Tianzhou-1 releases CubeSat

Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft successfully released a cube satellite (CubeSat) while in orbit last week, according to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. Signals from the CubeSat were received by ground technicians right after the release. It was the first time China has released a CubeSat by an in-orbit spacecraft. Traditionally, the CubeSat is released during the launch.

Fraud suspects returned

A total of 77 suspects in telecom and online fraud cases have been brought back to China from Fiji, the Ministry of Public Security announced on Saturday. The suspects are accused in more than 50 cases involving over 6 million yuan (US$892,000). Chinese police sent a team to Fiji on July 2 to work with local police. On July 18, they took action, destroying five dens, arresting 77 suspects and confiscating equipment, including mobile phones, computers and bank cards. In the meantime, police busted eight dens and two technical teams, arresting 83 suspects in China.

Scholar retracts paper

A group led by Chinese scholar Han Chunyu has decided to retract their controversial paper about a new gene-editing technique, according to a retraction statement of the journal Nature Biotechnology released last week. Han from Hebei University of Science and Technology, and his team published a paper in Nature Biotechnology last May. In their latest statement, the authors said despite the efforts of many laboratories, an independent replication of the results in their paper has not been reported.

Mayor jumps into river

Li Zhonghua, mayor of Yongcheng City in Henan Province, jumped into the city’s Huchenghe River last week to test the anti-pollution efforts of local authorities.

In recent years, with increasing garbage and heavy pollution, the river was silted up and the water flowed slowly, fueling a spasm of public complaints. The city took a variety of measures to strengthen the mud river bed with rocks and concrete planks and raised fish. The latest data showed the water quality has reached the national level of Grade III, suitable for aquaculture and swimming.(SD-Agencies)