分类： science

The Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi is transporting visitors through 13.8 billion years of Earth’s history, with its most compelling exhibits revealing a startling transformation in the United Arab Emirates’ landscape. Fossil evidence demonstrates that the region now characterized by golden sand dunes and rocky mountains once hosted vast savannahs, grasslands, and massive river systems teeming with diverse wildlife.

According to Dr. Mark Jonathan Beech, acting geoscience section head at the museum, discoveries in Al Dhafra present incontrovertible evidence that Arabia was not always desert terrain. “Few would imagine Abu Dhabi’s western region once featured giant rivers, savannahs, grasslands, and trees,” Beech stated, noting that these fossils completely reshape our understanding of the region’s ecological history.

The geological timeline reveals even more dramatic changes. Approximately 100 million years ago, the UAE was submerged underwater, with marine remains still being discovered in mountain regions including Sharjah. The Hajar mountains formed mainly between 95-70 million years ago, with subsequent uplift events shaping Jebel Hafit as recently as 25-15 million years ago.

By 7 million years ago, Al Dhafra supported extensive river ecosystems that sustained elephants, giraffes, antelopes, crocodiles, turtles, and catfish. “It was like being on safari in East Africa,” Beech remarked, emphasizing the remarkable biodiversity that once flourished in what is now desert.

These fossil records provide more than historical curiosity—they serve as direct evidence of climate change and its devastating impact on species survival. “It shows that when the climate changes, animals become extinct,” Beech explained, highlighting the instructional value of paleontological findings for understanding contemporary environmental challenges.

The museum utilizes various visual tools, including climate spirals and an Arabia Climate journey, to illustrate climatic oscillations across millennia while documenting the accelerating global warming trend of the past 150-200 years.

Reflecting on the institution’s broader mission, Beech emphasized: “Our goal is to educate people to become better ambassadors of the future. We need to care for our planet and nature.” The museum’s fossil collections thus serve dual purposes—illuminating a forgotten green past while providing crucial insights for addressing current environmental crises.

A groundbreaking cancer treatment approach that forces malignant cells to reveal themselves to the body’s immune defenses has been developed by Chinese researchers, potentially overcoming the protective mechanisms that enable cancers to proliferate undetected. The innovative strategy, conceptualized as an ‘intratumoral vaccine,’ represents a significant advancement in immuno-oncology research.

The pioneering work emerged from a collaborative effort between Shenzhen Bay Laboratory and Peking University, spearheaded by principal investigators Chen Peng, Zhang Heng, and Xi Jianzhong. Their research, documented in the January 7 edition of Nature, outlines a sophisticated methodology that simultaneously dismantles cancer cells’ defensive barriers and marks them for immune recognition.

This novel approach addresses a critical limitation of existing immunotherapies. While current immune checkpoint blockade treatments attempt to release the biological brakes that restrain T-cells—the immune system’s specialized combat units—they frequently prove ineffective because cancers remain exceptionally adept at evasion. Clinical data indicates more than 60% of non-small cell lung cancer patients and over 70% of melanoma patients in China show minimal response to conventional checkpoint inhibitors.

The newly developed technique leverages the GlueTAC platform, originally established by Chen Peng’s team in 2021 as a generalized system for membrane target elimination. The centerpiece of this breakthrough is the iVAC molecule, which executes two coordinated functions: degrading the PD-L1 protein that cancers employ as an immunological shield, while concurrently delivering viral-antigen markers to tumor cell surfaces.

This dual-action mechanism essentially tricks the immune system into perceiving cancer cells as virus-infected entities, thereby activating dormant T-cells that already possess viral combat capabilities. The resultant immune response triggers a targeted assault on the identified tumor cells.

Experimental validation using both animal models and patient-derived organoids—miniature lab-grown human cancer replicas—has demonstrated promising efficacy across multiple cancer types, including colorectal, gastric, and hepatic malignancies. Research teams are currently advancing preparatory work for translational drug development.

Despite the encouraging results, researchers acknowledge the substantial journey ahead before clinical application. Zhang Heng estimates a three-to-five-year timeline before human trials might commence, noting the considerable financial investment required and inherent uncertainties of medical research. The team maintains an openly collaborative stance, hoping to accelerate development and ultimately benefit cancer patients worldwide.

China is poised to make a significant entry into the global academic publishing arena with the inaugural launch of Vita, a premier international journal dedicated to life sciences and biomedicine. Spearheaded by Westlake University in collaboration with Higher Education Press and the Life Science Open Alliance, this groundbreaking publication is scheduled for its digital debut in early 2026, followed by print issuance in June.

The journal’s nomenclature, derived from the Latin term for ‘life,’ embodies both its disciplinary focus and commitment to fostering borderless academic collaboration. According to Editor-in-Chief Li Dangsheng, the name reflects the publication’s vision of inclusive scientific discourse that transcends geographical boundaries.

Extensive preparatory measures are currently underway, including the establishment of an international serial number and formation of an expert advisory committee comprising nearly 100 distinguished scientists from across the globe. The inaugural edition, featuring original research articles currently undergoing final review, represents China’s strategic response to address the disparity between its rapidly advancing research capabilities in life sciences and the development of high-quality domestic publishing platforms.

Shi Yigong, President of Westlake University, emphasized the critical necessity for China to establish internationally recognized scientific publications that match its growing research prominence. ‘The creation of a world-class scientific journal led by China is not merely necessary but urgently required to complement our nation’s scientific advancement,’ Shi stated.

The publication will maintain rigorous academic standards through a dedicated professional editorial team, ensuring both the innovativeness and credibility of published research. This initiative marks a significant milestone in China’s broader efforts to enhance its influence within global scientific communities and establish leadership in academic publishing.

In a remarkable display of agricultural innovation, scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have transformed the winter landscape of China’s Taklimakan Desert into a thriving oasis of summer produce. At the forefront of this transformation is Ayimak village in Moyu county, Hotan prefecture, where advanced greenhouse technologies defy the harsh desert winter with vibrant displays of trellised watermelons, plump grapes, and exotic dragon fruits.

The groundbreaking initiative, part of a rural vitalization project dating back to 2015, has established what local villagers call ‘scientific fields’ – a cluster of technologically advanced greenhouses that have become a regional attraction. According to Wang Shi, the village’s Party committee first secretary, over 40 of the village’s 122 greenhouses are now managed by the CAS project team, providing stable employment for more than 100 villagers with average monthly incomes exceeding 3,000 yuan ($430).

Wang Xin from the CAS Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography explained the scientific advantages: ‘Compared to traditional open-field planting, our trellised watermelon method allows for higher density, greater yield and superior sunlight exposure. Southern Xinjiang’s abundant sunshine and heat resources provide ideal conditions for protected agriculture, which we’ve enhanced through advanced technology to significantly boost both yield and fruit sweetness.’

The research team has contracted eight greenhouses for pilot programs, testing various watermelon varieties to identify those best suited to local conditions. Wang Ping, another team member, has introduced over 50 fruit varieties including cherries, winter jujube, and pineapple, carefully selecting those most adaptable to the desert environment.

Through years of research, scientists have overcome significant challenges including soil salinization, compaction, and sand dust that previously limited fruit cultivation in southern Xinjiang. The project’s success has inspired local involvement, with villager Bayimai Abudouaini noting he has acquired valuable cultivation skills and hopes to rent his own greenhouse in the future.

The initiative aligns with regional development goals, as Xinjiang had established over 1.2 million protected agriculture units covering more than 44,600 hectares by 2023. According to Chinese Academy of Engineering academician Yu Jingquan, Northwest China’s abundant uncultivated land provides exceptional opportunities for expanding protected agriculture while reducing costs.

A joint work plan by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and Xinjiang’s regional government projects that protected agriculture in southern Xinjiang will reach an annual output value exceeding 9 billion yuan by 2028, creating employment for over 200,000 rural residents. This scientific achievement demonstrates how technological innovation can transform challenging environments into productive agricultural centers, providing economic opportunities while ensuring food security.

China has implemented a groundbreaking national standard for quantifying the economic value of terrestrial ecosystems, marking a significant advancement in environmental economics. The State Administration for Market Regulation announced the new guideline on Tuesday, establishing a unified methodology for calculating the monetary worth of ecological products provided by land-based ecosystems within defined regions and timeframes.

The comprehensive standard outlines technical processes, indicator systems, and methodological frameworks while establishing rigorous requirements for foundational data utilization and final report preparation. Designed with scientific precision, systematic approach, and practical applicability, the guideline provides complete technical guidance for standardizing ecosystem valuations nationwide.

This pioneering framework serves as a crucial metric for evaluating ecosystems’ contributions to economic and social development, transforming how environmental assets are accounted for in national planning. The standardization enables consistent measurement of ecological products—the beneficial outputs and services generated by healthy ecosystems—creating a reliable basis for environmental policy decisions and sustainable development strategies.

The implementation represents China’s latest effort to integrate environmental conservation with economic planning, providing tools for more accurate assessment of natural capital in the nation’s development trajectory.

A groundbreaking study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has potentially solved one of the Moon’s most enduring geological mysteries—why its Earth-facing near side and hidden far side exhibit such dramatically different characteristics. The research points to a cataclysmic asteroid impact billions of years ago that permanently altered the Moon’s chemical composition and volcanic capabilities.

For decades, planetary scientists have been perplexed by the lunar dichotomy. The near side displays extensive dark volcanic plains formed by ancient lava flows, while the far side presents a rugged, mountainous terrain with significantly fewer volcanic features and a thicker crustal layer.

The international research team, led by Professor Tian Hengci from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, analyzed microscopic samples retrieved by China’s historic Chang’e 6 mission—the first-ever collection of geological specimens from the Moon’s far side, specifically from the massive South Pole-Aitken basin impact crater.

The investigation focused on potassium isotopes, which serve as chemical fingerprints of past thermal events. The researchers discovered an abundance of heavier potassium isotopes in the far side samples, indicating that an enormous asteroid impact generated such intense heat that it vaporized lighter volatile elements—including potassium, zinc, and sulfur—causing them to escape into space.

This elemental loss had profound geological consequences. Volatile elements typically lower the melting point of subsurface rocks, facilitating magma formation and volcanic activity. Their depletion from the far side meant this region lost its capacity for significant volcanic eruptions, explaining its mountainous, geologically dormant nature.

In contrast, the near side retained its volatile elements, allowing prolonged volcanic activity that created the expansive dark plains visible from Earth. The research demonstrates that asteroid impacts can fundamentally alter a planetary body’s internal chemistry and geological evolution, not merely create surface craters.

While previous theories attributed the Moon’s asymmetry to Earth’s gravitational influence or uneven radioactive heating, this study provides direct chemical evidence highlighting the transformative power of giant impacts in shaping planetary bodies throughout our solar system.

The Earth’s climate system demonstrated alarming acceleration in 2025 as global temperatures reached unprecedented levels, positioning the year among the three warmest in recorded history. According to comprehensive data released by China’s National Climate Center, the planetary surface temperature averaged 1.4°C above pre-industrial benchmarks (1850-1900 baseline) and 0.52°C higher than the 1991-2020 reference period.

January 2025 established a historic milestone as the warmest January ever documented, while the entire 2023-2025 triennium now stands as the hottest three-year period in meteorological records. The thermal anomaly affected vast geographical expanses, with eastern Asia, Central Asia, eastern Europe, North American sectors, and extensive oceanic regions experiencing their top-three warmest years. Polar amplification continued relentlessly, with the Arctic warming at 1.17°C above normal (third-highest recorded) and Antarctica exceeding norms by 0.43°C.

The critical Third Pole region—encompassing the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau’s high-altitude ecosystems—recorded temperatures 1.12°C above average, marking its fourth consecutive annual heat record from 2022 through 2025. China’s national temperature average surged to 11°C, exceeding long-term norms by 1.1°C and breaking the previous record established just one year earlier. Sixteen provincial-level regions documented their warmest years since comprehensive record-keeping began in 1961.

Thermal extremes manifested through prolonged heat events, with China experiencing a record 16.5 high-temperature days (≥35°C)—7.4 days above normal. The most persistent heatwave persisted for 71 days from June through September, ranking as the third-longest in history. The Yangtze River basin, southern China, Chongqing, and Xinjiang endured 30-50 days of extreme heat, while late-season thermal events affected southern regions well into autumn.

Marine systems mirrored atmospheric warming, with China’s coastal waters recording significantly elevated heat content. The South China Sea reached record temperatures while overall coastal heat ranked second-highest historically. Although sea surface temperatures slightly decreased from 2024’s record (21.05°C vs. 21.50°C), they remained 0.76°C above long-term averages.

These oceanic conditions fueled an exceptionally active typhoon season, with 19 storm surge events exceeding the decade’s average of 15. The intensified marine thermal energy contributed to increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events, resulting in above-average economic losses from coastal disasters affecting infrastructure, fisheries, and maritime industries. Meteorological authorities have committed to enhanced monitoring and early warning systems to strengthen regional climate resilience.