Research Fronts 2019 Released: China is Reducing its Gap with the US in Frontier Research

China ranks 1st in 33 out of 137 global research fronts, according to the report "Research Fronts 2019" jointly released by the Institutes of Science and Development of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CASISD), the National Science Library of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Clarivate Analytics on Nov 26.

• The Rare Bloom You've Never Seen and May Never See Again

  For the first time ever in China, <EM>Himalayas saprias</EM>, a parasitic flowering plant in Xishuangbanna, southwest China's Yunnan Province, were photographed in bloom by two Chinese researchers. The himalayas sapria is an extremely rare plant that is found in Southeast Asia. In China, they are only found in Xishuangbanna and Metok in Tibet, and the exact locations are strictly confidential.

• Ancient Fossils Clarify Evolution of Mammalian Hearing

  Researchers have discovered ancient fossils of a new Cretaceous mammal species in northeast China's Liaoning Province, finding a missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle of mammalian hearing evolution. The research was jointly conducted by paleontologists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology and the American Museum of Natural History. Their findings were published in the latest issue of the journal Science.

• English-language Blue Book on E-Science Released

  China has released its first English-language blue book on e-science, a type of highly digitalized scientific research that uses large-scale computing infrastructure, big data and other cutting-edge information technologies. This guidebook will serve as an authoritative source for foreign scholars to systematically peer into China's e-science development, its latest results, and find new grounds for international collaboration, scientists said on Wednesday.