interview

Working conditions at universities “Human and anti-science ”

Status: 06/24/2021 5:03 a.m.

Chain contracts, extra work and a lack of prospects: under the hashtag #IchBinHanna, scientists mobilize against difficult working conditions. At their pressure, the Bundestag is also dealing with the subject today. tagesschau.de: With #IchBinHanna, working conditions in science make it into parliament. How did the hashtag come about? Sebastian Kubon: Until recently, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research had a video on its website in which an animated figure named Hanna explains the legal basis of employment, the Science Contract Act. This is a special right of fixed-term employment that regulates that scientists in Germany can be employed for a maximum of six years before and six years after completing their doctorate. Thereafter, the time limit must be extended. But that doesn’t happen due to a lack of jobs, so most of them are thrown out of the system by then at the latest – with all their qualifications and knowledge that are then lost to science. And in addition to this immense loss for Germany as a research location, there is always a personal fate. If there is such an explanatory video to explain this absurd situation, then in my opinion it is anti-human and anti-science. Therefore, Dr. Amrei Bahr, Dr. Kristin Eichhorn and I give the scientists a face – with the hashtag #IchbBinHanna.

To person Dr. Sebastian Kubon is a research associate at the History Department at the University of Hamburg, currently on parental leave. He is mainly concerned with public history and food history. At the moment, criticism of the German science system is at the center of his commitment. To do this, he and Dr. Amrei Bahr and Dr. Kristin Eichhorn created the hashtag #IchBinHanna.

tagesschau.de: What are your main points of criticism and what are your specific suggestions? Kubon: I hardly know where to start. The short-term contracts are particularly bad. Instead of doing research in peace, you have to keep writing new applications and proposals. We need realistic contract terms, i.e. as long as you actually need for a doctorate, for example. And those who then have a doctorate should be employed on a permanent basis – or at least receive a clear and transparent perspective. In addition, there is a lot of unpaid overtime at universities. Many colleagues only have half jobs – and still work as much as if they had full jobs to keep the business running. We need reliable and sufficient basic funding. This does not always mean more third-party funding, i.e. project-related funds that have to be applied for and raised at great expense.

“Then you shouldn’t get any professors out of time”

tagesschau.de: The Ministry of Education justified the temporary positions by stating that research always needed new impulses. Kubon: This argument that only constant fluctuation creates innovation has been around for decades without ever being scientifically verified. According to this logic, professors should not be deferred. I think that is more of an exaggerated argument. Because it is – at least in the short term – easier and cheaper for young scientists to work unpaid overtime. But this literally burns them up, which is expensive in the long term and not sustainable at all. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not about pity. But this system means that important research projects are put to rest, teaching suffers in terms of content and students keep losing contact. Many highly talented people, when asked if they could see themselves in science, wave their thanks. tagesschau.de: Another argument from the Ministry of Education is that if all posts were to be expelled, a single generation would “clog” the system … Kubon: But nobody is asking that all positions be permanent – as far as I know, not even the union. It is about transparent criteria and a concrete perspective: in other words, expiry under the and the circumstances. Surely it cannot be that every new generation has to struggle again and again with precarious working conditions and cannot conduct research properly.

“No wonder that many seek their happiness elsewhere”

tagesschau.de: Is that actually a purely German problem, is it better to deal with young scientists abroad? Kubon: “Offspring” is a terrible term. Some people in their mid-40s are not newcomers, but highly qualified experts who have long had highly paid management positions elsewhere. No wonder that many seek their happiness elsewhere. Foreign universities have already tried to poach German scientists as part of #IchBinHanna. But to come back to the question: Overall, science is a precarious system worldwide. But I cannot judge that in detail. But it would perhaps also be more the job of the ministry to set up a commission to deal with working conditions elsewhere in order to see what one can learn from there. But that would presuppose that deficits are recognized at all in their own country.

Mobilize via Twitter – in response to pressure from academics, the Bundestag is currently dealing with working conditions in research and teaching (archive). Image: picture alliance / Geisler-Fotop

tagesschau.de: Now there is a current hour in the Bundestag today. What do you expect from it? Kubon: I hope that this will bring science back on the political agenda. If it is to provide urgently needed orientation, then we can no longer work under such conditions. But I have the impression that many politicians simply do not know anything about it. Therefore we say: stop – it cannot go on like this. And maybe a few parties will see it as an opportunity to position themselves on questions of science policy.

Workers’ rights, as for everyone else

tagesschau.de: It is the last week of the session, then there will be general elections in September, so there will be no quick solutions. How do you intend to carry the topic forward? Kubon: The Science Contract Act is currently being evaluated. However, the corresponding forms are designed in such a way that I cannot imagine that valid data will come out of them. Nevertheless: The law is on the agenda for the next legislative period. Therefore, the deficits must now be described as precisely as possible in order to propose possible solutions. This is done in the traditional way, i.e. via local programs, party work or unions. But thanks to social media, initiatives can also arise quickly and spontaneously – the success of #IchBinHanna has shown us that. You made the Ministry of Research have to deal with our criticism. And on this point we will not let up: Scientists must have the same employee rights as everyone else. The interview was conducted by Stefan Keilmann, tagesschau.de

The theme exhibition of “Reliance and Self-reliance for the Party-Scientists Under the Leadership of the Party” opened at the National Museum of China on May 24th.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wen Jinghua The theme exhibition takes the strong leadership and great guidance of the Communist Party of China as the main line, takes the spiritual connotation of scientists as the framework, more than 260 texts and tables, 190 sets of scientist’s letter manuscripts and documents in kind, and 11 multimedia videos that take us through the long river of time and get closer More than 180 scientists devoted themselves to the historical moment of saving the country with science and serving the country with science and technology. At the beginning of the founding of New China, all industries were waiting to be flourished and a hundred wastes waiting to be done. The Party Central Committee issued a call to overseas students that “the motherland needs you”. “Let us go back, sprinkle our blood and sweat on the land of the motherland, and irrigate the splendid flowers… We have stood up, let’s go back, go back quickly! The motherland is eagerly waiting for us!” Exhibition wall, famous in China Nuclear physicist Zhu Guangya took the lead in drafting and publishing “An Open Letter to Chinese Students in the United States” in 1950. After 71 years, I still feel excited. Part of the theme exhibition area.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wen Jinghua Come back home! Come back home! “Two bombs” Deng Jiaxian, Qian Xuesen, Guo Yonghuai, Cheng Kaijia, meteorologist Ye Duzheng, “earth science master” Tu Guangchi, microbial biochemist Shen Shanjiong, aerodynamicist Luo Shijun, “Chinese nuclear physics research pioneer” Zhao Zhongyao… a group of outstanding Scientists resolutely returned to China and devoted themselves to the development and construction of new China in various fields. A postcard signed by overseas students returning from the 1950s, which was exhibited for the first time this time, witnessed this grand return to China in the history of the Republic. From the successful explosion of the first atomic bomb in the vast Gobi, “Dongfanghong” played for the first time in space, to the high-speed rail and large airplanes refreshing the “Chinese speed”, going up nine days and going down the five oceans to pursue dreams at the cutting edge of science and technology…Walking in the exhibition area Inside, changing scenery is the leap of the times. From saving the country through science and technology, rejuvenating the country through science and education, to becoming a powerful country through science and technology, what has always remained unchanged is that generations of scientific and technological workers have taken the country’s major needs as their mission. A slide rule used by researchers when developing China’s first atomic bomb.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wen Jinghua When passing by the photo of Academician Yuan Longping, people slowed down and stopped to stare. In the photo, he is standing at a rice base in Hainan, bending over to view the super hybrid rice “Chaoyou Qian”. In order for the Chinese to hold their jobs firmly, the old man has been dealing with rice fields for a lifetime. “Taihang Yugong” Li Baoguo has rooted in Taihang Mountain as a day for 35 years. He goes to the mountains to “work in agriculture” for more than 200 days every year, and spends his life bringing science and technology and prosperity to farmers. After Li Baoguo passed away due to illness, his beloved, Hebei Agricultural University researcher Guo Suping continued his unfinished business. “As a researcher engaged in forestry, I will follow in the footsteps of Li Baoguo and work hard and selflessly on the road to rural revitalization, and strive to write a satisfactory answer to the party and the people.” Guo Suping said at the opening ceremony of the theme. There is also “Sugar Pill Grandpa” Gu Fangzhou, who is committed to researching polio prevention and control and guarding the healthy growth of generations of Chinese people, and Nan Rendong, a “model of the times” who has burned his life to cast the “eye of the sky”, travels to Tibet to collect 40 million seeds. Zhong Yang, a scientist in China…They are devoted to scientific research, and write papers on the land of the motherland, and also in the hearts of thousands of Chinese people. Lunar soil in the collection of the National Museum of China.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wen Jinghua In the theme exhibition, there is an electronic screen showing a quiet starry sky, and each star is named after a scientist. “Chen Jingrun Star”, “Wang Xuanxing”, “Yuan Longping Star” “Wu Meng Chaoxing”…Because of them, the starry sky of science and technology in the motherland is exactly when the stars shine. “Scientific achievements are inseparable from spiritual support.” said Huai Jinpeng, executive vice chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology. The spirit of “two bombs and one satellite”, the spirit of moving west, the spirit of manned spaceflight, the spirit of lunar exploration, and the spirit of fighting the epidemic…Different periods, Scientific and technological workers in different fields have their own personality traits, but they have a common spiritual core, that is, the scientist spirit of patriotism, innovation, truth-seeking, dedication, collaboration, and educating people. These great spirits converge into a torrent of spirits in the scientific and technological circles toward the party, which will surely inspire hundreds of millions of scientific and technological workers to forge ahead on a new journey and continue their brilliance. To the end of the exhibition area, I saw a red wall hanging on a red wall with applications for admission to the party of 100 scientists. The papers were of different shades, new and old; from a closer look, every handwriting was neat and beautiful, and the words were simple and authentic— Scientist’s application for party membership.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wen Jinghua “I have been educated by the party in the past three years since I returned to China, which made me realize the greatness of the party and the greatness of the party to realize the goal of a communist society. I am willing to strive for this goal and be loyal to the cause of the party.” People scientist Qian Xuesen said Write. “After liberation, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the sludge and muddy waters of the old China were cleared, industry and agriculture developed, and many things that were imported in the past are now able to be produced by themselves. All of this has greatly increased the prestige of the Communist Party in its own mind. I deeply feel that what the party says counts, it is really fighting for the interests of the people.” Academician Zheng Zhemin, the winner of the country’s highest science and technology award and an expert in explosive mechanics, wrote. After visiting the exhibition, Hai Xing Shuo, a doctoral student at Beihang University, excitedly said to the reporter: “Faith seems to be far away from us, but in fact it is in these calculation papers and reagent bottles. It is in the older generation of scientists day after day. In the study of scholarship. The power of faith allows them to dedicate their lives desperately. Our young generation is not only moved, but also has to act, and invest in the wave of science and technology to serve the country!” Reporter: Wen Jinghua Editor: Guo Xiaolan

In addition, scientists have also been looking for more efficient ways to degrade plastics, hoping to deal with the generated plastic waste faster. Another very important method to treat plastic pollution is bioremediation. Bioremediation refers to the use of natural organisms to remove or neutralize pollutants. Among them, the most environmentally friendly and most promising method for plastic pollution control is the use of microbial degradation methods. Microbial degradation of plastics refers to the chemical reaction process that catalyzes the cracking of polymer bonds into monomers through some unique enzymes in microorganisms, which is a chemical reaction process that accelerates the degradation of plastics. Since plastics usually take a long time to degrade, the enzymatic catalysis can greatly reduce the time that plastics stay in nature and reduce the damage of plastics to the ecological environment. And just recently, a team from the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences found a flora in the ocean that can effectively degrade two common plastics: PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and PE (Polyethylene) plastic. The research team also published this scientific achievement in the recent publication of JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS. The results of this research are of great significance for the treatment of plastic waste. Because PET and PE plastics account for 46.5% of all plastic waste in the world, it can be said that finding a way to treat PET and PE plastics will find a way to treat nearly half of plastic pollution. PET plastic is one of the very common plastics. We can not only find it in beverage bottles, but also often see it in electrical products, automotive products, and daily life. PE (polyethylene) plastic is one of the five major synthetic resins. It is also the variety with the largest production capacity and the largest import volume among synthetic resins in China. It is often used to manufacture films, coatings and other products. What’s more troublesome is that both PET and PE compounds have many properties that are difficult to biodegrade, such as long hydrocarbon chains, high molecular weight, high tensile strength, low air permeability, and durability against physical and chemical degradation. For the degradation of PET plastic, scientists have previously discovered that cutinase, lipase, and esterase can effectively catalyze the degradation process of PET plastic. However, in current scientific research, there are relatively few discoveries about the degradation of PE plastics. Although people have found that PE plastics have great potential for degradation by co-cultivating PE plastics with specific microorganisms in the laboratory, At present, the known degradation methods of PE plastic by a single strain or a single enzyme are too low in efficiency to meet the needs of industrial applications. Therefore, in this study, the research team of the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences targeted the degradation of microbial communities, that is, under the synergistic effect of a combination of multiple microbial species, the degradation efficiency of plastics is likely to be greatly improved. (Source: Internet) This discovery was led by Sun Chaomin, a researcher at the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Since 2016, this team has been analyzing and screening thousands of samples of marine plastic waste collected from the coastal waters of Qingdao. These samples contain several Hundreds of plastic wastes. After unremitting screening and analysis, they found that a marine bacterial community can effectively colonize and degrade polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyethylene (PE), and in an environment containing plastic waste, This bacterial community has better growth ability instead. Researchers speculate that this is because the energy required for the survival of this bacterial community is obtained by degrading PET plastic and PE plastic. Next, in order to specifically find out which bacteria in the bacterial community played a role in the degradation of PET plastic and PE plastic, the researchers quantitatively analyzed the composition and abundance of this bacterial community and found that there are Five kinds of bacteria have a stronger survival advantage in the culture medium of plastic waste. Then, through bacterial culture scientific researchers successfully obtained pure culture strains of the above five types of bacteria, and further investigation found that three of them have significantly stronger plastic degradation ability. In order to further study how these three strains can work together to exert a synergistic effect and how to most effectively degrade plastics, researchers will compound the three strains in different proportions and conduct a comparative analysis. In the end, this scientific research team successfully established a stable marine bacterial community that can effectively degrade PET and PE plastics. Researchers also continue to use liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to prove the effective degradation of the established flora for the degradation of PET plastic and PE plastic. This research not only found the microbial populations that can degrade nearly half of the plastic waste in the world, but also gave important suggestions for the industrialization of plastic waste biodegradation from a biological and mechanical point of view, which is a path for the biodegradation of plastic waste. Important milestones. -End-

Building materials are made from plants (Image: CNET) A research team at the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Industrial Sciences has found a way to create durable, strong building materials that are still edible. These materials are very special as they are made from plants. Mashed cabbage leaves, seaweed and banana peels may not sound appealing, but they can be part of a recipe for sustainable building products. “Our goal is to use seaweed and leftovers to create sustainable building materials,” says Yuya Sakai, a sustainable building materials expert and lead author of an upcoming study on the material. building materials are at least as strong as concrete. But since we are using edible food waste, we were also interested in determining whether the recycling process affects the taste of the starting material.” The team tried a heat pressing technique commonly used to compress wood pulp into building materials. Instead of wood, they are vacuum-dried and then ground into a variety of foods and leftovers, including onion and fruit peels, as well as cabbage. “The processing technique involves mixing food powder with water and spices, then pressing the mixture into a mold at high temperature.” All the products obtained, except for the pumpkin peel, passed the group’s strength and endurance tests. Researchers have found a solution to the pumpkin problem. “We also discovered that Chinese cabbage leaves, which can be made into a material three times stronger than concrete, can be mixed with the material,” said Kota Machida, a collaborator on the project. made from pumpkin to enhance the effect”. The materials are still edible, although the team did not say whether they would be difficult to chew. Even exposing the material to air for four months does not change the taste and there are no problems with insects or rotting. The development of building materials from crushed food is still in the early stages, but perhaps one day you can build a place to live and then use it for food when it is no longer needed.

Wuhan Institute of Virology, China. Photo: AFP 59 leading biological laboratories in the world The Wuhan Institute of Virology is among the most secure, often referred to as biosafety level 4, or BSL4. Such laboratory facilities are built to operate safely and securely against some of the world’s deadliest viruses and bacteria, which can cause serious diseases for which there is no cure or vaccine. . “There are air-conditioning filtration systems that prevent viruses from escaping through exhaust gases and wastewater, which are treated with chemicals or high temperatures to make sure nothing remains. at,” Gregory Koblentz, director of the Biosafety Program at George Mason University, told AFP. In addition, the researchers themselves are professionally trained and wear protective gear when conducting experiments. There are about 59 such biological laboratories around the world, a report co-led by Mr. Koblentz published this week said. “There are no mandatory international standards for safety, security and accountability standards for diseases,” the report said. Accidents can happen at any time Accidents can sometimes happen in even the world’s top facilities and are even more likely to happen in thousands of lower-end labs. The H1N1 virus – the same type of virus that caused the 1918 pandemic was leaked in 1977 in the Soviet Union and China, and then spread around the world. In 2001, a mentally challenged employee at an American laboratory sent parcels of anthrax spores across the United States, killing five people. Two Chinese researchers were exposed to the SARS virus in 2004 and spread the disease to others, killing one person. Lynn Klotz, a senior scientist at the Centers for Arms Control and Disarmament, has raised the alarm about the threat to the public from such experimental facilities. “Human errors account for more than 70% of errors in laboratories,” the researcher said. Controversy entitled “Strengthening the research function” There are controversies within the US government, which also funds the Wuhan coronavirus research program, and some independent scientists over whether gains of function – GOF) should be conducted. GOF studies focus on tailoring pathogens to make them more infectious, more dangerous, or easier to escape from treatments and vaccines – all with the aim of learning how to cope with them more effectively. This field has been going on for a long time. The debate heated up when, in 2011, two research groups showed that they could make avian influenza viruses more infectious in animals. Harvard epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch told AFP he was concerned that “would create a strain of the virus that, if it infects laboratory workers, not only kills the person but causes a pandemic”. “This study was not requested and does not contribute to the development of drugs or vaccines,” said molecular biologist Richard Ebright of Rutgers University, one of the strongest opponents of the type of research. this said. In 2014, the US government announced it would stop funding such research, but the process was criticized for its lack of transparency and trust. Late last year, a non-profit organization received funding from the US for research “to predict the risk of virus escaping from the laboratory” from corona virus in bats to humans in Wuhan. This week, before a question from Congress, experts Francis Collins and Anthony Fauci of the US National Institutes of Health also denied conducting activities to strengthen research functions.

The human brain is a complex multi-scale structure in which molecules, cells and neurons coexist. It can be modeled as a multi-layered network, called a brain connection pool. Neighboring neurons are connected to form local structures, and different local structures form connections to perform cognitive functions. The human brain is estimated to have about 86 billion neurons. To decipher where consciousness comes from, the researchers used a Swiss supercomputer and used algebraic topology to build a detailed model of the cerebral cortex. Through testing the response of the mathematical model to virtual stimuli and examining the reality of the mouse brain, the researchers were able to determine the details of the neural network on a single neuron. and the entire brain structure. At the same time it was discovered that there are different types of high-powered activity in the brain consisting of a three-dimensional geometric structure – tightly connected clusters of neurons and existing regions. space (cavity) between them. These empty regions appear to be important for brain function. When the researchers applied the stimuli to their virtual brain tissue, they found that the neurons responded to the stimulus in a highly organized manner. This means that as we think about problems, clusters of neurons will gradually coalesce into higher-dimensional structures, forming holes or voids of height. The more neurons in the clusters, the higher the size of the gap, and the highest limit that can be achieved is 11 dimensions. The whole process always follows the order from low to high, the structure will become more and more complicated and eventually collapse. It’s like building a castle on the beach, the castle gets taller and taller and eventually it will collapse on its own. This is exactly like the large-scale filamentous structure of the universe, where galaxies and galaxy clusters form a giant filamentous structure with a giant hole in the middle. In a recent study, it was discovered that our Milky Way galaxy lies within a giant hole one billion light-years across. This study provides new discoveries about how the brain processes information. Scientists speculate that high-dimensional gaps in neuronal structures may be where the brain stores memories, but it’s unclear how these blocks and gaps are formed. How it works, so further studies are needed to determine the connection between the multidimensional structure of neurons and complex consciousness. The interaction between the human brain and the universe is completely different, but there have been many observations and conjectures about the similarity between the neural network and the cosmic network under observation from a microscope and telescope. The researchers quantitatively analyzed the similarity between the two factors based on optical microscopy observations of brain tissue and high-resolution cosmic-matter network imaging, with the help of the method. network analysis. First, there is a huge difference in scale between the brain network and the cosmic network, which is similar only on a specific scale. Brain neural networks are now thought to consist of tens of billions of neurons. The number of galaxies currently observed in the cosmic lattice exceeds 100 billion. In addition, in the neural network of the brain and the network of the universe, only a small amount of matter constitutes the network. There are a large number of holes between giant galaxies, and about 70% of the mass is made up of dark matter. In the human brain too, which is a biological organ, the most important component is water, in the human brain, nerve cells are only 25% and about 75% water. Up to this point, “having water in your head” has a certain scientific basis. In the universe, dense clusters of galaxies predominate, while in the human brain, specifically in neural networks, nerve fibers create uniform small patterns. However, when the researchers increased the magnification of the microscope, they were able to see some similarities to the cosmic web in brain slices.

The COVID-19 pandemic first broke out in Wuhan city, Hubei province, China. Photo: Getty Images The United States and several countries are closer than ever to defeating COVID-19 thanks to progress in vaccination against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. But the world still does not know how this deadly virus appeared, and there is a growing opinion from the scientific community that it does not happen naturally. The US is stepping up calls for more research and warning about the risks of future pandemics. Washington is also more open to weighing the theory that a mistake or failure in a Chinese laboratory caused the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the Chinese Government completely rejected this hypothesis and said that the dossier to trace the origin of the COVID-19 epidemic was closed. What’s new? According to CNN, a recent US intelligence report found that several researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology fell ill in November 2019 and were hospitalized – a new detail on the severity of the symptoms. disease in these scientists. It is not clear whether the researchers at that time had COVID-19 but the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) vehemently rejected the report, considering it a lie to promote the hypothesis that the virus leaked from the laboratory. . Scientists who worked for the WIV previously said the institute had nothing to do with COVID-19 disease until December 30, 2021. On May 24, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also denied the information that three Wuhan researchers were hospitalized before the outbreak of COVID-19 and affirmed that this information was “completely untrue”. Spokesperson Zhao Lijian confirmed that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was not exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus before December 30, 2019, and its staff so far have not been infected. Scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Photo: AFP Meanwhile, on May 25, speaking at the US Congress, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that the failure to fund previous research on Corona virus in bats in China. Quoc is a “negligence of duty”. According to Fauci, the US should have pursued to the place where the contact between animals and humans could lead to the spread of the virus between species. Dr. Fauci himself, the leading infectious disease expert in the US, said this week he did not believe the COVID-19 outbreak occurred spontaneously and prompted further investigation. A World Health Organization (WHO) adviser, Jamie Metzl, also said the leak hypothesis is possible, while scientists are “groping, creating and studying” the virus with the aim of vaccine development. “So I believe what could have happened was a leak, followed by a cover-up,” said Metzl, who served at the US State Department and the Atlantic Council during the US presidency. President Bill Clinton said. The conclusion is that further investigation is needed An in-depth study conducted by WHO in collaboration with the Government of China, published in March, explored the different possible origins of the COVID-19 epidemic and came to the conclusion that: although still It is not yet known how the disease originated, but it is likely that it spread to humans, either directly from bats, or more likely from an intermediate species that caught the virus from bats and then spread to humans. for human. Bats can be an intermediary that spreads the SARS-CoV-2 virus to humans. Photo: NPR The WHO report called the laboratory leak theory “extremely unlikely”, citing the fact that no laboratory staff in Wuhan were infected before December 2020 as an argument against this hypothesis. After the WHO report was published, its officials still called for an additional and public investigation from the Chinese side. Meanwhile, a newly released US intelligence report shows that laboratory workers of the Wuhan Institute of Virology have been sick since before December. According to WHO adviser Jamie Metzl, in the early stages of the outbreak of the disease. when China did not warn the world appropriately, Chinese officials blamed the transmission on an initial hotspot, a seafood market in Wuhan, which at this point was essentially Is not right. This expert said that there is a lot of evidence that the Chinese government initially tried to cover up the existence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. “Whatever the origin of the pandemic, the first month, when China was spending all its energy trying to cover things up rather than fixing the problem, allowed the fire in the furnace to cause a fire in the kitchen.” into a house fire and a worldwide fire,” said Metzl. The Wuhan Institute of Virology became the center of doubts about the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Photo: Getty Images A group of well-known and experienced scientists also criticized the WHO report for not taking seriously the hypothesis that the virus leaked from the laboratory. According to them, this hypothesis was refuted within just a few pages of a hundred-page report published by WHO. The scientists wrote in the journal Science: “We must seriously consider the contagion hypotheses in the wild and in the laboratory until we have enough data.” Fear of a recurrence of a pandemic These “closed doors” have also helped conspiracy theories expand. Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton has promoted the idea that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was purposefully created as a biological weapon. But there’s no concrete evidence to back up that claim, and experts still say it’s unlikely. Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, told CNN it’s unlikely the Wuhan lab manipulated the virus to make it more contagious. but “we have to find out” the truth. Dr. Offit said that the world needs to do something to prevent another pandemic. “What I know is that they [Trung Quốc] must allow this [điều tra mở về nguồn gốc dịch]“This is now the third pandemic to emerge in the past 20 years,” said Mr. Offit. First there was SARS 1, then there was MERS. I think we can assume we’re not done with this yet.”

The brain produces enough electricity to light a small light bulb Our brain has about 100 billion cells called neurons. When we move, look, think, dream or laugh, electrical and chemical signals are racing between the billions of neurons on this neural highway. So even though one neuron generates a very small amount of electricity, all of them together can generate enough electricity to light a low-wattage light bulb. Illustration. The sense of smell can take you back in time When we smell something that has a connection with something significant in our past, the first thing we experience is the emotion we had at that moment, then memory often follows. Sometimes we won’t remember the event or situation, but the emotion will be there. This ability actually has a very simple evolutionary explanation. There’s a part of our brain that’s dedicated to detecting chemicals that will signal us if something is approaching, that’s what our sense of smell does. This was very important to our existence in the past. Illustration. We can lift a 60kg person but cannot lift a 60kg rock When we lift “live weight” it is easier because the person can adapt to gravity and distribute their weight in more directions. If this person chooses, they can also put their arms around you, which will make things easy. While lifting an object, such as a rock, the rock cannot choose the distribution of its gravity and weight. Gravity is in the default position and this makes lifting it a lot harder. Illustration. Women’s brains shrink during pregnancy A study confirms that “pregnancy brain” is more than just a phrase used to explain the emotional roller coaster a mother-to-be goes through. The brain actually shrinks during pregnancy, but this is not a negative thing. As it gets smaller, it becomes more effective and the woman prepares for becoming a mother. In fact, the loss of gray matter occurred in the part where it would enhance her understanding of other people’s beliefs, emotions, and nonverbal cues. These changes will boost her ability to bond with her infant and make her aware of threats so she can protect her baby and herself more quickly. To have super strength, the digestive system has to shut down Fatigue, pain, and fear are all things that prevent us from trying to use our strength in our daily lives. We’ve all heard stories about a man lifting a car to save his loved one. That superpower actually comes from adrenaline, but for it to work fully, it needs to shut down the digestive system and immune response. Then the combination of increased energy levels and increased oxygen levels strengthens our muscles beyond normal. Illustration. We can see with our ears Blind people can walk by using canes or clicking on echoes that tell them about their surroundings. But scientists have actually studied the brain of a blind man named Daniel Kish. He described his vision as “something like seeing the world in dim rays”. So when his brain is being studied, the part that controls his visual context actually lights up as he listens to the echoes that help him navigate by clicking. However, when he was listening to other sounds, the area was pretty quiet. This led the scientists to conclude that Daniel was indeed experiencing something like visions. Illustration. Headaches signal bad weather For some people, headaches are not just a signal that we are too tired or overworked, but also a prediction of the weather. In fact, research has confirmed that a number of headaches, ranging from mild to severe, are caused by weather changes. While for some people it can be a rapid increase in temperature or pressure and usually during a storm. During a storm, warm and cold air mix and create a change in air pressure (barometric pressure). In fact, this is how thunderstorms, rain and wind are created. This type of air pressure actually exerts force on a certain area, and in the case of headaches, this “zone” is you. Illustration. The brain has the capacity to store 2.5 petabytes of memory Our brain has about 1 billion neurons. Each cell makes 1,000 connections with other neurons, a trillion connections in total. This gives the brain about 2.5 petabytes – 1 million gigabytes of storage. If we compare it to the length of a digital video, it would be 3 million hours for TV shows, making the video run non-stop for over 300 years. Embryos can heal mother’s wounds There have been many studies involving pregnant women and their unborn babies. The results of these studies have given scientists a new light on the strength of the fetus. During pregnancy, the cells of the embryo move out through the placenta and reside in different parts of the woman’s body. This can affect the mother’s health. In fact, these cells remain inside the body for more than a decade even after the baby is born. They can help the mother heal from injuries during pregnancy. The human ear has the ability to “hear” molecules Illustration. You can take 2 glasses and pour hot water in one and cold water in the other, and when you do this, you can hear the difference. This is because the molecules in cold water have less energy, producing low-frequency tones while hot water has more energy and produces higher-pitched tones, and we can hear and distinguish well between the two.

Pierre Curie is a French physicist, a pioneer in the fields of crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectric phenomena and radioactive phenomena. Under the influence of his brother, Pierre Curie’s curiosity about the mysterious world also gradually grew and it was because of this curiosity that he met the bizarre girl Eusapia Palladino, who is said to have can help the dead talk, capable of moving objects at a long distance. Eusapia Palladino. While traveling through Paris, Eusapia Palladino’s special abilities aroused the interest of scientists who believed that the causes of these unusual events could be found. So, more than 10 scientists decided to conduct experiments with Eusapia Palladino, including Pierre Curie and his wife, Marie Curie. Compared to his wife, Pierre was shocked to see these phenomena with his own eyes: he saw the table move on its own, saw strange lights and shadows, even felt a hand. invisible is touching me … Between 1905 and 1908, Eusapia Palladino produced countless strange phenomena in 43 trials. In the end, what conclusions did the scientists reach? In fact, they could not come to any concrete conclusions and there are many who think that Eusapia Palladino is just a talented magician who can pass the eyes of everyone. For his part, Pierre Curie could not say a word because he died in an accident in 1906 before finishing the test. But his notes say: “We attended many of Eusapia Palladino’s séances at the Center for Spiritual Studies. It was indeed very interesting. The four feet of the table slowly lifted by someone. The objects moved themselves. There was a hand. it pinches or caresses you. Flickering ghosts. These phenomena are really inexplicable. ” “During these séances, we have a few attendees. We know these people well, and no one can be an accomplice or help Mrs. Palladino. The only grounds for suspicion. , that this fellow is actually a magician, but how do you explain, when during the process, someone holds her hand, someone holds her hand, and the light is enough for us to see clearly. everything”. So can the dead talk to the living? This problem always hurts in the head of British physicist Sir Oliver Lodge, especially after his son Raymond died on the battlefield during World War I. Sir Oliver Lodge. In order to cross the boundaries of death and communicate with Raymond, Sir Oliver Lodge repeatedly tried different spiritual methods. Over time, a new question arose in his mind: How can it be certain that the message the psychic sends actually comes from a deceased person and not a fabricated message? To get around this problem, Sir Oliver Lodge came up with a suggestion: someone wrote on paper what he wanted to be conveyed by the psychic after death, and sealed it with an envelope. That way, we can verify whether the information transmitted by the psychic is correct or not. And then he actually decided to complete this experiment himself. So after his death, many spiritualists tried to decipher the mysterious rumors after the death of Sir Oliver Lodge. But how the truth is up to now is still a mystery. Sir William Crooks. The British physicist Sir William Crooks is not only an important figure in the history of science, but also an expert in “ghost” photography. He was one of the first photographers to capture “ghosts” on camera. Sir Crooks photographed a female ghost named Katie King, the daughter of an explorer in the 17th century. It is no coincidence that this girl’s ghost may appear in the photo but instead, she is ” summoned “by a young woman named Florence Cook. The witch Katie King. It happened in Florence’s parents’ house: a curtain, behind the curtain, was pulled in front of the door of a hut and then Florence summoned souls to possess them. Moments later, the soul of Kate King dressed in white began to appear, and the curtain slowly lifted … All of which was then thought to be fake, the soul of Kate King was in fact. it was Florence in disguise. But Sir Crooks asserted that the scene he saw was a supernatural phenomenon. However, with all 3 stories mentioned above, can not prove that Western scientists believe in ghosts or mysterious supernatural phenomena? Up to now, there are still many scientists conducting experiments to answer the question of whether the spiritual world really exists, but in reality there is still no answer that is sufficient to prove. this.

Now, the wild mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park has “confessed” to the scientists secretly beating their breasts. The research has been published in the journal Scientific Reports under Nature and led by Dr. Edward Wright of the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. The mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) is one of two eastern gorilla subspecies, comprising two populations. A population found in the Virunga volcano in Central Africa belongs to three national parks: Mgahinga, in southwestern Uganda; Volcanoes, in northwestern Rwanda; and Virunga in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The remainder was found in Bwindi Prohibited National Park in Uganda. Some primateists consider the Bwindi population a separate subspecies, although no complete description has been made. As of November 2012, an estimated total population of mountain gorillas was 880 individuals. From January 2014 to July 2016, researchers observed 25 wild male silver-backed gorillas overseen by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International (Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International), and recorded more. 500 chest beats. They recorded the chest pounding sounds of six of the gorillas, measured the rhythm and duration of each gorilla’s chest beat, and the frequency of the chest beating sounds. At the same time, they used the photographs to measure the shoulder widths of these gorillas to determine the sizes of different gorillas. Mountain gorilla. Mountain gorillas are descendants of monkeys and ancient apes found in Africa and Arab in the early Oligocene (34-24 million years ago). The fossil where the mountain gorilla lives is poor and its evolutionary history is unclear. About 9 million years ago, a group of primates evolved into gorillas, separated from their common ancestors with humans and chimpanzees; This is when genus Gorilla comes in. The mountain gorilla split from the eastern delta gorilla about 400,000 years ago and the two subspecies split from the eastern gorilla about 2 million years ago. There is much unresolved debate about the classification of mountain gorillas. The genus Gorilla was originally named Troglodytes in 1847, then renamed as it is today in 1852. By 1967 taxonomist Colin Groves proposed that all Gorilla genus consisted of only one species (Gorilla gorilla) with three Subspecies Gorilla gorilla gorilla (western plains gorilla), Gorilla gorilla graueri (delta gorilla found in western Virungas) and Gorilla gorilla beringei (mountain gorilla). In 2003, after review, gorillas were divided into two species (Gorilla gorilla and Gorilla beringei) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). After analyzing these measurement data, they found that “mountain gorillas can reliably transmit body shape information by beating their chest”. Specifically, large males will emit a lower frequency sound when they strike the chest. Researchers speculate that this may be related to their body’s large resonance cavity. Researchers also found that males beat their breasts more often during oestrus in female gorillas, so the sound of the chest beats could be an important body manifestation during flirting, a on the one hand, attracting children, and on the other hand, frightening the opponents. Interestingly, the beats and timing of these gorillas have nothing to do with body size, and not that the larger the size, the longer the beat. The chest beat of each gorilla is like a behavior showing the different personality, duration and frequency that will carry the characteristics of each individual. Researchers have analyzed that personalized beats could allow other gorillas to distinguish who was beating their chest from them. Mountain gorillas have been reported to have led to a threat of extinction due to poaching – mountain gorillas are often permanently injured by traps. hunt wild animals or take young individuals to zoos. Occupation – the rapid expansion of people’s settlements around the park’s safety corridor. Disease – mountain gorillas are regularly in contact with tour groups from all over the world, they can completely infect human infections. War, political turmoil – refugees flock to mountainous areas, cut trees and hunt gorillas for their meat for temporary life. Because of the above reasons, the World Animal Protection Organization and the host country authorities have increased patrols, using armed soldiers to remove traps, in addition to the work of determining the number of Gorillas mountain remaining. Expand the area of ​​the national park, require tour groups to stand away from monkeys, better manage this type of ecotourism. Another important part is educating local communities, spreading propaganda through materials and books and teaching students about biodiversity and protecting endangered animals. Ultimately, the scientists concluded that mountain gorillas live in dense rainforests, and sometimes they cannot see each other even when very close, but throbbing conveys personal information. it’s important for them to communicate.

Franchise Fast & Furious has written the history of action movies for nearly two decades, with gross sales of more than 5 billion dollars. Since its debut in 2001, Fast & Furious has always attracted the attention of a large number of audiences around the world through 8 parts and 1 extra story with spectacular cinematic experiences. Alternating thrilling action, the car racing chase to suffocate are still deep messages about family feelings that make the audience feel emotional. Next May, all eyes will focus on the long-awaited super product – Fast & Furious 9: Legend of Speed ​​(original title: F9).

To get the audience’s attention, Universal has released a new trailer for Fast & Furious 9, and this trailer is also tacitly asserting what fans have long guessed – towards space. The idea of ​​Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his family venturing into space started as a joke many years ago, but over time it has become a serious one. Cast Ludacris and Michelle Rodriguez seem to have confirmed Fast & Furious 9 will include some space moments, and now the latest trailer has shown footage of Tej (Ludacris) and Roman (Tyrese Gibson). wear a homemade space suit.

Han’s flickering appearance in the first trailer of Fast & Furious 9: Legend of Speed ​​made the audience feverish and excited if this was a trick of a production crew when it was really just a moment. rewind the time when Han did not lose his life? But in this trailer, Han is healthy, intact, his skills are still as bad as ever. He even barely saved Letty and Mia from death. Han’s new hairstyle and look further confirm that the “resurrected” guy from the dead is real. The reason why Han still survived that terrible car explosion is still open, making fans even more excited.

While sharing the trailer with Thehollywoodreporter, Fast & Furious 9 director Justin Lin revealed Tej and Roman’s car design work. Despite what many might think about the franchise’s realism, Lin actually spoke with some experts to come up with a plan to make the F9’s space car as realistic as possible. “I talk on the phone with scientists, learn about fuels and physics.” “It’s great, when the scientists at the end of the line say, ‘Wait, what? What are you guys trying to do?’ I love that idea “. In the trailer, the car is equipped with boosters to create momentum to help the car fly.

Universal also released a second trailer last night (in Vietnam time), making fans fidgety by too many stunned details. It is the appearance of Jakob – a rival for the first time in Fast & Furious history but sharing the same bloodline with Dom (Vin Diesel), pushing him into a wicked situation when “a drop of blood digs more than a pond of water. “. The scene of two cars driven by Dom and Jakob, colliding like two lions trying to devour each other, caused the audience to question a big question about the Dom brotherhood.

Although Fast & Furious often does give a somewhat fictional sequence, in reality the requests behind the scenes are as close to reality as possible. While a space car isn’t new in the movies, audiences can watch Fast & Furious 9 with the understanding that some elements of the space car actually stem from research. real science research. There could be even more vehicles in space than in the movie.

Hollywood’s unique racing blockbuster promises to satisfy all senses, the craziest ideas will hit the top “Nothing is impossible!”. All fans of the series need to do is prepare to be ready to welcome the super storm that Fast & Furious 9: Legend of Speed ​​brings in May. In particular, Vietnamese audiences are extremely lucky to be in the countries that enjoyed the earliest blockbuster in the world. The official opening date at theaters in Vietnam is May 28, 2021, while the international fan community (Europe and America and many countries) will have to continue waiting.

Now, the wild mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park has “confessed” to the scientists secretly beating their breasts.

The research has been published in the journal Scientific Reports under Nature and led by Dr. Edward Wright of the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany.

The mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) is one of two eastern gorilla subspecies, comprising two populations. A population found in the Virunga volcano in Central Africa belongs to three national parks: Mgahinga, in southwestern Uganda; Volcanoes, in northwestern Rwanda; and Virunga in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The remainder was found in Bwindi Prohibited National Park in Uganda. Some primateists consider the Bwindi population a separate subspecies, although no complete description has been made. As of November 2012, an estimated total population of mountain gorillas was 880 individuals.

From January 2014 to July 2016, researchers observed 25 wild male silver-backed gorillas overseen by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International (Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International), and recorded more. 500 chest beats.

They recorded the chest beating sounds of six of the gorillas, measured the rhythm and duration of each gorilla’s chest beat, and the frequency of the chest beating sounds. At the same time, they used the photographs to measure the shoulder widths of these gorillas to determine the sizes of different gorillas.

Mountain gorillas are descendants of monkeys and ancient apes found in Africa and Arab in the early Oligocene (34-24 million years ago). The fossil where the mountain gorilla lives is poor and its evolutionary history is unclear. About 9 million years ago, a group of primates evolved into gorillas, separated from their common ancestors with humans and chimpanzees; This is when genus Gorilla comes in. The mountain gorilla split from the eastern delta gorilla about 400,000 years ago and the two subspecies split from the eastern gorilla about 2 million years ago. There is much unresolved debate about the classification of mountain gorillas. The genus Gorilla was originally named Troglodytes in 1847, then renamed as it is today in 1852. By 1967 taxonomist Colin Groves proposed that all Gorilla genus consisted of only one species (Gorilla gorilla) with three Subspecies Gorilla gorilla gorilla (western plains gorilla), Gorilla gorilla graueri (delta gorilla found in western Virungas) and Gorilla gorilla beringei (mountain gorilla). In 2003, after review, gorillas were divided into two species (Gorilla gorilla and Gorilla beringei) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

After analyzing these measurement data, they found that “mountain gorillas can reliably transmit body shape information by beating their chest”. Specifically, large males will emit a lower frequency sound when they strike the chest. Researchers speculate that this may be related to their body’s large resonance cavity.

Researchers also found that males pound their breasts more often during oestrus in female gorillas, so the sound of the chest beats can be an important physical manifestation during flirting, a on the one hand, attracting children, and on the other hand, frightening the opponents.

Interestingly, the beats and timing of these gorillas have nothing to do with body size, and not that the larger the size, the longer the beat. The chest beat of each gorilla is like a behavior showing the different personality, duration and frequency that will carry the characteristics of each individual. Researchers have analyzed that personalized beats could allow other gorillas to distinguish who was beating their chest from them.

Mountain gorillas have been reported to have led to a threat of extinction due to poaching – mountain gorillas are often permanently injured by traps. hunt wild animals or take young individuals to zoos. Occupation – the rapid expansion of people’s settlements around the park’s safety corridor. Disease – mountain gorillas are regularly in contact with tour groups from all over the world, they can completely infect human infections. War, political turmoil – refugees flock to mountainous areas, cut trees and hunt gorillas for their meat for temporary life. Because of the above reasons, the World Animal Protection Organization and the host country government have increased patrols, using armed soldiers to remove traps, in addition to the work of determining the number of Gorillas mountain remaining. Expand the area of ​​the national park, require tour groups to stand away from monkeys, better manage this type of ecotourism. Another important part is educating the local community, spreading propaganda through materials and books and teaching students about biodiversity and protecting this endangered animal.

Ultimately, the scientists concluded that mountain gorillas live in dense rainforests, and sometimes they cannot see each other even when very close, but throbbing conveys personal information. it’s important for them to communicate.