Search continues for missing boys in Yunnan

Search continues for missing boys in Yunnan

More than 1,000 people participated in a search operation on Wednesday to find 12-year-old twin brothers who went missing while herding sheep in Yunlong county six days ago in the Dali Bai autonomous prefecture, Yunnan province. The twins went missing while herding the sheep on a mountain slope on Feb 4. There was still no trace of the missing boys after Wednesday's search, according to China News Service. On Wednesday, 1,146 people, including members from government departments, fire departments, professional rescue teams and local villagers, divided into 24 groups, were dispatched to search for the missing twins in six areas near the spot where the twins went missing. Equipment including drones, sniffer dogs and kayaks were used in the search, according to China News Service. The search continued on Thursday.

New plant species named in SW China

Chinese researchers have discovered a new species of begonia in Southwest China's Yunnan province, according to the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. During a field investigation at a nature reserve, the research team discovered an unknown flowering population of begonia and named the new species Begonia longlingensis, which refers to its locality in Longling county. After review by authoritative international begonia genus experts, the plant was identified as a new plant species and named after the place where it was found. The plant is a perennial herb that grows mainly under broadleaf evergreen trees at Xiaoheishan Nature Reserve, with its flowering period usually lasting from August to September each year.

Development of next FY 3 satellites begins

The development of China's fourth batch of Fengyun 3 meteorological satellites has been launched, according to the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Upgraded from the FY 1 series, the FY 3 series is the second generation of Chinese polar-orbiting meteorological satellites and is designed to enhance the country's global data acquisition capability to collect more information on cloud and surface characteristics. They can provide atmospheric, land-surface and sea-surface parameters that are global, all-weather, three-dimensional, quantitative and multispectral.