An international team of researchers have found evidence that people smoked marijuana, also known as cannabis, for its psychoactive properties as part of rituals or religious activities in western China at least 2,500 years ago.

China's research vessel KEXUE (Science) finished its investigation of seamounts in the west of the Pacific Ocean and started to sail back on Saturday evening. During the expedition, Discovery, a remote operated vehicle aboard KEXUE, made 19 dives and captured more than 800 collections of biological samples, including corals, sponges, shrimps and shellfishes.

Chinese scientists have developed a method to convert light energy and biomass to diesel fuel and hydrogen. The study by scientists of the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences provides a way to produce clean energy using solar power or artificial light source and sustainable carbon sources present on Earth's surface.

Chinese scientist Lin Yejie has discovered a new species of spider in a botanical garden in southwest China's Yunnan Province. Lin, an assistant researcher with the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), named the spider "Platythomisus xiandao." His finding has been published in biology journal Zookeys.

Geographical proximity has brought a growing number of students from Central Asia to Xinjiang. A total of 55 Central Asian students -- 32 doctors and 23 in master's programs -- have graduated from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, where Sadyrbek currently studies.

A China-U.S. joint research team has made new breakthroughs in developing non-human primate models for autism research, paving the way for possible drug discovery and gene therapy of the disorder. The research was published in the journal Nature.

China's technological cooperation with central Asian countries including Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan has yielded fruitful results, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). CAS Research Center for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia has cooperated with local governments in Kyrgyzstan to conduct demonstration projects in improving drinking water safety.

Chinese scientists have developed a drug-free theranostic agent that can be a good replacement for traditional chemotherapeutics in cancer treatment. The agent was jointly developed by researchers with Hefei Institutes of Physical Science and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Researchers have developed a new type of graphene electrode for ultra-sensitive and controllable flexible capacitive pressure sensors. Flexible pressure sensors allow robots to feel their external mechanical environment, while the development of graphene provides a new solution for the next generation of ultra-sensitive tactile technology.

Chinese scientists have established a method to analyze and eliminate gene editing attempts that stray off target. The researchers optimized the way enzymes interacted with RNA, and they engineered gene editing tools that caused zero off-target effects.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Monday launched a marine survey, with four vessels setting sail from three Chinese ports to research the health of China's coastal waters. The "healthy ocean" joint voyage is commissioned to collect data in the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea and estuaries of the Yangtze River and Pearl River to facilitate future research, according to the CAS.

China's lunar rover Yutu-2 has driven 212.99 meters on the far side of the moon to conduct scientific exploration on the virgin territory. Both the lander and the rover of the Chang'e-4 probe switched to its dormant mode for the lunar night late on Sunday (Beijing time).

APS has appointed Jian-Wei Pan, Professor of Physics at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei, as a Lead Editor for Physical Review Research. Pan joins Lead Editor Nicola Spaldin, appointed in April, on the editorial leadership team for APS’s new open access, multidisciplinary journal, which will open for submissions later this month.

Chinese and Russian institutes will further strengthen cooperation in the research of atmospheric optics and plan to build a research center in east China's Anhui Province. The Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics of Chinese Academy of Sciences and the V.E. Zuev Institute of Atmospheric Optics of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science signed an agreement on May 30 to build a closer tie between the two institutes.

A remote operated vehicle (ROV) aboard China's research vessel KEXUE (Science), has gathered more than 500 collections of biological samples in 10 dives in two seamounts of the western Pacific Ocean by Thursday. Chinese scientists estimated that there were about 200 species in the collections, including corals, sponges, sea lilies and aplysias.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has recently signed a framework agreement with the southwestern province of Sichuan to deepen cooperation on scientific and technological innovation. The partnership will see the development of major research infrastructures and projects in Sichuan.

A light-weight, stretchy heat insulation material, which is inspired by polar bear hair, has been developed by Chinese scientists YU Shuhong. Applications in architecture and aerospace sectors in is promising in the future.

China's BeiDou-3 system, a global geolocation network, is expected to be completed in 2020, with a total of 35 satellites, researchers at a conference on the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) said.