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A brief guide to choosing the right underwear for workouts
Women’s health experts explain the issues caused down there by sweat and friction during exercise and the best materials for preventing them.
Dem candidate erupts in profane defense of Hasan Piker as party figures distance themselves
Christopher Rabb profanely defended podcaster Hasan Piker as Hakeem Jeffries and other Democrats condemned the streamer's remarks as antisemitic.
Opinion | How Shenzhen can win the ‘AI for science’ race
Rather than copy the research-focused models of Beijing and Shanghai, the tech hub must leverage its industrial depths to become a premier lab for experimentation and deployment.
Chinese scientists discover that trees are producing ozone smog in Beijing
The city’s poplars and willows have been identified as the source of an unexpected spike in ozone levels during the heat of the summer.
Cross-border collaboration crucial for Shaw Prize laureates’ cancer breakthrough
Three winners in life science and medicine honoured for joint efforts to understand and develop treatment for acute promyelocytic leukaemia.
No gym needed: scientists in China develop self-exercising muscle grafts
The team says ‘myografts’ could provide health benefits to those who cannot exercise easily, such as bedridden people.
‘Smart’ diabetes probiotic; China’s missile AI tracker: 7 science highlights
From a proposed South China Sea robotic fortress to HIV cases at Wuhan port, here are some highlights from SCMP’s recent science reporting.
Why rising heat is Asia’s next major health challenge
Higher temperatures are putting new pressure on health systems across the region, prompting a broader push for awareness, prevention and earlier action.
Debate star and quantum physicist returns to China for long-term backing
Opinion | Forcing women to drink at business dinners has no place in modern China
The alleged assault of a female employee in Hangzhou exposes how such unsavoury practices persist amid Beijing’s anti-extravagance campaign.
‘I hate Americans’: Malaysian politician’s anti-US rant draws backlash
Former PM Mahathir Mohamad’s son Mukhriz defended his anti-US rant, claiming ordinary citizens share blame for Washington’s foreign policy.
Your backyard could hold a rare earth fortune and this orange lichen is the clue
Chinese scientists discover link between lichen growth and potentially untapped rare-earth-bearing carbonates and mineral deposits.
China’s internet army is quietly embedding AI into everyday lives
From RedNote to Meituan, digital platforms are bypassing third-party providers to build in-house AI models.
China builds world’s first custom plant immunity system for epidemic response
Milk vs plant-based alternatives: 7 claims put to the test
Experts look at cow’s milk and alternatives like soy, almond and oat, comparing the benefits, allergy safety, climate impact and more.
Electrochemist Liu Jiawei moves from Singapore to Hong Kong to start her own lab
Liu says Singapore and Hong Kong share a high-standard research setting defined by diversity and connectivity to the West and mainland China.
Are Malaysian Muslims less corrupt? PAS leader skewered over divisive politics
Critics demand evidence from Abdul Hadi Awang as official bribery data shows mixed results.
NanoClaw comes to Slack, letting you create persistent AI agent teams and colleagues from a single message
The NanoClaw agents can work together in channels and shared Slack Canvases, and can be even messaged outside of Slack on other platforms like Telegram or WhatsApp, letting their human colleagues ping them across platforms.
How China got caught in the crossfire of a US bacon fight
A dispute over animal welfare and pork production has become the latest flashpoint in America’s increasingly heated farm politics.
State canvassers approve Michiganders for Money Out Of Politics ballot language
State canvassers approve ballot language for proposal to ban Michigan utilities, large government contractors from political donations.
Board of State Canvassers approves ballot language for money out of politics proposal
An effort to bar certain utilities and government contractors from making political contributions cleared its final major hurdle Monday, finalizing its language for the November ballot.
Will Anthropic and OpenAI Stop Selling Their Best AI to Businesses?
Anthropic and OpenAI’s move to develop AI applications and features tailored to specific industries continues to worry their customers, some of which must now compete head-on with their main AI suppliers. Design app Canva is the latest to find itself in this predicament, as we reported earlier ...
USS Lincoln leaders making mental health ‘a priority’: US commander
Family members have said the situation has deteriorated so badly that some sailors have tried to throw themselves overboard.
Hong Kong firm bets on Chinese open-weight models to rival CoreWeave
‘Neo-cloud’ provider Antimatter is helping businesses shift away from the US’ frontier AI models, promising lower costs and greater data sovereignty.
Chinese brain-reading AI model may predict depression risk 4 years in advance
Scientists from Shenzhen University used data studying teenagers’ responses to facial expressions to identify possible warning signs.
Musk’s headaches: meet China’s corporate matrix challenging his empire
From Tesla to SpaceX, Starlink and Neuralink, Chinese companies are giving – or trying to give – Elon Musk’s firms a run for their money.
Northern Metropolis and AI vital to Hong Kong’s 5-year plan: business chambers
AmCham and FHKI also highlight the need to reinforce Hong Kong’s position as an international financial centre.
Where healthcare could sway voters, Democratic canvassers ramp up an old tactic: talking to people
In Wisconsin, voters weigh candidates who backed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, and those who want to expand it
Russia’s role in Middle East politics endures, shifts to being ‘secondary power’
Two Russian military bases will remain in Syria as the region continues to recalibrate its relations with major powers amid the Iran war.
Chinese sensor feat may help smart watch detect submarine 500 metres deep
Compact chip containing Hall-effect sensor can pick up faint magnetic fields by generating a tiny voltage without increasing noise output.
South China tech hub’s wet summer puts damper on small business profits
Shenzhen’s wettest July in more than three decades saw foot traffic plummet and also caused severe disruption to airline schedules.
Miles ahead: China team boosts atom entanglement distance record fourfold
Gemini now turns your messy spreadsheets into interactive mini-apps
Sheets canvas is rolling out now
3 mainland Chinese scholars honoured as Future Science Prize returns to Hong Kong
Winners recognised for breakthroughs in autophagy, mesoporous materials and arithmetic geometry as the city hosts the event for a fourth consecutive year.
Singapore and South Korea eye science opportunity as US-China ties shatter
New research hubs are emerging in other countries in response to Washington’s restrictions – but there are likely to be few winners overall.
Officials, advocates canvass Little Haiti as TPS protections end
Advocates are canvassing Little Haiti to share available resources.
Veteran Malaysian MP quits Anwar’s party over ‘toxic politics’
Wong Chen, a three-term MP who had spent nearly 20 years in PKR, says he is joining Rafizi Ramli’s Bersama to ‘defend democracy’.
China’s glueball ‘triumph’; SpaceX rocket debris on video: 7 science highlights
From China’s plan against desertification to nuking a ‘doomsday asteroid’, here are some highlights from SCMP’s recent science reporting.
Fruit fusion: how will the market react to China’s lychee-longan creation?
Canva’s Former CFO Says AI Cannot Fix A Broken Business
More than half of CEOs report no measurable AI return. The CFO who scaled Canva from $10 million to $2 billion says the problem was never the model you picked.
Editorial | As China ups its basic research game, the US will have to look sharp
Presence of science and technology experts at the annual Beidaihe meeting of China’s top leadership underlines Beijing’s strategic focus.
California Gov. Newsom visits Michigan in bid to boost Democrats
Potential candidate for president visit UAW local in Oakland County Sunday as he rallies volunteers for canvass launch.
US and Israeli physicists hail China’s glueball discovery as a ‘triumph’
Hong Kong’s elderly risk ‘hidden malnutrition’. Expert tips on staying healthy
Many elderly people suffer from severe, unseen nutrient deficiencies. Experts describe the reasons, the signs and how to address it.
Chinese scientists find some Yangtze flood controls may do more harm than good
By compressing rivers and stripping away natural defences, human engineering may be worsening flood impacts, prompting a global rethink.
Taiwan’s push to dissolve pro-Beijing party triggers political censorship debate
Politicians divided over proposal to ban Chinese Unification Promotion Party after ministry says it jeopardises free and democratic constitutional order.
Chinese breakthrough paves way for production of graphene-based quantum chips
Researchers overcome instability problem of a rare form of the material long prized for its remarkable properties.
ENTERTAINMENT: ‘Angels in America’ and ‘Lungs’ on area stages
Dive into Little Rock's vibrant arts scene with powerful theater performances and captivating exhibitions.
Malay nationalism surge threatens to end Malaysia’s reform experiment
Since becoming prime minister in 2022, Anwar has struggled to win over support from Malaysia’s Malay-Muslim majority.
One of California's Biggest $5B Entertainment Projects Just Crossed a Major Milestone
Construction is progressing on OCVIBE's Anaheim concert hall, with seats, backstage areas, and new amenities taking shape.
If Not AOC, Then Who?
What do we do if Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez decides not to run for president in 2028? It makes sense that many leftists are currently focused on calling on her to take the plunge. But the absence of a Plan B, or even much discussion about one, is worrisome. The US Left can’t afford to sit out the 2028 Democratic primary. Doing so in 2024 was a disaster: our abstention self-marginalized anti-billionaire politics from the national conversation and thereby gave space for Harris to pivot to the “center” (i.e. the policy preferences of corporate donors, establishment hacks, and AIPAC). Abstaining again in 2028 would be especially counterproductive since democratic socialists now have so much wind in our sails after our big electoral wins in NYC and across the country. It’s time to deepen our momentum, organization, and profile — not to retreat to the margins during America’s single most important political battle. Even more urgently, keeping Trump’s heir out of the White House may depend on whether leftists and the party’s unprecedentedly disenchanted base can force the Democrats in 2028 to take meaningful steps towards a very angry electorate and away from the corporate-consultant blob that has helped get us into this mess. If AOC (or Abdul El-Sayed) decides to run, we should enthusiastically go all in — DSA, fighting unions, progressive organizations, anybody who wants to see a better country and world. But, as far as I can tell from the outside, there’s a real chance that she doesn’t run. And we can’t just wait and see where she lands before discussing alternatives, since AOC’s decision might not come for quite a while, giving us little time to scramble at the last minute for an alternative. So we should start working now on getting a Plan B into motion, and recruiting a good candidate for the role. Here’s one idea. A Worker Candidate — Healthcare Not Warfare 2028 Run a union worker Leftists don’t need to always run experienced, well-known socialist politicians for high-profile contests. Lula, the current president of Brazil, began his political career as a metalworker militant who ran for governor of São Paulo in 1982. Especially in an era of institutional distrust, it’s possible to lean hard into making a virtue out of a working-class comrade’s distance from traditional politics. Experience abroad shows this clearly. Rachel Kéké — an immigrant hotel housekeeper — ran as the candidate of the leftist La France Insoumise for the National Assembly in 2022, defeating a former minister in the Macron government. The Belgian Workers’ Party in 2024 won its first Flemish seat in the European Parliament by running Rudi Kennes, a three-decade veteran of the Opel Antwerp auto factory. And the South Korean left in 2024 elected auto factory militant Yoon Jong-oh to the National Assembly. If a tiny French Trotskyist organization could make such a big splash in 2002 and 2007 by running a well-spoken postal worker cadre for office — the LCR’s Olivier Besancenot received about 1.5 million first-round votes — it’s not far-fetched to expect that a much larger organization like DSA, together with a broader coalition of the willing, could run this playbook to much greater effect. This is especially the case now that almost everything DSA does immediately becomes a national news story. We don’t need someone famous. We just need a charismatic, well-vetted comrade who works in a relatable working-class occupation — e.g. a nurse, or a worker in auto or construction, or at Amazon. Ideally, they have a compelling personal story or have been part of a significant strike or organizing campaign, but even those criteria don’t necessarily have to be deal-breakers. The main lesson of the Graham Platner fiasco isn’t that we should never run outsiders for office (the momentum he generated proves the exact opposite), but that they need proper vetting and roots in democratic membership organizations like DSA or a union. In any case, there are plenty of ways to signal working-class authenticity without resorting to Platner’s or Fetterman’s performative macho white dude affect. Better to have someone of any gender or race who is actually working class, with firm socialist politics, who can speak from experience about the day-to-day realities of trying to make it in America. There are surely at least a dozen such worker leaders in our movement nationwide; we just need to sit down and convince one that their personal sacrifice for the greater good (i.e. running for president) will be worth it. If we don’t have a frontrunner with a clear path to victory like AOC (or El-Sayed, were he to win Michigan), it’s better to embrace someone whose decision to run in itself tells an important story about US politics: workers have been iced out of our political system and are now fighting hard to break back in. The novelty factor, in itself, would generate press. And it would help democratic socialists signal to the American public that our movement’s defining characteristic is that we represent workers vs. bosses, not that we’re “the furthest left” force in American politics — a framework that suggests we’re extremists and that helps our opponents isolate us from non-college-educated voters by highlighting extremely minoritarian (and misguided) stances included in DSA’s platform like prison abolition. We don’t get many opportunities to speak to tens of millions of Americans; we need to use these opportunities to broaden our appeal beyond those already in our orbit. Run to polarize the 2028 primary and general election around “Medicare for All” and “End All Aid to Israel” Why should democratic socialists use our scarce time and volunteer energy to run in a race we’re unlikely to win? Running in the 2028 primary will not only recruit us scores of members (imagine having a DSA member intervening in eleven nationally televised primary debates!), but — more importantly — it has the potential to be a decisive leap forward towards an America that finally starts meeting the needs of working people instead of HMO and AIPAC billionaire donors. Polarizing litmus tests are good, actually — as long as they’re fought for around popular demands in a thoughtful and strategic way. Democratic socialists have an opportunity and responsibility to make the 2028 primary about two of the most widely and deeply felt issues of our moment: domestically, America’s unaffordable, family-breaking private healthcare system; internationally, America’s bankrolling of the genocidal Israeli government. A candidacy relentlessly demanding Medicare for All and No Aid to Israel would pose a sharp question to the American public, the Democratic Party, and other 2028 contenders: Why can’t working-class Americans afford their healthcare bills at the same time that our government is spending at least $3.8 billion yearly to fund an Israeli regime eager to keep dragging us and the world into more forever wars? Our candidate can agitate around a clear message: I’m running to give voice to all those working-class Americans who are struggling to get by. No matter what state you live in, who you voted for in 2024, or your background, it’s just plain common sense that we should make healthcare more affordable instead of spending billions to enable the Israeli government’s crimes against humanity. Every American who agrees with me when I say ‘Medicare for All — Not a Dime for Israel’ should make their voice heard through our campaign. Racking up a high number of votes for this agenda is a crucial way to show the Democratic Party and the country as a whole that we can’t keep supporting a life-destroying status quo in our healthcare system and in the Middle East. If we want to defeat Trump’s handpicked crony this coming November, we need to speak to ordinary people’s frustrations with the status quo — we can’t keep running the same tired establishment playbook and expecting a different result. For those highly engaged voters (or skeptical media pundits) who raise concerns about wasting votes, the candidate can take the time to explain why this isn’t the case: It's true I'm a long shot. But Zohran showed anything can happen — and voting for me is a pragmatic decision, not a wasted vote. In a heavily divided primary with a large number of candidates and a very discredited establishment, my campaign and the democratic socialist movement I’m part of are positioned to be the balance of power if we can get a large enough number of voters to loudly demand Healthcare Not Warfare. Since there’s a high chance no candidate will get to 50% in the 2028 primaries, the Democrats could very well be heading towards a brokered convention, where a disciplined, principled current committed to breaking from corporate donors can play an outsized role in making sure whoever ends up with the nomination raises the banner of single-payer healthcare and cutting aid to Israel. How exactly could running this sort of primary campaign be translated into actual leverage? The candidate replies: I’m aiming to win the nomination, but if I don’t achieve that goal, my delegates and I will pledge our support in the primary only for a candidate who agrees in the general election to call for ending US aid to Israel and establishing Medicare for All at home. These are both winning planks for November against the Republicans, and the only reason I can see that other candidates haven’t yet raised these is that they’re still more scared of the donor class than they are of the people. That needs to change. If Democratic leaders want young people, workers, and those sick of the status quo to show up in big numbers this November, they need to meet us halfway. In this way, whether or not we win the nomination, democratic socialists could still play a decisive role in 2028. The approach outlined here is similar to what radical left parties periodically do in parliamentary democracies like Denmark or Sweden when they find themselves as a junior partner electorally: they dictate to center-left allies what their terms would be for enabling, from the outside, the formation of a new government. Running a Healthcare Not Warfare candidate will make it significantly more likely that the 2028 Democratic candidate stands with ordinary people instead of donors on these two pivotal planks — a shift that will, in turn, make it easier to achieve the existentially important task of defeating MAGA’s heir in November. Look at how much popular traction the Uncommitted movement got with a similar strategy in 2024 with so little on-the-ground organization — surely we can go much further with a working-class candidate, a much bigger DSA, and a Democratic Party base that has turned against Israel, billionaires, and the hacks in the party who prop them up. Objections and Responses There are quite a few objections to this proposal, many of which are very reasonable. Let me briefly address each here. Socialists shouldn’t waste their scarce time and resources on a candidate unlikely to win. This is a good rule in general, but there are important exceptions, and presidential elections are the main one. There’s no other political contest that gets anything like this level of attention and engagement in the US, so if you want to be a serious force in nationwide politics, you basically can’t afford not to have a candidate. Far from being an overall drain on our resources, running a dynamic 2028 campaign would likely result in a major net increase in members and capacity. In that spirit, the very pragmatic Milwaukee sewer socialists — who mostly ran to win at home in Wisconsin — supported Eugene Debs’s propagandistic presidential campaigns, which they correctly saw as a crucial means of recruiting to the Socialist Party. And now that the (post-1972) Democratic Party gives more weight to voters than party operatives in determining its presidential nomination, it’s become feasible to run as a socialist in primaries without risking a split in the vote against the Republicans in November. We should just support Ro Khanna, who also supports M4A and ending aid to Israel. I like Ro Khanna and would enthusiastically vote and canvass for him for president were he to get the nomination. But there’s a real chance that Khanna’s bid for office doesn’t catch on; he lacks the grassroots organizational apparatus of DSA, and, because he’s not really of the Left or labor (despite his current very good positions), he’s unlikely to generate the type of buy-in and enthusiasm that a DSA candidate would. Moreover, Khanna would be running as an individual, not as someone emerging from and building an organized movement — his campaign would not likely focus on building sustained power from below, nor would it likely polarize the 2028 primary around M4A and Israel aid. Also, and not inconsequentially, the poor electoral results for Tom Steyer and Saikat Chakrabarti this spring suggest that there’s perhaps not much of a popular appetite in the Democrats’ base to support multi-millionaire class traitors. Much better, then, to run a democratic socialist worker. If by Super Tuesday it’s clear that our campaign has captured the main left lane in the primary, Khanna should drop out and endorse us; conversely, if he’s managed to capture this lane, DSA could at that point transform its Healthcare Not Warfare campaign into an independent campaign to elect Ro Khanna focused on winning (and holding him accountable to) those two critical planks. An openness to consolidating an anti-corporate candidate by Super Tuesday is a necessary component of the strategy I’m proposing, because otherwise we risk splitting the primary votes (per DNC rules, you need at least 15% to get any delegates to convention). We should convince Shawn Fain or Sara Nelson to run for president instead. I agree it’d be great if either ran for president, but my impression is that there’s basically no chance that will happen in 2028, because both are firmly focused on their union leadership duties (and, in the case of Fain, beating back a federal witch-hunt). This plan could have DSA end up endorsing a non-socialist, non-DSAer for president. That’s against our principles. It’s a myth, and bad politics, that socialists can’t ever support candidates who aren’t members of their organization and/or who don’t call themselves socialists. Bernie, after all, was not a DSAer. And socialists abroad regularly make tactical decisions about if and when supporting a non-socialist candidate makes sense from the standpoint of promoting working-class interests, defending democracy, and building a socialist current in the process. If your “principles” prevent you and DSA from helping achieve the momentous stride forward of having a Democratic candidate in 2028 run on Medicare for All and ending aid to Israel, those “principles” are not very good. In fact, they actively undermine the causes they’re aiming to support. We shouldn’t confuse principles (working-class independence) with tactics (the best way to advance this in a given context). In my recent article in Catalyst on Milwaukee sewer socialism (I’ve uploaded the full text here), I have a section showing how similarly rigid rules about endorsements had to be eventually discarded in the old Socialist Party nationwide after WWI because they tended to lead socialists towards a sectarian abstention from broader anti-corporate electoral insurgencies beyond their party’s control. For what it’s worth, Lenin’s current under Tsarism frequently backed bourgeois candidates in the second round of elections and Lenin himself advocated that British Communists support Labour Party candidates; for his part, Kautsky in 1912 defended the German Social Democracy’s electoral pact with the Progressives in the runoffs. If our predecessors could be that tactically flexible in an era before the limits of their underlying strategic assumptions about intransigent class politics in capitalist democracies were made clear, then there’s no need to insist on being more tactically rigid today, after a century’s worth of accumulated experience. As long as you maintain your own political profile and organization while engaging in broader coalitional efforts, there’s zero inherent contradiction with the principle of political independence. More specifically: DSA and allied organizations should enthusiastically back Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed if AOC declines to run and he throws his hat in the presidential ring. (I have no idea whether he’s even considering this path, but there’ll surely be chatter about it if he wins his Senate race this November.) Though he doesn’t call himself a socialist, El-Sayed is a principled Berniecrat, a consistent fighter for Palestine, and would have a clear path to victory. Using the “s” word is far less important than whether a campaign fights for the interests of working people at home and abroad — and whether actively participating in it can grow the organized working class and the Left. And the same holds true if a less anti-corporate candidate were, under pressure, to adopt our two Healthcare Not Warfare planks. Why focus only on M4A and ending US aid to Israel? There are so many other important issues to fight for! Obviously there are many pivotal issues beyond healthcare and Israel, and our candidate — and especially our organizations involved in the campaign — should be prepared to speak on all of these. But one of the crucial lessons of the Zohran campaign is that you have to relentlessly stay on message if you want to cut through the noise. CNN and Fox News will want to talk about DSA’s views on Venezuela and abolishing the police; we need to polarize the debate on the widely and deeply felt issues that are most favorable for growing the Left, isolating our opponents, and winning urgently needed changes. One recent poll found 63% of Americans support M4A, even after respondents were told it would raise taxes and eliminate most private insurance. Another found that 74% of Democrats opposed “providing additional economic and military support to Israel.” And focusing on two demands sets the campaign up to be able to leverage its mandate to make clear demands upon other candidates (which we can’t do if we run with a laundry list of demands). Talking about a Plan B is a distraction from the more urgent work of building a groundswell of calls on AOC to run. It’s good for DSAers, fightback unionists, and progressive organizations to try to convince AOC to run. This proposal is meant as an addendum to pushes to get AOC to run and to line DSA up for that eventuality, not as a substitute for those efforts. But I’m worried that, like in 2024, we might eventually find ourselves with no time to find a viable alternative unless we start now. DSA, with its abundant deliberative processes, moves slowly. The approach you’re suggesting seems risky. If a DSA candidate runs but doesn’t receive a lot of votes, it’ll undercut our current national momentum. This is a reasonable worry. All big initiatives always carry risks, and the path I’m advocating is certainly not free of these. That said, if a Healthcare Not Warfare campaign doesn’t catch on like we envisioned, it’s a pretty simple pivot in March 2028 to explain that in the future we really need our standard-bearers like AOC, or our growing bench of national electeds, to step up in presidential primaries. Moreover, it’s worth noting that the risk of my Plan B proposal is on the whole significantly less than the risk entailed by an AOC run. We should all back her if she runs, since she’d fire up the base, provide huge openings for organizing, have a real shot at defeating a Republican (especially given MAGA’s unpopularity), be a great standard-bearer for our issues, particularly M4A and ending aid to Israel, and be less willing than mainstream candidates to capitulate to any anti-democratic machinations from Trump and co. But it’s also true that AOC could lose, which would be a devastating setback to the country and the Left. Or she could win and find herself unable to pass much, if any, of her (and our) program, a demoralizing prospect. So if we’re willing to take these risks with AOC (and we should), it follows that we should be able to take lower-level risks if she doesn’t throw her hat in the ring. What’s Your Plan B? The US Left is facing its biggest opening for growth and influence since the 1930s. Initiatives that would have been impossible a few months ago are now potentially feasible. A President AOC is now easier to imagine, but if she ultimately assesses that the risks aren’t worth the potential reward in 2028, we can’t be left flat-footed. So even if you’re not convinced by the specifics of my Plan B, I hope you can at least agree that it’d be a disaster for us not to have one — and not to start getting a Plan B into motion. Hopefully other organizers and political currents will put forward their responses and alternative ideas ASAP. The stakes are too high to just wait and see. More As always, please share this article widely. This newsletter depends on all you lovely people to get the word out. Thank you! I uploaded the full text of my Catalyst article on Milwaukee sewer socialism here (it’s updated and 3x as long as the version published earlier on this substack). If you haven’t yet, please make sure to subscribe to Catalyst here; I read every issue front to back, highly recommend. 🌹🎵 Ivan Lins (arranged by Arthur Verocai) — “General da Banda” 🌹🎵
China’s political and scientific elite head to Beidaihe for summer retreat season
Cai Qi meets frontier researchers, urging them to play their part in Communist Party governance.
How a Xinjiang weed could cut China’s reliance on Southeast Asian rubber
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Chinese rocket scientists find ‘most effective’ way to nuke a doomsday asteroid
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From gendered sacrifice to ancient politics: DNA uncovers early Chinese civilisation
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What Negeri Sembilan loss means for Malaysian PM Anwar’s political strategy
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Exclusive | ‘Science is a universal language’: US materials pioneer defends global ties
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Babies in space; China’s first Fields Medal winners: 7 science highlights
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‘Money Out of Politics’ proposal in Michigan moves closer to November ballot
The Michigan Board of State Canvassers voted 3-1 Friday to certify the ballot drive.
Fight over anti-corporate spending initiative brings in big money
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Why use rare earths in rubber production? China is engineering stronger tyres
A new facility leverages decades of research to produce high-strength rubber designed to meet requirements of EVs and heavy-duty transport.
Chinese scientists turn to bamboo to strengthen the Great Green Wall
From fungus to fashion: Chinese scientists create sustainable ‘living textiles’
The fabric can clean and repair itself, opening the door to recyclable fashion and biodegradable packaging.
The key to better brain health and ‘super-ageing’ could lie in your bones
Our bones produce a hormone called osteocalcin, activated by exercise, that crosses into the brain to fight memory loss and anxiety.
Chinese scientist faces probe after girl dies ‘after experimental gene therapy’
Shanghai Jiao Tong University says it is investigating after a report alleges the child died after receiving treatment from Qiu Zilong.
How Chinese scientists created an alloy that can survive 2,400 degrees Celsius
The tantalum alloy developed at Xian Jiaotong University could be used in aerospace, hypersonic vehicles and nuclear reactors.
'Money out of Politics' initiative moves forward after signature inquest
The Michiganders for Money out of Politics proposal survived an inquiry into its signatures, with canvassers approving the proposal July 24.
Election board allows money-out-of-politics initiative to move forward
The Michigan Board of State Canvassers has determined the "Michiganders for Money Out of Politics" campaign to ban some companies from making political donations has gathered just enough signatures from registered voters to move ahead.
LeBron James' arrival sparks shopping frenzy for Philadelphia 76ers gear at sports stores
State canvassers finds Michigan’s ‘Money out of Politics’ effort has sufficient valid signatures
Valid signatures for the Michiganders for Money Out Of Politics ballot petition were determined to be sufficient on Friday after a close call by the Board of State Canvassers. However, the board must still determine if the wording of the proposed petition meets legal standards.
Fields Medallists lead new wave of young Chinese scientists in global research
Alexa Plus is getting an AI update to handle more complicated instructions
Alexa Plus will soon plug into Canva, Priceline, Lyft, and more.
New York’s organized labor looks to regroup after string of political defeats
Canvassers talking to union members this year will be taking an extra beat when they knock on doors.
Vermont political candidates are flouting campaign finance laws, report finds
Vermont law requires candidates for state, county and municipal offices to disclose the sources of their campaign contributions, but a new report finds that 20% of candidates running this year haven't filed reports.
China fires up powerful particle accelerator to unlock secrets of atoms
Facility in country’s south will help scientists answer some of the biggest questions in nuclear physics, according to its chief designer.
Trump to steer billions from universities to AI and individual scientists
White House says overhaul will back AI and researchers to restore the US scientific edge as Beijing closes the innovation gap.
India’s ‘cockroach’ protests: a rare political opening for the opposition?
Analysts say Congress’ failure to be fully in sync with the movement reveals a missed opportunity to connect with India’s Gen Z.
Chinese fossil find shows birds shed their dinosaur tails step by step
A Jurassic fossil dating back 150 million years fills in a vital part of the evolutionary puzzle of how birds took to the skies.
‘Everyone’s health has improved’: how tai chi energises these Chinese retirees
Tai chi practitioners at Beijing’s Temple of Heaven talk about learning the ancient Chinese practice and how it benefits health and spirit.
Michigan’s ‘money out of politics’ group confident in signature validity as it faces new challenge
Michigan’s Board of State Canvassers plan to take up the Michiganders for Money Out Of Politics petition next week, assessing both the sufficiency of its signatures collected over the last year, as well as a direct challenge to those signatures.
Chinese scientists have bad news on having babies in space
Researchers use China’s Tianzhou spacecraft missions since 2017 to study how microgravity and space radiation can affect biology.
Sheikh Hasina’s return bid threatens to upend Bangladeshi politics
The ousted leader, who has been sentenced to death, plans a December homecoming in a high-stakes bid to resurrect her banned party.
As US AI costs soar, global firms pivot to China’s cheap, open-weight models
A sharp narrowing of the performance gap is prompting some developers to shift from costly American giants to budget-friendly Chinese alternatives.
China’s rare earth weakness, new rocket to rival SpaceX: 7 science highlights
From China unveiling microwave weapons to top neurobiologist leaving US, here are some highlights from SCMP’s recent science reporting.
Opinion | Why China is seriously cultivating AI entertainment
With rules and support, policymakers appear to be positioning AI and its entertainment nexus as the foundation for a new cultural economy.
US National Science Foundation to ban projects with flagged Chinese institutions
Raising security fears, NSF moves from case-by-case approval to full ban on working with restricted entities and their employees.
Japanese Astronomical Society ex-president Shigeru Ida joins China’s Westlake
Top planetary scientist will lead young university’s new astronomy department after decades shaping human understanding of the universe.
McConnell breaks silence on his health, says a fall led to hospitalisation
After weeks of speculation about the Republican’s wellbeing McConnell, 84, said he developed pneumonia while hospitalised for the fall.