appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

SCMP

We have put together stories from our coverage on science from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.
1. China’s first high-speed jet drone makes every warship an aircraft carrier
In an aviation tech breakthrough that could change naval warfare, Chinese aerospace engineers have unveiled what could be the world’s first high-speed vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone powered by a jet engine. The sleek, runway-independent uncrewed aircraft can be launched from the decks of ordinary warships – even in rough seas – and transition seamlessly into a fast, long-range cruise flight.
2. Top engineer involved in Boeing 787 and A380 design leaves US for China
Zhou Ming, renowned as the mastermind behind key industrial software used in planes such as the Boeing 787 and Airbus A380, has left his leadership role at US-based global engineering giant Altair to return to China.
3. New Chinese see-through brain technique offers clearest look inside its workings

Chinese scientists have developed a technology that can make organs such as the brain or the heart transparent, allowing an exceptionally clear view of their inner workings.
4. Why are honeybees dying en masse in the United States but thriving in China?
While the US suffered its largest recorded collapse in its commercial honeybee colonies, China’s bee population has reached a historic high, maintaining the country’s long-standing position as the world’s largest producer of apiary goods.
5. How the Philippines forced China to adjust historic mission to moon’s far side

Chinese space engineers made small but deliberate changes to last year’s historic sample retrieval mission to the far side of the moon to avoid political friction in the South China Sea, according to a new paper. The Chang’e-6 spacecraft left the Wenchang spaceport on Hainan Island on board a Long March-5 rocket in May 2024, returning to Earth the following month with the world’s first lunar samples from the moon’s hidden side.
6. Chinese scientists transplant human brain cells to mice, boosting pleasure
Chinese scientists have found a way to turn human stem cells into dopamine-producing brain cells, transplanting them into mice and helping reduce depressive behaviour and boost pleasure. When the engineered neuron-like cells were grafted into depression-model mice, they helped lessen symptoms like anxiety and resignation while increasing feelings of enjoyment.
7. Planting trees could lead to droughts in parts of US and Asia: Chinese-led study

Planting trees in some parts of the world could cause droughts, according to a Chinese-led study that suggested greening efforts should take regional conditions into account to be effective. Through a complex multi-decade study of vegetation and soil moisture patterns combining several databases and models, the researchers found that nearly half of the world had experienced a pattern of “greening-drying.”


Shanghai’s changing expats, Hong Kong trail sign fallout: SCMP’s 7 highlights

Exhibition on gardens of China, Europe; art director’s top spots: 7 Lifestyle highlights

China builds world’s first ‘coal battery’, war on Alzheimer’s: 7 science highlights

UAE’s Opec exit, why Japan shared Mogami warship design with India: 7 Asia highlights

SCMP Highlights

China’s first high-speed jet drone, top aviation engineer leaves US: 7 science highlights

China’s first VTOL drone jet fires up its engine before a test flight. Photo: Beihang University

Scientists have long been looking for ways to make biological tissues transparent so that they can study organs without damaging their internal structures by cutting through them. Photo: Handout

A scientific paper published in China outlines changes that were made to the Chang’e-6 mission, which blasted off on board a Long March-5 rocket on May 3, 2024. Photo: Xinhua

Increased vegetation cover was linked to reduced moisture levels in the soil in some parts of the world, including parts of Australia and the US. Photo: Reuters

China’s super steel for nuclear fusion, new ‘Darwin Monkey’ computer: 7 science highlights

The “Darwin Monkey” is made up of 960 Darwin 3 brain-inspired computing chips creating over 100 billion synapses. Photo: Handout


Chinese scientists say they can create a zone of electromagnetic calm, similar to the eye of a storm at the heart of an intense signal jamming environment. Photo: Shutterstock 

Li Hanfeng. Photo: Handout

Unlike the more common cubic diamonds, the hexagonal structure of a meteorite diamond is believed to have been formed in the intense heat and pressure generated by the impact with Earth. Illustration: Shutterstock

China’s stealth design software breakthrough, mega dam project boost: 7 science highlights

Team based in China also finds that the use of specific drugs in combination with chemotherapy could be used to inhibit this process in mice, with a clinical trial already under way in breast cancer patients. Photo: AP

The US X-47B programme was cancelled 10 years ago. Photo: AP

The mega dam across the Yarlung Tsangpo River could produce triple the electricity generated by the Three Gorges dam further south. Photo: AFP

US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites with GBU-57 bunker busters in June met with reportedly little resistance. Photo: AP

China’s CR450AF EMU (left) and CR400AF-S EMU trains are displayed at the 12th UIC High-Speed Railway Congress at the National Railway Test Centre in Beijing on July 9. Photo: EPA

China reveals superfast maglev, Viagra’s cancer-fighting potential: 7 science highlights

China’s railway authorities gave the public its first glimpse of a superfast maglev train this week in Beijing. The vehicle, which is currently undergoing testing, could cut travel times in half, according to experts. Photo: Handout

China’s Chishui He, also known as the Red River, is regarded by ecologists as the last refuge for rare and endemic fish species in the upper reaches of the Yangtze. Photo: Shutterstock


Tourists take photos of camels in the Badain Jaran Desert in China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Photo: Xinhua

In her career, oncologist and Jilin Cancer Hospital director Cheng Ying received the Chinese Physician Award and named Outstanding Hospital President. Photo: Handout

Analysis of samples from patients with pancreatic, breast and colorectal cancers showed cells that act as the “intelligence agents” of the immune system can become severely depleted as the tumour progresses. Sildenafil is able to reverse the process, the research team says. Photo: Shutterstock

China’s mosquito-sized drone, how exercise slows ageing: 7 science highlights

Chinese researchers have found that betaine, a compound naturally occurring in the kidneys during long-term exercise, helps people to live longer. Photo: Reuters

A CCTV screenshot shows a Chinese mosquito-sized UAV developed at the National University of Defence Technology and suited to covert military operations. Photo: CCTV

Chinese researchers say they have developed the world’s first highly parallel optical computing integrated chip, named “Meteor-1”. Photo: Handout

The new drone will be fired in a similar way to this live-fire drill carried out by the Chinese army in Tibet as its tensions with India elevated following a deadly clash on the disputed Himalayan border in 2020. Photo: Weibo

Northwestern Polytechnical University announced on Monday it successfully conducted a flight test of its Feitian 2 hypersonic vehicle at a site in northwestern China. Photo: Handout

China’s heat shield breakthrough, scientist behind J-20 radar leap: 7 science highlights

Researchers in China said they have taken a first step in developing an integrated ground-air-space quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) network. Image: Shutterstock

The breakthrough overcomes fundamental barriers in traditional computing by merging binary and probability-based logic while sidestepping US chip restrictions. Photo: Shutterstock

Mainland Chinese researchers have used an electromagnetic battlespace emulator to simulate an electronic attack on Taiwan and its environs. Photo: AFP

News

China

Science

From a new Chinese see-through brain technique to a honeybee boom in China, here are some highlights from SCMP’s recent science reporting


From a new Chinese see-through brain technique to a honeybee boom in China, here are some highlights from SCMP’s recent science reporting.


United States

Zhou Ming

China’s first high-speed jet drone, top aviation engineer leaves US: 7 science highlights

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From a new Chinese see-through brain technique to a honeybee boom in China, here are some highlights from SCMP’s recent science reporting

1. China’s first high-speed jet drone makes every warship an aircraft carrier

From a new Chinese see-through brain technique to a honeybee boom in China, here are some highlights from SCMP’s recent science reporting