US Army is investing millions of dollars on exoskeleton technology to build ‘super-soldiers’ and China urged to save life on Earth.
China cracks down on scientist who claimed first gene-edited babies
Chinese authorities have suspended the research activities of the scientists who claimed to have created the world’s first gene-edited babies, reports Xinhua.
The order comes after Chinese scientist He Jiankui, an associate professor at the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, announced that he altered DNA of twin girls born a few weeks ago to to prevent them from contracting HIV.
Jainkui’s claims, still unproven, were called abominable in nature and a violation of Chinese law by the authorities.
Xu Nanping, vice minister of the ministry of science and technology said, “The gene-edited twins matter reported by the media has brazenly violated Chinese laws and regulations and breached the science ethics bottom line, which is both shocking and unacceptable.”
US Army to build ‘super-soldiers’
To equip a new generation of super-soldiers, the US Army is spending millions of dollars on experimental exoskeleton technology that will make soldiers stronger and more resilient, reports Reuters.
The battery-operated exoskeleton uses a suite of sensors, artificial intelligence and other technology to support natural movements.
Lockheed Martin Thursday said that it won a $6.9 million award from Pentagon to research and develop the exoskeleton, called ONYX.
Keith Maxwell, manager at Lockheed Martin Missiles, said people in his company’s trials who wore the exoskeletons showed far more endurance.
US, however, is not the only country looking at this technology. The report quotes Center for Naval Analyses’ Samuel Bendett to say that Russia and China are also investing in exoskeleton technologies.
MeToo founder Tarana Burke says campaign ‘unrecognisable’ now
MeToo movement Tarana Burke has said that the campaign she began over a decade ago has become unrecognisable to her, reports BBC.
Speaking at TEDWomen in Palm Springs, Burke said that the media backlash has framed the movement as a witch hunt. “Suddenly, a movement to centre survivors of sexual violence is being talked about as a vindictive plot against men,” she said.
Last year, #MeToo became a globally used hashtag on social media platforms in the wake of allegations made against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
Burke is of the opinion that the movement is neglecting the one who needs help.
“This is a movement about the one in four girls and the one in six boys who are sexually abused every year, and who carry those wounds into adulthood,” she said at the conference.
She pleaded that victims should not be forced to relive their traumas by speaking about them.
China should lead way to save life on Earth, urge UN
China must lead the way in building a new and effective strategy to arrest the collapse of life on Earth, according to senior delegates at a UN biodiversity conference.
The responsibility has been shifted to China as US is absent, Europe is distracted and Brazil is moving away from global cooperation, said the diplomats after two weeks of slow-moving talks on how to maintain the natural infrastructure on which humanity depends, says The Guardian report.
China will host the next high-level negotiations in 2020. This will also serve as the deadline for nations to agree on fresh global targets for the protection and management of forests, rivers, oceans, pollinators and other wildlife.
The diplomats urged that China should champion the cause of nature in two years.