BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The following are the highlights of China's science news from the past week:
BEIDOU NAVIGATION SATELLITE
China plans to complete its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) with the launch of its last satellite in June, according to a BDS official.
The final satellite is a geostationary earth orbit satellite of the BDS-3 system, the third iteration of BDS that has already provided positioning and navigation services to global users, said Ran Chengqi, director of the China Satellite Navigation Office, in an interview with state broadcaster CCTV on Thursday.
"The BDS-3 system plans to have 30 satellites, with 29 now in orbit. It will be fully completed in June with the launch of the last satellite," Ran said. "Both the satellite and carrier rocket have been sent to the launch site, and preparations for the upcoming launch are underway."
ANCIENT DNA
Chinese researchers reported on Friday that an analysis of sequenced ancient genomes revealed a major episode of admixture of ancient humans in East Asia, suggesting that population movement played a profound role in the early genetic history of East Asians.
Researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported in the latest issue of the journal Science online that they retrieved ancient DNA from 25 ancient human remains dating back 9,500 to 4,200 years and one dating back 300 years from sites across China.
COVID-19 PREDICTION MODEL
Chinese researchers have developed a prediction model to help identify COVID-19 patients' risk of developing critical illnesses, according to the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health.
Researchers developed the model based on clinical data of 1,590 COVID-19 patients. They screened 72 clinical factors and identified 10 key risk factors that could be combined to help predict the development of critical illnesses, including chest radiography abnormality, age, hemoptysis, dyspnea, unconsciousness, and number of comorbidities.
They validated the prediction model on 710 patients and results showed that the accuracy rate reached more than 88 percent. Enditem
