What special apps does a young Tibetan living on the snowy plateau have on their phone? Recently, a new app called "Linka" has appeared on the phones of young people. Using it, you can easily browse and learn information about the Tibetan culture. Additionally, you can find both the oldest and the latest Tibetan songs, and learn about their origins and historical background. Most importantly, you can share your joy and sorrow in life and build your own neighborhood online.
Of course, we are not here to advertise any social app. However, the name of this app is indeed well chosen. It encompasses all the meanings and uses of the Tibetan word "linka."
For thousands of years before the advent of online social platforms, linka was the primary social bond between Tibetan people, their communities, and nature. Through these activities, Tibetans stay cheerful, optimistic, and lively even in the challenging high-altitude and oxygen-deficient natural environment.
In Tibetan, linka means gardens and groves. However, in a daily context, "linka running" is similar to outings or picnics. Linka running exists as a long-standing Tibetan tradition of being close to nature, a habit developed by Tibetan compatriots living in a high-altitude climate and unique environment.
In the Xizang Autonomous Region in Southwest China, severe cold and snow are the norm. So, any day with good weather is never wasted. They are seen as gifts from Heaven.
Tibetan people deeply adhere to the belief that "Every day in which you do not dance is a day wasted in life." Therefore, during such days, Tibetans often gather with family and friends, bringing along some food, and head to lush linka areas. There, they set up tents, lay out carpets, set out barley wine and various snacks, and indulge in merrymaking, celebrating the joys of nature with singing and feasting.
Over time, linka running has become a unique daily way of life for Tibetans. In Lhasa, whether in urban areas or the outskirts of the city, there are incredibly beautiful linka sites everywhere. Under the intense plateau sunshine, they appear as green as emeralds, turning Lhasa into a mythological world.
Follow along and step into the world of Lhasa's linka to experience the unique ethnic customs and folk culture of the Tibetan people.
Having lived in Xizang for many years, I have heard the most beautiful songs, the most captivating stories, and the most entertaining jokes at linka running events. We believe that any cultural identity is a product of negotiation and interaction between people and nature.
It can be said that linka running reconciles the innate human desire to be close to nature with the challenges of the harsh natural environment.
Tibetan people have a natural inclination toward outdoor life, camping, and picnics, and they love the forests, rivers, flowers, and meadows.
At linka sites they set up tents of various colors and lavish or simple curtains, build stoves, prepare food and tea, and sometimes, they stay for a day, several days, or even up to half a month.
During these days, they sing, dance, play cards, roll dice, tell stories, perform Tibetan opera, entertain guests, feast, drink, and celebrate. There are also various games, sports, and archery activities.
The most touching crystallization of their culture naturally emerges during these carefree moments. The most popular sport during these times is archery, known as bishao in Tibetan. The target is made of cowhide, with a movable center. The arrowheads are carved from wood with many holes, producing a sharp sound when released from the bowstring. Hitting the bull's-eye causes the center to drop, indicating victory for the archer.
During every archery competition, men and women standing on both sides of the competitors sing and dance enthusiastically to cheer and support them. This type of song is called dhashei, meaning arrow song.
In today's urban life in Xizang, this atmosphere has also spread extensively. Colleagues in the workplace, business partners, teachers and students in schools, guests and hosts, tourists and locals - more and more social relationships are influenced by Tibetan culture.
People have learned to place the trivial matters of daily life under the vast starry sky and the scene of bonfire dances, giving everything a pastoral and idyllic filter.
We cannot deny that it is in one of the harshest natural environments on the plateau that the Tibetan people have created this most optimistic and relaxed way of life. This is rarely seen in cultures around the world.
No matter how grand and lavish gatherings are organized in other places, they ultimately remain mere embellishments in the daily routine. But in the linka culture of Xizang, it seems that the Tibetan people have turned this around.
It is said that in some families, the linka can last for up to a month. Family members with work or other obligations can leave at any time and naturally return to the festivities after finishing their tasks. This is indeed a very appealing way of life: Bothersome jobs and tasks are merely interludes in a grand feast.
The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) allows countries of Global South to connect with each other, a Pakistani economist told Xinhua in a recent interview.
"We have seen that China itself has come out of years and decades of poverty, and it has transitioned into a country that is fast developing. So for them to tailor a program for the developing countries is much easier than for the Global North," said Vaqar Ahmed, joint executive director at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, an Islamabad-based think tank.
This is what China has been trying to do under the BRI, he added.
The BRI is a very decent model for cooperation, particularly for the developing countries, because many programs are led or participated in by developing countries, and by some of the poorest countries of the world, Ahmed said.
"So it's not like traditional development programs, for example, a model having bilateral, multilateral donors involved that will come in and do a diagnostic of their own, and then they will offer you a platter or a choice set, that this is what we can do for you, would you sign up for it," he said.
But it's not the way that the BRI, or its flagship project of the Chine-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has operated, he said.
Launched in 2013, the CPEC is a corridor linking the Gwadar port in southwestern Pakistan with Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which highlights energy, transport and industrial cooperation.
"In BRI or like in the case of CPEC, you were asked to come up with a priority of choices. What do you want? Where do you want Chinese investment to go? You prioritize that," the economist added.
Most of the BRI's technical assistance projects, in the case of infrastructure, are backed by a financial model, which is easier for developing countries to participate in, as most of them are in investment mode, Ahmed said.
Even if they are loan projects, he noted that they are loans for longer time periods with repayments not around the corner, which is really helping the developing countries to come on board and has allowed more and more of these countries to become part of the BRI umbrella.
Highlighting the upcoming third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing in October, the economist said that one of its objectives is that the countries of the Global South, who are beneficiaries of the BRI should actually come together to share those experiences and knowledge.
It's not just the responsibility of China, but in fact, all those countries who are participating in the BRI should utilize this opportunity to share their experiences, he said.
"So without naming any multilateral institution from the Global North, if they were delivering you a project in let's say, five years or 10 years, BRI was able to cut short that time," said Ahmed, adding a BRI project would have been delivered in one or two years maybe and "there are countless examples within Pakistan."
Elaborating on the importance of understanding the global trade architecture, the economist noted that the way the BRI stands at the moment would potentially create more opportunities and productive capacities for developing countries in the future.
"Once those productive capacities are created, for example, in my large-scale manufacturing sector, I would like to trade more. But this is the time when Global North should not change the rules of the trade," said the economist.
"If you don't like multilateralism now, that's going to send a very negative signal to the Global South, to the developing countries, who have added productive capacities due to BRI, due to CPEC," he pointed out.
The COP28 Presidency has co-hosted the second Global Dialogue series with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Abu Dhabi, gathering policymakers, representatives, and experts from 140 governments, as well as participants from the private sector.
The Global Dialogue, held in Abu Dhabi Global Market from 15-17 October, is the largest UNFCCC mandated event held in the emirate to date, and focused on accelerating the energy transition and decarbonization of the transportation sector.
Those attending, including COP28 Chief Executive Officer Adnan Z Amin, drove technical alignment and produced a report that will help jumpstart upcoming discussions at Pre-COP from 30-31 October, where up to 100 ministers will discuss key priorities in Abu Dhabi for COP28.
Attendees agreed that decarbonizing the transportation system will make a significant contribution to a just and equitable energy transition, and will boost economic diversification by creating green jobs and invigorating industries in developing countries.
Solutions discussed for decarbonizing transportation included the deployment and shift to collective and non-motorized transportation models, energy and resource efficiency in the transportation sector, vehicle electrification, and the adoption of low- or zero-carbon fuels.
A sustainable transport sector is central to our shared success in keeping 1.5°C within reach,” Mr. Amin said at the event. According to the IPCC’s sixth assessment report, the transport sector emits 8.7Gt per year, representing roughly 23 percent of global emissions, he said, so “transport would need an accelerated electrification and associated deployment of charging infrastructure in the coming decades.”
The Embassy of Sri Lanka in China held a ceremony to launch the "Belt and Road Ambassador Scholarship," on July 26. The ceremony unveiled scholarships for Sino-Sri Lankan student exchanges in 2023, an evaluation work plan, timeframes of awarding recipients and details of financial support, and elected Sri Lankan Ambassador to China Palitha Kohona as the chairman of the Evaluation Committee. This activity aims to expand the humanistic exchanges and cooperation between China and Sri Lanka.
Kohona stressed at the ceremony that, "The Belt and Road Ambassador Scholarship aims to adapt to the globalization of travel, to respond to the great initiative of the Global Community of Destiny, and to promote educational and cultural exchanges among Belt and Road developing countries." He expressed hopes to influence more peace-loving and common development-minded enterprises and people in various fields around the world to actively participate in this project, and to make contributions toward friendly mutual assistance, synergetic development among all countries, and for the civilization and progress of the peoples of the world.
The event marks an important step in the China-Sri Lanka friendship in the field of Belt and Road educational exchanges. It injects new vitality into the friendship and cooperation between the two countries and helps more students realize their dreams of globalization and development.
As Chinese hit movie No More Bets that exposes digital scammers, fraud farms and gangmasters went viral, the topic of telecom scams in Southeast Asia, especially in northern Myanmar, has once again made a splash across Chinese social media. Terrifying stories in northern Myanmar involving kidnapping and human trafficking have once again brought the long-standing, difficult problem into the public spotlight and prompted heated discussion, which has deterred Chinese tourists from visiting the country, a previous hot travel destination.
This time, we witness an unprecedented effort by the Chinese government to combat telecommunications fraud. The government of Myanmar's Wa State, which has become known as a hub for telecom fraud, recently issued an internal document demanding a strict crackdown on the criminal activity, particularly those targeting Chinese citizens, according to a notice circulating online.
Although the Global Times could not verify the authenticity of the notice, the determination of the Chinese government is apparently driving effective cross-border cooperation on cracking down telecom fraud.
The public security force of border city Pu'er, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, has joined hand with their counterpart in Myanmar to launch a crackdown campaign along the border. A total of 1,207 suspected criminals involved in fraud from northern Myanmar were successfully handed over to Chinese police, including 41 fugitives wanted online.
This is the latest major achievement in the crackdown on fraud following the previous capture of 269 suspected criminals and dismantle of 11 telecom fraud dens from northern Myanmar on September 3, CCTV News reported.
Multilateral mechanism is also at work, as China, Myanmar, Thailand and Laos have vowed to protect people from gambling fraud and related crimes through joint special operation.
Who are these people engaged in fraudulent activities? What drives them to telecommunications fraud, and how were they caught up in it? What is the truth behind popular online claim of "extract their kidneys and sell their organs?" What are the challenges faced by border police working on the frontline with the mission of persuading individuals trapped in the clutches of telecom fraud to return? The Global Times reached frontline police officers, victims, and insiders to reveal how China has ramped up its efforts to crack down on telecom fraud, a plague that has spread in the era of digital payment and harmed numerous Chinese families.
Disappearing at the border
As rampant telecom fraud news and stories in Southeast Asia swept Chinese social media in recent weeks, various industries in China launched a massive anti-fraud campaign. From anti-fraud training as the first lesson for students at the beginning of the school year, to community police officers visiting homes to convince people installing anti-fraud apps on their mobile phone, and the widespread broadcasting of anti-fraud videos on public transportation, China's determination and efforts to combat telecom fraud have reached a new peak.
Frontline police officers involved in anti-fraud work highlighted the strengthened efforts.
A police officer surnamed Lin in East China's Fujian Province - a high-risk area for telecom fraud in China - told the Global Times that the local government has been investing more resources and manpower into large-scale anti-fraud campaigns since 2019.
As the three years of the COVID-19 epidemic led to an increase in the fraudulent calls, special task forces have been established since then, Lin said.
Due to intensified efforts, 80 percent of those who went from Fujian to Southeast Asia to engage in telecom fraud have been successfully persuaded to return, Lin said. However, there are still some individuals who cannot resist the temptation of making a quick buck and go back again.
Northern Myanmar, a breeding ground for violence in telecom fraud, is seen as a gold rush destination by some jobless Chinese youngsters, as fraud gangs in northern Myanmar do not set any educational threshold and offer "high salaries," catering to the desire for quick wealth.
According to data released by the China's State Council, as of March 2022, among 10,589 illegal immigrants, 70 percent of them were engaged in telecom fraud.
Lin participated in anti-fraud and persuasion campaigns in northern Myanmar in the spring of 2021. He found that only 3-5 percent of people there could actually make big money. The majority of them dreamed of "earning a big fortune," and many of them were lured by their fellow villagers or friends.
Who exactly makes up the majority of telephone fraudsters in northern Myanmar? Du Guanglei, deputy director of the public security bureau of Xiangyang, Central China's Hubei Province, conducted a survey on criminal activities along the China-Myanmar border in 2020.
The study showed that the majority of illegal immigrants were rural residents, with the majority being males, and 56 percent of them were between the ages of 20 and 30. They generally have lower education levels, with 69 percent having only completed junior high school.
The northern region of Myanmar is typically a vacuum zone in terms of systematic and efficient government management, which provides a breeding ground for crime. Some local warlords in northern Myanmar secretly supported the telecom fraud industry and collected "protection fees" from it. They used epidemic lockdowns as an excuse to obstruct those engaged in telecom fraud from returning to China over the past three years, according to Lin.
Yang, an 18-year-old who was once deeply involved in telecom fraud, shared his painful experience in Myanmar with the Global Times. With the help of a snakehead, he crossed the border from Yunnan to Myanmar in December 2020.
Upon arrival, he discovered that the "comfortable and luxurious office environment" promised in the ads was a few shabby scattered in houses in a grassy field. As soon as he met his contact, he was taken to a dim room and forced to hand over his phone, bank cards, and ID. Subsequently, Yang had his freedom restricted by armed personnel until he signed a labor contract.
Yang recalled that those who failed to meet their targets would be dragged into a room and brutally beaten, or handcuffed and electrocuted. He often heard screams. He was not spared from this ordeal either.
In February this year, after experiencing nearly two years of nightmare in Myanmar, Yang finally saved enough money to redeem himself and regain his freedom. As soon as he left, Yang went straight to the border checkpoint in the border city of Ruili and surrendered himself to Chinese police officers.
"The past three years of the pandemic have seen the greatest efforts and the highest number of successful persuasions for returnees. There have indeed been cases of people queuing up online to voluntarily surrender and return to the country," said Lin.
"Persuasion involves reasoning with them and appealing to their emotions. For those who have been listed as fugitives by the public security organs, I advise them to return and surrender themselves, as having mitigating circumstances can reduce their punishment. We also mobilized their family members to persuade them. Some people, upon seeing their parents coming to the border crying and urging them to come back during video calls, have chosen to turn back from the wrong path," said Lin.
Paying a ransom and fleeing have become the mainstream ways to escape the scam hub, according to the veteran policeman. He said that the majority of people who return are able to find jobs and resume their normal lives. For those who are unable to find jobs for a period of time after returning, the local government will provide training and support.
Cross-border cooperation upgraded
Recently, the public security authorities have investigated and sorted out a batch of clues related to criminal activities involving Myanmar in the northern region. Over 1,100 of them were telecom fraud cases, involving a total amount of 120 million yuan ($16.37 million), media reports said.
An insider from the Yunnan border police department told the Global Times that due to the absence of an extradition treaty between China and Southeast Asian countries including Myanmar, Chinese police face difficulties in enforcing the law overseas to crack down on fraud gangs abroad. The cost of rescuing a person from criminal gangs is also high. However, the governments in the China-Myanmar border regions are currently holding meetings to negotiate the establishment of a long-term mechanism to combat telecom fraud crimes.
According to CCTV News, on August 15, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, the Royal Thai Police, the Myanmar Police Force, and the Lao Ministry of Public Security jointly launched a special cooperative operation against gambling fraud and related crimes such as human trafficking, kidnapping, and illegal detention in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The four parties decided to establish a comprehensive coordination center for the special operation in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and set up joint action points in areas where gambling fraud is rampant to crack down on crimes such as human trafficking, kidnapping, and detention.
The parties also expressed their determination to crack down on the criminal groups, and firm determination to protect people through concrete actions.
A journalist surnamed Zhao based in Bangkok, who has been reporting telecom fraud crime for years, told the Global Times that the crime is mainly concentrated in the Thailand-Myanmar border area, especially in areas with lax security and rampant corruption.
A small portion of the Chinese involved in telecom fraud may move on to organized crime groups involved in drug trafficking and even human trafficking. But the widely circulated online rumors about people being force to sell their organs are exaggerated, said Zhao.
Zhao emphasized that in recent years, with China's strengthened crackdown efforts, the Thai government has also attached more importance to the fight against telecom fraud.
Lin believes that as the border reopened after the pandemic, the space for cross-border cooperation in combating crime has expanded, and the breeding ground for criminals is shrinking.
"I hope that one day I will no longer receive calls from victims of telecom fraud crying for help or calls from the families of fraudsters seeking salvation for their children," Lin said.
Argentine President Alberto Fernandez visited the Memorial of the Communist Party of China (CPC)'s First National Congress in downtown Shanghai, on October 15, before he attended the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing.
Staffers at the memorial shared stories of how the young CPC pioneers founded the Party a century ago with Fernandez during his visit. At the hall in the memorial, Fernandez took photos of the full-body bronze statues of the 13 delegates of the CPC's first National Congress.
According to the memorial's staffers, Fernandez carefully listened to the docent's introduction and periodically asked questions. He inquired about the statue of Li Hanjun, who was one of the 13 delegates and the site's owner at that time. The site of the CPC's first National Congress was originally a traditional Shanghai-style "shikumen" apartment.
"The memorial's display and presentation are very well done," praised Fernandez.
Argentine Ambassador to China Sabino Vaca Narvaja also accompanied the Argentine President on the Sunday visit.
During the visit to the memorial, Narvaja shared that his Chinese name "Niu Wangdao" came from a renowned Chinese translator Chen Wangdao, who was the first person to translate The Communist Manifesto into Chinese in 1920. Shanghai was the first stop on Fernandez's China tour.
China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has newly launched the city's first and one of the world's largest satellite manufacturing facilities, known as AMC. The facility revealed to the Global Times in an exclusive interview that their first made-in-Hong Kong, high-quality satellite would hopefully be delivered by the beginning of 2024.
Referred also as the ASPACE Hong Kong Satellite Manufacturing Center under the HK Aerospace Technology Group, the AMC, was launched on July 25, marking an important milestone in the development of the city's aerospace technology industry.
AMC is located at the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate and covering a site area of 200,000 square feet (approximately 18,580 square meters,) or three and a half football fields, the center hosts 18 subsystems and over 200 sets of equipment, covering various comprehensive production line equipment including satellite overall structure, optical calibration, vibration, mechanical performance, electromagnetic compatibility, thermal control, and precision, etc. It can provide the most comprehensive system production support for satellites and various related aerospace products before they leave the factory, AMC said in responding to the Global Times' inquiries via email.
According to AMC, at the early stage following its launch, its main products include remote sensing satellite constellation (both optical and radar,) key payloads such as synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and optical cameras, etc., used to obtain more detailed and accurate Earth observation data.
AMC would also provide customized technologies, including developing customized products according to specific use requirements, such as carbon monitoring satellites, meteorological satellites, etc., for monitoring and forecasting in specific fields.
AMC will also work to manufacture communication satellite constellation to provide global communication services and meet the communication needs of governments and commercial companies, navigation enhancement satellites to provide more accurate and reliable navigation positioning services, meeting the navigation needs of transportation departments and individual users, and multi-functional integrated satellites that integrate communication, navigation, and remote sensing functions to provide various application services. The Hong Kong-based satellite manufacturing center said their main customers include government departments such as the China Meteorological Administration, environmental protection departments, transportation departments, commercial companies in the fields covering land asset management, carbon trading, ESG service products, research institutions including universities, key astronomical research laboratories, and remote sensing application laboratories, and individual users.
"The AMC satellites procurement and satellite applications require close cooperation with the mainland, especially in areas such as production line research and development, satellite product upgrades, satellite launch and orbit control, and supplier solutions," the group explained in the email it provided to the Global Times.
It is worth noting that China successfully launched the Golden Bauhinia-3, -4 and -6 satellites via the Long March-2D carrier rocket from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center on January 15, 2023. Those satellites are developed by the HK Aerospace Technology Group.
The group has successfully launched 12 satellites for its Golden Bauhinia Constellation project so far and plans to manufacture and launch the remaining satellites under the Golden Bauhinia Constellation project during the period from the end of 2023 to 2026.
The constellation is an active-passive hybrid low-orbit high-frequency satellite constellation that combines optical remote sensing and synthetic aperture radar to form an all-weather and near-real-time dynamic monitoring system.
AMC highlighted that after the comprehensive deployment of our Golden Bauhinia satellite constellation, they will consider user groups in the Greater Bay Area as an early priority and provide long-term satellite data application services to support its smart city construction, environmental governance, climate monitoring, and other key areas.
Chinese space observers hailed on Monday that as the country's space strengths have advanced to the first-class tier worldwide, science and research institutions such as universities in the Hong Kong SAR could fully play their part by keeping up the country's momentum, fully displaying their basic research and innovation capabilities, especially in the aerospace domain.
It is important for Hong Kong to play its due part as the innovation center and forerunner in the Greater Bay Area, which is in line with the national positioning of the city, Song Zhongping, a Hong Kong-based space watcher and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Monday.
In return, Hong Kong could bridge and improve international cooperation in space with the China as the city does in other fields, he added.
Also, as an international hub, Hong Kong could launch their satellites not only from the Chinese mainland, but also from overseas. The robust aerospace development could bring forth new economic growth and inject impetus to the city, Song noted. The target market for ASPACE Hong Kong Satellite Manufacturing Center is expected to grow to $30 billion by 2027, according to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.
Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry of the HKSAR government, said that the centre will be the most advanced satellite manufacturing centre in Asia in the next three to five years.
In fact, both the HKSAR and China's Macao Special Administrative Region have become increasingly involved in the country's major space program.
According to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on May 29, the selection of the fourth group of taikonauts, China's new generation of astronauts, is proceeding as planned and will be completed by the end of this year, and more than 100 candidates then entered the second round, including more than 10 from Hong Kong and Macao.
The selection process was launched in 2022 and will result in 12 to 14 reserve taikonauts being picked, each with different specialisms, such as spacecraft pilots, flight engineers and payload specialists, per the CMSA's previous comments.
That’s the score after the first match between Lee Sedol, the world’s top Go player and AlphaGo, the computer program that recently defeated the European Go champion.
AlphaGo is the creation of Google DeepMind, an artificial intelligence company based in London. The company’s program is the first to give top human players a run for their money in Go, a complex Chinese strategy game that almost makes chess look like Candy Land.
AlphaGo and Sedol will play four more matches over the next week in Seoul, South Korea. The winner will receive a $1 million prize and, perhaps more importantly, secure a place in history as either the man who triumphed over the best Go-playing machine ever created — or the first machine to surpass humankind’s players.
The Kepler space telescope, NASA’s premier planet hunter, is about to embark on a hunt for planets toward the center of the galaxy. But on April 7, just hours before its new mission was set to begin, the observatory gave astronomers a scare by temporarily hunkering down in an emergency state that prevented mission controllers from communicating with the spacecraft. As of April 11, though, Kepler was talking to Earth again, and engineers are getting the telescope prepped for its new quest.
“A cause has not been determined; that will take time,” says NASA spokesperson Michelle Johnson. “The priority is returning the spacecraft to science mode.” Kepler has previously had problems with its reaction wheels, which are necessary for keeping the spacecraft pointed in the right direction. After two of its wheels stopped working, the telescope took a break from planet hunting in 2013. Engineers at Ball Aerospace figured out how to get Kepler working again with the two remaining wheels by using pressure from sunlight to balance the telescope. While engineers don’t yet know why Kepler shut down this time, early reports indicate that the remaining reaction wheels are not to blame.
Once the spacecraft checks out, Kepler will kick off its latest effort, looking toward the galactic center for planets whose gravity distorts the light from far more distant stars. This technique, known as gravitational microlensing, has been used with ground-based telescopes to discover about 46 planets, some of them orphaned from their parent stars. But the method is a first for Kepler, which searches for dips in starlight caused by planets crossing in front of their suns.
This phase of Kepler’s mission will last until July 1. Even if it doesn’t turn up any new exoplanets, it’s guaranteed to see at least one world: To look at the center of the galaxy, Kepler has to point toward Earth. The telescope that has spent over half a decade searching for other worlds will snap a picture of our planet that will be released later this year.
Over the years, readers have on occasion written to me to point out what they see as an increasing politicization of Science News. These are not accolades — more than one of those readers has contemplated ending their subscription. Some of those critics deny climate change, some oppose GMOs, others view any policy discussion in our coverage as worrisome. So, are we actually getting involved in politics? My short answer is no. But there are many areas in which science has important things to say to citizens and policy makers. And reporting on the body of evidence that relates to societal issues falls fully within our mission, even for scientific questions with political ramifications. It’s well worth the ink to inform people about pressing problems or provide factual information in what have become hotly contested and polarizing debates. Science can help establish what’s known, what’s not known and how scientists might find answers. That’s what Science News reports on, with the aim of giving readers not a political argument but a clear idea of where the evidence currently stands and what questions remain. Facts based on sound science can perhaps even provide a common ground for people of differing opinions to speak to each other rationally.
In the case of what researchers can say with respect to the efficacy of gun laws, it turns out that there are more questions than answers. The numbers on U.S. gun violence are clear: In 2013, the United States had many more gun-related deaths than other nations with similar standards of living. But as Meghan Rosen investigated the state of the knowledge, it became evident that now, in the United States, it’s hard to even do the science. Researchers told her that they just don’t have the data needed to answer questions about the impacts of different gun control laws.
“I thought the evidence behind well-known gun control policies would be more clear-cut,” Rosen says. But studies of background checks, waiting periods and a 1994 assault weapons ban don’t necessarily show a corresponding reduction in gun violence. Maybe such laws don’t do what lawmakers intended, but there are also confounding factors that may dilute any conclusions, Rosen reports. The 1994 ban on assault weapons, for example, stopped only sales of new weapons and didn’t apply to those already in circulation. Most disturbing to Rosen was the blocking of scientific research by Congress, which has maneuvered to stop the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health from doing or funding work that might advocate or promote gun control laws. That has effectively reduced research into the best ways to prevent gun violence.
The science that has been done on whether U.S. gun control laws reduce gun violence has been mixed. There aren’t a lot of straightforward answers to guide policy. But in this case, science has not had a fair chance to build the foundation for an evidence-based conversation. Without facts, it really is all political. Our aim is to find and report on those facts (or the lack of them), so that they can become part of the conversation.
