FIELD CLASS: On October 14, pupils from Wanzai County of Jiangxi Province work in farmland to learn about growing grain to commemorate World Food Day, which fell on October 16 (DENG LONGHUA)

Ocean Science Index

China published its first ocean science and technology innovation index on October 15, which evaluates the ocean-related science and technology development level of Chinese cities.

The index was launched at the Qingdao International Ocean Summit Forum in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, on October 15.

According to the first evaluation, Qingdao, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin and Dalian topped the index's ranking. Organizers said the ranking was based on data of innovation investments, output, application and the environment.

The index also provides detailed readings on ocean industry distribution in the cities, pointing out advantages and weakness.

The index is aimed at making scientific evaluation of the ocean science innovation ability and the standard of materializing the technology to spur the marine economy and surveillance and provide reference to policymakers.

Air Quality Inspections

The Ministry of Environmental Protection has announced that it will run a campaign of unannounced and drone-based inspections of air quality from October to next March.

Unlike regular checks, in which companies and authorities targeted are usually notified beforehand, the upcoming inspections will be conducted at random, and violators will be immediately named and shamed, according to a ministry statement made on October 15.

The inspections will look at a wide range of issues including emissions of key polluting companies, automobiles, emergency responses in periods of severe smog, small companies that haven't met state standards and the enforcement of various environmental rules in government departments and service industries.

Drone inspections in Tianjin Municipality and the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong and Henan—regions plagued by relatively severe air pollution, are already under way.

Local governments will be informed of violations of environmental law within their jurisdictions and will be responsible for punishing violators and ensuring the matter is rectified, the statement said.

Cancer-Killing Virus

Chinese scientists have extracted a virus known as M1 that could kill cancer cells without harming normal cells, giving hope for the future research and development of cancer therapies.

A research team led by Yan Guangmei, a professor from the Zhongshan School of Medicine under the Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong Province, found the virus. They extracted it from a certain kind of mosquito in the tropical Hainan Province.

The discovery was published in the October edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

Animal tests found that the M1 virus worked well on cancer cells of the liver, bladder, colon and rectum.

Cancer is a growing threat to health in China due to unhealthy lifestyles and a deteriorating environment. China reports 3.5 million new cases of cancer each year and that 2.5 million people, nearly the population of Kuwait, die of cancers each year in China.