Science and Technology News丨Scientists discover new structure of masseter muscle; my country ranks second in the world in the number of papers published in top international journals

【Today’s cover】

On December 27, after a night of heavy snow, the mountains in Longhushan Scenic Area in Jiangxi Province were covered in silver, as beautiful as a picture scroll, like a fairyland. Photo source: Liu Zhikun, China News Service

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●On December 27, the Chinese Institute of Scientific and Technological Information released the "2021 China Science and Technology Paper Statistical Report" in Beijing. The report shows that China's overall output of outstanding scientific and technological papers continues to grow, and the number of papers in top international journals ranks second in the world, up two places; the number of highly cited papers and hot papers continues to rank second in the world. (Source: Science and Technology Daily)

●On December 27, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce issued the "Special Administrative Measures for Foreign Investment Access (Negative List) (2021 Edition)" and the "Special Administrative Measures for Foreign Investment Access in Pilot Free Trade Zones (Negative List) (2021 Edition)", which will take effect on January 1, 2022. (Source: Ministry of Commerce website)

New findings

The newly discovered muscle layer extends from the back of the cheekbone to the jaw. Image source: American Fun Science website

●Modern anatomy textbooks describe the masseter muscle as consisting of two parts, the surface layer and the deep layer. Recently, researchers from the University of Basel in Switzerland discovered that the masseter muscle also has a third layer of muscle tissue, called the "masseter coronoid muscle." It may help stabilize the mandible by lifting and contracting the coronoid process. It is the only part of the masseter muscle that can pull the jaw backwards, and is essential for chewing. This discovery will help treat related diseases involving the mandible, etc. (Source: Science and Technology Daily)

●According to the recent news from the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Qinghai Provincial Institute of Geological Survey, during the second comprehensive scientific survey and research on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, geological researchers discovered a granite-pegmatite belt related to the mineralization of rare metals such as lithium, beryllium, and tungsten during the Indosinian tectonic period in the Bayan Har area of ​​Qinghai Province. This is the first time that this type of mineral deposit has been discovered in the Bayan Har area of ​​Qinghai. (Source: Xinhua News Agency)

Pure Technology

●Recently, Wu Yanhua, deputy director of the National Space Administration, said that my country still has a number of launch vehicles under development, which will complete their first flights in the next few years. The heavy-lift launch vehicle can send a 150-ton spacecraft into low-Earth orbit, which is equivalent to launching a Tiangong space station at one time. In the future, it will meet my country's major national space missions such as deep space exploration and manned lunar landing in a long period of time. At the same time, a new generation of manned rockets is also under development. (Source: CCTV News)

Image courtesy of USTC

●Recently, the team of Academician Guo Guangcan from the University of Science and Technology of China has made important progress in the research of super-resolution imaging of cold atoms. The researchers have achieved single-ion super-resolution imaging in an ion trap system. This experimental technology can be extended to multi-body and correlation measurements of cold atom systems, and is also highly compatible with other cold atom systems, and can be applied to optical lattices, neutral atom optical tweezers, and cold atom-ion hybrid systems. The results were recently published in Physical Review Letters. (Source: Science and Technology Daily)

Image provided by the research team

●Recently, Professor Jiang Guangshun's team from Northeast Forestry University published a research result titled "Inbreeding Status of Siberian Tiger Population and Conservation Significance" in the international journal "Animal Conservation". The study revealed for the first time the evidence of inbreeding pressure in small populations of wild Siberian tigers in my country and the direct threats it posed. It is recommended to establish corridors as soon as possible to connect wild tigers in other habitat patches or to reintroduce wild cubs into the wild to improve the current genetic status and reduce threats. (Source: Science and Technology Daily)

See the world

On December 9, a group of cranes rested in the wetlands of the Agmon Hula Bird and Nature Park in Israel. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Shang Hao

●An outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza has recently occurred in some parts of Israel, killing more than 2,000 wild cranes and culling 244,000 chickens. Uri Naveh, a senior researcher at the Nature and Parks Administration, believes that avian influenza occurs every year in Israel, but this year's situation is much more serious than in previous years, and it is "unusual" that so many wild cranes died from the epidemic. (Source: Xinhua News Agency)

Source: Science and Technology Daily

Editor: Liu Yiyang

Review: Julie

Final review: Liu Haiying