Day: November 9, 2023

A team of Chinese scientists has developed drones that can engage in “group chats” to discuss and assign tasks among themselves, much like human teams. The technology could be used to improve security patrols, disaster rescue and aerial logistics, the researchers said. 3. ‘Quaking in their boots’: Malaysians, Indonesians ditch brands over war in Gaza Protesters shout slogans and wave Palestinian flags during a rally in Jakarta on Sunday. Photo: AP “I’m swearing off Israeli products,” the 33-year-old homemaker in Indonesia said, proudly showing the list of goods and brands…

The first live birth of a chimeric monkey with a high proportion of cells derived from a stem cell line was reported by researchers in China who see opportunities to study human diseases and create interspecies chimeras to pass on endangered DNA. The monkey was born with cells derived from two genetically distinct cynomolgus monkeys – also known as crab-eating macaques – a monkey used in many biomedical studies. After rats and mice, the monkey, which was born around two year ago, is the first chimeric species born in which…

Pinduoduo, China’s second-largest e-commerce platform, performs the worst among its peers in environmental actions, lacking in strategies and disclosures on climate change, biodiversity and waste management, according to Greenpeace. Despite some effort, Tang Damin, Beijing-based project manager at Greenpeace East Asia, said he is worried that the platforms “are becoming bottlenecks for progress”. “Overall, China’s e-commerce giants still don’t do enough to leverage their platforms toward sustainability,” he said. “This stagnation is most obvious for the climate. But the impact on other environmental issues is also profound.” Alibaba topped the…

China should ramp up strategic mineral mining exploration to secure its supply chain in “extreme situations”, said natural resources minister Wang Guanghua, as Beijing increases its push for national security and self-reliance. “At the moment, the country has not invested enough in the exploration of strategic minerals, while there is a slow down in the amount of new available resources,” Wang Guanghua wrote in the Economic Daily on Wednesday. The ongoing “redistribution” and “fierce competition for dominance” in the global supply chain has made mineral exploration a key to security,…

Within food prices, the negative pork-price-inflation reading deepened in October to minus 30.1 per cent, year on year, due to both a high base and sequentially lower pork prices, said Robert Carnell, regional head of research for Asia-Pacific at ING. He said month-on-month pork-price inflation dropped to minus 2 per cent in October from 0.2 per cent in September. China’s weak consumer prices continue in October, deflationary pressure deepens “China is not experiencing ‘deflation’ as most headlines attest. But its pork prices are undoubtedly much lower – good news for…