Month: October 2021

Earth’s climate is a vastly complex system on a grand scale. On a microscopic level, so is the complicated physics of atoms and molecules found within materials. The 2021 Nobel Prize in physics knits together the work of three scientists who illuminated such intricate physical systems by harnessing basic tools of physics.  Half of the prize goes to climate scientists Syukuro Manabe of Princeton University and Klaus Hasselmann of the […]

China experiments on how to grow a coral reef Global coral reefs have entered a distinctive human-dominated era, the Anthropocene, characterized by more frequent severe global coral bleaching events and regional-scale coral habitat degradation. The prime causes of this are increased ocean temperatures, increased light intensity and increased ocean acidity – all closely connected to climate change. The most dramatic example of this is the severe coral bleaching of the […]

Experts believe there’s a cleaner, safer and better way to harvest nuclear energy. With its newest power plant, China might be first to get there. Scientists are very excited about an experimental reactor in Wuwei, China, and so are environmentalists. The reactor is cooled by molten salts instead of water, and instead of using uranium, like most commercial nuclear plants, it’s fuelled by thorium. Thorium is a weakly radioactive metal […]

Chinese scientists have recently completed a seed-collection mission on Mount Qomolangma, according to the Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, a comprehensive national database for the collection and preservation of wildlife germplasm resources in China. Mount Qomolangma. The team successfully collected seeds of several plants such as crucihimalaya himalaica and saussurea gnaphalodes at a height of approximately 6,200 meters, setting a new record for plant seed collection at the highest altitude […]