BEIJING, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- The following are the highlights of China's science news from the past week:
COVID-19 NANOPARTICLE VACCINES
Two new nanoparticle vaccines for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can elicit potent neutralizing antibodies and cellular immune responses in animals, sources with the Guangzhou-based Sun Yat-sen University said Friday.
The university researchers formulated two nanoparticle vaccines based on the receptor binding domain and heptad repeat of the SARS-CoV-2. They could induce a high level of antibodies against COVID-19 in mice and rhesus macaques, presenting a promising vaccination approach against the virus.
CHANG'E-5
China on Tuesday launched a spacecraft to collect and return samples from the moon, the country's first attempt to retrieve samples from an extraterrestrial body.
A Long March-5 rocket, carrying the Chang'e-5 spacecraft, blasted off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the coast of the southern island province of Hainan.
LUNAR RESEARCH STATION PROTOTYPE
China plans to build a prototype for a lunar scientific research station in the fourth phase of the country's lunar exploration program.
The prototype, which will consist of multiple detectors operating in lunar orbit and on the lunar surface, will be capable of conducting scientific and technological research on the moon, as well as technical verification of lunar resource exploration and utilization.
MANNED SUBMERSIBLE
China's new deep-sea manned submersible Fendouzhe (Striver), onboard the scientific research ship Tansuo-1, returned to the port in the city of Sanya, south China's Hainan Province on Saturday morning, after completing its ocean expedition.
The submersible set a national record by diving to a depth of 10,909 meters in the Mariana Trench during the expedition.
WORLD'S SMALLEST DRAGONFLIES
A Chinese museum said it has found the world's smallest dragonflies in terms of body length in samples collected from southwest China.
The samples from Sichuan Province were identified as those of Nannophya pygmaea, commonly known as scarlet dwarf, with the smallest adult specimen having a body length of about 15 mm, according to the Insect Museum of West China. Enditem
