Science & Technology

The 2018 Tank Biathlon contest is underway in Russia as part of the 4th International Army Games.

Russia’s team finished first on the second day of the international Tank Biathlon competition. Teams from Serbia and Iran finished second and third, respectively.

The Games are being held on 24 training grounds in seven countries in a period from July 28 through August 11. Taking part are 189 teams from 32 world nations. The program includes competitions in 28 disciplines.

1 Aug 2018; AFP; A US judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the online publication of blueprints for 3D-printed firearms, in a last-ditch effort to stop a settlement President Donald Trump's administration had reached with the company releasing the digital documents.

Eight states and the District of Columbia, that houses the capital Washington, had filed a lawsuit against the federal government, calling its settlement with Texas-based Defense Distributed "arbitrary and capricious."

MOSCOW, July 30. /TASS/. Russia may resume the production of super-heavy Antonov An-124 cargo planes. They will be digitalized and will carry new PD-35 engines, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said on Monday.

"The resumption of the production of An-124 planes will be linked with the possibilities of PD-35 engines that are made in the United Engine-Building Corporation. But there will be nothing new. We will simply digitalize the An-124 with new engines," Borisov said.

WASHINGTON, July 30 (Xinhua) -- American scientists identified a substance in blood as a biomarker for depression and pointed to a new class of antidepressants that could be freer of side effects and faster-acting than those in current use.

People with depression have low blood levels of acetyl-L-carnitine (LAC), a nutritional supplement that is being sold in drugstores, according to a study published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

WASHINGTON, July 30 (Xinhua) -- American and Chinese scientists developed a new nanoparticle vaccine that could effectively protect mice against influenza A virus, according to a study published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The double-layered vaccine made with peptides showed strong potential for combating influenza viruses, providing a promising approach for developing universal influenza vaccines.

Contestants from South China University of Technology celebrate during the awarding ceremony of the RoboMaster 2018 competition in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, July 29, 2018. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)

MOSCOW, July 27. /TASS/. China plans to carry out the first-time test firing of Russia’s S-400 Triumf missile defense systems in the end of July or in early August, a military and diplomatic source told TASS.

"It is planned that in late July-early August the unit of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, which underwent training in Russia, will carry out the firing against a simulated ballistic target at a Chinese firing ground," the source said.

Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation has declined to comment on the report.

SANTIAGO, July 27 (NNN-XINHUA) -- Using Chinese technology, a Chilean company has succeeded in making "non-plastic" bags that quickly dissolve in cold water and won't take hundreds of years to disintegrate.

The cost-effective formula combines hydrogen, carbon and a synthetic polymer, which doesn't cause pollution to produce a grocery bag, according to the company Solubag.

26 July 2018; AFP; A massive underground lake has been detected for the first time on Mars, raising hopes that more water -- and maybe even life -- exists there, international astronomers said Wednesday.

Located under a layer of Martian ice, the lake is about 12 miles (20 kilometers) wide, said the report in the US journal Science.

It is the largest body of liquid water ever found on the Red Planet.

"Water is there. We have no more doubt," co-author Enrico Flamini, the Italian space agency's Mars Express mission manager, told a press conference.

WAKISO, Uganda, July 21 (Xinhua) -- China and the Ugandan government have launched a satellite television (TV) project in the central Ugandan district of Wakiso that will benefit over 500 villages.

Speaking at the launch on Friday, Janet Museveni, minister of education and sports said the initiative would be critical in digital learning.