Yangzi Crocodile Conservation Area found for the first time in the field that the Yangzi crocodile released in the wild laid a nest of eggs, a total of 18 pieces. According to the staff, this is the first time in 20 years that crocodile nest crocodile eggs have been found in Guangde.
From 2020 onwards, a total of 77 Yangzi crocodiles have been released and bred locally. In the next step, Guangde will do a good job in the daily monitoring and protection of the ovaries of the Yangtze crocodile, ensure the normal hatching of the small Yangtze crocodile, continuously optimize the ecological environment of the reserve, and quickly restore the wild Yangtze crocodile population.
——Guangming Daily
3
Scientists have found that target pests adapt to Bt crops by means of symbiotic viruses
Recently, the scientific research team of the Institute of Plant Protection of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, together with the Shenzhen Institute of Genomics of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Lancaster University in the United Kingdom, has made important progress in the field of interaction between insects and symbiotic microorganisms. The results were published online in the international journal elife.
Bt cotton has been planted in China for more than 20 years, and the impact of changes in the planting structure of the crop on target pests, non-target pests, natural enemy insects, and symbiotic microorganisms is a very important scientific issue. It was found that a symbiotic virus, HadV2, is widely present in the target pest of Bt cotton, Bollworm, and can obtain higher suitability and Bt tolerance by regulating genes related to the immune pathway of Bollworm.
4
The first genetically modified marsupial was successfully bred
▲ The Biosystem Dynamics Research Center of rikenKenken, Japan, successfully bred the first genetically modified marsupial, the possum, through genetic engineering. Image source: Eurekalert website
Researchers at the Biosystem Dynamics Research Center of rikirken, Rikirchein, Japan, genetically engineered the first genetically modified marsupial, the possum. The paper, published recently in the journal Contemporary Biology, will help decipher the unique genetic information observed only in marsupials.
Genetically modified animals, especially mice and rats, are extremely important objects for studying the process of biological development. Marsupials have unique characteristics, and possums are considered the ancestor of all marsupials and the first marsupials to complete whole genome sequencing. Possums are similar in size and reproductive characteristics to mice and rats, so they are by far the best animal model of choice.
——Science and Technology Daily
5
British researchers invent super insulators
"Reference News" published a report on the US "Popular Science" website on July 26 that "the world's worst heat conductor may be a factor changing the pattern of the climate crisis.". The summary is as follows:
Researchers at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom invented a material. The researchers say the material's thermal conductivity is nearly the lowest of any solid material ever mastered by humans. This direction may sound strange, but it's not — a material with very low thermal conductivity is a super insulator, and a material like this can play an important role in achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. The researchers recently published their findings on the Science magazine website.
6
Scientists determine the structure of the Martian crust by analyzing Martian earthquakes
▲ Image source: World Wide Web
Based on an analysis of Martian earthquakes recorded by NASA's InSight mission, the structure of the Martian crust is now precisely determined for the first time. Below the InSight landing site, the Earth's crust is about 20 or 39 kilometers thick. It is the result of an international team of researchers led by Dr. Brigitte Knapmeyer-Endrun, a geophysicist at the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy at the University of Cologne, and Dr. Mark Panning of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
InSight is an abbreviation for "Internal Exploration Using Seismic Survey, Geodesy, and Heat Transfer." NASA's lander landed on Mars on November 26, 2018, to explore the Red Planet's crust, mantle and core. On July 23, 2021, the journal Science published the paper "The Thickness and Structure of the Crust of Mars from InSight Seismic Data."
——World Wide Web
Source: Today's WeChat public account of the Association for Science and Technology
Organizations at all levels of the China Association for Science and Technology should adhere to the responsibility positioning of serving scientific and technological workers, serving innovation-driven development, serving to improve the scientific quality of the whole people, and serving the scientific decision-making of the party and the government, and promote the construction of open, hub-type, and platform-based science and technology association organizations. Take up the long arm, take root in the grass-roots level, unite and lead the vast number of scientific and technological workers to actively march into scientific and technological innovation, organize and carry out innovative scramble actions, promote the prosperity and development of science and technology, promote the popularization and popularization of science, and truly become a people's organization that unites and links the vast number of scientific and technological workers under the leadership of the party, and become an important force in scientific and technological innovation. ——Xi Jinping