Chinese Football Association accelerates restructuring process, reducing divisions from 21 to 16

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) has accelerated its internal restructuring process after its leadership reshuffle in October. Its latest disclosed restructuring plan has cut the number of divisions within the CFA from 21 to 16. Also, it is highly likely that the future operation of the Chinese third-tier professional soccer league will be unified under […]

New platform eyes ‘slow fashion’ to inspire designers, customers

For Li Bin, contact with the textile industry was rather accidental. Born in 1989, Li used to work in branding and PR, but got involved in sustainable fashion in 2020 amid the global pandemic, after developing a sudden interest.   In recent years, China's second-hand clothing market has been attracting more and more young people, driven […]

Distant galaxies lack dark matter, study suggests

Very distant galaxies have surprisingly little dark matter, the invisible stuff thought to make up the bulk of matter in the universe, new observations suggest. Stars in the outer regions of some far-off galaxies move more slowly than stars closer to the center, indicating a lack of dark matter, astronomer Reinhard Genzel and colleagues report […]

Colorful pinwheel puts a new spin on mouse pregnancy

This rainbow pinwheel of mouse placentas isn’t just an eye-catching, award-winning image. The differences in color also provide researchers with new clues to how a mother’s immune system may affect her or her baby’s health during pregnancy. The work could lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment of preeclampsia, a common pregnancy complication. Suchita Nadkarni, an […]

Out-of-body experiments show kids’ budding sense of self

Kids can have virtual out-of-body experiences as early as age 6. Oddly enough, the ability to inhabit a virtual avatar signals a budding sense that one’s self is located in one’s own body, researchers say. Grade-schoolers were stroked on their backs with a stick while viewing virtual versions of themselves undergoing the same touch. Just […]

50 years ago, artificial limbs weren’t nearly as responsive

Very subtle control of artificial limbs by means of a tiny electronic device may become possible.… [The] electronic device … [is] designed to be injected into a muscle through a thick hypodermic needle. A tiny package strapped to the outside of the limb will beam radio waves at the device, which will return them, modified […]

Will Smith narrates ‘One Strange Rock,’ but astronauts are the real stars

“The strangest place in the whole universe might just be right here.” So says actor Will Smith, narrating the opening moments of a new documentary series about the wonderful unlikeliness of our own planet, Earth. One Strange Rock, premiering March 26 on the National Geographic Channel, is itself a peculiar and unlikely creation. Executive produced […]